The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The time-worn adage says that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, meaning that a child resembles his or her parents. The children described in this book are apples that have fallen elsewhere - some a couple of orchards away, some on the other side of the world. Yet myriad families learn to tolerate, accept and finally celebrate children who are not what they originally had in mind.
Andrew Solomon introduces us to families coping with deafness, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, and disability - as well as families who have children who are prodigies, who are gay, or who become criminals.
While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, Solomon documents the repeated triumphs of human love and compassion to show that the shared experience of difference is what unites us.
Different kinds of families are constructed or conceived in different ways - just as some children choose to identify with a gender other than the one they were born into. Andrew Solomon is married to his partner John and they are happily involved in the parenting of four children, all with differing family circumstances.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
"The music speaks to me." In praise of the sounds of Mali. A PM listener on the need for "guitars to replace guns" after militants in Mali declare war on music. Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey ask what impact has it had on the country's rich culture?
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Actress and singer, Toyah Willcox, takes Clare Balding for a walk in rural Worcestershire.
The theme for this series of Ramblings is 'self-improvement' and for Toyah - who has always had problems with her joints, including a recent hip replacement - walking is the perfect exercise. She says it helps her keep her weight down and remain active.
Clare met Toyah at Croome Landscape Park, a National Trust Property famous for its stunning grounds designed by Capability Brown. Unfortunately Toyah was injured - 97 pantomime performances over Christmas had taken their toll - but, crutch in hand, the ramble went ahead.
By the end of the walk, during which Toyah discussed her serendipitous route into show business and forthcoming performance in a 'bawdy' show called Hormonal Housewives, she actually felt better. Proof, she said, that walking is one of the best ways to remain healthy.
The National Farmers union wants supermarkets to stock only British meat. The UK's largest supermarket announced that from July all chicken sold in its UK stores would be from British farms and would offer farmers two year contracts if they wanted them.
Farming Today this week goes to Leicestershire to meet sheep farmer Charles Sercombe. He says a contract would give him more security but he would miss out on the highs of the open market.
Supply chain consultant Joanne Denny Finch says the UK consumer will be willing to 'buy British' in light of the horsemeat scandal.
But if the supply chain is shortened through contracts between farmers and supermarkets, will added cost be passed on to the consumer?
Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Ruth Sanderson.
Morning news and current affairs with Sarah Montague and Justin Webb, including
0810 Senior Conservative backbencher Bernard Jenkin talks about whether a panicked reaction by the Conservative party over the Eastleigh by-election is warranted, or an over-reaction.
0815 The BBC's Africa editor Solomon Mugera reports from downtown Nairobi on Kenya's general election, which will take place on Monday.
0820 Tim Montgomerie, editor of Conservative Home, explains what he meant by the phrase 'full orchestral conservatism', which he used on Friday's Today programme.
0829 Could a weakening pound be a way out of economic trouble for the UK? Stuart Thompson, chief economist for Ignis Asset Management, and Bridget Rosewell, economist and senior partner at Volterra Partners, debate the question.
Judy Finnigan, Jeff Lynne's Inheritance Tracks, a wooden dog from Stalag Luft lll and the sounds of a Cornish Cave
Sian Williams and Richard Coles with writer and broadcaster Judy Finnigan, Adam who suffers from auditory verbal hallucinations- hearing voices, poetry from Kate Fox, a glimpse inside the film 'Lincoln' with one of the historical advisors Professor Catherine Clinton, a sound sculpture from a Cornish cave, The Thing about Me- a listener's momento from Stalag Luft lll ( The Great Escape ) is a wooden dog and The Inheritance Tracks of Jeff Lynne from ELO
Hardeep Singh Kohli investigates how everything from brushing your teeth to filling out your income tax return may soon be turned into an opportunity to score a point and earn a reward. It's called "gamification." Will it cure the world of its ills or simply commodify every human interaction?
When he was younger Hardeep used to walk to and from school. To make his journey more interesting the cracks on the pavement became hot lava - one wrong step and his trainer would burn and he would fall into hell. And so, with his goal of getting home without stepping on the cracks, his monotonous journey was made into a game.
Yet is "play" is on the verge of being co-opted by the marketers and advertisers. Are we - the consumers - the ones being played? Or will it galvanise us into carrying out those tasks that we have been avoiding for years?
Games designer Jesse Schell tells Hardeep that games are creeping into every aspect of our lives and they have the power to make us better people. Meanwhile, Professor Ian Bogost believes that brands are 'simply capturing the wild coveted beast that is video games for use in the grey, hopeless wasteland of big business.'
This week Fraser Nelson of The Spectator looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The Eastleigh by -election result was bad news for both the Conservatives and Labour. How do both those parties get over the regional divide of Labour being a party of the North of England and the Conservatives being a party of the shires? John Denham is keenly aware of the issue known to Labour as "Southern Discomfort", and Guy Opperman knows how the Conservatives are perceived in the North East of England, while former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell applauds his party's skill at colonising key constituencies.
Plus the economy: Is George Osborne losing ground in his fight to reduce the deficit? Will Straw of the IPPR think tank, and backbench Conservative MP Mark Field, on what the Chancellor should do next.
And sexism in parliament does it still exist? Labour MP Stella Creasy and the Conservative Baroness Gillian Shephard, who came into the commons in 1987, compare yesterday to today.
Reporters worldwide tell their stories. Steve Evans in Berlin on how, perhaps surprisingly given their history, Germans feel a real affinity with Britain. She used to be called "the most powerful woman in Mexico". Will Grant on the arrest, on embezzlement charges, of one of the country's top union leaders. Paul Henley tries to keep his cool listening to a stream of homophobic vitriol in Russia. Young people in Portugal queuing up to leave the country - Alison Roberts is in Lisbon where morale's plummeting as the jobless figures soar. And as the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq approaches, Kevin Connolly is there, musing on how one never quite knows how history will work out.
Are insurers charging customers more for being loyal? One Money Box listener - Alison Gann - who had used the same insurer for 38 years discovered she was paying more than £1000 for home insurance that she could get for £332 as a new customer. Reporter Bob Howard speaks to Alison Gann. The programme also hears from Which? Money expert, James Daley.
The Government scheme to encourage banks to lend has led to a massive fall in the rates they pay to savers. Funding for Lending lets the banks borrow money cheaply from the Treasury. So they don't need our money. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Clarke; Labour's shadow Treasury minister, Chris Leslie, discuss the issues. In addition, the programme speaks to Sylvia Waycot, editor, Moneyfacts and also to mortgage expert, Ray Boulger, John Charcol Mortgage Brokers.
Bank of Ireland has more than doubled the tracker mortgage rate paid by thousands of its customers, despite the fact that the rate is supposed to track Bank Rate which has not changed for four years. But there is nothing customers can do except make tracks for another lender.
There is an estimated £750 billion locked up in homes owned by millions of pensioners. New research suggests it could be used to relieve poverty, boost the economy and create jobs. But most pensioners are very reluctant to release this cash to boost their income. But are predictions of a boom in Equity Release realistic? Andrew Logan, Associate Director at Oxford Economics and co-author of the report is joined by Stephen Lowe from Just Retirement, the UK's second biggest equity release provider and Mick McAteer from The Financial Inclusion Centre, to discuss the issues.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Mitch Benn, Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin and Andy Zaltzman to take a satirical look at the events of the week, including the Eastleigh by-election, Italian elections and Britain losing its AAA credit status.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Bradford with blogger Mo Ansar, Esther McVey the Disabilities Minister, Toby Young and Dr Evan Harris.
A chance for Radio 4 listeners to have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions. Calll Anita Anand on 03700 100 444 or email any.answers@bbc.co.uk or tweet using #bbcaq. Topics include proposal to cap banking bonuses, School governors - how to get the best people - should they be volunteers or paid? Growth in support for UKIP in the Eastleigh by-election and the allegations against Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard.
The dossier "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction", lead to the headline "just 45 minutes from attack", persuaded MPs to vote for an invasion of Iraq, and hardened public opinion against Saddam Hussein. Fall out from accusations by the BBC that the claims had been "sexed up" led to the death of Dr David Kelly and the Hutton Inquiry.
This drama goes behind the scenes of MI6, the Ministry of Defence and Downing Street to dramatise one of the most controversial episodes in British politics.
The author, David Morley, has created the script from the mountain of emails, memos, and first hand testimony submitted to the various inquiries into the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as from first-hand interviews with Dr Brian Jones, who died in 2012 and was the MoD's leading expert on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, concerned that exaggeration should not creep into the dossier.
Other key players include Richard Dearlove, head of MI6; John Scarlett, Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Tony Blair's adviser, Alastair Campbell.
The Stabat Mater's imagines the sufferings of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross, and Pergolesi's eighteen-century setting remains a choral favourite.
Pam Self tells the moving story of how this piece unites her and her friend Helen Vaughan, both during life and after.
The Stabat Mater has been reinterpreted many times over the years: Sasha Lazard recalls singing it in the school choir, before later taking the melody and transforming it into a dance version for her album 'The Myth of Red' rechristening it 'Stabat Mater IXXI' in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
Victor Alcantara also sang it as a boy, before returning to the piece as an adult and transforming it into a jazz opus.
Composer and Conductor Paul Spicer examines the musical tensions in the piece, likening its opening to "a heartbeat."
Professor Anthony DelDonna recalls a performance of the Stabat Mater in his hometown of Naples, and reflects on the moment which reaffirmed his his faith.
Petula Clark sings live and recalls meeting John Lennon and Elvis. Jo Wood on bringing up children while living the rock'n'roll life with the Rolling Stones and Ronnie Wood. We discuss who should take responsibility for children's sex education - parents or teachers? Jane Garvey talks to women in Ghana who've been helped by Comic Relief supported projects. Sexual violence in South Africa - Barbara Kenyon from the Greater Rape Intervention Project, explains the horrifying scale of violence against women and children. We discuss the new Tomb Raider game with Rhianna Pratchett and Belinda Parmar. Helena Kennedy talks about the lack of women in the Supreme Court. And yodeller Doreen Kutzke shows us how it's done.
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
You go to a shopping centre and you find an ice rink. Or you go to a bookstore for a glass of wine. So is this the new world of retail? Evan Davis and his panel of top business brains explore what's in store for physical shopping. They also swap thoughts on what makes a good shop assistant.
Joining Evan in the studio are Sir Stuart Rose, former Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer and soon to take over as Chairman of online grocery retailer Ocado; Berndt Hauptkorn, Chief Executive of the European arm of Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo; Andy Street, Managing Director of department store chain John Lewis.
Barbara Taylor-Bradford, Benjamin Zephaniah, Tony Gardner, Robin Ince, Seb Emina, Fimber Bravo, Sivu
Clive's joined by best-selling novelist and Woman of Substance Barbara Taylor Bradford, who tells Clive what has driven her to publish twenty-eight novels, selling eighty-two million copies worldwide. Barbara's latest novel 'Secrets From The Past' tells the story of war photographer Serena, who, following the death of her father, steps away from the war zone to reassess her life.
From one war zone to another as Clive defuses an explosive encounter with actor Tony Gardner. Waltzing in from his Last Tango In Halifax, Tony is now playing the commander of an entire bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan. BBC Three's new comedy drama 'Bluestone 42' follows the camaraderie, bonds and banter of a bunch of soliders and how they pass the time in between saving lives. The series starts on Tuesday 5th March at
The over easy Robin Ince enjoys a full English with author and breakfast blogger Seb Emina. His new book 'The Breakfast Bible' about the most important meal of the day intersperses the practicalities of putting a good breakfast together with essays and miscellanies from a crack team of eggsperts..and that's no yolk!
Clive takes refuge with prolific writer and Rastafarian dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah whose powerful novel 'Refugee Boy' charts one boy's courageous fight for recognition, alone in a strange country. Benjamin's book has been adapted for the stage by fellow poet Lemn Sissay and is at West Yorkshire Playhouse from Saturday 9th to Saturday 30th March.
With music from London based singer-songwriter Sivu, who performs his debut single 'Better Man Than He'.
And from award winning steel pan maestro Fimber Bravo who plays 'The Way We Live Today' from his solo album 'Con-Fusion'.
Beppe Grillo has achieved a stunning success in the Italian elections with the performance of the new citizens' protest network - the Five Star Movement. He is its guiding star, a comedian-turned politician. The movement emerged from the web and took its argument into town squares all over Italy. The citizen activists oppose what they regard as the corrupted, self-serving traditional parties - the entire failed political establishment. The movement has connected with huge numbers of Italians who have developed a contempt for the governing elite.
Joe Wright's Trelawny of the Wells; JM Coetzee's The Childhood of Jesus; Richard Gere in Arbitrage
Joe Wright is best known as a film director, his work including Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Anna Karenina. But Trelawny of the Wells at the Donmar Warehouse marks his debut as a theatre director.Richard Gere was Golden Globe-nominated for his role as businessman Robert Miller in Nicholas Jarecki's film Arbitrage, a tense morality tale set in the world of high finance.A boy arrives in a strange country and can find no room to sleep... JM Coetzee's The Childhood of Jesus has obvious parallels with the story referenced in its title, but is a re-telling really the aim of the twice-Booker-winning author?Barocci: Brilliance and Grace is the title of a new exhibition at the National Gallery which aims to bring a previously under-recognised artist to more prominent attention. It includes some tender drawings and portraits as well as the dynamic, colourful altarpieces for which he is most admired.And BBC3's new sitcom Bluestone 42 touches on potentially sensitive territory: it's set amongst the troops in Afghanistan. How funny is it?The novelists Patrick Gale and Aminatta Forna and writer Natalie Haynes join presenter Tom Sutcliffe.Producer: Sarah Johnson.
Remember the lunch hour? You could leave your desk, meet friends in the pub, eat a three course meal, have a lunchtime affair even...That hour was your own: it didn't belong to your employer. No more. Now, one in five people in the UK never eat lunch. Only one in one hundred regularly take a full hour's break. How has such a huge social change happened? Why on earth did we let the lunch hour go so easily?
Matthew Sweet draws on archive recordings to explore what we have lost, and what the hidden costs might be. Wall Street's Gordon Gekko once said "lunch is for wimps" - why do we seem to have accepted his conclusion? When Churchill enjoyed several courses, washed down with wine and brandy, at midday in Downing Street it was thought to help, rather than hinder, his leadership of the country. Matthew talks to social historian Juliet Gardiner, and to historian Sir David Cannadine about Churchill's heroic dining. Sociologist Harriet Bradley offers insights into the rise of presenteeism and the impact of recession on our lunch time habits. Writers Tim Parks implores us to take a break for the sake of our health.
Matthew goes back to Hull, where he grew up, and remembers ham sandwiches at home with his mum, and factory whistles sounding out around the city, signalling the start of the lunch hour. He meets factory and office workers and asks why have we allowed ourselves to become so overwhelmed with the pressures of the working day that we don't have time to stop for a break?
Includes archive recordings from 1937 describing workers flocking to corner houses for lunch, Ernest Bevin urging wartime factory owners to give their workers proper meals and revelations from the 1980s about liquid lunches and office affairs.
Pather Panchali: Song of the Road by Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji dramatised by Tanika Gupta from a translation by T.W Clark & Tarapada Mukerji
A classic story of poverty and sibling love set in a remote Bengali village at the beginning of the twentieth century. The life of a poor Brahmin family is seen through the eyes of young Opu and his older sister Durga. With their father, Horihor, often away from home in search of work, tension mounts as their mother, Shorbojoya, struggles on her own.
It is the vivid and moving story of life in a rural village on the brink of change, seen through the eyes of two children. The novel deals with the relationship between destruction and creation, and is an uplifting tale of growth and love. It is a beautiful and atmospheric novel that inspired an iconic film by Satyajit Ray in 1955. The heart of the novel and this dramatisation is the love between brother and sister. It charts family life through a collection of daily events that cumulatively create a vivid and unforgettable world. In Tanika Gupta's dramatisation Opu, now a grown man narrates the story, looking back on his childhood and to the people he has loved, in particular his older sister Durga.Tanika Gupta is an award-winning writer who has written extensively for radio, theatre, film and television. She was recently awarded an MBE; named Asian Woman of Achievement (Arts and Culture) and nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement. Her production of A Doll's House for Radio 3 recently won the best adaptation BBC Audio Drama Award.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
Is it right that gambling is promoted so heavily in TV commercials, at sporting events and online? Complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority about TV gambling advertisements increased six-fold last year. Some commercials were taken off the air because they 'glamorised' gambling or because they portrayed it as a reasonable way of dealing with financial problems. Anti-gambling campaigners say that the vast increase in the promotion of gambling is creating more addicts and tempting poor people to risk money they can't afford. Should gambling advertising be banned? Or is that infantilising those who want to gamble and while at the same time stopping them getting information that could get them better odds? Is gambling a morally neutral form of entertainment or a vice that corrupt the winners, the losers and society as a whole?
Panellists: Eugene Farrar from GRASP (Gambling Reform & Society Perception Group), Clive Hawkswood from the Remote Gambling Association, Gareth Wallace from the Salvation Army and Mark Littlewood from the Institute of Economic Affairs.
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Matthew Taylor, Anne McElvoy and Kenan Malik.
In the metamorphosis of arthropods and other organisms, what is meant by the word 'exuvia'? And what's the Spanish word for summer?
Russell Davies tests the general knowledge of four more semi-finalists who have come successfully through the heats of this year's competition. One of them will win a place in the Final and a real chance of taking the title 'Brain of Britain 2013'.
The questions get tougher as the contest proceeds: so they will need to draw on all their reserves of knowledge of every field from history and mythology, science and geography, literature and music, to current affairs and contemporary culture.
There will also be the chance for a listener to win a prize by coming up with questions that could stump the contestants.
A new programme introduced by Paul Farley featuring the best of poetry now. The first in the series looks at the body in question - the shapes of poems and the people in them. How does a poet decide on the form of their poem? What do different poetic forms do the subject of a poem? The programme travels the country and anatomises its poetic body. With found poems and field-notes, a diary of failure and success, the sound of the world being taken down in rhyme, and a look into a hive of dead bees in midwinter. With new poems from Sean Borodale, Don Paterson and Alice Oswald. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUNDAY 03 MARCH 2013
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzk62)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Afternoon Reading (b012l1yv)
The Foxes Come at Night
Gondolas
Now in his eightieth year, Cees Nooteboom is one of Holland's leading and most respected authors, a writer of both novels and travel books and a consummate short story writer. The Foxes Come at Night, his recent collection, has won the 2010 Gouden Uil - the most prestigious literary award in Flanders and is now published in English.
The collection is set in the cities and islands of the Mediterranean, territory Nooteboom knows well. The stories are linked by their meditations on memory and age, on love won and lost and on the fragments of life treasured in a photograph or a detail.
In 'Gondolas' a fine art dealer finds the past stirred by a photograph taken on the same Venetian canal bank forty years ago. In 'Thunderstorm' a couple's own fissures are reflected in a horrific moment on a beach. And in 'Late September' a woman waits on a windblown Spanish cafe terrace before the inevitable conclusion to her lonely day.
Written with haunting attention to detail and pitch perfect prose, sensitively translated by Ina Rilke, these stories show one of the European masters of the genre at his best.
Reader Ian McDiarmid
Abridger Sally Marmion
Producer Di Speirs.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk64)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzk66)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk68)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzk6d)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b01qzl0w)
The bells of St Mary's Parish Church, Bishopstoke, Hampshire.
SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (b01qwgm4)
Alexander McCall Smith
In the second of this year's Lent Talks, author Alexander McCall Smith considers how you can feel abandoned by society, as you grow older.
The Lent Talks feature six well known figures from public life, the arts, human rights and religion, who reflect on how the Lenten story of Jesus' ministry and Passion continues to interact with contemporary society and culture. The 2013 Lent Talks consider the theme of "abandonment". In the Lenten story, Jesus is the supreme example of this - he died an outcast, abandoned and rejected by his people, his disciples and (apparently) his Father - God. But how does that theme tie in with today's complex world? There are many ways one can feel abandoned - by family, by society, by war/conflict, but one can also feel abandoned through the loss of something, perhaps power, job or identity. The Christian season of Lent is traditionally a time for self-examination and reflection on universal human conditions such as temptation, betrayal, greed, forgiveness and love, as well as abandonment.
Speakers in this year's talks include Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, who considers what it means to abandon being human; Loretta Minghella, Director of Christian Aid, who considers the abandonment of self and the need to face who we truly are; Imam Asim Hafiz, Muslim Chaplain and Religious Adviser to HM Forces, who has just returned from Afghanistan and who explores the total abandonment experienced by both sides as a result of war; Benjamin Cohen, journalist and broadcaster, who reflects on his own personal story of religious rejection through being gay, and Canon Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly, who explores the relationship between abandonment and betrayal.
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b01qzk6g)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01r08ct)
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Mark Tully compares the experiences and motives of people whose conscience has led them to abandon their religion, with those who come to terms with their differences and attempt to change things from within. And, taking Dietrich Bonhoeffer as an example of someone who disagreed fundamentally with the actions, or inaction, of his church but chose to remain within it , this programme asks how far we would be prepared to take a stance on a matter of conscience, regardless of the personal consequences. Bonhoeffer's open criticism of the regime in Germany in
the 1930s was not echoed by his fellow pastors, and led to his imprisonment and execution by the Nazis before the end of the Second World War.
From the Pilgrim Fathers, who put the Atlantic Ocean between themselves and a State Religion they felt they could not be part of, to people faced with a choice when their church does not embrace their sexuality, or bars them from certain places or positions because of their gender, Mark Tully looks at those who have had to ask: Should I stay or Should I Go.
The readers are Grainne Keenan and John McAndrew.
Produced by Adam Fowler
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b01r08cw)
Since 1900 more than twenty breeds of British farm animal have become extinct. On Your Farm meets a man who has devoted his life to turning that tide. Eric Freeman was one of the first members of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. He shares his passion for Gloucester Old Spots Pigs and Gloucester Cattle with Sarah Swadling. He tells her that pulling them back from the brink of oblivion has been a 'thrill' and that, despite turning eighty, he 'can't see life' without his animals around him.
Presented and Produced by Sarah Swadling.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b01qzk6j)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b01qzk6l)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b01r09sm)
William Crawley gets the latest news and intrigue from Rome as the "Princes of the Church" gather for the start of the Papal Conclave.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien's last act before stepping down was to call for the end of celibacy in the priesthood. How much has the issue of celibacy been at the centre of problems that have beset the church? Kevin Bocquet reports.
Canon Rosie Harper kicks off our series of "letters to the Archbishop" ahead of Justin Welby's enthronement later this month.
On the eve of the Kenyan elections Edward Stourton speaks to the Archbishop of Kenya about the campaign for peaceful elections.
In the week that saw the opening of the 'The Book of Mormon' in the West End we took to the streets of Manchester to meet the real Mormon missionaries.
Nick Peake reports on the "God channels" where some programmes claim to cure people of fatal diseases through the power of prayer.
Theologian or manager? What kind of Pope does the Catholic Church need to sail through the stormy seas ahead? William discusses with Father Christopher Jamison and Catholic and management coach, John O'Brian.
Christianity at a Crossroads?
A BBC Radio 4 discussion in partnership with Theos Monday 18th March at Westminster Central Hall.
As we approach an historic week in the history of Christianity, with both the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches celebrating the installation of new leaders, the panel discussion, chaired by John Humphries, will consider whether the internal and external crises facing the churches are too serious to overcome, or too good to waste. To apply for tickets, please visit the Theos website:www.theosthinktank.co.uk/events.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r09sp)
International Rescue Committee UK (IRC)
Mariella Frostrup presents the Radio 4 Appeal for International Rescue Committee UK (IRC)
Reg Charity:1065972
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope IRC.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b01qzk6n)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b01qzk6q)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b01r09sr)
This Is Our Story: Fed by the Bread of Heaven
'This is our story' - Fed by the Bread of Heaven: third in a series for Lent linking stories of faith from the the bible with life today. Live from The Memorial Chapel, University of Glasgow. Leader: Rev Stuart MacQuarrie; Preacher: Alison Phipps; Glasgow University Chapel Choir directed by James Grossmith.
Download Lent resources from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland by logging on to bbc.co.uk/sundayworship; Producer: Mo McCullough.
SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b01qwk43)
Modern Medicis
Lisa Jardine celebrates the influence of art connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon and reflects on the impact of wealthy art collectors on public taste and government policy.
"Art collectors with a fortune to spend inevitably exert an influence on artistic taste and on the art market. The question is: Is a collector who wins public praise for having a "good eye" or "flawless taste" being celebrated for their critical astuteness in identifying a neglected work's lasting aesthetic value and its importance within the artistic tradition? Or are they simply establishing a high competitive price for that artist or artistic school?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b01r09st)
Sunday morning magazine programme, presented by Paddy O'Connell.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b01r09sw)
For detailed synopsis, see daily episodes
Writer ..... Carole Simpson-Solazzo
Director ..... Rosemary Watts
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn
Shula Hebden Lloyd ..... Judy Bennett
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Elizabeth Pargetter ..... Alison Dowling
Tom Archer ..... Tom Graham
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Matt Crawford ..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Joe Grundy ..... Edward Kelsey
Eddie Grundy ..... Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ..... Heather Bell
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Edward Grundy ..... Barry Farrimond
Neil Carter ..... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Christopher Carter ..... William Sanderson-Thwaite
Alice Carter ..... Hollie Chapman
Mike Tucker ..... Terry Molloy
Vicky Tucker ..... Rachel Atkins
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Robert Snell ..... Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Paul Morgan ..... Michael Fenton Stevens
Spencer Wilkes ..... Jonny Elsmore.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b01r09sy)
Rankin
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the photographer Rankin.
He started out doing fashion shoots and is very good at making pretty young things look even prettier. But his work and influence have spread well beyond the glossy pages of style bibles. From Congolese war widows to canoodling pensioners his skill is capturing a moment of spontaneous and often surprising truth. He should really been doing peoples' tax returns - he went to college to study accountancy - but his head was turned in his halls of residence where the arts students seemed to be having all the fun. Within a few years Kate Moss was posing for him in nothing but a fedora and leather boots. However his reputation for raunch was put on the back burner the day he photographed Her Majesty The Queen - his picture of a serene and smiling monarch now hangs in The National Portrait Gallery.
Photography is he says "like a seduction. It's a relationship compressed into a moment."
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
SUN 12:00 Just a Minute (b01qw93l)
Series 65
Episode 3
How hard can it be to talk for 60 seconds with no hesitation, repetition & deviation? Julian Clary, Jenny Eclair, Richard Herring and Paul Merton attempt to do so under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b01r09t0)
US Southern Cooking and Chef Sean Brock
Richard Johnson is in South Carolina to meet Charleston chef, Sean Brock, who is on a mission to revive ingredients and flavours not experienced for hundreds of years.
It's a story that involves an intricate "food tattoo", one of America's biggest private seed collections, a hog roast and "pick picking" and bowls of delicious peas, beans, rice, grits and fried chicken.
Soon after British settlers arrived in South Carolina in the 17th century a cuisine called the "Carolina rice kitchen" was formed. Using the expertise of West African slaves to develop rice plantations, a larder evolved consisting of the main crop along with beans, African vegetables and staples like oats, rye and wheat from Britain.
Chef Sean Brock believes it was one of the earliest, and "most beautiful" food cultures in America. In his mid-thirties and sporting an arm covered in tattoos of heirloom vegetables, he's attempting to "reboot" that cuisine and those ingredients which had all disappeared by the 20th century.
He's joined forces with historian David Shields and a seed hunter, Glenn Roberts, to source, grow and cook with these historic foods.
Richard joins Sean Brock at his restaurant, Husk to hear why "ridiculous flavour" is the driving force behind the mission.
Producer: Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b01qzk6s)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b01r0b11)
Shaun Ley presents the latest national and international news, including an in-depth look at events around the world. Email: wato@bbc.co.uk; twitter: #theworldthisweekend.
SUN 13:30 After Saddam (b01r0b13)
Episode 1
After Saddam: Hugh Sykes returns to Iraq
It's ten years since the invasion which toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Since then Iraqis have endured an American-led military occupation, a brutal insurgency, intense sectarian violence, hundreds of thousands of violent deaths - and three democratic elections.
BBC correspondent Hugh Sykes has been a regular visitor to Iraq since 2003 - exploring the lives of people in a country where security, education, electricity and even the water supply can never be taken for granted.
Now Hugh returns to Iraq to find out how their lives have changed over the past decade.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01qwk3j)
Crickhowell
This week Eric Robson takes the Gardeners' Question Time team to Crickhowell in South Wales, with Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Biggs and Christine Walkden taking questions from the audience.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Q: I have some Photinia Red Robin plants that are losing their leaves and are covered in black spots. What is this and what can I do about it?
A: This sounds like Photinia leaf spot, which is an extremely common fungal disease. You could try to use a general fungicide to clear it up, but the plant probably has a better chance of survival if you just concentrate on its general health, making sure it's well fed and vigorously growing.
Q: I use molehills as compost but a friend recently warned me that they are rotten with weed seeds, is this true?
A: The soil brought up by molehills tends to be from lower down in the ground, so actually there might be fewer seeds in it than usual topsoil. It's already well worked and it may also contain some manure content, so there's no reason why you shouldn't be using it.
Q: Can you advise me how to grow lavender successfully from seeds or cuttings?
A: English Lavender is probably the best variety to go for as it's the most likely to withstand the weather. Take semi-ripe cuttings from young growth from the end of July through to the start of September planting them in gritty compost at the base of a sunny wall, which will give them good protection from the rain. The more cuttings you take the better chances you have.
Q: I'm looking for some high-impact climbers to grow up a 10m tall north-facing fence. What would you recommend?
A: Try Schizophragma integrifolia which has beautiful dark green foliage and white 'pocket handkerchief' flower heads that resemble Hydrangeas. Akebia quinata is also stunning with lovely purple flowers and produces a wonderful chocolately scent from early in the year. A new variety from Taiwan called Akebia longeracemosa is also very nice and has impressive clusters of flowers. Don't overlook more commonplace plants such as the Golden Hop and Honeysuckles such as late Dutch reds, ordinary English, and the Etruscan Honeysuckle which has beautiful golden yellow flowers.
Q: I have an allotment which I try to keep free of chemicals. With this in mind what flowers would you suggest I grow can that be used for both companion planting and cutting?
A: Marigolds work well - the African variety is bigger and make good cut flowers whereas the French variety is a strong companion. They also give off substances that help get rid of nematodes in the soil. Cornflowers, Corn Cockles, Phacelias and Nigellas all have lovely flowers which are good for cutting and also attract lacewings and insects which will eat nasty greenfly. Herbs with flat flowering heads such as Dill, Sage and Fennel would also be nice.
Q: I've had an allotment for about four years and would like to know if I should start manipulating the pH of the soil?
A: You can buy a cheap pH tester from the garden centre to check the soil and you should be aiming for it to be around pH 6 1/2 to 7 1/2. If it's slightly acidic it can easily be fixed by using garden lime, spreading a thin layer across the ground everywhere except your potato patch (as it will make potatoes look 'scabby'). When handling lime make sure to use gloves, and avoid using it at the same time as manure.
Q: We have an old bicycle that we'd like to put to use in the garden as a planting feature. Any ideas?
A: Try sticking a wheel on a pole and running wires back down to the ground from the spokes - it would make a great teepee to train climbing plants up. You could always use the saddle as a garden stool too.
Q: My brother and sister-in-law brought me a small container of elephant dung back from a trip to South Africa. How can I use it productively in the garden?
A: If it has come from Africa rather than a zoo over here- we'd suggest against releasing it in your garden incase it contains any foreign diseases which could be harmful. It should probably just be disposed of hygienically.
Q: I wish my lawn needed mowing less often - can you suggest ways to slow it up?
A: If you want to turn it into a wildflower lawn, then you couldsow Yellow Rattle which is partially parasitic on grass and feeds from the roots which will certainly slow it down. Another simpler suggestion would be to treat yourself to a larger lawn mower, which will make it quicker to cut!
Q: Why can't I grow parsnips very well?
A: Terry Walton's trick for the perfect parsnip is to sow the seeds on damp kitchen towel and place them in an airing cupboard. Once the seeds have germinated, carefully plant a couple in a fibre pot with the base chopped off and leave them in the greenhouse until they're looking bigger (a sand/compost mix is best). Then take the whole pot and plant it in the ground, sit back and await the results.
SUN 14:45 Witness (b01r0b15)
The Cultural Revolution in China
In the mid 1960s the young people of China were encouraged to turn on their parents and teachers and 'criticise' them. It was part of Chairman Mao's plan to rejuvenate his communist state. Violence and upheaval followed as young Red Guards took his message to extremes. Paul Crook was a foreign teenager living with his family in Beijing. His whole world was turned upside down by the Cultural Revolution.
SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b01r0b17)
Pather Panchali - Song of the Road
Episode 2
Pather Panchali: Song of the Road by Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji dramatised by Tanika Gupta from a translation by T.W. Clark & Tarapada Mukerji
A classic story of poverty and sibling love set in a remote Bengali village at the beginning of the twentieth century. The life of a poor Brahmin family is seen through the eyes of young Opu and his older sister Durga. Opu has his first experiences of life outside the village and Durga now a young woman of fourteen begins to look forward to marriage and adult life but with the monsoon rains comes tragedy.
Directed by Nadia Molinari
It is the vivid and moving story of life in a rural village on the brink of change, seen through the eyes of two children. The novel deals with the relationship between destruction and creation, and is an uplifting tale of growth and love. It is a beautiful and atmospheric novel that inspired an iconic film by Satyajit Ray in 1955.
The heart of the novel and this dramatisation is the love between brother and sister. It charts family life through a collection of daily events that cumulatively create a vivid and unforgettable world. In Tanika Gupta's dramatisation Opu, now a grown man narrates the story, looking back on his childhood and to the people he has loved, in particular his older sister Durga.Tanika Gupta is an award-winning writer who has written extensively for radio, theatre, film and television. She was recently awarded an MBE; named Asian Woman of Achievement (Arts and Culture) and nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement. Her production of A Doll's House for Radio 3 recently won the best adaptation BBC Audio Drama Award.
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (b01r0b19)
Andrew Miller on his Costa award-winning novel Pure
Andrew Miller discusses his novel Pure, winner of the 2011 Costa Prize. Set in pre-revolutionary Paris, the book is a gripping, earthy story about the clearing of a huge cemetery in the area now known as Les Halles.
When a young engineer Jean-Baptiste Baratte arrives in Paris from Normandy, he is charged with the huge task of destroying the church and cemetery of Les Innocents in 1785. He is surrounded by a fully fledged cast of characters : LeCoeur, his friend and former colleague from the mines near Belgium, his girlfriend, the prostitute Heloise, Armand, the church's organist and a revolutionary, and the fairytale like Jeanne. But just as significant to the novel's success are the ideas of the Enlightenment and Miller's subtle laying out the undercurrents of disquiet and unrest which would eventually lead to bloodshed and revolution.
James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions.
April's Bookclub choice : The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak.
Produced by Dymphna Flynn.
SUN 16:30 The Echo Chamber (b01r0b3n)
Series 1
Borders Met and Crossed
Adventures in strong language - performed and from the page - introduced by a master of poetic ceremonies, Paul Farley. Borders - met and crossed - are the theme of the day. The River Styx where the dead arrive and the shape-shifting places where people become other animals are among the subjects. Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage come to the edge and shout their poems across. Producer: Tim Dee.
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b01qwc8t)
Britain in Flood
Has the Government done enough to protect communities from flooding? Were cuts in river maintenance work responsible for farmers land in Somerset being underwater for months? Why are planners allowing developers to continue to build on floodplains? A committee of MPs accuses the Coalition of being woefully slow to bring in measures to combat the problem. Allan Urry investigates.
Producer Nicola Dowling.
SUN 17:40 Profile (b01qzk4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk6v)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b01qzk6x)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzk6z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b01r0b5p)
On Pick of the week this week join Antonia Quirke on the water where she encounters poets, child prodigies, sea turtles and lost parents. A voyage - sometimes perilous and full of longing that pushes and pulls down the Euphrates and the Tigris. Tides rising fast. Lakes in the shadow of black crags and rivers bursting their banks leaving nothing behind but ruined houses and the purr of humidifiers in damp-ruined rooms.
Antonia Quirke's choices:
Lives in a Landscape - Radio 4
After Saddam - Radio 4
Crossing the Bay - Radio 4
Words and Music: Discovery - Radio 3
Book of the Week: Far from the Tree - Radio 4
Your World: In My Mother's Image - World Service
Scottish Shorts: Save the Sea Turtles - Radio 4
Twenty Minutes: Left High and Dry - Radio 3
Hardeep's Game of Life - Radio 4
Discovery: What If...We Could All Become Cyborgs? - World Service
Good Evening Wales - BBC Radio Wales
The Story of Music in 50 Pieces: Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag - Radio 3
The Meaning of Liff at 30 - Radio 4
Alex Horne Presents the Horne Section - Radio 4
If there's something you'd like to suggest for next week's programme, please email potw@bbc.co.uk.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b01r0c5p)
Brenda's lie-in is cut short by Tom's clattering. She knows he's unhappy about doing extra milking, but tells him he's not the only one with work problems. Telling Tom to grow up, Brenda storms back upstairs. Later, she complains about Matt and Lilian both dumping their work onto her. Tom moans that Pat has gone silent. He plans to speak to his parents, but Brenda warns him to be careful and not go wading in.
Ruth wrestles with a bleating ewe and discusses with David the problem of the waterlogged paddocks. Without Pip's help, Ruth has little time to prepare Rickyard Cottage for a prospective new tenant - who ends up wasting Ruth's time anyway. Exasperated David asks Pip for more help, but she fobs him off with excuses about her university work. David and Ruth agree she's behaving like a spoiled teenager, in contrast to helpful Josh.
Alice packs her case for Vancouver. In the car to the airport, conversation with Chris is awkward and stilted. Chris is distant and noncommittal when Alice asks about being picked up upon her return.
At the security gate, there's an opportunity for one of them to show some affection, but it passes. Chris says a brief goodbye and walks away.
SUN 19:15 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r0c5r)
Series 2
With Phill Jupitus and Lady Lykez
Comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This episode explores the theme of 'the body' including songs on shampoo, beards and catarrh.
Guest starring:
Phill Jupitus who sings with the band and reads a poem
Plus a rap from Lady Lykez.
Alex's Horne Section are:
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
SUN 19:45 Go West (b01r0c5w)
A Story to Be Told
Five new stories produced from Bristol
1. A Story to be Told
by Gillian Tindall
Read by Wendy Brierley
Swimming up through layers of post-operative anaesthetic, Jennifer judges it time to tell an important secret about her past life before it vanishes with her.
Produced by Christine Hall.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (b01qwk3q)
This week in Feedback, we ask whether listeners should be warned about strong language before it is broadcast. Many of you have written to us with your views on potentially offensive language, some in support of the realism swearing can provide, others saying there is no place for it on the wireless. But when Radio 4's Six o'clock news chose to broadcast a racially abusive term, it prompted you to ask why some programmes carry warnings ahead of transmission when others don't, and whether it is acceptable to remove a factual component of a news report. We took your questions to Richard Clark, editor of the Radio Newsroom, to hear how he makes these difficult decisions.
Also this week, could you make it onto the Radio 4 quiz Brain of Britain? When Barry Simmons, a star of BBC 2's Eggheads quiz, appeared on Brain of Britain, many of you questioned why someone who might be termed a 'professional quizzer' was allowed to appear on the long-running quiz. We asked Brain of Britain producer Paul Bajoria to explain how the contestants are chosen.
And how would you feel about starring in a new Radio 4 comedy? Well, if you were in the audience for late-night programme The Guns of Adam Riches, you might find yourself appearing in one of Adam's sketches which rely on audience participation. But how does experimental comedy establish itself amongst stalwarts such as Just a Minute or the News Quiz? To find out, Roger took two Feedback listeners along to meet Adam Riches and comedy producer Simon Mayhew-Archer.
Producer: Kate Taylor
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b01qwk3n)
A train robber, an actress, an animator, a TV executive and a human rights activist
On Last Word this week:
Bruce Reynolds, the man who masterminded the Great Train Robbery.
Lady Elspet Gray, who partnered her husband Brian Rix both in stage and screen farces, and running the Mencap charity.
Oscar winning animator Bob Godfrey, best known for Roobarb and Custard, is remembered by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park and cartoonist Steve Bell.
Sir Denis Forman, chairman of Granada Television, who oversaw World in Action, Coronation Street and The Jewel in the Crown.
And Stéphane Hessel, the former French Resistance fighter whose 2010 manifesto Time for Outrage inspired social protesters.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b01qzj1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:00 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r09sp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (b01qw93v)
Roberto Unger & Vulgar Keynesianism
Roberto Unger is an American-based thinker who is highly critical of the current ideas from left-of-centre politicians and thinkers about how to restore advanced economies to healthy growth. His devastating attack last summer on what he saw as the shortcomings of President Obama's plans for a second term made him an overnight internet sensation.
For Unger, what he and others call "vulgar Keynesianism" - the idea that governments should spend more money to stimulate growth and create jobs - has little left to offer. It is unlikely to have a big enough impact and will disappoint both politicians and voters.
Instead, he argues, those who think of themselves as progressive need to think much more boldly and creatively. And this applies not just to ideas about the economy but also to politics and democratic institutions. What he sees as a drab, predictable - and failed - approach needs a complete overhaul.
In this edition of "Analysis", Tim Finch talks to Roberto Unger about his critique of left-of-centre thinking. He asks him to justify his criticisms of current ideas and to set out his alternative vision. Tim then discovers from figures on the left here in Britain how they react to Unger's approach and how likely it is that "vulgar Keynesianism" will give way to something new.
Among those taking part: Jon Cruddas, MP; Sonia Sodha; Tamara Lothian; Stuart White and David Hall-Matthews.
Producer Simon Coates.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b01r0c5y)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b01r0c60)
Andrew Gimson of The London Evening Standard analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b01qwhpy)
Actor Mark Wahlberg on cop thriller Broken City, plus Richard Gere on Arbitrage
Francine Stock talks to Mark Wahlberg about his latest role as an ex-cop in the thriller Broken City which also stars Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Richard Gere discusses charm and corruption which both feature heavily in Arbitrage, a film about high finance, greed and adultery. Neil Bennett from Digital Arts magazine explains why there's a crisis in the visual effects industry despite films like Life of Pi, which rely on such skills, topping the Oscars list.There's discussion of the Italian film Caesar Must Die, with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar played by real-life prisoners. And Alison Abbate, producer of Frankenweenie, on her passion for stop-motion animation. Producer: Elaine Lester.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b01r08ct)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 04 MARCH 2013
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzk81)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b01qwglp)
Fashion, Class and Mums; Red Racisms
'Red Racisms' - Laurie Taylor talks to the Professor of Racism and Ethnicity Studies, Ian Law, about his study of racism in Communist and Post Communist countries. He hears about the battle to challenge the racist underground in the Russian Federation, the post war experiences of the Roma in Hungary, the emergence of new forms of racism in Cuba and Tibetan struggles against Chinese domination. They're joined by the historian, Michael Stewart. Also, Katherine Appleford's research on class, motherhood and fashion - the extent to which mothers influence their daughters' taste in style and clothes.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b01qzl0w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk83)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzk85)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk87)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzk89)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r0c9h)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b01r0c9t)
How 'good bugs' added to cattle feed could reduce the risk of E.coli. The Food Standards Agency in Scotland says the idea, along with vaccination, should be investigated. Also in the programme: can UK chicken farmers meet supermarkets' buy British pledge in the wake of Horsegate? Charlotte Smith asks the British Poultry Council. Landowners have been given special dispensation to use a banned chemical to control bracken. And, the domestic life of the Brecon Buff goose.
Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Sarah Swadling.
MON 05:57 Weather (b01qzk8c)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 06:00 Today (b01r0cbj)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b01r0cbw)
Feminism: Natasha Walter and Catherine Hakim
On Start the Week Anne McElvoy explores the state of feminism today. It's fifty years since Betty Friedan's landmark book, The Feminine Mystique, questioned the role of women in society. Anne McElvoy discusses that role today with the Living Dolls author, Natasha Walter, the proponent of erotic capital Catherine Hakim, the radical feminist Finn Mackay and the journalist and academic Shereen El Feki who has been looking at the changing sexual attitudes and behaviour in the Arab world.
This programme will be followed by a phone-in edition of Woman's Hour on feminism. If you would like to take part in the programme you can email now via the Woman's Hour website or phone from 0800 on Monday 4th March on 03700 100 444.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r0cf3)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen
Episode 1
Written and read by Tracey Thorn.
Tracey Thorn's memoir charts a personal and musical journey that takes us back to her teenage diaries and the thrill of punk, juggling school homework with interviews with the NME as part of all-girl group The Marine Girls and the DIY indie music scene of the late 1970s. She has experienced the highs of stardom and been dropped by her record company. She has spent a career struggling with the challenge of combining artistic integrity, personal politics and feminism with the music industry hunger for chart success. This is an insider's insight into the music industry over thirty years, but above all it's a very personal story which has Tracey's relationship with Ben Watt at the heart of it.
Today, how the do-it-yourself ethos of punk first influenced the teenage Tracey to become the guitarist in a band while still at school - and before she could even play her instrument.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r0dyb)
What does feminism mean to you? Phone-in
What does feminism mean to you? A badge of honour? A fundamental part of how you view the world? An unnecessary label? An idea which has had its time? An unhelpful ideology which has done more harm than good? How would you describe yourself? Are you a radical feminist? A feminist? 'Not a feminist but...'? Pro equality but anti feminist? Why? How do you think feminism has directly affected your life? Phone Jane Garvey with your views and experiences. Phone lines open at 0800 on Monday March 4th on 03700 100444, email now via our Contact Us link or tweet @bbcwomanshour #feminism.
Just before Woman's Hour on the 4th March on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week, Anne McElvoy will be discussing feminism with Natasha Walter, the Living Dolls author; the proponent of erotic capital Catherine Hakim; the radical feminist Finn Mackay and the journalist and academic Shereen El Feki who has been looking at the changing sexual attitudes and behaviour in the Arab world.
MON 10:45 The Cazalets (b01r0dyd)
Marking Time
Episode 11
by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
1940: Louise goes to her first dance in London and meets the famous painter, Michael Hadleigh.
Produced and Directed by Sally Avens and Marion Nancarrow.
Marking Time is the second of four compelling Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which together give a vivid insight into the lives, hopes and loves of three generations.
As Elizabeth Jane Howard enters her 90th Birthday year, Radio 4 are broadcasting dramatisations of all four novels between January and August 2013.
You can catch up with series one, The Cazalets: The Light Years, on iplayer.
In the second series, the families' worst fears are realised as war breaks out. Rupert immediately decides he must join up, Edward will see what military work he can get, whilst Hugh - still suffering from injuries from the first war - has to settle with running the family firm. But it is the children who become the centre of the story, as Louise realises that her parents' marriage is not as happy as she had imagined, Clary is faced with the prospect of losing her beloved father and Polly must deal with her fear of war and a battle much closer to home. If only the adults would realise that they are not really children - but they seem stuck in some awful place where they must simply mark time.
When Elizabeth Jane Howard began writing the first of her four novels featuring the Cazalet family, her aims were modest. "I wanted to write about my youth, and the ten years that straddled the Second World War. I also wanted to write about what domestic life was like for people at home. A lot has been written about the battles and the war in a more direct sense, but little had been said about the way the whole of England changed. When the war ended, everybody was in a different position from where they were when it started."
You can catch up with Series 1 The Cazalets: The Light Years on the iplayer.
MON 11:00 Mad Houses (b01r0dyg)
Ken Arnold explores how three European countries variously tell the history of mental illness. What do museums of madness tell us about who we were and who we are?
Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes at the Wellcome Trust, visits three of Europe's old 'mad houses' that are now museums in Aarhus in Denmark, Haarlem in the Netherlands and Ghent in Belgium. Two of these institutions still function as psychiatric hospitals.
Each has unusual, beautiful and terrifying objects on show ranging from straight-jackets to lobotomy tools, and also collections of 'outsider art', but each is also strikingly successful at evoking for their visitors different (and sometimes wildly different) views of madness - strange, worrisome, extreme mental states.
Ranging from a pitch-dark solitary confinement cell to the brightly coloured papier-mache dolls made by long term inmates, from the era of shackles to the era of the talking cure, the history of Europe's reaction to the madness in its midst as shown by these museums is long and still shifting. Britain doesn't yet have a national museum of mental illness or psychiatry. Bedlam Hospital in London will take on this role in years to come.
What might we learn from the mad houses of Europe?
Producer: Tim Dee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
MON 11:30 Thinking of Leaving Your Husband? (b00rrkg5)
FindthePerfectPartner4u.com
The first episode of a comedy drama by Charlotte Cory starring Henry Goodman and Lia Williams.
Sarah is deeply dissatisfied with her lot. Her marriage to the kindly but deeply boring Malcolm has long since failed to bring any spark to her life, and a brief relationship with a man called David, while ultimately unfulfilling, at least proves to her that she is not so unattractive that she cannot find happiness elsewhere.
So she leaves Malcolm and a chance encounter with an old school friend, Tania, leads her to move in with her friend and join the internet dating site Find-the-perfect-partner-4-u.com. But her first experience of internet dating proves hugely embarrassing.
Cast:
Sarah ... Lia Williams
Malcolm - and all Sarah's internet dates ... Henry Goodman
Mother ... Miriam Margolyes
Tania ... Frances Barber
Francis Parker ... Roger Hammond
Sound Design: Lucinda Mason Brown
Original Music: David Chilton
Director: Gordon House
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b01r0dyj)
Morrisons boss, dementia care and secret cigarettes
After a disappointing year for Morrisons, the supermarket chain's boss tells us how he aims to turn things around. Dalton Philips says many more convenience stores are part of the plan and offers an insight into the profitability of online grocery shopping.
There's a secret trade in under-the-counter cigarettes. We're out on the high street with the people trying to stop it.
Museums which show how we used to live are helping people with dementia. We report on the special memory sessions for care home residents using objects from days gone by.
And as Debrett's says it's now ok to serve takeaway food at a dinner party, have you deceived a diner? Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson's on with his views.
Presenter: Julian Worricker
Producer: Jon Douglas.
MON 12:57 Weather (b01qzk8f)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b01r0dyl)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
MON 13:45 Battle for the Airwaves (b01r0dyn)
Episode 6
Nick Robinson looks at the controversies over coverage of the Falklands War in his latest programme on relations between broadcasters and politicians. The invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982 was the biggest overseas conflict Britain had been involved in since Suez in 1956. Again, the BBC and the government clashed - this time over BBC coverage and also delays in getting TV pictures from the Falklands.
The Task Force's long journey to the Falklands and the delay in receiving pictures prompted speculation about the campaign on radio and television. Newsnight appeared to cast doubt on official sources by saying, "If we believe the British" and referring to "the only damage the British admitted". Although the BBC argued that it had to guard its reputation for telling the truth, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher complained that, "There are times when it would seem that we and the Argentines are almost being treated as equal."
More controversy followed when Panorama featured critics of the conflict under the title Can We Avoid War? But the BBC's Richard Francis stressed the importance of BBC independence: "When the Argentines claimed in the first raid on Port Stanley airport that they had shot down two Sea Harriers and damaged two more, the British Minister of Defence said none had been hit and the world wondered who was right. But when the BBC correspondent aboard HMS Hermes reported 'I counted the Harriers go out and I counted them all back,' the world believed." Eventually, footage from the conflict began arriving in Britain and the success of the operation gripped the country, but relations between broadcasters and the government had been severely tested.
Tomorrow, Nick Robinson examines the clashes over the war in Iraq.
Producer: Rob Shepherd.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b01r0c5p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b01nl6hn)
Notes to Future Self
When thirteen year old 'Philosophy Rainbow'- better known as Sophie - is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she, her mother Judy, and her sister Calliope, return to live with their grandmother Daphne in Birmingham.
Reunited for the first time in years, the three generations of women must try to prepare themselves for the inevitable loss of Sophie from their lives, while Sophie herself must come to terms with her own mortality.
As Sophie counts down the last weeks days, and minutes, of her life, tensions simmer and emotions bubble to the surface. At times Sophie hates her family; they have their futures, the rest of their lives to look forward to. But Sophie has her Future Self. Someday, she believes she'll come back as someone else. Then she'll have a different future. The future denied her now. And she leaves her Future Self some notes, some advice to remember, because after all, all stories about death are really stories about how to live.
Adapted for radio by Lucy Caldwell from her stage play, Notes to Future Self is a brave and poignant story of a young girl facing death before she even really knows what life means.
Producer/Director....Heather Larmour
Playwright and novelist Lucy Caldwell's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace' and 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her novel 'The Meeting Point'. 'Notes to Future Self' first premiered in Birmingham in 2011.
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b01r0dyq)
(15/17)
The book 'Ten Days That Shook The World', by John Reed, is an eyewitness account of which event? And what was the subject of the public inquiry over which the High Court judge Lord Mersey presided in 1912?
These are among the questions faced by the semi-finalists, in the third semi-final of Brain of Britain 2013, with Russell Davies in the chair.
The winner will take a place in the series Final in just a couple of weeks' time, so the stakes are high. As always, there's also a chance for a listener to outwit the combined brainpower of the contestants, by suggesting devious questions of his or her own.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b01r09t0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Was Gertrude Stein Any Good? (b01r0dys)
Gertrude Stein has been called a genius and an idiot. So which was she? For some Stein is on a literary par with her contemporaries and friends; James Joyce, T.S Eliot, Marcel Proust or Ezra Pound, but for others she's a fraud, the 'eminent idiot' of the Modernist period, writing gibberish and passing it off as art.
There's no doubting the importance of Stein as a creative catalyst. She gathered some of the greatest artists of the 20th century into her circle, offering financial, emotional and intellectual support. Picasso and Hemingway in particular cited her importance to their work.
She spent much of her life working on her opus, 'The Making of Americans', a book likened to Joyce's Ulysses in its scale, ambition and incomprehensibility. Does it deserve re-examination? Is it fair that Joyce is lauded and Stein marginalised?
Poet and presenter Ian McMillan asks if Getrude Stein was any good?
Produced in Salford by Nicola Swords.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b01r0dyv)
Animals
The revelation that horse meat has found its way into supermarket products, and that Muslim prisoners have been fed meals containing pork has highlighted again the way food is produced and animals treated.
Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the place of animals in the religions of East and West are Shimon Cohen, Director of Shechita UK, an organisation which defends the Jewish method of slaughtering animals for food; Barbara Gardner, a trustee of the RSPCA and author of The Compassionate Animal; and Shaunaka Rishi Das a Vaisnav priest from the Oxford Centre of Hindu Studies.
MON 17:00 PM (b01r0dyx)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzk8h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b01r0dzt)
Compilation
Episode 2
Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Josie Lawrence, Marcus Brigstocke attempt to talk for 60 seconds with no hesitation, repetition or deviation under the watchful eye of Nicholas Parsons.
Produced by Tilusha Ghelani.
From 2013.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b01r0dzw)
Tom complains to Pat that they should add more interesting produce to the veg boxes. Pat disagrees. People like home grown, seasonal organic veg, and they'll continue as they are.
Ed and Jazzer discuss what to call themselves in their new sheep-shearing business. Ed notices the dodgy paint job Jazzer is doing on their new tractor. Celebrating their great investment, Jazzer trips over a paint tin and marks the bonnet with his paint-covered hands. He'll have to start over again.
They join Tom and Chris at The Bull. Bitter about Alice going to Canada, Chris has been getting drunk. Concerned Tom has tried to reassure Chris that they'll get through this, just as he and Brenda are rock solid despite their own bickering. Chris is eventually helped home by Tom and Jazzer, before passing out on the sofa.
Ed collects Keira from Pat, who's been looking after her and Henry. Pat feels it's nice for Keira and Henry to play together. It also helps their mothers.
Tom again tries to explain to Pat why they should buy in a few extra veg varieties. Defensive Pat says that until he receives any specific complaints the subject is closed.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b01r0dzy)
Oz the Great and Powerful; Julia O'Faolain; Written on Skin
With Mark Lawson.
Sam Raimi's film Oz The Great and Powerful is an imagined prequel to L. Frank Baum's novel The Wizard of Oz. James Franco stars as Oscar Diggs, a circus magician from Kansas who encounters three witches, played by Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis in the land of Oz. Writer Sally Gardner reviews.
Composer George Benjamin and playwright Martin Crimp reflect on their new opera, Written on Skin, receiving its UK premiere at the Royal Opera House this week. Based on a medieval folk tale of love and violence, the opera is directed by Katie Mitchell and features Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan in the pivotal role of Agnes.
Author Julia O'Faolain discusses Trespassers: A Memoir, the story of her own life and her relationship with her father, the acclaimed writer Sean O'Faolain, who was also Director of Publicity for the IRA during the Irish Civil War.
Producer Nicki Paxman.
MON 19:45 The Cazalets (b01r0dyd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Document (b01r0hsx)
MI6 and the Media
Jeremy Duns examines leaked documents which suggest close links between MI6 and the British press during the Cold War.
In December 1968, the British media was shaken by a series of secret documents leaked to Soviet state newspapers. The documents claimed a range of key Fleet Street correspondents and news chiefs were working for the intelligence services. Further papers alleged close links between the BBC and MI6.
At the time, the documents were dismissed by the British media as forgeries, part of an escalating propaganda battle played out in the Russian press. In this edition of Document, Jeremy Duns uncovers evidence which suggests that the papers were genuine and examines how they might have found their way into Soviet hands.
Notorious spies George Blake and Kim Philby are among those under suspicion of having leaked the documents.
Jeremy Duns speaks to distinguished Sunday Times journalist Phillip Knightley, and historian of the intelligence services Professor Christopher Andrew.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
MON 20:30 Analysis (b01r0f4g)
Islamists International
The Muslim Brotherhood is a global ideological network enjoying popular support across the Sunni Muslim world. It, and closely related Islamic groups, are well established across the Muslim world: from North Africa to the Middle East, Turkey, the Indian subcontinent and Malaysia. Christopher de Bellaigue discovers how this community of faith and politics has been influenced by the rise to power of its founding branch: the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Producer: Sue Davies.
MON 21:00 Material World (b01qwhtp)
Junk DNA, mine fires, Homer
Is junk DNA really rubbish? Scientists dispute recent findings about our genetic code. Dr. Ewan Birney from the European Bioinformatics Institute defends his work, while Professor Chris Ponting from Oxford University discusses the latest research on the functionality of our DNA. Professor Mark Pagel from Reading University has analysed Homer's writing by using the language within his poems to date the work. And why did a fire start at the the last remaining pit in Warwickshire? Dr. Dr Guillermo Rein, from Imperial College, London and Tony Milodowski from the British Geological Survey explain how spontaneous heating events, like this fire, occur.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b01r0cbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b01qzk8k)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r0f4j)
Parliament votes on secret courts.
Kenya goes to the polls in crucial elections.
Political reform in China: a special report.
With Carolyn Quinn.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r0f4l)
The Middlesteins
Episode 6
A layered. bittersweet tragi-comedy about three generations of a Jewish family from the Chicago suburbs.
Edie Middlestein is a woman who can't stop eating. Her family fear she will eat herself to death. But Edie's heart and soul feel full when her stomach is full. And as she alternates between eating and grinding all the joy out of her memories, relationships around her start to unravel.
The author, Jami Attenberg, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. This is her fourth book.
Episode 6 (of 10)
Life is stressful for Benny Middlestein. His mother is ill. His father has left his mother. His wife is not only obsessed with the kids' forthcoming b'nai mitzvah but has put everyone on a joyless diet. And now, he's going bald.
Written by Jami Attenberg
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 Sound Painting (b01r0f4n)
An artist's studio is a unique setting, littered with the debris of creative endeavour - photos, drawings and images all offering inspiration.
However many artists also draw on audio stimulus from the music of their hi-fis and ipods. In this revealing programme, Tim Marlow meets some of the UK's leading artists to explore the sounds and music they use and how it influences the creative process.
Artist-in-residence at the National, Michael Landy, is happy to listen to the sounds of the gallery as he works, expressing an interest in the PA announcements and the gentle hum of Sir Peter Blake's fridge, left by the artist after his spell working at the National studio.
The use of music was something that used to move one of Britain's leading sculptors, Sir Anthony Caro. He talks about his past use of the classics to enhance the mood of his studio. But these days, as he nears his 90th birthday, he prefers silence as "Beethoven is just too distracting".
Rachel Whiteread also enjoys music when she is drawing but explains how everyday sounds affect her work and demonstrates some of the noises that punctuate her day.
The programme culminates with Tracey Emin at her Bethnal Green studio revealing the sounds and music that influence her work.
Producer: John Sugar
A Sugar production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r0f4q)
Susan Hulme with the day's top news stories from Westminster.
TUESDAY 05 MARCH 2013
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzk9f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r0cf3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk9h)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzk9k)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzk9m)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzk9p)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r0g3z)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b01r0g41)
A public enquiry into a proposed 1000 cow mega dairy in Powys begins. BBC correspondent Iolo ap Daffyd says it could set a precedent for other planned expansions.
The food company '2 Sisters' has bought out the UK red meat and poultry sites of the Dutch meat processors Vion. Its estimated that it will save 1500 jobs.
Welsh farm incomes are expected to have fallen by up to 60%. NFU Cymru president Ed Bailey says the situation has been worsened by the removal of special payments for upland farmers.
The grey partridge have been in steep decline in recent years, but plans are afoot to increase its numbers. Caz Graham plays detective with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust in search of the illusive bird.
Presenter Anna Hill. Producer Ruth Sanderson.
TUE 06:00 Today (b01r0g43)
Morning news and current affairs with Justin Webb and John Humphrys, including:
0742
The BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz speaks to Dame Helen Mirren about her role in the new play The Audience that opens at London's Gielgud Theatre tonight.
0749
Ministers are to require primary schools in England to get a higher proportion of 11 year-olds to meet expected standards in English and Maths, or face being taken over by an outside sponsor. Schools Minister David Laws explains the changes and Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, gives his thoughts on the proposals.
0810
From April, reforms removing public funding from legal aid in whole areas of civil law are to be introduced. The president of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, speaks to the Today programme's Clive Coleman to explain how cuts to legal aid could undermine the rule of law and Lord Bach, Former legal aid minister, currently shadow justice minister, and Sir Edward Garnier, QC former Solicitor-General discuss the changes.
0819
It emerged over the weekend that the RAF's 617 Squadron - the Dambusters - has been saved from defence cuts. The historian James Holland joins the Today programme to claim that previous historians of WWII have belittled the contribution made by this squadron's famous bombing run in the Ruhr valley.
TUE 09:00 In Defence of Bureaucracy (b01r0g45)
Episode 1
The former Prime Minister Tony Blair is one of many high-profile contributors to Gus O'Donnell's two part series In Defence of Bureaucracy.
Pity the poor bureaucrat. He's a desk-jockey, a pen-pusher, a bean-counter, a jobsworth. He's seen as part of the faceless machine that strangles creativity and enterprise with red-tape. At least that's how he's often portrayed in popular culture and the press.
In the first programme (of two), the former Cabinet Secretary, Gus O'Donnell, makes a provocative and passionate plea In Defence of Bureaucracy, arguing that far from being just "the glue that greases the wheels of progress", an efficient bureaucracy isn't only a symptom of a mature democracy - it's a fundamental prerequisite.
At a time when one broadsheet newspaper has characterised the relationship between government ministers and bureaucrats in the Civil Service as "Whitehall at War", Lord O'Donnell talks to, amongst others, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the head of M15 Jonathan Evans and Sir Antony Jay, one of the co-authors of the iconic comedy series Yes, Prime Minister.
Producer: Will Yates
A Juniper Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:30 Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities (b01kbk3r)
Series 1
Episode 3
In the third in the series. Roger Law travels to Chongqing in China to see what new museums are being built in this huge and overwhelming city. He visits the Three Gorges museum to find the artefacts which were rescued from the massive dam project, and after climbing up and down the many hills in Chongqing, he finds himself in need of some help from the Chinese Traditional Medicine museum. The doctor in residence is able to give him some much needed personal attention, but does the medicine have any effect?
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r0g47)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen
Episode 2
Written and read by Tracey Thorn.
In October 1981, on her first day at Hull University when she was 18 years old, Tracey Thorn answered a public address announcement calling her to reception. The boy who put the call out for her was Ben Watt, and it marked the start of a personal and professional relationship - as pop duo Everything But The Girl - that has spanned over thirty years. She has experienced the highs of stardom and been dropped by her record company. She has spent a career struggling with the challenge of combining artistic integrity, personal politics and feminism with the music industry hunger for chart success.
Tracey Thorn's memoir takes us back to her musical awakening in the 70s documented in her earliest teenage diaries - the thrill of punk, juggling school homework with interviews with the NME as part of all-girl group The Marine Girls and the DIY indie music scene of the late 1970s.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r0g49)
Standing for the Conservatives: how are women doing? Boys and mentors: we talk to a young man and his mentor from Brighton scheme, A Band of Brothers. A little pick-me-up...the women in Chorus line turned to ballet, what do you turn to, to help keep going through tough times? Sara Wheeler on her book, O My America! which charts the stories of remarkable British women who reinvented themselves in the United States. Jane Garvey reports from a mental health project in Ghana that's benefitted from Comic Relief funding.
Presenter Jane Garvey
Producer Karen Dalziel.
TUE 10:45 The Cazalets (b01r0g4c)
Marking Time
Episode 12
by Elizabeth Jane Howard, dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Louise is insufferable since going to acting school and Christopher tries to find sanctuary in Home Place.
Produced and directed by Sally Avens & Marion Nancarrow
Marking Time is the second of four compelling Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which together give a vivid insight into the lives, hopes and loves of three generations.
As Elizabeth Jane Howard enters her 90th Birthday year, Radio 4 are broadcasting dramatisations of all four novels between January and August 2013.
In the second series, the families' worst fears are realised as war breaks out. Rupert immediately decides he must join up, Edward will see what military work he can get, whilst Hugh - still suffering from injuries from the first war - has to settle with running the family firm. But it is the children who become the centre of the story, as Louise realises that her parents' marriage is not as happy as she had imagined, Clary is faced with the prospect of losing her beloved father and Polly must deal with her fear of war and a battle much closer to home. If only the adults would realise that they are not really children - but they seem stuck in some awful place where they must simply mark time.
TUE 11:00 Who's the Pest? (b01r0g4f)
Superpowers
They make up a mighty 80% of the species on earth, and at any time there are ten QUINTILLION of them living.
Meet the six-legged rulers of the world: INSECTS
Entomologist Erica McAlister is known as Fly Girl to her friends. As Curator of Flies at the Natural History Museum, she knows what remarkable, strange, and diverse animals insects are. But for most of us, insects are pests - something we swot, or repel, or catch in a jar and hastily eject from the house. In this three part series, Erica will take listeners on an adventure in insect-world. It's our world, but not as we know it.
Insect world is populated by beings with superpowers - an amazing sense of smell, lightning reflexes, the ability to fly at dizzying speed or walk on the ceiling. And these superpowers have implications for us humans - in medicine, defence, food, art and architecture. They can help us to live more healthily, more safely, more sustainably.
In Episode One, Erica investigates insects' superpowers.
Series Consultant: Bridget Nicholls, Director, Pestival.
TUE 11:30 Soul Music (b01r0g4h)
Series 15
Shipbuilding
The song from 1982 was written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer for Robert Wyatt and has been recorded in several versions by Elvis Costello himself, Suede, June Tabor, Hue and Cry, Tamsin Archer and The Unthanks.
The blend of subtle lyrics and extraordinary music makes this a political song like no other. It transcends the particular circumstances of its writing: the Falklands War and the decline of British heavy industry, especially ship-building.
Clive Langer and Elvis Costello describe how the song came to be written and how the legendary jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Chet Baker, came to perform on Costello's version.
Richard Ashcroft is a philosopher who wants the song, which he describes as a kind of secular hymn, played at his funeral because it gives a perfect expression of how he believes we should think about life. Not being able to feel the emotion of the song would, he feels, be like being morally tone-deaf. If you don't like this song, he'd find it hard to be your friend.
The song's achingly beautiful final couplet about "diving for pearls" makes the MP Alan Johnson cry and has also inspired an oral history and migrant integration project in Glasgow. Chris Gourley describes how the participants found a way to overcome their lack of English and communicate through a shared understanding of ship-building practice.
Other contributors include Hopi Sen, a political blogger who was an unusually political child, and the Mercury Prize winning folk group The Unthanks. They toured their version to towns with ship-building connections as part of a live performance of a film tracing the history of British ship-building using archive footage.
Producer: Natalie Steed.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b01r0g4k)
Call You and Yours: Parenting
Overly-intrusive and babying parents are leaving children unable to cope with later life, according to an advisor to David Cameron. An endless treadmill of organised activities means many never learn to fend for themselves and parents' desires to see their children excel mean many are avoiding the 'difficult stuff' and failing to set limits.
So is she right? Are over-bearing parents - helicopter parents who constantly hover over their children - causing more harm than good?
Or, should parents be doing all they can to help their children succeed?
We want to hear from you.
What impact has your parents' parenting style had on you?
If you have children, are you a pushy parent or one that thinks that less is more?
Or is society to blame for infantilising young people, meaning they don't have the confidence to succeed in the adult world?
03700 100 444 is the number or you can e-mail via the Radio 4 website or text us on 84844. Join Julian Worricker at four minutes past twelve today.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b01qzk9r)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b01r0ghw)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
TUE 13:45 Battle for the Airwaves (b01r0ghz)
Episode 7
Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, continues his series on relations between broadcasters and politicians, from the early days to the present: today, the Iraq War and the most damaging political row in the BBC's history. He examines the clash between the BBC and the government that led to the resignations of the BBC's Chairman, Gavyn Davies, and its Director-General, Greg Dyke, and walkouts by staff.
The Blair Government's decision to take Britain to war in Iraq over the apparent threat posed by its dictator, Saddam Hussein, was deeply controversial. After the invasion, as doubts grew over whether Saddam possessed any weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the Today programme reporter Andrew Gilligan alleged that the Government 'probably knew' that its earlier claim that Saddam could deploy WMD within 45 minutes 'was wrong', even before they put it in the dossier on Saddam's threat. The Government rejected Gilligan's claim and Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's chief of communications, repeatedly demanded an apology. After the death of the BBC's source, the weapons expert Dr David Kelly, Tony Blair called an inquiry.
The verdict of Lord Hutton's inquiry was damning on the BBC. The BBC Chairman, Gavyn Davies, and the Director-General, Greg Dyke, resigned. The BBC reformed its journalism and complaints procedures. No WMD were found in Iraq and MI6 withdrew its 45-minute claim.
In previous programmes, Nick Robinson has looked at the General Strike; the dispute over foreign policy in the 1930s; the Suez crisis in 1956; the row between the Labour Party and the BBC in the early 1970s; the clashes over reporting Northern Ireland; the Falklands War. In his final programme, he looks at the present relationship between broadcasters and politicians
Producer: Rob Shepherd.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b01r0dzw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b01r0gj2)
Noble Cause Corruption
Noble Cause Corruption by Fin Kennedy
DI Maxine Boyd is a newly promoted police detective but she is unprepared for life in CID. Following the apparent suicide of a fellow officer in her first week she begins to uncover the true nature of this overstressed and overstretched department. Could it be that officers routinely take the law into their own hands in order to get the job done? Soon she is tested to the limit as she realises how far she has to go to remain loyal to her CID team.
Noble Cause Corruption is authentic and an original police drama. Serving and ex police officers were consulted during the making of the drama.
Story consultant Kris Hollington
Music and sound by Howard Jacques and Alisdair McGregor
Produced and directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 The Human Zoo (b01r0gj4)
Series 1
Episode 1
The Human Zoo is a place to learn about the one subject that never fails to fascinate - ourselves. Are people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? How do we perceive the world and what lies behind the quirks of human behaviour?
Michael Blastland presents a curious blend of intriguing experiments to discover our biases and judgements, conversations, explorations and examples taken from what's in the news to what we do in the kitchen - all driven by a large slice of curiosity.
Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick University, is on hand as guide and experimenter in chief.
Our thoughts, John Milton said, are a kingdom of infinite space and they might take us anywhere -whether our subject is writ large, like the behaviours of public figures or the contradictions of politics, or located in the minutiae of everyday life. We can show how what happens on the big stage is our own behaviour writ large - like the old Linda Smith joke about the Iraq-war coalition's failure to find chemical weapons: "I'm the same with the scissors".
The Human Zoo explores why it is that our judgements are so averse to ambiguity, how mental energy is linked to our legs, why we don't want to be in the dock when the judge is hungry - and other thoughts that have nothing to do with anything much beyond the ironing.
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b01r0gj6)
Electrifying Africa: Beyond the Grid
Micro-solar lamps are now lighting parts of Africa that the grid cannot reach. Tom Heap investigates how the solar spread is emulating the wide reach of mobile phones in Africa.
There are currently over 100 million kerosene lamps across Africa that are the main source of light in parts of the continent that are either off-grid or where people cannot afford to hook-up to the electricity grid. These lights are polluting, dangerous and expensive.
Burning a kerosene light in a small room produces the same detrimental effect as smoking two packets of cigarettes. They are a fire hazard and they can cost as much as 15% of an average salary to fuel in some parts of the continent.
Tom heap sets out to discover if a small desktop solar lamp that costs a fraction of the running expenses of a kerosene lamp can improve the health of millions of people and help to lift Africa out of poverty.
This week's programme is produced in conjunction with BBC Newsnight and BBC World's 'Our World' programme. To watch the films made to accompany the programme visit the Newsnight and Our World websites.
Presenter: Tom Heap
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b01r0gj8)
Inside the Supreme Court
In a broadcasting first the programme comes from inside the United Kingdom Supreme Court where the country's most senior judge, the Court's president Lord Neuberger, answers questions put by Joshua Rozenberg and an audience of Law in Action listeners.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b01r0gjb)
Daljit Nagra and Susan Jeffreys
This week's recommended books are by Edna O'Brien, Margery Allingham and the anonymous author of a controversial memoir, A Woman in Berlin. Harriett is joined by by poet Daljit Nagra and journalist and radio critic Susan Jeffreys.
Daljit recommends 'The Country Girls' by Edna O'Brien, a funny and painful story of growing-up in Ireland in the early 1960s. Susan's book is the anonymously written 'A Woman in Berlin', a searing and brilliant memoir of survival by a German woman living through the final weeks of World War Two.
Harriett's choice is 'Coroner's Pidgin' by one of the queens of crime fiction, Margery Allingham.
Daljit Nagra's debut poetry collection 'Look We Have Coming to Dover!' won the 2007 Forward Prize for Best First Collection. His latest book: 'Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man Eating Tiger-Toy Machine!!!' was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Daljit is currently working on a version of the South Asian classic text 'Ramayana'. There were no books at home when he was a child and the first book that really made an impression on him was William Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' when he was nineteen.
Daily Mail radio columnist Susan Jeffreys has always worked with books, first in libraries, (notably in Zambia where she delivered books by van and canoe). Later she wrote for Punch, The Listener and The Observer among many other publications. A Sony Gold winning broadcaster, she has also written a libretto and short stories. She can't remember what the first book she read was called, but she does remember it was made of cloth so it could be read in the bath - a tin bath in front of the fire - and she's been a keen fan of bath reading ever since, as is evidenced by the soggy pages of her review copies.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
TUE 17:00 PM (b01r0gjd)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzk9t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Elvenquest (b01r0gjg)
Series 4
The Underworld
The Questers are forced into the Underworld where they must find Penthiselea's mum to ask her an all important question that could finally lead them to the Sword of Asnagar.
Meanwhile, Lord Darkness faces a testing time too, when he tries to raise an army of the dead.
Starring:
Darren Boyd as Vidar
Louise Delamere as Penthiselea's mother
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis/The Gatekeeper
Stephen Mangan as Sam
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
and
Ingrid Oliver as Penthiselea
Written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto.
Producer: Sam Michell.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b01r0gjj)
Dealing with an agitated horse, Chris is evasive telling Shula about Alice's trip to Canada. Shula offers to ask Alistair to sedate the horse, but Chris says not to bother. He'll use what he has.
When Freddie drops a bucket nearby, the commotion startles the horse. It rears up and floors Chris with a kick to the chest. Shula calms the horse and sends shocked Freddie for her mobile. With Chris losing consciousness, Shula talks to the emergency services.
Meanwhile, Brian tells Alistair he'll soon be advertising for assistant herd managers, but probably not a full time vet. Rob thinks they'll do better with the wide experience of a retained practice.
Shula rings Susan and then Brian, telling him to contact Alice immediately. At Felpersham Hospital, distraught Susan berates herself for not telling Chris to take the day off. Neil goes to ring Emma and Ed, holding in his emotions. He updates Jennifer. Chris is in intensive care on a ventilator.
Shula feels guilty that the horse wasn't properly sedated. Brian finally gets through to Alice, who's frantic and desperate to come home. With a calm update on Chris's critical condition, Brian tells Alice to be strong. They'll find a way to get her home.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b01r0gjl)
Side Effects; Lara Croft's comeback
With John Wilson.
Side Effects is a new psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. He claims that it is his final film for cinema, in a career which began with Sex, Lies and Videotape in 1989. Rooney Mara stars as a woman who suffers unexpected side effects from medication prescribed by her psychiatrist, played by Jude Law. Antonia Quirke reviews.
The American artist Chuck Close discusses his highly-detailed portraits, created from hundreds of smaller images. He explains why his inability to recognise faces, a consequence of a disability, has led to his focus on portraiture.
A new TV series, Bluestone 42, covers unusual ground for a comedy as it follows the fortunes of a bomb disposal squad in Afghanistan. Writers James Cary and Richard Hurst discuss how they researched the storylines with the help of army advisors, and consider the moral dilemmas involved in getting laughs from a war in which soldiers are still serving.
The video game icon Lara Croft is making a comeback, five years after the last Tomb Raider game was released. Written by Rhianna Pratchett, the new game explores Lara Croft's origins as a young archaeologist. Helen Lewis reflects on the significance of Lara Croft for a generation of female gamers.
Producer Rebecca Nicholson.
TUE 19:45 The Cazalets (b01r0g4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 How Iraq Changed the World (b01r2qgj)
Writer and broadcaster John Kampfner talks to Tony Blair, the former French foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin and others about the global consequences of war in Iraq.
How has the world changed since the fall of Saddam Hussein ten years ago? What effect did the war have on the balance of power, the respect for international institutions and the global standing of the United States and Britain?
George W. Bush described the war as 'a central commitment in the war on terror' but some say that, if anything, it has promoted terrorists and their cause. And then there's liberal interventionism. Have we created a tyrant's charter?
Leading thinkers from Britain, the United States, China and Russia discuss the impact of the war that has dominated our headlines and reshaped our history.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b01r0gjq)
Virgin Journey Care, Insight Radio Xtra
ATOC's David Sindall explains how the Journey Care passenger assistance scheme should work for customers.
Steve Scott, a visually-impaired presenter, talks about the new radio service from RNIB, Insight Xtra, which features speech and talking books.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b01r0gjs)
NHS reforms, epilepsy and pregnancy, thermometers
Dr Mark Porter questions Lord Howe, Minister for Health, as the government announces a U-turn to the NHS reforms following widespread concern that they would lead to privatisation by the back door, and the end of the NHS as we know it.
Why women with epilepsy need to take extra care with their contraception, and the importance of managing their medication when they do get pregnant.
And what sort of thermometer should you use when monitoring your child's temperature?
TUE 21:30 In Defence of Bureaucracy (b01r0g45)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b01qzk9w)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r0gjv)
National and international news and analysis.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r0gjx)
The Middlesteins
Episode 7
A layered. bittersweet tragi-comedy about three generations of a Jewish family from the Chicago suburbs.
Edie Middlestein is a woman who can't stop eating. Her family fear she will eat herself to death. But Edie's heart and soul feel full when her stomach is full. And as she alternates between eating and grinding all the joy out of her memories, relationships around her start to unravel.
The author, Jami Attenberg, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. This is her fourth book.
Episode 7 (of 10)
Edie, Emily and Robin - three generations of Middlestein women - meet at Kenneth's Chinese restaurant.
Written by Jamie Attenberg
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01r0gjz)
Series 1
Nationality
What does it mean to be Scottish? In the 1960s, television's 'The White Heather Club' was the ultimate representation of Scottishness. But it wasn't how Susan thought of herself, and to be honest she wasn't that bothered about it. But then she watched Austin Powers, and realised that the character 'Fat Bastard' was what people thought the Scots were - deep fried mars bar eating, drunken, daft jocks.
So she started to really evaluate what it has meant to be Scottish throughout history, and now believes that national identity is crucial, but that you have to take control of it to be proud of it.
But is nationalism still a dirty word, or have events like the Olympics allowed us to reclaim who we are without shame? Is national identity simply an excuse to be parochial and defensive? What's the difference between patriotism, nationalism and national identity and has the latter been tainted with the former two?
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r0gk1)
The Government promises to tighten the rules to make it harder for immigrants coming in from the European Union to claim benefits.
The NHS chief executive in England, Sir David Nicholson, tells MPs he is determined to carry on leading the health service as he is pressed over his role in the Stafford Hospital scandal.
Health Ministers say they will amend controversial regulations governing tendering for NHS services following widespread concerns.
And the Defence Secretary confirms 16,000 troops are to be moved back to the UK from Germany over the next five years.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.
WEDNESDAY 06 MARCH 2013
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzkbq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r0g47)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkbs)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzkbv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkbx)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzkbz)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r0gnx)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b01r0gnz)
After a year in which British honey production fell by 40%, research is underway to develop an SOS text message service to tell bee keepers when there is trouble in their hive. Anna Hill hears how bees transmit vibrations through their legs which can be a tell tale sign of trouble.
A new bank is being launched for farmers. AgriBank will lend exclusively to UK farmers and agribusinesses to fund agricultural machinery and equipment.
And Farming Today visits a poultry farm to ask if GM chicken feed should be allowed as the price of non-GM continues to rise.
Presenter Anna Hill. Producer Ruth Sanderson.
WED 06:00 Today (b01r0hpv)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b01r0gp1)
Curtis Stigers, Jonathan Goodwin, Simone Sandelson, Christine Walkden
Libby Purves meets escapologist Jonathan Goodwin; artist Simone Sandelson; jazz singer Curtis Stigers and gardener Christine Walkden.
Jonathan Goodwin is an escapologist whose feats are inspired by vaudeville showmen and escape artists such as Harry Houdini and Charles Blondin, the high-wire walker. In his new TV series, 'The Incredible Mr Goodwin', Jonathan attempts a series of stunts from beating a bear trap to climbing one of London's tallest buildings - unaided. The Incredible Mr Goodwin is on Watch at
9pm.
Simone Sandelson is an artist who fought for a reprieve for Jack Alderman, the longest serving prisoner on death row until his execution in 2008. Her new exhibition, 'Behind the Picture', stems directly from her campaigning work and personal experiences. The show features paintings inspired by objects including her correspondence with Jack Alderman and provisions abandoned at the Antarctica British Survey Base camp over 50 years ago. Behind the Picture is at the Crane Kalman Gallery in London.
Curtis Stigers is a jazz vocalist, saxophonist, guitarist and songwriter. After a major pop career with hits including 'I Wonder Why' and 'You're All That Matters To Me', he reinvented himself as a jazz singer. His new album is called 'Let's Go Out Tonight' and his 'Up Close & Personal' acoustic tour celebrates both his jazz and pop career. Let's Go Out Tonight is on the Concord label.
Christine Walkden is a gardener, author and broadcaster. She has been a horticulturist since the age of ten when she obtained her first allotment. She travels widely to track down new plant species including Iran, Kashmir, China, Mexico, Chile and South Africa. Her new book 'Christine Walkden's No-Nonsense Container Gardening'is published by Simon & Schuster.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r0gp3)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen
Episode 3
Written and read by Tracey Thorn.
In October 1981, on her first day at Hull University when she was 18 years old, Tracey Thorn answered a public address announcement calling her to reception. The boy who put the call out for her was Ben Watt, and it marked the start of a personal and professional relationship - as pop duo Everything But The Girl - that has spanned over thirty years. She has experienced the highs of stardom and been dropped by her record company.
This is an insider's insight into the music industry over three decades which has Tracey's relationship with Ben Watt at the heart of it. Today, from a shared bedsit at Hull University to playing the Royal Albert Hall...
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r0gp5)
Justine Greening; Bridget Christie and feminist comedy; Oral history
International development secretary Justine Greening discusses funding projects to tackle violence against women and educate girls; Viv Groskop reports from a What the Frock comedy evening in Bristol and Jenni Murray meets the host of a new Radio 4 comedy series Bridget Christie Minds the Gap. Curator Polly Russell and Professor Sally Alexander discuss Sisterhood and After: a new oral history of the UK Women's Liberation Movement.
WED 10:45 The Cazalets (b01r0gp7)
Marking Time
Episode 13
by Elizabeth Jane Howard, dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Villy is indignant that Louise has gone to stay with Michael without telling them, but Edward is delighted when it means she will stay in their London house on the way back.
Produced and directed by Sally Avens & Marion Nancarrow
Marking Time is the second of four compelling Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which together give a vivid insight into the lives, hopes and loves of three generations.
As Elizabeth Jane Howard enters her 90th Birthday year, Radio 4 are broadcasting dramatisations of all four novels between January and August 2013.
In the second series, the families' worst fears are realised as war breaks out. Rupert immediately decides he must join up, Edward will see what military work he can get, whilst Hugh - still suffering from injuries from the first war - has to settle with running the family firm. But it is the children who become the centre of the story, as Louise realises that her parents' marriage is not as happy as she had imagined, Clary is faced with the prospect of losing her beloved father and Polly must deal with her fear of war and a battle much closer to home. If only the adults would realise that they are not really children - but they seem stuck in some awful place where they must simply mark time.
WED 11:00 Lives in a Landscape (b01r0gp9)
Series 12
Academy Beat
Providing pastoral care is key to his role as head of year eleven at the London school and he does this by combining a no nonsense approach to bad behaviour with a sensitive handling of some of the difficulties encountered by his fifteen and sixteen year old charges. This is their GCSE exam year and although Dave left school in the 1970's with just one CSE in English he recognises the difficulties faced by those struggling with exam preparations and a lack of direction in today's tough economic climate.
Well versed in policing mixed communities the former East End officer thought he had pretty much seen it all - that was until he entered the corridors of this showpiece academy. For Dave the behaviour issues he first encountered in the job were a reflection of poor parenting, with many adults unsure about how to instil a sense of right and wrong in their children. A total of five former police officers were brought into the school: each appointed as a year head and providing pastoral support and care.
Their job is not an easy one but David Clifford tells Alan that it brings rewards, challenges, frustrations and excitement in equal measure. Having joined the police force at 19 he was due to retire at 49 when he saw the advert for "behaviour managers" at the academy. That was eight years ago and he and other four retired officers were quickly promoted to heads of year, where they have successfully tackled a whole range of issues in the school
"What I wasn't prepared for was how vulnerable some of the kids are - for all their talk of street life they really don't have the resilience that I and my friends had when we were young. There are huge contrasts in the job and I see everything from the funniest moments to some of the most distressing."
As Alan Dein tracks Dave Clifford through a school day he sees at first hand some of the challenges involved: a pupil who appears to have just dropped off the radar and another desperate to be in school but too ill to attend. He is called on to deal with a group of girls who swallow cinnamon for fun and he tracks down the culprits when chicken bones are discovered on the canteen floor. And in amidst these episodes there's an album to record and an outburst over a text book to resolve: it's all part of the working day for Dave Clifford.
Producer: Sue Mitchell.
WED 11:30 Agatha Christie (b01r0gpc)
Murder is Easy
3. Burden of Proof
Luke and Bridget are getting closer, in spite of themselves. As they discover yet another body, they think they know who the murderer is, but will they be able to prove it?
Agatha Christie's thriller dramatised in three parts by Joy Wilkinson.
CAST:
Luke .... Patrick Baladi
Bridget .... Lydia Leonard
Lord Whitfield .... Michael Cochrane
Miss Waynflete .... Marcia Warren
Miss Pinkerton .... Marlene Sidaway
Billy Bones .... Patrick Brennan
Rose .... Lizzy Watts
Dr Thomas .... Will Howard
Major Horton .... Robert Blythe
Director: Mary Peate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b01r0gpf)
'Made in England', Buckfast, GPS for dementia and safety on electrical applicances
Radio 4's consumer affairs programme with Winifred Robinson. Today, why the words 'Made in England' may not mean what you expect. Ceramic manufacturers want overseas companies to stop stamping their pottery with the words, claiming they are fooling consumers into thinking they are buying English. Why an alcoholic drinks company is taking the police to court over their attempts to reduce criminal behaviour.And should we use GPS tracking devices to keep people with dementia safe?
WED 12:57 Weather (b01qzkc1)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b01r0h06)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
WED 13:45 Battle for the Airwaves (b01r0h08)
Episode 8
Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, concludes his series on relations between broadcasters and politicians by looking at the present day. In previous programmes, Nick Robinson has looked at the General Strike in 1926; the dispute over foreign policy in the 1930s; the Suez crisis in 1956; the row between the Labour Party and the BBC in the early 1970s; the clashes over reporting 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland, culminating in the broadcasting ban on terrorists and their supporters; the Falklands War; and the Iraq War.
In this final programme, he concludes by looking at the present relationship between broadcasters and politicians.
Producer: Rob Shepherd.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b01r0gjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01r0h4m)
The Silence at the Song's End
After the death of her 23 year old son, Nicholas Heiney, Radio 4 broadcaster Libby Purves discovered, scattered about his room on bits of crumpled paper and post-it-notes, his poems and journals. His life in words.
Getting up at dawn throughout that summer, Libby set about transcribing his writings - 35,000 words - onto her computer. She deliberately chose an unfamiliar font as a way of disciplining herself not to change anything. And every day she would email what she had typed to Heiney's former English tutor, Professor Duncan Wu, at St Catherine's College, Oxford.
What followed was 'The Silence At The Song's End' - written by Nicholas Heiney and adapted for radio by Libby Purves.
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b01r0h4p)
Renting and letting
Concerned about renting or letting a home? What are your rights and responsibilities and how do you resolve disputes? Call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or email moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
The demand for rental property is increasing and so is the cost. The LSL Property Services Buy-to-Let index says that despite recent falls, rents in January were 2.8% higher than a year ago and The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is predicting a further increase of 4% over the coming 12 months.
Higher rental levels may seem attractive if you're a would-be landlord, but what expenses should you allow for and how do you work out if you really can make a profit? What standards of safety and maintenance are required?
As a tenant, do you feel you are getting value for money? Do you know what has happened to your deposit and what can you do if you are unhappy with the condition of your home?
For free advice about renting and letting, talk to a team of experts on Wednesday.
Presenter Vincent Duggleby will be joined by:
Richard Lambert, Chief Executive, National Landlords Association
Giles Peaker, Solicitor, Anthony Gold
Marveen Smith, Partner, Pain Smith Solicitors
Call 03 700 100 444 on Wednesday, phone lines are open between
1pm and
3.30pm. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b01r0gjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b01r0h4r)
Drugs for Life; Subcultural Identity
Drugs for life - Laurie Taylor talks to the US anthropologist, Joseph Dumit, about his research into the burgeoning consumption of medicine in the US. Dumit did ethnographic research with drug company executives, marketers, researchers, doctors and patients, and assessed the industry's strategies for expanding their markets. He asks if the huge growth in medication ties us to a radically new conception of ourselves as intrinsically ill and need of treatment. Is this a uniquely American development or does it equally apply to the UK and beyond? He's joined by the British sociologist, John Abraham.
Also, hanging on to a subcultural identity in later life - we hear from listeners who still carry a torch for their youthful selves, be it as teds, mods, punks or goths....Professor Angela McRobbie analyses the phenomenon.
Producer: Chris Wilson.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b01r0h4t)
Broadchurch
After years of campaigning for reform could the Defamation Bill be derailed by "Leveson clauses"? Could BBC Worldwide be about to sell a controlling stake in travel guidebooks publisher Lonely Planet to the US billionaire Brad Kelley. And how much does the new ITV drama Broadchurch owe to the Danish Drama The Killing? Presented by Steve Hewlett. Producer Beverley Purcell.
WED 17:00 PM (b01r0h4w)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzkc3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Dilemma (b01r0h4y)
Series 2
Episode 3
Sue Perkins puts Dave Gorman, Anita Anand, Mark Evans and Jenny Eclair through the moral and ethical wringer.
Comedian Dave Gorman is cheating higher, faster and stronger; journalist Anita Anand deals with an unexpected guest; creator of Bleak Expectations Mark Evans gets a hand in the bush (but no birds); and comedian Jenny Eclair embraces dating in the digital age.
There are no "right" answers - but there are some deeply damning ones.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b01r0h50)
Ed asks anxious Neil if there's anything he can do to help with Chris. Neil thanks him, but he's all right. He's going to field Chris's business calls and get hold of Chris's former boss Ronnie, to see if he can provide cover for Chris.
Later Ed discusses increasing the milk price with reluctant Mike. Mike backs down after Ed shows him his 12 month forecast, demonstrating that Ed can't drive his costs down any lower. Mike also agrees to put any of his additional profit into a marketing campaign.
On the phone to Alice in Vancouver, Brian says that there's been no change in Chris's condition. Tearful Alice asks if Jennifer can be with Chris as much as possible until she gets home.
Susan appreciates Jennifer's support at the hospital. When Neil arrives, upset Susan says Chris has got to have another scan, as his stomach's swollen.
Later, Brian breaks the news to Alice that Chris has a ruptured bowel. Tearful Alice says she should be there. The first flight she can get lands on Friday.
Emotional Susan nearly faints as they wait for news from theatre. As Chris is wheeled out, Neil reassures Susan that Chris will be all right - he knows he will.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b01r0h52)
Mark Strong: comedy duo Anna and Katy; Tash Aw
With Mark Lawson.
Actor Mark Strong is familiar from TV dramas including Our Friends in the North, Prime Suspect and The Long Firm, and feature films such as Green Lantern, Sherlock Holmes and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He now co-stars in Welcome To The Punch, playing a notorious criminal alongside James McAvoy's embittered cop. He reflects on playing villains, acting in slow motion and the art of wearing wigs.
Author Tash Aw discusses his new novel, Five Star Billionaire. Set in Shanghai, the story is told from the perspective of five migrant Malaysian workers.
Sketch comedy duo Anna Crilly and Katy Wix have a new TV series starting this week, which showcases their comic creations and satirizes well-known TV formats. They discuss their new characters and continuing the long tradition of comedy double acts.
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
WED 19:45 The Cazalets (b01r0gp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b01r0yt8)
The Ring of Gyges
Scientists at a technology conference in Los Angeles this week unveiled an invention that makes things invisible. The press described it as a real-life version of Harry Potter's 'cloak of invisibility'. They could equally well have called it a real-life 'ring of Gyges'. This magic ring which made its wearer invisible was given in ancient Greek mythology to the shepherd Gyges - who promptly used it to seduce the king's wife and take over the kingdom. Plato used the story in his great work 'The Republic' to ask the question: would an intelligent person be just and moral if he were not compelled to be so? It's a question that we're still struggling to answer and that is at the heart of many stories dominating our news at the moment.
The NHS is torn between trusting its staff to look after patients properly and policing their work through targets, supervision and sanctions. The controversial banker Bob Diamond defined ethics as 'what you do when nobody's looking'; a sequence of scandals from PPI to LIBOR would suggest to some that banking and ethics are words that don't belong in the same sentence. The resignation of the disgraced Keith O'Brien prompts us to ask whether, if even a Cardinal cannot be trusted to practice what he preaches, there is any point in trusting anyone to do the right thing without being watched and warned. Is it true that there can be no virtue without the freedom to sin? And if that is the case how much of that freedom can society afford to grant? Are humans naturally good or do we need to be pressured into behaving decently? Should we trust to conscience and guilt, or rely on regulation and the threat that those who step out of line will be named and shamed?
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Kenan Malik, Melanie Phillips and Claire Fox. Witnesses: John Appleby - Chief economist, Health policy, The King's Fund, Dr Martin O'Neill - Lecturer in Political Philosophy at York University, John Seddon - Managing Director, Vanguard, Rev. Prof. Alister McGrath - Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education at King's College London.
WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b01r0ytb)
Benjamin Cohen
In the third of this year's Lent Talks, journalist and broadcaster Benjamin Cohen reflects on the fear of being abandoned by his own Jewish community, for being gay.
The Lent Talks feature six well-known figures from public life, the arts, human rights and religion, who reflect on how the Lenten story of Jesus' ministry and Passion continues to interact with contemporary society and culture. The 2013 Lent Talks consider the theme of "abandonment". In the Lenten story, Jesus is the supreme example of this - he died an outcast, abandoned and rejected by his people, his disciples and (apparently) his Father - God. But how does that theme tie in with today's complex world? There are many ways one can feel abandoned - by family, by society, by war/conflict, but one can also feel abandoned through the loss of something, perhaps power, job or identity. The Christian season of Lent is traditionally a time for self-examination and reflection on universal human conditions such as temptation, betrayal, greed, forgiveness and love, as well as abandonment.
Speakers in this year's talks include Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, who considers what it means to abandon being human; Alexander McCall Smith considers how you can feel abandoned by society as you grow older; Loretta Minghella, Director of Christian Aid, considers the abandonment of self and the need to face who we truly are; Imam Asim Hafiz, Muslim Chaplain and Religious Adviser to HM Forces, who has just returned from Afghanistan, explores the total abandonment experienced by both sides as a result of war and, finally, Canon Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly, explores the relationship between abandonment and betrayal.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b01r0gj6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b01r0gp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b01qzkc5)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r11xv)
A special debate on China's foreign policy challenges - from rows with Japan and Vietnam over the ownership of small islands, to its economic and geopolitical rivalry with the United States. What approach will China's new leaders take to the country's growing role in the world? Presented from Beijing by Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r0ytd)
The Middlesteins
Episode 8
A layered. bittersweet tragi-comedy about three generations of a Jewish family from the Chicago suburbs.
Edie Middlestein is a woman who can't stop eating. Her family fear she will eat herself to death. But Edie's heart and soul feel full when her stomach is full. And as she alternates between eating and grinding all the joy out of her memories, relationships around her start to unravel.
The author, Jami Attenberg, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. This is her fourth book.
Episode 8 (of 10)
As Josh and Emily's b'nai mitzvah draws ever closer, Richard takes his grandchildren to the synagogue.
Written by Jami Attenberg
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Terry Pratchett (b01r0zb9)
Eric
Episode 1
When precocious young Eric Thursley summons a demon from the loathsome pit to fulfil his every wish, he certainly gets what he asked for.
Just... not exactly what he asked for. That's the problem with wishes.
Terry Pratchett's many Discworld novels combine a Technicolor imagination with a razor sharp wit, especially when he rewrites Faust as spotty teenage demonologist Eric.
Rincewind ..... Mark Heap
Eric ..... Will Howard
Death ..... Geoffrey Whitehead
Archchancellor ..... Robert Blythe
Parrot ..... Ben Crowe
Demon King Astfgl ..... Nicholas Murchie
Screwpate ..... Michael Shelford
Mother ..... Christine Absalom
Narrator ..... Rick Warden
Adapted in four parts by Robin Brooks.
Director: Jonquil Panting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
WED 23:15 Jigsaw (b01r0zbh)
Series 1
Episode 3
Dan Antopolski, Nat Luurtsema and Tom Craine piece together a selection of silly, clever, dark sketches. Produced by Colin Anderson.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r0zbp)
Susan Hulme with the day's top news stories from Westminster.
THURSDAY 07 MARCH 2013
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzkd2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r0gp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkd4)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzkd6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkd8)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzkdb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r0zqk)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b01r113b)
Charlotte Smith hears that half the deer in Britain should be culled to protect woodlands and farms. A study from the University of East Anglia suggests there are now more deer in the UK than at any other time since the ice age, and that attempts to manage the population are failing. As the House of Lords debates the future of the Agricultural Wages Board, Lord Whitty tells Farming Today the board should be retained or the rural economy will suffer; while Anthony Snell of the National Farmers Union denounces it as an outdated, redundant quango. And how do you stop chickens pecking each other to death? As beak trimming is to be banned, Farming Today asks if cannibalism can be curbed.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
THU 06:00 Today (b01r113d)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b01r113g)
Absolute Zero
In a programme first broadcast in 2013, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss absolute zero, the lowest conceivable temperature.  In the early eighteenth century the French physicist Guillaume Amontons suggested that temperature had a lower limit.  The subject of low temperature became a fertile field of research in the nineteenth century, and today we know that this limit - known as absolute zero - is approximately minus 273 degrees Celsius.  It is impossible to produce a temperature exactly equal to absolute zero, but today scientists have come to within a billionth of a degree.  At such low temperatures physicists have discovered a number of strange new phenomena including superfluids, liquids capable of climbing a vertical surface.
With:
Simon Schaffer
Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge
Stephen Blundell
Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford
Nicola Wilkin
Lecturer in Theoretical Physics at the University of Birmingham
Producer: Thomas Morris
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r113j)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen
Episode 4
Written and read by Tracey Thorn.
In October 1981, on her first day at Hull University when she was 18 years old, Tracey Thorn answered a public address announcement calling her to reception. The boy who put the call out for her was Ben Watt, and it marked the start of a personal and professional relationship - as pop duo Everything But The Girl - that has spanned over thirty years. They have shared the highs of stardom and the lows of being dropped by their record company. Tracey gives us an insider's insight into the music industry, but above all she opens up about Ben Watt and the central relationship of her life.
Today, Tracey confronts Ben's life threatening illness that altered both their lives, and her decision to give up pop stardom for motherhood.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r113l)
Meklit Hadero; Shelby on What's a Girl?
What has the EU done for gender equality? We discuss with Conservative MEP Marina Yannakoudakis and Dr Roberta Guerrina from the University of Surrey. Meklit Hadero singer and TED fellow talks about her East African musical influences and interest in conservation - and performs Leaving Soon from her album On A Day Like This. Mummylit, MILF, mumpreneur: is the mummy prefix ever okay? Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman gives us her opinion. We talk to Shelby, the 15 year old presenter of CBBC documentary "What's a Girl?" And Jennie Rooney talks about her novel Red Joan, inspired by Cold War spy Melita Norwood.
Presenter Jenni Murray
Producer Rebecca Myatt.
THU 10:45 The Cazalets (b01r113n)
Marking Time
Episode 14
by Elizabeth Jane Howard, dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Hugh wants to spend some time in Hastings with Polly, but it doesn't turn out the way he had planned. Nor does the news Diana has for Edward.
Produced and directed by Sally Avens & Marion Nancarrow
Marking Time is the second of four compelling Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which together give a vivid insight into the lives, hopes and loves of three generations.
As Elizabeth Jane Howard enters her 90th Birthday year, Radio 4 are broadcasting dramatisations of all four novels between January and August 2013.
In the second series, the families' worst fears are realised as war breaks out. Rupert immediately decides he must join up, Edward will see what military work he can get, whilst Hugh - still suffering from injuries from the first war - has to settle with running the family firm. But it is the children who become the centre of the story, as Louise realises that her parents' marriage is not as happy as she had imagined, Clary is faced with the prospect of losing her beloved father and Polly must deal with her fear of war and a battle much closer to home. If only the adults would realise that they are not really children - but they seem stuck in some awful place where they must simply mark time.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b01r113q)
The Boy Who Knocked Stalin Down
Correspondents' stories. Today: Steve Rosenberg's in Moscow as Russians debate the legacy of Josef Stalin sixty years after his death. There's speculation that Turkey could be poised to sign a peace deal to end the long conflict with Turkish rebels - James Reynolds has been investigating. Steve Vickers tells us why the Swedish authorities want to move their northernmost city to a new location two miles away. Owen Bennett Jones reflects on how much the instability and violence in today's Pakistan has shaped a new generation of successful novelists and Judith Kampfner's returned to Singapore, where she was born and brought up, and found it readier than ever to embrace its multi-ethnic history. She also enjoyed its wobbly cakes!
From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.
THU 11:30 Dreamers of the Black Metropolis (b01r113s)
Rita Coburn Whack reveals how a generation of artists forged a new identity amidst the Depression in Chicago's 'Black Metropolis'.
By the 1930's Chicago was the promised land for the largest internal migration in American history. Waves of black American's left the South for a city that promised opportunity and deliverance from the murderous land of Jim Crow. On the city's Southside black owned businesses, newsapers and clubs helped define a city within a city that resounded to the music of giants like Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith.
This burgeoning 'Black Metropolis' sparked an artistic renaissance that outlasted Harlem, nurturing painters, sculptors, poets and printmakers. Largely rejected by the White American art world, able to study only in a few places and barely able to exhibit in their own city these visual artists forged a new identity in the Black Metropolis.
The Depression also birthed new links between both white and black, the talk was revolutionary, the politics incendiary and the desire to represent the race, to redefine their place in this white world and to reclaim dignity, drove many.
In 1940, at the height of Roosevelt's New Deal 'Negro Art' was firmly on the map with both The American Negro Exposition and the triumphant opening of the South Side Community Art Center by the First Lady in the heart of Chicago's thriving Bronzeville.
Now, funded by the W.P.A., artists like Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Eldizor Cortor, Margaret Burroughs, fledgling photographer Gorden Parks and young poet Gwendolyn Brooks had a space to call their own. Bold murals, social realist depictions of ordinary black life and meditations on what it meant to be black in America filled the walls whilst an entire community learnt art in a time of austerity.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b01r113v)
Natwest, Ulster Bank and RBS apologise for computer problems which left customers unable to withdraw money or make payments for several hours. The NUS calls for all universities to ban payday loan companies from campuses. We speak to the President of Coca Cola Europe about the company's new advert aimed at reducing obesity. Plus, Jilly Cooper on her first love: crossbreed dogs. Presenter: Winifred Robinson. Producer: John Neal.
THU 12:57 Weather (b01qzkdd)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b01r12nb)
Martha Kearney presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
THU 13:45 A Taxi Ride Around the City of Culture (b01r20cp)
Amanda Burton, Bronagh Gallagher and Alan Wright star in a play by Oscar-nominated writer Dave Duggan telling the story of Derry-Londonderry as it becomes the 2013 UK City of Culture. Performed before an audience at The Playhouse in Derry, it was originally aired as Fare Play for Voices as part of the Broadcasting House programme. Introduced by Paddy O'Connell.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b01r0h50)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz (b01r11w9)
Series 4
Wedlowe Sound
By Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Episode 3: Wedlowe Sound
Pilgrim must tackle an old adversary and save the community of Wedlowe Sound when it is threatened by a giant.
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton
Wedlowe ..... Ronald Pickup
Massey ..... Paul Stonehouse
Neil ..... Will Howard
Gwen ..... Liza Sadovy
Dreamer ..... Ben Crowe
Girl ..... Agnes Bateman
Directed by Marc Beeby
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b01r11wc)
Series 23
David Sedaris
David Sedaris, the American author and comedian, takes Clare Balding on a litter-picking walk in West Sussex.
When David Sedaris was a child he would clear up around the house, and keep his own bedroom perfectly tidy. This obsession has, in recent years, been transferred to the outdoors and Sedaris is now a devoted daily litter-picker, cleaning the roadside verges of Pulborough and the surrounding area.
Clare imagined that this edition of Ramblings might take her across the South Downs, occasionally reaching for a stray bottle or piece of paper. In reality it involved walking less than two miles, and filling six bin bags full to bursting with all manner of filthy rubbish. All while wearing a fetching hi-viz jacket. A very unusual edition of Ramblings!
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b01r09sp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (b01r0b19)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b01r11wf)
Francine Stock talks to Tim Roth and Steven Soderbergh
The director Steven Soderbergh, who made Oceans Eleven to Thirteen, Traffic and Che talks to Francine Stock about his new film Side Effects, a thriller exploring the apparent effects of taking anti depressants. The actor Tim Roth on Broken, a British film dealing with adolescence and everyday violence, which marks a memorable debut for theatre director Rufus Norris. And with the re-release of The Princess Bride, Frank Cottrell Boyce explains why he thinks it's one of the best screen plays ever written and the columnist Hadley Freeman on why it's not a film just for the girls. Also the Oscar-winning producer Andrew Ruhemann on his big break - the day Steven Spielberg came to call.
Producer: Elaine Lester.
THU 16:30 Material World (b01r11wh)
Deer, Herschel, facial contrast, potatoes
The first ever census on deer numbers in the country shows that current management of these wild animals isn't controlling numbers. Estimates suggest there are 1.5 million deer now roaming the countryside, the biggest number since the ice age. But to just keep this number stable more than 50% would have to be culled every year. Is this the only option to controlling these animals which are having a significant and detrimental effect on our woodlands and are the cause of thousands of road traffic accidents? Dr. Paul Dolman, from the University of East Anglia and the lead author of the new research, puts forward his case.
Dr. David Clements, from Imperial College London, returns to the programme to highlight the success of Herschel - the European Space Agency's flagship Space Observatory. He was there at the telescope's launch - back in 2009 - and now will see its end as the onboard supply of helium, which cools the instruments, slowly runs out and the telescope loses its sight.
Also this week, why is the potato such a successful vegetable that can grow in many different climates? Dr. Christian Bachem from the Laboratory of Plant Breeding at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and his team have found a single gene that could be responsible. Knowing that could make it possible to breed even more extreme varieties to meet our ever increasing reliance on the humble spud.
Finally Dr Richard Russell, from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, may have discovered an underlying method by which we all guess a person's age. Writing in the Journal PLOS One, it seems a higher contrast between lips, eyes and the skin makes people look younger - something with which lipstick and eye shadow wearers can agree.
THU 17:00 PM (b01r11wk)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzkdg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation (b01r11wm)
Series 9
How to Be a Woman in the 21st Century
Stand by your radios! Jeremy Hardy returns to the airwaves with a broadcast of national comic import as he delves into the murky world of womanlitude. Expect polite language from the start.
Welcome to "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation", a series of debates in which Jeremy Hardy engages in a free and frank exchange of his entrenched views. Passionate, polemical, erudite and unable to sing, Jeremy returns with a new series of his show, famous for lines like -
"Kids should never be fashion slaves, especially in the Far East. My 12-year old daughter asked me for a new pair of trainers. I told her she was old enough to go out and make her own" and, "Islam is no weirder than Christianity. Both are just Judaism with the jokes taken out."
Few can forget where they were twenty years ago when they first heard "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation". The show was an immediate smash-hit success, causing pubs to empty on a Saturday night, which was particularly astonishing since the show went out on Thursdays. The Light Entertainment department was besieged, questions were asked in the House and Jeremy Hardy himself became known as the man responsible for the funniest show on radio since Money Box Live with Paul Lewis.
Since that fateful first series, Jeremy went on to win Sony Awards, Writers Guild nominations and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
The show is a Pozzitive production, and is produced by Jeremy's long-standing accomplice, David Tyler.
Written by Jeremy Hardy
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b01r11wp)
Elizabeth meets the Lower Loxley trustees to discuss selling land to finance converting the dairy block to bedrooms. Despite some concerns, they agree to the plan.
Chris's condition is still critical. When Shula worries about Freddie witnessing the accident, Elizabeth admits he clams up every time she broaches the subject. Shula says the accident was only a couple of days ago. Elizabeth just needs to give him time.
While sorting out Mark's effects, Shula is surprised about how moved she's felt after all this time. It must be incredibly hard for Elizabeth. Elizabeth reveals that she sometimes feels very lonely. She hopes Alice won't have to face the same thing - she's so young.
Neil makes sure Susan's rested and fed before going back to visit Chris in hospital. When he spoke to Alice, he could hear how distressed she was, and desperate to get back home tomorrow afternoon. Susan's disappointed when Neil says he's not accompanying her to the hospital. He wants to sort out Chris's business needs.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b01r11wr)
David Bowie - the Return
With John Wilson.
Tony Parsons, Miranda Sawyer and La Roux's Elly Jackson discuss David Bowie's music and influence, in the light of his new album The Next Day.
As the Victoria and Albert Museum prepares for a major David Bowie retrospective exhibition, John visits the Museum's store-rooms to see sketches, costumes and instruments, drawn from Bowie's personal archive. John's guides are designer Jonathan Barnbrook, who is involved in the exhibition and the new album artwork, and curators Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh.
John also draws on his own archive of interviews with David Bowie, including a recording from 2002 where Bowie discusses his influences, the experience of growing older, and how writing can sometimes be a traumatic experience.
Producer Claire Bartleet.
THU 19:45 The Cazalets (b01r113n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b01r0gj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b01r11wt)
Doing Business with Governments
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
From huge infrastructure projects to supplying civil servants with paperclips, there's big money to be made from public sector contracts. Evan Davis meets three business leaders with experience of bidding for - and securing - government contracts and finds out what it's like doing business with the state. How easy is it for smaller companies to get a slice of the public sector pie? And are we - the ultimate customers - really getting a good deal?
THU 21:00 Who's the Pest? (b01r0g4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b01r113g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b01qzkdj)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r11ww)
The day's news, with Philippa Thomas. On the eve of Hugo Chavez's funeral, we're live in Caracas, and we'll ask if "Chavismo" can survive his death.
Also - does the Vicky Pryce guilty verdict have any political significance for the Liberal Democrats ?
Will new UN sanctions have any effect on North Korea ?
Can the internet be the midwife of political change in China ? Ritula's been investigating in her latest dispatch from China
and vintage Robin Lustig - hear his 2005 Hugo Chavez interview from the World Tonight archives.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r11wy)
The Middlesteins
Episode 9
A layered. bittersweet tragi-comedy about three generations of a Jewish family from the Chicago suburbs.
Edie Middlestein is a woman who can't stop eating. Her family fear she will eat herself to death. But Edie's heart and soul feel full when her stomach is full. And as she alternates between eating and grinding all the joy out of her memories, relationships around her start to unravel.
The author, Jami Attenberg, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. This is her fourth book.
Episode 9 (of 10)
It's Josh and Emily's special day, and all the Middlesteins are gathered for the b'nai mitzvah. But what do Edie and Richard's friends - the Cohns and the Grodsteins and the Weinmans and the Frankens - make of it all?
Written by Jami Attenberg
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Bridget Christie Minds the Gap (b01r11x0)
Series 1
Episode 1
After noticing that misogyny, like shiny leggings, had made an unexpected comeback - comedian Bridget Christie wonders did it ever really go away?
In the first of her four-part stand up comedy series on the state of British feminism today, Bridget asks why feminism became a dirty word and whether the modern British woman needs it.
An incident involving a man, a smell and a well-known bookstore made her ask what place feminism has in modern Britain, whether the fight has been won or is being fought on different fronts. Plus, why did Bic launch the "Bic for Her" - a pen specifically designed for a woman's hand?
Fred MacAulay helps her remember some of the key incidents which brought her to an epiphany and a call to arms.
Producer; Alison Vernon-Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r11x2)
The International Development Secretary says the Government will make its overseas aid target legally binding.
Ahead of International Women's Day, Justine Greening identifies an urgent need to tackle violence against women and girls.
MPs challenge a former head of the Serious Fraud Office over his handling of severance payments to senior civil servants.
The Environment Secretary refuses to reveal which company was responsible for supplying meals contaminated with horsemeat to schools and the Armed Forces.
And in the Lords, a Justice Minister denies the coalition plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Sean Curran and team report on today's events in Parliament.
FRIDAY 08 MARCH 2013
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b01qzkfc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b01r113j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkff)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01qzkfh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01qzkfk)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b01qzkfm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01r123c)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Clair Jaquiss.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b01r123f)
Charlotte Smith hears calls for more Nature Improvement Areas, and finds out how cows could help the UK meet its carbon targets.
And Sarah Swadling visits Buckinghamshire to see how changes in farming have led to commons falling into disrepair.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
FRI 06:00 Today (b01r123h)
Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b01r09sy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b01r123k)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen
Episode 5
Written and read by Tracey Thorn.
Tracey Thorn's memoir takes us from her very early teenage diaries, through to juggling school homework with interviews with music journalists, the highs of pop stardom and the lows of being dropped by her record company. This is an insider's insight into the music industry, and also a very personal story which has Tracey's relationship with Ben Watt at the heart of it.
Tracey gave up music for motherhood without a second thought, but now finds her experience as a parent has freed her from her teenage anxieties so she can return to singing on her own terms.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01r12lj)
Alice Walker; Judy Murray; MPs job-sharing?
How practical would it be for MPs to job share? Award winning novelist Alice Walker and director Pratibha Parmar discuss a new film about her life called Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth. How much does the loss of a mother affect a daughter? Playwright Lucy Gannon and bereavement and emotional therapist Maureen Fearon discuss the loss of their mothers and the impact it has had on their lives. And the defence of marital coercion, Angela Epstein talks about the use of this obscure law following the conviction of Vicky Pryce. Presented by Sheila McClennon.
FRI 10:45 The Cazalets (b01r12ll)
Marking Time
Episode 15
by Elizabeth Jane Howard, dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Polly is distressed that her parents aren't talking to one another about her mother's illness and confides in Miss Milliment..
Produced and directed by Sally Avens & Marion Nancarrow
"Marking Time" is the second of four compelling Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which together give a vivid insight into the lives, hopes and loves of three generations.
As Elizabeth Jane Howard enters her 90th Birthday year, Radio 4 are broadcasting dramatisations of all four novels between January and August 2013.
In the second series, the families' worst fears are realised as war breaks out. Rupert immediately decides he must join up, Edward will see what military work he can get, whilst Hugh - still suffering from injuries from the first war - has to settle with running the family firm. But it is the children who become the centre of the story, as Louise realises that her parents' marriage is not as happy as she had imagined, Clary is faced with the prospect of losing her beloved father and Polly must deal with her fear of war and a battle much closer to home. If only the adults would realise that they are not really children - but they seem stuck in some awful place where they must simply mark time.
You can hear "Confusion" in April 2013.
FRI 11:00 Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas (b01r12ln)
In 2013, cartoonist Gerald Scarfe explored a crisis in British animation, a gripping tale of talent, toons and tax breaks.
Like so many other industries, it was moving abroad with Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine both owned by the American toy giant Mattel. Tax breaks in Ireland and Canada meant much British animation was being drawn overseas.
Having been involved in this business for over 50 years, Gerald Scarfe has worked for Disney on Hercules and Pink Floyd's The Wall, as well as doing a weekly cartoon for the Sunday Times. His son is an animator, and his grandson wants to work in the business too, but will the industry survive?
With contributions from Nick Park of Aardman, culture minister Ed Vaizey, and Brian Cosgrove, creator of Dangermouse and Count Duckula, this is a high quality insight into a business we all take for granted, but for which other nations have enormous respect. In 2012, the Chancellor George Osborne, in his budget statement, stated that it was government policy 'that we keep Wallace and Gromit exactly where they are'.
This then is the starting point for a gripping tale of talent, toons, and tax breaks.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013
FRI 11:30 HR (b01r12lq)
Series 4
Goodbye Uncle Norman
In this new series of HR by Nigel Williams, Sam has won the lottery. He has to write a speech for a recently deceased - but long-forgotten - uncle. And at the crematorium all is not what it seems.
Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ..... Nicholas Le Prevost
Boffo ..... Pip Torrens
Gordon ..... Ben Crowe
Vicar ..... Robert Blythe
Woman ..... Christine Absalom
Director: Peter Kavanagh.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b01r12ls)
We hear from some of the twenty-two families who have launched a legal challenge to the Government's so-called 'bedroom tax' or spare room subsidy, saying they'll be unfairly affected.Why some service stations are charging you to snooze.The man who asked the Governor of the Bank of England for advice on financing a new van - and got it. Plus, why complaints about pet insurance are on the rise.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b01qzkfp)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b01r12lv)
Shaun Ley presents national and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
FRI 13:45 Eat, Pray, Write a Memoir (b01r1331)
Memoirs top the non-fiction best selling lists and memoir writing courses are bursting at the seams.
Ian McMillan goes in search of how to write a memoir. He meets Helena Drysdale - a memoirist who teaches the skill, and Helena Tym who decided to write her memoir ' Chin up, Head down,' after her son was killed in Afghanistan.
Writers from the Ty Newydd writers centre in Wales talk about starting their memoirs, and Ian encourages Radio 4 listeners to stop whatever they're doing, and put down the first words of their own .
Producer: Janet Graves
A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b01r11wp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b01r1333)
And/Or
By Jason Sutton
A dark story of love, obsession and aspiration starring Lauren Socha.
Miriam is unhappy with her life; she works hard delivering groceries for a supermarket, but still can't afford to move out of her mum's house. But when she develops a relationship with David, one of her well-off customers, Miriam's life begins to change. Finally she's found an escape route. Only one things stands in her way, David's wife.
Veronica is high flying, career driven and successful; she's a very different woman to Miriam. The two square up to each other in a darkly compelling confrontation and as events take a dangerous turn, it soon becomes clear that only one of them can prevail.
Actress Lauren Socha is best known for her Bafta award winning performance as Kelly in the Channel 4 series Misfits.
Writer Jason Sutton has credits across the world of television drama including Casualty, Holby, Belonging and Robin Hood. This is Jason's first drama for Radio 4.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01r1335)
Batley
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team visit local gardeners in Batley, West Yorkshire. Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw and Matthew Biggs are on the panel.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Q: The weight of recent snow has caused our old lavender bush to split. Is it advisable to plant a new one in the same place or do I need to replenish the strength of the soil first?
A: Lavender likes fairly impoverished soil so there's no need to fill it with compost or organic matter as a nice mix of sand, grit and existing topsoil should work nicely. If you haven't already dug out the old plant you could try piling a large mound of soil over the top which will encourage new growth even from an old or split plant. After a while you'll see new shoots coming through which you can re-plant.
Q: I love the colour purple, could the panel suggest their favourite purple flowers and shrubs?
A: Try Heuchera "Palace Purple" which is a lovely herbaceous perennial with striking purple leaves, or the Pewter variety which has silvery leaves and purple veins. Cotinus Grace (also known as the Smoke Bush) is another easy-to-grow shrub with rounded leaves and flowers which look like little plumes of smoke. Of course Clematis Jackmanii Superba is amongst the best 'velvety' flowers and climbs up very well between roses. For something more exotic you could try the Brazilian Spider Flower Tibouchina Urvilleana which produces large purple flowers with interesting stamen that look spiders legs.
Q: I have a 32 by 8 foot area at front house that I want to bring back into cultivation. It's spent around 40 years under concrete slabs, and the rest of the garden has a heavy clay soil, any tips?
A: The soil is certainly going to need some attention as the worms will have long gone. You should dig the soil in trenches, allowing it to properly aerate and add some rotted compost or manure. Be careful to pick out any brick ends or mortar that the slabs may have been laid on as these can turn the soil very alkaline. You could always get a pH testing kit from the garden centre if you're worried. A mini digger may also be handy!
Q: We're encouraging local gardeners and growers to supply the local greengrocer. What vegetables would the panel suggest we grow to tempt customers into the shop?
A: Try and grow things that customers wouldn't be able to find in the supermarkets. Perhaps grow a range of unusual potatoes like Edzell Blue for it's colour and salad potatoes such as the Charlotte, and in the shop label them with their best uses (baking/boiling/roasting, etc). Gooseberries and Squashes such as Crown Prince and Uchiki Kuri would look tempting with their bright colours as would Rouge Vif D'etampes Pumpkins with their 'Cinderella carriage' shape. Go for local and heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables too, such as rare Yorkshire apple varieties Dog Snout and Acklam Russet. Oriental vegetables are also hard to find in supermarkets so you could try growing things such as Minuba Pak Choi.
Q: Could you suggest a non-clinging climber to run up a south east corner of our house that wont damage our newly pointed brickwork? We'd prefer something that's of use to bees and/or birds and that we can grow in a large container.
A: Try Lonicera which has a unusual floral display and spear shaped leaves, or Pileostegia viburnoides which has small tubular flowers and lush green leaves. You'll need to create a wire framework for them to climb. You can also get Pyracantha trained nicely in a diamond trellis form which would still allow you to see the brickwork through the gaps.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for flowers for growing and arranging in a stately home which wont drop pollen or sap onto the priceless furniture?
A: Herbaceous perennials such as Phlox Paniculata, Delphiniums and Dahlias will work well and double forms such as Double Dahlias, Double Chrysanthemum and Astas would be very impressive with their big blooms. Also try Viburnum Opulus Snowball Tree, which has impressive round white heads good sturdy stems. Avoid Lillies, Bullrushes and Cortaderias.
Q: Have the panel any top tips for getting young people and children into gardening?
A: Continuing a tradition of sharing knowledge and passing down information is important. There's also a certain lack of awareness about what sort of career steps you can take in horticulture - there are many fantastic horticultural colleges - and young people need to know that they can make a career out of their gardening passions.
FRI 15:45 Maiden City Stories (b01r1337)
The Sacrifice
Three new short stories, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to celebrate Derry~Londonderry's status as UK City of Culture, from some of the city's leading literary figures. Seamus Deane, Jennifer Johnston and Brian McGilloway each bring us a new short story, recorded in front of an audience in the city's Verbal Arts Centre.
'The Sacrifice' by Brian McGilloway
Grianan of Aileach is a prehistoric ring fort sitting atop Grianan hill, barely ten miles from the centre of Derry~Londonderry, yet in a different jurisdiction, a few miles over the border in the Irish Republic. So when a dead body is discovered there, bruised and half-naked, DS Lucy Black is summoned over the border to investigate how it ended up in the middle of nowhere and why.
Writer
Brian McGilloway is author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin series. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. After studying English at Queen's University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb's College in Derry, where he is currently Head of English.
His first novel, Borderlands, published by Macmillan New Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as 'one of (2007's) most impressive debuts.' Brian's fifth novel, Little Girl Lost, which introduced a new series featuring DS Lucy Black, won the University of Ulster's McCrea Literary Award in 2011. 2012 saw the paperback release of Little Girl Lost and the launch of the new Inspector Devlin mystery, The Nameless Dead.
'The Sacrifice'
by Brian McGilloway
Read by Laura Pyper
Produced by Michael Shannon.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b01r14tb)
A president, a jazz trumpeter, an economist, a socialite and codebreaker and a conductor
On Last Word this week:
Jazzman Kenny Ball, remembered by bandmate John Bennet.
Government minister Oliver Letwin tells us about the work of his American-born father, the economist William Letwin.
Sarah Baring, who combined a debutante high-life with code-breaking at Bletchley Park during the war.
German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch.
And as President Hugo Chavez lies is state, we hear from Venezuela about the life of the charismatic and controversial politician.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b01r14tn)
In Feedback this week, you ask: where are all the right-wing comedians? Left-wing comic Jeremy Hardy returned to airwaves last week with his series of lectures 'Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation'. Never one to be shy about his political views, Jeremy had many of you laughing but others felt the joke just wasn't funny anymore and called for balance on the network. Roger puts your points to Caroline Raphael, commissioning editor for Radio 4 Comedy, and asks her whether she is actively looking for right-wing comics.
And what's it like to report for the Today programme for the first time? Last week, Sally Marlow, an academic researcher from King's College London, had her first report on Today. Sally was one of 30 'expert women' who took part in a BBC Academy Training Day in January, which sought to encourage more women experts for TV and radio in areas such as science, engineering, business and politics. We asked Sally and her Today producer to fill us in on the process and find out whether the training day helped.
Also, how much attention do you pay to sound effects in dramas? We hear from listeners who think they've spotted mistakes and programme makers discuss the role of realism in drama.
And listeners applaud Libby Purves, who narrated the Afternoon Drama The Silence at the Song's End, based on the writing of her son Nicholas Heiney,
Producer: Kate Taylor
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 17:00 PM (b01r14ts)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01qzkfr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b01r14tx)
Series 39
Episode 4
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, Nick Doody and Jonny & The Baptists to present a comic look at the week's news. Produced by Katie Tyrrell.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b01r14v1)
Brenda's been doing Lilian's work again. She's sick and tired of working late, and is annoyed that Tom's made no effort over supper. Things get heated as she tells him that he's in his own self-absorbed little world. He needs to repair things with his parents, starting with an apology.
Iftikar coaxes Freddie to talk about Christopher's accident. Freddie believes it was his fault. Iftikar assures him it was an accident. Freddie hasn't talked to Elizabeth about it because it would remind her of his dad's fatal accident.
Elizabeth is touched to learn that Freddie is trying to protect her. Iftikar tells her that he's organising a maths trail in Felpersham Science Museum for his pupils. It would be great if Freddie and Lily could test it out. Elizabeth's welcome to come too.
Brian takes Alice straight from the airport to visit Christopher. He warns her that Christopher is very poorly. As he lies in his hospital bed on a ventilator, Alice tells Christopher that she's sorry about how they left things last Sunday. But she's back now. All he has to do is get better. He just has to.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b01r14v3)
William Boyd's first play; Hilary Mantel; Seven Deadly Sins
With Mark Lawson.
Novelist William Boyd has taken two short stories by Chekhov and turned them into his first stage play, called Longing. Starring Tamsin Greig, Iain Glen and John Sessions, Longing contains many Chekhovian themes, including long-buried emotions and a yearning for Moscow. Peter Kemp reviews.
Hilary Mantel has added the David Cohen Prize for Literature to her recent success in the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Award. The biennial award celebrates an author's entire career rather than one work. The author of Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies considers her success, and gives her unapologetic reaction to the media storm which followed her recent thoughts about the Duchess of Cambridge.
Marianne Faithfull, Soweto Kinch, Paul Heaton and conductor André de Ridder reflect on music inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. Jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch reveals why he became the voice of temptation on his latest album, The Legend Of Mike Smith, and Paul Heaton explains why he added an eighth sin.
Producer Nicki Paxman.
FRI 19:45 The Cazalets (b01r12ll)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b01r14v7)
Ed Davey, Maria Eagle, Andrea Leadsom, Peter Tatchell
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Brighton with activist Peter Tatchell, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey MP, Andrea Leadsom MP and the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Maria Eagle MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b01r14vc)
Dame Mary Cartwright
Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of the mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright, the first woman mathematician to be elected to the Royal Society.
During World War Two, she responded to a request from the British government to address an issue with early and still-secret radar systems. Together with her colleague Professor J. E. Littlewood, they were able to help war-time radar engineers circumvent a problem that was making radar unreliable.
Her findings were not fully understood by her peers at first. It would take a generation before mathematicians realised that her discoveries were the foundation of what became a new field of science: chaos theory.
Dame Mary Cartwright was very modest and did not want eulogies at her funeral, but Lisa Jardine takes the opportunity of International Woman's Day to blow Dame Mary's trumpet on her behalf.
FRI 21:00 Saturday Drama (b00r32vt)
Vincent Price and the Horror of the English Blood Beast
By Matthew Broughton. In 1967, Vincent Price came to the UK to make the horror movie Witchfinder General. It was the best performance of his career, and the worst few months of his life. This play takes a light-hearted look behind the scenes of the making of this classic British film.
Other parts played by Simon Ludders and Lynne Seymour
Produced and directed by Sam Hoyle.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b01qzkft)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b01r14vh)
Chavez funeral in Venezuela, Kenyans await their election results & China's changing younger generation. With Roger Hearing.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01r14vm)
The Middlesteins
Episode 10
A layered. bittersweet tragi-comedy about three generations of a Jewish family from the Chicago suburbs.
Edie Middlestein is a woman who can't stop eating. Her family fear she will eat herself to death. But Edie's heart and soul feel full when her stomach is full. And as she alternates between eating and grinding all the joy out of her memories, relationships around her start to unravel.
The author, Jami Attenberg, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. This is her fourth book.
Episode 10 (of 10)
After the b'nai mitzvah, Kenneth sets off for Edie's home to share food and - he hopes - love.
Written by Jami Attenberg
Reader: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b01r0gjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01r14vp)
Mark D'Arcy with the day's top news stories from Westminster.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
A Good Read
16:30 TUE (b01r0gjb)
A Good Read
23:00 FRI (b01r0gjb)
A Point of View
08:50 SUN (b01qwk43)
A Point of View
20:50 FRI (b01r14vc)
A Taxi Ride Around the City of Culture
13:45 THU (b01r20cp)
After Saddam
13:30 SUN (b01r0b13)
Afternoon Reading
00:30 SUN (b012l1yv)
Agatha Christie
11:30 WED (b01r0gpc)
Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section
19:15 SUN (b01r0c5r)
Analysis
21:30 SUN (b01qw93v)
Analysis
20:30 MON (b01r0f4g)
Any Answers?
14:00 SAT (b01qzk11)
Any Questions?
13:10 SAT (b01qwk41)
Any Questions?
20:00 FRI (b01r14v7)
Archive on 4
20:00 SAT (b01gngrj)
Battle for the Airwaves
13:45 MON (b01r0dyn)
Battle for the Airwaves
13:45 TUE (b01r0ghz)
Battle for the Airwaves
13:45 WED (b01r0h08)
Bells on Sunday
05:43 SUN (b01qzl0w)
Bells on Sunday
00:45 MON (b01qzl0w)
Beyond Belief
16:30 MON (b01r0dyv)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 MON (b01r0f4l)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 TUE (b01r0gjx)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 WED (b01r0ytd)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 THU (b01r11wy)
Book at Bedtime
22:45 FRI (b01r14vm)
Book of the Week
00:30 SAT (b01qzctq)
Book of the Week
09:45 MON (b01r0cf3)
Book of the Week
00:30 TUE (b01r0cf3)
Book of the Week
09:45 TUE (b01r0g47)
Book of the Week
00:30 WED (b01r0g47)
Book of the Week
09:45 WED (b01r0gp3)
Book of the Week
00:30 THU (b01r0gp3)
Book of the Week
09:45 THU (b01r113j)
Book of the Week
00:30 FRI (b01r113j)
Book of the Week
09:45 FRI (b01r123k)
Bookclub
16:00 SUN (b01r0b19)
Bookclub
15:30 THU (b01r0b19)
Brain of Britain
23:00 SAT (b01qw8tx)
Brain of Britain
15:00 MON (b01r0dyq)
Bridget Christie Minds the Gap
23:00 THU (b01r11x0)
Broadcasting House
09:00 SUN (b01r09st)
Classic Serial
21:00 SAT (b01qsrpf)
Classic Serial
15:00 SUN (b01r0b17)
Costing the Earth
15:30 TUE (b01r0gj6)
Costing the Earth
21:00 WED (b01r0gj6)
Desert Island Discs
11:15 SUN (b01r09sy)
Desert Island Discs
09:00 FRI (b01r09sy)
Dilemma
18:30 WED (b01r0h4y)
Document
20:00 MON (b01r0hsx)
Drama
14:15 MON (b01nl6hn)
Drama
14:15 TUE (b01r0gj2)
Drama
14:15 WED (b01r0h4m)
Drama
14:15 FRI (b01r1333)
Dreamers of the Black Metropolis
11:30 THU (b01r113s)
Eat, Pray, Write a Memoir
13:45 FRI (b01r1331)
Elvenquest
18:30 TUE (b01r0gjg)
Farming Today
06:30 SAT (b01qzj13)
Farming Today
05:45 MON (b01r0c9t)
Farming Today
05:45 TUE (b01r0g41)
Farming Today
05:45 WED (b01r0gnz)
Farming Today
05:45 THU (b01r113b)
Farming Today
05:45 FRI (b01r123f)
Feedback
20:00 SUN (b01qwk3q)
Feedback
16:30 FRI (b01r14tn)
File on 4
17:00 SUN (b01qwc8t)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:30 SAT (b01qzj1f)
From Our Own Correspondent
11:00 THU (b01r113q)
Front Row
19:15 MON (b01r0dzy)
Front Row
19:15 TUE (b01r0gjl)
Front Row
19:15 WED (b01r0h52)
Front Row
19:15 THU (b01r11wr)
Front Row
19:15 FRI (b01r14v3)
Gardeners' Question Time
14:00 SUN (b01qwk3j)
Gardeners' Question Time
15:00 FRI (b01r1335)
Go West
19:45 SUN (b01r0c5w)
HR
11:30 FRI (b01r12lq)
Hardeep's Game of Life
10:30 SAT (b01qzj19)
How Iraq Changed the World
20:00 TUE (b01r2qgj)
In Defence of Bureaucracy
09:00 TUE (b01r0g45)
In Defence of Bureaucracy
21:30 TUE (b01r0g45)
In Our Time
09:00 THU (b01r113g)
In Our Time
21:30 THU (b01r113g)
In Touch
20:40 TUE (b01r0gjq)
Inside Health
21:00 TUE (b01r0gjs)
Inside Health
15:30 WED (b01r0gjs)
Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation
18:30 THU (b01r11wm)
Jigsaw
23:15 WED (b01r0zbh)
Just a Minute
12:00 SUN (b01qw93l)
Just a Minute
18:30 MON (b01r0dzt)
Last Word
20:30 SUN (b01qwk3n)
Last Word
16:00 FRI (b01r14tb)
Law in Action
16:00 TUE (b01r0gj8)
Law in Action
20:00 THU (b01r0gj8)
Lent Talks
05:45 SUN (b01qwgm4)
Lent Talks
20:45 WED (b01r0ytb)
Lives in a Landscape
11:00 WED (b01r0gp9)
Loose Ends
18:15 SAT (b01qzk4d)
Mad Houses
11:00 MON (b01r0dyg)
Maiden City Stories
15:45 FRI (b01r1337)
Material World
21:00 MON (b01qwhtp)
Material World
16:30 THU (b01r11wh)
Midnight News
00:00 SAT (b01qsqwv)
Midnight News
00:00 SUN (b01qzk62)
Midnight News
00:00 MON (b01qzk81)
Midnight News
00:00 TUE (b01qzk9f)
Midnight News
00:00 WED (b01qzkbq)
Midnight News
00:00 THU (b01qzkd2)
Midnight News
00:00 FRI (b01qzkfc)
Midweek
09:00 WED (b01r0gp1)
Midweek
21:30 WED (b01r0gp1)
Money Box Live
15:00 WED (b01r0h4p)
Money Box
12:00 SAT (b01qzj1m)
Money Box
21:00 SUN (b01qzj1m)
Moral Maze
22:15 SAT (b01qwgm2)
Moral Maze
20:00 WED (b01r0yt8)
News Briefing
05:30 SAT (b01qsqx3)
News Briefing
05:30 SUN (b01qzk6d)
News Briefing
05:30 MON (b01qzk89)
News Briefing
05:30 TUE (b01qzk9p)
News Briefing
05:30 WED (b01qzkbz)
News Briefing
05:30 THU (b01qzkdb)
News Briefing
05:30 FRI (b01qzkfm)
News Headlines
06:00 SUN (b01qzk6g)
News and Papers
06:00 SAT (b01qsqx5)
News and Papers
07:00 SUN (b01qzk6l)
News and Papers
08:00 SUN (b01qzk6q)
News and Weather
22:00 SAT (b01qsqxr)
News
13:00 SAT (b01qsqxf)
On Your Farm
06:35 SUN (b01r08cw)
PM
17:00 SAT (b01qzk17)
PM
17:00 MON (b01r0dyx)
PM
17:00 TUE (b01r0gjd)
PM
17:00 WED (b01r0h4w)
PM
17:00 THU (b01r11wk)
PM
17:00 FRI (b01r14ts)
Pick of the Week
18:15 SUN (b01r0b5p)
Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
14:15 THU (b01r11w9)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 SAT (b01qwk51)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 MON (b01r0c9h)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 TUE (b01r0g3z)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 WED (b01r0gnx)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 THU (b01r0zqk)
Prayer for the Day
05:43 FRI (b01r123c)
Profile
19:00 SAT (b01qzk4g)
Profile
17:40 SUN (b01qzk4g)
Radio 4 Appeal
07:55 SUN (b01r09sp)
Radio 4 Appeal
21:26 SUN (b01r09sp)
Radio 4 Appeal
15:27 THU (b01r09sp)
Ramblings
06:07 SAT (b01qwhp7)
Ramblings
15:00 THU (b01r11wc)
Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities
09:30 TUE (b01kbk3r)
Saturday Drama
14:30 SAT (b01qzk13)
Saturday Drama
21:00 FRI (b00r32vt)
Saturday Live
09:00 SAT (b01qzj17)
Saturday Review
19:15 SAT (b01qzk4j)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SAT (b01qsqwz)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 SUN (b01qzk66)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 MON (b01qzk85)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 TUE (b01qzk9k)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 WED (b01qzkbv)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 THU (b01qzkd6)
Selection of BBC World Service Programmes
01:00 FRI (b01qzkfh)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SAT (b01qsqwx)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SAT (b01qsqx1)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SAT (b01qsqxh)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 SUN (b01qzk64)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 SUN (b01qzk68)
Shipping Forecast
17:54 SUN (b01qzk6v)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 MON (b01qzk83)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 MON (b01qzk87)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 TUE (b01qzk9h)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 TUE (b01qzk9m)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 WED (b01qzkbs)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 WED (b01qzkbx)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 THU (b01qzkd4)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 THU (b01qzkd8)
Shipping Forecast
00:48 FRI (b01qzkff)
Shipping Forecast
05:20 FRI (b01qzkfk)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SAT (b01qsqxm)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 SUN (b01qzk6z)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 MON (b01qzk8h)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 TUE (b01qzk9t)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 WED (b01qzkc3)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 THU (b01qzkdg)
Six O'Clock News
18:00 FRI (b01qzkfr)
Something Understood
06:05 SUN (b01r08ct)
Something Understood
23:30 SUN (b01r08ct)
Soul Music
15:30 SAT (b01qwb2n)
Soul Music
11:30 TUE (b01r0g4h)
Sound Painting
23:00 MON (b01r0f4n)
Start the Week
09:00 MON (b01r0cbw)
Start the Week
21:30 MON (b01r0cbw)
Sunday Worship
08:10 SUN (b01r09sr)
Sunday
07:10 SUN (b01r09sm)
Susan Calman Is Convicted
23:00 TUE (b01r0gjz)
Terry Pratchett
23:00 WED (b01r0zb9)
The Archers Omnibus
10:00 SUN (b01r09sw)
The Archers
19:00 SUN (b01r0c5p)
The Archers
14:00 MON (b01r0c5p)
The Archers
19:00 MON (b01r0dzw)
The Archers
14:00 TUE (b01r0dzw)
The Archers
19:00 TUE (b01r0gjj)
The Archers
14:00 WED (b01r0gjj)
The Archers
19:00 WED (b01r0h50)
The Archers
14:00 THU (b01r0h50)
The Archers
19:00 THU (b01r11wp)
The Archers
14:00 FRI (b01r11wp)
The Archers
19:00 FRI (b01r14v1)
The Bottom Line
17:30 SAT (b01qwj0b)
The Bottom Line
20:30 THU (b01r11wt)
The Cazalets
10:45 MON (b01r0dyd)
The Cazalets
19:45 MON (b01r0dyd)
The Cazalets
10:45 TUE (b01r0g4c)
The Cazalets
19:45 TUE (b01r0g4c)
The Cazalets
10:45 WED (b01r0gp7)
The Cazalets
19:45 WED (b01r0gp7)
The Cazalets
10:45 THU (b01r113n)
The Cazalets
19:45 THU (b01r113n)
The Cazalets
10:45 FRI (b01r12ll)
The Cazalets
19:45 FRI (b01r12ll)
The Echo Chamber
23:30 SAT (b01qx0d5)
The Echo Chamber
16:30 SUN (b01r0b3n)
The Film Programme
23:00 SUN (b01qwhpy)
The Film Programme
16:00 THU (b01r11wf)
The Food Programme
12:32 SUN (b01r09t0)
The Food Programme
15:30 MON (b01r09t0)
The Human Zoo
15:00 TUE (b01r0gj4)
The Media Show
16:30 WED (b01r0h4t)
The Now Show
12:30 SAT (b01qwk3v)
The Now Show
18:30 FRI (b01r14tx)
The Week in Westminster
11:00 SAT (b01qzj1c)
The World This Weekend
13:00 SUN (b01r0b11)
The World Tonight
22:00 MON (b01r0f4j)
The World Tonight
22:00 TUE (b01r0gjv)
The World Tonight
22:00 WED (b01r11xv)
The World Tonight
22:00 THU (b01r11ww)
The World Tonight
22:00 FRI (b01r14vh)
Thinking Allowed
00:15 MON (b01qwglp)
Thinking Allowed
16:00 WED (b01r0h4r)
Thinking of Leaving Your Husband?
11:30 MON (b00rrkg5)
Today in Parliament
23:30 MON (b01r0f4q)
Today in Parliament
23:30 TUE (b01r0gk1)
Today in Parliament
23:30 WED (b01r0zbp)
Today in Parliament
23:30 THU (b01r11x2)
Today in Parliament
23:30 FRI (b01r14vp)
Today
07:00 SAT (b01qzj15)
Today
06:00 MON (b01r0cbj)
Today
06:00 TUE (b01r0g43)
Today
06:00 WED (b01r0hpv)
Today
06:00 THU (b01r113d)
Today
06:00 FRI (b01r123h)
Was Gertrude Stein Any Good?
16:00 MON (b01r0dys)
Weather
06:04 SAT (b01qsqx7)
Weather
06:57 SAT (b01qsqx9)
Weather
12:57 SAT (b01qsqxc)
Weather
17:57 SAT (b01qsqxk)
Weather
06:57 SUN (b01qzk6j)
Weather
07:57 SUN (b01qzk6n)
Weather
12:57 SUN (b01qzk6s)
Weather
17:57 SUN (b01qzk6x)
Weather
05:57 MON (b01qzk8c)
Weather
12:57 MON (b01qzk8f)
Weather
21:58 MON (b01qzk8k)
Weather
12:57 TUE (b01qzk9r)
Weather
21:58 TUE (b01qzk9w)
Weather
12:57 WED (b01qzkc1)
Weather
21:58 WED (b01qzkc5)
Weather
12:57 THU (b01qzkdd)
Weather
21:58 THU (b01qzkdj)
Weather
12:57 FRI (b01qzkfp)
Weather
21:58 FRI (b01qzkft)
Westminster Hour
22:00 SUN (b01r0c5y)
What the Papers Say
22:45 SUN (b01r0c60)
Who's the Pest?
11:00 TUE (b01r0g4f)
Who's the Pest?
21:00 THU (b01r0g4f)
Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas
11:00 FRI (b01r12ln)
Witness
14:45 SUN (b01r0b15)
Woman's Hour
16:00 SAT (b01qzk15)
Woman's Hour
10:00 MON (b01r0dyb)
Woman's Hour
10:00 TUE (b01r0g49)
Woman's Hour
10:00 WED (b01r0gp5)
Woman's Hour
10:00 THU (b01r113l)
Woman's Hour
10:00 FRI (b01r12lj)
World at One
13:00 MON (b01r0dyl)
World at One
13:00 TUE (b01r0ghw)
World at One
13:00 WED (b01r0h06)
World at One
13:00 THU (b01r12nb)
World at One
13:00 FRI (b01r12lv)
You and Yours
12:00 MON (b01r0dyj)
You and Yours
12:00 TUE (b01r0g4k)
You and Yours
12:00 WED (b01r0gpf)
You and Yours
12:00 THU (b01r113v)
You and Yours
12:00 FRI (b01r12ls)
iPM
05:45 SAT (b01qwk53)