SATURDAY 12 AUGUST 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001pfry)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 The Restless Republic - Britain Without a Crown by Anna Keay (m001pfn6)
Episode 5

Eleven years when Britain had no king.
On a raw January afternoon in 1649, the Stuart king, Charles I, was executed for treason. Within weeks the English monarchy had been abolished and the ‘useless and dangerous’ House of Lords discarded. The people, it was announced, were now the sovereign force in the land. What this meant, and where it would lead, no one knew.
The Restless Republic is the story of the extraordinary decade that followed. It takes as its guides the people who lived through those years. Among them is John Bradshaw, the Cheshire lawyer who found himself trying the King. Marchamont Nedham, the irrepressible newspaper man and puppet master of propaganda. And the indomitable Countess of Derby who defended to the last the final Royalist stronghold on the Isle of Man. Notable players from the time also feature, including Lord Fairfax, creator of the New Model Army, Oliver Cromwell and George Monck the general who negotiated the return of the monarchy.
Keay brings to vivid life the most extraordinary and experimental decade in Britain’s history. It is the story of how these tempestuous years set the British Isles on a new course, and of what happened when a conservative people tried revolution.

In episode five the competing priorities of the men who ruled England make for a dangerous instability, and lead eventually to the end of the republic.

Abridged and produced by Jill Waters and The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4
Reader: Helen Schlesinger


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001pfs5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001pfsd)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001pfsn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001pfsv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001pfsz)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Virginia Luckett

The Science of Awe

Good morning and welcome.

Recently I stumbled across some interesting research by the John Templeton Foundation about the science of awe AWE. Which says, that spine tingling mixture of terror, amazement and connectedness with something much bigger than ourselves, which we call awe, is a uniquely human experience linked to our well-being.

It is thought the ability to feel awe was first developed way back, prehistory, when, as early humans, we would stand on the high places and survey the surrounding landscape in an attempt to spot approaching carnivorous animals or anything else that might do us harm.

It seems believable to me, that in spotting a large carnivore from a distance, our ancestors would have felt terror, amazement and connectedness with something much bigger than themselves because it was striding towards them. In the heady, highly intense emotion of that moment, coupled with the relief and joy felt after taking some action to avoid the grizzly encounter; our prehistoric ancestors would have felt great! Forever imprinting on our human psyche that experiencing awe leads to our wellbeing.

And nowadays, according to this scientific research, feeling awe-inspired is still beneficial to mental health as it is now proven to create a sense of holistic well-being and connectedness with life as we know it. In fact, the research says, it is good to experience awe every day.

So today I pray that each of us that we will have the opportunity to take a moment out of our day to survey the landscape of our own lives and find awe.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Living on the Edge (m001pf8k)
Cardiff Bay

Ten coastal encounters, presented by Richard King.

Today: at Cardiff Bay with Roma Taylor, founder of Windrush Cymru Elders.

Not simply town or countryside, the coastline is a place apart – attracting lives and stories often overlooked.

In these ten programmes, the writer Richard King travels around the UK coast to meet people who live and work there – a sequence of portraits rooted in distinct places, which piece together into an alternative portrait of the UK: an oblique image of the nation drawn from the coastal edge.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001pm2g)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001pfgs)
Oban Cliff Mystery

"They rise up suddenly out of fields, they're next to roads and they're even in the middle of the town golf course." Oban resident Antonia Quirke is intrigued by the strange cliffs that can be found everywhere along this stretch of Scottish coast, and she becomes more obsessed when she finds out that someone has been banging in titanium bolts to create new climbing routes up to their peaks.

Joining her at the Dog Stone is the geologist James Westland who begins to unpick the history of these cliffs, plus two climbers she meets en route south, a volunteer with the Woodland Trust, Laura Corbe; and an Australian climber called Andy who has been helping to bang in the new routes.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001pm2l)
12/08/23 Farming Today This Week: Barn conversions; stress-testing strawberries; the Glorious Twelfth

A look back on some of the best bits from Farming Today over the past five days.

The government is consulting on whether landowners and farmers in English national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty should be allowed to convert barns into housing without planning permission.

Scientists research how much crops can be deprived of water without affecting their growth.

And the shooting season for red grouse gets underway.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001pm2n)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001pm2q)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001pm2s)
Suzi Quatro, Henry Firth and Ian Theasby (aka BOSH!), Amy McCulloch, Ros Atkins, Nicky Dorrington...in nature

Suzi Quatro grew up in Detroit in a very musical family. It was, at the age of six, after seeing Elvis perform on television that made Suzi decide music was to be her life. She’s also an actor, poet, has a new album called 'Face to Face' with KT Tunstall, is on tour...and she once broke Alice Cooper’s nose.

Shortly after they got married, the best-selling author Amy McCulloch and her new husband headed to South America for a six-month backpacking adventure. Then, one night, Amy heard that a cabin had suddenly become available on a ship heading to the Antarctic. She was desperate to take it. He wanted to stay. This thrilling real story was the spark for the inspiration behind her new book 'Midnight'.

Picture the scene...Sheffield in the mid-nineties. Two cheeky teenage lads sitting together in the school canteen tucking into burger and chips for lunch or maybe a bacon sandwich. Since then, Henry Firth and Ian Theasby are the plant-based chefs behind the hugely successful “BOSH!” and whose new cookbook 'Meat' sees them make bacon from bananas and chicken from peas.

All that plus The Inheritance Tracks of journalist, broadcaster and BBC Explainer–in-Chief, Ros Atkins - and we join Nicky Dorrington ...In Nature.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Jon Kay
Producer: Ben Mitchell


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (p09wsrpw)
Medieval Science

There's a school of thought out there that, following the fall of the Roman Empire around Europe, there's a decline in knowledge, technologies, and economics. But is this true?

Greg Jenner and his guests look at a range of discoveries spanning a thousand of years, widely known as the Medieval period. How was knowledge and scientific findings shared across a world with its countless languages and regions before the internet? Looking at essential scholars of the time like Ibn Al Hytham, the 'father of modern optics', and the evolution of compasses and maps, this episode picks up some of the weird and wonderful advancements of the period that we still use today - Medieval Science.

Greg is joined by Dr Seb Falk, a historian of Medieval Science, an expert on astronomy and mathematics and the author of the book The Light Ages, which was voted Book of the Year 2020 by the The Times and The Telegraph. Alongside Dr Falk, we have the multi-award-winning comedian, writer, podcaster and filmmaker, Josie Long, who has alsp appeared on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You and House of Games.

Research - Rosanna Evans
Script- Emma Nagouse, Rosanna Evans and Gregg Jenner
Project Manager - Siefe Miyo
Edit Producer - Cornelius Mendez

The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001pm2w)
Series 41

Billericay

Jay Rayner hosts this week's culinary panel show from Billericay. Joining Jay are chef Sophie Wright, Catalonian food expert Rachel McCormack, British-Chinese chef Jeremy Pang, and award-winning food writer Melissa Thompson.

The panel indulge in a variety of culinary conundrums, from suggestions for dishes you could make with marjoram, to the difference between hard and soft herbs, the panel are here to answer all of your food-based queries. They also answer by far the most important question of all - what ingredients go into making the ultimate fish finger sandwich?

Later Co-Founder of Hoyles Honey, Richard Hoyles, gives us an insight into how bees produce honey and answers the question - do bees ever sleep?

Producer: Bethany Hocken

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Briefing Room (m001pfkn)
What’s behind the Niger coup?

Military unrest in Niger isn't an uncommon phenomenon. There have been five coups in the last 50 years. But what's behind the latest one and is a peaceful resolution possible?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Paul Melly, Consulting Fellow at Chatham House Africa Programme
Gare Amadou, journalist and manager of the newspaper Le Canard Dechaine in Niger
Nabila Ramdani, French Algerian journalist
Olayinka Ajala, senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Leeds Beckett University

Produced by: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Alix Pickles
Edited by: Penny Murphy
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001pm2y)
Life and War in Yemen

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from Yemen, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Turkey and Ireland.

The city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen has survived thousands of days of siege conditions during the conflict between Iranian-backed Houthi forces and the Saudi-led alliance. But there are still civilians trying to find moments of normality in wartime - and some surprising facilities on offer. Orla Guerin met a dermatologist who treats both the war wounded, and customers wanting purely cosmetic procedures.

The summit on the future of the Amazon rainforest, held in the Brazilian state of Para, didn't result in a grand international pact. But it did showcase a new emphasis: on helping the tens of millions of people who live in this vast region, as the key to protecting its biodiversity and tree cover. Katy Watson travelled there to hear from local farmers on what can be done to improve their lives.

Zimbabwe's general election is due on the 23rd of August - but there seems little hope for great change through the ballot box. Charlotte Ashton was recently in Harare and found a mood of exhaustion - not least because the creaking economy leaves many people having to juggle several jobs, just to make ends meet.

For centuries, the Turkish city of Antakya was a renowned centre of culture, trade and religion: a cosmopolitan metropolis home to Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Jews and Armenians. But six months ago it was rocked by earthquakes. Lizzie Porter found a place once famous for its historic, honey-coloured buildings now full of dust, smoke, and the noise of demolition.

In Dublin, after years of economic anxiety after the collapse of the 'Celtic Tiger' and the European financial crisis, the Irish government now enjoys a very large budget surplus. Yet many don't feel they're prospering, as Chris Page explains.

00:35 Life and war in Yemen
06:38 The future of the Amazon
11:30 Will Zimbabwe's elections make a difference?
16:30 Antakya after the earthquake
22:27 What now of the Celtic Tiger?

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Bridget Harney
Production Co-Ordinator: Gemma Ashman


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001pm32)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001pm37)
Surviving or Thriving? Farms

Rising costs are having an impact on almost everyone, but that impact is very different for different sections of the economy. Rising food production costs are pushing up everyone’s grocery bills, and squeezing farmers’ profit margins. How are farms adapting to survive difficult times? Are any of them finding new ways to thrive?

Felicity Hannah travels to South Wales to meet two farmers, both running family businesses. Kevin and Sian, who, since covid, have diversified their 200 acre mixed farm into a profit making business. And Abi who works alongside her parents and uncle on a 700 acres mixed farm of dairy, sheep, arable, and beef has seen costs spiral but has long term financial solutions for her family business to thrive again.

The programme also talks to Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union which represents 47,000 farming businesses across England and Wales, to ask what does the future look like for farmers.

Series Producer Smita Patel
Editor Clare Fordham
Studio Engineer Rod Farquhar


SAT 12:30 Dom Joly Breaks the News (m001pfq4)
The third of our satirical specials this summer. In a topical mash-up of prank calls, interviews and features, Dom Joly offers his mischievously surreal take on the people and stories that are hitting the week's headlines.

As Dom attempts to get to the bottom of the biggest stories of the week, he challenges experts and makes calls to the wrong people about the wrong thing, often at the wrong time.

Best known for Trigger Happy TV, which reinvented the hidden camera format, Dom actually has a degree in politics and is a former diplomat. He once stood against Alan Clarke in the 1997 general election. So make no mistake, in Dom Joly Breaks the News, Dom’s asking serious questions about that week's actual news. He just wonders whether approaching things from a slightly different angle might give us more interesting answers.


Presenter – Dom Joly
Producers – Alison Vernon-Smith and Julian Mayers
A Yada-Yada Audio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001pm3f)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001pm3m)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001pfqq)
Sir Ben Bradshaw MP, George Monbiot, Selaine Saxby MP, Olivia Utley

Alex Forsyth presents political discussion from Pavilions, Teignmouth with the Labour MP Sir Ben Bradshaw, the writer George Monbiot, the Conservative MP Selaine Saxby and Political Correspondent at GB News Olivia Utley.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Carwyn Griffith


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001pm3v)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week


SAT 14:45 The Museums That Make Us (m00168rb)
Leeds

Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be finding answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

In a week telling the story of immigration, demographic change and refugees, Neil finishes in Leeds with evidence of one of the oldest peoples to visit and settle in this country. But the Roman child's sandal has been chosen by the museum as an example of their ambitious scheme which establishes partnerships with primary schools in the Leeds area and organises museum exhibits to go out to the schools themselves in special 'museum boxes'. It's a ground-breaking adjunct to the conventional 'schools visit', and allows teachers to make the most of a fantastic local resource. Neil talks to Head of Learning and Access Kate Fellows and local Head teacher Caroline Carr about the importance and success of the scheme.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”

Producer - Tom Alban
Original music composed by Phil Channell


SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000s853)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Episode 1

New three-part dramatisation of Thomas Hardy's novel about beautiful, poor, young Dorset woman Tess Durbeyfield, told from Tess's point of view. In today's episode, Tess's father is convinced that the family's fortunes are about to improve.

Cast
TESS ..... Faye Marsay
ANGEL ..... Matthew Tennyson
ALEC ..... Robert Emms
ROSIE ..... Bettrys Jones
CAR D'ARCY ..... Alex Tregear
FELIX ..... Hasan Dixon
CUTHBERT ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
JOAN DURBEYFIELD ..... Maggie Service
JACK DURBEYFIELD ..... Roger Ringrose
ABRAHAM ..... Aaron Gelkoff
ELIZABETH/ LIZA LU ..... Ell Potter
ISAAC ..... Noah Leggott
LILY ..... Tayla Hutchinson
MRS D’URBERVILLE ..... Elizabeth Counsell
TOM ..... David Seddon
PARSON ..... Tony Turner

Author, Thomas Hardy
Dramatist, Katie Hims
Musical arrangement, Colin Guthrie
Hardy adviser, Professor Graham White
Director, Mary Peate


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001pm41)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Megan Thee Stallion, Students Living at Home, Sarah de Lagarde, Dr Nadia Nadim

The rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years for the shooting of fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion. She required surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot after he shot her following a party in 2020. BBC entertainment correspondent Chi-Chi Izundu joins Clare McDonnell to discuss.

New research by The Sutton Trust reveals that more than a third of A-level students in England are considering living at home if they get into their preferred university. And in some cases, choosing lower-ranking universities because they are closer to home. Rebecca Montacute, head of research for the Sutton Trust, explains the findings. Hayley Hassall also hears from future student, Lori Cobon, and her mother Rachel.

A few months ago, Sarah de Lagarde came on Woman's Hour to share her incredible story of survival. She had fallen on to the Tube tracks at a north London station and was run over by two Tube trains. She lost her right arm and leg as a result. Today, Sarah returns with a newly fitted bionic arm, made possible with the support of a crowdfunding campaign. She speaks to Hayley about her recovery.

More than 60 women have made allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment against the US comedian and actor Bill Cosby. But only one woman, Andrea Constand, was able to gain a criminal conviction. In 2018, he was sent to prison for three to 10 years on three counts of aggravated indecent assault. At the time, it was celebrated as a major win for the #MeToo movement. Less than three years later, he was freed when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction on a legal technicality. In a new two-part documentary exclusively for ITVX from 10 August, The Case Against Cosby, Andrea tells her story.

It's been two years since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan and during that time women and girls have found many curtailments on their liberty. Dr Nadia Nadim is Afghanistan's most successful and most influential female footballer. She fled to Denmark following the death of her father and has gone on to play for the Danish national team over 100 times. Dr Nadim joins Hayley to discuss her career and her hope for women and girls back home in Afghanistan.

Presenter: Hayley Hassall
Producer: Hanna Ward
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer

00:00 Opener
01:26 Megan Thee Stallion
07:48 Students Living At Home
16:45 Sarah De Lagarde
26:01 Andrea Constand
36:38 Fertility Anxiety
44:25 Afghanistan


SAT 17:00 PM (m001pm47)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 All Consuming (m001pfdm)
Running shoes

From the running boom at the end of the 19th century to a lockdown-inspired desire to lace up, running shoes have evolved to fit the shape of our lives for over 150 years.

Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala explore how they keep pace with trends, innovations, and even our ambitions.

Thomas Turner, author of The Sport Shoe: A History from Field to Fashion, reveals the role of Victorian periodicals in spreading tips and recommendations to fellow runners.

Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, takes us to 1970s California where running shoes signalled a new kind of aspiration for baby boomers, driven by new brands and mass marketing.

Dr D’Wayne Edwards, sports footwear designer and founder of Pensole Lewis College, shares insider stories of being one of just two black footwear designers when he started in 1989, and how he’s bringing a more diverse cohort into the industry today.

Meanwhile, Jessica Morgan, journalist, and editor, unboxes a memory of a special pair of running shoes that saw her through her darkest times. And we jog down to Hackney Downs park in east London to meet Michael Doughty from Hylo Athletics who left a career in football to set up a running shoe company with green ambitions.

Producer: Ruth Abrahams
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001pm4j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001pm4v)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001pm56)
6 people have died after a migrant boat heading to Britain sank in the English Channel.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001pm5h)
Paul Merton, Gail Porter, Levi Roots, Anu Vaidyanathan, Pictish Trail, Leila Navabi, Andrew O' Neill, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Andrew O' Neill are joined by Paul Merton, Gail Porter, Levi Roots and Anu Vaidyanathan for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Pictish Trail and Leila Navabi.


SAT 19:00 Reith Revisited (b096g1b7)
Series 1

Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer

Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, gave the BBC's Reith lectures in 1953. Sarah Montague and Professor Brian Cox consider the lessons to be learnt from them today. The Reith Lectures began in 1948 on the Home Service, subsequently moving to Radio 4 and becoming a major national occasion for intellectual debate. As part of the celebrations of Radio 4's 50th anniversary, the network looks back at the first 10 years of the Reith Lectures to explore how they reflect the times in which they were delivered and how well they stand up now.
Producer: Neil Koenig
Researcher: Josephine Casserley.


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001pm5r)
Stephen Fry

Actor, writer, comedian and broadcaster Stephen Fry first made his name as a comic performer as a Cambridge University undergraduate with the Footlights company. He went on to forge a television partnership with his university friend Hugh Laurie on the sketch show A Bit Of Fry and Laurie and later the comic drama series Jeeves and Wooster, adapted from the PG Wodehouse stories. Among many stage and screen roles, Stephen Fry starred as Oscar Wilde in the 1997 film Wilde, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. He received a Tony Award nomination for playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night on Broadway, and was Lord Melchett over several generations of Blackadder. He’s written five novels and three volumes of autobiography, and has presented numerous documentaries. A familiar face on British television screens, he has hosted award ceremonies and panel shows including the long-running quiz series QI.

For This Cultural Life, Stephen tells John Wilson about how he first read the Wodehouse story Very Good, Jeeves when he was 10 years old and was spellbound by the comic language. He says that seeing a film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance Of Being Earnest led him to read all of Wilde's works, beginning a lifelong obsession with the playwright. He reveals how being an avid fan of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels led to his expulsion from school. He also chooses E.M. Forster's 1910 novel Howard's End as a huge influence, with its central theme of 'only connect' helping him make sense of his own emotional turbulence and intellectual ambitions. He also talks about spending time in prison on remand for credit card fraud, and being diagnosed as bi-polar after prolonged struggles with his mental health.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001pm5y)
Blond Ambition: Growing Up with Madonna

US music critic and broadcaster Ann Powers remembers the first time she laid hands on Madonna. On her photograph, that is - kohl-rimmed eyes gazing with laser intensity from beneath her platinum-blonde New Wave pixie cut, neck and arms adorned with the rubber bangles and metal chains popular among punks and club kids alike in 1984.

For Ann, a card-carrying alternative kid, Madonna was a guilty pleasure. She was watching and listening as the self-made ingenue made her name on songs about virginity and pregnancy, women’s pleasure and their secrets. Ann related to her inner struggle as a Catholic girl trying to overcome a rules-based childhood, but she still had questions - was Madonna just an opportunist cashing in on every hot issue of the day or did she really mean to get us thinking?

Then, in 1989, Ann went fully public as a Madonna fan, with the release of Like A Prayer, which claimed the rock and roll centre of pop for a woman. The album also contained an insert, Facts About AIDS, meant to both save lives and fight against the homophobic myths about the disease that were rampant.

Not only were critics dismissive of Madonna because of her glamour, and conservatives afraid of her because she was so bold, she proved challenging to many precisely because she put her pleasure, a woman’s pleasure, first.

As Madonna ascended into pop superstardom, the controversies raged. When Ann became an activist fighting for AIDS awareness and free speech, she started to see Madonna as an ally, later interviewing her for the New York Times (as the paper's chief pop critic) on the release of Ray of Light in 1998. They talked about yoga and Ann was impressed with this studious, earnest Madonna. As more controversies hit the headlines, the superstar just kept going. A new vista always beckons.

But as the Material Girl turns 65, what should we make of her now? The world's best-selling female recording artist in history, Guinness World Records acknowledges that only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have conclusively sold more records worldwide than Madonna.

Contributors include:
Composer Stephen Bray who co-wrote many of Madonna's hits - including Into The Groove, Express Yourself, True Blue - and produced Papa Don't Preach.
Writer, academic and former record label exec Carol Cooper
Playwright Brian Mullin whose stage show Live To Tell is about writing a Madonna jukebox musical while living with HIV
Carlton Wilborn who appeared in the Vogue video and was a backing dancer on two of Madonna's world tours
Scholar, artist and queer activist Kay Turner whose books include I Dream of Madonna: Women's Dreams of the Goddess of Pop. As a singer and musician, she has performed in numerous all-women bands including the rock punk lesbian-feminist art band Girls in the Nose whose repertoire includes the track More Madonna Less Jesus.

Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (m000hmgn)
Series 5

Episode 7

It's the 1990s and Brian Oldman is still in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He found a man in jail able to prove his innocence - but that man was soon found dead in his cell. He suspects that Joseph Oldman, now Sir Joseph Olinska MP, organised the killing.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman/Olinska family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing a nexus of crime, business and politics that’s woven through the fabric of 20th century greed, as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, Joseph intends to extend his business interests into Russia with the help of Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

CAST
Joseph Oldman Toby Jones
Brian Oldman Joe Armstrong
Catherine Isabella Urbanowicz
Tony Wednesday Alec Newman
Chuck Haley Matt Rippy
Tony Blair/Dr Jordan Nigel Cooke
Julian Tyrwhitt Jonathan Tafler
Margaret Olinska Flora Montgomery
Gianni/Technician John Hastings
Sir Ralph Courtney Nick Sampson
Detective Albright/
Sir Michael O’Dell Nigel Pivarro
Jodi Monserrat Kieron Jechinnis
Anatoly Popov Boris Isarov

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:45 The Skewer (m001pfj2)
Series 9

Episode 8

Jon Holmes's comedy current affairs concept album remixes news into award-winning satirical shapes. This week: This week: Fawlty Migrants, You've Been Droned, and Horror of Mogg.

Created and produced by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m001pm64)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001pfqj)
The Jukebox Soundtrack

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate the power of pop music on screen, 50 years on from the release of George Lucas' American Graffiti, with its hits-packed soundtrack.

First opening on 11 August 1973, coming of age classic American Graffiti was arguably the original ‘jukebox movie’. The film plays out over a single night in 1962, in a town where everyone is listening to the radio, and pop music of the era provides an almost unbroken accompaniment to the action.

Mark looks back on how American Graffiti revolutionised the use of music in movies, speaking to legendary film-maker Walter Murch, who was responsible for the unique sound of the film.

Meanwhile, Ellen delves into the relationship between pop music and the screen, with the help of music supervisor Jen Malone - the woman responsible for a resurgence in the career of The Cramps after including them on the soundtrack of Netflix hit Wednesday. And she talks to DJ, record producer and creator of original soundtracks David Holmes about the intrinsic connection he feels between pop music and cinema.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 The 3rd Degree (m001pfjk)
Series 13

University of Portsmouth

Coming this week from the University of Portsmouth, The 3rd Degree is a funny, upbeat and brainy quiz show.

The specialist subjects this week are musical theatre, maths and psychology and the teams are quizzed on Cauchy sequences, Hilbert spaces, the Dunning-Kruger effect and what on earth is dangling from Mick Fleetwood? Also, the world's dodgiest song in the world's first ever musical.

The show is recorded on location at a different University each week, and pits three undergraduates against three of their professors in this fresh take on an academic quiz. The general knowledge rounds include a quickfire bell-and-buzzer finale and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students’ knowledge of history, art, literature and politics, but also their Professors’ awareness of TV, music and sport. Meanwhile there are the three specialist subject rounds, in which students take on their professors in their own subjects, and where we find out whether the students have actually been awake during lectures.

In this series, the show goes to Exeter, Strathclyde, Keele, King’s College London, Portsmouth, and Somerville College, Oxford.

Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Yeti (p0fxt895)
7. Monsters of the Mind

Frustrated by their inability to find physical evidence of the yeti, Andy and Richard consult an astrologer to find out whether the omens for their search are good.

After exploring the spiritual significance of the yeti with a Buddhist nun, Andy questions the motivation behind his need to keep searching. Is he chasing after the unobtainable? Or is there something there?

He and Richard decide they need to focus their search back onto reality and make plans to head to the official yeti sanctuary in the far east of the country.

In this 10-part documentary series, Andrew Benfield and Richard Horsey travel through India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan in search of stories of yeti sightings and encounters. They hear from villagers, yak herders, sherpas and mountaineers, who give surprisingly consistent descriptions of a mysterious, large, hairy creature. This series takes us on a journey deep into Himalayan culture as the presenters grapple with their own inner demons to try to make sense of the yeti myth.

Producer: Joanna Jolly.
Executive Producer: Kirsten Lass.
Sound designers: Peregrine Andrews and Dan King.
Composer of original music: Marisa Cornford.
Assistant Producer Maia Miller- Lewis.
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001pm6b)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 I Belong to Glazgoy (m001n1x7)
Klezmer musician and scholar of Jewish culture, Dr Phil Alexander is on the southside of Glasgow, looking for clues to a man whose music he’s spent five years piecing together. Isaac Hirshow, a virtuosic Russian Jewish synagogue cantor and composer, arrived in the Gorbals from Warsaw in 1922. He was one of thousands of Jewish immigrants who landed here, just south of the river Clyde, where Yiddish voices mingled with Gaelic and Irish airs, Lithuanian laments, and Italian arias.

A hundred years ago, it would have been easy to find Isaac - Phil could have gone to the Jewish Institute or to Chevra Kadisha Synagogue on Oxford Street where Isaac worked. Today, however, much of Hirshow’s Gorbals has been bulldozed, and although we can’t walk those streets any more, we can build a picture through the emotional traces that persist in memory, and the physical traces left in archives.

Music is how Phil met Isaac Hirshow. But it was music in limbo, held in an archive, unplayed - just black marks on the page. Phil has spent the last five years bringing it to life, ready to receive its very first performance. But he also wants to understand the man who wrote it and the hybrid Scottish / Jewish identity he built for himself in the city known to Jews of the time as Glazgoy.

As Phil excavates Hirshow’s story through archive, oral history, poetry, early recordings and specially performed music, he connects with musician, former refugee and migration scholar Aref Ghorbani and Chilean singer Valentina Montoya-Martinez. All three are well versed in using music to find common ground, and together they use the musical themes from The Hope of Israel to situate Hirshow’s music in a new age of community building and culture in transit.

Presenter: Dr Phil Alexander
Contributors: Harvey Kaplan, Eddie Binnie, Natasha Lange

Musicians:
Valentina Montoya-Martinez (singer) Aref Ghorbani (singer and setar), Phil Alexander (piano and accordion)

University of Glasgow Chapel Choir, directed by Katy Lavinia Cooper

Special thanks to University of Glasgow Archive & Special Collection, Ellen Galford

Produced by Freya Hellier

A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001pm6j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001pm6q)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001pm6y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001pm74)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001pm79)
All Saints Church in Hartest, Suffolk

Bells on Sunday, comes from All Saints Church in Hartest, Suffolk. The flint and stone church was originally constructed in the 15th Century but was considerably restored in the 19th. The tower holds a ring of six bells, four of which date from 1661 which were cast by John Darbie of Ipswich. The Tenor weighs nine and three quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of G. We hear them ringing Surfleet Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 Reith Revisited (b096g1b7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001pm4x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b09r3ng4)
Sacred Botany

Musician Jahnavi Harrison enters a world of sacred plants revealing that, in many religious traditions, plants are seen as spiritually symbolic - sometimes acting as intermediaries with the divine world.

Jahnavi invites us on a journey to Vrindavan, a town two hours south of New Delhi, a place of pilgrimage and worship for Hindus. Vrindavan is named after the goddess Vrinda who is said to take the form of the holy basil plant Tulasi in the worldly realm. Jahnavi reveals that this same plant is lovingly cultivated in the Hertfordshire temple where she grew up and is brought into the main shrine each day during the morning worship.

She goes on to explore the significance of the lotus flower, a key symbol in many Eastern religions.

The use of plants in worship is not confined to the East. The presence of Ocimum Basilicum - which many of us know as the basil we cook with - is a common sight in regional denominations of Orthodox Christianity, especially in the Greek church. Jahnavi explains that Orthodox Christians believe the herb sprung up where Jesus's blood fell near his tomb. Ever since, basil has been associated with the worship of the cross, particularly during Great Lent.

Drawing upon the Zen poetry of Matsuo Basho, Jahnavi discusses the lessons we can learn by paying close attention to the plants around us. Basho's vivid depictions of the plant world are complemented by the words of Sam Taylor Coleridge, whose poem To Nature is described by Jahnavi as "a prayerful study of the plant kingdom".

Presenter: Jahnavi Harrison
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001pm58)
Tamworths at Tynefield

Flavian Obiero is a first-time farmer, just starting to get his pig business up and running on rented land in Hampshire. He moved to the UK from Kenya as a teenager, and was bitten by the farming bug after a stint of work experience on a farm near Basingstoke. He still works there part-time, but now has around seventy Tamworth pigs of his own to look after, as well as a herd of goats. He's also training as an apprentice butcher. It's a busy year for Flavian and his partner Nikki: they only took up the tenancy of their council farm near Fareham four months ago, and are expecting their first child in the autumn. Charlotte Smith visits Tynefield farm to find out how the new venture is going, and asks Flavian what drew him to a life in agriculture in the first place.

Produced by Emma Campbell


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001pm5l)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001pm5t)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001pm60)
Hawaii Fires; Jehovah's Witnesses; the Vicar of Moscow

Most of the town of Lahaina, which served as the first capital of the former Kingdom of Hawaii has been destroyed, along with many of the sacred sites of Hawaii's indigenous religion as wildfires ripped through the region. Mokihana Melendez, who teaches aspects of Hawaiian traditional culture, talks to William Crawley about the significance of the religious and cultural heritage that has been lost.

St Andrew's looks like a typical Victorian English parish church but it's only 10 minutes from the Kremlin. Rev Malcolm Rogers talks about what like was like living in Russia during the ongoing Ukraine war.

After 9 years and a series of legal challenges the Charity Commission has finally published its report into the child protection and safeguarding policies of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain. We hear why a former Elder is "shocked and disappointed".

As we mark the second anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, a group of British Imams and scholars give a different picture of what life in Afghanistan is like - but are they right?

Heavy metal and pipe organs are not normally associated together but Mark Deeks, leader of the band 'Arth' and Leeds Diocesan organist David Pipe performed 'Organic Doom'. They told William Crawley how this unusual collaboration came about.

Producers: Amanda Hancox and Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001pm66)
Parents Against Child Exploitation

Charlie Webster makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Parents Against Child Exploitation

To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Parents Against Child Exploitation’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Parents Against Child Exploitation’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at 23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.

Registered charity number: 1092560


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001pm6d)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001pm6l)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001pm6s)
Rise Up - World Youth Day

Recorded on location in Lisbon, we join a group of young Catholics from the UK, from the dioceses of Salford, Lancaster, Cumbria, Plymouth and East Anglia, as they gather with other young pilgrims from around the world for World Youth Day. They explore their faith, attend services and events with Pope Francis and think about what being Catholic means to them and how they'll take that back into their lives at home. The theme this year is 'Rise Up' which is taken from Mary's visitation to Elizabeth when she had learnt she was pregnant with Jesus 'Mary arose and went with haste' - with Pope Francis asking young Catholics to think about the kind of haste they have, what do they stand for? The preacher is Father Pascal Uche from Brentwood, the leader is Greg Finn. The music is taken from the Official Masses, and the acoustic music was recorded on location by Father Columba Jordan.

World Youth Day, which began in Rome in 1986, usually happens every three years, with the last event in Panama City in 2019. Hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world are due to gather in Lisbon for the week long event.

Producer: Miriam Williamson
Studio manager: Liam Juniper


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001pfqx)
Limbo

Sara Wheeler reflects on the concept of limbo as a way of helping us deal with current uncertainties but she recognizes this will not be easy.

'Limbo is a borderless, undefined, in-between state that is neither one thing nor the other and therefore it is hard to label and harder to accept.'

She believes though that an acceptance of unknowability may be increasingly important since 'the rules and certainties on which we built our lives have altered beyond all recognition.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Bridget Harney


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378tmb)
Long-tailed Tit

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Michaela Strachan presents the long-tailed tit. They are sociable birds and family ties are vital. They even roost together at night, huddled in lines on a branch, and this behaviour saves lives in very cold winter weather. The nest of the Long-Tailed Tit is one of the most elaborate of any UK bird, a ball of interwoven moss, lichen, animal hair, spider's webs and feathers.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001pm6z)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001pm75)
Writer, Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Stella Pryor ….. Lucy Speed
Fallon Rogers ….. Joanna van Kampen
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m001pm7b)
Jerry Springer: The Opera

In April 2003, a musical written by comedians Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee opened at the National Theatre in London. It took its inspiration from the controversial American talk show Jerry Springer and combined opera with profanity, musical theatre with "white-trash TV".

In the musical, Jerry was condemned to a life in purgatory, settling arguments between Satan and Jesus, Adam and Eve, then Mary and Jesus, all portrayed in the manner of deviant and unruly guests.

The show swept the awards and stars including Oliver Stone and Harvey Keitel flocked to see it. But some thought the show was sacrilege.

When the BBC decided to screen Jerry Springer: The Opera in January 2005, it received a record 63,000 viewer complaints. The cast and crew found themselves bombarded with hate mail and had to cross picket lines to go into the theatre. BBC2 controller Roly Keating was forced into hiding.

Kirsty is joined by composer and writer Richard Thomas, who had the initial idea for the show, and his co-writer and the show’s director Stewart Lee, who was brought to the brink of financial ruin by the protests. Mezzo Soprano Lore Lixenberg helped develop and played the roles of Peaches and Baby Jane and was with the production from its Battersea Arts Centre beginnings. David Bedella won an Olivier Award for his role as Warm-Up Man and Satan in the show. Married to a vicar at the time, David found himself a target for the Christian protesters. And there are two men who played Jerry Springer in the show - Michael Brandon who met and became friends with the real Jerry Springer as a result of his performance, and David Soul who played Jerry Springer during the show’s West End Run.

Producer: Emily Williams
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001pmb6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001pfl2)
Series 79

Episode 5

The nation's favourite wireless entertainment pays a visit to Northampton’s Royal & Derngate Theatre.

Rachel Parris and Milton Jones compete against Fred Macaulay and Sandi Toksvig with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell provides piano accompaniment.

Producer - Jon Naismith.

It is a BBC Studios production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001pm7g)
The Global Food System: Too Big to Fix?

World leaders met in Rome to fix the food system. Dan Saladino reports on what happened at the United Nations summit and looks at some of the big ideas put forward for change.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001pm7j)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001pm7l)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 The Battle for Liberal Democracy (m001k82v)
Opportunity

Tom Fletcher examines what future historians may well regard as the most fundamental issue of the 2020s: the complex, multi-faceted and far-reaching international contest between liberal democracy and its enemies. In this second episode, Tom looks at which system more effectively spreads opportunity for its people. In the decade since the global financial crisis, there has been a sense of democracy on the back foot, especially on long-term choices like infrastructure and preparing for a future with AI. But are democratic systems better able to correct course when things are going wrong?

Tom, a former diplomat and adviser to three British prime ministers, will draw on his own experiences and, in conversation with people he encountered along the way – people who rose to the very top – he will examine the state of liberal democracy, ask where it succeeds and where it fails, and make the case for its urgent renewal. With extraordinary stories from around the world, he’ll look at how the world’s democracies can confront autocratic regimes, how they make liberal democracy more ‘magnetic’ to democratic backsliders, and how they can put their own houses in order.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001pfpf)
Army Flying Museum

To snap or to cut - what is the best way to dead head my roses? Why are my tomatoes falling off before turning red? Which plant would you relegate to the compost heap?

Kathy Clugston and her team of GQT experts are at the Army Flying Museum in Hampshire to answer all these questions and more. Joining her this week are garden designer Juliet Sargeant, head gardener Ashley Edwards, and pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood.

Alongside the horticultural Q and A, we hear from Deputy Director and Head of Science of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, Chris Thorogood who talks us through Mediterranean-inspired gardening in the UK.

Executive producer: Hannah Newton
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Museums That Make Us (m0016gzb)
The National Museum of Scotland

Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be finding answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

In this, the final week of programmes, Neil visits national museums in Wales, Northern Ireland and today, Scotland, As in previous episodes, the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has chosen an object that they feel gets to the heart of the relationship they have with visitors from across the nation. In fact there are two objects hanging opposite each other. One is a battered Saltire, the other the King's colour standard, flags that were seen on opposing sides at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the final event in the Jacobite rising. Neil is joined by fellow Scot and former soldier JJ Chalmers to hear the story behind the survival of the two flags, and the complex histories that make simple national identity in Scotland so fraught, even today.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”

Producer - Tom Alban
Original Music by Phil Channell


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001pm7n)
Lines in The Sand: The Journeys of Gertrude Bell (Part One)

Adapted and dramatised by Mary Cooper
Based on the book, 'Queen of the Desert' by Georgina Howell

Gertrude Bell was the daughter of one of Britain’s richest industrialists. She became the first woman to be commissioned in British Military Intelligence, and the only woman to join British occupying forces in Baghdad in April, 1917. She defied family ambitions of an aristocratic marriage to become a linguist, explorer, writer, diplomat and ally to Arab leaders.

This compelling portrait draws on letters to her family in Yorkshire, and her lost lover to reveal the human struggles of her pioneering life.

Cast:

Gertrude ..... Fenella Woolgar
Hugh ..... Malcolm Raeburn
Florence ...... Alexandra Mathie
T.E Lawrence/Billy Johnson ....... Rupert Hill
Percy Cox ...... Jonathan Keeble
Sheikh Nasib/ Abdulaziz ..... Ali Gadema
Saleh/Karim/Mikhail ....... Naithan Ariane
Lady Cox/Marie ........ Emma Gregory
General ...... Raad Rawi
Brown ...... Ian Bartholomew

Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Produced and directed by Jessica Mitic

A BBC Audio Drama North production

With thanks to Ali Refaie, Basheer Al-Zaidi and the Gertrude Bell Archive at Newcastle University
Image copyright: Gertrude Bell Archive


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001pm7q)
Ann Patchett, plus Magical Historical Fiction with SJ Parris and Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Octavia Bright talks to Ann Patchett about her captivating new novel. Tom Lake is the story of a young actor Lara under the spell of a future Hollywood star, but it is also about how she retells that story in later life to her adult daughters, and the power of storytelling itself.

Two masters of historical fiction, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S. J. Parris (aka Stephanie Merritt) discuss the allure of magic and mysticism in their latest books set either side of the Enlightenment.

Plus Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah recalls the enchanting tale behind the book he'd never lend.

Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Book List
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Alchemy by S. J Parris
The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah


SUN 16:30 Out of Abandonment (m001pm7s)
Radio 4 throws down a challenge to poet Kim Moore: to create a poem inspired by one of the UK's many abandoned buildings. She visits a vast Victorian edifice she has never seen before in Newsham Park, Liverpool which was the Seamen’s Orphanage, later became an NHS hospital for people suffering with mental illness and is now a site for ghost tours.

Kim explores the Grade II listed building with local historian Steve Corcoran, discovering that it was originally designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of the Natural History Museum. A group of Liverpool ship owners got together to finance the construction, when Liverpool was the second biggest port in the British Empire and life at sea was a precarious occupation.

Kim explores the now empty dining room, old staircases covered in anti-suicide grills, dormitories and wards with peeling paint and hears from people who have lived and worked there. As well as seeking inspiration for her poem, she sounds her trumpet where the orphanage's brass band used to play and ponders what the future may hold for this uncanny, derelict site.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001pmkj)
Jon Holmes, Generation Shame

Last year a Parliamentary Report concluded that between 1949 and 1976, around 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were put up for adoption in England and Wales, many of these by force. For File on Four, The Skewer’s Jon Holmes investigates whether he was one of them.

Jon Holmes has always known he was adopted, but was never very interested in searching for his birth parents until results of a recent DNA test proved he was of Irish heritage and his curiosity was piqued.

A large folder arrives from Warwickshire County Council and slowly Jon begins to unpick the story of his life and the world he was born into. As secrets of Jon’s past are revealed, a Parliamentary Report by the Committee on Human Rights is published detailing shocking and vivid accounts of mothers being forced into giving up their babies by a society that outcast and shamed them at every turn.

What will Jon discover about his own family? What truths will he uncover as he speaks to mothers forced into handing their newborns over, as well as fellow adoptees about the damaging and traumatic culture he was born into?

Government has always denied any responsibility and is refusing demands for an apology, but is that really the case?

As Jon slowly finds out more about his own past, he also investigates the impact of this era and asks where does responsibility for this societal culture lie… and can it ever be repaired?

Presenter: Jon Holmes
Producer: Elizabeth Foster


SUN 17:40 Reith Revisited (b096g1b7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001pm7v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001pm7x)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001pm7z)
Officials expect the total to rise -- and questions are mounting about the response to the disaster:


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001pm81)
Myfanwy Alexander

This week's radio was full of song and story. Rich and complex identities, loss, courage and survival... plus foxes, classical skullduggery and the shocking behaviour of a national treasure. We may be starting in the rather damp field of the National Eisteddfod but who knows where we will end up? Join Myfanwy to find out...

Presenter: Myfanwy Alexander
Producers: Elizabeth Foster & Richard McIlroy
Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001pm83)
Tracy and Ruth discuss Brookfield B and B. Tracy wonders if they were to do longer lets, might it be somewhere that Hannah could stay? Ruth says she’ll check with Ben.
Toby’s taking Rosie to Cornwall soon and Pip wishes she’d done more with Rosie over the holidays. Ruth proposes that they take Rosie to the new roller-skating rink this week. And as Pip looks like she could do with a night out, Ruth also offers to babysit so that she can go out with Lottie.
Oliver tells Tracy that Grey Gables recruitment advertising starts this week for its opening in the Autumn. He’d happily recommend Tracy for one of the Welcome roles there. Tracy declines; she’s really happy at The Bull and it has none of the stresses of a big hotel. They’re interrupted by Adil ringing to tell Oliver that their launch plans have got the green light. When Adil’s keen to find an event planner, Oliver mentions tempting their previous staff back. Adil hopes he doesn’t mean Lynda – she’s completely unmanageable. Oliver agrees she can be challenging, but in a good way. They agree to discuss it further tomorrow. Overhearing them, Tracy asks Oliver who is unmanageable. Oliver bluffs that they were talking about the ‘challenging’ role and that things can get ‘unmanageable’. Later Tracy mentions the role to Lynda who would relish the challenge, but wonders why Adil didn’t mention it to her. She may be forced to blow her own rather considerable trumpet and convince Oliver and Adil that there’s life in the old dog.


SUN 19:15 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m001pm85)
Series 2

Llandudno to Cardiff

Comedy icon Alexei Sayle continues his series of rail journeys with a north to south trip across Wales from Llandudno to Cardiff

Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers, in a quest for conversations with strangers that will reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations.

Along the way, Alexei holds a finger into the wind of the thoughts and moods of the great British travelling public. There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people reveal what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also delves into his own personal stories of a childhood in Liverpool and a long career as a comedian, actor and author.

Alexei has a life-long ticket to ride in his DNA, as his father was a railway guard. As a child, Alexei travelled on trains with his mum and dad, not only in the UK but also abroad. While other children in Liverpool at the time thought a trip to Blackpool was a big adventure, Alexei travelled to Paris, experienced the Orient Express, had summer holidays in Czechoslovakia and visited mysterious cities with unpronounceable names in the farthest corners of Europe.

In this programme, Alexei meets Mags, Karen, Anne and Nicky who call themselves the ‘cycling widows’ and are determined to enjoy themselves while their partners are off on two wheels somewhere; 16 year-olds Isaac and Finlay are aspiring footballers and share their dreams with Alexei of one day playing in the Premier League and for their country; Dewi is travelling to a retreat for help with his mental health problems; and Sarah and David surprise Alexei with their tales of long distance rail travel – including a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express fuelled only by pot noodles and vodka and thousands of miles in India in second class carriages meeting some of the 23 million people who take a train there every day.

A Ride production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Golden Eggs (m001pm87)
The Gift

Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings.

Episode 5: The Gift by Susmita Bhattacharya.
When they discover she is carrying the golden egg that means she can only bear sons, Mira’s parents sense lucrative opportunities.

Susmita Bhattacharya was born in Mumbai. Her first novel, The Normal State Of Mind, was published in 2015. Her collection of stories, Table Manners, was published in 2018.

Writer: Susmita Bhattacharya
Reader: Aysha Kala
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001pfps)
Musician and 6 Music presenter Tom Robinson has been a passionate advocate for BBC Introducing shows on Local Radio through his BBC Introducing Mixtape on 6 Music. Tom joins Andrea Catherwood to voice his concern about the reduction in shows and to respond to your comments.

Glasgow graffiti artists Conzo and Ciaran, who gained notoriety with their ‘fake Banksy’, are in the Vox Box to review a series about the rise of the real deal - Radio 4’s The Banksy Story.

And listeners lament the demise of broadcasts on Long Wave. Gareth Mitchell, former BBC Engineer and now lecturer at London’s Imperial College, hears what they have to say.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood
Produced by Gill Davies
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001pfpq)
Sir Michael Boyd, Jess Search, Warren Ford, Leny Andrade

Kirsty Lang on:

Sir Michael Boyd, the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jess Search, the fearless documentary producer who backed award winning but controversial films others feared to touch.

Warren Ford, the tea consultant and buyer who devised the well-known Yorkshire blend.

Leny Andrade, the Brazilian bossa nova and jazz singer.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive used:
Stark Talk, BBC, 02 Dec 2007; Front Row, BBC, 25 Jul 2002; Charlie Rose, charlierose.com, 29 Nov 2005; Macbeth, part of the 2006 to 2008 Histories Cycle, RSC Shakespeare Learning Zone, YouTube uploaded 8 Jun 2015; Spotlight Conversation with Jess Search | BFI London Film Festival 2021, Youtube Uploaded 17 Nov 2021; Citizenfour Official Trailer 1 (2014) - Edward Snowden Documentary HD, Youtube uploaded 10 Oct 2014; Virunga Trailer – provided by Verdant Communications; Virunga Trailer – provided by Verdant Communications; "Citizenfour" winning Best Documentary Feature, Youtube uploaded 9 March 2015; Yorkshire Tea hard water advert, YouTube uploaded 18 Jul 2007


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001pm37)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001pm66)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001pm5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001pm8b)
Ben Wright is joined by the Conservative peer, Tina Stowell; Labour's leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar; and the political commentator and former government special adviser, Salma Shah. They reflect on "small boats week" and ahead of the forthcoming A-level results, they discuss the alternatives to academic qualifications and university education. Scottish politics features too, plus Ben is joined from the Edinburgh Festival fringe by comedians Rosie Holt and Matt Forde, to talk about the state of political satire.


SUN 23:00 Life Changing (m001kxdp)
Taken: Lisa’s story

It was September 2000 when Lisa and her 10-year-old brother Gary were taken to the airport. Their Dad said they were going on holiday and that mum Tracey was going to join them later, just as soon as she could get time off work. As the children boarded the plane full of expectations for the trip they could not know how profoundly this moment would shape the rest of their lives – they were soon told Tracey had died and there was no point ever going back to England.

Dr Sian Williams hears about Lisa’s struggles to adapt to a new life in Pakistan, trying to keep memories of home and her mum alive but falling into despair and loneliness. Meeting her Mum again and returning to England aged 17 comes with a whole new set of challenges.

This story is told from two perspectives, to hear mum Tracey’s experience scroll back to the previous episode.


SUN 23:30 Beyond Belief (m001l25d)
Without Child

It is estimated that 1 in 7 UK couples struggle to conceive but what impact do religious beliefs and cultural practices have on those who can not or choose not to have children.

Aleem Maqbool speaks to Lizzie Lowrie about her experience of baby loss and miscarriage and how her faith and church community brought both challenges and support.

Her story sparks a discussion on what it means to live without children in different belief systems and how the faith community responds. Aleem discusses different approaches to childlessness with:

Vik Singh, who, with his wife, Sarina, set up The Himmat Collective to support Punjabi Communities struggling with fertility issues, after their own difficulties starting a family, Dr Dawn Llewellyn, Associate Professor in Religion and Gender at the University of Chester and Farah Dualeh author of Taking Control: A Muslim Woman's Guide to Surviving Infertility.

Producer: Katharine Longworth
Assistant Producer: Dave James

MONDAY 14 AUGUST 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001pm8d)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Sideways (m001pfcv)
50. Take the First Step

In 2014 Angela Maxwell was feeling stuck. She wanted something fresh, something exciting. After a chance encounter she landed upon her goal - she was going to set off on one of the largest adventures imaginable: a walk around the world. She didn't know exactly how the journey would play out, but that was part of the appeal - the whole planet was waiting for her to just take the first step.

In this episode, Matthew Syed hears from Angela about her 6 year walk around the world, from the misery of freezing cold nights, to finding beauty in solitary nights sleeping under the stars. And Angela explores her ideas about courage - after she was raped during her expedition, she chose to continue her journey around the world. Over the six years she walked, she would find deep connection to herself and to others, making lifelong friends and sinking into the places, slowly, just placing one foot in front of the other.

We hear from Susan Houge Mackenzie, a professor of psychology at the University of Otago, about the benefits of adventure to our mindset, even 'micro adventures' which take place much nearer to home, and from naturalist and conservationist Nadia Shaikh, who is a land justice activist working with the Right to Roam campaign, who makes a case that we need far greater access to nature to be able to undertake micro adventures in our local area.

Matthew considers how adventures big and small can clarify our goals for our lives, and asks us to consider whether we ought to all be heading out on adventures a little more often.

If you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Nadia Mehdi
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru.
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001pm79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001pm8g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001pm8j)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001pm8l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001pm8n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001pm8q)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Virginia Luckett

Migraines - Comfort in darkness

Good morning and welcome.

My friend Femke, who I often stay with when I'm working away from home, suffers from migraine headaches. Usually she finds a way of coping bravely with the pain as she gets on with her day, but sometimes the light and the pain are unbearable. It is then, she finds comfort in darkness.

Whether it’s night or day, she closes her blackout curtains, puts on her thick eye mask and retreats into darkness. In focusing on the darkness, just behind her eyelids, somehow, the worst of the pain melts, as she reconnects with her deeper self and gains some relief and comfort.

Even though I'm not a migraine sufferer myself, as I have gotten older I can understand the need to retreat into darkness, the darkness of ourselves to find out what is hidden there.

Being an extrovert and external processor this has been a hard won lesson for me, as so much of my thought life only develops through talking and genuinely, I don’t know what I am thinking unless I've said it out loud.

To have learnt how to focus on my own version of ‘the darkness just behind my eyelids’ through developing the discipline of silent prayer has been an extraordinary journey of personal discovery. As it has enabled me to reconnect with the deep and sometimes painful riches hidden in the darkness of my soul.

Through this practice I have learnt so much about myself, the world and my God.

So today I pray for all of us, who are searching for answers in the darkest places of our lives that we will find what we need.

Amen


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001pm8s)
14/08/23 Hedgerows, potatoes, farm stays.

A hedge to the uninformed eye might just look like a line of bushes, trees and weeds marking out a field, but there’s much more to them than that. So much so that the independent body which advises all of the UK governments on climate change, the Climate Change Committee, has called for a 40% increase in hedgerows in the UK by 2050 to help tackle global heating. DEFRA says it wants 45000 miles of hedges in England by 2050, and ministers are currently consulting on how to make that happen. It’s a far cry from the post war farming policies that led to hundreds of thousands of miles of hedges being ripped out. All this week we’re looking into hedges, starting with their ability to sequester carbon.

King Edward, Maris Piper, and Shetland Black; just some of the varieties of spuds that were on display last week at the UK potato industry's biggest field-based event, Potatoes in Practice, which takes place annually in Scotland.

Interest in UK farm holidays has doubled over the last decade according to the farm holiday co-operative, Farmstay, which has just clocked up 40 years of supporting and advising farmers who welcome holiday makers onto their farms.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 05:56 Weather (m001pm8v)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04symwf)
Marabou Stork

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Liz Bonnin presents the gaunt undertaker-looking marabou stork in Africa. It is not very scientific to describe a bird as ugly, but the marabou stork would not win any prizes for beauty or elegance. This bulky stork, with a funereal air, has a fleshy inflatable sac under its throat which conspicuously wobbles as it probes African rubbish dumps for carrion. Seemingly more at home amongst the melee of vultures and jackals squabbling over a carcass, it is known in some areas as the undertaker bird. But, in the air the marabou stork is an elegant sight. It has one of the largest wingspans of any bird, up to 3 metres across. Soaring effortlessly on these broad wings the storks scan the sub-Saharan landscape for food. Marabou storks are doing well, thanks to our throwaway society and they've learned to connect people with rubbish – a salutary association one might say.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


MON 06:00 Today (m001pmbg)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001hfzw)
Detention

Although psychiatry helped writer Horatio Clare when he was in crisis, some people in difficulty, their families, clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists themselves will tell you there are serious questions about the ways psychiatry understands and treats some people in trouble. And so this series asks a simple question: is psychiatry working? In the following series, accompanied by the psychiatrist Femi Oyebode, Horatio traces a journey through crisis, detention, diagnosis, therapy, and recovery. In this episode, they consider detention under the mental health act, travelling to locked wards in Liverpool, hearing from former patients and clinicians, and asking if detention can ever be avoided.

If you need support with mental health or feelings of despair, a list of organisations that can help is available at BBC Action Line support:

Mental health & self-harm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm
Suicide/Emotional distress: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress

or you can call for free to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066.

Presenters: Horatio Clare and Femi Oyebode
Producer: Emma Close and Lucinda Borrell
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Mix: James Beard


MON 09:30 Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years On (m001k7rq)
6. The Day After

Saddam’s regime in Iraq was removed quickly. But what came after proved disastrous as the country was plunged into chaos and violence. Was it always inevitable?

Presenter: Gordon Corera
Series Producer: John Murphy
Producers: Ellie House, Claire Bowes
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions
Production coordinators: Janet Staples, Brenda Brown
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 09:45 Wifedom - Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder (m001pmbl)
Book of the Week: Ep 1 - Suffolk,1936 and Sydney, 2017

Anna Funder's new book is a revelatory biography of Eileen, George Orwell's forgotten first wife. Here we discover a sharp, witty and fearless woman, who made an astonishing and remarkable contribution to her husband's literary work as well as his daily life. The reader is Fenella Woolgar.

Anna Funder, the Australian award winning writer, best known for Stasiland and All that I Am, has immersed herself in the scholarship on George Orwell to write Wifedom. Here Funder shines a light on Eileen, Orwell's extraordinary wife. Using newly discovered letters written by Eileen, Funder paints an intimate portrait of a forgotten woman, and one of the twentieth century's most significant literary marriages. She also illuminates the social and cultural values that kept Eileen in the shadows, and continue to shape how the world regards the unsung work of wives everywhere.

Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001pmbs)
Women's football World Cup, 'Older-age orphans', Channel swimming with a stoma, Caroline Moran, Women's feet

The Lionesses are through to the Women's World Cup semi-final on Wednesday against co-hosts Australia. Reaching semi-finals of major tournaments is what England "are known for", says defender Lucy Bronze. Lucy's mum, Diane Bronze and former Lioness and football comemntator Anita Asante discuss.

Many baby boomers are experiencing the death of their parents much later than previous generations. The journalist Helen Bullough and clinical psychologist Dr Linda Blair discuss the impact of being parentless in older age.

Gill Castle will be the first person to attempt to swim the channel with a stoma. She's documenting her journey to crossing the channel in The Stoma Swimmer - a new audio series for BBC Sounds.

What would happen if the apocalypse happened in the middle of a hen party? Caroline Moran, known for writing Raised by Wolves, has written a brand new comedy for BBC Two looking at just that. She joins Nuala to talk about why she wanted to create the series, Henpocalypse, and what to expect.

How much can you tell a woman's life story through her feet? Emma McConnachie, who is a podiatrist and a spokesperson for the Royal College of Podiatry, explains how our feet change as we age.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Dianne McGregor

Opener 00:00
Football 01:55
Older Orphans 13:36
Henpocalypse 30:09
Swim 39:36
Women and feet 48:21


MON 11:00 History on the Edge (m001pmbx)
Lennox Castle Hospital

Anita Anand goes on the trail of another story from the recent past that’s fallen through the cracks of mainstream history. In this episode, she travels to Scotland to uncover a dark chapter in the history of care.

Lennox Castle Hospital was set up near Glasgow in the 1930s as a forward-thinking institution for the care of those with learning and other disabilities, but the victims of the hospital’s savage regime also included teenagers involved in petty larceny and young women who’d given birth outside marriage and had been labelled as prostitutes. As Anita discovers, patients were subjected to a strict and dehumanising regime, and to physical punishment for challenging behaviour or trying to escape.

With oral Historian Howard Mitchell as her guide, Anita takes a steep walk through the Campsie Fells to the ruined Lennox Castle whose remote location, Mitchell says, helped keep its patients shut away from mainstream society.

Howard has recorded many interviews with those who lived and worked at the hospital and even presented a series on the hospital’s history for the Open University. But, having worked as a nurse at Lennox Castle in the 1970s, the historian is also an invaluable first-hand witness, with insider knowledge of the brutality inflicted on the patients.

Today, many of the custodians of memory are either no longer with us or unable to be interviewed. But after the hospital closed in 2002, former ‘patients’ and families shared their memories for the Lennox Castle Stories Project and these are featured in this episode of History on the Edge. There is also the story of Patrick, who as a teenager was admitted to Lennox Castle because of his challenging behaviour and who spent years there, until his father successfully fought for him to be returned to mainstream society.

Anita also speaks to Dr Sam Smith, who helped re-settle Patrick and others and has since founded an organisation helping those with disabilities and challenges live in the outside world.

Producer: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Simon Elmes
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:30 Analysis (m001mllq)
Do Boycotts Work?

Boycotts are big at the moment. On a global scale, many countries are boycotting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. There are campaigns to boycott products produced in Turkey, Israel or China. Sporting boycotts are used by countries across the world to express their displeasure with their international rivals. And there are plenty of boycotts going on against companies, over working practices, supply chains and political stances.

But international boycotts can be easily circumvented, and we can choose alternative products if we don't like a particular manufacturer. So is this low risk activism, or is it an effective way for ordinary people to hold businesses and nations to account? Do boycotts ever lead to permanent change?

Above all, do they work? Journalist and writer David Baker investigates.

Presenter: David Baker
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Engineer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Contributors:
Caroline Heldman Associate Professor of politics at Occidental College, Los Angeles
Stephen Chan Professor of World Politics at SOAS, University of London
Mark Borkowski PR and Crisis Management agent
Rob Harrison Director of Ethical Consumer
Xinrong Zhu Assistant Professor in Marketing at Imperial College London Business School
Richard Wilson Director and co-founder, Stop Funding Hate
Professor Ellis Cashmore sociologist and cultural critic
Ben Jamal Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Pinar Yildrim Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton (Business) School at the University of Pennsylvania


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001pmc4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001pmcb)
What went wrong at Wilko?

Wilko is a fixture on many high streets and one of the UK's best-known - and most popular - department stores. Its descent into administration last week was met with an outpouring of grief on social media - but that won't be much consolation to more than 12,000 people whose jobs are now at risk. We'll look at where it all went wrong.

Also - lots of single use plastic containers are soon going to be banned - but do takeaway owners, perhaps the sector most affected, even know what's coming?

The 'lockdown generation' of students has been graduating this summer - we'll hear from some of them on what the last three years have been like.

And what has July's washout done for the UK's staycation sector?

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m001pmcg)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001pmcl)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Magic Consultants (m001kh23)
The Craft

Adam Shaw peeks behind the curtain of the consultancy industry.

Worth hundreds of billions of pounds, consultants stretch across almost every industry, government department and international border.

Since the pandemic there’s been an unprecedented demand for their services and many believe our future is determined by what they think and do. Yet little is known about these largely hidden influencers. They are magnetic and mesmerizing yet, to many of us, shrouded in mystery.

Adam asks who are these wizards, what do they do and how much do they influence our lives.

On the one hand, they're talked of as genius solvers of the world’s greatest problems and masters of the machinery of management. On other, some think of them in more shadowy terms, whispering their guidance into the ears of the rich and powerful. Adam sets off with missionary zeal to detangle two very different stereotypes.

Across the series he hunts for the first ever consultant, finds out how they shape our language and politics and discovers how they bounce back from appalling scandals. He joins a consultancy fair to meet aspirant consultants, hears stories from the glass towers of late nights and rewards, explores FOMO and addition, turnarounds and triumphs.

In this first episode he asks what value do consultants add and why are they seemingly opaque. And he pulls out his wand and performs a rather impressive magic trick of his own.

With contributions from: Tamzen Isacsson, CEO of the Management Consultancies Association, Andrew Sturdy, Professor in Management at The University of Bristol, Dr Chris McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, Rosie Collington, co-author of The Big Con, author Eric Edstrom and broadcaster Paddy O'Connell.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001pm83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001pm5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m001pmcp)
Heat 1, 2023

(1/17)
The first four competitors of the new season join Russell Davies at the Radio Theatre in London, for the opening heat of the 2023 general knowledge tournament. 48 competitors this year from all around the UK will be whittled down to just four Finalists in December. Could the eventual Brain of Britain champion be among the contenders today?

The competitors in the first heat are Jason Butler from Kent, Jude Child from Hampshire, Susannah Croft from Essex and Akin Yilmaz from London.

The programme includes 'Beat the Brains', in which a listener gets the opportunity to win a prize by stumping the Brains with questions he or she has devised.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001pm7g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Pursuit of Beauty (m00019mw)
The Spider Orchestra

This summer’s exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London is ‘In Collaboration - Webs of Life’ by the artist Tomás Saraceno - whose collaborators include spiders, Cameroonian spider diviners and various life forms that inhabit the Royal Parks. So, Radio 4 has broadcast again 'The Spider Orchestra', a programme first broadcast in 2018 about his work with arachnids.

The Berlin-based Argentinian artist trained as an architect. He was struck by the beauty of spider webs, their structural intricacy and began making them into sculptural works. Then Saraceno realised that every time a spider tugs a string as it spins a web, or moves along the silken strands, this causes vibrations. Using microphones and amplifiers it is possible to hear the tiny music they make. The different species create various sounds - bass, treble, percussion - and the result is an orchestra of arachnids.

In 2018 Saraceno filled the whole of the Palais de Tokyo gallery in Paris with extraordinary, beautifully lit spiders' webs, in an exhibition called 'On Air'. Some webs he connected to microphones so their occupants' movements echoed round the gallery.

Saraceno's work is a collaboration between artist, spiders and people, a kind of jam session. He also invites musicians to to respond to them, to play along with spiders. The famous experimental composer Alvin Lucier does this in a concert, featured in this programme.

In the gallery in Paris, and his Berlin studio, Saraceno reveals his thinking and observations. 'The Spider Orchestra' captures these, and all these sounds in a sonic web, and combines them. It, too, is a collaboration, between artist, spiders, people and producer - creating a compelling composition, for radio.

Producer and Presenter: Julian May


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001pmcs)
The God Desire

Do we have a desire for God?

In the first of a new series, Aleem Maqbool speaks to David Baddiel about his book "The God Desire".

Aleem is joined on stage at The Hay Festival by the panel to explore what it means to have a desire for God, where this desire might come from and whether it's driven by fear of death.

Aleem is joined by:

Fergus Butler-Gallie – Priest in the Church of England and author of "Touching Cloth"
Osman Yousefzada – Multidisciplinary artist and author of "The Go Between"
Dr Carissa Sharp - Assistant Professor in Psychology of Religion at Birmingham University

Recorded at The Hay Festival in front of a live audience.

Producers: Katharine Longworth and Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton


MON 17:00 PM (m001pmcx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001pmd5)
The NHS says the move will mean patients get seen and diagnosed more quickly


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001pmdh)
Series 79

Episode 6

The antidote to panel games pays a return visit to Northampton’s Royal & Derngate Theatre. Rachel Parris and Milton Jones take on Fred Macaulay and Sandi Toksvig with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell attempts piano accompaniment.

Producer - Jon Naismith.

It is a BBC Studios production.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001pmdt)
Lynda joins one of Oliver’s Lower Loxley tours and it becomes clear it’s to show him her expertise in dealing with ‘challenging’ situations. Cottoning on Oliver wrongly assumes that Tracy has spilled the beans about his conversation with Adil yesterday. He tries to apologise for calling her challenging, and it dawns on Lynda that Adil and Oliver were talking about her and not the role. Later Adil’s surprised when Ian drops off his signed contract for the Interim Head of Food position, but concedes it’s fine as long as that’s the only surprise appointment that Oliver’s made. They’re interrupted by Lynda who confronts them about calling her ‘unmanageable’ and ‘challenging’. They only make things worse when they attempt to back-track. Finally, when Adil offers Lynda the job of organising their opening event, Lynda tells them she’s too busy and leaves.
Ian tells Helen he’s accepted the Head of Food role. Helen wonders if he’ll get to choose the cheese suppliers. She can drop some supplies round. But Ian stops her saying she’d be one of several potential suppliers. Helen retreats and gives Ian the brush off when he suggests meeting up. Later Ian asks Kirsty for advice, wondering if the Rob situation is getting Helen down more than she’s admitting. But when Kirsty checks in with Helen, she’s ok; work has been a little bit stressful but she’ll been able to focus more while Lee’s visiting his daughters in San Francisco. And she’s heard nothing more from Miles or Rob. Helen’s delighted when Kirsty offers to stay while Lee’s away.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001pmf3)
Christy Lefteri's The Book of Fire; Why are artistic directors resigning?; Palestinian embroidery

Samira Ahmed speaks to the bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri, about her latest novel, The Book of Fire, which deals with the effects of wildfires in Greece.

What are the reasons for the current spate of resignations by theatre artistic directors? Artistic director of London’s Battersea Arts Centre Tarek Iskander, critic Andrzej Lukowski and theatre consultant Amanda Parker discuss.

An exhibition at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge celebrates the the history and art of Palestinian embroidery and the role it plays today. Samira talks to the curator Rachel Dedman and Aya Haider, whose work features in the exhibition.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer Paula McGrath


MON 20:00 Police on Steroids (m001pmff)
WARNING: This episode contains disturbing audio from the very start as well as bad language, offensive comments and descriptions of a sexual nature. It also refers to drug taking and dealing.


The shaky mobile phone footage was harrowing. Filmed by his neighbour, Andre Moura can be heard screaming for help, telling the police they are hurting him and begging to speak to his children. He’d been sprayed with CS gas - a shocked eyewitness describes watching a police officer kneeing him several times.

In police bodycam footage of the same incident, PC Chris Bolger is heard telling the warehouse worker he won’t win “this fight” and that the officer would, “put him to sleep”. Soon afterwards the dad of four suffered a massive heart attack in the back of a police van and died

Late last year, the footage was played to an inquest jury tasked with determining how Andre had died. But what the jury weren’t told was that the police officer and keen body builder accused of attacking Andre had been convicted of selling steroids and resigned before he could be sacked by Greater Manchester Police.

Disturbed by the case, campaigner Gail Hadfield-Grainger sets out for Radio 4 out to investigate whether this was an isolated case, or if it could be symptomatic of a wider steroid issue amongst the Police

With in-depth interviews, Gail explores why some police officers feel they have to take anabolic steroids, if addiction to muscle building substance is putting them at the mercy of criminal dealers, and whether “Roid Rage” could be risking lives by causing some officers to use excessive force in high tension interactions with the public.

Gail also explores whether it could be fuelling sexual crime by police officers and speaks to one expert who says he believes, when it comes to Anabolic Steroids the authorities may have “fallen asleep at the wheel”

Presenter: Gail Hadfield-Grainger
Producer: Nicola Dowling

Image: Gail Hadfield-Grainger and Dave Crosland/BBC


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001pfcb)
When Wagner came home

Tens of thousands of Russian criminals – murderers, rapists, robbers – were recruited from prisons by the mercenary group, Wagner, to fight in Ukraine. Now, after six months on the battlefield, the survivors have returned home, with official pardons. Many served only a fraction of their original sentences. And now, they're officially treated as heroes - protected by a new law which criminalises discreditation of anyone who fights on the Russian side in the war.

Already, some returnees are reported to have committed further serious crimes. One has confessed to the brutal axe-murder of his 85-year-old former landlady. In another case, an ex-convict believed to have served with Wagner has been charged with masterminding the killing of two children's entertainers, one of them a 19-year-old woman who was training to be a teacher. The murders in southern Russia provoked an outpouring of anger and grief, with thousands signing a petition demanding that the alleged ringleader - who denies any guilt - should get a life sentence if he is eventually convicted. But they know any punishment will probably be less severe, because the criminal records of former Wagner mercenaries have been wiped. They start their lives again from a clean slate, and if they re-offend, no previous convictions can be considered.

Reporter Arseny Sokolov talks to the mother of the murdered entertainer, to campaigners for prison reform - and to an ex-convict who fought for Wagner - to investigate what threat the returned mercenaries pose in their home towns and villages - and to assess the damage "legal nihilism" is doing to Russian society.

Producer: Tim Whewell
Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 21:00 Bug in the System: The Past, Present and Future of Cancer (m001pf42)
A Patchwork of Mutation

Why is it so hard to cure cancer? Although half of all people diagnosed with cancer a decade ago are still alive today - a figure that has doubled over the last 40 years - too many families are still suffering terrible losses while scientists scramble to find "a cure". Dr Kat Arney explores the incredible complexity that modern technology has revealed about this ancient disease, showing that every person's cancer is a unique medley of mutated cells, any one of which could be carrying the seeds of resistance to treatment, and meets researchers who are peering deep into our DNA to discover how to beat it for good.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth Sagar-Fenton


MON 21:30 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001hfzw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001pmfr)
Dissident republicans obtain leaked police data

The leaked police data in Northern Ireland is now in the hands of dissident republicans. What next for the thousands of officers in at risk? We hear from an Assembly member on the Policing Board.

It's two years since Western retreat and a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan. We hear the story of one woman, secretly helping others.

And is Donald Trump facing more criminal charges?


MON 22:45 The Lock Up by John Banville (m001pmg3)
Episode 6

1950s Dublin. in a lock-up garage in the city, the body of a young woman is discovered – an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.

The victim’s sister, a newspaper reporter from London, returns to Dublin to join the two men in their quest to uncover the truth. But, as they explore her links to a wealthy German family in County Wicklow, and to investigative work she may have been doing in Israel, they are confronted with an ever-deepening mystery. With relations between the two men increasingly strained, and their investigation taking them back to the final days of the Second World War, can they join the pieces of a hidden puzzle?

John Banville is one of Ireland’s most prolific writers. He has written 17 novels and has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He lives in Dublin.

Author: John Banville
Reader: Gerry O’ Brien
Abridger: Neville Teller
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m001pf6j)
Fandom

There's lots of 'birging' in this week's programme. For those not in the know - that's short for Basking In Reflected Glory and it's something football fans in particular do when they talk about their team's triumphs using the 'extended we'. Michael Bond author of 'Fans' talks to Michael about the words and language different fan groups have as a shared means of communication. Whether it's being a superfan of sport, film or music there are words and phrases that show you belong to a particular fandom.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


MON 23:30 Don't Log Off (m001jc17)
Away from Home

Olga has been living in an accommodation centre for Ukrainians refugees in a church in Moldova. Finding work is a struggle and Olga looks forward to the day she can earn enough money to rent an apartment.

Pavel left Russia in September last year, just days after Vladimir Putin mobilised military reservists to fight the war in Ukraine. Now Pavel is alone in Kazakhstan but the clock is ticking on his temporary resident's permit.

Emran was among one million or so migrant workers who helped build the stadiums which hosted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But it wasn't long before Emran found there was an unexpected price to pay.

Whether displaced by war or working overseas - Alan Dein uses social media to connect with people living away from home.

Producer: Conor Garrett

TUESDAY 15 AUGUST 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001pmgf)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Wifedom - Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder (m001pmbl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001pmgm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001pmgt)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001pmh2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001pmhc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001pmhm)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Virginia Luckett

Charles Darwin - Fossils

Good morning and welcome.

I am fortunate to live close to the Jurassic Coast near Lyme Regis, world famous because as visitors walk our beaches they can pick up the fossilised remains of ancient sea creatures .

There is something deeply profound about holding a fossil in your hand, knowing that you are the first person who has seen it for millennia. In doing so, it’s not hard to see how these perfectly formed stone creatures and plant life have inspired the imagination of many over the years.

Not least, the great scientist, Charles Darwin, who was an enthusiastic fossil hunter himself. Recognising that he was holding a stoney version of something that was probably extinct helped him formulate his theories of Evolution and Natural Selection.

These theories, when first published in the mid 1800s challenged the religious and scientific understanding of the evolution of humankind and ushered in a new appreciation of who we are and how we came to be: science that we are still learning from as new discoveries are made.

I find it fascinating how things from the past, even the ancient past can help change worldviews in the present, if there is an openness to learn and reconsider. This mirrors my experience of faith too. As I have come to know more of the life and qualities of Jesus, my worldview has been tempered by each new discovery.

So today I pray for all of us seeking fresh insight in faith or science, that we will find what we seek.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001pmhv)
15/08/23 Cleaning up the River Wye; ancient hedgerows... and the future of hedgerows

The largest poultry processor in the Wye catchment area has announced litter from its supply chain will no longer be available for sale, as fertiliser, within the Wye catchment, as a way to help better manage their supply chain, in relation to the health of the River Wye. A conservation group responds to the news.

NFU MIdlands members are asked for their thoughts on the government's hedgerow consultation.

And a fifth generation farmer in Kendal shares why hedgerows are not just important for farming, but local history and culture, too.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mj5kt)
New Zealand Bellbird

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Chris Packham presents the New Zealand bellbird. In 1770, during Captain James Cook's first voyage to New Zealand, an extraordinary dawn chorus caught the attention of his crew "like small bells exquisitely tuned": these were New Zealand bellbirds. New Zealand bellbirds are olive green birds with curved black bills and brush-like tongues which they use to probe flowers for nectar. Like other honeyeaters, they play an important role in pollinating flowers and also eat the fruits which result from those pollinations and so help to spread the seeds. The well camouflaged bellbird is more often heard before it is seen. They sing throughout the day, but at their best at dawn or dusk when pairs duet or several birds chorus together. Their song can vary remarkably, and it is possible to hear different 'accents' in different parts of New Zealand, even across relatively short distances.

Producer : Andrew Dawes


TUE 06:00 Today (m001pmgg)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001pmgn)
Gideon Henderson on climate ‘clocks’ and dating ice ages

We’re used to hearing the stories of scientists who study the world as it is now but what about the study of the past - what can this tell us about our future?

Gideon Henderson’s research focuses on trying to understand climate change by looking at what was happening on our planet thousands of years ago.

His work has taken him all around the world - to the deepest oceans and the darkest caves - where he collects samples containing radioactive isotopes which he uses as “clocks” to date past ice ages and other major climate events.

As a geochemist and Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, his work deals with the biggest questions, like our impact on the carbon cycle and climate, the health of our oceans, and finding new ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

But in his role as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, he also very much works on the present, at the intersection between the worlds of research and policy. He has overseen the decision to allow gene-edited food to be developed commercially in England and a UK surveillance programme to spot the Covid-19 virus in our waste-water.

Produced by Gerry Holt.


TUE 09:30 One to One (m001pmgv)
Greg Wise on being Mountbatten

Paul Conroy is a conflict photographer but he's also been portrayed on screen.
In his second interview he talks to Greg Wise about playing a real character, Dickie Mountbatten - uncle of Prince Philip and Viceroy of India - in The Crown.
"You've got to do your homework, and then you've got to forget your homework and play the script. Hopefully there'll be one line, one moment, that will float out to you and give you what you need."
Greg reveals his Mountbatten moment was when he discovered that he wore an elasticated suit.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


TUE 09:45 Wifedom - Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder (m001pmh3)
Book of the Week: Episode 2 - The Spanish Civil War

Anna Funder's revelatory biography of George Orwell's forgotten first wife continues. It's 1936 and one of the twentieth century's great writers is in Barcelona preparing to take up arms in the struggle against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Meanwhile, there is an extraordinary revelation. Fenella Woolgar reads.

The award-winning writer, Anna Funder, best known for Stasiland and All that I Am, has immersed herself in the scholarship on George Orwell to write Wifedom. Here Funder shines a light on Eileen, Orwell's extraordinary wife. Using newly discovered letters written by Eileen, Funder paints an intimate portrait of a forgotten woman, and one of the twentieth century's most significant literary marriages. She also illuminates the social and cultural values that kept Eileen in the shadows, and continue to shape how the world regards the unsung work of wives everywhere.

Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001pmhb)
Youngest Afghan mayor, Romanticising your life, surviving WWII Japanese prison camp, Big tech & sexuality

Today marks two years since the re-taking of Afghanistan by the Taliban. We speak to Afghanistan's youngest female mayor, Zarifa Ghafari, who was elected mayor of the conservative central city of Maidan Shahr in 2018, aged 23, and survived three assassination attempts while still living in the country. During one of these attempts, her father was killed. Following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, she fled Afghanistan along with her husband, mother and siblings. But she still receives daily death threats from the Taliban despite fleeing to Germany two years ago.

Across social media, everyday activities such as making dinner for yourself, going for a walk or buying yourself flowers have been transformed into acts of feminist empowerment. The hashtag for the trend - ‘Romanticise your life’ - has over 1.5 billion views. Should we all be romanticising our lives more? Journalists Ellie Muir and Chanté Joseph look at the pros and cons of the trend.

Women with poor mental health have an almost 50% higher risk of having a pre-term birth, that's according to a study of 2 million pregnancies in England. The research found that one in 10 women who had used mental health services before their pregnancy had a pre-term birth, compared with one in 15 who did not. We hear from one of the reports authors, Louise Howard, who is professor emerita in women’s mental health at King’s College London.

Today is VJ day which marks the surrender of Japan and therefore the end of World War Two. Olga Henderson was 13 in 1945, starving in a camp in Singapore alongside other young internees. Now 91, Olga will join us in the studio to talk about her time in the camps recalled in her new – and first - book, In the Shadow of the Rising Sun.

Journalist Ellie House is bisexual. But before she had even realised that, it felt like Big Tech had already worked it out, with some sites regularly recommending her LGBTQ content. Ellie joins Nuala to speak about her quest to understand how recommendations systems really work, and the risks and rewards of being queer online. She’ll also tell us about speaking to people for whom these kind of recommendations could become potentially life-threatening.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

00:00 Opener
02:00 Afghanistan
11:38 Romanticise Your Life
21:04 Pregnancy
30:54 Olga Henderson
45:47 Big Tech


TUE 11:00 Bug in the System: The Past, Present and Future of Cancer (m001pmhq)
Moths and Miracles

Dr Kat Arney hears from those at the cutting edge of the science of fighting cancer, and asks - will we ever defeat it altogether?

We discover how researchers are taking fresh approaches drawn from the worlds of evolutionary biology, game theory and even pest control to devise strategies to finally find a cure and drive cancer to extinction.

Featuring interviews with:

Nobel Prize winner Jim Allison, Chair of Immunology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
Caroline Dive, Director of the Cancer Biomarkers Centre at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Research Institute
Bob Gatenby, Associate Professor at the Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa
Crispian Jago

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth Sagar-Fenton.


TUE 11:30 Eastern Classical (m001pmhw)
In 2023, East Asian musicians have never been more prominent in western classical music. But it’s not a simple case of East Asian musicians being welcomed onto the world stage, a glorious coming of age. Their emergence has come with much judgement, and European critics have bolstered many racist stereotypes in the process.

Mark Seow examines the clichés and truths that East Asian musicians face and, in the process, attempts to make sense of his own story.

Speaking to a range of musicians with East Asian heritage in the UK, Europe, Japan and Malaysia, Mark tells the real story of East Asian musical achievements and influence in the 21st century.

With contributions from: Maxine Kwok, LSO; Eunsley Park, London Philharmonia; Dr Maiko Kawabata, Royal College of Music and the Open University; Augustin Lusson, The Beggar’s Ensemble; Professor Daniel Leech Wilkinson, KCL; Dr David Chin, Artistic Director of Bachfest Malaysia and Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra; Masaaki Suzuki, founder of Bach Collegium Japan; and Alex Ho, composer and co-founder of Tangram. With thanks to Thomas Cressy.

Presenter: Mark Seow
Producer: Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001pmj0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001pmj4)
Call You and Yours: What's your experience of installing solar panels and heat pumps?

On Call You & Yours today we're asking: What's your experience of installing solar panels and heat pumps?

Homeowners across the UK are making more green improvements to their homes than ever before.

On average, more than 20,000 households installed solar panels every month this year, and the number of homes installing heat pumps reached 3,000 a month for the first time.

How much does it cost? Have you had an assessment to see if your house is suitable? Have improvements saved you money?

What's your experience of installing solar panels and heat pumps?

Please phone 03700 100 444 after 11am.

Or you can email us youandyours@bbc.co.uk

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001pmj8)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001pmjd)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Magic Consultants (m001kpwy)
The History

Adam Shaw peeks behind the curtain of the consultancy industry.

Worth hundreds of billions of pounds, consultants stretch across almost every industry, government department and international border.

Since the pandemic there’s been an unprecedented demand for their services and many believe our future is determined by what they think and do. Yet little is known about these largely hidden influencers. They are magnetic and mesmerizing yet, to many of us, shrouded in mystery.

Adam asks who are these wizards, what do they do and how much do they influence our lives.

On the one hand, they're talked of as genius solvers of the world’s greatest problems and masters of the machinery of management. On other, some think of them in more shadowy terms, whispering their guidance into the ears of the rich and powerful. Adam sets off with missionary zeal to detangle two very different stereotypes.

Across the series he hunts for the first ever consultant, finds out how they shape our language and politics and discovers how they bounce back from appalling scandals. He joins a consultancy fair to meet aspirant consultants, hears stories from the glass towers of late nights and rewards, explores FOMO and addition, turnarounds and triumphs.

In this episode he charts the history of the industry from its early pioneers: scientific time managers on the factory floors of industrializing America, in pursuit of greater efficiency. He hears how the industry evolved on both sides of the Atlantic and how governments and businesses alike began relying on them for advice.

With contributions from: Andrew Sturdy, Professor in Management at The University of Bristol, Dr Chris McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, public services consultant and historian Dr Antonio Weiss and Rosie Collington, co-author of The Big Con,

Produced by Neil McCarthy


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001pmdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m0011c5d)
Series 2

Part 1

The winner of the British Podcast Award for Best Fiction 2021 returns with a gripping drama about trauma, obsession and why we harm the things we love.

Part 1 of 7

Written by Anita Vettesse with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of violent crime.

Alex assesses a young woman as she is released from prison. Sarah has served ten years for Arson. Does she still present a risk?

Alex … Lolita Chakrabarti
Sarah ….. Melody Grove
Paul ….. Robert Jack
Ros ….. Lois Chimimba
Dog Walker ….. Anita Vettesse

Series created by Lucia Haynes, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Series consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams

A BBC Scotland Production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001pm2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 A Very British Cult (p0fdl4wz)
6. Control

We meet Simon, who ended up deep in Lighthouse, recruiting for them, monitoring their critics and living with his mentor. But one day Simon says he realised he was actually in a cult, and he had no choice but to pack his bags and run.

What happens when a life coach takes over your life? Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a sinister life coaching company.

Reporter: Catrin Nye
Written by: Jamie Bartlett and Catrin Nye
Producers: Osman Iqbal, Natalie Truswell, Ed Main & Jo Adnitt
Researcher: Aisha Doherty
Executive Producer: Ravin Sampat
Sound Mixing: James Bradshaw
Original Music by: Phil Channell
Commissioner: Rhian Roberts


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m001pmjk)
Therapy Speak

Susie Orbach talks to Michael Rosen about the use and misuse of “therapy speak”. With the rise of mental health awareness, it seems to have leaked out of the therapist’s office and into our homes. Instead of saying someone’s getting on our nerves, we talk about “boundaries”; instead of accusing someone of lying, we call them a “gaslighter”; instead of telling someone we’re listening, we say we’re “holding space”.
But do these words mean what we think they do? And do they help or heighten the issues we are trying to discuss?

Producer: Alice McKee, BBC Audio Bristol


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001pmjq)
Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques

Born in 1922, Hattie Jacques began her career in music hall before graduating onto the radio comedies of the 1950s such as Educating Archie', 'It's That Man Again' and 'Hancock's Half Hour' where she became a star. TV and films followed, most notably the role of Eric Sykes' twin sister in 'Sykes' and the stern but lovelorn matron, headmistress or housekeeper in the 'Carry On' films. Hattie was teased about her weight in school and she was often the person being laughed at in her work. She largely accepted this role but yearned to do more serious work. In contrast to many of the characters she played she was a vivacious person who loved men and liked a party.

Choosing Hattie is neuroscientist Sophie Scott who remembers Hattie as the first funny woman she heard or saw. Sophie studies why we laugh and says it was great how Hattie held her own with these men. Together with expert Andy Merriman they explore Hattie's life including how she did her own welding in a film, her marriage to John Le Mesurier and affair with John Schofield, and whether the typecasting she suffered was a hindrance or a benefit to her career. Presented by Matthew Parris who remembers Hattie uttering "But not with a daffodil!" in 'Carry On Nurse'. You'll have to listen to find out where exactly that daffodil was discovered.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.


TUE 17:00 PM (m001pmjv)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001pmjy)
The Bulgarian nationals charged with possessing fake passports and ID cards


TUE 18:30 The Ultimate Choice (m001k077)
Series 1

Episode 4: Agatha Christie v Mr Blobby

Steph McGovern is in Newcastle to ask some seriously funny minds for their definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not. Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Pippa Evans and Dave Johns.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Pippa Evans and Dave Johns
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by David Thomas
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas

Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001pmk3)
Pip, Lottie and Ben are on a night out, where talk turns to Pip’s love life. Lottie can’t believe there’s been no-one since Toby, but when she probes her further, Pip shuts Lottie down. Later back at Rickyard Ben and Pip unwind. Ben’s surprised to see David’s precious toy farm on the floor and Pip explains that David’s lent it to Rosie. When Ben unloads about how much work is involved in running the B and B, Pip suggests Hannah staying there might make things easier. But Ben’s not convinced; it would still be work, especially when he’s back at uni. Pip suggests mentioning his concerns to Ruth. Disaster strikes when Ben unwittingly treads on David’s toy farm base and it cracks. Trying to regain his balance, he then causes more damage. When Pip comments that Ben’s like Godzilla, Ben wonders how he’s going to tell David.
George and Henry unload the Bridge Farm van and George talks about his forthcoming family day out to the County Show. Ed’s showing his Texels and he’s convinced that they’ll get a ton of rosettes. When Henry asks Helen if he can go along with them, she agrees, saying Henry will have a fantastic time. Later Henry tells George that his stepdad’s been texting him. When George wonders if he means Lee, Henry says no, the real one. Rob’s going to meet Henry at the show, so Henry will probably do his own thing there without George. George says that’s fine he can hang out with his mates.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001pmk8)
Live from the Edinburgh Festival: Nicola Benedetti, Colson Whitehead, Karine Polwart, Susie McCabe, Andrew O’Hagan

Front Row is live from Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh for festival season, presented by Kate Molleson.

Scotland’s own Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti will be with us to share her vision for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, as she makes her debut as Festival Director.

Kate will also be joined on stage by the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Colson Whitehead to discuss Crook Manifesto, the latest instalment in his Harlem saga, set in 1970s New York.

We’ll have music from the Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart with pianist Dave Milligan, ahead of their appearance at the Book Festival.

Glasgow comedian Susie McCabe will share stand-up from her new Fringe show exploring her womanhood, Femme Fatality.

Novelist and fellow Glaswegian Andrew O’Hagan will reflect on making his directorial debut, as he brings his new play The Ballad of Truman Capote to the Fringe.

Presenter: Kate Molleson
Producer: Kirsty McQuire


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001pf8q)
Escaping Anna

A group of women turned to a private specialist eating disorder clinic in Bath hoping they would receive life-changing treatment.

They say their mental and physical health deteriorated while the psychologist in charge subjected them to psychological abuse. The clinic has since closed its doors, but the former patients say they have been left with life-long scars

Reporter: Divya Talwar
Producer: Ellie Layhe


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001pmkr)
RNIB Job Advert; Access to the Women's World Cup

The RNIB recently advertised the role of Customer Support Officer, but there was a particular bit of wording that drew an instant and indignant reaction from a number of blind and partially sighted people who read it. The initial advert stated that the systems used within the role were not compatible with JAWS screen reader. The advert has since been amended to dispute this, stipulating that JAWS could be used with some work arounds, such as scripting. The RNIB's Director of Services, David Newbold addresses your concerns and sheds light on what happened.

The Lionesses, England's women's football team, are causing waves at the World Cup and FIFA have developed a way of making the games more accessible to visually impaired smart phone users. They, along with the Centre for Access to Football in Europe, are providing audio described commentary through the FIFA Interpreting App. It aims to fill in the gaps and deliver a better football experience for visually impaired fans.

To access the audio described commentary through the app, the following access code can be used: ADCFWWC2023 (this is case sensitive).

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m001pmky)
On the trail of a new street drug

What happens when a new drug hits the UK’s streets? And how are illicit drugs here changing – and why?


James follows the trail of the first case of “zombie drug” xylazine in the UK and hears some powerful personal stories along the way.


The story begins in Solihull, in the West Midlands, where 43-year-old Karl Warburton was found dead in May 2022. He had a mix of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in his body.


James visits a local addiction clinic where Mark describes the fear and compulsion many addicts face. He tells James about his journey to recovery and we meet Simon who’s on a mission to help people like Mark into a new life.


Next, James meets toxicologists at a busy hospital lab in Birmingham where he finds out how xylazine was first detected. Then he travels to London to meet a university academic who first raised the alarm about the drug, and visits a cramped room containing the paper records she keeps detailing every drug death in Britain from the past 25 years.


James goes on a surprising and, at times, emotional journey as he gets a rare insight into the world of illegal drugs and the parts of the NHS that treat addiction.


Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Erika Wright
Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Technical producer: Andrew Garratt

Locations:
Solihull Integrated Addiction Services, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Department of Toxicology, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
The National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (NPSAD), King’s College London


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001pmgn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001pml3)
The new charges against Donald Trump

The most extensive allegations of criminality yet levelled at Donald Trump - now accused, in one state, of leading a conspiracy to subvert the wishes of voters. We'll examine how serious these charges are for the former president - and speak to a leading Republican congressman from Georgia.

Also on the programme:

Two years on from the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan, we hear from a Taliban spokesperson who says the international community is using women’s rights as an excuse to put pressure on them.

And the pair of pen pals who've met for the first time - after almost 70 years of writing each other letters.


TUE 22:45 The Lock Up by John Banville (m001pml9)
Episode 7

1950s Dublin. in a lock-up garage in the city, the body of a young woman is discovered – an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.

The victim’s sister, a newspaper reporter from London, returns to Dublin to join the two men in their quest to uncover the truth. But, as they explore her links to a wealthy German family in County Wicklow, and to investigative work she may have been doing in Israel, they are confronted with an ever-deepening mystery. With relations between the two men increasingly strained, and their investigation taking them back to the final days of the Second World War, can they join the pieces of a hidden puzzle?

John Banville is one of Ireland’s most prolific writers. He has written 17 novels and has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He lives in Dublin.

Author: John Banville
Reader: Gerry O’ Brien
Abridger: Neville Teller
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


TUE 23:00 Witch (p0fpbwf2)
12. Witch Circle

The witch has held a place firmly in our imagination for centuries – from whispered warnings in folklore to pop-culture driven heights. But what does it mean to be a witch now?

Presenter India Rakusen, creator of the podcast 28ish Days Later, is on a journey to find out.

The act of witches gathering together to practise their craft seems to have its own special power. India spends time with a group of witches in Scotland and a coven in Cornwall, and explores the power of group rituals.

Scored with original music by The Big Moon

Presenter: India Rakusen
Executive Producer: Alex Hollands
Producer: Lucy Dearlove
Producer: Elle Scott
AP: Tatum Swithenbank
Production Manager: Kerry Luter
Sound Design: Olga Reed

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m000fvzp)
Series 3

Spring

Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his probably doomed quest to make sense of the human experience.

Expect jokes galore and a few songs with Mark aided by the sardonic musical brilliance of Flo and Joan.

And Mark has a fresh comedy friend in each show. For starters, it's Lou Sanders.

A time of new beginnings, lambs and other cliches.

Spring kicks off this series about the four seasons of the year and the seasons of a human life, as Mark - at the halfway point of his expected lifespan - considers what might come next...

Producer: Lianne Coop

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2020.