SATURDAY 29 MARCH 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m00297fn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00297d7)
Episode 5

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00297fq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00297fs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m00297fv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m00297fx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00297fz)
The rhythms of the year

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

The small room I call my study – which has a desk, my laptop, a filing cabinet and some bookshelves - is where I write. My desk faces south, and every day I look through the window - to the garden hedge, a field beyond, and up to the skyline of trees and moorland.

The changing seasons are right in front of me when I sit here. From the white stillness of winter to the wild green of summer. I’m used to this natural transformation - I grew up in the countryside, and then lived in the town for many years in a top floor flat overlooking a park. Finally, not long ago, I returned to fields and trees and a big sky.

There’s something reassuring about looking out at a hedge. A few weeks ago, it was still bare and full of woody gaps. But as Spring approached, it began to come to life. It’s still greening and thickening, and soon I won’t be able to see the ambling sheep through the leafy branches. Small birds will dart underneath for shelter. And then, summer will burst on to centre stage.

I don’t take any of it for granted: the rhythms of the year, the gift of the natural world, the returning light. I don’t ever forget the blessings of a peaceful life in a peaceful country. Or that I have a roof over my head, food each day, and the freedom to go where I want.

This morning my prayer is for people who live in places where there is no peace – who endure destruction and violence and fear every day. God be with them, God protect them – and may God forgive a world which unleashes war. Amen.


SAT 05:45 Lent Talks (m00297g1)
The Creed: That Jesus is the Son of God

2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed – the core profession of the Christian faith, which is spoken in churches across the world. This year’s Lent Talks offer personal insights of faith on six key lines from the Creed.

In this episode, theologian and foster parent Krish Kandiah reflects on the line: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.”

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0029hjh)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002975l)
Raynor Winn

Author of The Salt Path Raynor Winn takes Martha Kearney back to walk part of it: the south west coast path from Polruan in Cornwall, where her story ended and where the new film of her book is set. She talks about what nature means to her and how it effectively saved her life, and that of her husband, Moth. They set out to walk the 630 mile coast path when they lost their home and livelihood, and Moth was diagnosed with a terminal illness. They walked through it all and came out at the other end with renewed hope.

Raynor Winn is a long-distance walker and writer whose first book, The Salt Path, was a bestseller. Since then she's published The Wild Silence and Landlines, which also ends in Polruan, where she lived for some time. She grew up on a farm in Staffordshire and has always lived in the countryside. She tells Martha Kearney about her isolated rural childhood and how she feels most at home in nature. Her experience of homelessness changed her view of what home is. On a surprisingly blue and sunny but blustery day they walk the path as she and her husband did and Raynor recalls that time and reflects on how that experience has changed her.

Producer: Beth O'Dea


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0029hjk)
29/03/25 Farming Today This Week: Bird flu in a sheep; Egg production; Red Tractor review; Chancellor's spring statement.

Bird flu has been found in a sheep for the first time. DEFRA said the case in Yorkshire was on a farm where avian flu was present in captive birds. One ewe tested positive and has been culled, but her lambs and the rest of the small flock of sheep were negative. Surveillance of mammals for avian flu has been stepped up, partly because in the United States many dairy cattle and even some dairy workers have gone down with the disease. We speak to the chief vet.

Avian influenza is at the forefront of egg producers' minds at the moment. All week we've been taking a closer look at egg production, including a free-range egg producer in Wales. We also visit a farm which supplies pullets, which then grow into laying hens. For every female chick which grows into a pullet, there's a male chick, which will never lay eggs and isn't wanted by egg producers. In the UK these chicks are gassed at one day old, but in Europe techniques are being used to sex the chicks before they're hatched, whilst still in the egg.

Red Tractor has pledged to improve communications with farmers and simplify its audits as part of its response to an independent review. The review, published earlier this year, recommended more than 50 changes.

The Chancellor's spring statement has drawn a mixed reaction from the rural community. Farming itself wasn't mentioned as such, Rachel Reeves focused on the government's agenda for growth and plans to build more homes. We speak to a professor from Newcastle University's Centre for Rural Economy to assess what it means for agriculture and rural communities.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0029hjm)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0029hjp)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0029hjr)
Michael Morpurgo, Tricia Stewart, John Harris, Gina McKee

The author Michael Morpurgo, whose stories have enchanted children across the world...he’s now turned to non-fiction with a book for adults proving that the most magical storytellers have very real lives.

Journalist and writer John Harris is a music chronicler and critic of music and critic since the age of nineteen...music’s been a massive part of his life, and now more than ever as it’s worked a kind of magic his son James who has autism.

She bared all to help a friend, Tricia Stewart is one of the original Calendar Girls who helped transform a cheeky fundraising idea into a global phenomenon.

All that, plus we have the Inheritance Tracks of the BAFTA award winning actor, Gina McKee.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Adrian Chiles
Producer: Catherine Powell


SAT 10:00 The Today Podcast (m00290bg)
Adolescence and the Crisis of Masculinity

A series about a teenage boy who is accused of murdering a girl from his school was the most watched show on Netflix last weekend. Meanwhile the former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has said that he fears young men are spending too much time gaming, gambling and watching porn.

Amol spoke to Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, who star in the Netflix series, and in this episode of The Today Podcast he delves deeper into what it means to be a boy today with Richard Reeves, who wrote Of Boys and Men, and Catherine Carr who made a Radio 4 documentary called About the Boys.

You can listen to her series here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001yshl

To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you hit subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time they release a new episode.

GET IN TOUCH:
* Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346
* Email today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley and Grace Reeve. Digital production was by Grace Reeve and Beth Chalmers. The technical producer was Jonny Baker. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0029hdl)
Series 47

Camden

Jay Rayner and a panel of expert chefs, cooks and food writers are at the London Irish Centre, Camden discussing bouncy foods and cooking with corn. Joining Jay are Angela Hartnett, Jeremy Pang, Big Has and materials expert Dr Zoe Laughlin.

They discuss their best methods for preparing garlic and how to add depth to a homemade tomato sauce, and debate whether fries should be loaded with toppings or left alone.

Jay also stops to chat to Safia Jama from the Al Khaf family restaurant in Whitechapel about the flavours and ingredients involved in traditional Somali cooking.

A Somethin' Else pproduction for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0029hjw)
Pippa Crerar assesses the latest developments at Westminster.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her Spring Statement this week and Pippa takes a closer look at the details with the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Labour’s Dame Meg Hillier and the Conservative frontbencher and former Treasury minister, Dame Harriett Baldwin.

Also this week, Keir Starmer travelled to Paris for the latest meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’. Labour’s Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs select committee discusses this with the Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, a former British army officer who served multiple tours in Afghanistan.

Reform UK's deputy leader, Richard Tice, who represents Boston and Skegness and Times columnist Fraser Nelson discuss the party's coming electoral test in the local elections.

And, following comments by the technology secretary Peter Kyle that the UK will see its first ever space launch this year, Pippa speaks to the physicist and broadcaster Professor Brian Cox about the benefits of space exploration.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0029hjy)
Turkey's clampdown

Kate Adie presents stories from Turkey, the US, El Salvador, and Georgia.

The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu and the main rival to President Erdogan has sparked outrage in Turkey and led to some of the worst unrest the country has seen in a decade. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested and there’s been a crackdown on the media, which included a BBC correspondent being detained and deported. Emily Wither has been in Istanbul.

The perils of group messaging apps were in plain sight this week after a US journalist was accidentally added to a group chat of high-level US officials discussing a planned US attack on Houthi positions in Yemen. Bernd Debusman was in a White House press conference with President Trump shortly after the story broke.

Earlier this month, more than 200 Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador from the US under an 18th century law. The move prompted an outcry in the US and Venezuela. Will Grant has been in San Salvador where he spoke to relatives of the detainees.

An election in Georgia last year saw the return to power of the Georgian Dream party. Months of protests ensued, amid claims the results were ‘totally falsified.’ Rayhan Demytrie has been to the village and birthplace of the billionaire founder of the ruling party, and spoke to his supporters.

And finally, this week the interview programme ‘Hardtalk’ will go off air for good. For almost three decades Hardtalk has maintained a tradition of one-on-one, longform interviews with the powerful, in politics, business and culture. Stephen Sackur, a former correspondent in Washington, Jerusalem and Brussels shares some of his most memorable encounters.

Series producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Max Deveson
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0029hk0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0029hk2)
April Bills and Child Benefit

The cost of just about everything we need to run a home will be more expensive for millions of households from Tuesday. Switching on the lights, turning on the heating, turning on the tap, calling your mum or your best friend, logging on to emails, will all cost more with rises usually well above the rate of inflation. We'll have tips on how to tackle those bills if you're struggling to pay them.

A payment service provider for hundreds of schools has decided to cease trading in the UK. What does this mean for parents who still have money on their accounts?

And hundreds of thousands of better off parents who claim Child Benefit should soon have a simpler way of paying the tax they owe on it. Some higher earners who’ve had to register for self-assessment to pay something called the ‘High Income Child Benefit Charge’ will soon be able to pay it via PAYE. What does the announcement, which was in the Spring Statement, mean in practice?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast at 12pm Saturday 29th March, 2025)


SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m00297f0)
Series 2

Performing, Potholes and Paddington

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.

This week we Spring (Statement) into action with a timely tune for - and by - Rachel Reeves, explore a pothole that's opened up in the programme, and accidentally get added to Radio 4's Group Chat.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Sarah Dempster
Jason Hazeley

Investigations Team:
Cat Neilan
Louis Mian
Freya Shaw
Matt Brown

Guests: Ania Magliano, Bethany Reeves, with music by The Naked Week Wind Section.

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler.

Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0029hk4)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m0029hk6)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m00297f6)
Torsten Bell MP, Stephanie Flanders, Sarah Olney MP, Helen Whately MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, with Labour MP Torsten Bell, a minister in the Treasury and the department for work & pensions; journalist and economist Stephanie Flanders, head of government and economics at Bloomberg; Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney MP; and Conservative MP Helen Whately, the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Chris Weightman


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0029hk8)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m00297f2)
Helen tells Clarrie that Susan’s got the job. Clarrie’s pleased for Susan, and entreats Helen not to get upset as it doesn’t help. Helen goes through the process for Clarrie, telling her she doesn’t have to work her notice. But Clarrie insists; she just wants to get back to work, while she can. She tells Susan she just wants an ordinary day, and Susan’s happy to oblige. Clarrie admits to feeling a bit sorry for Helen, but Susan retorts that’s for Helen to deal with.

Mick intimates to Rochelle that Joy has filled him in on their troubled past. It becomes clear to Rochelle that Joy hasn’t told him the whole story. Rochelle tells shocked Mick that the ‘couple of days’ Joy referred to when she said she’d gone away was actually more like a couple of months. Rochelle also discloses she had to deal with their dog dying that summer, assisted by a lad she barely knew. When Joy arrives home and tells them about Constanza, Rochelle makes a barbed comment about disposing of a dead llama. Catching up with the conversation, Joy insists a lot of what Rochelle’s said isn’t true. Rochelle sticks to her guns and Joy defends herself, pointing out she was in a bad way. Rochelle accuses her of blocking out everything that happened. She conveniently forgets and it’s exhausting. Distraught Joy leaves the room, returning with an overnight bag. She needs some time away and will be back soon. Mick protests but Joy’s adamant. Neither Mick nor Rochelle have a clue what to do.


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000s202)
The Margins

by Al Smith

Mandy ..... Rebecca Front
Ben ..... Billy Howle
Cassie ..... Cecilia Appiah
Mo ..... Calvin Demba

Directed by Sally Avens

When Ben takes his girlfriend back home he finds his mother has taken in a childhood friend and is about to disinherit Ben in his friend’s favour, hoping her act of charity will correct past sins. But the more the group unpick her choice, the more Ben’s mother finds herself unable to disentangle herself from a web of historic power, privilege and entitlement.

Al Smith is an award winning playwright. His radio series Life Lines has won every major UK audio award. He was nominated for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the 2017 Evening Standard Theatre Awards.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0029hkb)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Stacey Dooley, Authors Yuan Yang and Sanam Mahloudji, Adolescence, Gossip, AI, Boxing & domestic violence

In the documentary Growing up Gypsy, Stacey Dooley gets to know three young English Romany Gypsy women. Invited into the traditionally private community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act the young women face growing up in one of Britain’s most maligned ethnic minorities. She meets 23 year old Chantelle who prides herself in keeping with the ‘old’ Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her and shares her ‘Gypsy Cleaning’ videos on social media where she has nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok and 15 million likes on her page. Chantelle joined Kylie Pentelow to talk about her life, alongside Stacey Dooley.

In this week’s Women’s Prize discussion, Clare McDonnell heard from two authors about the debut books they’ve had long-listed for this year’s prestigious literary prize. Sanam Mahloudji’s novel, The Persians, tells the story of the Valiat family from the perspective of five women from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s. And Labour MP Yuan Yang’s non-fiction book, Private Revolutions, explores the lives of four women born in China in the 1980s and 90s during a time of rapid change in society.

Since its release, the Netflix TV series Adolescence has caused widespread discussion about what’s shaping our teenagers’ lives. The four-part series follows the fallout from 13-year-old Jamie’s arrest on suspicion of murdering his female classmate, Katie. The show is a critique of social media-boosted toxic masculinity and its role in the teenage experience. Clare discussed the issues with clinical psychologist, Dr Amani Milligan and Consultant Forensic Psychologist, Dr Ruth Tully.

Do you enjoy a bit of gossip? The thrill of being the first to hear something and sharing it, or the irresistible urge to be let into the lives of others? What’s the difference between idle gossip and hurtful criticism behind someone’s back, do women gossip as much as men and can gossip be used to keep women safe? American journalist Kelsey McKinney joined Clare to discuss her new book, You Didn't Hear This From Me: Notes on the Art of Gossip.

Technology journalist and author Lara Lewington asks how artificial intelligence can improve women’s health, and what we are ready for it to do for us? From prevention and diagnostics to testing and tracking, we speak to female experts, scientists and practitioners. Her experts include Madhumita Murgia, AI Editor of the Financial Times, Nell Thornton, Improvement Fellow, The Health Foundation and Dr Ellie Cannon, a GP and author.

This week we heard how victims and survivors of domestic abuse want the police to better protect them from perpetrators, but there's also a very practical and positive way some women have been trying to process their trauma to build a future for themselves. British boxer Lesley Sackey - who previously won gold at the EU Championships - is a survivor of an abusive relationship and now helps other women to gain confidence and move forward by getting into the boxing ring. She joined Claire, along with Olivia Culverhouse, who took part in Lesley’s 10-week Fight Forward course.

Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Sarah Crawley


SAT 17:00 PM (m0029hkd)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m0029756)
Dough - Watches

What is keeping the traditional watch industry ticking over?

The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.

In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.

Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.

In this episode on traditional watches, they hear from expert guests including:

-Mike France - a co-founder of the British watchmaking company, Christoper Ward
-Fflur Roberts - Head of Luxury Goods at the data analytics company, Euromonitor International
-Laura McCreddie-Doak - a freelance watch journalist who has written for publications including Wired, GQ & The Times

They trade opinions on traditional watches 'game-changing' innovations and their most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what the wristwatch might be like in the decades to come.

Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.

In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0029hkg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0029hkj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029hkl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0029hkn)
Michael Rosen, Barbara Flynn, Dylan Jones, Kemah Bob, Grace Petrie, Brad Kella, Stuart Maconie

Loose Ends this week is all about finding the light. Poet, performer and broadcaster Michael Rosen is touring a one man show making sense of some of the darker moments of his life. Dylan Jones was the editor of era-defining magazines like i-D, Arena and British GQ in the 1990s and noughties. Now his memoir, These Foolish Things - tells how he left behind a difficult childhood to embrace a career that encompasses hobnobbing with celebrities from Elton John to Tracey Emin, taking phone calls from David Bowie and recommending a tailor to Gordon Brown. There's dark themes too to the Texan comedian Kemah Bob's new show Miss Fortunate which tells the story of a disastrous solo trip to Thailand. It was hailed as "chest-achingly funny" and "charismatic" by the critics and won her a Best Newcomer nomination at Edinburgh Festival Last year. The actress Barbara Flynn knows how to pick her projects, appearing in Cracker, Cranford and now the BBC's hit drama Beyond Paradise where cosy crime meets health concerns, heated relationships and family niggles.
With music by the winner of Channel 4's talent show The Piano Brad Kella, who is about to tour with Take That's Gary Barlow and the folk singer and protest song writer Grace Petrie.

Presented by Stuart Maconie
Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0029hkq)
Jack Thorne

Jack Thorne is co-author of Netflix drama Adolescence. But this is far from his first rodeo, over a 20 year career, his writing has appeared in many iconic British dramas, from Shameless and This is England '86 to His Dark Materials. He started out as a playwright and hasn't lost his love for theatre, having written West End box office hit, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Jack is known in the industry for his compulsive work ethic, political edge and capacity for empathy.

Stephen Smith speaks to the people close to Jack, including early collaborator and Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya, actor Morven Christie, and Jack's dad, Mike Thorne.

Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Josephine Casserly and Chloe Scannapieco
Editor: Max Deveson
Sound: James Beard
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele, Sabine Schereck

Archive:
Adolescence, Plan B, Netflix
This is England ‘86, Warp Films and Film4 Production, Channel 4
Skins, Netflix


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0028d2q)
Series 32

Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley

Brian Cox and Robin Ince unpick the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature with mathematicians Sarah Hart & Thomas Woolley and comedian Dave Gorman.

The panel marvel at how evolution so often beats mathematicians to finding the most elegant solutions, after all, it’s had millennia to experiment. How do trees achieve the optimal distribution of leaves and why are tortoise shells so geometrically exciting?

Plus we learn why the cheetah got its spots, thanks to the work of Thomas Woolley’s mathematical hero, Alan Turing, how numbers can be more or less irrational, and why Dave Gorman has a vendetta against oblongs.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0029hks)
A Child of Rover

As a child, Nathalie Olah would ask for toy garages and racing tracks for Christmas. Every person in her family drove a Rover car. Most of them worked at the vast car plant at Longbridge, southwest of Birmingham, at the foot of the Lickey Hills where Tolkien had been inspired to write The Lord of the Rings. Cars, to her, were just as fantastical.

Nathalie revisits the story of Britain's leading volume car producer, from its origins in 1904 to the iconic Mini, the much-derided Austin Allegro and the suped-up 'boy racer' models of the Phoenix Four, through years of industrial disruption, nationalisation, foreign ownership and bankruptcy.

With voices from the BBC Sound Archive and new interviews with former Rover employees Alison Debenham (track worker), Giovanni Esposito (chassis engineer) and Ian Murter (showroom salesman).

Co-produced by Nathalie Olah and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m00298tz)
What's wrong with men?

The Netflix drama ‘Adolescence’ has prompted a national conversation about a ‘crisis of masculinity’. In a society where gender roles are changing, progressive attitudes are in tension with traditional ideas about male behaviour.

Studies suggest Gen Z men and women are more divided than those of any other generation on questions about feminism, gender roles and women’s rights. Meanwhile, teachers highlight the alarming prevalence of misogyny in schools, influencers can be influential than parents, and social media algorithms amplify misogynistic content to teens. This is happening at the same time as rising rates of depression, anxiety, and a higher likelihood of suicide among young men.

Traditional ideas about ‘manliness’ - strength, dominance, independence, and emotional stoicism - are seen in many contexts as inappropriate and harmful – both to men and women. While the feminist movement and women’s advances in education and the workplace, for example, are a mark of social progress, some believe they have also challenged men’s sense of purpose in a way that has perhaps been overlooked. Others think this analysis is dangerous because it doesn’t apply to all men, it sets up men's mental health and wellbeing in opposition to the opportunities of women, and denies some men the agency to make the right choices. At the same time, it can be uncomfortable to discuss how men and women are different – physically and psychologically – and how they might have different and complementary roles.

Do we need to re-define or reclaim masculinity? What’s wrong with men?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant Producer: Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Ash Sarkar
Tim Stanley
Matthew Taylor
Anne McElvoy

Witnesses:
Clare Ford
Brendan O'Neill
James Bloodworth
John Amaechi


SAT 22:00 News (m0029hkv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m00297d5)
When Saturday Comes

Restaurant critic and lifelong Charlton Athletic fan Jimi Famurewa finds out how football clubs are upping their game when it comes to serving food for their fans. He’ll taste the world at AFC Wimbledon’s Food Village, hear how Forest Green Rovers went vegan and discover the secret liquor behind Leyton Orient’s pie and mash. Food writers Jack Peat and Daniel Gray pitch in with their thoughts on a world that has moved far beyond Bovril and burnt burgers.

Presented by Jimi Famurewa
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell

The Bovril Song was composed by Roger Jackson and Phil Nicholl and performed by Sing! Cambridge in 2013
Football commentary courtesy of BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Nottingham


SAT 23:00 Call Jonathan Pie (m0029hkx)
Series 2

1. An Abusive Auntie

The first four episodes of Call Jonathan Pie series 2 are now available on BBC Sounds, subscribe to be alerted when new episodes in the series are released.

Frustrated call-show host Jonathan Pie is back along with his trusted team – Pie’s finding the daily grind difficult and the team have all become as disillusioned with the world as he has. The new series kicks off with a discussion about the BBC licence fee, or at least it was supposed to. It soon becomes clear however that Pie must answer for past mistakes. 

Call Jonathan Pie is written and performed by Tom Walker.
With additional material by Nick Revell and Daniel Abelson
Jules ….. Lucy Pearman
Sam ….. Aqib Khan
Roger ….. Nick Revell.
The callers; Adam Byron, Laura Shavin, Daniel Abelson, Sarah Gabriel and Ed Kear

Producers Alison Vernon-Smith and Julian Mayers
A Yada-Yada Audio Production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m00297tz)
Series 38

The Final, 2025

(13/13)
Who will be named the 38th BBC Counterpoint champion? The cream of this season's contenders, who've made it through heats and semi-finals, line up for the ultimate musical knowledge contest.

Paul Gambaccini's questions encompass classical favourites, film musicals, heavy metal, jazz, world music and pop both classic and contemporary. The Finalists have no idea what's going to come up and will have to prove the breadth of their knowledge, and keep their nerve on the buzzer, if they are to take home the silver trophy. As always, there are plenty of musical extracts to identify, from across the widest spectrum of musical genres.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 30 MARCH 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0029hkz)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m00297tx)
David Szalay

Booker-shortlisted writer David Szalay talks to presenter James Crawford on Take Four Books this week about his new novel, Flesh, and the three other works that inspired its creation in some way. In a pared back style, Flesh, follows the life of its protagonist, István, who at fifteen years old has an affair with an older woman, the consequences of which leave a lasting impression on his life. After finishing up in the army, István leaves Hungary and moves to London, where he ends up becoming accustomed to a vast amount of wealth and luxury, but circumstances change yet again, and he returns to the place where it all began, unable to shake off the emotional weight of his experiences. For his three influences David chose: Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw published in 2017; Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf from 1922; and Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad from 1900.

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

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC AUDIO SCOTLAND production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029hl1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 02:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029hl3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m0029hl5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029hl7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0029hl9)
Bells on Sunday comes from St Luke’s church in Grayshott, Hampshire

Bells on Sunday comes from St Luke’s church in Grayshott, Hampshire. The earliest reference to the village is in the Norman bishopric records in Winchester. It was not however until 1901 that it had its own Church. There is ring of six bells by the Mears and Stainbank foundry of Whitechapel. The Tenor bell weighs eight and a quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of A. We hear them ringing Yorkshire Surprise Major


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m00298pm)
Retina UK's Sight Loss Survey; CSUN Assistive Technology Conference

The charity Retina UK are seeking feedback from people with inherited sight loss conditions to learn how they can best support this community and feed into medical research. The charity primarily supports people who are living with genetic conditions, often with a progressive decline in sight. Some of these conditions are well known, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa, Usher Syndrome and Stargardt Disease and others are more rare, such as Leber congenital amaurosis.
To participate in Retina UK's Sight Loss Survey, you can call their Helpline: 01280 821334. Or you can complete the survey online: surveymonkey.com/r/SightLossSurvey2025. The link to the survey can also be found on the Retina UK website.

The CSUN Assistive Technology Conference is an annual showcase of the latest developments in assistive technology. The BBC's Senior North America Correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue and Emma Tracey, presenter of the BBC's disability and mental health podcast Access All, were there and they provide In Touch with an overview of the latest bits of tech that piqued their interest.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

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


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0029jc3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m00298p2)
Motherhood

Laurie Taylor talks to Helen Charman, Fellow and Assistant College Lecturer in English at Clare College, University of Cambridge, about her study of mothers fighting for alternative futures for themselves and their children. Is motherhood an inherently political state, one that poses challenges to various status quos? Also, Caitlin Killian - Professor of Sociology, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey argues that US mums are held to ever higher standards and now subject to an expanding list of offences - from falling down the stairs while pregnant to letting a child spend time alone in a park - which were not seen as criminal behaviours a generation ago. Are mothers likelier to be held accountable than fathers?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0029jc5)
Small Island Dairy

St Agnes is the most southerly of the Isles of Scilly. It's home to the Hicks family and their very small herd of dairy cows. The cows provide milk for St Agnes' 80 or so residents, and summer ice cream sold across Scilly. As Sarah Swadling finds out, nothing is straightforward about running a farm on a tiny island in the Atlantic off Cornwall. Even the bull has to have sea legs.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0029jc7)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0029jc9)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0029jcc)
Justin Welby; Myanmar Earthquake; Sound of music

Justin Welby has given his first interview, since he resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury because of a failure to act over the serial abuser John Smyth. Dr Welby admits in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg he 'got it wrong' because he was 'overwhelmed' by the scale of the problem. However, he says clearly that as Archbishop, there are 'no excuses'. The Sunday programme speaks to theologian and journalist Andrew Graystone who battled for years to bring the truth of John Smyth's crimes to light.

Thousands of people have died in Myanmar and more have been injured following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that was also felt in neighbouring countries. Hundreds of people are believed to be trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings - including at least 50 construction workers who are unaccounted for after a high-rise was flattened by the earthquake in Bangkok. We get an update from BBC Correspondent Nick Marsh, who's in Bangkok, and discuss the relief efforts underway with Stefano Disperati who is delivering humanitarian programmes funded by the British NGO Muslim Aid.

60 years ago this week, a whirling Julie Andrews burst onto our cinema screens in the UK and claimed her place in cinema history. The Sound of Music became an historic box office smash and won 5 Oscars including best picture. The portrayal of convent life, the religious music and spiritual themes were all part of its charm. But few might know that was because of the real life religious sisters who advised Rodgers and Hammerstein - the famous duo who wrote it. So who were they and how did they become the film's secret weapon? Julie Etchingham speaks to Ian Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at St Andrew's University - he's writing a book on the theology of musical theatre, due out this year.

Presenter: Julie Etchingham
Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Saba Zaman
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole
Studio Managers: Helen Williams & George Willis
Editor: Chloe Walker


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029jcf)
Winston’s Wish

Dominic Simpson, a volunteer with Winston’s Wish, makes the Radio 4 appeal on its behalf. The charity helps bereaved children, teenagers and young adults come to terms with their grief after the loss of a loved one.

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 ‘Winston’s Wish’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Winston’s Wish’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1061359 (England and Wales), SC041140 (Scotland). If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://winstonswish.org/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0029jch)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0029jck)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0029jcm)
Fifth Anniversary of the Covid pandemic

This service marks the 5th anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. Led by Rev Grace Thomas, the service was recorded at the Caribbean and African Health Network service of reflection, held at Manchester Cathedral earlier this month. It includes testimonies and reflections from the black community, who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The preacher is Richard Reddie, Director of Justice and Inclusion for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The music is beautiful gospel music including from The Kingdom Choir, Aretha Franklin, and the London Community Gospel Choir. Produced by Rebecca Kelly.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m00297f8)
Our Revels Now Are Ended

Howard Jacobson reflects on the radio essay, after almost two decades of A Point of View.

With nods to Clive James, body-pierced baritones and with a plentiful supply of svelte notebooks, Howard explains why he believes the radio essay is 'more than words on paper'...why it captures the 'frolicsome spirit of truth'.

And, Howard writes, 'at a time when we no longer have the concentration to read entire books, and what we do read leads us into the arms of madmen, we should love the shards of scepticism with which the best essays dazzle us.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Penny Murphy


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0029jcp)
Geoff Sample on the Pelican

When wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample was a child, a pelican turned up and lived for a few years on the Coquet estuary near his home in Northumberland. This bird became something of a local celebrity but it wasn't until 60 years later when he visited a lake in northern Greece that Geoff saw pelicans in their hundreds in their natural environment for the first time. Living alongside thousands of cormorants and herons on the lake, they produced an atmospheric soundscape alongside fascinating social behaviour.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0029jcr)
Lord Blunkett: welfare cuts “hard to take”

Labour grandee concerned at his party’s further cuts to welfare spending. Plus: celebrations in Newcastle, live metal detecting and plant music. On the papers: Jon Williams, I. Stephanie Boyce and Ailbhe Rea.


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0029hvr)
Lindsey Hilsum, journalist

Lindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s international editor for the past 22 years and has reported on every continent except Antarctica.

After studying French and Spanish at University, she worked as an aid worker in Mexico and Kenya before becoming the East Africa stringer for the BBC World Service.

After realising her calling was journalism she devoted her career to covering events around the world including the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2003/4 war in Iraq.

She also spent two years in Beijing as the China correspondent for Channel 4 News.

Among her many awards for her work, she has been named Amnesty International Journalist of the Year, RTS Specialist Journalist of the Year and has received the Charles Wheeler Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. She is also the author of three books.

When she is not abroad reporting, Lindsey lives in London.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
.

DISC ONE: Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen
DISC TWO: Carey - Joni Mitchell
DISC THREE: Shauri Yako - Orchestra Super Mazembe
DISC FOUR: Summertime - Billie Holiday and her Orchestra
DISC FIVE: Hurricane - Bob Dylan
DISC SIX: The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (Arr. for Violin & Chinese Orchestra): Andante cantabile "Transformation" Composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang and performed by Lü Siqing and the Taipei Orchestra, conducted by Yiu-kwong Chung
DISC SEVEN: Piece of My Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin
DISC EIGHT: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention

BOOK CHOICE: Collected Poems by W H Auden
LUXURY ITEM: A Tang Dynasty horse
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Carey - Joni Mitchell


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0029jct)
Writer: Katie Hims
Director: Mel Ward
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Neil Carter…. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Rochelle Horville…. Rosie Stancliffe
Alistair Lloyd…. Michael Lumsden
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0029hkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m00298hx)
Series 2

4. The Gresham v Chopmaster

Frank & guests Ian Smith, Lou Sanders, Chloe Petts and Marcus Brigstocke discover how to poke an egg, sleep with a fish and fill a hamper with pâté.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!


Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0029jcw)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0029jcy)
Will the Government meet its pledge to build 1.5 million homes?

The government's economic forecasters say their plans will boost growth. We hear from industry experts and house builders on whether it can be done.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m0029j9p)
The Price of Equality

Thousands of female council workers across Britain have lost out on pay and benefits worth billions because of unequal pay over decades. Now claims for compensation and demands to reform pay and grading threaten to capsize council finances, upset male council workers and cause massive cuts to local services.
Anushka Asthana investigates why such pay discrimination is still happening despite being illegal for the last fifty years. And she discovers what the price of equality might actually be, for the women seeking it and the millions of us living in places where our local council has ignored the problem for years.
Presenter: Anushka Asthana
Producers: Jonathan Brunert and Leela Padmanabhan


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m00297dm)
Ridgewell

How do I keep my gladioli coming back?  Why are my hellebores covered in black spots? Why do my courgettes go mouldy so quickly?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of plant and gardening experts are offering advice to an audience of keen gardeners in Ridgewell, Essex. Joining Kathy are grow-your-own guru Bob Flowerdew, garden designer Bunny Guinness, and gardener Matthew Pottage.

Later in the programme, we hear from Peter Gibbs about the increasing number of sponge cities in the UK.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Human Intelligence (m00297dk)
Travellers: Aristotle

Aristotle was a philosopher, teacher, collector and all-round polymath. He was also, importantly, a traveller, who allowed new places, especially the rich biodiversity he encountered on the island of Lesbos, to shape his thinking profoundly.

Aristotle’s observations about the natural world were remarkably accurate. Many were proved correct by modern science thousands of years later. He dissected animals, not as his contemporaries did, to understand the will of the gods, but to understand animals for their own sakes. He believed – and encouraged us to consider – that everyone has an innate curiosity about the world, that everyone can try to understand its wonder.

Special thanks to  Sophia Connell, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London.

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive editor: Philip Sellars
Series producer: Sarah Goodman
Script editor: Sara Joyner
Researchers: Harry Burton and Miriam O'Byrne
Production coordinator: Amelia Paul


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0029jd0)
Kramer versus Kramer

Episode 2

Episode 2 of 2

By Avery Corman
Adapted by Sarah Wooley

Ted has finally got to grips with his responsibilities as a single parent and can now fully enjoy life with his young son, Billy. But the bond between father and son comes under threat when Ted’s ex-wife Joanna returns wanting to be back in Billy’s life and Ted finds himself in danger of losing everything.

Ted…Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Joanna…Lydia Wilson
Charlie…Jonathan Slinger
Thelma…Chloe Pirrie
Billy…Owen Rye
Shaunessy …Joshua Manning
Jim and Gressen…Jammy Kasongo
Ron and Judge…Dar Dash
Nurse…Sarah Wooley

Researcher: Bethany Woodhead
Studio Production: Keith Graham and Gary Newman
Sound design: Keith Graham

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Carl Prekopp
Directed by Carl Prekopp


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m0029jd2)
Eoin McNamee

This week on Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, the Northern Irish writer Eoin McNamee talks about how he fictionalised elements of his own life for his new novel - The Bureau - which centres around a backstreet Bureau de Change that becomes a money laundering operation, frequented by rogue lawyers, crooked policemen, criminal gangs and two doomed lovers – Paddy and Lorraine. The book fictionalises real characters and events including a kidnapping that took place in Eoin's own family. During the course of the episode Eoin explores his new book's connections to three other literary works. His choices were: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote from 1966; The Glass Essay by Anne Carson published in 1995; and Milkman by Anna Burns from 2018.

The supporting contributor for this episode was the award-winning writer Louise Kennedy.

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


SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m000f6tn)
Series 1

Episode 1

Comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins celebrates the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.

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

Each of the natural history guests brings an item linked to the wild world to share with the audience, be it an amazing fact or funny personal anecdote. Each item is a springboard for an enlightening and funny discussion, alongside fun games and challenges revealing more astonishing facts.

We also hear from some of the London Zoo audience, a mix of London Zoo staff and members of the public, as they bring us their own natural history ‘show and tells’ for Sue and the guests to discuss.

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

In this episode, Sue welcomes:

* Marine biologist - Helen Scales
* Zoologist - Lucy Cooke
* Ethnobotanist - James Wong
* Australian comedian - Felicity Ward

‘Show & Tell’ objects include: the fossilised eardrum of a whale, a flower of broccoli and a beaver’s gland.

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler and Jon Hunter

Produced by Simon Nicholls

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in February 2020.


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yj1)
Hunting the Unabomber

During a 17-year bombing campaign, an elusive terrorist known as the Unabomber killed three and injured 23 Americans.

In 1995, he contacted The New York Times and The Washington Post promising to stop his terror attacks if they published his 35,000-word manifesto. The document explained his aim: to dismantle modern industrial society.

On the advice of the FBI and the Attorney General, the newspapers published the manifesto, which led to the Unabomber’s downfall.

Dr Kathleen Puckett was an FBI agent who uncovered his identity. She speaks to Ben Henderson.

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

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

(Photo: Theodore 'Ted' Kaczynski in custody. Credit: Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Patch (m00268lk)
Gairloch

One random postcode and a story you probably haven't heard before.

Today, the random postcode generator sends producer Polly Weston further than she’s ever been before, to IV21 2. It's remote and beautiful but the number of children has been in decline. Why? And what does it mean?

Fisherman Ian McWhinney's ancestors have lived in this postcode, and in this very same house, for hundreds of years. The house sits alone on an island in Badachro bay, called Dry Island - also known as the Independent Kingdom of Islonia. It's named after Ian's two daughters, Isla and Iona, aged 15 and 17 (their younger brother Finlay, 9, "was born too late" according to Isla). But in Ian's lifetime there's been a change in the number of young people here.

“There used to be two schools in this bay, now I’m responsible for 75% of the children in this area… there’s four children and I’ve got three of them”

Polly catches the school bus with Isla to her high school, where the school roll has dropped below a hundred aged 11 - 18. The number of teachers is calculated according to the number of students, so for small rural schools it means tough decisions about the curriculum. Remote lessons have become a part of life - with children sitting in small groups or alone on video calls with teachers elsewhere. Acting head Stuart Caddell is constantly aware of how many children are coming through from catchment primaries. Two of the catchment primaries have been mothballed in recent years, with fewer than five students.

But there are rumours of a remarkable baby boom in one catchment primary - down the road in Shieldaig. What’s going on down there? And how on earth is the headteacher of Shieldaig Primary School going to fit all the kids on the stage for this year’s Christmas performance?

Produced and presented by Polly Weston
Mixed by Ilse Lademann
Editor: Chris Ledgard

With thanks to Gairloch High School, Shieldaig Primary School, the C for Craic band and The Blas Festival.


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0029jd5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0029jd7)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029jd9)
Donald Trump 'very angry' with Putin for questioning credibility of President Zelensky.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0029jdc)
Remi Burgz

This week, your Local Energy Provider delves into the auditory experience of what dialling the emergency services might be like if it had an ASMR makeover - as well as rolling with the punches in the heart of Lewisham. There’s also more comedy in store as we explore the archives of Comic Relief 40 years on with Richard Curtis and Sir Lenny Henry, plus find your place at the water cooler: we're getting all the goss (and unpopular opinions) from HAIM on R1 Breakfast. And don't fret - as Woman's Hour finds out, gossip doesn’t make us bad people; it’s what we do with it that matters.

Presenter: Remi Burgz
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinators: Jack Ferrie and Caroline Peddle

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0029hdb)
At Joy's house Rochelle tells Mick that he’s unlikely to hear back from Joy anytime soon. Susan appears, fuming at Joy not turning up for her shift at the Shop - and there’s no-one to cover. Despite it being unpaid Rochelle offers to work Joy’s shifts. Susan reluctantly agrees – but Rochelle has to start straight away. Later on, despite the tension between Susan and Rochelle, who hates Susan’s finicky shelf-stacking instructions, they come to a compromise that seems to work. Back at home though Rochelle moans to Mick about bossy Susan driving her to distraction. Mick implores Rochelle not to mess things up for Joy, who needs the job to come back to.

Over at the Maliks Akram is getting everything ready for tonight’s Eid celebrations, including lots of fireworks. When Khalil realises Lynda and Robert will be joining them he tells Akram to ditch the fireworks : they will traumatise Lynda after the explosion at Grey Gables. Akram agrees to do the celebrations without them. When Robert and Lynda arrive, Lynda tells Akram they were expecting a great firework display after Zainab told her what usually happens. Lynda soon realises it must have been Khalil who warned Akram off and is touched by Khalil and Akram’s thoughtfulness.

The Eid party goes well, with Akram complimenting Lynda on her dancing. Robert tells Akram how grateful he is for the way they handled the potential issue with fireworks. Akram sees Robert and Lynda as good friends to the family and admits they will almost certainly stay in Ambridge now.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0029jdf)
Fantasy Park: Fifty Years On

Imagine this: 1975 and middle America coming to a standstill as almost a million people descend on Fantasy Park – for the 'greatest rock concert ever staged'. 50 years on, Bob Harris hears the story.

Broadcast coast to coast across three days, Fantasy Park was a 48 hours-long music festival aired by nearly 200 radio stations. Acts included Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Carly Simon, Chicago, Cat Stevens and The Who and many more. There was even a rumour that The Beatles might reform for the gig...

To celebrate Fantasy Park's half century, this behind the scenes show combines archive material with bootleg tapes and newly unearthed backstage interviews about this ultimate musical trip.

Presented by Bob Harris
Written by Henrik Persson, Gareth Ceredig, Jon Holmes.

Research and archive: Henrik Persson.

Produced and directed by Jon Holmes.

With thanks to Bart McLendon, Beau Weaver, Chris Graham, Rod Serling

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
Fantasy Park features original recordings from the celebrated radio spoof of 1975.


SUN 19:45 Lent Talks (m0029hxw)
The Creed: That Jesus died and rose from the dead

2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed – the core profession of the Christian faith, which is spoken in churches across the world. This year’s Lent Talks offer personal insights of faith on six key lines from the Creed.

In this episode, Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani reflects on the line: “He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again.”

Producer: Dan Tierney


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002975q)
Announcement of the end of an era on Radio 4. BBC Sounds and Ireland

Andrea Catherwood shares exclusive news of the end of a long-running Radio 4 programme. Frequent contributors and the programme's commissioning editor give their thoughts on the well-known brand as it nears its final episode.

BBC Sounds is soon to become unavailable outside of the UK. Listeners from all over the world have been in touch to voice their disappointment about the changes, and we've heard in particular from people in the Republic of Ireland who tune into BBC Radio content from north of the border. Will the geo-blocking cause unintended political ramifications? Andrea discusses the issue with Shane Harrison, former BBC correspondent in Dublin.

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

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m00297dr)
Oleg Gordievsky, Renee Goddard, Professor Richard Fortey, Sofia Gubaidulina

Matthew Bannister on Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB agent who defected to Britain and became a valued source of secret intelligence during the 1970s and 80s.

Renee Goddard, the actress and TV commissioner who fled Nazi persecution only to be interned in Britain.

Professor Richard Fortey, the palaeontologist who used his expertise in trilobites to tell stories about the origins of life on earth. Bill Bryson pays tribute.

Sofia Gubaidulina, the composer whose large scale religious works attracted criticism from the Soviet authorities.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive: Friendly Enemy Aliens, BBC Radio 4, 1980; Kaleidoscope: Simon’s War, BBC Radio 4, 1984; Year of the Great Betrayal, BBC Radio 4, 1977; Reni and the Brownshirts, BBC Radio 4, 2002; Lisel, BBC Radio 4, 1955; Desert Island Discs : Oleg Gordievsky, Radio 4, 10/02/2008; In the Psychiatrist's Chair : Oleg Gordievsky, BBC Radio 4, 26/07/2015; BBC News, 15/12/1984; BBC News, 15/10/1990;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0029hk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029jcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0029hjy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0029jdh)
Ben Wright and panel discuss the threat of US tariffs and the UK government's relationship with the Trump administration

Ben Wright considers whether the UK government can achieve a carve-out from President Trump's proposed trade tariffs, with Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky; Conservative former Treasury minister, John Glen; and Jill Rutter, from the Institute for Government and UK in a Changing Europe think tanks. They also discuss the continuing fallout from the Chancellor's Spring Statement and welfare benefit cuts. Journalist Katy Balls from The Spectator brings additional insight and analysis. The programme also includes a wide-ranging interview with the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, Vijay Rangarajan.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002974s)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), who was part of the movement known as phenomenology. While less well-known than his contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, his popularity has increased among philosophers in recent years. Merleau-Ponty rejected Rene Descartes’ division between body and mind, arguing that the way we perceive the world around us cannot be separated from our experience of inhabiting a physical body. Merleau-Ponty was interested in the down-to-earth question of what it is actually like to live in the world. While performing actions as simple as brushing our teeth or patting a dog, we shape the world and, in turn, the world shapes us.

With

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield

Thomas Baldwin
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of York

And

Timothy Mooney
Associate Professor of Philosophy at University College, Dublin

Produced by Eliane Glaser

Reading list:

Peter Antich, Motivation and the Primacy of Perception: Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of
Knowledge (Ohio University Press, 2021)

Dimitris Apostolopoulos, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Language (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019)

Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails (Chatto and Windus, 2016)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Basic Writings (Routledge, 2004)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Reading Merleau-Ponty (Routledge, 2007)

Renaud Barbaras (trans. Ted Toadvine and Leonard Lawlor), The Being of the Phenomenon: Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Indiana University Press, 2004).

Anya Daly, Merleau-Ponty and the Ethics of Intersubjectivity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)

M. C. Dillon, Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Northwestern University Press, 1998, 2nd ed.)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Alden L. Fisher), The Structure of Behavior (first published 1942; Beacon Press, 1976)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Donald Landes), Phenomenology of Perception (first published 1945; Routledge, 2011)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-Sense (first published 1948; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Signs (first published 1960; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible (first published 1964; Northwestern University Press, 1968)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Oliver Davis with an introduction by Thomas Baldwin), The World of Perception (Routledge, 2008)

Ariane Mildenberg (ed.), Understanding Merleau-Ponty, Understanding Modernism (Bloomsbury, 2019)

Timothy Mooney, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception: On the Body Informed
(Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Katherine J. Morris, Starting with Merleau-Ponty (Continuum, 2012)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, Merleau-Ponty and Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, The Routledge Guidebook to Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Jean-Paul Sartre (trans. Benita Eisler), Situations (Hamish Hamilton, 1965)

Hilary Spurling, The Girl from the Fiction Department (Penguin, 2003)

Jon Stewart (ed.), The Debate Between Sartre and Merleau-Ponty (Northwestern University Press, 1998)

Ted Toadvine, Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature (Northwestern University
Press, 2009)

Kerry Whiteside, Merleau-Ponty and the Foundation of an Existential Politics (Princeton University Press, 1988)

Iris Marion Young, On Female Body Experience: “Throwing Like a Girl” and Other Essays (Oxford University Press, 2005)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m00297dp)
A Little Fine

"Everything is more perfect in the story inside your head..."

A man returning home finds old connections strained by a long absence.
Reader Manu Kurewa
Written by Tendai Huchu
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Tendai Huchu was born in Zimbabwe and lives in Edinburgh. He is the author of "The Hairdresser of Harare" and the Edinburgh Nights series of contemporary fantasy novels for young adults.
Manu Kurewa is an actor, artist and filmmaker whose work has been shown around the world and won a number of awards at major international festivals. He is currently developing his first feature film.

A BBC Audio Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4

MONDAY 31 MARCH 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0029jdk)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 The Battersea Poltergeist (p098l760)
Episode 8: Darkness and Light

Who wrote the letters?

How can the seemingly impossible happen in front of multiple witnesses?

Is this a haunting or a hoax?

In this final episode, the investigation reaches its climax as Danny and the experts assess the evidence and look for answers to explain the strange events at 63 Wycliffe Road.

As the modern-day investigators try to reach conclusions, back in 1956, there are still surprises left to spring… The Hitchings face a truly chilling event as Chib searches obsessively for the clues to back up his theories. Who or what is Donald?

Written and presented by Danny Robins, starring Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Toby Jones (Detectorists), Burn Gorman (Torchwood) and Alice Lowe (Sightseers).

With original theme music by Mercury-nominated Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier, this gripping eight-part series interweaves a chilling supernatural thriller set in 50s London with a fascinating modern-day investigation into Britain’s strangest ever haunting – a mystery unsolved... until now.

Shirley Hitchings……..Dafne Keen
Harold Chibbett………Toby Jones
Wally Hitchings……..Burn Gorman
Kitty Hitchings……….Alice Lowe
Lily Chibbett……..Kacey Ainsworth
Ethel Hitchings……….Sorcha Cusack
John Hitchings……..Calvin Demba

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Ciaran O’Keeffe and Evelyn Hollow
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
Directed by Simon Barnard

Consultant: Alan Murdie
With thanks to James Clark, co-author of 'The Poltergeist Prince of London'

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2021.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0029hl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029jdn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029jdq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m0029jds)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029jdv)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029jdx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029jdz)
First thing and last thing

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

Sometimes I forget how very early Prayer for the Day is broadcast. 5.43 am. A time - for most of us - before the routine of the day has begun. A time on its own.

For me, last thing at night is also a space like this. The moment when I’ve closed whichever book I’m reading, and time has slowed down. When I was a child, that was when I began to worry about the next day – what would happen at school? Was my homework correct? I still remember, all these decades later, how that fretting felt.

Now, there are far more important things to worry about last thing at night. Not just to do with family and friends - but a whole world which we see on television or a phone screen. Snuggling down under warm blankets feels wonderful - but also sometimes uncomfortable when you’ve just watched reports of war and hunger.

Most nights before I turn off the light, I read my Bible. Often it’s the shortest passages that stay with me for days after – the brief, spare stories which capture a moment of meeting or interaction. The one in my head this morning is the encounter in the village of Nain between Jesus and the widow who’s lost her only son. She’s walking beside the funeral procession, crying. These are the words in Luke’s gospel; ‘When the Lord saw her; his heart went out to her, and he said, ‘Don’t cry’.

And after he raises her son, there come the words which, for me, are the most moving of all: ‘and Jesus gave him back to his mother.’ All hurt healed, all loss restored.

I pray this morning for those who grieve, and are afraid, and for whom miracles feel far away. May they be comforted. Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0029jf1)
31/03/25 Lifeline for Guernsey dairy farmers, wartime farm survey, turtle dove conservation

Guernsey dairy farmers have welcomed a decision to increase the support they receive from government.

An ambitious plan is underway to digitise wartime farm records and make them available online.

A ban in Europe on shooting turtle doves, and work by farmers in England to provide both habitats and food has resulted in a 40% increase in populations.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 05:57 Weather (m0029jf3)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0029hcm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0029hcp)
Delusions of grandeur and freedom of speech

The celebrated artist, Sir Grayson Perry, has a new exhibition of work, Delusions of Grandeur, made in direct response to the masterpieces at the Wallace Collection in London (until 26th October). He candidly admits he initially found the Collection’s opulence difficult to work with, until he created an alter-ego artist, Shirley, who was inspired by the aesthetic.

In recent years museums and art galleries have become a regular battleground in the culture wars. One of today’s anti-woke warriors is the writer Lionel Shriver. Her latest satirical novel, Mania, imagines a world where intellectual meritocracy is heresy; the words 'stupid' and 'smart' are no longer acceptable, and novels like The Idiot and My Brilliant Friend are banned.

In Shriver’s imaginative world language and thought is heavily policed, speech is free only if it doesn’t offend. The academic Fara Dabhoiwala has written about the emergence of this contested idea, in What Is Free Speech? He shows in the shifting story of the last three hundred years that freedom of speech is not an absolute from which different societies have drifted or dissented, but a much more mercurial, complicated matter.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Shadow World (m00260x1)
The Willpower Detectives

7. Rescue Me

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney – how one man controls the finances of scores of vulnerable people. Sue Mitchell holds those responsible to account and ends with the story of one woman, now on the brink of a new life. She is taking back control of her finances and is on the move.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

It often involves people with little or no family to ask questions about where they are moved to, or to challenge the fees involved. It can be people who’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, whose assets are now helping to fund those who are taking decisions for them.

The series looks at the loopholes that allow it to happen and the relationship between care homes, social workers and a business taking on a huge number of powers of attorney. It begins with the concerned friends and relatives who want to know what has happened to their neighbour or loved one; Where have they gone? And why has their home been emptied and sold?

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029hcr)
Women and Eid, School Refusal Report, Author Marni Appleton

Eid is a celebration of strength and gratitude where Muslims all around the world come together to mark the end of Ramadan. Nuala McGovern is joined by one of the first Muslim headteachers in the country, Bushra Nasir, author & podcaster Shelina Janmohamed and Executive Board Member at the Muslim Council of Wales Jamilla Hekmoun to discuss what roles they have on this day, from acting as the ‘memory markers’ to passing down the rich traditions that keep religious stories and practices alive as well as some of the pressures women can feel at this time.

Women across England will be able to get the morning after pill for free from pharmacies from later this year, the Government has said. Emergency contraception is already free of charge from most GPs and sexual health clinics. But ministers say getting it in pharmacies is a "postcode lottery" - with some councils funding free prescriptions, while elsewhere women can pay up to £30. Nuala discusses the plan with Dr Janet Barter, President, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.

The Government says it's going to create 10,000 new school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. Ministers are saying £740 million will be allocated in England over the next three years. It comes as a new report is launched at Westminster today which warns that more and more children are 'losing learning' because their needs are not being met, or they are being suspended or excluded. Nuala discusses the issues and possible solutions with the report's author, Ellie Harris, Aaliyah, a young woman who couldn't attend school due to SEND, and the actress and mother Anna Maxwell Martin and Louise McLeod, the Executive Headteacher of two primary schools in Norfolk.

Darkly funny, unsettling, and razor-sharp, I Hope You’re Happy by Marni Appleton is a haunting collection of short stories exploring modern womanhood through the lens of horror and satire. From viral photos to eerie performances in dead-end jobs, these stories capture the weirdness of millennial life... where power struggles, fleeting connections, and social media anxieties collide with the surreal. Marni joins Nuala to discuss the themes and her inspiration.

Presented by Nuala McGovern
Producer: Louise Corley


MON 11:00 Changing the Odds (m0029hct)
Episode 3: Stoke-on-Trent; Britain's betting city

In the third and final episode of Changing the Odds, Lydia Thomas and Stewart Kenny head to Stoke-On Trent to investigate the deep bonds between the city and Bet365, Stoke's major employer.

Lydia Thomas has reported on the online gambling industry for many years, and Stewart Kenny is her guide to how gambling company's work; he founded Paddy Power in the 80s.

Bet365 is a British business success story. An online only betting company, it's been spearheaded by Denise Coates who led it to become one of the best known brands in online betting, with its website not only popular in the UK but also in the United States.

And despite most online betting companies being based offshore, Bet365 stayed in Stoke - employing nearly 10,000 people in high tech graduate jobs. Bet365 also sponsors the football team Stoke City and its sponsorship is on player's shirts and hoardings on the pitch when you watch matches.

But Stoke is also one of the poorest areas in the country, and its population does struggle with gambling addiction. Lydia and Stewart travel to a newly opened NHS Gambling Clinic in the city to hear from addicts, and why a facility like this is needed.

Stewart also opens up to Lydia why he quit the board of Paddy Power, did he do enough while he sat on the board to prevent customers experiencing harm from gambling and how could the industry reverse its reputation and become a betting industry that's safe and fair?

Presenter: Lydia Thomas
Producer: Lydia Thomas and Richard McIlroy
Main Contributor: Stewart Kenny
Assistant Producer: Emma Smith
Technical Producer: Michael Smith


MON 11:45 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029hcw)
Episode One

Obsessed with music since childhood and listening to anything he could get his hands on, it was no surprise when John Harris became a music journalist - but he had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. For when his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed, with autism, music transformed from a passion to a lifeline, a source of precious connection that would transcend words.

Episode one: "Getting it together in the country"

Written and read by John Harris
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0029hcz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0029hd1)
Price Hike Day, Rhubarbs Revival, Whisky Bandits

Its the start of a new financial year and with it comes a whole raft of price rises for bill payers from council tax, to water, to energy. We have two experts on hand who can give the lowdown on what's going up and what consumers might be able to do to mitigate the impact.

As rhubarb continues to grow in popularity we hear from a 4th generation rhubarb farmer who's doing 12 hour days 7 days a week to try to keep up with the demand. And a social media star baker tells us how this vibrant pink veggie has become a major food trend on Instagram and TikTok as a new, younger generation have developed a taste for it.

And Winifred Robinson talks to award-winning investigative journalist Sam Poling about her new BBC Scotland investigation into cask whisky investments scams. All episodes of 'Disclosure: Hunting the Whisky Bandits' are available now on BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0029kxz


PRESENTER - WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER - CATHERINE EARLAM


MON 12:57 Weather (m0029hd3)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0029hd5)
Marine Le Pen banned from running for French presidency

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running for political office - we have a full briefing on the implications for French democracy, and hear from one of Le Pen's political allies.

Here, Baroness Chakrabarti tells us the government is "playing politics" over its plans to override new guidelines on sentencing offenders from minority groups.

We examine the subject of children who abuse their parents, and hear the experience of one mother who was attacked by her son.

And, we speak to the Lib Dem frontbencher Munira Wilson as the party launches its local election campaign.


MON 13:45 Untaxing (m0029hd7)
1. The Napkin That Changed the World

Albert Einstein called tax ‘the hardest thing in the world to understand’ - but was he right? Tax expert and campaigner, Dan Neidle delves into the bizarre, brilliant and sometimes disastrous ways tax shapes our lives, our choices and the world around us.

A quick sketch over dinner in 1974 became one of the most influential ideas in economic policy. Art Laffer’s curve promised that tax cuts could pay for themselves - but was it brilliant insight or a costly illusion?

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0029hdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001k7nb)
Series 4

6. This Old Heart of Mine

Episode 6 - 'This Old Heart Of Mine'

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return in the fourth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy, as a long-married couple in love with life and each other. This week, Joanna is accused of ‘mollycoddling’ by Roger, after his health scare. They meet the new partner of their recently widowed friend, Marian, and Roger tells Joanna ‘This is what’ll happen to us! When I’m gone, a few months later, you’ll find someone else and put my photo in a drawer’. But a goddaughter’s joyful wedding brings back memories and they both agree that they’re still keeping the dream alive.

Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020. Nominated for a Writers Guild Award 2023.

Conversations from a Long Marriage is written by Jan Etherington and produced by Claire Jones. The production coordinator is Katie Baum, the sound engineer is Wilfredo Acosta and sound design is by Jon Calver. It is a BBC Studios Production.

‘Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ RADIO TIMES

‘Peppered with nostalgic 60s hits and especially written for the pair, it’s an endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones. Unlike many a current Radio 4 ‘comedy’, this series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES

‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY


MON 14:45 Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson (m001stzs)
Episode 1

As the ripples from the Great Depression reach a cosy English village, Barbara Buncle finds an inventive way to supplement her meagre income. Life in Silverstream will never be the same once her thinly fictionalised novel lays bare the life, loves and eccentricities of her neighbours.

Read by Madeleine Worrall
Written by D.E. Stevenson
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

An EcoAudio certified production

Scottish author D.E. Stevenson was a prolific name in the light romantic fiction genre, topping best seller lists from the 1930s to the 1960s. MISS BUNCLE’S BOOK, her best-known publication, is a delight; funny, engaging and well worth rediscovering just over 50 years after the author’s death.


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m0029hdd)
Douglas Stuart and Sian Eleri

Douglas Stuart author of Booker Prize winning novel Shuggie Bain chooses his favourite book - Train Dreams by Denis Johnson - a short novel encapsulating the history of America in the early 20th century through the life of a lonely man in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
He's joined by Radio 1 and The Voice Wales presenter Sian Eleri whose choice is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - a dystopian tale of a group of captive women.
Harriett's choice is More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman which examines family trauma through the relationship of three generations of women.
Strong themes of loneliness run through all three choices as well as questions about our humanity.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Photo credit Sarah Blesener


MON 15:30 Shadow World (m0029hdg)
The Willpower Detectives

8. Nearest and Dearest

When The Willpower Detectives aired on BBC Radio 4, just before Christmas 2024, hundreds of listeners contacted the BBC with their own stories about power of attorney and the way it can be abused. The series revealed how a partner at an Essex based law firm – Ron Hiller – was taking over the finances of vulnerable clients, clearing and selling their homes and leaving them without access to information about where their money had gone.

In many of the stories from listeners, it was family members - siblings, partners, and grandchildren - who were taking control of assets and in some instances, overseeing the drafting of new wills. This additional episode relates one extraordinary story among those hundreds. A wealthy businessman gifted each of his grandchildren a property. Sue Mitchell discovers what happened when one grandchild used power of attorney to take more.

The programme exposes the difficulties involved when assessing mental capacity, especially when it comes to deciding who has financial control.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson.
Sound design by Tom Bignell


MON 16:00 Who Is Alice Guo? (m0029hdj)
The global online scamming industry is said to be worth some $500 billion a year. It operates in secret, in complexes hidden behind high fences in countries all over the world. It is a particular problem in the Philippines, where much of the industry is run by Chinese criminal organisations.
The scammers, whose job it is to persuade their victims to part with their hard-earned money, are often themselves the victims of crime, people trafficked across borders by gangsters and held prisoner in these “scam hubs”, forced to work.
It is a particular problem in the Philippines, where, in March 2024 the police raided a compound in a small town north of the capital, Manila. There they found several hundred people working. The spotlight immediately turned on the mayor of the town, Alice Guo, a colourful and energetic 32-year-old, who owned some of the land on which the compound was built.
In “Who is Alice Guo?” the BBC investigates the allegations against the former mayor who has now been charged with people trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion. There is a further, more lurid, and unproven allegation that she is a spy for China. We ask what effect this affair has had on an already tense relationship between the Philippines and China.

Presented by Tony Han of the BBC Global China unit and Jay Behrouzi-Sneade
Produced by Tim Mansel
Ankur Shah is the editor of the BBC global China unit
Studio mix by James Beard
Production Co-ordinators: Gemma Ashman and Mica Nepomuceno
Philippines producer: Yas Coles
Assistant producer: Harry Atteshlis
Editor: Penny Murphy

Picture caption: A torn election poster featuring former mayor Alice Guo in Bamban, Philippines
Photo credit: Tim Mansel


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0029hdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0029hdn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029hdq)
Ms Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzling EU funds.


MON 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m0029hds)
Series 2

5. The Soapy Bucket of Sparkhill

Frank and guests Sara Barron, Pierre Novellie, Simon Evans and Harriet Kemsley find out what happens when Abba take a shower, when All Saints sell a T-shirt, and when you hear Russell Crowe sing.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad and the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own. So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!

Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0029hdv)
On his way into the Shop, while chatting to Freddie on the phone, Rex worries about being paid to play cricket; if anyone on the team finds out, it’s all on Freddie. Intrigued Jolene overhears the end of this, but when she asks Rex he is evasive. Once inside the Shop though Rex sees Rochelle working there and leaves hastily. Susan then asks Rochelle to restock the chiller cabinet, but when Vince pops in later, he’s shocked to find that everything in the cabinet is out of date. Rochelle takes the blame and wins Vince round. After he’s gone Susan admits it was her fault and thanks Rochelle for handling it so well. Later they go to The Bull, where Rochelle asks Susan about village life and Vince sponsoring the cricket. And when Vince appears, Rochelle asks if she can try out for the team.

At Casey Meats Freddie admits to Vince that he hasn’t had a chance to sack Jolene yet. Vince reckons he needs to do it before team drinks tonight. But when Freddie confronts Jolene at The Bull she wrong-foots him and Freddie bottles out. Freddie comes clean to Rex, adding that Jolene won’t be going to nets on Thursday either. Rex reckons that’s Freddie’s solution: Jolene’s already missed one practice and the new rule is that if you miss two, you’re out. Rex then spots Rochelle and suggests it might be awkward if she joins the cricket team, given their history. Rochelle tells Rex she’s sorry, but she doesn’t want to talk about it now.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0029hdx)
Freedom of Expression in the Arts

Front Row looks at freedom of expression in the arts. From rows about cancel culture to allegations of censorship and the charge that the arts has become 'woke', we explore what is happening.

Samira is joined by art curator, Ekow Eshun, novelist Philip Hensher, poet and author of Hounded, Jenny Lindsay and theatre critic Kate Maltby, who sits on the board of the campaign group Index On Censorship.

We hear from David Austin, British Board of Film Classification Chief Exec, about how sex and violence are classified for modern audiences.

And Shakespeares Globe Artistic Director Michelle Terry discusses her production of Richard III, which ignited a row over casting.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Timothy Prosser


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002975s)
What is Putin's bottom line?

Securing peace in Ukraine is proving harder than President Trump first thought. Separate talks between US officials and Ukrainian and Russian representatives were held in Saudi Arabia a few days ago. But the tentative ceasefire they reached just for shipping in the Black Sea has already hit problems with Moscow demanding certain sanctions are lifted if it’s to comply. And achieving a full ceasefire that Russia will accept still seems as elusive as ever. David Aaronovitch and guests ask what Putin’s bottom line on Ukraine really is? Have his long term aims changed and what might he accept?

Guests:
Vitaly Shevchenko, Russia Editor for BBC Monitoring
Sir Laurie Bristow, President of Hughes Hall at Cambridge University and the former U.K. ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020.
Angela Stent, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former US National Intelligence Officer for Russia.
Mark Galeotti, writer on Russian security affairs and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Bethan Ashmead Latham
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002975v)
Is everything we know about the universe wrong?

For the last week or so, the world of physics has had just one conversation.

Have we found a new way of understanding the universe? And if so, what does this mean for our understanding of how we all came to exist – and even our fate?

These big questions were prompted by new data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument team at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. To explain what was found, whether it’s right and just how excited we should be, we’re joined by astrophysics professor Catherine Heymans and cosmologist Andrew Pontzen.

Also this week, what became of the Winchcombe meteorite? We attempt to explain some seriously advanced maths in less than two minutes, and Penny Sarchet from the New Scientist brings us her picks of the week’s science news.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Gerry Holt, Ella Hubber & Sophie Ormiston
Reporter: Gareth Mitchell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0029hcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 The Bottom Line (m0026v16)
Decisions That Made Me: Sir John Hegarty (The Garage Soho, Founder)

The advertising exec behind some of the most successful adverts of recent decades shares some of the decisions that have influenced his career, including an early decision to accept a lower salary and instead pursue and opportunity that would bring him more opportunities. Sir John would go out to co-found successful agencies Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and Saatchi and Saatchi.

Today, Sir John says he shuns five year plans, instead focusing on 'five minute plans' and says he tries to make each day as interesting as it can be.

Production team:
Producer: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029hdz)
Is Marine Le Pen really the victim of a political stitch-up?

The leader of France's hard right has come out fighting, after being barred from holding public office for five years. We ask if Marine Le Pen really is the victim of a political stitch-up.

Also on the programme:

Birmingham City Council has declared a major incident - because of the bin strike which has left 17,000 tonnes of rubbish on the streets - and residents furious. We ask whether there's an end in sight.

And the hunt is on for a missing bell - to complete the restoration of one of the UK’s most remarkable industrial sites.


MON 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029hf1)
1. A Curious Schoolboy

At school, Maurice Hall had dreamed of finding a very special friend, someone for whom he would make any sacrifice, whom he could love for ever. When the unformed schoolboy becomes a more worldly undergraduate and meets the irresistible, clever Clive Durham, this dream seems to be in sight. Their attraction is strong but, at Clive’s urging, remains platonic.

As both change, their relationship cannot last, and Maurice is cast adrift to find his way to happiness in a world of snobbery, stifling uniformity and sexual repression.

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, but never published it in his lifetime. He believed its theme of young gay love, inspired by an encounter he himself had as a lonely young writer, meant that it should forever remain unpublished, or at least until the laws of England changed. He was also determined to write a story in which two men should fall in love and find happiness, despite the social disapproval and hypocrisy of the times. It was not until 1971, four years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, that the book was finally published, and recognised as a founding work of modern gay literature.

In Episode 1, Maurice stumbles through a confused adolescence at school, dreaming of a very special kind of friendship.

Read by David Dawson
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies
Sound design by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m00154q0)
Who Is Aldrich Kemp?

4. The Spirit of the Age

As our heroine Clara Page and her mission are in ever-increasing peril, questions are asked - with varying degrees of politeness - across London and Europe.

Cast:
Clara Page .................................................Phoebe Fox
Mister Bartholomew .............................Tim McInnerny
Aldrich Kemp ...........................................Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone..................................................Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt ................................Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp ........................................Karla Crome
Aunt Lily .....................................................Susan Jameson
Underwood Sisters ................................Jana Carpenter
Conrad Spijker ........................................Steven Mackintosh
Margot .......................................................Louise Brealey
Uncle Dave............. ..................................Ben Crowe
McGarry........... .........................................James Joyce

Created and written by Julian Simpson

Recorded on location in Hove, London and at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton

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

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029hf4)
Mandy Baker reports from Westminster as MPs ask questions about the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

TUESDAY 01 APRIL 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0029hf6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029hcw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029hf8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029hfb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m0029hfd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029hfg)
Alicia McCarthy reports as opposition MPs voice fears that cuts to the UK's aid budget will make it more difficult to help the people of Myanmar recover from Friday's earthquake. Also, MPs debate the bin strike in Birmingham and there's a row in Stormont over Irish language signs in a new station.


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029hfj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029hfn)
Memories of April Fool's Days

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

This being April Fool’s Day, I’m thinking of my childhood. I’m trying to remember how excited we were about playing tricks on each other. But I can’t for the life of me recall a single one - I only remember shouting, April Fool!, with great delight.

That’s the strange pull of childhood memories: they’re so vivid and present - as long as you don’t look at them directly. If you turn away ever so slightly, that’s when they step forward - and suddenly you’re sitting with your siblings at the kitchen table again, trying to trick each other with made-up stories; or hiding the teapot from Mum, and suddenly producing it with a flourish – from inside the fridge. Or something equally hilarious.

What I’ve never forgotten about the first of April, and never will, is that, after my younger brother died, we continued to mark the day. Mum still set a vase of daffodils on the kitchen table. She still laughed at our tricks and jokes, she was still present, still our mother - she stayed with us. And because of that, our brother was also with us - with all the silly jokes he used to tell, his smile and his huge delight in any kind of family celebration.

And because we continued to mark these days, and cherished being together, we could talk about my brother, remember him and keep him with us - every day.

So it’s not the April Fool’s tricks or excitement I think of today - it’s the blessing of being with my siblings, all those decades ago, and being thankful for each other still, every single day.

My prayer this morning is for families everywhere, of all kinds and sizes.
May there be love and laughter, and may God comfort and bring light. Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0029hfr)
01/04/25 Review of agricultural pollution rules in Wales, ban on burning peat, island ferries

An independent review has backed controversial muck-spreading regulations for farms across Wales, but said improvements are needed. Stricter rules on spreading and storing manures have been phased in since 2021, against a backdrop of fierce opposition from the farming industry. The Welsh government says it will implement all the recommendations in the study in full, though some will take longer to deliver.

A ban on the burning of heather on deep-peat land could be extended to cover a wider area of England. Conservation groups have called for heather-burning on peat land to be stopped altogether, but representatives of the game shooting industry claim that controlled heather burning can encourage development of sphagnum moss and be used as a firebreak to prevent the spread of wildfires.

All this week we're visiting islands and hearing about the advantages and challenges of living in some of the UK's most beautiful places. For communities on the Isle of Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland ferries are essential, and for crofters who have livestock, the ferry service is an essential part of their farming business. However getting animals on and off the island by boat isn't always predictable.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 06:00 Today (m0029hld)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Payslip Britain (m0029hlg)
Work's Performance Review

Sean Farrington sheds light on invisible trends affecting our lives at work and speaks to experts who argue work's encroachment on our personal lives is at unprecedented levels.

Presenter: Sean Farrington
Producer: Nick Holland
Editor: Sarah Wadeson
Sound: Rod Farquhar


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m0029hlk)
Assisted dying: How can we be certain someone wants to die?

We continue our exploration of some of the issues that could crop up if assisted dying becomes law under The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill that is currently working its way through Parliament.

Today we tackle safeguarding. How can we be certain an assisted death is what the person wants? And who should even bring up the conversation?

To discuss we're joined by:

Katherine Sleeman - Professor of Palliative Care at King's College London
David Nicholl - Consultant Neurologist at University Hospital Birmingham
Mark Taubert - Consultant Palliative Medicine at NHS Wales
Erica Borgstrom - Professor of Medical Anthropology at The Open University

Presenter: James Gallahgher
Producers: Hannah Robins
Assistant Production: Tom Bonnett and Siobhan


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029hlm)
Caitríona Balfe, Child maintenance, Medieval medicine, Kids and happiness

Irish actor Caitríona Balfe was nominated for a Bafta for her performance in Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast and is also known to many as Claire in time travel drama series Outlander. Caitríona joins Nuala McGovern in the studio to discuss her latest role in new film The Amateur, playing a Russian spy alongside Rami Malek.

There has been a "significant increase" in the number of female swimmers having indecent images taken of them in changing rooms whilst competing in the elite level of the sport, according to a leaked report. The Times newspaper has seen a report by the sport’s governing body Swim England which states that pictures have been taken using camera phones over or under cubicles. Nuala is joined by BBC Sport correspondent Laura Scott and Mhairi Maclennan, CEO of Kyniska Advocacy, which supports women and victims of abuse in sport.

The latest figures on child maintenance show there is currently £690m unpaid, leaving thousands of children without the financial support they are entitled to. Critics argue that the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is failing to use its legal powers, while the Government says enforcement measures are improving. As an inquiry by the cross-party House of Lords Public Services committee calls for evidence, we look at how unpaid child maintenance can be used as a form of economic abuse. Nuala hears from Sam Smethers, Chair of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, and a survivor whose ex-partner used the system to control her.

A new exhibition called Curious Cures at Cambridge University Library explores medicine in the medieval era. Dozens of unique medical manuscripts, recipes, cures and guides to healthy living from the 14th and 15th centuries are on display. To discuss women’s role in medieval medicine, Nuala is joined by the exhibition’s curator and medieval manuscripts specialist, Dr James Freeman.

Grammy award-winning singer Chappell Roan has been causing a stir with some comments she made about motherhood on the podcast Call Her Daddy. The 27-year-old singer said her friends her age who have kids "are in hell", adding "I actually don't know anyone who's happy and has children at this age." So is motherhood worth it - or is Chappell Roan right? Anna Whitehouse, also known as Mother Pukka, is a campaigner and mum of five. She joins us to discuss.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m00297f4)
Natalie Duncan and Richard Stilgoe celebrate the Red Planet

Lyricist Richard Stilgoe and musician and songwriter Natalie Duncan prepare for a square dance as they add five more tracks to the playlist. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from Scottish reels to Mars, via California's Santa Monica Boulevard.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Eightsome Reel by The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra
Scotch Rhapsody by William Walton & Edith Sitwell
All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Mars by Gustav Holst

Other music in this episode:

King by Years & Years
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Boil 'em Cabbage Down, trad, performed by Mark O'Connor
Candy by Cameo


TUE 11:45 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029hlp)
Episode Two

Obsessed with music since childhood and listening to anything he could get his hands on, it was no surprise when John Harris became a music journalist - but he had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. For when his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed, with autism, music transformed from a passion to a lifeline, a source of precious connection that would transcend words.

Episode 2
‘Dee Sir Madah, will you ree mah book...’ James seems to share his father’s passion for music.

Written and read by John Harris
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0029hlr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0029hlt)
Call You and Yours: Awful April

Welcome to 'Awful April' - the time of year when lots of our bills go up. Water, energy and council tax are all getting more expensive.

On Call You and Yours, we want to know how you're coping - and what you're doing to keep costs down. Is your income keeping pace with rising costs? Some of these costs are unavoidable. Some can be mitigated. Do you scour the market for better deals? Perhaps you have some tips on saving cash and limiting the impact of prise rises.

It's not just essentials - the average price of a pint of beer is expected to hit £5 for the first time. What else have you noticed?

We'd love to hear from you. Tell us how you're affected - email youandyours@bbc.co.uk and include your phone number so we can give you a ring. And after 11am on Tuesday you can call us on 03700 100 444.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0029hlw)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0029hly)
UK braces for tariffs announcement.

Ahead of the introduction of a swathe of tariffs by President Trump we'll bring you details about who will be impacted and try to understand the logic behind this move by the US. We get an update from Gaza as the death toll following the end of the ceasefire rises, and the latest in our series of child on parent violence as a mother details her experiences with her Neurodivergent son.


TUE 13:45 Untaxing (m0029hm0)
2. The Beatles Clause

Harry Potter star, Rupert Grint, thought he’d found a way to cut his tax bill, until an obscure law tripped him up. That law? One created because of The Beatles.

But why were the Fab Four so desperate to avoid tax? And how did their money-saving scheme end with them losing control of their own music? A story of rock, rebellion, and the long arm of the taxman.

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0029hdv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000p799)
Keeping the Wolf Out

Mad Dog

Philip Palmer's crime drama set in Hungary in 1964. The fearsome former secret policeman Tibor Farkas is back in charge of the Ministry, where he is Franciska's new boss.

Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Tibor Farkas ..... Andy Linden
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Sandor Boros ..... Stephen Greif
Pathologist ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Cop ..... Stefan Adegbola
Mother ..... Emma Handy

Directed by Toby Swift


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m0028vd1)
History's Secret Heroes: Series 3

Operation Anthropoid

In Prague, two men set out to assassinate one of Hitler’s most high-ranking officers.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: James Shield
Assistant Producer: Rachel Oakes
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m0029hm2)
Mixed Blessings

Giles Fraser and guests hear from novelist and opinion writer Lisa Solod on her negative experience of marrying outside of her Jewish faith, and from Amy and Takbir, on how they navigate marriage between a Christian and Muslim.

What if your Mr or Mrs Right doesn't share your religious tradition and values? Is interfaith marriage a problem? And, what are religious traditions doing in an increasingly liberal, secular society to help couples navigate mixed relationships?

To explore Giles is joined by:
Eleanor Nesbitt, a Professor in Religions and Education at Warwick University, a Quaker who has been in an interfaith marriage with a Hindu partner. She is a specialist in the religious socialisation of young people of Christian; Hindu and Sikh background.

Rev Dr Paul Smith, an Interfaith Advisor for the Diocese of Oxford and author of Intimate Diversity, a book looking at the realities of interfaith marriage in modern Britain.

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an Imam from Leicester and former Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain. He has contributed to guidelines on inter-faith marriage for the Christian-Muslim forum.

Producer: Linda Walker & Alexa Good
Editor: Tim Pemberton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m0029hm4)
Hip-Hop Homework

Hip-hop taught Nkem Ifejika everything - how to dress, how to speak, how to be a black man. Now he has a dilemma - as his young son develops his musical preferences, how does Nkem navigate aspects of the genre that he thinks haven’t aged well.

Nkem’s son wants to go to a Kendrick Lamar concert. Before he decides if he’ll allow that or not, Nkem has some homework to do.

He sets out to get advice from other hip-hop heads, his family, friends and experts.

Nkem’s introduction to hip-hop came from his “naughty uncle” Ken who smuggled him MTV videos and tapes from America. From the outset, listening to hip-hop was something that seemed naughty and rebellious. Nkem and actor Babou Ceesay recall the thrill of discovering Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle while at school in West Africa and sparking their interest in everything the music conjured. As fathers now to young children, do they want their kids to feel that same excitement?

Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah from LSE’s School of Law tells Nkem she’s deeply concerned with the way the music is being used by prosecutors to build criminal cases. It’s starting to stifle artists’ freedom of expression.

American Sociologist Tricia Rose says Nkem’s right to take this seriously. It takes effort to critique something you love when it falls short. They discuss the representation of women in the music.

Comedian and broadcaster Romesh Ranganathan created a kid-friendly hip-hop playlist. But just because there’s no swearing doesn’t mean that the issues raised in some of the tracks are easy to swallow. He tells Nkem to be realistic. Hip-hop reflects life. Don’t shy away from it.

Thanks to Romesh Ranganathan, Tricia Rose, Babou Ceesay, Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah, Pete Paphides and everyone in the queue for JPEG MAFIA, The Roots, De La Soul and The Pharcyde.

Presented by Nkem Ifejika
Produced by Alexandra Quinn
Executive Producer Rami Tzabar
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m0029hm6)
Am I hangry?

In a new podcast from BBC Radio 4, doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the messy and complicated world of health and wellbeing.

In this episode they want to know about ‘hanger’. Is it real? Or is being hangry just a marketing tool?

Guest Professor of Social Psychology Viren Swami from Anglia Ruskin University says it's real - but hunger is not the only thing that contributes to our emotional state.

If you want to get in touch, you can email at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665123.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Professor Viren Swami
Producer: Jo Rowntree
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Lisa Lipman
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Production Manager: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m0029hm8)
Trump finalises global tariffs announcement

Ahead of what the US president has dubbed America's "Liberation Day", we examine how tariffs will affect British businesses. We have a report from our Africa Correspondent Barbara Plett Usher who has just reached the Sudanese capital Khartoum - the first British media organisation to get there during the two year civil war. Plus, we assess this year's batch of April Fools jokes.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029hmb)
President Trump is preparing to announce global import duties tomorrow.


TUE 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m0029hmd)
Series 10

1. The Hem of His Garment

"Is it against the law to dress like a priest?" I whispered to Julia as I did up the last of the thirty-three buttons, each of which symbolises a year of Christ's life and leaves you wishing he'd been crucified at twelve, especially if, like me, you're developing arthritis in your fingers.

In the first episode of this series, David reads from The Hem of His Garment – his comic essay about his surprise invitation to attend a gathering of international comedians at the Vatican for an audience with The Pope. But, being David, it wasn't all he got up to in Rome.

Also in this show – some extracts from David’s hilarious diary, which he’s kept for over 40 years and which reveals some of his darkest and cheekiest thoughts – including his regrets at commenting on someone else's child and his concerning interaction with German Duolingo.

David has been a contributor to BBC Radio 4 for nearly 30 years - bringing his trademark, sometimes caustic, wit to audiences in the UK and around the world.

Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0029hmh)
Freddie sacks Jolene from the cricket team for missing Thursday’s nets practice. If you miss two then you’re out. Lilian overhears and when Freddie’s gone mentions to Jolene that Tracy will also have missed two, so he’ll have to sack her too. Jolene thinks she can have fun with that. Later Jolene tells Lilian and Fallon she’ll reschedule the staff meeting, but she’ll make Freddie squirm for a few days first!

When Freddie tells Rex that Jolene’s missing nets practice because of a staff meeting clash, Rex realises Freddie’s made a terrible mistake. Tracy will have to be sacked too! Freddie wonders then if Rochelle’s any good at cricket. Rex admits that he doesn’t know; they went on a date but then she disappeared and ignored his texts. He tried to clear the air with her last night, but she pretty much blanked him. Freddie suggests trying to talk to her again.

Emma and Eddie both worry about Clarrie losing her job at The Dairy. When Eddie says Clarrie’s thinking of working at the Chicken Factory, Emma says she has an idea. Later she catches up with Fallon and suggests that Clarrie might be a perfect fit for The Bull’s Kitchen Assistant job. Fallon agrees to consider it, though it’s not just down to her. And when Fallon mentions the possibility of Clarrie working at The Bull, Lilian’s not keen. Jolene and Fallon accuse her of being ageist even though Clarrie’s younger than Lilian! Jolene suggests asking Clarrie to send in her CV, that way they can make a fair decision.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0029hmk)
Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker, Design Council at 80, The Women of Llanrumney

Charlie Brooker talks about the return of his wildly popular tech and sci-fi dystopian drama Black Mirror. This new six-part series includes Paul Giamatti as a man using AI to reconnect to a lost love who has died, Emma Corrin as a digitally recreated 40s screen star and, for the first time, follow-up episodes of two of the show's most popular episodes: Bandersnatch and USS Callister.

The Design Council is 80 and is celebrateing with a new book, Eight Decades of British Design. The Chief Executive of the Design Council, Minnie Moll, and Thomas Heatherwick, the designer famous for, among many projects, the cauldron for the Olympic flame at the games in London, reflect on the impact of design on our lives here in the past, now, and in the future.

The Women of Llanrumney sounds as if it might be the new Gavin and Stacey, but this Llanrumney was a sugar plantation in Jamaica, the setting for Azuka Oforka's first play which examines the links of Wales with slavery, its brutality, the role of slave revolts in bringing about abolition and, looking at the lives of three women, two enslaved and one enslaver, discusses the nature of freedom.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m0029hmm)
The Carbon Offset Trap

The market where carbon offsets are bought and sold has been projected to grow and grow, as big companies look to prove they can reach net zero. But where achieving reductions in emissions is impossible or expensive, an alternative is to try and arrange for carbon to be taken out of the atmosphere instead. The markets have thrived on linking buyers of carbon offsets - big firms, and even governments - to development projects in poorer countries, where land and labour for tree planting are cheap.

But can these projects be safely verified and measured? Are local communities being exploited to try and make the maths add up? And can the industry afford to admit when a project is underperforming the expectations according to which carbon credits have been sold?

Investigative reporter Max de Haldevang hears from experts and individuals directly involved in high profile carbon offset projects to find out.

Producer: Robert Nicholson

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0029hmp)
Benefits Reform; Answering Your Questions

In Touch returns to the issue of welfare reform, and how the proposed changes to benefits are likely to affect blind and partially sighted people. A panel of guests, comprising of Dominic Milne, The RNIB's Legal Rights Officer and Kevin Mulhern, visually impaired journalist and broadcaster, whose been covering the issue of benefits for visually impaired people for the best part of five decades, provide general information on what is important to know but they also aim to answer visually impaired people's questions on how the proposed reforms might specifically impact them.

The Government is consulting on some of their proposals. To submit your feedback and to get more information, go to: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper

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


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m0029hmr)
Lebanon: Hezbollah in trouble

Hezbollah, the militia and political movement in Lebanon, has been battered by the war with Israel. Its leaders were assassinated, hundreds of fighters killed, and many of its communities now lie in ruins. Until recently a formidable power with the ability to paralyse the country, the group now appears a shadow of its former self. For the first time in decades, even some supporters are questioning its purpose. Is this a turning point? The BBC’s Hugo Bachega travels to Hezbollah’s strongholds to find out.

Reporter: Hugo Bachega
Producer : Alex Last
Beirut producer: Ghaith Solh
Studio Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


TUE 21:30 Stakeknife (m002b1ct)
1. The Man Who Never Was

A man flees Northern Ireland when he’s named as Stakeknife. At a surprise press conference a few days later he denies the charges but a forgotten tape comes back to haunt him.

Credits

Reporter: Mark Horgan
Produced and written by: Mark Horgan and Ciarán Cassidy
Co-Producer: Paddy Fee
Editing and Sound Design: Ciarán Cassidy
Composer: Michael Fleming
Sound mixing: Ger McDonnell
Theme tune by Lankum
Artwork by Conor Merriman
Assistant Commissioners for BBC: Lorraine Okuefuna and Sarah Green.
Commissioning Editor for BBC: Dylan Haskins

Stakeknife is a Second Captains & Little Wing production for BBC Sounds.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029hmw)
Trump prepares to upend global trade with tariffs

US President Donald Trump is set to announce tariffs on goods from around the world coming into America tomorrow, in what his administration has dubbed "Liberation Day". The UK government is still trying to negotiate exemptions to the tariffs through an economic deal, while other powers have promised retaliation. We speak to British businesses bracing themselves for the change and a Republican strategist on whether Trump's voters will tolerate projected price rises.

Betty Webb, one of the last of the Bletchley Park codebreakers, has died aged 101. We heard from her friend and historian Tessa Dunlop.

And who should portray The Beatles? We discuss the contested casting in Sir Sam Mendes' new movie project about the world's most famous rock band.


TUE 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029hmy)
2: New Friendships

At school, Maurice Hall had dreamed of finding a very special friend, someone for whom he would make any sacrifice, whom he could love for ever. When the unformed schoolboy becomes a more worldly undergraduate and meets the irresistible, clever Clive Durham, this dream seems to be in sight. Their attraction is strong but, at Clive’s urging, remains platonic.

As both change, their relationship cannot last, and Maurice is cast adrift to find his way to happiness in a world of snobbery, stifling uniformity and sexual repression.

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, but never published it in his lifetime. He believed its theme of young gay love, inspired by an encounter he himself had as a lonely young writer, meant that it should forever remain unpublished, or at least until the laws of England changed. He was also determined to write a story in which two men should fall in love and find happiness, despite the social disapproval and hypocrisy of the times. It was not until 1971, four years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, that the book was finally published, and recognised as a founding work of modern gay literature.

In Episode 2, undergraduate life allows Maurice to explore friendships beyond the stifling confines within which he’s grown up.

Read by David Dawson
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies
Sound design by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story (m0029b2p)
7. Body Snatchers

In 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, and renamed it X. When asked why he wanted to own the social media network, Musk talked a lot about something he called the “woke mind virus.” “The woke mind virus is communism rebranded”, he claimed, and he vowed to defeat it - “or nothing else matters”. Where does this idea come from? Jill Lepore says the story starts back in the 1950s, when science fiction films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers captured a new feverish mood in the public imagination. The Cold War had begun, and suddenly everyone was panicking about a strange new weapon: brainwashing. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Musk’s grandfather became obsessed with the idea that “mind control” lay behind efforts to end apartheid.

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek
Editors: Richard Vadon
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele

CREDITS
ABC News, Lex Fridman Podcast, Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029hn0)
Susan Hulme reports as the government blocks new rules on background checks for offenders from ethnic minority communities - and ministers prepare for US tariffs.

WEDNESDAY 02 APRIL 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0029hn2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029hlp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029hn4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029hn6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m0029hn8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029hnb)
Alicia McCarthy reports on the justice secretary's statement to MPs about sentencing guidelines.


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029hnd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029hng)
When fire is a blessing

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

The high winds in January blew down a lot of tree branches in our garden. One or two were so old that they shattered when they hit the ground.

But it’s all good for storing – we had the biggest branches cut up and stacked in the wood pile. They’ll dry out over the next year or so and we’ll have more winter logs for the future.

We had a wood pile at the house in the countryside where I grew up. I remember that some of the logs came from a massive tree in the back garden which was blown down in a storm.

What I loved about a fire in the winter was the ritual: first, put on a coat and go out of the back door into the freezing, black night to get the logs. They were stacked in piles at the side of the house. They were cold to the touch, I remember. Wear gloves and a coat, gather up an armful and hurry back inside. Then, deposit the logs into the basket by the fireside, and gently, carefully add one or two to the blaze.

Having a fire made me happy. It wasn’t a necessity, like a coal fire was in my mother’s childhood - when it was the only heating. Like it is today for millions of people around the world. Our log fire was a comfort and a delight. We lit it for family gatherings, for parties, for Hogmanay - and occasionally, just for sitting by on dark winter evenings.

I pray this morning for families who depend on fire for daily survival. I pray for families displaced by war, whose homes are destroyed and who must survive in the ruins of all that was dear.
May God bless them and keep them. Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0029hnj)
02/04/25 Housing shortages in Scottish islands, Farming Minister quizzed on farm support, tree planting.

This week we're taking a closer look at the rural lives of islanders around our shores. A survey by the Young Islanders Network found the biggest concern for young people in Scotland’s islands, is housing – or a lack of it. We speak to people about some of the problems they've faced - and some of the solutions.

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs select Committee of MPs has been grilling the farming minister Daniel Zeichner about the repercussions of suspending the Sustainable Farming Incentive, or SFI, which gives payments to farmers for environmental work. Thousands of farmers have already joined, but it was abruptly closed to new applicants on 11th March.

Trees are being planted on Dartmoor to help alleviate flooding. A team lead by the National Park Authority is using a method developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki which plants a wide variety of native species close together to encourage rapid tree growth.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


WED 06:00 Today (m0029j8x)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m0029hwm)
Is one in four people in the UK disabled?

Donald Trump is raising tariffs on Canada, but has his northern neighbour done anything to deserve them?

In her Spring Statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the UK’s fiscal “headroom” was, again, £9.9bn. We explore this curious coincidence.

Is it true that one in four people in the UK is disabled? And what does that mean for the state of our workforce?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Nathan Gower
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m0029j8z)
Invisible Hands

2. The Mad Monk

A man throws up in a taxi on his way to an interview. He is nervous because he is about to make an argument. It’s an argument that would change politics forever.

His name was Keith Joseph. And this would be the start of a radical journey - from conventional conservative politician to ideological warrior and guru for Margaret Thatcher. Joseph set out on a tour of the country. He had eggs thrown at him, Marxist flags waved in his face. He was spat at. Heckled. All because he was arguing for one thing - the free markets.

David Dimbleby traces the history of an idea that spans his life. It started on a chicken farm in Sussex, gained traction in the shadows of post-war London and rose to heights of excess in the new champagne bars of the City. It's 2025 and this once radical idea now defines every aspect of life in Britain. An idea that transformed the economy, politics and, ultimately, society itself.

But how did it happen? Who are the little-known people behind it? What did they want? And - as Donald Trump threatens to overturn the global economic system - is the free market here to stay? Or are we entering a new era?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Jo Barratt
Executive Producers and Story Editors: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Sound design: Peregrine Andrews
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029j91)
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Anorexia legal case, Feminist yodelling

One manifesto pledge of the incoming Labour government was to provide over 3000 new nurseries in empty school classrooms in England. The first 300 of these will open by September and offer an average of 20 places each. Nuala McGovern speaks to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, about this announcement and also about the current state of provision and funding for children with special education needs.

The family of a woman who is dangerously ill with anorexia is challenging a previous court decision which ruled she cannot be force fed. The family want the Court of Protection judge to make a new decision which would allow a hospital to act so that her life can be saved. We speak to the woman's aunt, and also hear from MIchelle Wright, who says she was in a similar position, on an end of life programme in a hospice, but who has now been recovered for 15 years and is speaking out for the first time. Plus we hear from law and philosophy academic Dr Camillia Kong who explains what will be considered as the Court makes its decisions in the patient’s ‘best interests’.

Over the last few weeks Woman’s Hour has been talking to some of the writers who have been longlisted in the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Non-fiction this year. Well this morning, the shortlist for the fiction prize has just been announced. Nuala is joined by the author and Chair of Judges Kit de Waal.

Echo vom Eierstock is Switzerland’s first feminist yodelling choir. Elena Kaiser is their founder and joins Nuala to discuss where her love of yodelling came from, and why she is challenging the make-up of traditional yodelling choirs and songs.


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m0029hmm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m0029hx2)
March 31 - April 6

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life

BBC Radio 4 explores the history books and archives to see what else has happened on this same week throughout history.
With short looks at the events that have shaped the world, and made us who we are today.

This week. March 31st – April 6th
- 1st of April 2001. The world's first legal gay marriages take place in Amsterdam, after the Netherlands becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.
- 4th of April 1975. Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Almost exactly a year later Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak form the Apple Computer Company.
- 6th of April 1906. Widely regarded as the first ever animated film, 'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces' is released by the American Vitagraph Company.

Presented by Ron Brown and Jane Steel
Produced by Luke Doran


WED 11:45 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029j93)
Episode Three

Obsessed with music since childhood and listening to anything he could get his hands on, it was no surprise when John Harris became a music journalist - but he had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. For when his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed, with autism, music transformed from a passion to a lifeline, a source of precious connection that would transcend words.

Episode 3
'Go home, and enjoy being with him.’ After receiving the diagnosis John and Ginny are left to cope as best as they can.

Written and read by John Harris
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0029j95)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m0029j97)
Fraud Reduction, Motability, Almshouses

The number of fraud cases increased by 19% in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics. We hear from the UK’s Fraud Minister Lord Hanson about the government’s new strategy to tackle this.

The Motability scheme provides adapted vehicles for disabled people and is one of the largest buyers of new cars in the UK. It has over 800,000 customers but is reviewing many of their contracts in clampdown on misuse of the service.

New research by the Money and Mental Health Charity has found that those with severe or long-term mental health problems are twice as likely to be disconnected from essential utilities. It is calling on water, energy and telecoms regulators to ensure that firms offer greater support and to only threaten disconnection as a last resort.

Almshouses have provided low-cost housing in the UK for more than a thousand years. This charity-funded accommodation has historically been aimed at older residents, but this is changing as many welcome residents of working age and families. We hear why almshouses are lobbying the government to be reclassified as social housing, and whether these centuries-old charities could help to ease the housing crisis.

The net number of care home beds in the UK increased by just 86 last year, according to estate agency Knight Frank. It predicts that this lack of growth could cause a shortfall of beds in years to come as the UK's population ages.

PRODUCER - CHARLIE FILMER-COURT

PRESENTER - WINIFRED ROBINSON


WED 12:57 Weather (m0029j99)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0029j9c)
New details emerge about attack on aid convoy in Gaza, which left 15 emergency workers dead

Munther Abed, a volunteer with the Red Crescent, says the vehicles did have lights on near Rafah. Israel’s military said their lights were off and they were acting suspiciously.


WED 13:45 Untaxing (m0029j9j)
3.Jaffa Cake or Biscuit?

A biscuit or a cake? That was the question that landed biscuit company McVities in court in 1991 - and the fate of the Jaffa Cake rested on the most unexpected piece of evidence.

But behind the absurdity lies a deeper issue - how the UK’s messy VAT system distorts prices, creates baffling tax battles, and might just be costing us over £20 billion a year.

Producer: Tom Pooley
Music: Jaffa Cake Musical is by Gigglemug Theatre, with songs by Sam Cochrane, arrangements by Rob Gathercole, and Katie Pritchard singing 'Tax Man'.

A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0029hmh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000p8d1)
Keeping the Wolf Out

The Light of Dawn

Philip Palmer's crime drama continues. The murder of an infamous official in the Ministry changes everything for Franciska and her police inspector husband.

Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Kulcsar ..... Roger Ringrose
Sandor Boros ..... Stephen Greif
Detective ..... Stefan Adegbola
Billiards player ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.

Directed by Toby Swift


WED 15:00 The Law Show (m0029hx5)
Death and the Law

It’s not something most of us think about - and it’s not something most of us want to think about, but sooner or later it’s something we’ll all encounter.

When someone passes away - legally, what do you have to do?

It’s not immediately obvious, nobody really talks about it, and there a whole host of legal obligations that have to be considered, from declaring the death, to the circumstances when a coroner becomes involved.

And then there’s a dead person’s estate and the grant of probate. In this episode, Dr Joelle Grogan and a team of experts will guide you through the process.

Also on the programme:

A teenage boy recently lost a High Court case against his parents. He was unhappy that they had placed him in a Ghanaian boarding school because they feared that he was becoming involved in criminal activity in London.

The case rested on parental responsibility, and the judge ruled that their actions were within the scope of decisions that parents can make - and that the state shouldn't intervene.

But what is "parental responsibility" and is there a situation where a child can divorce their parents?

Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Tara McDermott

Contributors:
Rachel Roche, from Roche Legal in York
Dr Imogen Jones, Associate Professor in Law at the University of Leeds
Melinda Giles, Law Society Council member and part of their Wills & Equity Committee
Tracey Moloney, from Moloney Family Solicitors


WED 15:30 Currently (m0029j9p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


WED 16:00 The Media Show (m0029j9r)
Impact of Adolescence drama, Nintento Switch 2 launch, The Young Turks

We explore the impact of the hit Netflix drama, Adolescence, which has sparked national debate over boys' media consumption and online misogyny. Katie talks to Cenk Uygur, founder of US progressive network The Young Turks and, on the afternoon it's released, we get the lowdown on Nintendo's long-awaited Switch 2 console.

Guests: Claire Holubowskyj, Senior Research Analyst, Enders Analysis; Dr Marcus Gilroy-Ware, Lecturer in Creative Digital Media SOAS, University of London; Oli Dugmore, Editor, Joe; Cenk Uygur, Host, Founder, CEO, Young Turks; Keza MacDonald, Video Games Editor, The Guardian

Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins
Producers: Simon Richardson and Lucy Wai


WED 17:00 PM (m0029j9t)
'Liberation Day' in the US

Donald Trump is preparing his "Liberation Day" for the US, and rumours emerge Elon Musk may leave. Also a report from inside Myanmar as it tries to recover from the earthquake.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029j9w)
A BBC correspondent is one of the first foreign journalists in Myanmar since the disaster.


WED 18:30 The Ultimate Choice (m001trr5)
Series 2

1: Jane Austen v Where's Wally

Steph McGovern asks some seriously funny minds to offer definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not.

Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Jason Cook and Lauren Pattison.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Jason Cook and Lauren Pattison
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by David Thomas
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas
Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m0029j9y)
Clarrie frets over having to compile a CV for her job application to The Bull. Emma is supportive, though Eddie suggests Clarrie deserves to put her feet up for a while. Clarrie insists they can’t afford for her not to work, so she’ll just have to get on with it. Later though, despite Eddie’s attempts to gloss things up, Clarrie’s finding it hard to muster any enthusiasm. She can’t big herself up on a CV just to impress Fallon and Jolene – they’ll laugh at her! When Emma returns to Grange Farm, she finds Eddie has taken over, using all sorts of flowery language to embellish Clarrie’s credentials. Emma quickly produces an alternative CV, which sounds far more credible. Clarrie’s impressed and even Eddie has to admit it’s better than his version.

Robert calls Emma to cut away a branch overhanging the llama paddock at Ambridge Hall. While Emma does the job Khalil comforts nervous Salieri. Robert shows Khalil a digitally edited image of him and Lynda next to the Statue of Liberty, despite never having been there. Robert then suggests he could show Khalil how to recreate the images of Khalil’s parents’ wedding to replace the photos lost in the sewage spill. Over at Beechwood Khalil shows Robert some old photos of his parents on the computer and mentions his parents’ honeymoon in Dubai. Robert suggests taking new photos and superimposing their younger faces, before Khalil takes him up to the loft where Akram and Azra’s wedding suits are stored. When Robert sees the suits he thinks they can definitely put something together.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0029jb0)
Tilda Swinton, Michael Sheen on the new Welsh National Theatre, Richard Burton's influential teacher

Tilda Swinton talks about her role in Joshua Oppenheimer's post-apocalyptic musical film The End, and about her intention to take a break from acting,

Actor and artistic director of the new Welsh National Theatre Michael Sheen, and screenwriter Russell T Davies reveal plans for the company's first season.

Plus we discuss the influence of schoolmaster Philip Burton on the legendary actor Richard Burton, as a new book, and a film starring Toby Jones, explore the impact of the teacher on Burton's life.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m0029jb2)
Does elitism damage or protect art?

Last year was a record-breaking year for poetry sales. In the age of smartphone ‘doom scrolling’, that might seem surprising. But the boom is in part due to social media. The bestseller is the Scottish poet Donna Ashworth, who has been described as "a cheerleader of Instapoetry". Her verse is short, direct and shared online. She has both brought poetry to a new audience and prompted a backlash. According to the cultural commentator James Marriott, “The sales of such books say as much about a public appetite for poetry as the sales of “Live Laugh Love” signs do.” But if poetry is, according to Robert Frost, “when an emotion has found its thought, and the thought has found words”, then who is to say what “counts” as poetry or any other form of art?

Meanwhile, Arts Council England, it is claimed, has lost the confidence of the classical music world. ACE has been criticised for its “Let’s Create” strategy, which aims to ensure access to the arts for all. John Gilhooly, the artistic director of Wigmore Hall, says this has led to the council “judging community events and the great artists of the world by the same criteria”. The tension between so-called ‘high art’ and popular culture is as old as the hills. Is it wrong to assert that some works of art are more culturally valuable than others? Or should art be judged on how it is perceived, appreciated and valued by its audience? After all, what gives art value? Does cultural elitism damage or protect art?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant producer: Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Ash Sarkar
Anne McElvoy
Mona Siddiqui
Tim Stanley.

Witnesses:
James Marriott
Henry Normal
J. J. Charlesworth
Barbara Eifler


WED 21:00 Payslip Britain (m0029hlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Inside Health (m0029hlk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029jb4)
Trump announces ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

The US president has announced sweeping tariffs of at least 10% on all US imports in what he called ‘Liberation Day’. The EU and China will face rates of 20% and 37% respectively, while imports from the UK will be taxed at 10%. We hear from UK businesses and one of President Trump’s former economic advisers.

Also on the programme: we hear from Camilla Hempleman-Adams, who has become the first woman to complete a solo crossing of Canada’s largest island.


WED 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029jb6)
3. A Declaration of Love

At school, Maurice Hall had dreamed of finding a very special friend, someone for whom he would make any sacrifice, whom he could love for ever. When the unformed schoolboy becomes a more worldly undergraduate and meets the irresistible, clever Clive Durham, this dream seems to be in sight. Their attraction is strong but, at Clive’s urging, remains platonic.

As both change, their relationship cannot last, and Maurice is cast adrift to find his way to happiness in a world of snobbery, stifling uniformity and sexual repression.

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, but never published it in his lifetime. He believed its theme of young gay love, inspired by an encounter he himself had as a lonely young writer, meant that it should forever remain unpublished, or at least until the laws of England changed. He was also determined to write a story in which two men should fall in love and find happiness, despite the social disapproval and hypocrisy of the times. It was not until 1971, four years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, that the book was finally published, and recognised as a founding work of modern gay literature.

In Episode 3, after a series of misunderstandings, Maurice and Clive reveal their feelings for each other.

Read by David Dawson
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies
Sound design by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 DMs Are Open (m0029jb8)
Series 4

3. Late

Being born too late, testing out time travel and needing autocorrect at a funeral all feature in this week’s show, written by the next generation of comedy writers.

DMs are Open is back for a brand new series. Stevie Martin is your host and she’s brought together an incredible cast of comedy legends: Al Roberts, Charlotte Ritchie, Sunil Patel and Emily Lloyd-Saini.

Written by the public. This week it was written by:

Chris Ballard
Ruby Clyde
Richard Edmondson
Alex Loftus
Robert Mills
Ben Pope
Peter Tellouche

Script Edited by Kate Dehnert and Cody Dahler.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Assistant Producer: Katie Baum
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Recorded by David Thomas
Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

Recorded at Up The Creek.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


WED 23:15 Jamie MacDonald: Life on the Blink (m001lyrz)
Series 2

Toxic Role Model

Jamie MacDonald is a Glaswegian stand-up comedian who lives with his blindness, despite those around him sometimes losing sight of what’s important in life.

Jamie examines pre-conceptions about disability, challenges stereotypes, and takes a hilarious trip down memory lane to see how far things have come.

In this episode Jamie confronts stereotypes head on, from his disability to his national identity. He realises that he's in a position of privilege, and has been deemed a role model by others - and it's not a position he relishes.

Produced by Julia Sutherland
Script Supervision by Laura Lexx
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029jbb)
Alicia McCarthy reports from Westminster on Prime Minister's Questions and more.

THURSDAY 03 APRIL 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0029jbd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029j93)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029jbg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029jbj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m0029jbl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029jbn)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029jbq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029jbs)
Building the snore of memories

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

Recently I went on holiday to Spain with my two sisters. Just a long weekend away for a bit of sun.

There was some sun, but that wasn’t the heart of the trip: the best thing was just being with each other. It’s a very long time since we went away together, just the three of us – so long ago, that I was only 17. Back then, we drove around Scotland in a wee car, and stayed in youth hostels and the occasional bed and breakfast. Up the east coast to the north, over the sea to Orkney, back to the mainland and down the west coast.

I’ve forgotten huge swathes of that trip, but in the magical ways of memory, I can also clearly see us in that car, talking, laughing, squabbling over directions, arguing about when to stop for food. I vividly remember a particular night at a youth hostel, when one sister marched off with a blanket and pillow to sleep in the bathroom, because, she said, my snoring was unbearable.

It's all still there in the memory bank – but more than that, it’s in my heart: so embedded that I was replaying the images and feelings of that Scottish trip as we were driving around in Spain. And, as before, from my place in the back seat.

We’re deep in middle-age and beyond now, we three sisters who were once young. And yet, to each other, we haven’t changed. The essence of each of us is exactly what it always was. The years have never changed that. Best of all, we’re still precious to each other. Even though I still snore.

This morning I give thanks for the people we love, and for the good memories we keep close, and hope we’ll never forget. Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0029jbv)
03/04/25 Extreme risk of wildfires, review of environmental regulations, Rathlin Island, hunting turtle doves

Firefighters are warning of the 'extreme risk' of wildfires in Scotland. The fire service has issued its third warning this year after fires in hills near Glasgow and in Aberdeenshire. It says after a spell of warm weather there is plenty of dry vegetation which can act as fuel for fires, and is urging people not to light fires outside this week.

Government plans to streamline environmental regulation to speed up house building and boost economic growth risk causing irreversible damage to nature, according to green groups.

On Monday we talked about 'operation turtle dove' and the UK farmers who've been growing habitats and food for the birds, which summer here after wintering in West Africa. It's a project that's helped increase their numbers by 40%. Much of the turtle doves' success has been down to a ban in Europe on shooting them as they migrate across the continent. But because of the population increase, this week the ban has been lifted.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


THU 06:00 Today (m0029jj8)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 08:57 DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal (m002b35x)
Dr Sian Williams presents the DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal.
To give:
You can call: 0330 123 0555 (Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply)
Online: at dec.org.uk
Post: Write a cheque and make it payable to DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal
And post it to, DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal, PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0029jjb)
The Gracchi

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus whose names are entwined with the end of Rome's Republic and the rise of the Roman Emperors. As tribunes, they brought popular reforms to the Roman Republic at the end of the 2nd century BC. Tiberius (c163-133BC) brought in land reform so every soldier could have his farm, while Gaius (c154-121BC) offered cheap grain for Romans and targeted corruption among the elites. Those elites saw the reforms as such a threat that they had the brothers killed: Tiberius in a shocking murder led by the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest, in 133BC and Gaius 12 years later with the senate's approval. This increase in political violence was to destabilise the Republic, forever tying the Gracchi to the question of why Rome’s Republic gave way to the Rome of Emperors.

With

Catherine Steel
Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow

Federico Santangelo
Professor of Ancient History at Newcastle University

And

Kathryn Tempest
Lecturer in Roman History at the University of Leicester

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Appian (trans. John Carter), The Civil Wars (Penguin Classics, 2005)

Valentina Arena, Jonathan R. W. Prag and Andrew Stiles, A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), especially the chapter by Lea Beness and Tom Hillard

R. Cristofoli, A. Galimberti and F. Rohr Vio (eds.), Costruire la Memoria: Uso e abuso della storia fra tarda repubblica e primo principato (L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2017), especially ‘The 'Tyranny' of the Gracchi and the Concordia of the Optimates: An Ideological Construct.’ by Francisco Pina Polo

Suzanne Dixon, Cornelia: Mother of the Gracchi, (Routledge, 2007)

Peter Garnsey and Dominic Rathbone, ‘The Background to the Grain Law of Gaius Gracchus’ (Journal of Roman Studies 75, 1985)

O. Hekster, G. de Kleijn and D. Slootjes (eds.), Crises and the Roman Empire (Brill, 2007), especially ‘Tiberius Gracchus, Land and Manpower’ by John W. Rich

Josiah Osgood, Rome and the Making of a World State, 150 BCE-20 CE (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

Plutarch (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert and Christopher Pelling), Rome in Crisis (Penguin Classics, 2010)

Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield, ed. Philip A. Stadter), Roman Lives (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Nathan Rosenstein, ‘Aristocrats and Agriculture in the Middle and Late Republic’ (Journal of Roman Studies 98, 2008)

A. N. Sherwin-White, ‘The Lex Repetundarum and the Political Ideas of Gaius Gracchus’ (Journal of Roman Studies 72, 1982)

Catherine Steel, The End of the Roman Republic, 146 to 44 BC: Conquest and Crisis (Edinburgh University Press, 2013)

David Stockton, The Gracchi (Oxford University Press, 1979)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m0029jjd)
Fist Emoji, Flag Emoji, Fire Emoji (with Ava Santina Evans)

Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.

Following the remarkable security breach dubbed 'Signalgate', Helen and Armando are joined by political editor of Politics Joe, Ava Santina Evans, to discuss how casualness has crept into political communication. Is it a threat? Is it just cringe? And why oh why do we still use the suffix 'gate' for a scandal, given its origins are over 50 years old?

Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode.

Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

Sound Editing by Charlie Brandon-King
Production Coordinator - Katie Baum
Executive Producer - Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.
An EcoAudio Certified Production.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029jjg)
Zhenhao Zou case, Sally Phillips, Neonatal Leave,

Chinese PHD student Zhenhao Zou was recently convicted for drugging and raping 10 different women in both London and China. Police only managed to identify two of those 10 women, but have just announced that a further 23 women have now come forward with allegations. No victims have given media interviews before but Wanqing Zhang, senior reporter from the BBC’s Global China Unit, has managed to make contact with two of the women.

Sally Phillips is the actor, writer, comedian, presenter and disability rights campaigner. Her career includes successful television British comedies such as Smack the Pony, I’m Alan Partridge, and Miranda. And she has recently reprised her role as Shazzer, in the latest Bridget Jones film - Mad About the Boy. She joins Datshiane Navanayagam to talk about her new BBC comedy series, Austin, playing an illustrator married to a much-loved children’s author performed by Ben Miller.

Social media influencer Danielle Mansutti says she is suing a Harley Street plastic surgeon after she says she was left with what she describes as overly large breasts and what she says is 'a poor cosmetic appearance'. If you are someone who has an elective cosmetic procedure - how much control can you expect to have over the end result? Marc Pacifico, an aesthetic cosmetic surgeon and President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, and Ashton Collins, Director of Save Face - a UK-based register of safe, ethical, and qualified medical aesthetic practitioners, discuss.

The Neonatal Care Act starts next week. It allows employed parents to take up to 12 weeks of additional leave on top of their maternity or paternity leave if their newborn baby stays in hospital for more than seven days. We hear from Catriona Ogilvy, founder of premature baby charity The Smallest Things, who has been fighting for this law change for 10 years.

How much do you worry about the amount of time your child or children spend on their phone or computer? Have you tried to do something to limit access? We were contacted by a concerned listener who has two children aged 12 and 15. She would like tech companies to help support putting restrictions in place. To discuss the dilemma for parents and what parents can do we hear from BBC's technology editor Zoe Kleinman.

Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam
Producer: Kirsty Starkey


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m0029jjj)
Abi Morgan

Screenwriter and playwright Abi Morgan has worked across a diverse array of themes and genres for more than 25 years. She wrote the television series The Split, a domestic drama involving divorce lawyers, and created the psychological Netflix series Eric. Her other television credits include Sex Traffic, for which she won a BAFTA for Best Drama serial in 2005, and The Hour, the television news drama which earned her an Emmy award in 2012. Her film credits include The Iron Lady, which starred Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher; historical drama Suffragette; and Shame, co-written with the director Steve McQueen. Her recent book This Is Not A Pity Memoir recounts her husband’s recovery after serious illness, and her own treatment for cancer.

Abi Morgan tells John Wilson about her childhood in a theatrical family; her father was the director Gareth Morgan and her mother is the actor Pat England. She chooses the author, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron as an important influence, and particularly the film Heartburn which Ephron adapted from her semi-autobiographical divorce novel Heartburn. Abi Morgan also recalls the work of television screenwriter Kay Mellor, whose series Band Of Gold and Playing The Field also influenced her own writing. She describes how seeing an exhibition of the work of artist Cornelia Parker, including her installation Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, inspired some of Abi’s early theatre work including her plays Splendour and The Mistress Contract.

Producer Edwina Pitman


THU 11:45 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029jjl)
Episode Four

Obsessed with music since childhood and listening to anything he could get his hands on, it was no surprise when John Harris became a music journalist - but he had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. For when his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed, with autism, music transformed from a passion to a lifeline, a source of precious connection that would transcend words.

Episode 4
James gets accepted into John and Ginny's chosen school. But despite their intense planning, things eventually begin to slide.

Written and read by John Harris
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0029jjn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m0029jjq)
Gap Finders: The Entertainer founder Gary Grant

Gary Grant opened his first toy shop at the age of 23. By his own admission he knew nothing about selling toys - but he must have had a thing for retail. Four decades later The Entertainer is the UK's largest independent toy chain, with 165 high street stores in the UK and 30 others around the world. The business has weathered the storm of the financial crash, high street decline, a pandemic and the shift to online. Central to Gary's approach is his Christian faith, which mean the shops don't sell any toys with links to the supernatural and they don't open on Sundays. It's an approach to running a business that some have questioned, but the company has stood firm. Recently, having spotted an opportunity to expand into concessions in big retailers and supermarkets, we find out what the future holds for the brand and how Gary feels about stepping back from the front line of the business he started all those years ago.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0029jjs)
Home Allergy Tests

Can home tests tell you if you have an allergy or a food intolerance?

We're back with a new batch of investigations and kicking off this series is one of our most popular requests: home allergy tests. The companies that make them claim they can help you work out if you have an allergy or intolerance to certain foods. The idea is the information can help you decide what to eliminate from your diet. But do they work?

Greg is joined by consultant allergist Professor Adam Fox to do a deep-dive and separate out the science fact from the marketing fiction.

As ever this series we're looking for YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807

PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND GREG FOOT
RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM


THU 12:57 Weather (m0029jjv)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0029jjx)
The world reacts to Trump's trade tariffs

The world adjusts to a new era for global trade following President Trump's tariffs. Analysis from trade veteran Lord Bilimoria. Plus more on child-to-parent violence.


THU 13:45 Untaxing (m0029jjz)
4.The Porn Star Tax Lawyer

A football club in ruins. Thousands of people facing financial devastation. And one man at the centre of it all - a tax lawyer turned porn mogul.

But how did he get away with it? And why did HMRC struggle to stop him?

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0029j9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000p8y9)
Keeping the Wolf Out

The Great Society

Crime drama by Philip Palmer. Franciska continues to deny her involvement in a murder as her battle of wits with a CIA agent threatens her career.

Bertalan Lazar ..... Leo Bill
Franciska Lazar ..... Clare Corbett
Gyozo Novak ..... Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi ..... Luke Nunn
Kulczar ..... Roger Ringrose
Draskovic ..... Ewan Bailey
Prison Officer ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Directed by Toby Swift


THU 15:00 Open Country (m0029jk3)
Cornish Mining

Martha Kearney takes a trip through the past, present and future of mining in Cornwall, finding out how it has shaped the landscape. After crouching in an old tunnel at Geevor Tin Mine with the miners who used to work in it, she journeys into the future at a new lithium mine based in an old china clay pit in St Austell.

Producer: Beth O'Dea


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029jcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m0029jk5)
A Point of View. BBC Sounds overseas. Lockdown's Legacy.

A Point of View has officially left the airwaves after a long run on BBC Radio 4, with Howard Jacobsen writing and presenting the final episode. Feedback announced the exclusive news on last week's programme, but it was before listeners had time to react. This week, Andrea Catherwood presents your opinions on the end of the Sunday morning single voice opinion slot.

We're still getting listener questions about the changes to BBC Sounds overseas, and so this week Andrea talks to cricketer and journalist Simon Hughes about the worldwide coverage of Test Match Special.

Finally, it's been five years since the first COVID lockdowns were announced, in the spring of 2020. Factual series Lockdown's Legacy looked back on the impact the society-wide restrictions had on a range of people - from children, to teachers, to medics. Some listeners found it impactful, but others had a different point of view. Commissioner Hugh Levinson returns to respond to your comments and critiques.

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

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m0029jk7)
What's happening in Turkey?

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Turkey in the past two weeks in protest at the arrest and jailing of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu. He’s seen as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's strongest political rivals and since his arrest he’s been voted as the opposition party’s presidential candidate in the next elections. He’s been accused of corruption, which he strongly denies and his supporters see his detainment as a political move by the Government. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss whether we’re witnessing the end of democracy in Turkey.

Guests:
Mark Lowen, BBC Correspondent and former BBC Istanbul Correspondent
Dr Ziya Meral, Lecturer in International Studies and Diplomacy, SOAS
Firdevs Robinson, Turkish journalist and broadcaster
Monica Marks, Assistant Professor Middle East Politics , NYU in Abu Dhabi

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham
Sound engineers: Dave O’Neill and James Beard
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon

(Image: Demonstration organised by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) against the detention of Istanbul’s mayor, in Istanbul, Turkey - 29 March 2025. Credit: Tolga Bozoglu/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0029jk9)
Is this finally the moment for UK tidal power?

Why does the UK, an island shaped by its strong tides, still not have any major tidal energy schemes? Plans for tidal barrages in the UK seem to be regularly discussed but never come to fruition, but now a new report has suggested that a tidal lagoon should be created in the Severn Estuary to generate electricity.

Guest presenter Tom Whipple speaks to Chair of the Severn Estuary Commission, Dr Andrew Garrad, about whether this will finally be the moment for tidal power that we’ve been waiting for.

Also, earth scientists around the world are trying to understand why the 7.7 magnitude earthquake which struck Myanmar last weekend was just so devastating. Dr Ian Watkinson, structural geologist at Royal Holloway university, tells us about a theory that a seismic event called a ‘supershear earthquake’ took place.

And a new bat is causing controversy in the baseball world! The ‘Torpedo Bat’, engineered by an MIT physicist, has helped the New York Yankees crush records in Major League Baseball. Steve Haake, Professor of Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University explains why this bat has helped hitters hit so many home runs.

Science journalist Caroline Steel drops in with her picks of the week’s news, including a new blood test for Alzheimer's disease, a potential new super collider and a new way to identify which bees are most hygienic.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


THU 17:00 PM (m0029jkc)
US markets react

We bring you market reaction as the world absorbs the implications of President Trump’s global tariffs. Former senior ministers from the UK and the US share their views on what the response should be. We speak to the Managing Director of Wizz air as the government approve the expansion of Luton airport and; the 83 year old woman who has achieved a graded belt in Taekwondo.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029jkf)
What are the tariffs and how might they affect you?


THU 18:27 DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal (m002b35x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:57 today]


THU 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m001j477)
Series 4

Monday's Child Is...

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

This series is about time - the days of the week, the stages of our existence - and the way we use it to make sense of things. We make our way through the working week, starting here with Monday. Why are we so attached to traditional wisdom like 'Monday's child is fair of face'? Why do so many of us dread the start of each week? And what is the biggest pig ever to be born?

Expect jokes, observations and interactions galore as Mark is aided, and sometimes obstructed, by the sardonic musical excellence of Flo & Joan. There's also a hand-picked comedy colleague each week - we kick off with Jayde Adams.

Producer: Lianne Coop

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0029hwb)
Rochelle is at indoor nets, impressing Vince and Freddie with her cricketing skills, when Jolene appears, calling their bluff on sacking her for not turning up to two practices in a row. Tracy’s come along too and Jolene notes they’re happier about Tracy’s presence than hers, then accuses Freddie of being a tyrant, imposing ridiculous rules rather than telling her he wanted to drop her. Meanwhile Vince and Rochelle swap compliments. Vince thinks she’d be an asset to the team then invites her to drinks after nets.
At the end of the session Rochelle offers to take some of the kit home on the bus before Rex is pressured into giving her a lift. The journey back is awkward before Rex apologises for putting his foot in it with Rochelle and Joy, leading to Rochelle’s sudden disappearance. But Rex tells her she ghosted him and it felt horrible. They agree to draw a line under it and just be friends.
Back at The Bull Rochelle agrees to join the team, having already persuaded Vince to give her a job interview at Casey Meats tomorrow. Rochelle then catches up with Mick on his way home, pushing him to talk about Joy and how much he’s missing her. Rochelle tells him that it’s normal Horville behaviour to run for cover – but they always come back in the end. Despite Mick’s misgivings about what Joy sees in him Rochelle assures him that he’s worth coming home for. Mick admits that he loves Joy more than she’ll ever know.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0029jkh)
Reviews of Mobland, The Most Precious of Cargoes and Giuseppe Penone exhibition

Nancy Durrant and Jason Solomons join Tom to review:
The new offering from Guy Ritchie, Mobland, with familiar themes of drug gangs and violence and starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, amongst others.
Giuseppe Penone's Thoughts in the Roots exhibition which is in and outside the Serpentine gallery, expanding on the significance of trees as a recurring motif in his work.
The Most Precious of Cargoes, a new animation film which depicts some of the horrors of the Holocaust.

And Tom talks to Jorge M. Perez and Darlene Perez about their philanthropic gift to Tate Modern.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Corinna Jones


THU 20:00 The Media Show (m0029j9r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m0029hkn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m0029jjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029jkk)
Trump tariffs trigger massive US stocks sell-off

Global stocks have sunk a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on goods imported to the United States. The UK government is continuing to push for a trade deal with Washington DC. We ask what options it has and speak to a business leader present at a roundtable with the Prime Minister in Downing Street this morning.

Hungary says it's quitting the International Criminal Court in protest at its decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We speak to the Hungarian government and an international human rights lawyer.

And the countdown begins to the Women's World Cup in 2035, which will be hosted in the UK.


THU 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029jkm)
4. The Blue Room

At school, Maurice Hall had dreamed of finding a very special friend, someone for whom he would make any sacrifice, whom he could love for ever. When the unformed schoolboy becomes a more worldly undergraduate and meets the irresistible, clever Clive Durham, this dream seems to be in sight. Their attraction is strong but, at Clive’s urging, remains platonic.

As both change, their relationship cannot last, and Maurice is cast adrift to find his way to happiness in a world of snobbery, stifling uniformity and sexual repression.

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, but never published it in his lifetime. He believed its theme of young gay love, inspired by an encounter he himself had as a lonely young writer, meant that it should forever remain unpublished, or at least until the laws of England changed. He was also determined to write a story in which two men should fall in love and find happiness, despite the social disapproval and hypocrisy of the times. It was not until 1971, four years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, that the book was finally published, and recognised as a founding work of modern gay literature.

In episode 4, Maurice is invited to Clive’s family home, where he and Clive talk deep into the night.

Read by David Dawson
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies
Sound design by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m0029jkp)
Guilty! Marine Le Pen and the future of Europe’s populist right

Marine Le Pen has been convicted of embezzling EU funds, potentially ruining her plans to run for the French presidency in 2027.

Marine Le Pen was seen as the frontrunner to replace Emmanuel Macron at that election so the judge’s decision to ban her from standing for public office for the next five years has led to a backlash from her supporters and right-wing European allies.

Nick and Amol talk to Yascha Mounk, an expert on populism and author of The Identity Trap, about what this verdict means for Europe’s populist parties (6:12).

And Nick and Amol get all sentimental in Moment of the Week (42:06).

To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you hit subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time they release a new episode.

GET IN TOUCH:
* Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346
* Email today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Izzy Rowley. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029jkr)
Alicia McCarthy reports as MPs question the government about the imposition of American tariffs on British exporters.

FRIDAY 04 APRIL 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0029jkt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029jjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029jkw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029jky)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m0029jl0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029jl2)
Susan Hulme reports as the government launches a consultation over US tariffs.


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029jl4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029jl6)
Music from Iceland to Arizona

Spiritual reflection to start the day with writer and broadcaster, Anna Magnusson

Good morning.

I’m thinking about the wonder of music. And how it brings light.

Not long ago I was driving along the shoreline of Loch Fyne - a beautiful sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The sun was glinting on the water, and I was listening to a piece of music which launched me into the past.

The Icelandic pianist, Vikingur Olafsson, was playing Bach. The Andante from the Organ Sonata Number 4, transcribed for piano. I first heard it during one of the Covid lockdowns, sitting in the living room window of our flat, looking out onto empty roads and deserted streets. On my phone, I was watching a video of men and women gathered together on an island, under a huge sky. They walked towards the music, to a huge barn where Vikingur was sitting at the piano under a shaft of light, playing this exquisite, perfect music.

I’ve never forgotten how that music calmed me and made me weep. How it somehow brought light into the heart of the darkness and sadness of that time. And it makes me remember, too, a small music shop in a town in Arizona, where we were on holiday last year. I very much miss the piano when I’m away from home because I play every day. I miss the light of music. In this small town we found a music shop with an old upright piano in a back room. ‘Of course you can play it’, the man said when we asked. So I did, and I was comforted. I was restored. Just as if someone had switched on a light in a dark room.

My prayer this morning is for whatever brings us light, and whoever comforts and delights us; may we know God’s love and peace, and share it. Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0029jl8)
Donald Trump’s new tariff regime, imposing at least a 10% tariff on all imports to the US, has caused chaos in international markets, and farmers across the world are wondering how they’ll be affected. Here the National Farmers Union says it’s working “at pace” with government on how to react if there is market disruption.

The University of Reading has a worldwide reputation for expertise in agriculture and food research. So there was some surprise when it was revealed the University was planning to sell off one of its farms for housing.

As part of our week looking at island farming, we're heading west off the coast of Cornwall, to the Isles of Scilly. Frost is rare in Scilly, which means cut flowers can be grown outdoors in both the winter and early spring.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0029hvp)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m0029hvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029hvt)
What is it like to be a woman in prison?

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood believes “prison isn’t working” for women and wants to reduce the number of female prisoners. So what has gone wrong? Nuala McGovern speaks to Scarlett Roberts who is a former prisoner and is now a Churchill Fellow and to former prisoner Jules Rowan, now a personal trainer, who co-hosts the Life After Prison podcast. They are joined by former prisoner officer and former Head of Security and Operations at HMP Wormwood Scrubs Vanessa Frake-Harris, and by prison Intelligence Analyst and author of Five by Five, Claire Wilson. And Lucy Russell, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the charity Women in Prison, describes the challenges faced by women in prison today.

What can be done to improve the prison system for women? Nuala speaks to justice system reformer Lady Edwina Grosvenor about her pioneering project Hope Street in Southampton, which aims to keep women in criminal justice system out of jail and with their children and to Alex Davies Jones MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice about the Government's plans to tackle the issue of women's prisons.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Laura Northedge


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m0029hvw)
Denmark's Food Revolution?

In this second episode from Copenhagen, Sheila Dillon explores why Denmark leads the way in organic food consumption.

In 2023, nearly 12% of all food bought in Denmark was organic—one of the highest levels in the world. In the UK, that figure is just 1.5%.

But how did Denmark get here? And can the organic movement keep growing as the conversation shifts toward climate concerns and plant-based eating?

Sheila meets the people shaping Denmark’s food future, from organic farmers to chefs and researchers. She also asks how does this apparent national embrace of organic food sit alongside Denmark’s industrial farming, including its vast pork industry?

Featuring conversations with:
• Trine Hahnemann – Chef, writer, and campaigner
• Trine Krebs – Organic farmer and Green Chef at The Food Organisation of Denmark
• Prof. Ole Mouritsen – Gastrophysicist researching how to encourage more plant-based eating
• Søren Buhl Steiniche – Head chef at EAT, a public kitchen serving Copenhagen’s schools
• Heidi Svømmekjær – Copenhagen-based food writer and home cook

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


FRI 11:45 Maybe I'm Amazed by John Harris (m0029hvy)
Episode Five

Obsessed with music since childhood and listening to anything he could get his hands on, it was no surprise when John Harris became a music journalist - but he had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. For when his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed, with autism, music transformed from a passion to a lifeline, a source of precious connection that would transcend words.

Episode 5
'And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.'

Written and read by John Harris
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0029hw0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m0029hw2)
Paradise on the Edge

The islands of the Pacific Ocean are on the frontline of climate change. Sea level rise will eventually erase some from the map and make many more uninhabitable. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski hear from the people of the region and explore its stunning wildlife both above and below the waves.

With them in the studio are Professor Tammy Horton from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and BBC One Show naturalist, Mike Dilger. Tammy studies- and names- some of the thousands of creatures recently discovered living at depths of 4-6km in the Pacific's Clarion Clipperton Zone, while Mike has just returned from the bird-watching trip of a lifetime, spotting the extraordinary Birds of Paradise of Papua New Guinea.

Samoan climate journalist Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson joins in the conversation to consider how Pacific islanders respond to the prevailing narratives around climate change. She says that the islanders have no wish to be presented as victims and are well placed to stand up for their rights in international climate negotiations and to actively lead efforts to maintain their rich cultures, despite the rising tides.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Researcher: Harrison Jones

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0029hw4)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0029hw6)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 13:45 Untaxing (m0029hw8)
5. The £10 Billion Fridge

A fruit and veg supplier installs a fridge. A tax advisor claims it’s a scientific breakthrough, and urges a claim for R&D tax relief.

That fridge is just the tip of a £10 billion scandal. How did HMRC let it happen? And why is no one talking about it?

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0029hwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0d0bb4l)
One Five Seven Years

5. Selwyn

Imagine you could live for two lifetimes. Would you want to? How would it change you and those you love? What would you do with all those extra years? What second chances might you get? Would this be a blessing or a curse?

This world is an alternative version of our own. Except in this world, a minority of people are discovered to have Extended Life Syndrome (ELS). The condition might give an "Elser" two decades in their thirties, two in their forties, double the time in their fifties, and so on. Little is understood of the biological factors that govern ELS except that it affects a random selection of people. It is the ultimate lottery of genetics, crossing class, race, culture and gender.

And if a simple test existed to check your DNA for this double life, would you take it? Would you want to know?

Now think again. Would you?

100 years old, a telegram from the Queen. 110 years old, a feature in the paper. 120 years, the doctors. 130 years, the scientists, the global research projects. 140 years, TV features, a documentary. 150 years... 157 years...

A time-travelling, tragic exploration of memory and loss, and of a new and incomprehensible form of human isolation.

Written by Marietta Kirkbride

Cast:
Selwyn ….. Anton Lesser
Anya ….. Rose Wardlaw
Younger Helen ….. Jessica Murrain
Older Helen ….. Pamela Miles
Mary ….. Raquel Cassidy
Chris ….. Jonathan McGuinness
Duncan ….. Asif Khan

Other voices played by the cast

Sound Design ….. Adam Woodhams and Steve Bond
Theme Music ….. Ioana Selaru and Axel Kacoutié

Academic Consultants ….. Tamas David-Barrett & James Fasham
Executive Producer ….. Sara Davies

Series created by Marietta Kirkbride
Directed and Produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


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

11. Why do we fall for the bad boy?

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


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0029hwf)
Twyford: Blueberry Dieback, Anosmia and Itchy Fingers

Why are my blueberry plants experiencing blueberry dieback? How can we prevent or treat an infestation of whitefly in an eco-friendly manner? Which plant have you been most tempted to steal and why?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of plant and gardening gurus offer advice to an audience of keen gardeners in Twyford, Reading. Joining Peter are house plant expert Anne Swithinbank, garden designer Bunny Guinness, and proud plantsman Matthew Biggs.

Later in the programme, we hear from GQT's Kathy Clugston who visits a garden designed for individuals with no sense of smell.

Producer: Matt Smith
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0029hwh)
Up Dog Down Dog

In Vicki Jarrett's short work, a cleaner labours in a large townhouse while her client strives for inner peace.
Reader Molly Innes
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
Vicki Jarrett is a novelist and short story writer from Edinburgh. Her novel 'Always North' is a thriller set aboard an arctic icebreaker.

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0029hwk)
Val Kilmer, Jane Reed, Sir Torquil Norman, Dr Marika Sherwood

Matthew Bannister on

The Hollywood actor Val Kilmer, best known for his roles in Top Gun, Batman Forever and The Doors.

Jane Reed, the media executive who made Woman’s Own magazine a powerful voice for its readers at a time of changing roles for women in society.

Sir Torquil Norman, who used the proceeds from the sale of his successful toy business to restore the fortunes of the Roundhouse Arts Centre in London.

Dr Marika Sherwood, the Hungarian-born academic who wrote groundbreaking books on the history of black people in Britain.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive: Desert Island Discs – Sir Torquil Norman, 12/12/2010; Marika Sherwood, interviewed by Tayo Aluko, Dec 2023; Woman’s Hour, BBC, 25/02/2015; Top Gun, Paramount Pictures presents, A Tony Scott Film, A Don Simpson / Jerry Bruckheimer Production,1986; The Heaven and Earth Show, BBC 1, 16/01/2005; Top Secret!, Paramount Pictures, Kingsmere Properties, 1984; Batman Forever, Warner Bros. presents, A Tim Burton Production, A Joel Schumacher Film, Polygram Filmed Entertainment (PolyGram Pictures, produced in association with, 1995; Authors Series: Marika Sherwood, YouTube Upload by UCLA Bunch Center, 17/08/2016; Dr Marika Sherwood at Discover Black History: Beyond the Windrush, Daily Motion Upload by King Cipher Jewels, 31/08/2012; WORKING LUNCH, BC2, 11/07/2006; The Roundhouse - The People's Palace, BBC 4, 23/10/2016; The Editors, 09/07/1978; THE PERSUADERS: WOMEN'S OWN WEEKLIES, 07/01/1969; RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN ON THE THORN BIRDS, BBC1, 01/01/1984


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m0029hwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m0029hwp)
China retaliates to Trump tariffs

China hits back at the US president, with a 34% tariff on US goods. On PM we hear the latest - and two top experts answer questions from listeners.
Also: PM visits a secondary school to get the views of teenage boys following Netflix's 'Adolescence'; the comedian Russell Brand is charged with rape; and we explore the vibrant history of dance music.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029hwr)
Trillions of pounds are wiped from world markets as China hits back at Trump's tariffs.


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m0029hwt)
Series 2

Tariffic Trump retaliation, and Woop Woop - it's the sound of the Thought Police.

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.

This week we 'woop woop' at the sound of the Thought Police, enjoy a spot of 'tariffic' retaliation, and bang a gong for the local elections.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Sarah Dempster
Jason Hazeley.

wth additional material.

Investigations Team:
Cat Neilan
Louis Mian
Freya Shaw
Matt Brown

Guests: Larry Budd, and Felicity Hannah out of off of Radio 4's Moneybox Live.

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler.

Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0029hww)
Writer: Shaun McKenna
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davies
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Vince Casey…. Tony Turner
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Rex Fairbrother…. Nick Barber
Rochelle Horville…. Rosie Stancliffe
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m0029hwy)
Tawiah and Linton Stephens round off the series

Singer, songwriter and film & TV composer Tawiah and bassoonist Linton Stephens join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the last five tracks in the current series. Love and longing feature prominently, be it for a distant homeland, a parent to a child, or infatuation. But the curtain rises to a famous march representing the forces of darkness in the evil empire.

Add to Playlist returns for a new series towards the end of May.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) by John Williams
Maria from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Boricua en la Luna by Roy Brown
Orange Moon by Erykah Badu
Mother and Child Reunion by Paul Simon

Other music in this episode:

Nut Rocker by B. Bumble & The Stingers
Mars by Gustav Holst
Dance at the Gym from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
Vietnam by Jimmy Cliff


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0029hx0)
Kevin Hollinrake MP, Christopher Hope, Baroness Jones, Kirsty McNeill MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Clara Vale Village Hall in Gateshead with Kevin Hollinrake MP, the shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities; GB News political editor Christopher Hope; Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb; and the Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill MP.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Liam Juniper


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m0029hx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 The Law Show (m0029hx5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:30 Currently (m00297tp)
Britain’s Shrinking Army

Ash Bhardwaj finds out why the British Army is shrinking at a crucial juncture for the future of UK defence.

He speaks to new recruits to understand what drove them to a career in the army – and visits secondary schools across the country to ask whether it’s really true that young people don't want to fight for their country.

We hear from insiders who’ve been at coalface of recruitment over the last ten years, who tell us where we’ve been going wrong, and how we might start to get it right.

Presented by Ash Bhardwaj
Produced by Artemis Irvine
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029hx7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029hx9)
5. A Letter from Greece

At school, Maurice Hall had dreamed of finding a very special friend, someone for whom he would make any sacrifice, whom he could love for ever. When the unformed schoolboy becomes a more worldly undergraduate and meets the irresistible, clever Clive Durham, this dream seems to be in sight. Their attraction is strong but, at Clive’s urging, remains platonic.

As both change, their relationship cannot last, and Maurice is cast adrift to find his way to happiness in a world of snobbery, stifling uniformity and sexual repression.

E.M. Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, but never published it in his lifetime. He believed its theme of young gay love, inspired by an encounter he himself had as a lonely young writer, meant that it should forever remain unpublished, or at least until the laws of England changed. He was also determined to write a story in which two men should fall in love and find happiness, despite the social disapproval and hypocrisy of the times. It was not until 1971, four years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, that the book was finally published, and recognised as a founding work of modern gay literature.

In Episode 5, a letter from Clive comes as a huge shock to Maurice.

Read by David Dawson
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies
Sound design by Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:00 Americast (m0029hxc)
Is Elon Musk leaving the White House?

There was a bright spot for Democrats this week after a liberal judge beat her conservative rival in the most expensive judicial election in US history. Susan Crawford beat Brad Schimel despite being backed by President Donald Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

The results came amid reports that Elon Musk could soon leave his prominent role in Donald Trump's administration. The White House has described the reports as "garbage" and that Musk would only leave when his work at DOGE was complete.

And, Justin has been chatting to an economist from The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank which backs Trump's global tariffs policy.

HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent

GUEST:
• EJ Antoni, Heritage Foundation Economist

GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast

This episode was made by Purvee Pattni with Rufus Gray, Claire Betzer and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.

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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

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The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
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Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029hxf)
What happens if a PM loses an election but refuses to quit No 10? Sean Curran reports. Also, as the phone network goes digital, rural MPs fear their constituents could be cut off. And it's no laughing matter - MPs investigate British comedy.