SATURDAY 16 AUGUST 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002h0bh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Trauma Industrial Complex by Darren McGarvey (m002h098)
Episode 5

There’s been an explosion of trauma culture in the West over the last decade, ramped up by social media and its encouragement to shape, present and broadcast our own stories. But is this ownership helpful, or is it keeping people trapped? Could it even be warping public debate? In his new book the Orwell Prize-winning author of 'Poverty Safari' and 'The Social Distance Between Us' shares hard-won wisdom from a life spent recovering in the public gaze.

When trauma grows bigger than an individual, how do we find the balance between personal recovery and societal change?

Written and read by Darren McGarvey
Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Darren has just finished a run of 'Trauma Industrial Complex: The Live Show' at the Edinburgh Fringe.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002h0bk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002h0bm)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002h0bp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002h0br)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002h0bt)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Dr Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity


SAT 05:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m0022sk3)
15. Song of the Sea

A PhD student with a passion for whales stumbles upon something strange. An eerie sound deep beneath the ocean waves is about to rock her world.

Producer Lauren Armstrong Carter
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002h9fn)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002h0fg)
Cosmo Sheldrake

Musician Cosmo Sheldrake takes Martha Kearney on a trip down memory lane as they explore his childhood haunts on Hampstead Heath. They first head to a tucked away bird sanctuary where Cosmo used to come with his dad, and talk about the profound influence that birdsong has had on his music making over the years. They pass through beech groves in search of his favourite tree, "The Beanstalk", which he used to climb every day after school. And they get creative with field recordings, using Cosmo's recording kit to tune into underground and underwater worlds. His geophone records the sound of the soil beneath their feet: the gurgle of water through clay and the shuffle of subterranean insects. And his hydrophone records the sound of the ponds: the fizz of photosynthesising plants and the bubble of fish.

Cosmo is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, live improviser, and field recordist. His music ranges widely from celebratory anthems to sparse electronic production, to haunting polyphonic songs that have grown out of field recordings of birds, whales, fish, frogs, and fungi, and more. Running through all his work is a belief that the living world is a noisy and musical place with the power to change how we think, feel, and imagine.

Producer: Becky Ripley


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002h9fq)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002h9fs)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002h9fv)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 What's Up Docs? (m002gzzm)
What do your nails say about your health?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tackle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.

This week, Chris and Xand are exploring the topic of nail health. As well as being useful tools on our hands and feet, nails can also be important signs of many diseases and disorders. But what exactly is a nail made of? How did nails evolve? And what should we be doing to keep them strong and healthy?

They speak to Dr Yusur Al-Nuaimi, Consultant Dermatologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and Clinical Lead for the British Hair and Nail Society, to get some answers.

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Dr Yusur Al-Nuaimi
Producers: William Hornbrook and Jo Rowntree
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 09:30 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m002gzyv)
Series 11

Hera

The Queen of the Olympian gods is swallowed whole by her father at birth and then marries her brother Zeus, who turns himself into a cuckoo to seduce her. Hera, or Juno to the Romans, has her triumphs. She adds the eyes to the tail feathers of her sacred bird the peacock by plucking them from the hundred-eyed monster Argos. And in the Iliad she dons a magic bra given to her by Aphrodite to persuade Zeus to support the Greeks against the Trojans.

Her loyalty to the Greeks begins when Trojan prince Paris doesn't choose her as the most beautiful. She then devotes her life to persecuting him and his people. Perhaps a slight overreaction. But is Hera a monster or just mistreated by the undisputed worst husband of all time?

At a packed out solo show recorded at the Hay Festival Natalie puts the case for and against.

'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the best-selling author of 'Divine Might', 'Stone Blind', and 'A Thousand Ships' as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greek and Rome.

Producer...Beth O'Dea


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002h9fx)
India between empires: the long 18th century

Greg Jenner is joined in early modern India by historian Dr Jagjeet Lally and comedian Nish Kumar to learn all about the subcontinent’s dynamic eighteenth century. From the sixteenth century, the dominant power in India was the Mughal Empire. According to the traditional narrative, when the Mughals began to decline in the eighteenth century, the subcontinent descended into political chaos, and European trading powers – most notably the British East India Company – swooped in to take advantage and (in their words) restore order. But can we trust this story? In this episode, we look at India’s long eighteenth century not as a period of chaos, but one of dynamic transformation and exciting developments. Taking in the rise of new powers including the Marathas, the Rajputs and the Sikh Empire, and looking at changes in the economy, global trade, artistic patronage and gender relations, we explore what India was really like at this time.

If you’re a fan of the history of globalisation, the connections between politics, economics and social relations, and debunking historical myths, you’ll love our episode on the long eighteenth century in India.

If you want to know more about the history of India, check out our episodes on the Mughals and Bollywood. And for more eighteenth-century history, there’s our episode on Black Georgian England.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Clara Chamberlain
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars


SAT 10:30 Artworks (m0021b8j)
Art that Conquered the World

The Hay Wain

We have been making art for tens of thousands of years. But very few of these many millions of images have become truly famous.

Only a handful of artworks have entered popular culture, as fridge magnets, greetings cards and biscuit tins – becoming instantly recognisable all over the world.

Art historian Dr James Fox tells the story of one such painting, John Constable's The Hay Wain.

For more than a century, The Hay Wain has been all around us. It's been reproduced in magazines and on merchandise, in cartoons and advertisements and featured on propaganda posters and at protests. But why did it hit the big time?

Christine Riding of The National Gallery and the photomontage artist and activist Peter Kennard contribute as James traces The Hay Wain's progress through the artistic stratosphere to global celebrity.

Producer: Julia Johnson
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002h0g1)
Fake News: How We Can Save Ourselves From Disinformation (Eliot Higgins)

Conspiracy theories have flooded the internet in recent years and a growing number of people are avoiding mainstream news.

Eliot Higgins, founder of the open source investigative organisation Bellingcat, thinks this is partly down to a lack of trust in institutions, which is leading to a crisis of democracy in Britain and elsewhere.

He discusses why we need to spend less time online, improve media literacy and how Bellingcat has built a community of open source investigators on Discord.

Eliot also explains how his team tracked down the Russian agents behind the Salisbury poisonings, took on Putin’s Kremlin and uncovered what really happened to Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

GET IN TOUCH

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by James Piper. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002h9g0)
Afghanistan's hidden lives

Kate Adie presents stories from Afghanistan, China, Japan and Tajikistan.

In Afghanistan's Ghor Province, Mahjooba Nowrouzi reports from a small maternity hospital where two female doctors serve thousands of patients. With limited resources and financial support, the odds are stacked against them - and against the women they tend to and treat.

Last year, BBC Radio 4’s Crossing Continents aired the award-winning documentary ‘Our Whole Life is a Secret’, which charted the daily life of a young Afghan woman. In this dispatch, she provides an update on her life today, four years after the Taliban returned to power.

In Beijing, pro-democracy campaigners regularly face surveillance and restrictions on their movement. Among them is human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, who was arrested in 2015 and imprisoned for 'subverting state power'. Danny Vincent heard about his life since his release.

It's 80 years since Japan’s Emperor Hirohito surrendered to allied forces in World War II after the US dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima ad Nagasaki, bringing an end to the six-year-long conflict. Ellie House encountered a group of schoolchildren in Hiroshima's peace park - and learned more about how the war is remembered there.

In the Tajikistan the endangered striped hyena is fighting for survival. Tajik conservationists have been working hard to save this elusive and much misunderstood animal. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent met them on a trek into the mountains.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002h9g2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Sliced Bread (m002dpn7)
Toast - FHM

FHM was the men's magazine that sold vastly more copies than any of its competitors but still ended up toast. So, why did its publishers stop printing it while other men's magazines survived?

The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, charts its highs and lows in the company of four of FHM's former editors.

Alongside them is the entrepreneur, Sam White, who has to use her business acumen to reach her own conclusions based upon what she has heard.

Featuring in the show are:

- Eric Musgrave - the original editor of 'For Him Magazine' as it was known when it launched in 1985

- Mike Soutar - the FHM editor who took sales to over half-a-million a month in the late 1990s

- Piers Hernu - FHM's editor-at-large who took to the airwaves to defend lads' mags against accusations of sexism

- Joe Barnes - who edited the magazine for four years until shortly before its print publication ceased

Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

You can email the programme at toast@bbc.co.uk

Feel free to suggest topics which could be covered in future episodes.


SAT 12:30 Too Long; Didn't Read (m002h0b3)
Series 2

Episode 4

Columns. Analysis. The Guardian's Long Read. Who has time? Catherine Bohart, that's who, and she's going beyond the headlines to give you the lowdown on one of the biggest stories this week, with the help of Hugo Rifkind, and our regular roving correspondent Sunil Patel.

Written by Catherine Bohart, with Madeleine Brettingham, Tom Neenan and Pravanya Pillay.

Producer: Alison Vernon Smith
Executive Producers: Lyndsay Fenner & Victoria Lloyd
Sound Design: David Thomas
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Sayer

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002h9g4)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002h9g6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002h0b7)
Elisabeth Braw, Stephen Doughty MP, Mark Serwotka, Lord Vaizey

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) military museum in Lyneham, Wiltshire, with Elisabeth Braw, a defence and security expert, and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank; foreign office minister and Labour MP, Stephen Doughty; the former president of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mark Serwotka; and Conservative peer and former culture minister, Lord Vaizey of Didcot.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Nick Ford


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002h9g8)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002h0b5)
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Helen Aitken
Editor: Jeremy Howe

10th – 15th August

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Pip Archer…. Daisy Badger
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Neil Carter…. Brian Hewlett
Alan Franks…. John Telfer
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy…. Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane…. Perdita Avery
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Stella Pryor…. Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Dane…. Stravros Demetraki


SAT 15:00 And Other Stories: Katherine Mansfield (m000lsty)
2. Daughters of the Late Colonel, The Garden Party, Ma Parker & Her First Ball.

Katherine Mansfield’s best-loved short stories fully-dramatised in two box-sets.

This second instalment contains four stories of age and experience.

* DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE COLONEL: Jug and Con's fear of their father’s disapproval continues even after he has died.

Katherine Mansfield ...... Hattie Morahan
Josephine ....... Rosie Cavaliero
Constantia ...... Clare Corbett
The Late Colonel ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Kate ...... Cecilia Appiah
Mr Farolles ...... Carl Prekopp
Nurse Andrews ...... Charlotte East
Cyril ...... Luke Nunn

* THE GARDEN PARTY: Laura learns, briefly, the awful gap between her class and that of a dead neighbour on the day of her mother’s garden party.

Katherine Mansfield ...... Hattie Morahan
Laura ...... Cecilia Appiah
Mrs Sheridan ...... Rosie Cavaliero
Mr Sheridan ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Laurie ...... Luke Nunn
Cook ...... Rose Basista
Sadie ...... Clare Corbett
Man ...... Carl Prekopp
Josie ...... Charlotte East

* LIFE OF MA PARKER: The cleaner for a Literary Gentleman discovers she has absolutely nowhere to grieve when her grandson dies.

Life of Ma Parker:
Katherine Mansfield ...... Hattie Morahan
Ma Parker ...... Rosie Cavaliero
Literary Gentleman ...... Michael Bertenshaw
Doctor ...... Carl Prekopp
Lennie ...... Orla Pearce

* HER FIRST BALL: Leila learns that the joy of a ball, and of being young and free, is short-lived and destined to end.

Katherine Mansfield ...... Hattie Morahan
Leila ...... Rose Basista
Laura ...... Cecilia Appiah
Man 1 & 3 ...... Carl Prekopp
Josie ...... Charlotte East
Man 2 ...... Luke Nunn
Old Man ...... Michael Bertenshaw

Dramatised by Katie Hims.

Sound by Peter Ringrose.

Director: Jessica Dromgoole

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2020.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002h9gb)
Highlights from the Woman's Hour week


SAT 17:00 PM (m002h9gd)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002h0f4)
Salt

Is expensive salt better for your health?

Greg Foot gathers the experts, dives into the data and crunches the numbers to get the answers for listener Sally.

Each episode Greg investigates the latest ad-hyped products and trending fads promising to make us healthier, happier and greener. Are they really 'the best thing since sliced bread' and should you spend your money on them?

All of our episodes start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.

RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND GREG FOOT


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002h9gg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002h9gj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002h9gl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002h9gn)
Ruth Jones, Jordan Gray, Jamie MacDonald, Dylan Adler, Hot Mess, James Emmanuel

Clive Anderson hosts a Loose Ends party with some of the many musicians, comedians, writers and stars of the stage lighting up the Edinburgh Festivals.

Ruth Jones’ latest book By Your Side is partly set in Scotland, and she’ll be in the capital sharing some of her pet peeves that have found their way on to its pages. Comedian and actor Jordan Gray is having a busy summer, her new sitcom Transaction hit our screens in June and her stage show promises to be her rootin-est, tootin-est, shootin-est hour of musical comedy so far. Stand-up Jamie MacDonald doesn’t want being blind to shut down his opportunities to be loathsome and toxic. Plus comedian Dylan Adler on growing up one half of a pair of identical gay twins.

With music from Hot Mess, a musical that rides the highs and lows of Earth and Humanity's passionate love affair, and Nigerian singer-songwriter James Emmanuel shares his love for Edinburgh, the city he now calls home.

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Caitlin Sneddon


SAT 19:00 The Bottom Line (m002h9gq)
The Decisions That Made Me

Sophie O’Brien (Pollen Careers, CEO)

After 14 years of having a successful career in media, Sophie found herself unemployed. She thought with her skills and experience finding a new role would be easy, but it was the opposite. After struggling with applications and repeated denials, Sophie decided she wanted to change the process of applying for a job. The employment specialist talks to Evan Davis about how she’s trying to change the way recruitment works with her business Pollen Careers.

Production team:
Producers: Nick Holland, Georgiana Tudor
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: John Scott
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m002fxn9)
Series 33

Moths v Butterflies - Katy Brand, Jane Hill and Chris Jiggins

What really separates a moth from a butterfly? Is it just a matter of day and night, or is there more to this fluttering feud than meets the eye?
Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince flap into the fabulous world of Lepidoptera with Professor Jane Hill, Professor Chris Jiggins, and comedian Katy Brand. Together, they chase colourful wings through science and storytelling, uncovering epic insect migrations, the secrets behind dazzling wing patterns, and most importantly, why Katy has a butterfly tattoo on her arm!

Producer: Olivia Jani
Series Producer: Melanie Brown
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002h9gs)
Damage and Repair

Restorative Justice is a fascinating but under-acknowledged part of our criminal justice system. It seeks to deliver justice that heals, engaging in dialogue people who have caused harm and those who have been the victims of crime.

It gives victims the chance to talk about the impact of a crime and seek answers about why it happened. And it can provide people who have committed crimes with a new perspective, allowing them to move forward as constructive, positive citizens.

Yet despite it being part of the Ministry of Justice's policy on dealing with victims of crime to make them aware of restorative justice, only a tiny fraction of people even know that it is an option.

Presenter Hilary Ineomo-Marcus spent time in prison, and although he didn't go through a formal restorative justice process himself, he has spoken publicly about the offence he committed, addressing the harm that it caused to the people around him and allowing him to move forward.

In this remarkable programme, Hilary explores the history of restorative justice in the UK, hearing powerful testimony from people with first-hand experience of the practice.

With thanks to:
Nick Dawson;
Amanda Hamblin;
Teresa Parker;
Sir Charles Pollard;
Khamran Uddin, interviewed by Paula Harriott and Phil Maguire from The Secret Life of Prisons podcast;
Professor Kelly Richards, School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology;
Debbie Watters, chair of the Restorative Justice Council UK;
Caroline Willis, headteacher of Millpool Campus, City of Birmingham School, and pupils Ayaan, Kian and Jamie;
The Why Me? oral history project 'Damage and Repair: 20 Years of Restorative Justice'.

Producer: Becca Bryers
Executive Producer: Andrew Wilkie
A Prison Radio Association production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Understand (m002h9gv)
The Trip

The Trip: Omnibus 2

During the early weeks of the pandemic, Tim Hayward spent 14 days in a coma. He remembers this time vividly – his days and nights filled with strange, incandescent visions and hallucinations. That experience is something he would never choose to revisit but, around the world, large numbers of people are deliberately seeking out powerfully altered states.

In this series, Tim sets out to better understand a group of substances that induce altered states: psychedelics.

There’s been a surge of interest in their therapeutic potential for various mental health conditions - as well as a range of other clinical possibilities. As research around the world ramps up after years of taboo and prohibition he tries to get to grips with - or at least get a clearer sense of - how science, culture, politics and business might all interact in this changing psychedelic landscape, and what it all might mean.

He also explores what might be happening in the brain during a trip and whether, by studying psychedelics, we might uncover more about consciousness, imagination and even the mysteries of reality itself.

This is the second of two omnibus editions.

Presenter: Tim Hayward
Series Producer: Richard Ward
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Written by Tim Hayward and Richard Ward
Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Ward
Researcher: Grace Revill
Production Executive: Lisa Lipman
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Audio footage from Psychedelic Science 2023 and 2025 used with permission from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).


SAT 22:00 News (m002h9gx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002h096)
The Crayfish Question

It’s been nearly 50 years since invasive American Signal Crayfish were introduced to the UK, and we still haven’t figured out how to get rid of them. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins Sheila Dillon to meet a man who believes the way to control their spread is to get more people eating them — but not everyone’s convinced. These crustaceans are so invasive that ecologists worry encouraging consumption could lead to further spread. Meanwhile, in parts of the Southern US, crayfish are a beloved delicacy. Sheila heads to a crayfish boil in London to see how that tradition is being recreated here.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol


SAT 23:00 Crybabies Present... (m002h7ng)
Series 1

Shootout

When villains hijack the biggest event on the planet (the Football Cup Final) the only man who can save the day is catering manager Skips McCoy. Can he save the world from disaster? Will he conquer the demons of his past? Did he bring enough tiny burgers?

Buckle up for an all action blockbuster as Crybabies bring the big screen to your normal sized radio.

Written and performed by Michael Clarke, James Gault & Ed Jones.

Featuring Jim Howick and Chiara Goldsmith

Production Co-ordinator - Laura Shaw

Sound Design by David Thomas and Victoria Freund

Producer - Benjamin Sutton

Executive Producer - Joe Nunnery

A Boffola Pictures production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Nature Table (m001fvzx)
Series 3

Episode 2

Celebrating the natural world and all it’s funny eccentricities.

Taking the simple format of a ‘Show & Tell’, in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo.

In this episode, Sue welcomes:

* Zoologist and Author Lucy Cooke
* Conservationist and Zoologist Megan McCubbin
* Comedian Felicity Ward

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts.

Additional material by Kat Sadler.

Producer: Simon Nicholls

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.

SUNDAY 17 AUGUST 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002h9gz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002gzqz)
Irvine Welsh

Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, this week speaks to the writer Irvine Welsh about his new novel Men In Love - the direct sequel to Trainspotting - and hears of the three other literary works that influenced and inspired Irvine's writing. More than thirty years after Trainspotting was published the iconic cast of characters of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie are back, and entering a new phase of their lives looking for love.

For his three choices Irvine chose: William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream first performed between 1584-1596 and published in 1600; Ulysses by James Joyce from 1922; and In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust which was published in seven parts from 1913 to 1927 and is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as the longest novel ever written.

The supporting contributor for this episode is the writer and author of Scabby Queen - Kirstin Innes.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002h9h1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002h9h3)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002h9h5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002h9h7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002h9h9)
St Mary’s Church in Earl Stonham, Suffolk.

Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary’s Church in Earl Stonham, Suffolk. The Church is known for its ornate single hammerbeam roof decorated with carved angels, animals and foliage. There are six bells including two dating from the 15th century. The Tenor bell weighs nine nd a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of G-flat. We now hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002h002)
Macular Society Update; Deafblind in Scotland

The charity Macular Society provides support to people living with the UK's most prominent cause of sight loss, macular disease. They also help to fund research into finding a cure. In Touch has been hearing about the society's plans to reduce staffing levels within their regional team and so we speak to their CEO, Ed Holloway who explains what is currently happening with these proposals, which are still under consultation.

Scotland has recently recognised Deafblindness as a distinct condition, but what does this mean for people living with the duel disability? Ian Hamilton delves deeper into whether this change might mean better services for those living with it in Scotland.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate 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 of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002h9m7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vp3)
Rāgas and Redemption: Alam Khan’s spiritual legacy

What does it mean to inherit a sacred tradition? Alam Khan was born into one of the most revered lineages in Indian classical music—his father, Ali Akbar Khan, was hailed as one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century and brought the spiritually rich sarod and rāga music to the West. But Alam's journey has not been one of simple inheritance.

Presenter Rajeev Gupta follows Alam across California - from his father's grave to the family music school and into the quiet spaces where Alam seeks refuge. At the heart of this documentary is a deeply personal wrestle: growing up American, immersed in rock and hip-hop, Alam resisted the weight of legacy. But after his father's death, something changed. Going through his father’s recordings, he felt a cosmic calling - one that was more spiritual than familial.

Through intimate conversation and music, Alam explains the sacred philosophy behind Indian rāgas, where melody becomes a prayer and performance a form of spiritual alignment with the cosmos. But this is also a story of doubt, pressure, and the personal cost of carrying a spiritual tradition into the modern world. This is the story of a man finding peace in music, faith in legacy, and meaning in sound.

[Photo Description: (Left to Right) Rajeev Gupta and Alam Khan in front of a photo of Ali Akbar Khan, Photo Credit: Rajeev Gupta]

Producer/presenter: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002h9m9)
The Rush Harvest

Charlotte Smith wades into the River Great Ouse to see the rush harvest. Felicity Irons cuts the wild rush in the summertime, carrying it by punt back to the shore. In her Bedfordshire workshop she makes rush matting and baskets which are shipped all over the world.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002h9mc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002h9mf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002h9mh)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002h9mk)
The Holocaust Educational Trust

Jason Isaacs makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Holocaust Educational Trust. The charity educates people about the Holocaust through its projects and uses technology to preserve and share the testimonies of survivors.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week. Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0755 for 7 days.
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- 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 ‘The Holocaust Educational Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Holocaust Educational Trust’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.

Registered Charity Number in England and Wales: 1092892, and in Scotland: SC042996.
If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.het.org.uk
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002h9mm)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002h9mp)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002h9mr)
In the Footsteps of Popes and Pilgrims

A pilgrimage to Rome with young adults from the Diocese of Salford as they attend the Jubilee of Youth and enter the Holy Doors, opened by Pope Francis to mark the start of the Jubilee Year.

As they visit Rome's holiest sites and meet other young Catholics from around the world, they reflect on their faith, the legacy of Pope Francis and their hopes for Pope Leo XIV.

The pilgrimage is led by Fr. Christopher Gorton and the preacher is the Rt Revd John Arnold, Bishop of Salford.

Producer: Katharine Longworth

MUSIC

Christ be our Light (Bernadette Farrell)
Choirs of the Diocese of Leeds

Make me a Channel of your Peace (Sebastian Temple)
Geraldine Latty

Ubi Caritas (Maurice Duruflé)
The Cambridge Singers

Brother, sister, let me serve you (Richard Gillard)
The Northumbria Community

Tu es Petrus (G P da Palestrina)
Stile Antico

Lord, I lift Your name on high (Rick Founds)
AMC Gospel Choir

Pilgrims of Hope (Francesco Meneghello & Pierangelo Sequeri)
English translation by Andrew Wadsworth
Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct743r)
Sweden’s shocking sugar experiment

In the 1940s, some vulnerable Swedish hospital patients were fed large amounts of sugary sweets as part of an experiment to see what it would do to their teeth.

Researchers considered the study a success as it led to new recommendations for children to eat sweets just once a week.

In the 1990s, the unethical aspects of the experiment emerged when Elin Bommenel became the first researcher to gain access to the original documents from the experiments. Sweden's government has never formally apologised for what happened, although it has greatly improved care for vulnerable children and adults.

Elin tells Frida Anund about the revelations.

A PodLit production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: A sugar cube. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002h9mt)
George McGavin on the Snowy Owl

Entomologist and wildlife presenter George McGavin describes a magical encounter with a snowy owl. The sighting happened while George was on a university field recording trip fifty years ago, on the island of Unst in Shetland. Snowy owls primarily live in the polar Arctic regions, and while a small number have previously bred in Shetland, they remain rare visitors, so to spot one in the British Isles is incredibly lucky.

Presented by George McGavin and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Featuring a recording from Xeno-Canto by Patrik Åberg: Snowy owl - XC277682


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002h9mw)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002h9my)
Maggie Alphonsi, broadcaster and former rugby player

Maggie Alphonsi, broadcaster and former rugby player, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002h9n0)
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Helen Aitken
Editor: Jeremy Howe

10th – 15th August

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Pip Archer…. Daisy Badger
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Neil Carter…. Brian Hewlett
Alan Franks…. John Telfer
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy…. Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane…. Perdita Avery
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Stella Pryor…. Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Dane…. Stravros Demetraki


SUN 12:15 The Bottom Line (m002h9gq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m002gzv9)
Series 83

6. Dinner Table or Bedroom

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Bristol Beacon. On the panel are Adrian Edmondson, Rachel Parris, Miles Jupp and Henning Wehn, with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair. Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano.

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002h9n2)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002h9n4)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Assignment (w3ct6rbr)
Myanmar’s Scam Centres

Hundreds of thousands of people are being recruited – usually under false pretences - to work in massive facilities in the border areas of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, to promote fraudulent investment schemes and romance scams to unsuspecting citizens around the world. The scams, run by criminal gangs, are thought to be making tens of billions of dollars every year. Those recruited often find themselves, trapped, beaten and tortured.

Ed Butler travels to Thailand’s border with Myanmar to investigate the scale of the trade, to speak to survivors and to some of those still involved, and to explore what role the ongoing civil war in Myanmar is playing in fuelling this apparently burgeoning criminal trade, beyond the reach of international law-enforcement.

Presenter/producer: Ed Butler
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Programme co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy

(Photo: Alleged scam centre workers and victims sit on the ground during a crackdown operation by the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF). Credit: AFP/Getty Images)


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002h09s)
Hyde Hall: Latin Names, Water Butts and Plant Superpowers

What can gardening clubs do to entice new members? How do the panel handle their plant addiction? If you were to have a plant superpower, which would it be and why?

It’s party time in the garden once again! Gardeners’ Question Time returns with the much-anticipated GQT Summer Garden Party, recorded at the breathtaking RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex.

This week, Peter Gibbs leads the horticultural festivities as a vibrant panel of plant pros take on questions from a crowd of passionate and curious gardeners. On the panel - proud plantswoman Christine Walkden, pest and disease detective Pippa Greenwood, and botanical explorers James Wong and Dr Chris Thorogood.

Expect expert insights, surprising solutions, and a whole lot of garden inspiration in this special summer celebration of all things green and growing.

Producer: Matthew Smith
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali
Assistant Producer: Rocky Cocker
Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 Why Do We Do That? (p0kvb144)
Series 2

11. Why do we fall for the bad boy?

Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi looks at the evidence for what people want in a partner and how it changes as they get older. Psychologist Julia Stern from the University of Bremen shares the results of a study which recruited people from a singles night in a Berlin club and followed them for 13 years. Novelist Adele Parks explains why writing about bad boys is so much fun, and on the Bridget Jones scale of bad boys think more Hugh Grant and less Colin Firth.


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002h9n6)
John Hersey's searing account of the bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath.

John Hersey's Hiroshima is a ground-breaking piece of journalism that gave voice to the survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing. Written after two weeks spent interviewing citizens in the devastated city, the article was originally published in The New Yorker in 1946 under tight secrecy, due to U.S. suppression of the bomb’s long-term effects. It sold out rapidly and helped shift public understanding from triumphalist narratives to the harrowing human cost of nuclear war.

Hailed by New York University as the most important work of journalism in the 20th century, Hiroshima remains a moving testament to the power of bearing witness.

Hersey focuses his account on six of the survivors he interviewed. Miss Toshiko Sasaki; Dr. Masakazu Fujii; Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura; Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge; Dr Terufumi Sasaki; Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto.

In Part Two, the survivors come to terms with the medium and longer term effects of the bombing.

Read by:
Akie Kotabe
Ami Okumura Jones
Dai Tabuchi
Kae Alexander
Mark Edel-Hunt
Matt McCooey

Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Andy Garratt
Production co-ordination by Sara Benaim and Jon Powell

A BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002h9n8)
Rachel Kushner

Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the Booker-shortlisted American writer, Rachel Kushner, about her novel, Creation Lake, now out in paperback, and explores its connections to three other literary works. Creation Lake introduces us to the character of Sadie Smith, a ruthless 34-year-old American undercover agent who is sent by mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France to infiltrate a group of eco-protestors.

For her three influences Rachel chose: Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette published in 1977; Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov published in 1962; and The Tribe: Interviews with Jean-Michel Mension, which was originally published and translated into English by City Lights Books in 2001.

The supporting contributor for this episode is the writer and lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Andrew Meehan.

It was recorded at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m001g2y7)
Series 3

Episode 3

Celebrating the natural world and all it's funny eccentricities.

Taking the simple format of a 'Show & Tell', in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet's wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo.

In this episode, Sue welcomes:

* Zoologist Yussef Rafik
* Entomologist & Conservation Biologist Dr Karim Vahed
* Comedian Lucy Porter

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts.

Additional material by Kat Sadler.

Producer Simon Nicholls.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yr2)
In event of moon disaster: 'The speech that never was'

“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.”

These are the opening lines of the 'In Event of Moon Disaster' speech, written in 1969 in case the moon landing astronauts did not make it home.

They were composed by President Richard Nixon’s speechwriter, William Safire, who died in 2009, at the age of 79.

The speech continued: “These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.”

Using archive from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and NASA, Vicky Farncombe tells the story of “the speech that never was”.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin on the moon. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Invention Of... (m002dz57)
Hungary

Two World Wars and One Failed Revolution

It's easy to forget how entwined Hungary has been in some of the worst events of the last 100 years – losers in the first world war, the country initially sided with the Nazis in the second, tried to change its mind, was invaded by the Germans then taken over by the Soviets, then tried to kick out the Soviets … and failed. What, asks Misha Glenny, are the consequences of this history now, and how does the Hungarian government of Viktor Orban view the Russians today. Recorded on location at the scenes of some of the fiercest fighting in 1956.

"The Hungarian revolution and the Prague spring 12 years later - these were events that had a huge impact on me, and I have to say gave me a romantic infection for Hungarians and their struggles which has never entirely left me."

With contributions from Adam LeBor, author of The Last Days of Budapest: Spies, Nazis, Rescuers and Resistance; plus Paul Lendvai, Tibor Fischer, Simon Winder nd Victor Sebestyen formerly of the FT and writer of Budapest: Between East and West.

The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002h9nc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002h9nf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002h9nh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002h9nk)
Rima Ahmed

Rima Ahmed presents selection of the best bits of audio across the BBC.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002h9nm)
There’s an awkward customer at The Orangery, and Henry gets a boost.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002h9np)
Into the West

The red-billed chough is the most dashing crow in the world. These rare, flamboyant, scarlet-legged, scarlet-billed denizens of Britain’s Celtic coasts are communal and comic, intelligent and daring. They’re also sublime aeronauts, riding the breeze as though they’re made of it.

For writer Horatio Clare, the chough is his totem. He’s loved the bird since he first encountered it in the 1980s during childhood holidays to Pembrokeshire. And more than forty years on from that joyous first encounter he still seeks them out. It’s his annual pilgrimage.

In this episode of Illuminated, we join Horatio on that pilgrimage as he tells the story of a bird with a beak and legs the colour of a saint’s blood… or perhaps a king’s blood; whose cry says its name and whose presence symbolizes a nation’s identity. It’s the story of a bird which embodies myths… and creates new ones; a bird which fled into the West over two centuries ago and which is finally returning to a wider world.

Horatio begins his journey on Pen Llŷn, the westernmost spur of North Wales and one of the red-billed chough’s strongholds. His guide as he walks the sea cliffs is naturalist and folklorist Twm Elias. Twm lived alongside chough as he grew up on Llŷn and remembers a childhood visit to Caernarfon Castle, where his friend Dic John made a grab for the Castle’s ‘tame’ chough – and got a painful pecking in return.

Twm sees chough as a symbol of the wild coastal areas of north Wales. But it’s also wrapped up in ideas of Cornish identity too. Dr. Loveday Jenkin grew up on stories of King Arthur becoming a chough when he died. Yet, just as she heard those stories, the very last choughs were dying out in Cornwall.

But then, in 2001, thirty years after the last chough disappeared, three birds from Ireland made landfall in the far west of Cornwall. The following year two of them built a nest and the population grew from there. Hilary Mitchell from Cornwall Birds tells the story of how the avian symbol and spirit of the county returned.

The chough is associated now with the western Celtic coasts. But once upon a time it ranged right across the British Isles. And maybe it will again. Horatio heads in the opposite direction… east… to a place which hasn’t seen chough for at least two centuries, despite the bird being embedded in its iconography.

In Dover meets Paul Hadaway from Kent Wildlife Trust to discover how a bird which was a symbol of the martyr and saint Thomas a Becket is once again flying in Kentish skies. And Jenny Luddington from the Trust explains how she’s drawn on an old tradition of hooden creatures – carved wooden animal heads on poles – to create a hooden chough and tell the story of the bird’s return to Kent.

Horatio Clare discovers that the chough’s story has come full circle as old myths rehatch and new ones take wing.

Presenter: Horatio Clare
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Wales production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001qm8t)
Have a Cup of Tea

Michael gets cosy with a cuppa to find out how drinking tea can boost your heart health, reduce stress and may even benefit your bones! With the help of Professor Andrew Steptoe, Head of Behavioural Science at University College London, Michael learns the surprising benefits of ordinary tea. They discuss the benefits of bioactive compounds in tea, including L-theanine and polyphenols. A tasty brew can not only help you recover from stress, it can even benefit your heart health and reduce inflammation…Meanwhile, our volunteer Kit enjoys adding more tea to her life.

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB

Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002h0fj)
Central Intelligence and AI in Radio

It's the final episode of this series of Feedback, and we're ending it with a look at one of BBC Radio's high-end dramas - Central Intelligence. It follows the life of Eloise Page, who was a real-life CIA operative, and stars Kim Cattrall, Ed Harris, and Stephen Kunken. Stephen joins Andrea and director and writer John Scott Dryden to respond to listener comments and discuss what it's like to tell the story of the CIA.

Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming more and more embedded in everything around us, and radio is no different. Cliff Fluet, a partner at the law firm Lewis Silkin, who specialises in innovation and new technology in broadcasting, discusses the guidance around AI the BBC's output.

And two friends enter our VoxBox to discuss their experience of listening to the Shipping Forecast.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: Andrea Catherwood

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002h09x)
Matthew Bannister on

Jim Lovell, the astronaut who commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.

Biddy Baxter, the editor who left an indelible stamp on the children’s TV show Blue Peter. Sarah Greene pays tribute.

Razia Jan, the Afghan/American who founded a school for girls in Afghanistan after 9/11.

Iris Williams, the Welsh born singer whose career took off after an appearance on Radio 2.

Producer: Ed Prendeville


SUN 21:00 Sliced Bread (m002dpn7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002h9mk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002h9g0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002h9nr)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Artworks (m002h0dt)
What Happened to Counter-Culture?

2. Revolution in the Head

More than just a cultural trend – counter-culture became a social movement so powerful it shaped institutions, businesses, politics and the attitudes and aspirations of whole generations – including everything from haircuts to voting choices. In fact, it became so prevalent that it’s sometimes hard to remember how things have changed under its influence.

Comedian Stewart Lee presents a five-part series exploring the evolution and key ideas that have driven counter-culture from its beginnings with the Beats, folk and jazz in the 1950s, to its heights in the 1960s and 70s including the hippies and the early tech-communalists, the new liberation movements and punk, to the 1980s and early 90s, where political power on both sides of the Atlantic pushed back against the values of the ‘permissive society’.

Talking to artists, musicians, writers, activists and historians, Stewart continues to the present day asking where we are now, in the digital age of social media silos and the so-called ‘culture wars’ – what’s happened to counter-culture? Was it co-opted, did it sell out? Or did its ideas of freedom and identity become so entrenched within mainstream culture it’s legacy has become unassailable? Or has it migrated politically to the Right? Throughout the series, the counter-culture is explored not only in terms of its history, extraordinary cultural output and key events – but also its deeper political and philosophical impact, its continued meaning for our own age.

Part 2: Revolution in the Head. Against the growing political turmoil of the 1960s, this episode looks at the growing counter-culture as first of all a revolution in the head - the changing ideas of freedom and liberation, the power of psychedelics and rock, all culminating in 1967’s Human Be-In and Summer of Love. In London, a network of underground presses, clubs and bookshops, happenings and events like the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream channel the underground in contrast to mainstream culture. But the lines between the counterculture and the mainstream are beginning to blur, as Bob Dylan's decision to 'plug in' at Newport is condemned by the folk scene as selling out, even as the new sound electrifies the underground. The Beatles in particular were a bridge between the ideas of the counter-culture and popular success. The years from 1966-7 especially are a golden age for the counter-culture, where many of its key ideas become entrenched – seemingly progressive, but later weaponised by its opponents. It championed a liberation of the individual against society, but to what ends?

Contributors include music producer Joe Boyd, songwriter and guitarist Johnny Marr, author Olivia Laing, founder of Rolling Stone magazine Jann Wenner, Woodstock photographer Lisa Law, founding member of Blondie and author Gary Lachman, stone carver Emily Young, historian Peter Oborne, journalist and writer John Harris, author Lynsey Hanley, musician and songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and David Cunningham, who writes on 20th century art movements.

Presenter: Stewart Lee

Producer: Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 23:30 The History Podcast (m0024bg8)
The Lucan Obsession

6. The Golden Hour

With Sandra Rivett lying dead in the basement, Lucan must decide whether to face the police or run.

And so begins the second mystery that has made this case so compelling.

Where did Lucan go that night?

Was he being sheltered by his friends who the police nicknamed The Eaton Square Mafia?

Alex von Tunzelmann pieces together what we know of the hours after the murder, asking whose version should we believe.

She meets an eyewitness who says she was the last person to see Lucan alive, and crawls underground into a bunker where the police were sure he was hiding.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002h09v)
The Listener by Louise Farr

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Louise Farr. Read by Roísín Gallagher (‘The Dry’).

The Author
Louise Farr is a teacher and writer from Northern Ireland. In 2018, she was won the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and The Trisha Ashley Award. In 2019, she won The Ink Tears Short Story Competition and The Dalkey Writing Festival Short Story Competition. In 2020, Louise was shortlisted for the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and her story ‘Tinder’ was nominated for the An Post Short Story of the Year Award.

Writer: Louise Farr
Reader: Roísín Gallagher
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

MONDAY 18 AUGUST 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002h9nt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002h004)
Tajikistan’s Last, Lonely Hyenas

For decades, conservationists in Tajikistan assumed that the striped hyena – a shy, less vocal cousin of the spotted hyena – was extinct there. But in 2017 a motion-sensitive camera trap in the country’s south-western corner, near the borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, detected the presence of a female with cubs. The discovery stunned local observers, and ever since, one man and his colleagues have struggled to find out more about the few remaining Tajik striped hyenas with a view to saving them from oblivion. The challenges are immense, including the international animal parts trade, competition between animals and humans for habitat, and often-negative public perceptions of the hyena itself. Eight years on, Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent travels to the grassy lowlands of Tajikistan to join the small team in their fight to save these elusive, persecuted mammals, and in doing so learns how vital hyenas are to both the ecosystem and human health.

Reporter: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Producer: Mike Gallagher
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound mixer: Neil Churchill
Series editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002h9h9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002h9nw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002h9ny)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002h9p0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002h09x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002h9p2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002h9p4)
Spiritual reflection to start the day with Dr Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002h9p6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002h9p8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002h9sc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Rory Stewart: The Long History of... (m002gjfz)
Heroism

3. The Death of the Hero

Rory Stewart explores ideas of what it means to be a hero from the ancient world to the present day. How have these ideas changed? Why do heroes matter? Who are the heroes we need today?

With the help of leading historians, psychologists, philosophers and theologians, he examines how heroism is continually questioned and re-invented in every age, and how these contrasting visions of the hero might speak to us in our own time. What does it mean for our moral life? How should we perceive and pursue human excellence?

In this episode, Rory explores ideas of the hero in the early 20th century.

Presenter: Rory Stewart
Producer and sound design: Dan Tierney
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke


MON 09:30 Building Soul: with Thomas Heatherwick (m002h9sf)
Series 2

Rational People Making Irrational Buildings

Designer Thomas Heatherwick returns with a bold proposition - it's time to cure the ‘blandemic’.

This series isn't just about what's gone wrong - it's about how we fix the modern scourge of soulless urban landscapes.

Thomas explores how rethinking building design, reviving craftsmanship and reigniting public passion can transform our cities to bring us together and inject joy into our cities. It's not just an architectural challenge - Thomas argues it’s a cultural movement.

In this first episode, he asks why so much of our urban landscape feels like it was designed by a spreadsheet. Is it architects clinging to outdated dogmas, developers chasing profit, or politicians with no vision?

Producer: Anouk Millet
Series Producer: Nadia Mehdi
Mix Engineer: Will Fitzpatrick
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002h9sj)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 The History Podcast (m002gjdr)
The Second Map

Bonnie Laddie

We all know the heroic story of Britain fighting the Nazis in World War Two. But what’s less well-known in popular memory is the war on the Asian front, against Japan. Yet it touched many families across Britain. Their descendants are still uncovering stories today.

On the same day as Japan’s attack on the US Naval bases at Pearl Harbor there were simultaneous strikes on British territories in South East Asia.

Episode 1 of The Second Map charts the humiliating defeats that the British suffered by Japanese forces as they rapidly took key colonies in South East Asia. We hear from eyewitnesses who were in Singapore when it fell, and were then later captured and held prisoner. We hear from a 104-year-old veteran, who desperately wanted independence for India, but decided to fight alongside the British against Japan. And we explore why this part of the war is not as well known as the one against the Nazis.

This is the other story of the Second World War.

Creator, Writer and Presenter: Kavita Puri
Series Producer: Ellie House
Script Editor: Ant Adeane
Sound designer: James Beard
Series Editor: Matt Willis
Production Coordinators: Sabine Scherek, Maria Ogundele
Commissioners for Radio 4 and The World Service: Dan Clarke, Jon Zilkha

Original music: Felix Taylor
Archive Curator: Tariq Hussain
Voice actor: Dai Tabuchi
Translators: Hannah Kilcoyne, Sumire Hori

With thanks to Dr Diya Gupta, Dr Vikki Hawkins, Dr Peter Johnston, Professor Rana Mitter and Tejpal Singh Ralmill.

Includes archive material from ‘Singapore 1942: End of Empire’ (2012), Electric Pictures.


MON 11:45 Beyond Lonely (m0029zdd)
A Lonely Life

Loneliness is something all of us will experience at some point in our lives. For some it's a transitory feeling, for others a more chronic condition. As a child Jason Arday was diagnosed with autism and global development delay. He learnt to speak aged eleven, and to read and write at eighteen. His rise through the ranks of academia has been meteoric and he became Professor of the Sociology of Education at Cambridge aged thirty-seven. But for him success has come at a cost. Jason is lonely. In this five part series he explores his own reasons for being lonely as well as hearing from others the reasons they experience it.
Contributors include therapist Rotimi Akinsete and Noreena Hertz, economist and author of The Lonely Century: A Call To Reconnect

Producer: Maggie Ayre for BBC Audio Bristol
Presented by Professor Jason Arday


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002h9sl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002h9sn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002h9sq)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002h9ss)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 New Storytellers (m002h9sv)
My Toy Soldier

At birth Thomas Callaghan was 11 inches long, smaller than an action toy soldier.

This is the story of Thomas’s battle for life told through the words of his mother Tracy, father Andrew and grandmother Linsay. The feature explores, from the baby’s first breath, what it was like for the family faced with the unexpected and frightening premature birth of their first born child and grandchild.

New Storytellers presents the work of new student audio producers, and this series features the winners of the Charles Parker Prize 2025 for the Best Student Radio Feature. These awards are presented every year in memory of the pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. The series is introduced by Charles’ daughter, Sara Parker, an award-winning radio producer in her own right.

This winning feature was produced by Kieran Callaghan, a second year BA Media Production student at the University of Sunderland, the judges said of My Toy Soldier “This simple story was beautifully told, and I loved all the little sonic details which elevated the feature and took it to a different level.”

Producer: Kieran Callaghan
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002h9nm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Believe It! (m0017cqr)
Series 6

Stuff

This is the sixth series of Jon Canter's "radiography" of Richard Wilson - exploring elements of Richard's life that are very nearly true.
Expect visits from David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen, Arabella Weir and Stephen Mangan to name but four.

Written by Jon Canter

Starring

Richard Wilson
Stephen Mangan
and Arabella Weir

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell (m0019jz2)
Episode 2

Evan S. Connell's Mrs Bridge is an extraordinary tragicomic portrayal of suburban life and one of the classic American novels of the 20th century.

Mrs Bridge, a conservative housewife in Missouri, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. Her married life begins in the early 1930s – and soon after she and her young family move to a wealthy country club suburb of Kansas City. She spends her time shopping, going to bridge parties and bringing up her children to be pleasant, clean and have nice manners. The qualities that she values above all else. And yet she finds modern life increasingly baffling, her children aren't growing up into the people she expected, and sometimes she has the vague disquieting sensation that all is not well in her life.

In a series of comic, telling vignettes, Evan S. Connell illuminates the narrow morality, confusion, futility and even terror at the heart of a life of plenty.

First published in 1959 it was perhaps overshadowed by the critical attention paid to contemporaries like Philip Roth and John Updike - although Mrs Bridge was a finalist for the National Book Award in that year. Ten years later Connell published Mr Bridge which follows that same events largely from the point of view of Walter Bridge. In 1990, James Ivory directed the film Mr and Mrs Bridge based on both novels and starring Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. Fans of the book today include the novelist David Nicholls and Tracey Thorne, author and singer.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Evan S Connell
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002h9sx)
Helen Castor on Richard II

Today's great life is possibly more famous as a Shakespearean character - King Richard II who was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He's been chosen by historian Helen Castor, author of The Eagle and the Hart, who shines a light on what really happened towards the end of his reign. Also helping is Professor Emma Smith who explains why the play was a hit two hundred years later under Elizabeth I.
With archive of John Hurt as Richard and David Suchet as his cousin and usurper, Henry Bolingbroke.

The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde


MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002h9fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Assignment (w3ct6rbr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Soul Music (m001n1h5)
Ghost Town

'Ghost Town' was recorded by British two-tone band The Specials as a comment on urban decay and social unrest. It was released in June 1981 as riots were springing up around the UK and with the help of an iconic video it topped the UK singles charts. It was also be the band's final single.

Writer Alex Wheatle first heard 'Ghost Town' in 1981 whilst in a social services hostel in Brixton awaiting his court appearance. He'd been arrested following a day of action in Brixton to protest against racist treatment of Black people, after rumours of police brutality. He was sentenced to one year in prison and sang 'Ghost Town' in his cell, as he began to find hope and purpose in his life.

Claire Horton grew up in Dudley and says 'Ghost Town' echoed her experiences of watching the shops and nightclubs of this once vibrant town closing down. Her Dad was made redundant and it had a huge impact on her family, and as a young police officer she would walk the streets and understand why people were getting so frustrated with their situation.

Soul and Reggae DJ Dave Marshall Barrett traces the history of The Specials who formed in Dave's hometown of Coventry in 1977. It's the first thing people mention when he says where he comes from.

John Collins was surprised when Jerry Dammers asked him to produce the record. John created the initial opening 'ghostly' sounds on a synth at home but he says they now sound more like sirens. The song's success opened doors for John and he loves how it keeps finding new audiences.

Broadcaster Samira Ahmed grew up in London and said her the recession of the early 80s hit her family's catering business hard. Too young for nightclubs, she remembers the video of 'Ghost Town' playing on Top of the Pops and says the track made a huge impact on her understanding of music and politics.

Jazz singer Beverley Beirne covered 'Ghost Town' for her 2018 album 'Jazz Just Wants to Have Fun' and was reminded of it during the first lockdown when she wasn't able to perform.

Founder of The Specials Jerry Dammers reflects on the inspiration behind 'Ghost Town' and how trombonist Rico Rodriguez was the heart and soul of the band.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Toby Field
Additional research: Melanie Pearson
Technical Producer: Michael Harrison
Editor: Emma Harding


MON 17:00 PM (m002h9sz)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002h9t1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002h9t3)
Series 95

1. The time I went to Sue Perkins’ birthday party

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Lucy Porter, Zoe Lyons and Stephen Mangan to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include sharing is caring, Mr. Darcy and the worst piece of advice I've ever been given.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Additional material by Eve Delaney

An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002h9t6)
Ed remembers his misspent youth, and Martyn is feeling lonely.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002h9t8)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002h0fl)
UK Resilience 1: How prepared are we for climate change?

The UK is getting hotter. And wetter. Extreme weather events in the UK are happening more often. And that trend won’t stop any time soon. It all means more flooding and fire risk. Enter the R word - resilience - how well are we coping with what’s going on now, and how advanced is our planning for what’s coming? In the first of our three part mini series looking at how the resilient the UK might be in dealing with potential future crises we ask how prepared are we to deal with the changing climate?

Guests:

Mark Maslin, professor of Climatology at University College London
Richard Dawson, professor of Engineering at Newcastle University
Jess Neumann, Associate professor of hydrology at the University of Reading

Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Productions co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002h0fn)
What will we be wearing in the future?

What are you wearing today? What processes, chemical and otherwise, have gone into creating the garments in your wardrobe? And how might they be improved, honed, transformed in the future?

Professor of Materials & Society at UCL, Mark Miodownik, Dr Jane Wood, Lecturer at the University of Manchester and expert in textile technology, and materials scientist, writer and presenter Dr Anna Ploszajaki join Marnie Chesterton to take a closer look at possibly the most familiar materials we own, our clothes.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Clare Salisbury and Lyndon Jones
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 The Patch (m002cdlb)
Bulford

One random postcode, and a story you probably haven't heard before. The series returns with a new set of destinations.

Today, the military town of Bulford, Wiltshire. When producer Polly Weston first arrives, she's a little puzzled about where to begin, in a postcode where everyone is likely to be subject to the Official Secrets Act. But it turns out that this postcode is the home of the Bulford Military Court. It's the service equivalent of the Crown Court, and it's a public court, so she is free to go and visit.

The British Military has its own justice system, which isn't just responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes associated with service, like desertion, but everything up to rape and murder. On her first visit, the court is sentencing an Army Sergeant for rape. Polly starts out by trying to understand why the court exists and how it differs from the civilian system, but soon discovers that it is the tip of a military justice iceberg - and that this postcode is also home to something called the Defence Serious Crime Unit. It's the CID of the military, and it's their job to investigate the most serious crimes. The unit was formed in 2022, for reasons which are fascinating and timely... and this particular random postcode takes us into a world most of us won't even have realised existed.

Produced and presented in Bristol by Polly Weston
Editor: Chris Ledgard
Mixed by Suzy Robins


MON 21:45 One to One (m001tbg7)
Parenting advice in the age of social media: Samira Shackle and Lucy Jones

Since becoming a parent to a now-toddler, Samira Shackle has been bombarded with advice on social media - sometimes useful, sometimes not-so. She meets Lucy Jones, mother-of-three, to discuss navigating this online world and the affect it has on mothers, in particular.

Samira Shackle is a journalist and the author of Karachi Vice: Life and Death in a Contested City; Lucy Jones is the author of Matrescence: On The Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood.

Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002h9tb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Crooked Cross by Sally Carson (m002h9td)
Episode One

Crooked Cross was first published in 1934 and was based on Sally Carson’s first-hand experience of travelling through Bavaria where she witnessed the inexorable and devastating rise of fascism and antisemitism. Long out of print, it was discovered by Persephone Books and republished in 2025.

We are in Bavaria in a small provincial town outside Munich. There, on Christmas Eve of 1932, we first meet the Kluger family, a happy band of Frau and Herr Kluger, and their three grown up children, Helmy, Lexa and Eric. Life is not always easy: jobs are scarce, money is tight; they are living under the shadow of defeat in the Great War. But by 1933 Hitler has won the election and become Chancellor and everything is about to change for all of them. None more so than for Moritz Weissmann, Lexa’s fiancé, a young Catholic doctor but with a Jewish name, who first and foremost thought of himself as German. But now his country is starting to turn against him.

'Too much power and too sudden power makes men lose all sense of proportion: blood turns such men into madmen.'

Sally Carson’s novel explores how relationships between family, friends, lovers and neighbours all begin to subtly shift until confidence in the new fascist regime and the hope it offers empowers, gives licence, to many to commit atrocities that would eventually lead to another World War and the Holocaust.

The setting of a very ordinary small town allows Carson to chart how over six months this can happen against the backdrop of catastrophic political upheaval. Carson was only 38 when she died in 1941 of breast cancer, so she never lived to see the end of the war which makes Crooked Cross and her foresight even more extraordinary.

'It doesn’t seem like propaganda and it makes you feel that grim sense of uncertainty and fear which must come upon any people under a rule of terror.' The Saturday Review August 1934

Sally Carson wrote two sequels both still out of print: The Prisoner published in 1936 and A Traveller Came By published in 1938. But despite the excellent reviews for Crooked Cross (which also enjoyed a successful theatrical adaptation) all three books, and their author disappeared. Until now.

Reader: Scarlett Courtney
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Caroline Raphael
Production Co-ordinator: Henry Tydeman and Nina Semple
Sound by Matt Bainbridge
Recorded at Fitzrovia Studios

Crooked Cross is published by Persephone Books

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m001kpzk)
Who Killed Aldrich Kemp?

3. Liberty Flights

Clara and Sabine battle through undergrowth and language barriers as Nakesha and Sebastian follow the Liberty Flights lead in Vienna.

Chapter Three - Liberty Flights don’t file flight plans.

Cast:
Clara Page - Phoebe Fox
Aldrich Kemp – Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone – Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt – Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp – Karla Crome
Aunt Lily – Susan Jameson
Nurse – Jana Carpenter.
Sabine Seah – Rebecca Boey
Remington Schofield – Barnaby Kay
Miss Lotte Amutenya – Cherrelle Skeete
Mrs Bartholomew – Kate Isitt
Dr Hazlitt - Ben Crowe
Camera Assistant – James Joyce.

Created and written by Julian Simpson

Recorded on location in Hove.

Music composed by Tim Elsenburg.
Sound Design: David Thomas
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 What's Funny About... (m0027sxb)
Series 4

4. Alma's Not Normal

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman are joined by Sophie Willan to hear the story of how she created her BAFTA winning series Alma’s Not Normal.

Sophie talks about Alma’s combination of fearlessness and fragility, and how important the cocktail of those traits are to her character. And she tells us about her sense of mission around the series - the importance of telling authentic stories that show how people’s lives have been impacted by cuts to social care services.

Producer: Owen Braben
An Expectation Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4