The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.
RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Naomi Beckwith, curator at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, continues the series exploring overlooked visual artists from the 20th century.
Born in 1938, Jim Nutt studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1966 he began to exhibit with a small group that critics named The Hairy Who, after the title of their first show. His work drew acclaim for the apparent contrast between its technical skill and elegance, and its brash, scatalogical content. Since the mid-1970s Nutt has been producing just one work a year. But though he's something of a hero in his adopted hometown, he has never achieved the international profile many people think he deserves. Did the strangeness of his art, his loyalty to Chicago or his refusal to feed art world demand prevent him from achieving international recognition?
Contributors include Jim Nutt, John Corbett (writer, musician, radio host, teacher, record producer & gallery owner), Suellen Rocca (Hairy Who member & Director of Exhibitions at Elmhurst College Library), and Gladys Nilsson (Hairy Who member and wife of Jim Nutt)
The series features artists selected by three curators from different backgrounds - Iwona Blazwick (Whitechapel Gallery), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Galleries) and Naomi Beckwith (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). Told broadly chronologically, the series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Archive audio courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Presenter: Naomi Beckwith
Producer: Michael Umney
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image (c) Jim Nutt, courtesy David Nolan Gallery, New York.
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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
iPM is the news programme that starts with its listeners. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk. Twitter: @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Clare Balding joins archaeologist, Charlotte Frearson and her dog, Indy, on their daily, five mile walk to work. A few years ago Charlotte was suffering from crippling anxiety, her doctor suggested medication or a dog. After detailed research Charlotte decided a whippet would be better than drugs and she bought Indy, short , of course, for Indiana Jones. Everyday they walk from their home in Crouch End, across London to UCL's Institute of Archaeology in Bloomsbury. It's hard to know who enjoys the walk more as Charlotte has the chance to reflect on the antiquities that might lie beneath their feet and Indy has the chance to hunt out tasty morsels on the pavement. As they take their favourite route from park to park Charlotte explains to Clare how Indy is now being assessed to be a Pet As Therapy dog, not just for her but for the students who sometimes find it easier to talk to him than their tutors.
Producer Lucy Lunt.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
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News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Richard Coles and Suzy Klein are joined by presenter and author Katie Piper. In 2008, she survived a horrific acid attack that left her blind in one eye and required more than 200 operations. Putting the attack behind her, she launched the Katie Piper Foundation in 2009 to aid people who'd suffered similar burns and scarring. She is set to travel the country with a new Tour: What's In My Head.
British ski champion turned Olympic commentator and Ski Sunday presenter Chemmy Alcott joins us to talk Olympics, injury and motherhood.
Listener Clive England always knew he was adopted, but until last October he wasn't sure who his birth family were. After some careful research, he tracked down them down and spent two weeks travelling across America to meet with them.
Cross stitch traditionally conjures up images of neat samplers, pretty cottages and cute puppy dogs until you look on social media and see the diverse range of attitudes, taste and subversion going on in the genre. Unofficial cross stitch spokesperson, Mr X stitch aka Jamie Chalmers, joins us to tell us about this online revolution.
Cleo Laine and her daughter Jacqui Dankworth talk about their singing careers.
We have the inheritance tracks of broadcaster Jeremy Vine who chooses Old Comrades, The Band of HM Royal Marines and Elvis Costello's Lipstick Vogue.
Katie Piper is touring the UK with What's In My Head.
From Mother to Daughter: The Things I'd Tell My Child by Katie Piper with her mum Dianne out now.
Producer: Corinna Jones
Editor: Eleanor Garland.
The comedian Isy Suttie tackles a selection of platitudes for everyday living and challenges herself and friends to follow their advice.
Life slogans are presented to us on a wide variety of topics affecting our lives; destiny, love, friendship and more. Suttie is aware of numerous examples of people who casually offer these mottos on a regular basis, as though to 'live each day as if it is your last' is the easiest thing to do.
Whether on social media, fridge magnets, plaques in shops or even tattooed on a body, life-changing slogans invite Suttie to 'Live in the Moment', 'Start every day in a happy way' and inform her 'Every Day you wait is another day you won't get back'.
As Suttie tests her enthusiasm to 'Keep smiling' and 'Do small things with great love' she conducts an experiment that invites two of her friends to live by the words of a slogan and monitors the results.
Throughout the programme she attempts to discover whether these sayings offer real value to everyday living or just simply brighten up a kitchen wall or a dull social media page.
With contributions from academic Toby Litt and marketing aficionado Branwell Johnson
Producer: Stephen Garner.
Steve Richards looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The Editor is Marie Jessel.
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
The latest news from the world of personal finance.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis re-cap the week via topical stand-up and sketches with guests Pippa Evans, Phil Wang and more!
Producer: Matt Stronge
It's a BBC Studios Production.
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Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Falmouth University in Cornwall with a panel including the Environment Minister Therese Coffey, the Labour MP and Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Frank Field, the editor of the online news site The Canary Kerry-Anne Mendoza and the founder of the Eden Project Sir Tim Smit.
Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?
A thriller set in India and inspired by real events. A young woman, Prithi, attempts to join a secretive religious commune and tries to win the trust of the group's leader - the charismatic motorbike-loving Ravi Baba.
But, as her freedoms are gradually stripped away, it becomes clear that she is not a genuine convert. Is she a police informer trying to gather evidence against the group, a journalist trying to get a scoop or does she have some other agenda?
The Chosen One is inspired by the writer Avi Garvi's own experiences. When still a child, Avi's mother became a follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a charismatic music producer, singer-songwriter, filmmaker and self-styled guru. She left the family home with her five children to become a disciple at one of his ashrams. Avi left the sect as a teenager and moved to Mumbai where he now lives under an assumed identity for fear of retribution from cult members.
Last year, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape and sentenced to 20 years in jail. His conviction led to widespread rioting which left dozens of his followers dead from clashes with police. He also faces prosecution for murder and ordering forced castrations.
Original Music by Jon Ouin
Produced by Nadir Khan
Written and Directed by Avi Garvi
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Frances Fyfield continues her series celebrating the handwritten scores of great pieces of classical music with another visit to the Ricordi Archive in Milan. This time she and the South African soprano Golda Schultz are allowed the rare chance to explore the huge orchestral manuscript of Puccini's final and unfinished opera 'Turandot'. At this stage in his career Puccini was the star of the Ricordi music publishing establishment, as evidenced by the specially monogrammed manuscript paper and the sheer scale of orchestra with which he was encouraged to work. With the guidance of the archival scholar Gabriele Dotto, Frances, Golda and the musicologist Nigel Simeone explore the score's many operatic highlights including the death of the slave girl Liu and the famous tenor aria Nessun Dorma, beloved of opera and football fans alike. Ricordi have also preserved the sketch material for the final, unfinished Act, left behind at the time of Puccini's untimely death. We know how he intended the piece to end, and a version with the icy Princess Turandot melting in the face of the love of Prince Calaf is familiar to many opera goers. However, Gabriele Dotto believes that the sketches and the state of the Opera as he left it suggest Puccini might have had second thoughts.
Producer: Tom Alban.
Four women fighting on behalf of the survivors of Grenfell. The co-founder of Justice for Grenfell, Yvette Williams, Lucy Masoud - Treasurer and Head of Discipline for the London Fire Brigade Union, Eileen Short, Chair of Defend Council Housing and Clarrie Mendy-Solomon whose cousins died in the fire.
Sheila Hancock talks about playing Maude in the play Harold and Maude and how she copes with the gruelling performance schedule.
We discuss the lies parents tell their children with the psychologist Dr Chris Boyle and author Grace Timothy.
Patrice Khan-Cullors,one of the three female founders of Black Lives Matter, talks about activism and her new memoir
We look at why menstrual cups make financial sense and can be empowering for some women with Mandu Reid Founder of the Cup Effect and Gabby Edlin the founder of Bloody Good Period.
The Soprano Nadine Benjamin performs live and talks about her journey from council estate in Brixton to becoming one of the top ten sopranos
And as part of our new series Off The Rails about young people on the verge of getting into trouble and the workers and volunteers who try to pull them back from the edge - we hear from Nequela who works with young people in South London and 16 year old Chenique who has been getting into trouble for fighting.
Presented by Jane Garvey
Reporter Jo Morris
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Beverley Purcell.
Jane Hill with coverage of the day's news.
What is strategy and why do businesses need it? What distinguishes a good strategy from a bad one or a non-strategy? Not to be confused with goals or a company's ambition, strategy is a word that is often mis-used and misapplied. But in reality it can make the difference between success and failure - especially if it's adaptable to changes in the market. Evan Davis looks at where companies have got strategy right and where it's gone badly wrong.
GUESTS:
Michael Jacobides - Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at The London Business School.
Jacqueline de Rojas, President of Tech UK
Ann Cairns, President of International Markets, MasterCard.
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Clive Anderson and Nikki Bedi are joined by Penelope Wilton, Sir Willard White, Nigel Planer and Ayesha Hazarika for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Lawrence Rothman and L.A Salami.
Producer: Tim Bano.
Series of profiles of people who are currently making headlines.
A review of the week's cultural highlights.
In the 1960s a group of writers set about shaking up the polite conventions of the British realist tradition through a whole range of experimental approaches.
Sound poets created some of the strangest programmes ever broadcast by the BBC, while the likes of BS Johnson cut holes in the pages of his novels - and in the case of his book 'The Unfortunates' published the unbound chapters in a box for the reader to mix up and read in whatever order they wished.
Johnson and similarly minded writers like Ann Quin, Bob Cobbing, Alan Burns and Christine Brooke-Rose were prominent in their day, appearing regularly on TV and radio programmes, but by now they've largely been forgotten.
Using some of the rich archive these writers left behind, D.J. Taylor sets out to tell their story, with the help of Johnson's biographer Jonathan Coe, editor of a new Ann Quin collection Jennifer Hodgson, novelist Eimear McBride and poetry critic Jeremy Noel Tod.
In a programme that borrows some of their techniques Taylor argues that while we may no longer talk about this group of determinedly experimental figures, many of today's most prominent writers, from David Mitchell to Alice Oswald, owe them a debt of gratitude.
Presenter: DJ Taylor
Producer: Geoff Bird.
Crime fiction set in Palestine. Omar Yussef, schoolteacher and amateur sleuth, tries to clear the name of his former student George, falsely accused of murder in their hometown of Bethlehem.
Novelist ..... Matt Rees
Dramatist ..... Jennifer Howarth
Director ..... Mary Peate
Matt Rees has turned his observations from working as Time magazine's Jerusalem bureau chief into murder mysteries set in Palestine, with angry idealist Omar Yussef, school teacher and amateur sleuth, as his narrator.
In The Bethlehem Murders, Yussef tries to save the life of his former student George Saba, a Christian recently returned to his home town of Bethlehem, who has fallen foul of a Palestinian militia group. In doing so, Yussef uncovers a world of corruption, cynicism and fear which makes him regret the passing of a time when Christians and Muslims lived peacefully side by side.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
Cycling is again in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. A damning report by MPs argues that Sir Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky "crossed an ethical line." They claim that the Tour de France champion used an asthma drug - which is allowed under the anti-doping rules for medical need - to enhance his performance. The accusation is strenuously denied, but where exactly is the "ethical line"? Isn't it expected that competitors will do anything and everything within the rules to gain an edge? Even the model sportsman Roger Bannister sharpened his running spikes and rubbed graphite on them before breaking the four-minute-mile barrier. It certainly gained him an edge, but not unfairly. In sharp contrast, there are those who believe this latest case is another example of how sport has lost its soul. They say the ideals of 'sportsmanship' and respecting the spirit of the rules have given way to making money, winning at all costs and cheating if you can get away with it. In sport (and in competition generally) there will always be a grey area between what is moral and what is forbidden. Should we aim to narrow that gap, tighten the rules and enforce harsher sanctions? Or can ethical grey areas be a good thing? It could be argued they are essential in order for sportsmanship to shine. In business, they can be seen as necessary for innovation. In our personal lives, they give us moral agency to make important decisions and they provide a means by which we judge others. Surely a regime in which everything is either illegal or acceptable is the black and white landscape of tyranny? And yet - if the line is not simply between winning and losing, where should it be drawn? Witnesses are John-William Devine, Dr Paul Dimeo, Dr Emily Ryall and Ed Smith.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
(2/17)
Russell Davies asks the questions in the second heat of the 2018 tournament. Which classic novel is set in a nightmarish future in which the US has been renamed the Republic of Gilead? Which genus of plant has a name derived from the Latin for 'rock-breaker'? And what are the equivalent terms in the House of Lords for the Commons' 'ayes' and 'noes'?
The contestants face these and many other tests of their general knowledge, with a guaranteed place in the series semi-finals for today's winner.
There will also be a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by outwitting the competitors with questions of his or her own.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
Poets writing on the social media platform 'Instagram' have amassed millions of followers, and have a global audience that responds to their work instantaneously. In this programme we explore the way readers all over the world react to the work of Rupi Kaur, one of the best known of these poets, and ask how 'Instagram' itself is influencing the form and style of poems (including the haiku of Johnathan Rice, who satirises the way we increasingly live through social media). Rupi Kaur and Johnathan Rice are amongst the 'Instagram Poets' who are now so popular they have published books. Kaur's latest is 'the sun and her flowers' (Simon and Schuster), whilst Rice's is 'Farewell my Dudes: 69 Dystopian Haikus' (Hat and Beard Press).
Music was specially composed for this documentary by Scanner, a musician who is interested in the relationship between technology and speech. He has previously worked on projects with artists including Bryan Ferry, Wayne MacGregor, Michael Nyman, Steve McQueen, and Laurie Anderson.
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Presenter: Faith Lawrence
Composer: Scanner
Studio Manager: Sue Stonestreet.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
In Lesley Nneka Arimah's specially commissioned short story something precious is lost.
Lesley Nneka Arimah is an award winning writer. She was the winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa in 2015 and has twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize. Her debut short story collection, What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, was published to acclaim in 2017.
The reader is Ony Uhiara.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
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This week's Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St. Olave, Hart Street, in London. Built in the 15th Century, this small but interesting church escaped the Great Fire and is famous as being the church where Samuel Pepys worshipped and was buried. Its eight bells were destroyed when the church was bombed in 1941, but a new ring of eight was cast in 1953 at Whitechapel out of the metal of the old bells. Since that time, the tower has been the "home" of the University of London Society of Change Ringers. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples.
Every year, to mark the Christian season of Lent, Radio 4 invites contributors to offer a personal take on an aspect of the Passion story. Artist and song-writer Ben Okafor re-members Jesus' agony in Gethsemane and his own trauma as a child caught up in the Biafran war.
Producer: Rosie Dawson.
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Sarah Goldingay examines the idea of witnessing in an age of 'fake news' and rampant social media. Pre-existing assumptions about what is truthful and who has the authority to speak it are being tested. So she asks what does it mean to be a true witness?
"When witnessing we are not merely a spectator, passively watching, or an observer, trying to maintain a sense of distance, we witness with our whole selves. It is embodied, visceral encounter in both the initial experience and in the act of retelling." Sarah argues that to witness is not just about seeing and recounting, but is also to have an ethical and moral relationship to what's happened. To witness is to be implicated.
Music from the Specials, Chumbawumba and Oliver Messiaen and poetry from Thom Gunn, Liz Walder and Henry Dumas help Sarah in her quest for true witnessing, encountering the conversion experience of John Wesley along the way. She concludes "By starting to bear witness to the way that we tie our happiness to the conditions of our life-experience, Wesley explains we might begin to observe our lives in a loving way, to see God in all things and find long-lasting joy."
Presenter: Sarah Goldingay
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.
The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off en masse to start their day foraging in the surrounding fields.
Brett Westwood relives programmes from The Living World archives. This episode from 2014 sees Trai Anfield immerses herself in a starling spectacle many people have never seen. Each year the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels become the winter home for hundreds of thousands of starlings. Making their way from across the UK and Europe these birds have found a safe haven to roost with plenty of food nearby. Simon Clarke of Natural England talks Trai Anfield through the spectacle on Shapwick Heath. When it is all over and three quarters of a million starlings have departed for the day, thoughts turn to the reedbed and the effect the presence of so many birds has on their winter roost site and the animals they share it with.
Produced by Andrew Dawes.
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Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.
Emma Smith whose baby daughter died suddenly makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Lullaby Trust.
Registered Charity Number: 262191
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'The Lullaby Trust'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'The Lullaby Trust'.
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A service for Mothering Sunday from Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym near Bristol.
Throughout Lent, BBC Radio 4's worship programmes are taking "Stories of Hope" as their theme. The programmes follow Jesus' journey from the River Jordan, where he was baptised through to the city of Jerusalem where he was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. The theme for the fourth Sunday in Lent is decision time. The twelve disciples had some thinking to do about the person they thought Jesus to be.
The preacher is the Reverend Joanna Jepson who will be talking about hope in the context of choices prisoners make to change their lives for the better. The service is led by Fr Andre Hart with contributions for Mothering Sunday from some of the younger members of the church.
Hymns include "Tell out my soul", "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" and "Now thank we all our God". Director of Music: David Ogden. Producer: Janet McLarty
A link to Lent resources complementing the series can be found on the Sunday Worship web page.
Tom Shakespeare tells us why he believes the phrase "going forward" is an inelegant and negative replacement for "in future".
When you talk about the future, he says, you are using a temporal concept. It's a different time from now - the time to come - and "invites us to open out our imaginative space". It offers the possibility that things might be different.
"Going forward", on the other hand, is a spatial concept - "nothing but the present, infinitely extended".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
The striking-looking Bullfinch is the subject of the first of five TWEETS from naturalist and environmentalist Chris Baines about the birds he hears and encourages into his 'wildlife-friendly' garden. In the past, Bullfinches were persecuted for their fondness for fruit tree buds but as far as Chris is concerned, this is a small price to pay to have a pair of these beautiful birds visit his garden.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Sharon Marwood.
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
Will comes to a decision, and Kate returns to Ambridge.
John Gray is a philosopher. His academic career included professorships at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, and visiting professorships at Harvard and Yale in the USA. He retired from academia in 2008, and has dedicated himself to writing full time since then. He is the lead book reviewer of the New Statesman and a regular contributor to the Guardian.
Born in 1948 in South Shields, his father was a Tyneside dock worker, his mother a homemaker. A voracious reader as a child, and encouraged by his history teacher at his grammar school, he won a scholarship to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford. Initially of the political Left, he became an advocate of the policies of the Right before the advent of Thatcherism. He then moved again to the Left. He supported the Leave cause in the Brexit referendum.
John contends that history is not progressive, but cyclical, and that any improvements other than certain scientific discoveries can be easily lost or reversed. He cites the use of torture against terror suspects as an example.
John has written several influential books, including False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism (1998), which predicted the global financial crisis; Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals (2002), which attacked philosophical humanism; and Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (2007), a critique of Utopian thinking in the modern world.
Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Nicholas Parsons invites Stephen Fry, Jan Ravens, Gyles Brandreth and Paul Merton to speak for 60 seconds on the subjects like Broccoli, Conkers and Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
A BBC Studios Production.
It's a matter of course that in January, food writers, critics and chefs try to predict the food trends of the year ahead. And if you trawled the columns in 2018, no doubt you would have found 'African food' among them.
For Zoe Adjonyoh, restaurateur at Zoe's Ghana Kitchen in London and author of cookbook of the same name, this is a difficult term. Africa is the second biggest and most populous continent in the world and its 54 countries are home to a plethora of localised and regional cuisines. Yet, so many of these cuisines have failed to make a mark in mainstream restaurant culture internationally and in the UK, can a new interest in promoting African flavours help us to discover more about them?
This programme is Zoe's guide to getting to know African cuisines becoming more available in the UK. She meets British chefs and cooks exploring their African heritage through food, and asks them the worth, or worthlessness of the term 'African food'.
The first of The Food Programme's 2018 African Food Stories season.
Presented by Zoe Adjonyoh
Produced by Clare Salisbury.
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The relationship between mothers and sons as depicted in the arts is complex and, as anyone familiar with Medea's story will attest, not always terribly positive.
As Lauren Laverne discovers, however, there are many examples of stories, films and dramas in which the love between mums and sons is very much celebrated, and as a mother of two boys herself, Lauren is very keen to unpick the particular facets of the relationship as depicted on page, stage and screen.
She meets Sophie Ellis Bextor, mother of four boys, and hears about carving out a space in which she can continue her career as a singer - even if that has meant at times recording songs with a baby in her arms.
Patrick Ness is the author of the novel 'A Monster Calls' and also wrote the screenplay for the successful film. He tells Lauren how the story, about a boy dealing with the imminent death of his mum from cancer, was originally conceived by another author, Siobhan Dowd, who died before getting chance to complete it.
Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, a highly successful mother and son band from Kansas, talk about how they came to play together and the various upsides of being together on the road.
Finally, Lauren meets Jonathan Butterell and Dan Gillespie Sells, who helped create the West End hit 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', the musical version of a true story about a teenage boy from County Durham who is determined to go to the school prom in a dress. The story appealed to both Jonathan and Dan because each of them recognised the 'fierce and open hearted relationship' they shared with their own mothers.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Geoff Bird.
Eric Robson and the panel are hosted by the Thornton Le Moor Garden Forum in North Yorkshire. Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and Chris Beardshaw answer the horticultural questions.
The panellists offer advice on getting bedding plants to succeed, helping unhealthy Heuchera, and what to put in a community herb garden. They also suggest a whole host of plants that would suit a prairie-style garden and recommend some planting ideas that might tempt birds and birdwatchers into the garden.
Chris gives a masterclass in looking after an Orchid and Matthew visits the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park in nearby Grewelthorpe.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Fi Glover introduces conversations about being assertive, accepting the end of life, and finding ways to cope when scuba-diving in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Crime drama set in Palestine. Omar Yussef teams up with an ex student turned police officer to solve the case of the murder of a young man whose body is found at the most sacred Samaritan site in Nablus.
Novelist ..... Matt Rees
Dramatist ..... Jennifer Howarth
Director ..... Mary Peate
This is the second novel of the Palestinian Quartet series by Matt Rees to be dramatised for Radio 4 by Jennifer Howarth. Matt Rees draws on his experience as Time Magazine's Jerusalem Bureau Chief to create detective stories which give us an insight into life in Palestine in the early 2000's.
Revered literary critic James Wood talks to Mariella Frostrup about turning to fiction himself as he publishes a new novel, Upstate.
Also on the programme, Lucy Mangan talks about the power and joy of childhood reading.
The poetry of Australian Les Murray opens up a new world for Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant for whom words are filled with colour and numbers have become friends.
"Belonging is something that other people decide for you," says the internationally acclaimed author Daniel Tammet, who is on the highly functional end of the autism spectrum. "I wanted desperately to belong when I was growing up."
This feature is about the power of poetry. And about seeing the world differently from everyone around you. In Daniel's world, four is shy, six a little sad. Numbers and words come easy to him. And he never forgets - once, he recited 22154 digits of Pi from memory. On another occasion, he learned Icelandic in a week.
We meet Daniel in Paris where he lives as an author, poet and translator. We hear about his early life in suburban London, about getting lost in his own mind while walking to school, trying to learn social skills as he would later learn a language. Then, one day, he stumbles across a book by the Australian poet Les Murray.
It transforms his life.
Les Murray's poetry gives him a language he understands. He recognises himself completely in Murray's words and sets about translating his poems into French. As a consequence, there's suddenly the possibility of the two poets meeting up, in person in Paris, when Les Murray asks Daniel to translate a poem about autism.
Presented and produced by Martin Johnson
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
As controversy rages around whether the Bitcoin bubble is about to burst, File on 4 investigates the mystery of the missing Bitcoin billions.
In 2014 one of the world's biggest Bitcoin exchanges - Mt Gox - suddenly stopped trading and filed for bankruptcy. It then announced that thousands of Bitcoins with a value of almost half a billion pounds had gone missing, leaving customers out of pocket and wondering what had gone on. For a while that remained a mystery, but recently US investigators have revealed that another exchange was involved - and there had been a huge Bitcoin theft..
What transpires is a murky transnational tale spanning Russia, Europe, Japan and the United States,
In a case which shines a light on the darkest corners of online trading Geoff White tells the real-life digital crime drama which shocked the cryptocurrency world.
Reporter: Geoff White
Producer: Nicola Dowling
Editor: Gail Champion.
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Broadcasters choose their BBC Radio highlights.
Shula is left disappointed, and Will finds himself overwhelmed.
The tranquillity of the Trench household is breached once again when Damien's mother calls once morning to say she's coming to stay while Damien's father is on a silent retreat. No sooner has she arrived than she starts setting about trying to be helpful, which only irritates Damien more. He is therefore forced to spend some time away by accepting the offer of an after-dinner speaking engagement, something he's never tried before...
Cast:
Damien Trench - Miles Jupp
Anthony - Justin Edwards
Ian Frobisher - Philip Fox
Damien's mother - Selina Cadell
Jennifer - Priyanga Burford
Heckler - David Seddon
Nigel Thingummy - Michael Bertenshaw
Producer: Sam Michell.
Three stories explore men's relationships with their homes:
1. The Top Back by Andrew Martin
When he was born, Clive's bedroom in the old house was full of toys. Decades
later he still seems to be there, surrounded by them all..
Reader: Paul Copley
Producer: Duncan Minshull.
Roger Bolton asks if BBC journalists should describe political parties as "populist", discusses soft power with the head of BBC Arabic and finds out about the return of comedy to Radio 1 after more than a decade.
In the wake of success for the Five Star movement and the Italian League in the Italian elections, listeners have been reacting to the BBC's description of them as "populist". Some consider that it implies a pejorative view of the parties in question? The BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler joins Roger to explain the meaning of the term and answer listener's questions.
BBC Arabic has just celebrated 80 years since the launch of its radio service, still tasked with providing news in a challenging and volatile region for journalists. But does the influx of Foreign Office money to the BBC World Service risk undermining its reputation for impartiality and independence? Samir Farah, head of BBC Arabic, discusses soft power and the future of the service.
Radio 1 was once known for launching the careers of legendary comedians, but it's been more than 10 years since the network dedicated programmes to comedy. That's about to change, with the arrival of a new wave of specially commissioned Radio 1 comedy podcasts. The commissioner behind it, Louise Kattenhorn, and Benjamin Partridge, creator of the hit podcast Beef and Dairy Network and the star of one of the new Radio 1 commissions, talk about how to bring podcast comedy to a Radio 1 audience.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Will Yates
Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Photo: Sir Roger Bannister
Matthew Bannister on
Trevor Baylis, the eccentric inventor who came up with the wind up radio.
Lerone Bennett, the American academic who wrote many influential books on black history including "Before the Mayflower".
Penny Vincenzi the best selling novelist who told stories of glamorous heroines, romance and business intrigue.
Ian Aitken one of the UK's most influential political columnists. Jim Naughtie pays tribute.
Sir Roger Bannister, the neurologist who was the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. We'll find out what happened when he tried to help me do the same.
Producer: Neil George.
In the 2016 referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union, a stark division emerged: those with university degrees were far more likely to vote remain than those with few educational qualifications. And Britain is not the only country where such a gap exists - in the recent American presidential election, far more graduates voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump. Edward Stourton investigates the impact of this faultline on voting and politics, and asks how policy makers and wider society should respond.
Producer: Neil Koenig.
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.
With Francine Stock
Writer/director Paul King and writer Simon Farnaby reveal why Hugh Grant's character in Paddington 2, a pompous washed-up actor, was originally called Hugh Grant in the first draft of the script.
Award winning director Lynne Ramsay discusses You Were Never Really Here and why her star Joaquin Phoenix barely understood a word she said when she offered him the role of a hit-man called Joe.
Director Alexandra Dean discusses her documentary Bombshell about actor Hedy Lamarr's unlikely other career as an inventor of technology that preceded Wi-Fi and GPS.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Has Democracy Failed Women?' Drude Dahlerup, Professor of Political Science at Stockholm University asks why women are still under-represented in politics, from the UK to the Global South. Some argue that we are on the right track to full gender equality in politics, while others talk about women hitting the glass ceiling or being included in institutions with shrinking power.
Also, how 'normality' is established in language. Do the words we use-and don't use-reinforce dominant cultural norms? What are the unspoken assumptions behind terms like "male nurse," and "working mother"? Eviatar Zerubavel, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, explores the word choices we make every day, without even realizing it, and exposes the subtly encoded ways we talk about race, gender, sexual orientation and more.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
Andy Clements of the British Trust for Ornithology explains why he finds the sound of Pink-footed Geese so exciting as they fly overhead calling to one another.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounters with nature and reflections on our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Mark Rhodes.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
At the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead Lionel Shriver discusses her new collection of short stories Property with Kirsty Wark.
While Lionel Shriver explores our relationship with objects and places, and asks what the increasing accumulation of things may be doing to the soul, the sociologist Bev Skeggs explores how we are being bought and sold in the digital sphere. She also counts the cost of the monetisation of human relations and highlights communities in the North of England who are bucking this trend.
The economist Linda Yueh looks back to the thinkers of the past from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman, to show the importance of understanding the ideas that underpin the world of finance.
And the poet Sean O'Brien armed with 'paper and a clock' explores the history of Europe in his latest collection and argues that Great Britain's future will be shaped by what we remember and what we forget of our shared past.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries, continues the series exploring overlooked artists from the 20th century. Art history has been written from a white, Western, male perspective. What would an alternative canon look like?
Born in 1930 in Sudan, Ibrahim El-Salahi studied at the Slade School of Art in London before returning to teach in Khartoum. In the mid-1970s, El-Salahi was wrongly imprisoned for six months. Afterwards he went into self-imposed exile in Qatar and, later, Oxford in the UK.
His partially abstract painting and drawing incorporates elements of Arab calligraphy and North African symbolism, as well as Western approaches. It's often formed out of small, individual panels using a system of organic development that he evolved while in prison. In 2013, El-Salahi became the first African artist to have a solo retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern.
His story highlights the apparently wilful ignorance to, and patronising exclusion of, modern African and Arab art by the British art establishment between de-colonisation in the 1950s and the opening up of attitudes which began in the 1990s.
Contributors: Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ahmed Elhassan (painter and friend of Ibrahim), and Elvira Dyangani Ose (Goldsmiths, University of London).
The series features artists selected by three curators from different backgrounds - Iwona Blazwick, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Naomi Beckwith. The series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Presenter: Hans Ulrich Obrist
Producer: Michael Umney
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image courtesy of Vigo gallery and the artist.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Meera Syal returns for the eleventh series as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements - just in case.
Some joyriders have crashed their stolen car and died at the scene. But what caused the teenagers to rebel?
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
Radio 4 documentary.
Sophie auditions for the panto at New Hull Theatre so she can show Imran she's more than just a hairdresser. But when Sophie doesn't get a part, Sheila decides to take matters into her own hands so she can see her daughter on that famous stage, fulfilling her dreams. And of course, more importantly, so she can impress the committee for Kirkella ladies golf...
Written by Lucy Beaumont
Production Co-ordinator - Luke Mason
Producer - Sam Michell
A BBC Studios Production.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1918, the Yorkshire coast was attacked by zeppelins, and in Folkestone, Alec Poole feels a bit put upon.
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Botox Bother - medical professionals snub new kite mark because they don't want to be lumped in with hairdressers and beauticians.
As consumer attitudes towards non-recyclable plastic harden could more bottled milk deliveries return to doorsteps?
Buy to Let is not as lucrative as it one was thanks to changes in tax law which has led some prospective landlords to turn to building to rent instead - the return is higher but so is the risk.
The Fear of Finding Out is stopping people who should contacting their doctor but is this just a patient problem; what can the health service do to combat people leaving it until it is too late or more difficult to deal before they seek medical help?
Ticket Touting has been the scourge of music fans who are routinely charged many times the face value for tickets- after the government and advertising authorities have promised to clamp down on the practice we speak to the boss of StubHub one of the biggest names in the so called secondary ticket market.
Some Care workers have won the right to be paid more for sleeping over with clients who need them at night so do other workers asked to sleep on the job have a case too?
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Clare Balding travels to Hothfield Heathlands in Kent to meet a herd of Konik Ponies and discover the extraordinary story of the domestication of wild horses in Europe.
Horse historian Susanna Forrest explains how European wild horses of the Tarpan and Taki type developed ,and disappeared. First they were killed for food. Then they were used for labour and transport, eventually facing extinction in the 19th century.
The Konik, the Tarpan's closest relative, were genetically re- created by scientists in Poland. They were an essential part of a bizarre third reich experiment to recreate an ancient Aryan horse. Now they perform an invaluable role in managing some of the few areas of heath land that remain in the UK. Increasingly, they are being recognised as one of the most useful tools in the environmentalist's kit to protect diminishing natural resources.
Aided by Ian Rickard from Kent Wildlife Trust, Clare discovers the Konik in the mists of the Kent heath land, hearing how one of the brightest hopes for Europe's environmental future is linked to one of the darkest periods of its past.
Research that emerged in February 2018 about the origins of our domestic horses will change how we look at the development of the animals.
Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
By Jonny O'Neill
Daniel Mays stars as Tommy, a young man in court for the first time and facing consequences that risk putting his whole life in jeopardy.
Tommy has spent his life being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether it's problems at school or scrapes with the law, he has a fabled knack of attracting trouble. But this time his predicament is harder to laugh off. Writer Jonny O'Neill's moving and funny character study follows Tommy over the course of his first day in a London Magistrates' Court, and sees him face some uncomfortable, but perhaps necessary, truths.
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko
Writer Jonny O'Neill was born, raised, educated and is a proud product of the East End of London. Having enjoyed himself for many years barely paying attention in school he finally found a creative outlet in writing and managed to eventually obtain a Masters with distinction in Writing at the university of (you guessed it) East London. Jonny was selected as one of 12 writers commissioned to treatment, and then one of six to deliver a script for a 90-minute film for Coming Up 2014 (Channel 4). His first episode of BBC1's EastEnders was broadcast in September 2014, and his second in April 2015. This follows his selection for BBC Writers' Room 10, the BBC Continuing Drama Playwrights Scheme and a successful trial episode for the series.
(3/17)
Which former Chelsea footballer was named the new President of Liberia in 2018? And which is the longest land border any European country shares with another?
Russell Davies has these and a host of other general knowledge questions to put to the competitors in the third heat of this year's tournament. The winner will take another of the automatic places in the 2018 semi-finals - with the possibility of a place for a high-scoring runner-up too, if the contest is close.
This week's competitors are:
Beverley Beesley, a copy editor from Billericay in Essex
Amit De, a financial services advisor from Sutton in Surrey
Jill Goodwin, a retired insurance claims officer from Swindon
Ian Porter, a former accountant from Great Yarmouth.
There will also be the customary chance for a listener to win a prize by beating the Brains with his or her own devious questions.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
Piano technician Ulrich Gerhartz's job is to prepare Steinway pianos for performances by the world's leading pianists. Ulrich knows many of the great performers and how they like their instruments. It's his role to maintain pianos at the highest level and, when looking after concerts, he's on hand before, during and after the recital to ensure the piano is in the best possible condition for each individual pianist.
Steinway Hall in London houses a stable of eleven thoroughbred concert grand pianos, which get shipped around the UK and Europe for leading pianists, on which they either perform concerts or record CDs. This fleet of Formula 1 keyboards is made up of different instruments which suit the different players as well as a variety of acoustics and repertoire. It's Uli and his team's job to match the right piano to each pianistic occasion and to ensure that the instrument's prepared to the performer's specific wishes.
In this programme, Uli is preparing a piano for a concert by Steven Osborne at Wigmore Hall. And is showing pianist Kenneth Hamilton the current range of pianos available, including an exciting new grand which has just joined the Steinway team.
Producer: Rosie Boulton.
Aleks Krotoski explores the impact digital technology is having on the way we live.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Nicholas Parsons and regular guest Paul Merton challenge Josie Lawrence, Jenny Eclair and Tony Hawks to speak for a minute on such diverse topics as Zombies, Pi and Audrey Hepburn.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
A BBC Studios production.
Toby has a cunning plan, and there is a problem for Kate.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
In 1918 Millicent Fawcett wrote, 'I can see no reason why the principle of
equal pay for equal work should not in the course of a few years find an almost universal acceptance'. Many of the early feminist campaigners, like Fawcett, believed that from women's suffrage would follow equal rights for women, including equal pay, yet one hundred years on, despite having full voting rights, women still struggle with the gender pay gap. Most people agree with the concept of equal pay, so why has it been so difficult to accomplish in practice?
Professor Emma Griffin argues that we can only make sense of the gender pay gap by taking a historical perspective. Beginning in the 15th century, Emma explores how work has always been divided along gender lines. Then during the industrial revolution, when women started to enter the workplace in record numbers, women's work was typically defined by lower wages, in comparison to men's. At the Helmshore Mills Textile Museum in Lancashire, Emma learns how the new industrial employers maintained the gender pay gap in the burgeoning cotton mills.
Despite women entering the work force in record numbers during the First and Second World Wars, post-war they encountered a backlash of the idealisation of traditional family values, with a male breadwinner at the head of each household, whose wife prioritised her domestic responsibilities over paid employment. This notion was enshrined in the Beveridge Report of 1942, which formed the basis of significant post-war legislation. Yet women have consistently fought against this inequality, and Emma revisits the Ford machinists' strike of 1968, which helped to usher in the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
Emma argues that these very deep-rooted assumptions around paid and unpaid work powerfully influence the experiences of women in the workplace today. By uncovering this history, she sheds fresh light on one of the most contested issues of our own times: the politics of pay.
With Frances O'Grady, Sam Smethers, Jane Whittle and Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite.
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
Music:
'A Women's Work is Never Done' old English ballad sung by Vivien Ellis
'O Dear Me, The Jute Mill Song' sung by Karan Casey
'Washday Monday' sung by Jim Barry
'Mrs. Bartolozzi' by Kate Bush.
Almost half of the UK's school leavers are now going to university. But the university sector is under more scrutiny than ever before. Sonia Sodha argues that it's time to take a profound look at what universities are really for.
Should we be spending vast amounts of public money educating young people at this level if the main purpose is to get ahead of the next person? Are vast numbers of students being failed by a one-size-fits-all system that prizes academic achievement above all else? Why has Apple - and several other companies in Silicon Valley - decided that training young people's imagination and sense of civic culture is of paramount importance? What are the long-term risks to society if universities increasingly become little more than training grounds for the workplace?
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
In a new series of Aftermath, Alan Dein tells the story of how a plane-crash, 45 years ago, in Switzerland, deeply affected communities in Somerset.
In April 1973, 139 people - mostly women - boarded a flight at Bristol airport bound for a day's shopping in Basle, Switzerland. They knew each other from neighbouring villages and towns including Axbridge, Cheddar, Wrington and Congresbury. Many of the passengers were mothers travelling together with their social clubs: the Axbridge Ladies Guild, skittles players from Congresbury, the Cheddar Mums' Night Out group.
But the flight ended in disaster. On its second attempt to land during a snowstorm, the plane struck the tops of trees and crashed into a hillside. 108 people were killed. There were just 37 survivors.
We hear the extraordinary memories of David Besley who survived the crash, and helped many people to safety. Claire Board - like many children - lost her mother, as did the children next door. How did the communities manange the loss of so many mothers;? How come the push for compensation came from within the community itself? And what did the lack of bereavement counselling do to those who were grieving?
Producer: Karen Gregor.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
'The Long Drop' is Denise Mina's first foray into true crime. The award-winning author reimagines the trial of Scotland's first serial killer, Peter Manuel, in a dark and compelling exploration of truth and storytelling.
Glasgow, 1957. Businessman William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Small time crook Peter Manuel claims to have them. But you don't get something for nothing. Over the course of a bizarre night these unlikely drinking partners will swap stories and attempt to cut a deal to emerge from scandal with reputations, and profits, intact.
Roused to anger by Watt's clumsy enquiries into the murder of his family, the Glasgow underworld comes calling.
Read by Liam Brennan
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.
Libby Purves presents a live, nocturnal conversation programme, with a very particular connection to the night and nightlife in all its forms.
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Jennifer Border of the British Trust for Ornithology has a special affection for whinchats even though research trips don't always go to plan as she recalls when following the song of a whinchat resulted in a broken signpost and a cracked car bumper!
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounters with nature and reflections on our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Jez Nunn.
News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Professor Stephen Reicher of St Andrews University and Jim Al-Khalili discuss the psychology of crowd behaviour at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.
What does it take to be a successful runner of extreme distance and why do people do it?
David Greig is the Artistic Director of the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and an internationally successful playwright. He's also an ultra-marathon runner who has twice completed the punishing 96 mile West Highland Way as well as many other long-distance races. He took up running fifteen years ago when he stopped smoking and running has since become an endorphin-fuelled obsession.
For One to One, David is speaking to two fellow runners. Today he meets former world hill running champion, Angela Mudge. Born with birth defects that affected her feet, Angela spent the first two and half years of life almost continually with her lower legs and feet in plaster. Despite this, she went onto be a hugely successful long-distance runner. Her most memorable race was when she became the first woman to break three hours when she won the Sierre-Zinal - 'the race of the 4000m peaks'.
But why do they do it?
Producer: Karen Gregor.
Iwona Blazwick, director of Whitechapel Gallery in London, continues the series exploring overlooked visual artists from the 20th century.
Born in Croydon in 1953 and settling in a squat in Hackney, Helen Chadwick with her distinctive pulp-fiction bob and deep Croydon laugh was a loved and admired character in the London art scene of the 1980s and 90s. Chadwick interrogated the frailty of the human body, especially her own, in her photographs. She crafted sculptures out of food compost and cast imprints of urine in snow and chocolate, intending her work to provoke disgust and desire simultaneously. Chadwick died suddenly of a heart attack at 42 years old. Her influential style can be seen today in the Young British Artists she taught and inspired, but her own name has faded into relative obscurity.
Contributors include gallerist Maureen Paley and artists Pete Smith and Cathy de Monchaux. With audio recordings from the British Library Sound Archive.
The series features artists selected by three curators from different backgrounds - Iwona Blazwick (Director of the Whitechapel Gallery), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries) and Naomi Beckwith (Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). Told broadly chronologically with inter-changing presenters, the series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Presenter: Iwona Blazwick
Producer: Olivia Humphreys
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening Production for BBC Radio 4
Image (c) Kippa Matthews, Courtesy of Richard Saltoun Gallery.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Meera Syal returns for the eleventh series as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements - just in case.
Jackie continues to investigate the suspicious death of some joyriders while still helping Brian to come to terms with the untimely murder of his daughter.
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
In 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of Soho was bombed - a nail bomb exploded killing 3 and injuring over 70 people. What have been the long term after effects for those involved? And how did Soho respond as the beating heart of London's gay community?
Alan Dein investigates as part of the Aftermath series, which explores what happens to a community after it has been at the centre of a nationally significant event.
Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
(Programme 2 of 2)
In the second programme in the series, Yousra visits a ground-breaking music festival in the northern desert of Sudan, on the banks of the Nile, to meet musicians working in Sudan now. She meets the all-female band Salut Yal Bannot, who are pushing at the boundaries and addressing issues facing women in Sudan. But for those trying to incorporate dancing into their performances, like Amjad Shakir, who represented Sudan on The Voice (Arab World), the morality police are waiting at the end of each public performance. Those brought up outside the country who are forging international careers, like Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane) talk about their musical connection to Sudan; electronic musician Sufyvn describes DJing in a city where dancing is still not acceptable. Yousra asks what young creatives are up against in a country where stigma clings strongly to the profession of musician - especially for women. If things are opening up now: how much, and for whom?
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1918, an education bill was proposed, asserting the rights of children, and in Folkestone, Adeline furthers their interests in her own way.
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Consumer phone-in.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Clare Balding meets Prince. This beautiful black stallion is a lead equine actor, a major star of big and small screen. You might recognise him as Wonderwoman's mount, from The Crown, or as Jon Snow's steed from Game of Thrones.
Prince has also helped teach many a Hollywood A-lister to feel at home in his saddle, as Camilla Naprous, trainer and stunt rider explains. Clare also watches another star go through his paces - Doctor is one of the Lloyd's bank horses.
Whether in Olympics dressage, film and TV or live theatre, performing horses are big business and have been for centuries. But what is the allure of equine performance and where does the history of the performing horse begin?
Clare meets historian Lucy Worsley in Kensington Palace to explore how the moves on the riding school and film set can be traced back to medieval battlegrounds and the demonstration of regal power in the 17th century. For royal Europeans, ménage or horse dancing could be the secret to retaining your crown and your kingdom.
Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
When Last I Saw You
by Peter Whalley
Psychological thriller. When the law has failed, is it ever morally acceptable to impose your own justice? Jane, by chance, says she has found the man who violently attacked her five years ago.
But Jane, a few years ago, mistakenly identified a man who she thought attacked her.
So who is this man she's accusing, and has she got it right this time?
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
Further Info
Lyndsey Marshall - is best known for her performance in The Hours, and as the recurring character Cleopatra on HBO's Rome, and as Lady Sarah Hill in BBC period drama Garrow's Law
Peter Whalley has written many taut psychological radio dramas for Radio 4, including The Longest Journey, The Missing Wife and The Trial. He was a long standing writer of Coronation Street before retiring, and is the author of ten thriller novels.
A quiet walk through an abandoned prison camp in darkness, late night ambient sound in the Maasai Mara - Josie Long listens for sounds in the hush of the night.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
Our homes and their construction have a huge impact on the environment. The construction industry is estimated to contribute to 40% of worldwide energy use and in the UK alone the building sector uses more than 400 million tons of material a year, many of which have an adverse impact on the environment. Added to this is the impact on local air quality and green spaces and the energy used in heating, lighting and even furnishing new homes.
The government has set a target of 300,000 new homes a year to help solve the growing housing crisis but this figure is nearly double the current rate of building. So is there anyway we can solve the housing crisis without nearly doubling our emissions? Tom Heap sets out to find out where, what and how we could build affordable and green homes for all.
If a driverless car is involved in an accident, who is responsible - the owner or the manufacturer?
The writers Nina Stibbe (Love, Nina; Paradise Lodge) and Kit de Waal (My Name is Leon; The Trick to Time) talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert, including The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Self Help by Lorrie Moore and Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers.
Produced by Mair Bosworth.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Brand new stand-up from Sara Pascoe.
Sara will be exploring our modern social world though theories of Evolutionary Psychology and more. How does our monkey past influence our modern lives and how come we can still get emotionally hijacked by our primitive emotions?
The final episode of the series explores the concept of Charity. We've looked at some the less pleasant aspects of humans in previous episodes but this show is all about the positive. There are lots of examples of altruistic behaviour and feats of generosity - the social traits of our species are at the root of why we're so successful. But it's complicated. Can we find compassion for each other when we're doing the wrong things for the right reasons?
Recorded on location at The Foundling Museum.
Written by and starring Sara Pascoe
Production co-ordinator Toby Tilling
Producer Alexandra Smith
A BBC Studios production.
Joe makes a shocking admission, and Fallon steps up.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
The collapse of the construction giant Carillion has focused attention on the contracts it had with the Government, one of which involved cleaning, landscaping and maintenance at 50 prisons in the south of England.
The prison contract came into effect in 2015, but within months major problems started to emerge, as prisoners, staff and inspectors reported long delays in getting cells, windows and toilets repaired.
The Ministry of Justice acknowledged that Carillion was under-performing and ordered the company to pay back millions of pounds - but its contract was allowed to continue until the work was taken in-house after the firm folded last month.
There've also been growing concerns about another contractor, Amey, which has a maintenance contract at 61 prisons in the north of England, the Midlands and Wales.
Amey's work came under the spotlight at Liverpool Jail which was described in a recent report as "squalid", with prisoners living in damp, dirty and cockroach-infested conditions.
The contracts, which are worth £200 million over five years, were intended to deliver savings of £115 million.
But Ministers have admitted that the Government won't achieve the economies it wanted to because it under-estimated how much it costs to maintain jails.
They say the new government-owned facilities management company which has taken on Carillion's work will secure "significant improvements" and have pledged to strengthen the management and oversight of its contract with Amey to deliver a better service.
But the Prison Officers Association says the failure to maintain prisons properly has fuelled frustration behind bars, contributed to increasing levels of violence and endangered the health and welfare of inmates.
File on 4 explores the background to the prisons maintenance contracts, the impact out-sourcing has had on prisoners, staff and the public and whether the solution lies in greater state control, an end to private sector involvement or more investment.
Reporter: Danny Shaw
Producer: Sally Chesworth
Editor: Gail Champion.
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.
Dr Mark Porter presents a series on health issues.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
'The Long Drop' is Denise Mina's first foray into true crime. The award-winning author reimagines the trial of Scotland's first serial killer, Peter Manuel, in a dark and compelling exploration of truth and storytelling.
Glasgow, 1957. Businessman William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Small time crook Peter Manuel claims to have them. But you don't get something for nothing. Over the course of a bizarre night these unlikely drinking partners will swap stories and attempt to cut a deal to emerge from scandal with reputations, and profits, intact.
Peter Manuel's murder trial reaches a critical stage as the High Court hears his disputed confessions to the murders of Anne Kneilands, Isabelle Cooke, the Watt and the Smart families.
Read by Liam Brennan
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.
By Tim Key
Comic poet Tim Key is broadcasting from a car, as he drives his friend and musician, Tom Basden, to meet his wife for a romantic getaway. But when they pick up a mysterious hitchhiker the plans begin to unravel.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian returns for a fourth series of his Late Night Poetry Programme. Currently performing his latest critically acclaimed solo show 'Megadate', Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa. But now he's back on late night Radio 4 doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant Tom Basden.
Praise for Tim Key
"...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line." Radio Times
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer
"In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius." The Telegraph.
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Nick Moran of the British Trust for Ornithology describes the surprise he got when he listened back to a recording he had made during the night of birds on the move.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Ian Logan.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Series in which two artists discuss creative questions.
A Mediterranean diet for longevity, low-fat to protect against cancer, and make sure you're getting your omega-3! The world is full of dietary advice, but it's impossible to keep up with all these rules. No sooner has a new 'miracle ingredient' been announced, than it's furiously debunked. Does red wine contribute to cancer this week, or help cure it?
Adam Buxton explores the weird and wonderful world of the ludicrous, billion-dollar diet and nutrition industry, and tries, rather desperately, to sort the good advice from the well-meaning rubbish. How on earth can we figure out what works and what doesn't? And how does this help Adam decide what to have for lunch?
Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.
Curator Naomi Beckwith continues the series exploring overlooked artists from the 20th century. Art history has been written from a white, western, male perspective. What if we could revise the canon?
Born in Pittsburgh in 1934, Ben Patterson was the only African American member of the avant garde Fluxus movement. After rejection from the American Symphony Orchestra because of his race, Patterson left the USA for Cologne. There, he was instrumental in a series of musical and artistic experiments which gave birth to Fluxus. However, after just a few years, Patterson took an almost 20 year hiatus from the art world, only reappearing in the 1980s. Patterson redefined the boundaries of art but was, in many cases, quite literally written out of Fluxus history. Was his race the reason for his obscurity? Patterson died last year, just after his first invitation to take part in the prestigious documenta 14.
Contributors include Bonaventure Ndikung (SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin), Mary Bauermeister (artist), George E Lewis (Composer, and trombonist for George E Lewis) and Kenny Goldsmith (poet and Fluxus historian).
The series features artists selected by three curators from different backgrounds - Iwona Blazwick (Director of the Whitechapel Gallery), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries) and Naomi Beckwith (Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). Told broadly chronologically with inter-changing presenters, the series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Presenter: Naomi Beckwith
Producer: Michael Umney
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image (c) Christian Lauer 2012.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Meera Syal returns for the eleventh series as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements - just in case.
Jackie has some news about the death of Brian's daughter, while her rekindled relationship with Alex keeps being disturbed. The police may have been involved in the car crash.
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
A self-made father worries he's made life too easy for his offspring. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Following the lives and stories of those who live along the rail network that fans out from Cardiff up into the South Wales Valleys.
Broadly covering the ex-coalfield of South Wales, the Valleys is a collection of towns and villages ranged along, and separated by, hills and mountains. Running roughly north to south, the Valley Lines connects these towns and villages to each other - and to the growing city of Cardiff on the south coast.
Trains can offer up a slice of life, a window onto a world - glimpsed back gardens, frozen street scenes, snatches of lives and overheard conversations - and the Valley Lines provide an opening onto the people and places - and the culture and economics - of this region, defined by its geography.
As resistant to generalisations as any place, the meaning of the Valleys depends upon who you ask: a collection of deeply rooted communities with an enviable sense of cohesion and identity; a cradle of industrial and socialist history; a sublime natural resource and increasingly a rural playground; a predicament to be confronted, a problem to be solved.
And certain statistics do seem to back up this last concern: according to metrics of deprivation and economic inactivity, of educational attainment, health and life expectancy, the problems in the Valleys seem very real.
It's easy to be blinded by these statistics. And one proffered solution to 'the problem of the Valleys' that surfaces from time to time calls for, effectively, a managed clearance of large parts of the area, to rewild them, creating a tourist-focused region comparable perhaps to the Lake District.
One response to these intentions can stand as a premise for these programmes: what about the people?
It's a story usually told in a current affairs context, but these programmes hope to loosen that form to tell part of the story of the Valleys through the Valley Lines railway, its passengers and passers-by.
by Jon Canter
Produced by Sally Avens
Comedy as James Boswell becomes a time travelling biographer doing for other celebrities what he did for Dr Johnson.
Today he meets Simone de Beauvoir and gains several lessons in equality as he helps clean her apartment allowing her to complete her book The Second Sex.
Would radical modern feminism have existed without him?
Amelia Bullmore is an actor and writer. Credits include: Scott and Bailey, Happy Valley ,Twenty Twelve and Power Monkeys on TV and Down The Line on Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1918, the Crawford Report recommended the building of the Imperial War Museum, and in Folkestone, Sylvia establishes a new friendship.
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Consumer affairs programme.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Clare Balding visits the King's Troop at their Woolwich Barracks. She meets the army horses of 2018 and watches five new recruits being put through their somewhat painful basic training to prepare for Trooping the Colour, state funerals, parades and spectacle.
Equine instructor Martin Dennis tells Clare about the training undergone by horses like Jeff to face the challenges of a military horse - it's no longer about bombs and guns, but potentially hostile crowds, like those at Margret Thatcher's funeral. In the barracks, Clare discusses with Captain Gregory Flynn the future of the horse in a modern British Army.
"A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse!" The oft quoted line from Shakespeare's Richard III sums up perfectly the importance of horses to the success or failure of wars until the late-20th century. From the Mogul campaigns on the Central European Steppes to the Second World War, military experts like Professor Phillip Sabin from Kings College London have argued that wars have been won and lost by horse power.
Clare visits Professor Sabin to discuss the extraordinary role that horses have played, and continue to play, in international warfare. More horses were involved in World War Two than the First World War, they were vital to the Korean War and the British Army used horses in Afghanistan until 2001.
Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
Four-part drama series with Tom Hollander. Deer Park Academy, a re-branded failing school, is working to turn itself around and inspire its students. But inspiration can be dangerous and when has-been TV star, Geoff Cathcart, is brought in to stage a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he opens a Pandora's box of controversy.
All other parts played by students and teachers at Portsmouth Grammar School:
Abby Moss, Poppy Goad, Thomas Locke, Joe McAuley, Freddie Fenton, Douglas James, Joe Haylock, Jay Pasricha, JM Hopkinson, Caleb Barron, Joe McCue
Written by Andy Mulligan
Music by Jon Ouin
Sound by Steve Bond
Produced by Emma Hearn
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Financial phone-in.
Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
What would be Gyles Brandreth superpower, who is Sarah Kendall's all time hero and what is the source of Phil Wang's shame?
All these questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Joe Lycett where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.
Produced by Adnan Ahmed.
It was a BBC Studios Production.
Alistair's world collapses, and Clarrie has a visitor.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Matthew Taylor, Mona Siddiqui, Michael Portillo and Anne McElvoy.
Another age, another violent arrest. U.S pastor and activist Rev Dr Tammy Garrett Williams on Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and alternatives to gun violence.
Producer: Rosie Dawson.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
'The Long Drop' is Denise Mina's first foray into true crime. The award-winning author reimagines the trial of Scotland's first serial killer, Peter Manuel, in a dark and compelling exploration of truth and storytelling.
Glasgow, 1957. Businessman William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Small time crook Peter Manuel claims to have them. But you don't get something for nothing. Over the course of a bizarre night these unlikely drinking partners will swap stories and attempt to cut a deal to emerge from scandal with reputations, and profits, intact.
Manuel has sacked his legal team and is conducting his own defence against multiple murder charges.
Read by Liam Brennan
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.
A heady combination of maths, science and comedy with Festival of The Spoken Nerd trio who are stand-up Mathematician Matt Parker, Physicist Steve Mould and Physicist-Musician Helen Arney. It's science that you can play along with at home as the team look at domestic phenomena that we relate to on a day to day basis.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
A BBC Studios Production.
John Moloney has been headlining comedy clubs all over the world. We've captured him at his very best performing in front of an appreciative audience at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.
This week, there's a joke about a bank robber and a story about his cat called Edward.
Written and performed by John Moloney
Featuring Julia Sutherland, Gareth Waugh and Fred MacAulay
Produced by Alan Lorraine
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Sarah Harris of the British Trust for Ornithology recalls the excitement of watching clouds of migrating blackbirds arriving at Spurn in East Yorkshire from the continent as they seek out the milder winter weather here.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounters with nature and reflections on our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Emilpix.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Augustine of Hippo's account of his conversion to Christianity and his life up to that point. Written c397AD, it has many elements of autobiography with his scrutiny of his earlier life, his long relationship with a concubine, his theft of pears as a child, his work as an orator and his embrace of other philosophies and Manichaeism. Significantly for the development of Christianity, he explores the idea of original sin in the context of his own experience. The work is often seen as an argument for his Roman Catholicism, a less powerful force where he was living in North Africa where another form of Christianity was dominant, Donatism. While Augustine retells many episodes from his own life, the greater strength of his Confessions has come to be seen as his examination of his own emotional development, and the growth of his soul.
With
Morwenna Ludlow
Kate Cooper
and
Martin Palmer
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Creative Director of Serpentine Galleries, continues the series exploring overlooked visual artists from the 20th century.
Born in Boston in 1933, Dorothy Iannone began painting as a self-taught abstract expressionist, exhibiting alongside her husband James Upham in the 1960s. In 1967 on holiday in Iceland, she met artist Dieter Roth and fell in love, leaving her husband the same week. Roth became her muse and her style changed radically taking in bright, cartoon-like paintings, sound recordings and large format artists books.
Her often autobiographical work unapologetically celebrates heterosexual female sexuality and erotic love. In the 70s and 80s, Iannone's art was aggressively censored by police, customs officers of several countries, galleries and even other artists. Where it wasn't censored it was, in her words, "mildly ridiculed...or just ignored." Dorothy is starting to come to prominence as a new generation of female artists take inspiration from her work , which will be displayed on New York's High Line this year.
Contributors include Dorothy Iannone and gallery owner Barbara Wien.
The series features artists selected by curators with varied perspectives - Hans Ulrich Obrist, Iwona Blazwick and Naomi Beckwith. Told broadly chronologically with inter-changing presenters, the series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Presenter: Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Producer: Michael Umney
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image (c) Jason Schmidt courtesy Air de Paris, Paris.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Meera Syal returns for the eleventh series as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements - just in case.
Jackie has found more evidence about the death of Brian's daughter while some disturbing news emerges about Alex's past.
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.
Composer Errollyn Wallen meets some of the artists working in places of conflict, violence and oppression around the world. She hears their personal testimonies and explores why art and music, poetry and drama can sometimes flourish in times and locations of danger and violence.
What use is art in a warzone, and what can these individuals and their work tell artists in more peaceful places about making art that helps us question and communicate?
Cartoonist and free improvisational trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj talks about his work during the 2006 Lebanon war and the problem of exoticising art from warzones. Journalist and poet Bejan Matur describes how living as a Kurd in southeastern Turkey has shaped her work. Actor and educator Ahmed Tobasi explains how Jenin's Freedom Theatre changed his life, and Mustafa Staiti discusses his work as artistic director of the city's new Fragments Theatre. Composer Matti Kovler explores the impact of his experiences in the Israeli Defence Forces during the Second Intifada.
Featuring music from Mazen Kerbaj and Richard Scott, The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, AWA, Matti Kovler, Rotem Sherman and Suna Alan.
Image courtesy of Mazen Kerbaj.
Producer: Michael Umney
A Resonance production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1918, the RMS Amazon was sunk off the Irish Coast, and in Folkestone, Ivy encounters some formidable women.
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Consumer affairs programme.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Spies, bribes and poison. Horse racing has a long and varied history full of colourful characters, politics, scandal and fancy hats. Thoroughbred race horses can all be traced back to three original blood lines. Their descendants are at the centre of a sport and industry worth billions of pounds yet have, for centuries, been shrouded in mystery. What makes the perfect racehorse? Genes, training, jockeys?
As a former jockey from a horse racing family, Clare Balding is fascinated by thoroughbreds. She heads to Newmarket to meet a newborn racehorse foal at Stanley House Stud. Hopes are resting on this four day-old that she will follow in her parents' purebred hoofsteps. Clare discusses her provenance, and the strict rules and specific techniques of thoroughbred breeding, with stud groom Marco Palozzi. In the paddock, she also meets champion Ouija Board and some of her many offspring.
Racing started as a training exercise to swell the ranks of the King's cavalry, developing as a gentleman's contest. Scandalous from the start, it was one of the earliest regulated sports. At the Museum of Horseracing and Sporting Art, Chris Garibaldi shows Clare intriguing artefacts from racing history. These include quasi-religious relics made of the hooves and hides of former winners. Champions of the track were also preserved as ashtrays and book binding.
Outside racing, sophisticated genetic breeding techniques are rapidly becoming the norm. Will the same happen inside the sport? Clare visits the renowned Newmarket Equine Hospital where director David Dugdale and surgeon Ian Wright discuss what veterinary science promises for racehorses of the future.
Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
Four-part drama series with Tom Hollander. Deer Park Academy, a re-branded failing school, is working to turn itself around and inspire its students with a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . But inspiration can be dangerous and the man brought in to stage the production, has-been TV star Geoff Cathcart, has his own ideas about education and an unusual attitude to risk assessment.
All other parts played by students and teachers at Portsmouth Grammar School:
Abby Moss, Poppy Goad, Thomas Locke, Joe McAuley, Freddie Fenton, Douglas James, Jay Pasricha, JM Hopkinson, Caleb Barron, Joe McCue
Written by Andy Mulligan
Music by Jon Ouin
Sound by Steve Bond
Produced by Emma Hearn
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Clare Balding walks in the Peaks with Maxwell Ayamba, who founded a rambling group for other black men, from Sheffield, to help improve their health and well being. Clare joins the group as they leave the Moorland Discovery Centre and set off across the Moors. They explain to Clare how the group has helped improve their relationships as well as their health and Maxwell describes the art of riding crocodiles.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
Francine Stock talks to writer/director Paul King and writer Simon Farnaby discuss the influence of James Stewart on Paddington bear.
Palme D'Or winner Ruben Ostlund takes us around The Square.
Adam Rutherford investigates the news in science and science in the news.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Simon Jones stars as Arthur Dent in a brand new full-cast series based on And Another Thing...,the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy.
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return to be thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash, in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal.
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch. The cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking.
The series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams.
Music by Philip Pope
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs
Based on the novel And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd by Gerry O'Riordan
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley
A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.
Jim is caught in the middle, and Adam finds himself ousted.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
Evan Davis presents the business magazine.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
'The Long Drop' is Denise Mina's first foray into true crime. The award-winning author reimagines the trial of Scotland's first serial killer, Peter Manuel, in a dark and compelling exploration of truth and storytelling.
Glasgow, 1957. Businessman William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Small time crook Peter Manuel claims to have them. But you don't get something for nothing. Over the course of a bizarre night these unlikely drinking partners will swap stories and attempt to cut a deal to emerge from scandal with reputations, and profits, intact.
Watt is shocked to be recalled to the witness box as Manuel continues to conduct his own defence.
Read by Liam Brennan
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.
It's Jocelyn returns for a second series of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.
In episode two, Jocelyn talks about a dating, we follow a day in the life of Britain's worst bus driver and Kingston's take away caters for a vegan customer.
This series Jocelyn is joined by Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, as well as the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.
The producer is Suzy Grant and It's Jocelyn is a BBC Studios production.
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale, Baptist minister.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Andy Clements of the British Trust for Ornithology explains why he rates the song of the Garden Warbler above that of the similar sounding Blackcap, or even the Nightingale.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounters with nature and reflections on our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Rhys Thatcher.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Iwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Gallery London, concludes the series exploring overlooked visual artists from the 20th century. Art history has been written from a white, western, male perspective. What if we could revise the canon?
Born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1955, Rotimi Fani-Kayode fled the Nigerian Civil War with his family and arrived as a refugee in the UK at the age of 11. He used the black male body in his photographs to explore themes of diaspora and belonging, racism, mortality and the tensions between his homosexuality and his Yoruba upbringing. Fani-Kayode suffered a fatal heart attack while recovering from an AIDS-related illness at just 34 years old, only six years into his career. He is one of a generation of gay artists who died prematurely in the 1980s and 1990s - how different might the art scene have been if these artists had lived?
Contributors include Robert Taylor (Photographer), Mark Sealy (director of Autograph ABP) and Femi Fani-Kayode (Politician and brother of Rotimi Fani-Kayode).
The series features artists selected by curators with varied perspectives - Hans Ulrich Obrist, Iwona Blazwick and Naomi Beckwith. Told broadly chronologically with inter-changing presenters, the series explores why these artists have been obscured and why some are now being reinstated into the 20th century artistic canon.
Presenter: Iwona Blazwick
Producer: Olivia Humphreys
Researcher: Jessie Lawson
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
Image: Untitled (Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil), Rotimi Fani-Kayode 1985, Courtesy Autograph ABP.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Meera Syal stars as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements - just in case.
A shocking truth emerges about the murder of Brian's daughter, while the cause of the joyrider's crash is finally understood.
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
Matthew Taylor continues his series asking what charities are for, in this episode examining service delivery and charities' relationships with government.
In recent years, governments of all political stripes have looked to charities to deliver many of their services, including to some of the hardest-to-reach individuals and communities in the UK and around the world. But what happens when charities get almost all their money from government? How free are they to speak out on behalf of the people they are supposed to help? And what else happens when charities start behaving like contractors, competing with each other for business?
Visiting Bradford and Leeds, Matthew speaks to charities, to service users, and to commissioners about the relationship with government. He hears some real concerns about where it is going wrong, and how it can be improved.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
by Jeremy Front
Based on the novel by Simon Brett
Directed by Sally Avens
Charles is starring in a revival of a 70's farce; the cast record an audio promo for the show only for the producer to be found dead in his studio. The cast seem to have secrets they don't want shared but who would go as far as murder to protect themselves? Charles is determined to find out.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
On this day in 1918, the Times published details for women registering to vote, and in Folkestone, Kitty's dearest wish comes true.
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Consumer news and issues.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Clare Balding discovers how horses are being used to help people with mental and physical health problems, as well as those affected by gang violence and addiction.
The Ebony Pony Club is as far away from the traditional pony club image as you can get. Under the railway arches and tower blocks of Brixton, it is located in one of the most socially challenged and economically deprived areas of London. Each day, the horses here are ridden by local young people and the impact of the stables can be dramatic. The club also works with former gang members, addicts and children with learning difficulties. Ebony offers an alternative to the lives they may have experienced.
Clare also talks to Gemma Hockley of Strength in Horses, which uses qualified Clinical Psychologists alongside trained horse professionals to offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to vulnerable people.
Long term studies and therapy programmes in Sweden and the USA support claims that equine therapy can be powerful in all kinds of settings. Archaeological evidence in cave paintings and artefacts bear out the length and depth of the relationship between humans and horses.
Producer: Lucy Dichmont
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
Four-part drama series with Tom Hollander. Deer Park Academy, a re-branded failing school, is working to turn itself around and inspire its students with a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. With the first night looming it becomes clear that the man brought in to stage the production, has-been TV star Geoff Cathcart, is not quite who he appears to be.
All other parts played by students and teachers at Portsmouth Grammar School:
Abby Moss, Poppy Goad, Thomas Locke, Joe McAuley, Freddie Fenton, Douglas James, Jay Pasricha, JM Hopkinson, Caleb Barron, Joe McCue
Written by Andy Mulligan
Music by Jon Ouin
Sound by Steve Bond
Produced by Emma Hearn
Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Eric Robson and the panel are in Leicester. Matthew Wilson, Matt Biggs and Christine Walkden answer this week's questions.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Short story series inspired by stories in the news.
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died.
Radio 4's forum for audience comment.
Afraid he'd lose his family, a son delayed telling his mum he is a trans man. Now they are closer than ever. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis re-cap the week via topical stand-up and sketches with guests Pippa Evans, Phil Wang and more!
Producer: Matt Stronge
It's a BBC Studios Production.
Emma is concerned, and Brian tries to do the right thing.
News, reviews and interviews from the worlds of art, literature, film and music.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate the English Martyrs Catholic School in Leicester with a panel including former Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke MP, Shadow Treasury Minister Anneliese Dodds MP and Economist Andrew Lilico who is Executive Director of Europe Economics.
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
The second omnibus of Season 13, A Woman's Place, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1918, when the Times published details for women registering to vote for the first time.
Cast
Rev. Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Adeline Lumley ..... Helen Schlesinger
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Ivy Monk ..... Lizzy Watts
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Sophie Beckwith ..... Abbie Andrews
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Juliet Cavendish ..... Lizzie Bourne
Hugh Cavendish ..... Pip Carter
Dolly Clout ..... Elaine Claxton
Carson Martindale ..... Stephen Critchlow
Eleanor Tanney ..... Aimee-Ffion Edwards
Constance Pettigrew ..... Phoebe Frances Brown
George Tanney ..... Neil Grainger
Terence Wentworth ..... Jack Lowden
Rev. Ralph Winwood ..... Nicholas Murchie
Olive Hargreaves ..... Rhiannon Neads
Nora Thatcher ..... Chetna Pandya
Ruby Pearce ..... Katie Redford
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Dorothea Winwood ..... Rachel Shelley
Nell Kingsley ..... Alice St Clair
Dennis Monk ..... Sam Swann
Captain Allen ..... Lloyd Thomas
Lilian Pemble ..... Alex Tregear
Fryn Tennyson-Jesse ..... Fenella Woolgar
Peter Lumley ..... Beatrice White
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
'The Long Drop' is Denise Mina's first foray into true crime. The award-winning author reimagines the trial of Scotland's first serial killer, Peter Manuel, in a dark and compelling exploration of truth and storytelling.
Glasgow, 1957. Businessman William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Small time crook Peter Manuel claims to have them. But you don't get something for nothing. Over the course of a bizarre night these unlikely drinking partners will swap stories and attempt to cut a deal to emerge from scandal with reputations, and profits, intact.
The murder verdicts are about to be returned.
Read by Liam Brennan
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster.
Friends since they were teenagers, two men examine the impact that fatherhood has had on their lives. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.