SATURDAY 05 APRIL 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0029hxh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 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


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029hxk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029hxm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m0029hxp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029hxr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029hxt)
Wonderful Women

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning.
When the world spins crazy and the weight of existence all but overwhelms, it can be hard to know where to turn for solace.
All through my life, I have come across the writings of individual people who have been a source of light and encouragement when I have felt overwhelmed. Very often, their views have been at odds with the prevailing mood of the times.

I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose song, the Magnificat, speaks of the toppling of tyrants and raising up the downtrodden. Hildegard of Bingen, whose spiritual awareness spoke of an inner light, a mystical reality seen with the heart more than the eye. Julian of Norwich, whose life long reflection led her to affirm that the Lord’s meaning is love. And Maya Angelou, who carried the marks of life upon her beautiful face, a victim of abuse and racism but she wrote ‘And still, I rise’. When I think about these inspirational people, so many are women. Carrying a vision of an alternative to the world we inhabit, full of small men with oversized ambition.

And then I think of Jesus who renounced power and status as he wrestled in these 40 days in the desert that people who follow him mark during Lent. He embodies what the world has always desperately needed: gentle nurturing, values that run counter to ego and hubris, the power of powerlessness.

Great Love, we live under the weight of a world daily made more dangerous by the excess of power and ego. As people of the Spirit, we seek the courage to stand for those alternative values embodied by so many women, gentleness as the answer to anger, healing as the answer to hurt and an openness to the light of the Spirit that always burns in defiance of the dark. Amen.


SAT 05:45 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


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0029rfy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:07 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


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0029rg0)
05/04/25 Farming Today This Week: Trump's trade tariffs; Island life - from housing and ferries to dairy farming; Wildfires

President Trump's announcement of sweeping new tariffs on goods entering the United States from around the world has caused chaos in international markets, and producers have been trying to work out what it'll mean for them. The UK faces tariffs of 10% on all exports to the States. The US is the third largest export market for UK farmers after Ireland and France, according to the most recent DEFRA figures. On average, we sell £68 million worth of cheese, £23 million worth of pork and around £3 million worth of beef to the States every year. Salmon is another major food export.

All week we've been visiting islands and hearing about the advantages and challenges of living in some of the UK's most beautiful places. 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.

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 a vital part of their farming business. However getting animals on and off the island by boat isn't always predictable.

In Guernsey, dairy farmers have welcomed a decision to increase the support they receive from the island's government.

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.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0029rg2)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0029rg4)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0029rg6)
Gyles Brandreth, Lorna Tucker, Paul Lamb, Sophie Duker

The writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth discusses his love of words and language.

Lorna Tucker is the fearless and celebrated filmmaker who rose from homelessness and a life of crime on the streets of Soho to Sundance glory.

And Paul Lamb the wagon-living-hedge-laying wizard, who weaves living masterpieces from nature’s tangle, restoring ancient countryside hedgerows and keeping alive a vanishing ancient craft.

Plus we have the Inheritance Tracks of the stand-up comedian and writer Sophie Duker.

Presenters: Nikki Beddi and Huw Stephens
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

And if you’ve been affected by any of the things discussed in our conversation...there's information, help and support available at bbc.co.uk/actionline


SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m0029rg8)
Series 23

The Diamond Throwdown

“Diamonds are nonsense!” Hannah boldly proclaimed in a previous episode. But listener Guy is a diamond enthusiast, and he and his diamond-loving pals were NOT OKAY WITH THIS. He demanded we re-open the case, and here we are...

SO in this glittering showdown, Dara is on a quest to flip Hannah’s perspective from “meh” to “marvelous.” And for Hannah, some uncomfortable facts soon emerge. It turns out that diamonds are much more than just overpriced bling. They're the secret ingredient in all sorts of high-tech gadgets with a whole arsenal of little-known superpowers.

Enter electrochemist Julie Macpherson, who blows Hannah’s mind by showing how diamonds can slice through ice like butter, thanks to their unmatched ability to conduct heat. Not impressed yet? Physicist Mark Newton makes a diamond glow in the dark, using nothing but his phone flashlight.

And that’s just to start! These ultra-robust gems can scrub nasty chemicals from water, serve as supercharged electrodes, and even reveal deep-earth secrets locked away for billions of years.

By the end of this episode, will Hannah finally admit diamonds are forever cool?

Contributors:

Charlie Bexfield - Gemmologist and diamond specialist
Julie MacPherson - Professor of Chemistry at the University of Warwick
Mark Newton - Professor of Physics at the University of Warwick
Grahame Pearson - Professor of Earth Sciences from the University of Alberta

Producer: Ilan Goodman
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 10:30 Soul Music (m0029rgc)
I Feel Love

Stories of love, loss and legacy surrounding Donna Summer's iconic 1977 hit. Producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte wanted to make something which sounded like the future, and sure enough 'I Feel Love' went on to revolutionise disco and pave the way for electronic dance music. Almost 40 years on, it still sounds fresh to this day: the pumping arpeggiated bassline, the synthesized drones, and Donna's soaring multi-tracked vocals.

Writer and AIDS activist Mark S. King reflects on what the song meant to him back when it was first released, and then later through the HIV/AIDS crisis. Retail consultant and author Mary Portas shares how the song got her through a difficult time of loss, taking her to a place beyond grief. A place of freedom and dance. Singer-songwriter Bruce Sudano, Donna Summer's husband of 32 years until her death in 2012, remembers the heady days when they first met. It was 1977, the same year that I Feel Love was written and released. And music journalist Danyel Smith, author of 'Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop', celebrates the incredible legacy of Donna and the power of this pioneering track. A track that still, decades later, gets people on the dance floor.

Producer: Becky Ripley


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0029rgf)
The BBC's Deputy Political Editor, Vicki Young, presents a special programme looking back at the year so far in British politics.

To discuss the major political developments of recent months she is joined by the Political Editor of The Daily Telegraph, Ben Riley-Smith, the Chief Political Commentator of The Times, Patrick Maguire, and The Observer columnist and chief leader writer, Sonia Sodha.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0029qbh)
Taking back Khartoum

Kate Adie introduces stories from Sudan, Greenland, Lebanon, the Vatican and France.

An estimated 3.5 million people have fled Khartoum since RSF rebels took control of the Sudanese capital two years ago - but it is now back under the control of the army. Barbara Plett-Usher joined a military convoy, travelling deep into a city devastated by war, but found relief among remaining residents who say they are 'learning to live again'.

The eyes of the world have turned to Greenland this year as Donald Trump has made aggressive overtures about taking over the Danish territory. Andrew Harding travelled to the capital, Nuuk, where locals keen for independence are now concerned about the threat of more outside interference.

The Lebanese militia group, Hezbollah, is in its weakest position for years after 13 months of conflict with Israel, during which time many of its senior leaders were killed. Hugo Bachega visited Hezbollah's strongholds to weigh up how solid its support is today.

Pope Francis is back home after a five week stay in hospital. He remains visibly frail, and amid uncertainty about his long-term future as head of the Catholic Church, there’s speculation about a possible successor. David Willey considers the broader challenge facing the Vatican when it comes to an ageing priesthood.

The decision by a French court to block the far-right politician Marine Le Pen from standing in the next presidential election, after she was found guilty of misusing EU parliamentary funds, has proven hugely divisive. Hugh Schofield summarises the national mood, by setting the scene being played out in homes up and down the country.

Producer: Farhana Haider
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0029rgh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0029qbf)
Investments and Carers Allowance

Stock markets around the world have plunged in reaction to the import tariffs imposed by President Trump and then the retaliation of China which responded with its own tariffs on American goods. Economists have warned that this trade war could seriously damage the world economy, and make all of us poorer. By the end of Friday shares traded in London had fallen nearly 5% in price. What does that mean for investments?

The earnings limit on Carer’s Allowance is to rise this week. From 7th April working carers can earn up to £196 per week after certain deductions, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage, and continue to claim Carer’s Allowance. That's an increase of £45 compared to the previous earnings threshold. But what, if anything, does that mean for the thousands of carers who're in debt because they unwittingly got overpayments of the benefit?

Last year we tapped our cards 19 billion times in shops, pubs, cafes, and retail outlets without using our PIN. At the moment the upper limit for contactless card payments in person is £100, but regulators are considering raising it or even scrapping it altogether. What would that mean in practice?

And, a reminder to get your postage stamps before the cost of them goes up.

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

(First broadcast at 12pm Saturday 5th April, 2025)


SAT 12:30 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


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0029rgk)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m0029rgm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 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


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m0029rgp)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0029hww)
Clarrie catches up with Fallon crossing the Green, and they have an awkward exchange about her application to work in the Bull kitchen as well as at Casey Meats. She was too late for Casey Meats, despite Rochelle being given an interview. Fallon admits they had lots of applications from better qualified people for The Bull’s kitchen. Clarrie accepts the rejection stoically, but it’s clear there’s regret on Fallon’s part as Clarrie goes. Later, Clarrie turns up at Woodbine Cottage and offers to work unpaid whenever The Bull kitchen gets really busy. Fallon tells her she can’t work for nothing, before Clarrie makes a fulsome apology about George’s actions and the impact on Fallon. Clarrie offers herself as someone to talk to, if ever Fallon feels the need. Fallon invites Clarrie in. Fallon’s loving being head chef so far, then discovers that Clarrie wanted to be a dancer when she was growing up. Fallon’s sure she’ll find a job soon.

At Casey Meats, Freddie reflects on finally getting Jolene off the cricket team before Rochelle arrives for her interview. Vince is already impressed by how Rochelle handled the situation at the shop the other day. Later, Freddie tells Vince that Rochelle did well and they’re calling her back. In the car park later, Rochelle surprises Vince with a couple of questions about animal welfare she didn’t ask at the interview. Vince tells her unofficially that she’s got the job before offering Rochelle a lift back to Ambridge, adding that she can ask him anything she wants.


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000tdyq)
Tango Diaires

Ron Hutchinson writes a series of compelling vignettes, exploring why Tango is such an obsession and a way of life for some people.

Is it the drama, the proximity, the rhythm, the soul-bearing? Five people explain why this astonishing dance means so much to them.

Ron Hutchinson has written extensively for the theatre (Rat in the Skull, Pygmies in the Ruins, Moonlight and Magnolias) and for TV and Film (Bird of Prey, The Ten Commandments). His last radio drama was Ship of Lies in 2019.

Cast
Annie - Summer Strallen
Howard - Matt Rippey
Ross - Damian Lynch
Sean/The Chief - Jos Vantyler
Marco/Dance Hall Owner - Kerry Shale
Grace/Frannie/Kara - Melli Bond
Jeanie - Jane Jackson
Stanislav - Tomasz Aleksander
Lena- Nicola Stuart Hill
Dan - Chris Buckley
Nadya/Shoe Lady - Flora Montgomery
Archie - Richard Wilson

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill

A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0029rgr)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Education Sec Bridget Phillipson, Author Marni Appleton, Women and prison

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.

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 joined Nuala to discuss the themes and her inspiration.

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 was joined by the exhibition’s curator and medieval manuscripts specialist, Dr James Freeman.

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood believes “prison isn’t working” for women and wants to reduce the number of female prisoners. Nuala speaks to Scarlett Roberts, a former prisoner and is now a Churchill Fellow and to former prisoner Jules Rowan, 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, author of Five by Five, Claire Wilson and Lucy Russell, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the charity Women in Prison.

The Neonatal Care Act starts tomorrow. 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.

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

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Emma Pearce


SAT 17:00 PM (m0029rgt)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 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


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0029rgw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0029rgy)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029rh0)
A video has emerged which casts doubt on Israel's account of an attack in Gaza two weeks ago, which killed fifteen medical and aid workers.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0029qjz)
Billy Porter, Deborah Frances White, Anna Chancellor, Lapsley, Anthony Joseph

Joining Clive Anderson in the Loose Ends studio are the Emmy award-winning actor Billy Porter, currently hanging out in the Kit-Kat club where he is starring as Emcee. Comedian and 'Guilty Feminist' podcaster Deborah Frances White has just published a new book 'Six Conversations We're Scared to Have', about how to ask difficult questions and change minds - including our own.

Anna Chancellor stars in April De Angelis's 'Playhouse Creatures', about the first women of theatre at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London.

Music from Lapsley, one of the BBC Radio 1 Sound of... artists in 2025, she is about to release her fourth album 'I'm a Hurricane I'm a Woman in Love', the first on her own record label 'Her Own Recordings', and from poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album 'Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back'

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Jessica Treen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0029q9g)
Steve Witkoff

Steve Witkoff started out as a New York lawyer, until a late night encounter with Donald Trump in a sandwich shop inspired him to move into real estate. Known as "Smoking Steve", he has amassed a property empire worth millions, become friends and golf buddies with Trump, and has now been appointed as his Middle East Envoy and go-to international negotiator and trouble shooter.

To his critics he's dangerously unqualified and out of his depth. To his supporters, he's the straight-talking fresh pair of eyes needed to resolve deeply entrenched conflicts.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Josephine Casserly, Chloe Scannapieco, Devian Maside
Editor: Max Deveson
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele


SAT 19:15 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


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0029rh2)
Nato: Then, Now, Now What?

On April 4, 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. US President Harry S. Truman called it, “… a neighbourly act. We are like a group of householders, living in the same locality, who decide to express their community of interests by entering into a formal association for their mutual self-protection.”

But NATO was always more than just a neighbourhood watch project. It was set up to deter Soviet expansion into Western Europe, and succeeded. NATO outlasted it by three decades. But now, the American President Donald Trump seems to many to be more inclined to alliance with Vladimir Putin, the leader of the Soviet Union’s successor, the Russian Federation, placing questions over the future of the old Alliance. Can anything replace it?

In this Archive on 4, Michael Goldfarb traces the history of NATO - its surprisingly rare military engagements, its neighbourly spats, its evolution into a unique military-political-diplomatic umbrella. He details the story of Article 5, the part of the treaty that commits members to regard an attack on one as an attack on all, with appropriate military response. He also takes a clear-eyed look at the prospects of a purely European defence grouping based on history - the European Community’s failure to prevent the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia.

The programme begins at the beginning, with the creation of a post-World War 2 order to counter Soviet expansion westward. It uses De Gaulle’s decision to withdraw France from the military command structure rather than place its nuclear weapons under NATO control, as a way of looking at the fundamental flaw in the alliance - it is made up independent nations, each with its own political dynamics that don’t always align. The documentary goes on to look at the one and only time Article 5 was invoked - after the attack of 9/11 as America sought to overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Finally, it explores NATO’s expansion eastwards.

Was NATO ever anything more than a tool of US security policy and can European nations succeed in creating their own equivalent to counter Russian expansion into Ukraine? If the experience of the Balkans in the 1990s is anything to go by, that may not be possible. And if Europe’s collective defence is still tied to the US, then how can it cope with a Trump administration aligning itself with the nation NATO was set up to stand against?

A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 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


SAT 22:00 News (m0029rh4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 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


SAT 23:00 Call Jonathan Pie (m0029p9q)
Series 2

2. A Strange Musk

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.

Whilst Pie discusses issues surrounding the billionaire class the entire team must deal with the fallout of Pie’s dodgy tummy. Meanwhile Sam is showing worrying signs: namely, thinking for himself. Special guest appearance from Dermot O’Leary.


Call Jonathan Pie is written and performed by Tom Walker.
With additional material from Nick Revell and Daniel Abelson
Jules ….. Lucy Pearman
Sam ….. Aqib Khan
Roger ….. Nick Revell.
Special Guest …. Dermot O’Leary

The callers; Daniel Abelson, Ed Kear, Sarah Gabriel, Willow Bennison, Adam Byron, and Laura Shavin.

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


SAT 23:30 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.

SUNDAY 06 APRIL 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0029rh6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 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 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029rh8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029rhb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m0029rhd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029rhg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0029qbp)
The Church of St Mary and St Giles Buckerell in Devon

Bells on Sunday comes from the Church of St Mary and St Giles Buckerell in Devon. The church is said to have been dedicated in the early 14th century and has been subject to various alterations over the centuries and an extensive restoration in the early 19th century. The three stage tower houses a ring of six bells including two bells that were cast around 1450 in Exeter. The Tenor weighs eight hundredweight and is tuned to the note of B flat. We hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 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.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0029q8m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 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


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0029q8p)
Scilly Vineyard

Holly Robbins and James Faulconbridge swapped life in landlocked Nottinghamshire for a vineyard tucked behind the dunes on St Martins, one of the Isles of Scilly. They tell Sarah Swadling how they went on holiday to the islands and, more or less, came home with a vineyard. Their philosophy is to treat the land as a nature reserve which happens to produce wine, cider, and apple juice. Holly and James decided not to use any chemicals and fossil fuels in managing the vines. Sarah hears how they've immersed themselves in island life. They're now keen Pilot Gig rowers, racing the traditional boats once used to transport pilots out to ships making their way through Scilly's treacherous rocks.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0029q8r)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0029q8t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0029q8w)
Myanmar cardinal; Trump's Faith advisor; Omid Djalili

Cardinal Charles Bo talks to Sunday about the devastation in his home country of Myanmar.

William talks to Dr Leah Payne, an expert in female Pentecostalism about President Trump's controversial faith advisor Paula White-Cain.

We get a first look at a mysterious medieval scroll that's gone on display in York, having been tucked away in a cupboard in the city's Bar Covent.

Comedian and actor Omid Djalili tells us about his latest stand-up tour called Namaste, which is inspired by his Baha'i background.

PRESENTER: William Crawley
PRODUCERS: Catherine Murray and Katy Davis
EDITOR: Chloe Walker
STUDIO MANAGERS: Jack Morris and Kelly Young


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029q8y)
Cool Earth

Wildlife cameraman and ambassador for Cool Earth Vianet Djenguet makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity.

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

Registered Charity Number: 1117978. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *www.coolearth.org
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0029q90)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0029q92)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0029q94)
Faith, Courage and Life Together in Difficult Times

This service marks the 80th anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffers death on the 9th of April 1945 and was recorded at the Bonhoeffer Church in London. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, pastor, writer who fought for justice towards all people but especially the persecuted Jews in Germany. He was captured and imprisoned in Flossenbürg a Nazi concentration camp in Bavaria, Germany, and killed just weeks before the end of the war. The Bishop of Chelmsford Guli Francis-Dehqani and Dr Krish Kandiah explore Bonhoeffers legacy.

Poem - Who Am I by Dietrich Bonhoeffer read by Actor Tom Hanks.

Music:
St Matthew’s Passion -Munchener Bach Orchestra
A Mighty Fortress is our God - The Cambridge Singers
Were You There When They Crucified my Lord - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Go Down Moses - Mica Paris
The Bonhoeffer cantata composed by Frederick Brandes Choir master of the Bonhoeffer choir, performed the Bonhoeffer choir.

Producer:
Carmel Lonergan

Technical Production:
Milo Dwek
Phillip Halliwell

Editor:
Tim Pemberton


SUN 08:48 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 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0029q96)
James Henry on the Cuckoo

For author James Henry the bird sights and sounds of his Essex homeland brings continuous pleasure to his birding year. However birding came late to him and for many years the cuckoo remained something of an elusive bird after a brief flirtation as a child at his grandmothers holiday caravan when he heard but failed to see the bird. It then took forty years before he actually saw his fist cuckoo, after sunset near Romney Marsh as it flew over a field of cattle calling into the dusk.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Caitlin Gazeley


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0029q98)
Starmer vows to protect UK businesses from Trump's tariff 'storm'

Starmer vows to protect UK businesses from tariff 'storm.' We have the latest on two British MPs detained in Israel and ask what happens when a Banksy drops on your doorstep.


SUN 10:00 The Reunion (m0029q9b)
The Commitments

Kirsty Wark reunites those involved in the making of 1991 film The Commitments.

In the late 80s, a young Dublin school teacher self-published a novel about a group of kids from the impoverished Northside rising above their circumstance by forming their own soul band. It was called The Commitments, and it soon attracted the notice of film producers - as well as veteran film director Alan Parker.

The film was shot in Dublin, with a cast composed almost entirely of young musicians and non-actors, plucked from busking spots and the stages of gig venues. Much of Parker’s time was spent coaxing performances out of his young cast members. And like a real band, they played all of the music live - selected especially from the back catalogue of Stax and Motown.

The film opened to critical acclaim - but it really found its footing in Ireland, where it was the most successful film ever at the box office at the time of its release. It would go on to win Best Film at the following year’s BAFTAs - and the soundtrack went triple platinum.

Kirsty is joined in the studio by Lynda Myles, who co-produced the film. Ros and John Hubbard were the casting directors who scoured Dublin’s late night for raw talent. Angeline Ball played blonde backing singer Imelda Quirke and soon became one of the film’s most recognisable faces. Dave Finnegan was spotted busking on Grafton Street and was cast as the band’s bouncer and eventual drummer, Mickah Wallace. And Roddy Doyle, who wrote the book, would eventually win The Booker Prize for 1994 novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

We’ll also hear contributions from Colm Meaney, whose turn as the Elvis-obsessed patriarch of Doyle’s Rabbitte family cemented his place in the Irish comedy canon, and Bronagh Gallagher, who played Bernie McLoughlin - the backing singer who needed the band “more than anybody”.

Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for Radio 4


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0029q9d)
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


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0029q9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 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


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0029q9j)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0029q9l)
How Donald Trump is reshaping presidential power

As the United States sees the largest protests against Donald Trump since he took office in January - we assess the President's use of executive power. We hear from one of his allies, from a constitutional lawyer and we also hear why the Democrats are struggling to provide effective opposition.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m0029q9n)
The Choice: How Assisted Dying Works

California is one of ten US states where assisted dying is lawful and in some respects it’s a model for how the practice might work in Britain.

Introduced in 2016, it’s available to those who are terminally ill and are expected to die within six months. Patients must self administer the lethal medication - the same as what’s proposed in England and Wales.

BBC Medical editor Fergus Walsh travels to San Diego to meet 80 year old Wayne who’s planning to end his life. He’s terminally ill with heart failure and in excruciating pain from a severely damaged spine.

“I just don't see any merit to dying slow and painfully and hooked up with intubation and feeding tubes. I want none of it,” he said.

The programme hears from doctors and patients on both sides of the argument. Opponents warn assisted dying is putting the vulnerable at risk such as people with disabilities or mental illness.

Michelle Carter is 72 and has advanced cancer. She believes people should have a choice but has completely ruled out having an assisted death

“Suicide dying is not for me..I choose palliative care. I have God and I have good medicine,” she said.

There are important differences between the law in California and what is proposed here. Patients can get access to lethal medication in 48 hours in California. If assisted dying is legalised in England and Wales, it will take about a month for terminally ill patients to be approved.

Across California, around 1 in every 300 deaths is now medically aided.

But in Canada assisted dying accounts for around 1 in 20 deaths - that’s 15 times the rate in California - and one of the highest in the world.

The law was introduced in 2016 - the same as California - and is open to those with an incurable medical condition which causes intolerable suffering. Initially it was just for the terminally ill, but that requirement has been dropped.

In Canada, nearly all medically assisted deaths are carried out by doctors who inject the lethal dose. Fergus meets one doctor who has helped hundreds of people to die. She says she sees it as a “ sacred duty.”

But another tells him that Canada has “fallen off a cliff” when it comes to assisted dying and that it is being used as an alternative to social or medical support.

Finally Fergus returns to California to witness Wayne end his life surrounded by his wife and children.

“I’m all in. I’ve never had any question about it,” Wayne tells him

Reporter: Fergus Walsh
Producers: Paul Grant and Camilla Horrox
Technical Producer: David Crackles
Production Management Assistant: Katie Morrison
Editor: Clare Fordham


SUN 14:00 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


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0029q9q)
London Belongs to Me

Ian Sansom celebrates the evocative portrait of London on the brink of war that Norman Collins paints in his 1945 novel London Belongs to Me.

The book centres around the lives of the inhabitants of 10 Dulcimer Street, a down-at-heel south London boarding house, and spans the two years from December 1938 to December 1940. Deftly mixing comedy and tragedy, Collins invites us into the lives of these disparate characters, a handful of seemingly unremarkable people whose minor triumphs and bruising setbacks combine to provide a poignant and compelling account of the human face of history, away from the headlines and the corridors of power.

Ian Sansom is a novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the Mobile Library and the County Guides series of detective novels and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He has worked as a columnist for The Guardian and The Spectator and currently writes for the TLS, The Irish Times and The Dublin Review. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3. He was formerly the Director of the Oscar Wilde Centre at Trinity College Dublin and a professor and Head of English at Queen’s University Belfast.

Contributors:
Ed Glinert, writer, lecturer and historical tour guide
Katherine Cooper, writer, academic and broadcaster

Readings from London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins (Penguin Books, 2008)

Reader: Ewan Bailey
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Production Coordinator: Nina Semple
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 London Belongs to Me (m0029q9s)
Episode 1

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins.
Dramatised by Mike Harris.
Episode 1
It is 1938 and the prospect of war hangs like a noxious, grey drizzle over London. But the city doesn't stop. Everywhere people continue to work, fight, fall in love and struggle to get on in in life. None more so than the inhabitants of 10 Dulcimer Street in Kennington. A lodging house in South London.

Connie..........................................................Dorothy Atkinson
Josser & Squales......................................Jonathan Keeble
Mrs Josser & Mrs Van Byl.....................Susan Brown
Percy & Bill..................................................James Cooney
Mrs Vizzard & Mrs Boone.....................Liza Sadovy
Puddy & Ted...............................................Samuel James
Doris..............................................................Shreya Lallu
Barbara & Cynthia....................................Andi Bickers

Production Co-ordinator - Vicky Moseley
Studio Manager - Alison Craig
Sound Design - Keith Graham
Producer/Director - Gary Brown

BBC Studios Audio Production.

"One of the great city novels: a sprawling celebration of the comedy, the savagery, the eccentricity and the quiet heroism at the heart of ordinary London lfe" - Sarah Waters.

Norman Collins was a leading broadcasting executive. In the 1940s he was head of the BBC Light Service and was instrumental in commissioning 'Woman's Hour' and 'Dick Barton'. He also helped establish ITV and was a director of ITN. He wrote sixteen novels and two plays.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m0029q9w)
Michel Faber

This month BBC Radio 4's Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, speaks to the writer Michel Faber about his debut novel, Under the Skin. Published in the year 2000 by Canongate it went on to be shortlisted for the Whitbread Award that same year. The book follows the female protagonist of Isserley who roves the A9 in the Scottish Highlands looking to pick up hitchhikers (preferably ones with big muscles). In 2013 the book was made into a film, shot in Glasgow, and directed by Jonathan Glazer. It starred Scarlett Johansson as Isserley.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m000ffzq)
Series 1

Episode 2

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:

* Wildlife biologist Lizzie Daly
* Zoologist Billy Heaney
* Comedian Jessica Fostekew.

‘Show & Tell’ objects include: Angler fish and grey seals.

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler and Jon Hunter

Producer: Simon Nicholls

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


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yl3)
The handover of the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and plays a huge role in global shipping.

The United States had rights to the land surrounding it, known as the canal zone, and also controlled the waterway itself.

In 1977, responding to years of Panamanian protest, US President Jimmy Carter and Panama's General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties, giving full control to Panama.

The handover ceremony took place in December 1999.

Alberto Aleman Zubieta was an administrator of the canal. Twenty-five years on, he tells Gill Kearsley the story of the handover.

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: Panama handover ceremony. Credit: Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Patch (m00269bs)
Gendros, Swansea

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

Today, the random postcode generator lands producer Polly Weston in an industrial estate in Gendros, Swansea. Gendros sits outside the centre of Swansea, on the main road out to the M4. The industrial estate looks just like any other. McDonalds, Home Bargains, Costa and Matalan. But just behind there, are a whole row of independent businesses, with pounding house music drifting out of one of the units, from 5am until 10pm every day.

It's called The Ware-House gym. Opened in 2021, inspired by the clubs of Ibiza, its Instagram feed looks a little... intimidating. But on Polly's first visit, the manager Hayley - "I'm a hugger, I don't do shaking hands" - is insistent there's more to it than its image. Astonishingly, she says members are in here 80 times a month, nearly three times a day, "and it's very unusual for people to be in here less than twice a day".

How is that possible? And who is here? Polly arrives at 5am, to bear witness to a day in the life of the gym.

Inside are parallel stories of the struggles of modern life, of ritual, and of how this city's culture has radically changed. Owner Chris Ware was a professional boxer and doorman in the heyday of Swansea's most famous nightclub, Escape. Eighteen years ago he realised the club was empty during the daytime, and so he started fitness classes in there, using the sound system. "It's dark so no one can see you, loud so no one can hear you." All those big clubs have gone now. The world famous Kingsway where they all sat is set to be developed into offices. But the embers of those old days can be found here, at 5.30am on a Monday, in an industrial unit behind Home Bargains.

"For a lot of people here, this is our church now" - but what does that really mean?

Produced and presented in Bristol by Polly Weston
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Bristol production


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0029q9z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0029qb1)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029qb3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0029qb5)
Rajan Datar

This week, Rajan Datar provides the perfect cacophony of noise with banjo frogs, beats from Bogotá, yodelling feminists and callers on Jonathan Pie. Speaking of legendary noise, Bob Harris reminds us of some of the unforgettable soundbites and stories from one of the greatest music festivals to take place, Fantasy Park, which remarkably no one seems to remember apart from Bob Harris. And we hear about the atomic approach that’s in place in the Waterberg Biosphere of South Africa, using radioactivity to protect the rhino population.

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinator: Caroline Peddle

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0029qb7)
Out walking with Miranda, Brian makes an excuse to get away for a bridge tutorial with Martyn, something Brian’s keen Miranda doesn’t find out about. However, when Brian arrives at Martyn’s house, Miranda calls and he has to cover with a story about Martha running him ragged. Martyn finds his subterfuge amusing, though Brian’s sure Miranda suspects something. In the tutorial itself, tetchy Brian struggles with the basics of bidding, much to Martyn’s frustration. Brian admits he’s not the easiest of people to teach, and Martyn suggests another session on Tuesday.

Over at Grange Farm, it’s Keira’s birthday party. Despite Eddie’s best efforts, Clarrie can’t stop fussing around, wanting to keep busy. She’s dreading the prospect of her last day at the Dairy and how the family will cope without her income. Ed comes in and tells them about a lucrative tree surgery job that’s come up, but the customer wants it done tomorrow – the day they’re visiting George in prison for his birthday. Ed assumes they’ll have to turn it down, but then George rings to wish Keira a happy birthday. He’s looking forward to Ed and Emma visiting, though Will can’t make it. George susses something’s up, and Ed admits they’ll lose work tomorrow because of the visit. George has a suggestion. As money is tight with Clarrie losing her job, why doesn’t Eddie visit him instead, so Ed and Emma can still do the job? Eddie is quickly persuaded and promises to give George a birthday hug from Ed.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0029qb9)
Nobody to Call

If a person dies without friends or relatives, the authorities can instigate a 'public health funeral'.
Once called pauper's funerals - the services are referred to on the administrative form with a poignant phrase: "Nobody to Call."

These funerals often see online appeals for mourners to attend. And when the BBC's Kevin Core spots a particularly moving appeal on behalf of a 102 year old woman, he's intrigued.

“Funeral notice for Miss Margaret Robertson. 11 O’Clock, Thursday. Sefton Road United Reformed Church in Morecambe. Margaret Robertson has no family. If anyone could attend, that would be lovely.”

This documentary charts his visit to that funeral.
He talks to celebrant Hayley Cartwright about the hidden world of "public health funerals". Hayley's commitment to "do right by people" who die alone, compels her to seek out details about their lives, inviting mourners and ensuring these departures are more than cold, legal necessities.
Kevin wants to know more about the life of the 102-year-old Margaret Robertson, and finds a story of grit and dedication - and the surprising, moving reality behind the original online appeal.

Produced and presented by Kevin Core


SUN 19:45 Lent Talks (m0029qbc)
The Creed: That there is one Church

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, priest and anti-poverty campaigner, Fr Alex Frost reflects on the line: “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”

Producer: Dan Tierney


SUN 20:00 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


SUN 20:30 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


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0029qbf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029q8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0029qbh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0029qbk)
Ben Wright and guests consider the potential impact of President Trump's tariffs on the UK economy

Ben Wright's guests are the Labour MP Catherine Atkinson; Conservative backbencher Sir Bernard Jenkin; and the former head of press for Reform UK, Gawain Towler. They discuss the government's response to President Trump's tariffs and their potential impact on the British economy - with additional insight and analysis from Kevin Schofield, political editor of Huffpost UK. Ben also interviews the former Children's Commissioner, Baroness Anne Longfield, about the debate over banning phones in schools. And the chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit warns about a growing financial crisis facing councils.


SUN 23:00 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


SUN 23:45 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.

MONDAY 07 APRIL 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0029qbm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 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


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0029qbp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029qbr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029qbt)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m0029qbw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029qby)
What would happen if a prime minister lost an election but refused to quit No 10? Sean Curran reports. Also, the campaign to honour an SAS hero and MPs investigate British comedy.


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029qc0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029qc2)
Beacons of light

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning. In the churches where I have ministered over the years, I have always been committed to the idea of building communities of hope and love. We need hope in our lives as the power that helps us simply to get out of bed each morning to face the day. And whoever we are, we need to feel that we belong and are part of a community that cares. I have come across so many people over the years without those two things - belonging and being cared for - and it can be utterly devastating. In our churches, one of the things that we do is to promote faith. There have been numerous strategies over my years as a minister in which the church has sought to win back generations that have been lost to faith.

I’ve sometimes reflected that we get it the wrong way round if we don’t first kindle hope and create communities where people feel loved and a sense of belonging.
St Paul famously wrote in his letter to the Corinthian church that ‘faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love’.

It feels to me that we have often relegated hope and love and promoted faith as the principal purpose of the church. Surely, faith emerges out of hope and love, not the other way about. Not long ago a woman joined the church where I was minister. She had come to some social and arts events in the church for a while and then started coming to services. ‘I came for the friendship and stayed for the prayers’, were the words she used to sum up her journey towards faith.

Christ of the welcoming heart, you kindled hope in those you met and embraced with love those who had lost their way. Help your churches to be beacons of light in a world that can be dark, and heralds of hope where hopelessness can weigh heavy. Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0029qc4)
From this morning all poultry in the North of England must be brought inside - it's the latest restriction to be introduced because of avian flu, and follows new cases in both farmed and wild birds.
All birds - from free range hens to pets - in Cumbria, Country Durham, Northumberland and Tynside must now be housed. The housing order already applies in East and North Yorkshire, Hull, York, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire - as well as the whole of Northern Ireland. Tougher biosecurity rules cover the rest of the country.
All this week we're looking at the farmed fish industry - from Scottish salmon to the emerging market in seaweed.
And we ask what impact a new food strategy advisory board could have on the nation's health.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.


MON 05:57 Weather (m0029qc6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0029rl2)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0029rl4)
Untangling fact from fiction

In 1967 a group of writers in the US pulled off an ingenious hoax – the publication of a so-called top secret document detailing how global peace would destroy American society. Even when the deception was revealed, many groups on the left and right argued it was true, or that it revealed truths about the ‘deep state’. Phil Tinline takes up the story in Ghosts of Iron Mountain, showing how what started as satire gained currency, as trust in government and institutions collapsed.

During the Covid-19 lockdown the comedian Rosie Holt began a series of satirical videos in which she spliced together actual footage from news interviews with her play-acting the role of a politician. Many of her parodies caused outrage as viewers thought she was a real MP.

The statistician and epidemiologist Professor Adam Kucharski is interested in how people establish fact from fiction. In Proof: The Uncertain Science Of Certainty he explores how truth emerges, but warns against building a society that distrusts and doubts everything.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m0029rl6)
Exercise for everyone

Personal trainer Javeno McLean tells Rachel Burden how he trains people with disabilities and the elderly for free in his health centre, to show them that fitness is for everyone.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they’re doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip, and celebrating the people making the world a better place.

We’re all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community, or it might be about trying to make one life a little bit easier. And the key here is in the trying. This is real life. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it’s always worth a go.

You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029rl8)
Friendships, Nursery safety, Sudan

If you've been watching The White Lotus, you might be counting down the hours until the season three finale airs tonight. One of the themes central to this series has been female friendship, and it's left us wondering - is three a crowd? This dynamic plays out in the show between the trio of friends Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, played by Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon, who alternate between loving and loathing one another. So can friendships between three people work? TV critic Rachael Sigee and relationships writer at the Independent Olivia Petter join Nuala McGovern.

An investigation for a documentary that will air on BBC1 NorthWest tonight by the BBC's Hayley Hassell asks: How safe are our nurseries? There have been almost 20,000 reports of serious childcare incidents in nurseries in England in the past five years, some with devastating outcomes. Nurseries are highly regulated, so how did some of them mislead Ofsted about their practices?

Two years ago, Sudan was thrown into disarray when its army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group called Rapid Support Forces, began a vicious struggle for power. The civil war, which continues to this day, has claimed more than 150,000 lives, displaced millions of people and plunged parts of the country into famine. Mass sexual violence has also been widely documented as a weapon of war. Hala al-Karib is a Sudanese activist and regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA). One of the BBC World Service’s 100 Women 2024, she gives us the latest from Sudan.

Conceiving Histories: Trying for Pregnancy, Past and Present is a blend of memoir and history, illustrated with over 100 original colour images. More than a decade in the making, its author, Dr Isabel Davis, talks about using frogs for pregnancy tests, phantom pregnancies and the brief fashion for looking pregnant even if you weren’t.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey


MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m0029xr7)
Mickey

Mickey was born in the early 1950s and his earliest memories from primary school involve crime. His father taught him how to fight, and opportunities to make enough money to go to the cinema presented themselves to him. As he entered adulthood, the trouble escalated.
Across four decades, Mickey was in and out of prison. Then a chance meeting with the filmmaker Guy Richie, and a further encounter with the screenwriter Tony Jordan, led Mickey into the world of storytelling and the big screen.
Dr Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their job is to help people who have committed crimes to understand the harm they’ve caused, identify why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.
In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and prison.
Through this extended interview, we get to the heart of his behaviour and discover that there are two Mickeys.

If you’ve been a victim of crime, details of organisations offering information and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Editor: Clare Fordham
Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.


MON 11:45 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdr6)
1. The Magnificent Seventeen

Misha Glenny explores the world of rare earth metals and other critical raw materials. They are vital for the future of technology and the green transition. But some see China's monopoly on production as a major global threat.

In the first of five episodes, Misha finds out what the 17 rare earth metals are and hears about their weird and wonderful applications. He also discovers how China has managed to dominate the mining and refining of them.

Guests:

Dr Julie Klinger, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware and author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes
Sophia Kalantzakos, Global Distinguished Professor in Environmental Studies and Public Policy at New York University and the author of China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production coordinator: Janet Staples


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0029rlb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0029rld)
Fake Reviews, Older Renters and Charity Bargains

The authorities have new powers to tackle two things we hear a lot from you about. One is fake online reviews - the other is drip pricing, when the price of something magically increases because of extra charges. Will it make a difference? We'll ask the minister responsible.

Also on the programme - as more landlords sell up, we hear what it's like facing eviction from the home you hoped you would be your last.

We'll ask what the future holds for the supermarket cafe... and if you spotted something valuable on sale in a charity shop, would you sell it on for a vast profit, or let the charity know?

PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL

PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m0029rlg)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0029rlj)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The Banksy Story (m0029rll)
When Banksy Comes to Town

1. A Tale Of Two Banksys

Roll-up! Roll-up! The Banksy circus is coming to town... What happens when Banksy does one of his naughty drawings on the wall of your house? For Season 2 of The Banksy Story, super-fan James Peak investigates (even though he isn't an art critic, or a journalist).

In this episode, James visits Sam in Margate and Gert in Lowestoft. They have both been visited by Britain's favourite quality vandal. Banksy left freshly painted artworks on their properties overnight, like some kind of spray-can Santa Claus. But does this make the homeowners the lottery winners you might expect?

Written, Produced & Presented by James Peak
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Production Support: George Crowe
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Street Art Consultancy and Investigative Support: Steph Warren
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Rob Shiret, Rosie Bauer, Tracy Williams, Andy Voss & Noel Lewis.

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0029qb7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001whk3)
Series 5

1. On the Road Again

Roger’s plans for Joanna’s birthday take a wrong turn.

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return with the fifth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy about a long-married couple in love with life and each other.

This week, Roger and Joanna are left exhausted by bickering dinner guests and Joanna observes ‘Sometimes I think we’re the only happy couple in the world’. Roger responds ‘And then I forget to put the bins out – and you think again’. Roger makes plans to surprise Joanna with a nostalgic birthday trip – in a hippy love bus. Her response is not quite what he had hoped, as she declares ‘I am a five star woman, living a two star life!’ Peace and love are in short supply - until she has a magical birthday encounter.

Conversations from a Long Marriage is Written by Jan Etherington. It is produced and directed by Claire Jones. And it is a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

Wilfredo Acosta - sound engineer
Charlotte Sewter - studio assistant
Jon Calver - sound designer
Katie Baum - production coordinator

Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020, was nominated for a Writers’ Guild Award in 2022 and a British Comedy Guide award in 2024.

‘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
‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY
‘Sitcom is what marriage is really like – repetitive and ridiculous – and Jan’s words are some of the best ever written on the subject’. RICHARD CURTIS


MON 14:45 Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson (m001sv9n)
Episode 2

As 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 has laid bare the life, loves and eccentricities of her neighbours.

With the rhythms of village life continuing as usual it becomes clear that Miss Buncle is not the only Silverstream resident to have money on her mind.

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 Great Lives (m0029rln)
Maggi Hambling picks muse and lover Henrietta Moraes

“Henrietta's eyes looked into one's soul at the same time exposing her own. She posed for me most Mondays for the last seven months until two days before she died.”

In a raw and very funny opener to the new series of Great Lives, painter and sculptor Maggi Hambling chooses someone she knew extremely well - her lover Henrietta Moraes. Born in India, Henrietta was rejected by both her parents and the grandmother she grew up with in Britain. She found a new home in post war Soho, was painted by Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud, and took on various jobs including gypsy storyteller and cat burglar. According to one obituary she was, "foul-mouthed, amoral, a thief, a violent drunkard and a drug addict. Yet she was witty, wonderfully warm and lovable. Her presence in any room immediately told you that life is more thrilling than we dull folk imagine.”

Maggi Hambling is best known for her public works including A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft and the Scallop made of steel on Aldeburgh Beach. She is joined in studio by painter Darren Coffield who has developed a second career as an entertaining historian of Soho with books such Queens of Bohemia and Other Misfits.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


MON 15:30 Curious Cases (m0029rg8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m0029q9n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Soul Music (m0029rgc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0029rlq)
A Wild Ride for Global Stock Markets

It's been a volatile day for global stock markets following President Trump's tariff announcement. We hear the latest and we speak live to the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, about the UK's response.
Also: Phillipe Sands, Britain's foremost human rights lawyer, tells PM why he wants an international investigation into the killing by Israeli soldiers of 15 emergency workers in Gaza; it's one of the driest springs on record in England and Wales, leaving farmers in trouble; and top historian Sir Simon Schama on his first visit to Auschwitz, and what he calls the age of "Holocaust denialism".


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029rls)
Global stock markets suffer more losses - Trump threatens new tariffs against China


MON 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m0029rlv)
Series 2

6. The Slippery Dancefloor

Frank Skinner and guests Phil Wang, Marjolein Robertson, Simon Evans and Dee Allum discover the latest views on the Epic of Gilgamesh and which part of the tiger not to eat.

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. 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 and 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 (m0029rlx)
Eddie bumps into Elizabeth outside the Shop and admits Clarrie was secretly relieved not to get the abattoir job. Eddie then confesses his nervousness at visiting George, in case he’s changed. Elizabeth sympathises and gives Eddie some cash to buy something for George from the vending machine, as he won’t be allowed to take biscuits in. At the prison it’s an emotional reunion, before Eddie tells George the latest gossip from the market. Nervous Eddie notices a couple of prisoners staring at him. George explains it’s because he’s told them what a legend Eddie is, with all his scams. George assumes money is a worry at home and wants to help, telling Eddie his big idea for securing the family’s future : biodegradable coffins. His cellmate’s dad was buried in cardboard coffin. Despite Eddie’s scepticism George reckons it’s a surefire winner: cheaper and more eco-friendly than traditional wood.

At the abattoir Freddie finds Rochelle outside on a break, and asks her how it’ going. They exchange small talk, Rochelle saying she’s looking forward to her induction tour. Later, as they go round the cutting room, Rochelle is very inquisitive about the process and what happens to the animals before they are killed. She’s especially interested in the jobs of cutting and trimming. But as soon as they leave the room Rochelle rushes off to the toilets, where she vomits, before steeling herself to keep going. Later, back at Lower Loxley, Freddie discusses with Elizabeth how keen Rochelle is. When Elizabeth checks whether that's a good thing, Freddie supposes it is.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0029rlz)
Manhunt play by Robert Icke, new Edwardians exhibition, film director Waris Hussein

Theatre director Robert Icke's production of Oedipus won best revival and a best actress award for Lesley Manville at last night's Olivier Awards - but his new play Manhunt is now demanding his attention at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The drama focuses on the story of Raoul Moat who attacked his ex-girlfriend and killed her new boyfriend before a stand-off with armed police which ended in his suicide. Samira talks to Robert Icke and to Samuel Edward-Cook who plays Moat.

The Edwardian era - from Queen Victoria's death to the start of the First World War - is the subject of a new exhibition at the King's Gallery in London. Samira is joined by its curator Kathryn Jones from the Royal Collection Trust and by the historian and Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era.

The Swinging Sixties bring to mind films like Michael Caine's Alfie and the social realist dramas like Up The Junction. But A Touch of Love, released in 1969 and now getting a fresh outing on DVD, offers up an unusual female perspective on the era of free love. Margaret Drabble adapted her own novel the Millstone for the film which starred Sandy Dennis - alongside a young Ian McKellen in his first screen role. We hear from its director Waris Hussein - who also directed the first episodes of Dr Who.


MON 20:00 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)


MON 20:30 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


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0029rl4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m0029rl6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029rm1)
Trump says US in direct talks with Iran

President Trump says the US is in direct talks with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions. Speaking next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, the President said a meeting was scheduled for Saturday involving people at a "very high level". He warned it would be a "very bad day for Iran" if no agreement was reached.

The President also doubled down on his threats of further tariffs against China, opening the possibility they could go as high as 104%. We speak to two American businesswomen on what that would mean for them.

And we remember Blondie drummer Clem Burke, who has died at 70.


MON 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029rm3)
6. An Outlaw in Disguise

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 6, Maurice must come to terms with losing Clive as he resumes his suffocating daily life.

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 (p0bpwb7w)
Who Is Aldrich Kemp?

5. Kholat Syakhl

Trapped in a dungeon, our heroine Clara Page is under more pressure than ever as the water rises. And she learns some surprising family history. Can Aldrich Kemp and the team save her? Will she finally know all the answers? The concluding episode of Julian Simpson's drama.

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
The Underwood Sisters ........................Jana Carpenter
Conrad Spijker ........................................Steven Mackintosh
Hazlitt...................... ..................................Ben Crowe
Nurse.. .......................................................Louise Brealey

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 (m0029rm5)
Susan Hulme reports as ministers relax the rules on the transition to electric vehicles, two MPs denied entry to Israel criticise the decision and fears grow about British Steel.

TUESDAY 08 APRIL 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0029rm7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029rm9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029rmc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m0029rmf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029rmh)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as the government relaxes electric car sales targets to help manufacturers in the face of US import tariffs.


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029rmm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029rmp)
Learned from the birds

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning. We are fortunate to live in a little house by the sea. Every day we look across a beautiful bay and hear curlews with their haunting cry. We see oystercatchers busily foraging, and lines of plovers stand along the tide line like soldiers on parade. Gulls wheel on the air currents, clearly having fun, and through the summer months, sand martins and Ospreys add a touch of African exoticism to the scene. All these birds have their own distinctive character. They are truly themselves, dunlins expressing their dunlin natures.

When I think of what it is to be human, I realise that, unlike the birds, we often pretend to be what we are not. We put up defences for fear of being hurt. We reel from past trauma. For the birds, life is relatively simple. In spite of the song, no swan ever told a cygnet that she was not a swan.

The spiritual journey is a journey towards becoming. According to the Biblical tradition, we have an identity formed before we were knitted together in the womb. It can be a hard road to find our true selves with so much to undermine us along the way. According to Carl Jung, Jesus is the archetype of what it is to be human. When we seek to ‘imitate’ Christ, it is not so much about trying to be like him, but to find the personhood we share with his universal heart. We have the Divine nature deep within us. Setting that free enables us to be our true selves. The more aware we are of that inner spiritual depth that lies deep within, the less we will have to pretend to be someone we are not. That is the lesson I am learning from the birds.

Great love, set us free from the anxiety that leads to pretence. Help us to find deep within that we are loved, just as we are. May we grow day by day into our true likeness as people made in your image. Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0029rmr)
Scottish Farm Incomes, US Trade Red Lines, Farmed Trout

The Scottish Farm Business Survey has revealed a big drop in average farm income, falling by 51% in its latest figures for 2023/4. The President of NFU Scotland, Andrew Connon, tells Caz Graham that farm profits are being squeezed by increased costs including interest rates. As talks continue to hammer out a trade agreement between the UK and the US, the President of the NFU in England, Tom Bradshaw, remains bullish that the UK Government will stand firm on food import standards. And we visit a trout farm in Wiltshire as part of a week focussing on aquaculture.

Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Sarah Swadling


TUE 06:00 Today (m0029rvc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Payslip Britain (m0029q5s)
What's happened to your pay?

Sean Farrington explores why average wages haven't increased in nearly twenty years and how new recruits sometimes end up being paid more than long-standing members of staff.

Presenter: Sean Farrington
Producer: Nick Holland
Editor: Sarah Wadeson
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m0029q5v)
Assisted Dying: What might the final moments be like?

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 consider what those final moments might be like and if the ideal of a peaceful death is a reality with the drug options currently available.

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

It's claimed that within each of us there is a credit card's worth of microplastics. We dig into the figures underlying that with Kit Yates, Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath.

And, we answer your questions after our programme on hearing loss with audiologist Dr Hannah Cooper, Kevin Munro, Professor of Audiology at the University of Manchester and Nish Mehta, an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon at Royal National ENT Hospital.

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producers: Hannah Robins and Tom Bonnett
Editor: Holly Squire


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029rvf)
The first UK womb transplant, Hair Braiding Chemicals, Jess Kidd

Grace Davidson was a teenager when she was diagnosed with a rare condition that meant she did not have a uterus. But, following a transplant using her sister's donated womb, she gave birth earlier this year to baby Amy. Nuala McGovern speaks to to Isabel Quiroga, the surgeon who led the transplant team at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, and to Lydia Brain, who is currently on the waiting list for a womb transplant.

A recent study into synthetic hair, which many black women use to achieve popular hair styles including braids, found that ten samples of the most well-used brands contained carcinogens, and in some cases, lead. It's provoked a big reaction online. Nuala McGovern is joined by academic and author of Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri, and also by BBC Correspondent Chelsea Coates.

New play Shanghai Dolls explores the relationship between two of the most influential women in Chinese history during the cultural revolution; Jiang Qing (also known as Madame Mao – one of the architects of the Cultural Revolution) and Sun Weishi, China’s first female director. Amy Ng the playwright and Gabby Wong who plays Madame Mao join Nuala in the Woman’s Hour Studio.

Set in a quiet 1950s seaside town in a boarding house full of strange characters, Jess Kidd’s new novel Murder at Gull’s Nest is the first in a new series of books. Jess talks to Nuala about the heroine of the series, the fearless former nun Nora Breen, who has left behind her enclosed order of nuns after 30 years to solve crimes.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Laura Northedge


TUE 11:00 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


TUE 11:45 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdt6)
2. The Hidden Paradox

Misha Glenny explores the world of rare earth metals. Reducing CO2 emissions requires critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel but mining and processing them can pose a serious threat to the environment. Can we solve the paradox?

Guests:

Dr Julie Klinger, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware and author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes
Teresa Ponce De Leao, chief executive of the Portuguese National Laboratory of Energy and Geology
Henry Sanderson, author of Volt Rush
Guillaume Pitron author of Rare Metals War

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production coordinator: Janet Staples

Correction: this episode incorrectly states that lithium is lighter than air. Lithium has a lower atomic mass than oxygen or nitrogen.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0029rvh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0029rvk)
Call You and Yours: How is your business coping at the moment?

How is your business coping at the moment?

It's tough at the moment. The 10% across-the-board tariffs announced by the US for UK products come on top of the rise in costs to national insurance, labour shortages, and interest rates making it harder to borrow.

So how is your business coping with the new higher costs and more nervous consumers? Are you battening down the hatches and just hoping to survive?

Or is business booming and you're not worried! So how is your business coping with the new future?

Email us now - youandyours@bbc.co.uk, and leave a number so we can call you back. And after 11am on Tuesday, you can call us on 03700 100 444.

PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL

PRODUCER: JAY UNGER


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0029rvm)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0029rvp)
Trade stand-off between world’s two superpowers

China says it will 'fight to the end' in tariff battle with the US. Former cabinet secretary Lord Gus O'Donnell gives his analysis. Plus: Are dire wolves back from extinction?


TUE 13:45 The Banksy Story (m0029rvr)
When Banksy Comes to Town

2. Beside The Seaside

Roll-up! Roll-up! The Banksy circus is coming to town... What happens when Banksy does one of his naughty drawings on the wall of your house? For Season 2 of The Banksy Story, super-fan James Peak investigates (even though he isn't an art critic, or a journalist).

In this episode, Gert in Lowestoft must deal with crowds, chancers and the Council after Banksy left a painting of a massive seagull on her end-of-terrace. And in Margate, Sam and Julian must react quickly if they are to stop Valentine's Day Mascara being spirited away by light-fingered opportunists and the Council's refuse department.

Written, Produced & Presented by James Peak
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Production Support: George Crowe
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Street Art Consultancy and Investigative Support: Steph Warren
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Rob Shiret, Rosie Bauer, Tracy Williams, Andy Voss & Noel Lewis

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0029rlx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029rvt)
Baba Joon (Father Dear)

"When I wake, we’ve left Tehran. There are beautiful mountains. Green fields. Fruit trees. Sheep. Cattle.
The colour of the buildings is like sand. Reminds me of the dunes in the Gower. Mounds and mounds of them lined up together.
I see it now Dad. I see it all. What’s familiar: Wales.
I am happy to be here. To finally share all of this with you. I want to breathe in every second. Taste it all."

Two non-linear, narrative strands interweave - the play opens in the present day where we meet Samira who’s landed in Tehran. The story then takes us back in time to her father (Baba) arriving in Wales from pre-revolutionary Iran in the 1970s, trying to adapt to the UK, his joy at experiencing freedom in a new country and his indulgence in the temptations of the West.

Alongside the Baba story we see Samira's navigation through the joys and complexities of growing up in a mixed heritage family in South Wales in the 1980s and 90s. Racism, isolation from peers, pressure, and control from a Muslim father, searching for an identity and where to 'belong' all feature in these twin biographies. Their relationship begins to suffer when Baba eventually returns to Iran in 2001 and he political and social barriers which frustrate any potential visit for her.

This is a semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional drama based on the writer's real life experiences growing up in south Wales in the 1980s and 90s. It was originally performed at the Swansea Grand theatre with subsequent outings in Los Angeles, USA as a one-woman show starring the play's author, Lisa Zahra.

Samira: LISA ZAHRA
Baba and The Interrogator: MOHSEN GHAFFARI
The guard and Mohammad: SHAHEEN JAFARGHOLI
Mam and The Woman on the Bench: MELANIE WALTERS

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Music by Roshi Nasehi

Written by Lisa Zahra
Recorded and Mixed by Nigel Lewis
Director: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m0028vd3)
History's Secret Heroes: Series 3

The Night Witches

After the outbreak of World War Two, best friends Polina Gelman and Galya Dokutovich are recruited to fly bombers for the Soviet Union. Can they outsmart the Nazis?

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: Lorna Reader
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 (m0029rvw)
Faithful Food

We hear from the volunteers serving an average of 1,500 meals a day at the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha in Hounslow and explore the significance of langar in the Sikh and wider community.

Mona Siddiqui and the panel explore the role food plays in religion. Do all religious traditions have the imperative to feed the hungry? Is food the route to the soul? And, is sharing food the best way for religions to communicate beliefs?

Mona is joined by:

Chef Romy Gill, a prominent figure in the culinary world, known for her expertise in Indian cuisine. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire 2016 for services to the hospitality industry. Romy grew up in a Sikh Punjabi family and the tradition of sewa is close to her heart

Norman Wirzba, is Professor of Theology and Ecology at Duke University Divinity School. His work focuses on religion, ecology and agrarianism. Norman is the author of Way of Love, Food and Faith.

Moshe Basson, the executive Chef and owner of The Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem and Author of The Eucalyptus Cookbook. He specialises in Levantine, Arab, and Jewish cuisine, and is known for his use of biblical ingredients.

Producer: Alexa Good
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m0029rvy)
Art that Conquered the World

The Great Wave

A huge blue and white wave towers over three unfortunate boats, with Mount Fuji framed by the cresting wall of water. Katsushika Hokusai’s Underneath the Wave off Kanagawa is a celebrity - one of a very few artworks known the world over, reproduced on everything from socks to surfboards, from book covers to beer bottles.

But how and why did this humble woodblock print hit the big time? In this series, art historian Dr James Fox traces the twists of fate and happy accidents that propelled a handful of images into global pop culture, making them so famous they even have their own emojis.

From first printing in Japan in 1831 to a rapturous reception in 19th century Europe, the surf boom of 1960s California and shops on every high street, James tells the story of how The Great Wave conquered the world.

Contributors include:
surf photographer Jeff Divine
Kyota Ko, author of Horror Tales of Japan
Terrie Isaac, trend forecaster with BDA London
Matthew Broughton
Lily Richards of Vintage, Penguin Random House

The reader is Todd Kramer

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


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m0029rw1)
How can I look after my knees?

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 knee pain - why do we get it, what can we do to treat and prevent it, and should we really just ‘push through it’? They talk to Philip Conaghan, Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Leeds, to find out.

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 Philip Conaghan
Producer: Jo Rowntree
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Grace Revill
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 (m0029rw3)
Full coverage of the day's news


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029rw5)
The White House has confirmed that it will introduce 104% tariffs on Chinese imports.


TUE 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m0029rw7)
Series 10

2. Love on the Spectrum

"The first thing to do was find a nearby hotel. All the choices were bad, but there’s make-your-own-waffles bad and what-are-these-bites-on-my-stomach?-bad, so I called the nearest make-your-own-waffles place."

A long drive south from Bangor, Maine to New York City gives David the chance to think, ask questions, try fast food and fantasise - all in the company of his long-suffering boyfriend, Hugh and their new, Chinese friend Susan Du. This week's story, Love on the Spectrum, like many of David's essays comes straight from the pages of The New Yorker magazine with his unique delivery bringing the words and ideas to glittering life.

David Sedaris 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 (m0029q58)
Martyn’s attempting to refine Brian’s bridge playing skills at their next tutorial, but they’re interrupted when Martyn discovers a hosepipe pushed through his letterbox with water pouring in. Whilst Brian helps mop up, Martyn assumes it’s a protest against him being on the board of Borsetshire Water. Martyn’s so upset by the damage to his expensive flooring he starts crying. Both men are embarrassed by this show of emotion, before Martyn admits that Pam has left him for their gardener. The hosepipe through the door simply tipped him over the edge. Martyn wants to call the police, but Brian proposes making enquiries first among people he knows who are loosely connected to the protest group.

It’s Clarrie’s last day at the Dairy and she’s telling Susan how much she’s going to miss it. Susan reminds her it hasn’t always been sunshine and birdsong, but Clarrie would still rather a bad day at work than no job at all. Helen suggests Clarrie take it easy, but Clarrie insists she won’t slack off, then goes to churn ice-cream for the last time. Helen confides in Pat how awful it feels letting Clarrie go, especially seeing her so upset. They present Clarrie with leaving gifts: a knitting subscription box, Lower Loxley wine, handmade chocolates and a card signed by all their regular customers and suppliers. There are tearful hugs before Clarrie insists on getting back to the yoghurt. At the end of day, after an emotional moment with Susan, Clarrie reckons there are worse things than being made redundant, before declaring it’s time to go.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0029rw9)
Kym Marsh on Abigail's Party, Severance creator Dan Erickson, film franchises in flux

Kym Marsh on stepping into the iconic role of Beverly in theatre classic Abigail's Party as the play opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Film critic Hannah Strong and George Pundek, co-host of the Pulp Kitchen film podcast, on why so many of the big film franchises are facing difficulties.

Severance creator Dan Erickson on making a television hit with his debut project.

Novelist Max Porter, who is chair of the judges for this year's International Booker Prize, on the books that have made the shortlist:

On the Calculation of Volume One by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 Boys (m001yqr8)
The Boys Are Not Alright

When radio producer Jo Meek realised Daniel Harris - the teenager found guilty of encouraging terrorism - lived in her county, the story hit home.

In The Boys Are Not Alright, she investigates the frightening rise of boys being radicalised online, and looks for the solutions to stop her own young sons spiralling. 

She uncovers evidence of how Harris, who spent to 14 hours a day online, quickly became radicalised. Daniel is not alone - over 2,600 children aged between 11 to 15 were referred to Prevent last year, with the vast majority boys.

Experts describe a constantly evolving online gaming landscape that mimics a playground, but without any meaningful protections. And as Jo struggles to contain her son’s exposure to extremist ideas in the gaming world, she hears how hateful social media content is also proliferating fast, with a 12-fold increase since October 2023 that is specifically affecting young people.

Daniel Harris was radicalised, despite the best efforts of many in the community around him. Jo investigates what is being done by police and mental health services to ensure that young, vulnerable men - some of whom struggle to form real life relationships - are being protected and diverted from toxic online relationships.  And as the nature of extremism shifts, with new ideologies emerging and more terrorists acting alone, Jo asks if the real threat is posed by an internet that offers ever more compelling opportunities to radicalise.

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0029rwc)
Dr Fred Reid

In Touch dedicates this programme to the late Dr Fred Reid. His long career in academia and wider achievements make him one of the great blind all-rounders, having contributed to national campaigns that made a real difference to the lives of many blind and partially sighted people. He was also a historian, author, sportsman and lecturer at the University of Warwick. Fred tells his own story, in a revisit to a dedicated programme from 2018, along with people who worked with him over the years and knew him well.

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 (m0029rwf)
Unidentified Flying Drones in Denmark

When mysterious orb-like lights were recorded in the sky above Koge, a small port town in Denmark, the UFO scene took notice. But it wasn't just believers who wanted to know what these unidentified flying objects were.

Danish police and the Danish security services describe the objects as large drones - similar to the ones seen on the USA's East Coast before Christmas. But no-one can say who is flying them, or why. Could it be the Russians?

Lucy Proctor meets the people involved in Denmark's unique UFO scene and tries to find out what these drone sightings mean.

Produced and presented by Lucy Proctor.
Mixed by James Beard.
Edited by Penny Murphy.
Production support by Gemma Ashman.


TUE 21:30 Stakeknife (m002b2mk)
2. Sin É (Part 1)

Mark speaks to the brother of one of the first people interrogated by Stakeknife. We follow Seamus’ journey as he retraces his brothers steps in the days before he was murdered.

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 (m0029rwj)
Can US-China trade war be resolved?

As the White House confirms it will impose a tariff of 104% on China from tomorrow, we ask how the escalating trade war can be resolved.

Also tonight:

Ukraine claims its captured two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia - what does it say about the direction of the war?

We speak to the lawyer of the pro-Palestinian student activist at the centre of a deportation row in the United States.

And when the voice from the past is your own - the woman reunited with a "talking postcard" she recorded - and sent - 70 years ago.


TUE 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029rwl)
7. The Russett 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 7, Maurice confides in his family doctor, only to realise he has made a dreadful mistake.

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 (m0029b2s)
8. The Terminator

“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon”. So says Elon Musk, who has also claimed that AI is humanity’s “biggest existential threat”. He says he’s worried about a “Terminator future”, where robots become smarter than humans and decide to destroy us. Paradoxically, Musk is also working to create artificial intelligence. What explains this? Science fiction has been imagining robot rebellions for over a century: Jill Lepore says these stories are never really only about robots. So what’s Elon Musk really afraid of when he’s afraid of AI? In this final episode, Lepore argues that while Musk may be a visionary, “every piece of Muskism has origins in a future foretold in science fiction, long, long ago, as a cautionary tale.”

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: Musk interviewed on PBS


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0029rwn)
Sean Curran reports as the Prime Minister faces a 90-minute question and answer session with MPs on the last parliamentary day before the Easter break.

WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0029rwq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdt6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029rws)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029rwv)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m0029rwx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m0029rwz)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029rx1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029rx3)
Dance like no-one is looking

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning.
I like to dance and we are very fortunate here in Scotland that we have simple dances or reels that people love to do at a ceilidh. My favourite is the Reel of the 51st. The story goes that Scottish Prisoners of War came up with the dance during their captivity. An escapee smuggled it out and, before the end of the war, Princess Elizabeth, our then future Queen, had danced it. When I say I like to dance, I have to admit that I am actually a very self-conscious dancer and hopeless at it too. The idea of dancing as though no one is looking is very challenging, and I am unlikely to attain to that.

There is something wonderful about dance and the expressive movement of the human body. Great dance or ballet can tell a story without words and express the deepest of emotion.
For years now, it’s puzzled me that the Christian faith, bound up with words and dogmatic statements as it is, seems at times to neglect the human body, almost as though it is a source of shame and temptation. People often turn to yoga, not just as exercise, but as a form of spiritual practice.

Jesus was always very physical. He touched lepers, spat in the mud to heal a blind man, washed his disciples’ feet and allowed Mary Magdalene to wash his feet with her tears.
When we rediscover our bodies maybe we will learn to cherish not just our bodies but the whole creation with which we share our physical nature.
Someone described the life of the Spirit as a great Cosmic Dance and our faith should invite us to join in.

Living Jesus, loosen our hearts that we might rejoice more fully in creation. From the very beginning, this Universe was declared ‘good’. Your life amongst us, sharing our joys and times of night affirms the worth of what has been made, so help us to join in the dance of life. Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0029rx5)
09/04/25 Funding for checks at the border, salmon farming

Farmers are calling for the government to look again at the amount of funding it provides to stop illegal meat imports coming into the country. The Dover Port Health Authority which carries out the checks has been offered £3.1 million pounds by DEFRA for this financial year - the same amount as last year. However it says the funding’s too low and will make delivering its remit ‘immensely challenging’ and will ‘leave the border largely open’. With an increasing number of confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease and African swine fever on the European mainland, there are concerns the UK isn’t doing enough to prevent these serious contagious livestock diseases from entering the country.

All week we're looking at farmed fish. Last year Scottish farmed salmon was the UK’s biggest food export, with £844 million worth of fish sold in 48 different countries. The industry is not without its critics though, they highlight marine pollution, fish welfare and disease and the impact on wild salmon as some of the problems. Salmon farming is big business on the West coast of Scotland. The Norwegian company MOWI employs more than one thousand 600 staff there and we’ve been looking into how the business is addressing criticism of the industry. We also speak to the industry body Salmon Scotland.

Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


WED 06:00 Today (m0029q4m)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m0029q4p)
The mistake in Trump’s tariff formula

What is the error in the calculation Donald Trump used to work out his new tariffs?

What happened when the government ordered a recount of bobbies on the beat?

When is a tax freeze not a tax freeze?

And do redheads really have a 25% higher tolerance to pain?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

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


WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m0029l9l)
Invisible Hands

3. Selling The Silver

A young banker sits in front of a book full of balance sheets. Boring work. But he has come to a realisation. And it’s a realisation that will, in a few short years, transform Britain. This banker - John Redwood - had realised that the best way to turn the country into a free market paradise was to sell all the big industries owned by the state to the people of Britain. To create a nation of shareholders. The only problem? No one wanted to listen to him.

This is the story of a radical experiment in free market capitalism. One that had never been tried before. And of one man with a vision and a set of spreadsheets. To remake the country and sell capitalism to the masses.

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 (m0029q4r)
Kate Nash, Sarah Brown, Cardiac surgeon Dr Indu Deglurkar

Rising to fame at the age of 20, Kate Nash soon became a staple of the British music scene in the late 2000s. Her first album, Made of Bricks, reached number one in the UK and stayed in the UK charts for more than forty consecutive weeks and she’s won a Brit Award. But she’s spoken openly about not being able to afford to tour and choosing to subsidise her income by selling images of her body on OnlyFans. Kate’s currently in the middle of a UK tour for her latest album, 9 Sad Symphonies, and is playing the O2 Kentish Town Forum on 9 April. She joins Nuala McGovern to discuss her career and the music industry.

Sarah Brown and her husband Gordon, the former prime minister set up the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory in 2004, following the death of their daughter Jennifer who was born seven weeks early. For the past decade, the laboratory has been leading vital research into premature birth – including a world-first study following 400 babies, both premature and full-term, from birth to adulthood. Sarah tells Nuala about the research and what they've found about preterm birth.

Once the Deed is Done is the fifth novel from the German-British author Rachel Seiffert. It covers the immediate aftermath of the end of WW2 and the fall of Nazi Germany. The book focuses on a group of displaced people – it’s estimated that globally there were between 40-60 million people displaced by the war. Rachel describes why she wanted to write about this often forgotten time in history, reflecting on the cruelty inflicted from above and the choices her characters make.

BBC2’s Saving Lives in Cardiff is back on our screens from tonight. Based in the largest hospital in Wales, University Hospital in Cardiff, the series highlights the weight of difficult, sometimes life and death decisions surgeons make about who to prioritise next. The first episode follows Dr Indu Deglurkar, a cardiac surgeon, one of only 19 women in this role in the UK. She joins Nuala to discuss the pressures and joys of her job.

Presented by Nuala McGovern
Producer: Louise Corley


WED 11:00 Boys (m001yqr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m0029q4w)
April 7 - April 13

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. April 7th – April 13th
- 11th of April 1961. The Trail of the senior Nazi official Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem, bringing world wide attention to the atrocities of the Holocaust.
- 12th of April 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space when he orbits the earth in the Vostok-1. Exactly twenty years later space exploration takes another giant leap when the first NASA space shuttle is launched.
- 10th of April 1849. Walter Hunt patents his latest creation, the modern Safety Pin. He then sells the patent to payoff a small debt. He doesn't make another dollar from his invention.

Presented by Viji Alles and Caroline Nicholls
Produced by Luke Doran


WED 11:45 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdzx)
3. The Super Magnets

Misha Glenny explores the world of rare earth metals. Neodymium is vital for wind turbines and electric motors but can the world become less dependent on China to supply it?

Guests:

Dr Julie Klinger, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware and author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes.
Ian Higgins, managing director of Less Common Metals.
Paul Atherley, chairman of Pensana.

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production coordinator: Janet Staples


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0029q4y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m0029q50)
Knitted Cardigan Scam Update, In-game Spending, Red Tractor

Should financial education adapt to the digital age? According to a new poll by YouGov, 93% of parents believe that children should be taught about digital spending in schools. This includes spending on websites, social media and video games. We speak to an organisation launching digital spending lessons in schools and hear why in-game purchases are of particular concern. (NB - since this programme was broadcast Epic Games has been in contact with us to point out that Fortnite stopped including loot boxes in 2019)

From your energy provider to a delivery service, companies are increasingly asking for our feedback. However, a new study suggests that this isn’t making a difference to customer service or providing useful data for companies. So, what role does this constant feedback play?

Red Tractor is a supermarket labelling scheme designed to reassure consumers that they're buying products made in accordance with high animal welfare and food quality standards. Farmers are expected to adhere to these standards, but Red Tractor’s latest framework has been met with anger by many in the farming community. Is it still fit for purpose?

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned five websites selling fake cardigans, after hundreds of people complained to the regulator following our investigation. The websites draw people in through social media and sell what look to be beautiful hand-knitted cardigans, but on arrival are just mass-produced polyester versions. It not only leaves consumers out of pocket, but also hands over their financial details to criminals.

PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL

PRODUCER: CHARLIE FILMER-COURT


WED 12:57 Weather (m0029q52)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0029q54)
China escalates the Trade War

Beijing announces a retaliatory tariff on the US, taking total duties to 84%. We assess its potential impact and look at the bond markets. Plus, a rollercoaster enthusiast on news that Universal will build a new theme park in Bedfordshire.


WED 13:45 The Banksy Story (m0029q56)
When Banksy Comes to Town

3. Off the Wall

Roll-up! Roll-up! The Banksy circus is coming to town... What happens when Banksy does one of his naughty drawings on the wall of your house? For Season 2 of The Banksy Story, super-fan James Peak investigates (even though he isn't an art critic, or a journalist).

In this episode, both Banksys come off the wall so they can be preserved for posterity and perhaps sold on. But what do the legions of local people and art-fans think about this? Also, Steph and James go on the hunt for Banksy's missing frying-pan.

Written, Produced & Presented by James Peak
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Production Support: George Crowe
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Street Art Consultancy and Investigative Support: Steph Warren
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Rob Shiret, Rosie Bauer, Tracy Williams, Andy Voss & Noel Lewis

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0029q58)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 The Interrogation (m000kty4)
Series 8

Sandra

Popular and long-running crime drama by Roy Williams, with Kenneth Cranham and Alex Lanipekun as the interrogating detective team. Today the detectives interview Sandra, a local vicar with a challenging family.

D.I. Max Matthews ..... Kenneth Cranham
D.S. Sean Armitage ..... Alex Lanipekun
Sandra ..... Emma Fielding

Writer, Roy Williams
Composer, David Pickvance
Producer, Jessica Dromgoole
Director, Mary Peate


WED 15:00 Money Box (m0029q5b)
Money Box Live: Will Tariffs Affect your Finances?

US Trade tariffs, stock market ups and downs, economic uncertainty. What do they all mean for your money?

Since last Wednesday, when Donald Trump announced huge increases in tariffs for goods being imported by the USA, global stock markets have been in turmoil. Money Box Live is discussing what these events might mean for your personal finances, over the short, medium, and longer term.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Russ Mould of AJ Bell, and Kirsty Stone of The Private Office. And they'll be taking questions from listeners.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Eimear Devlin
Producer: Neil Morrow
Editor: Jess Quayle


WED 15:30 Illuminated (m00274pb)
Anger and Us

Siblings Sam and Bon Stone are angry. Sam directs her anger inwards while Bon’s anger can be explosive. Through sharing parts of their lives with each other for the first time, they explore how we process anger and whether we can change it.

With contributions from Noel Oganyan of Forrest Flowers (recorded at the New Cross Inn, London in November 2024) and Ronnie Turner, founder of The Anger Clinic.

Original music by Jennifer Walton
Produced by Sam Stone
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


WED 16:00 The Media Show (m0029q5d)
IPL cricket , the end of The Lady magazine, Tech bro profile Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, impact of tariffs on TV and the streamers

Katie Razzall and guests discuss some of the biggest media stories this week: As the cricket season gets going Tim Wigmore cricket commentator at The Telegraph focuses on the Indian Premier League which has become one of the most valuable sports media events ever. Former Editor of The Lady magazine Rachel Johnson and current editor Helen Budworth discuss the closure of the UK's oldest women's magazine and the BBC's deputy economic editor Dharshini David and Max Goldbart the International TV editor at Deadline news site consider the impact of President Trump's tariffs on the TV and streaming industries as well as tech companies. Tony Allen, CEO of the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) based in Stockport has been tasked by the Australian government to trial age assurance technologies, following the government's decision to ban social media for those under 16. He'll be giving an update on his progress . Our latest tech-bro profile tells the story of Jensen Huang who founded the chip company Nvidia. Stephen Witt, author of "The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip" out this week tells his story.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


WED 17:00 PM (m0029q5g)
President Trump says 'be cool' on tariffs

More turmoil over Trump tariffs, as China and the EU announce retaliatory duties, with traders dumping US government bonds. We hear reaction from Wall Street and Washington, including the economist who says his work was used by the White House to calculate the tariffs. Plus Liz Truss's economic guru on comparisons with our short-lived PM.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029q5j)
China has announced an 84% tariff on US imports.


WED 18:30 The Ultimate Choice (m001v3kj)
Series 2

Episode 2: Kim Kardashian v E.T.

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 Amy Gledhill and Ian Smith.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Amy Gledhill and Ian Smith
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 (m0029q5l)
Clarrie can’t settle and tells Ed she’s going to the veg garden to plant some carrots and potatoes. Later, Ed finds Clarrie clearing junk Eddie’s left in one of the pig-sties. Ed persuades her to take a break, then finds her doing some knitting. But distracted Clarrie keeps dropping stitches and tells Ed that Helen was right to get rid of her, she’s good for nothing. After calming down Clarrie apologises to Ed for being out of sorts, but she feels lost with all this time on her hands. She needs to work and the Dairy was perfect for her, but now that’s all gone.

At Bridge Farm Helen’s still adjusting to Clarrie not being around. She tells Pat she hopes there were no hard feelings on Clarrie’s part. Brian approaches Pat, presuming she knows something about the hose-pipe attack on Martyn’s house. Helen takes umbrage at this, while Pat can’t believe anyone connected with the protest would do such a thing. Brian won’t let it go however and Helen accuses him of threatening Pat, before saying she can understand why somebody might take such action. Brian storms off, but when he goes to the Tearoom later he apologises to Pat, who doesn’t want to fall out with him. Pat explains how upset they all are after what happened with the sewage spill, but does feel sorry for Martyn. While Brian accepts Pat’s word that none of the protesters attacked Martyn’s house someone clearly did - and Martyn’s determined to catch whoever it was, although Pat doesn’t fancy his chances.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0029q5n)
Tracy Chapman, the Arthur Miller moment in UK theatres, Rock Royalty

Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman talks about the re-release of her eponymous debut album after 35 years, about how those songs of oppression and aspiration, written so long ago, speak to us today, and about going from almost unknown to world famous in one performance.

We ask two directors of productions of The Crucible (by Scottish Ballet, and at Shakespeare's Globe) why there is an Arthur Miller moment in theatres this spring.

And journalist Kate Mossman talks about her book about rock royalty, Men of a Certain Age, which includes interviews with Jon Bon Jovi, Roger Taylor and Gene Simmons.

Presenter: Kate Molleson
Producer: Mark Crossan


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m0029q5q)
Is free trade a moral good?

President Trump has imposed tariffs on all America’s trade; China has hit back; other nations, including our own, are working out how to cope with what Sir Keir Starmer has called a “new world” governed by “deals and alliances” rather than rules. In this crisis, we have turned to the economists, who argue about percentages. But shouldn't we be asking – what is the moral thing to do?

Trump’s ‘MAGA’ project always said it wanted tariff barriers to revive US industry and rebalance world trade; the American voters chose that strong medicine; now they – and the rest of the world – must swallow it. The first question is not whether it will work; time will tell. The first question is: given the consequences for the whole world, does Trump have a moral right to exercise that mandate?

The second question is the one that confronts Britain, and all the other nations that have been reliant (perhaps too reliant) on trade and co-operation with America. It is not about numbers but about morality. The three most influential economic philosophers in history – Adam Smith, Karl Marx and J.M.Keynes – reached different conclusions about it.

Is free trade a moral good?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producers: Peter Everett and Dan Tierney
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Anne McElvoy
Ash Sarkar
Matthew Taylor
James Orr

Witnesses:
Mariana Mazzucato
Hamish McRae
Maxwell Marlow
Sir Dieter Helm


WED 21:00 Payslip Britain (m0029q5s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Inside Health (m0029q5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029q5x)
Donald Trump pauses most of his higher tariffs

US stocks soar as Donald Trump pauses most of his higher tariffs

Chinese goods now face a tariff of a hundred and twenty five per cent.

Also:

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator - on his recent trip to Myanmar, almost two weeks after the devastating earthquake.

and should unloved - and threatened - millennium-era buildings be preserved for posterity?


WED 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029q5z)
8. The Picture on the Wall

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 8, Maurice continues his search for a ‘cure’ for his condition, but a late night encounter changes everything.

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 (m0029q61)
Series 4

4. Holiday

The perfect Parisian holiday, reconnecting with holiday friends and a boarding gate waltz 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:

Davina Bentley
Robyn Collinge
Stuart Doherty & Paddy Kondracki
JoJo Maberly
Darren Phillips
Peter Tellouche

Script Edited by Catherine Brinkworth and Jade Gebbie.

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 Audio Production for Radio 4.
An EcoAudio certified production.


WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (m0013rc9)
Series 9

Ep3 Patrick Marber and Peter Curran grapple in the dark with life's woes and wonders.

Audiences who change performances, respect for burrowing animals, and the death of manners. Produced by Peter Curran. A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Illuminated (m0028jjm)
The Endemic Truth

Estimates from NSPCC suggest around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. This documentary brings together survivors whose experiences span different backgrounds, relationships and generations - challenging misconceptions that abuse only happens in certain communities.

Through intimate conversations with Laura, Bryony, Joe, and Chris, we witness how institutional silence has allowed abuse to become endemic.

At a time when child sexual abuse is making headlines, these survivors offer crucial insight into what real justice looks like, and how society must act to protect children while supporting those whose lives have been irrevocably changed by abuse.

Voices: Laura, Bryony, Joe and Chris from IICSA Changemakers
Consultant: Natalie Dormer, Ambassador for NSPCC
Sound design and music by Phoebe McIndoe
Production Support: Clare Kelly & Denise Pringle
Produced by Phoebe McIndoe assisted by Tess Davidson
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0029q63)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cdzx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029q65)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029q67)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m0029q69)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 More or Less (m0029q4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029q6c)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029q6f)
The Stranger's Guise

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.

Good morning.
We often talk about welcoming people into the faith community of which we might be part. Sometimes, though, if you are a stranger and unfamiliar, a new place can be quite intimidating.
There’s a big difference between friendliness and the deep spiritual meaning of hospitality. In my experience as a minister, I have tried to understand the difference between friendliness and hospitality over the years. A common response in a congregation is to say, “We are a friendly congregation, all are welcome”. And it has often felt to me, however, that friendliness is not quite enough, it misses the true depth of the meaning of hospitality.

Hospitality transforms the giver. I’ve constantly been enriched and challenged and surprised by the gifts and insights that I have been given by those whose habits, beliefs and practices are different from what I have been used to.

In the pilgrimage of faith there is always more to learn about life, meaning and mystery than what we currently know and believe. There are no full stops in the pilgrimage of faith and there are constant possibilities for spiritual growth waiting to be uncovered. The practice of hospitality does as much for those who offer it as those who receive it. As Paul said, ‘be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind’.

An old Celtic Rune declares, ‘Often, often, often, Christ comes in the stranger’s guise’.
Great Love, Teach us the blessing of hospitality that shows us we often have more to receive than to give if we welcome the stranger with an open and humble heart. Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0029q6h)
Firefighters across the country have been tackling more wildfires this week - from the Mourne mountains in Northern Ireland to the Scottish Highlands and North Yorkshire moors. These fires in rural areas are difficult to fight. In the Mournes more than 140 fires have been reported in the past few days and firefighters say most were started deliberately. Various countryside organisations, including the Countryside Alliance and the CLA alongside farming unions have been raising awareness of the dangers of wildfires and ways of preventing them. The Ulster Farmers Union is calling for more grazing and controlled burning in some protected areas to reduce the risks.

We're focusing on farmed fish this week and salmon really dominates this sector. It's not without its critics who say production is at the expense of the environment and fish welfare. However the industry in Scotland says its continuing to change and improve. We visit an island site owned by Norwegian fish farmer MOWI which believes that farming in deeper more remote waters will help solve some of the problems.

The first asparagus of the season is one vegetable that's widely anticipated and valued and one Scottish farm has found a way of edging ahead of most of the others by making use of redundant fruit polytunnels.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


THU 06:00 Today (m0029qh1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0029qh3)
The Battle of Clontarf

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the best known events and figures in Irish history. In 1014 Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated the Hiberno-Norse forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard and allies near their Dublin stronghold, with Brian losing his life on the day of battle. Soon chroniclers in Ireland and abroad were recording and retelling the events, raising the status of Brian Boru as one who sacrificed himself for Ireland, Christ-like, a connection reinforced by the battle taking place on Good Friday. While some of the facts are contested, the Battle of Clontarf became a powerful symbol of what a united Ireland could achieve by force against invaders.

With

Seán Duffy
Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History at Trinity College Dublin

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh
Professor of Celtic and Medieval Studies at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge

And

Alex Woolf
Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of St Andrews

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Howard B. Clarke, Sheila Dooley and Ruth Johnson, Dublin and the Viking World (O'Brien Press Ltd, 2018)

Howard B. Clarke and Ruth Johnson (ed.), The Vikings in Ireland and Beyond: Before and After Clontarf (Four Courts Press, 2015)

Clare Downham, ‘The Battle of Clontarf in Irish History and Legend’ (History Ireland 13, No. 5, 2005)

Seán Duffy, Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf (Gill & Macmillan, 2014)

Seán Duffy (ed.), Medieval Dublin XVI: Proceedings of Clontarf 1014–2014: National Conference Marking the Millennium of the Battle of Clontarf (Four Courts Press, 2017)

Colmán Etchingham, ‘North Wales, Ireland and the Isles: The Insular Viking Zone’ (Peritia 15, 2001)

Colmán Etchingham, Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, Norse-Gaelic Contacts in a Viking World (Brepols N.V., 2019)

David Griffiths, Vikings of the Irish Sea (The History Press, 2nd ed., 2025)

James Henthorn Todd (ed. and trans.), Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh: The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, or, the Invasions of Ireland by the Danes and other Norsemen (first published 1867; Cambridge University Press, 2012)

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Brian Boru: Ireland's greatest king? (The History Press, 2006)

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, ‘Tales of Three Gormlaiths in Medieval Irish Literature’ (Ériu 52, 2002)

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, ‘Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib: Some Dating Consierations’ (Peritia 9, 1995)

Brendan Smith, The Cambridge History of Ireland, vol. 1, 600–1550 (Cambridge University Press, 2018), especially ‘The Scandinavian Intervention’ by Alex Woolf

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m0029qh5)
Three Word Slogans (with Cleo Watson)

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

This week, Helen and Armando are joined by author, broadcaster and former adviser to Theresa May and Boris Johnson, Cleo Watson. Taking a look back at the three word slogans that defined politics in recent years, especially those that relate to Cleo's time in number 10.

Why are they so catchy?

Hands Face Space...
Take Back Control...
Strong Message Here....

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 (m0029qh7)
Doctor Who's Varada Sethu, 'Child influencers', Aid worker Sally Becker

Varada Sethu joins Datshiane Navanagayam to talk about stepping into the iconic role of the Doctor Who companion. She shares how she went from a guest star to landing the role of Belinda Chandra, why this character feels like her most personal yet, and what it means to her to bring cultural authenticity to the Tardis. With a background in science, classical dance, and Star Wars fandom, Varada brings a fresh energy to the Whoniverse.

To combat the potential exploitation of children on social media content, new safeguarding guidelines around 'child influencers' are being launched next month. Dr Francis Rees, Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex and founder of the child influencer project who has produced the toolkit, joins Datshiane to discuss.

In her new memoir Where Angels Fear to Tread, humanitarian aid worker Sally Becker, who risked her life to help wounded children in war zones, recounts her life-saving missions. Sally joins Datshiane to reflect on her experiences and how becoming a mother reshaped her approach to the risks and responsibilities of her work.

The ex-partner of a millionaire horse racing tipster who abused women and filmed it has warned someone could die if he is not stopped. Kevin Booth was given a worldwide travel ban after a Scottish civil court heard that he attacked his victims in an underground chamber at his remote Highland home and in foreign hotel rooms. Tammy Conner - who said she was beaten by Booth for four years from the age of 16 - has now decided to speak out in the hope that other women will come forward. Booth has described Tammy's allegations as "laughable" and said he had never been arrested, charged or convicted of domestic violence or abuse. We hear from BBC Scotland news reporter Katie Hunter.


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m0029qh9)
Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell is the author of nine novels. Her debut, After You’d Gone, was published 25 years ago this year and won the Betty Trask Prize in 2001. Her 2010 book The Hand That First Held Mine won the Costa Novel Award; and Hamnet, her hugely acclaimed and bestselling story of the death of Shakespeare’s son, won the 2020 Women’s Prize for fiction. Maggie O’Farrell has also written a memoir; I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death.

Maggie tells John Wilson about some of her creative influences including the Finnish writer Tove Jansson, whose book Moominland Midwinter she first read at the age of eight when she was ill in bed, suffering from encephalitis. The poet Michael Donaghy gave Maggie valuable writing advice when she attended his poetry workshops at City University and inspired her with his recitations of poetry from memory. Maggie also reveals how seeing a David Hockney photomontages called The Scrabble Game hugely influenced the way she constructs narrative and time-frame in her novels.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


THU 11:45 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cf27)
4. The EU's dependency on China

Misha Glenny explores the world of rare earth metals. He asks whether the EU can end its dependency on China's supply of critical raw materials to fuel the green transition.

Guests:

Olivia Lazard, fellow at Carnegie Europe.
Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission
Dr Julie Klinger, author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production coordinator: Janet Staples


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0029qhc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m0029qhf)
Gap Finders: Tyrrell Crisps and Chase Distillery founder William Chase

Back in the early 1980s, at the age of 20, William Chase convinced a bank manager to loan him £200,000 to buy his father's potato farm in Herefordshire. Having taken on the family farm, William faced many highs and lows over the decade that followed but a disastrous crop and injury led him to declare bankruptcy. However, even though he was able to buy back the farm and begin selling his potatoes to the major supermarket, there were still big challenges - the biggest being the truck loads of rejected potatoes that supermarkets wouldn't take because they were too wonky.
This was the lightbulb moment that led William to start Tyrell Crisps in 2002, the premium crisp brand that grew and cooked the potato on the farm, soon becoming a regular sight in gastropubs and delis around the UK. The brand grew quickly, playing in to the growing demand from consumers for UK food provenance and pride.
In 2008 William decided to sell the majority stake of Tyrells and start another business, Chase Distillery. Starting with vodka using the potatoes grown on the farm, they later they moved in to the gin market and won numerous award around the globe.
William sold Chase Distillery in 2021, and now focuses on Willy's Apple Cider Vinegar created on his 300-year-old orchards in Herefordshire.

PRESENTER: Shari Vahl
PRODUCER: Dave James


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0029qhh)
Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth looking to cut down on their sugar intake. They’re not only for use in our cups of tea or coffee, but they’re also in fizzy drinks, low calorie products, sweets and baked goods. But are they really a better alternative?

Greg is joined by a leading scientist from the World Health Organisation, as well as a Professor of Gastroenterology who has researched the impact of sweeteners to “spill the tea” on this topic. Can using them as an alternative help us reduce our blood sugar? Are all kinds of sweetener safe? And what about their effects on us long term?

The information in this episode was correct at the time of recording.

As ever we’re looking for YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen and advert, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice not to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.

PRODUCERS: KATE HOLDSWORTH AND GREG FOOT
RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM


THU 12:57 Weather (m0029qhk)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0029qhm)
Markets rally but China still faces 125% tariffs.

Reaction from Beijing as China stands firm against President Trump's increase in tariffs and Lord O'Neil will gives us his analysis on how a trade war will impact us all. Sarah Montague and Evan Davis take a deeper dive into the rationale behind President Trump's tariffs.


THU 13:45 The Banksy Story (m0029qhq)
When Banksy Comes to Town

4. Share and Shares Alike

Roll-up! Roll-up! The Banksy circus is coming to town... What happens when Banksy does one of his naughty drawings on the wall of your house? For Season 2 of The Banksy Story, super-fan James Peak investigates (even though he isn't an art critic, or a journalist).

In this episode, Rod tries to drum up support for a Banksy auction, and in Margate a scheme is hatched to fractionalise Valentine's Day Mascara. What could possibly go wrong? Also, Steph and James' hunt for Banksy's missing frying-pan leads to Pete 'the Street' Brown, the artist Banksy commissioned to capture the aftermath.

Written, Produced & Presented by James Peak
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Production Support: George Crowe
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Street Art Consultancy and Investigative Support: Steph Warren
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Rob Shiret, Rosie Bauer, Tracy Williams, Andy Voss & Noel Lewis

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0029q5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029qhv)
We the Young Strong

Flora, Eva, Violet, Charlie and George are unemployed, troubled, kicked out of school. Years of austerity following a banking crash they can barely remember has crushed their hopes and damaged their trust in government.

A new political movement, the British Union of Fascists, offers evening classes, dances and an outlet for their anger and – unlike the old political parties – will train them, pay them, empower them. Loyalty to The Blackshirts must be absolute - the future belongs to those willing to fight for it. But what if this means fighting each other?

Regulation18b was an emergency Defence Regulation introduced during the Second World War which gave the Home Secretary power to indefinitely intern people considered a potential threat to public safety or the war effort, without detailed charges and without trial. Nicola Baldwin’s drama shines a light on a troubled period of economic and political marginalisation, extremism, street violence, and fake news.

Flora Poole....  Poppy Gilbert
Charlie Forward....  Calvin Demba
George Cryer Kerr....  Finlay Paul
Eva Lord....  Ruby Bentall
Violet Gold....  Abigail Weinstock
Communist Girl....  Kiki May
Dorothy Mansell....  Jenny Funnell
Oswald Mosley....  Paul Hilton
Annie Green....  Abi McLoughlin
Jack Green.... Tom Alexander

Sound Engineer....  David Thomas
Director....  Celia De Wolff
Writer....  Nicola Baldwin
Production Manager.... Eleanor Mein

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 Open Country (m0029qhz)
Shifting Sands of Sefton

The Sefton coastline stretches for around twenty miles between Liverpool and Southport. It has one of the largest sand dune systems in the country, but is also one of the fastest-eroding shorelines, shifting back by around four metres ever year. In this programme, Martha Kearney visits Sefton to explore the ways in which this ever-changing landscape has been shaped by both human activity and the elements. She walks along Blitz Beach, where rubble was dumped from buildings destroyed when Bootle and Liverpool were bombed during World War II, and finds out how this has affected erosion over the decades since then. She learns about the treacherous sands of Crosby, where the famous Antony Gormley sculptures on the beach have proved a huge tourist attraction, but where an RNLI lifeguard explains how it is all too easy for unwary visitors to get stuck in the quicksand and mud. A few miles further up the coast at Formby, she finds out how work is going on to restore degraded sand dunes and goes out looking for sand lizards with one of the National Trust rangers. She asks what the future holds for this coastline, with its diverse wildlife habitats and fascinating history.

Producer: Emma Campbell
Assistant producer: Jo Peacey


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0029q8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m0029qj3)
Radio 4's 5.30 News Briefing. A Point of View. Add to Playlist

It was announced months ago that the 5.30am News Briefing would be removed from Radio 4's early morning schedule due to budget constraints, but the changes didn't come into place until the beginning of last week. For some of those who include Radio 4 within their morning routines, the change has been a rude awakening. We hear your reactions to the replacement in this week's episode of Feedback.

Since 2021, Add to Playlist has been taking listeners on a voyage of musical discovery through a never ending playlist, added to by the presenters and guests - and it might be the only place on Radio 4 where you can hear Tchaikovsky and Eminem in quick succession. Andrea Catherwood puts your comments about the most recent series to presenters Jeffrey Boakye, Anna Phoebe, and editor Tim Prosser.

And we've had a number of different questions in the inbox this week that just need a simple answer from the BBC. We've got answers for you.

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 (m0029qj7)
What's Trump's tariff hokey cokey all about?

Rarely has it been so difficult to see the wood for the trees. The trees being Donald Trump’s new tariffs announced on what he called Liberation Day and which took effect this week, plus the immediate responses to them. And the wood being the economic strategy that lies behind it all.
​​
​​That strategy seems to evolve on a daily basis. Having vowed to ‘stay the course’ on tariffs earlier this week, yesterday saw Trump issue a change that ‘came from the heart’ - that change being a 90 day pause for everyone except China. It’s hard to keep up with the plot changes and in this programme we’re not going to try. Instead we’re going to step back and explore the origin’s of Trump’s love of tariffs, find out what history tells us about their effectiveness and we’ll ask whether Trump does actually have a grand plan.
​​
​​If he does, what is it and can it succeed?

Guests:

Douglas Irwin, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire
Meredith Crowley, Professor of Economics the University of Cambridge
Duncan Weldon, economist and author of "Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through"
Mehreen Khan, economics editor of The Times

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham
Sound engineers: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0029qjc)
How can science help us fight wildfires?

In the past few days, UK firefighters have been tackling wildfires across the UK. As global temperatures rise, fires are likely to increase in strength and number. We hear from Rory Hadden, Professor of Fire Science at the University of Edinburgh, and Aidan McGivern, meteorologist and weather presenter from the Met Office.

Presenter Marnie Chesterton has been behind the scenes at Cambridge’s Natural History Museum with Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology Jack Ashby.

Also, the woman who came third in the Brighton marathon in the middle of her hen weekend. We hear from Dr. Ann-Kathrin Stock, neuroscientist at Dresden University Clinics and member of the international Alcohol Hangover Research Group about the science behind hangovers and why it might not be such a good idea to run a marathon whilst hungover.

And science journalist Caroline Steel has been scouring the science journals.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


THU 17:00 PM (m0029qjh)
US markets fall again despite Trump's tariff pause

President Trump’s decision to pause most tariffs on countries except China hasn’t stopped turmoil on the US markets – we have an update. Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski speaks to us about whether he thinks a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia can be achieved. Plus, the NHS England National Medical Director tells us about plans to reduce hospital waiting lists by 300,000.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029qjm)
Shares in the US stock market fall a day after some of its best trading hours on record.


THU 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m001jc5l)
Series 4

Tuesday'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 - tonight it's Tuesday. What does 'full of grace' mean in a secular world? Why is it so hard to swim in a straight line? And why did a crumpet almost wreck Mark's relationship with his son?

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 - this time it's the turn of Angela Barnes.

Producer: Lianne Coop

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0029qjr)
Mick is shocked when Joy turns up without warning at her Beechwood house. She pours out the story of her marriage: how she met Peter when she was very young, only realising later that his abusive behaviour wasn’t normal. Things improved for a while when Rochelle came along, before Peter turned abusive again, had numerous affairs and finally left. That’s when Joy broke down, barely acting as a parent to Rochelle at all. So, what Rochelle said about Joy neglecting her is all true. It was only after a neighbour intervened that Joy started therapy, but Rochelle had long since left home by the time Joy recovered. Joy admits she didn’t really understand the damage she’d done until Rochelle spoke out a couple of weeks ago. She’ll understand if Mick wants to bail out of their relationship, but he tells her he’s not going anywhere.

At the Shop Ed and Eddie are looking for cowboy hats for the safety video they’re making for George. Rochelle’s surprised when they tell her they’ve seen Joy. Later, at Grange Farm, Ed and Eddie show Clarrie the finished video, but it’s terrible. What are they going to tell George?

Rochelle is cool with Joy when she returns from her shift. Despite Joy’s ‘mea culpa’ Rochelle can’t forgive her. Trying to think positively Mick mentions Rochelle’s new job at Casey Meats. But Joy is stunned – Rochelle’s a vegan. Rochelle retorts angrily that she’s got a job, isn’t that enough? When Mick asks how they’re getting on Joy tells him they’ve made a start and that’s the main thing.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0029qjw)
Review: The Return reunites Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, Holy Cow film

Classics professor Edith Hall and writer Lawrence Norfolk join Tom to review The Return, a retelling of the end of Homer’s Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus returns to his kingdom decades after the battle of Troy to find his wife Queen Penelope fending off suitors out to take his throne. The film stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche talk to Tom about being reunited on screen for the first time since The English Patient.

Tom and guests also review Holy Cow, an award winning film about youth, agriculture, and the comté cheese-making competition, in the Jura region of south-east France. Plus time-looping novel The Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Book I is the first of a planned septology, which was originally self-published in Denmark.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet


THU 20:00 The Media Show (m0029q5d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m0029qjz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m0029qh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029qk1)
Trump defends tariffs after day of market turmoil

President Trump has defended his tariffs policy - despite another day of turmoil for US markets. He's hit China with tariffs of at least 125% - we ask whether the US President may yet back down?

Also tonight:

A helicopter has crashed in the Hudson River in New York - at least six people are reported dead. We have the latest.

The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says her councillors are free to go into coalition with Reform UK after next month's local elections if they so choose. We hear how that's going down at the party's grassroots.

And Mark Mardell and Rory Cellan Jones on why they're teaming up with other ex-broadcasters - including Jeremy Paxman - for a "Big Sing" to raise awareness of Parkinson's.


THU 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029qk3)
9. At the Museum

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 9, Maurice receives a threatening letter and agrees to meet gamekeeper Alec Scudder at the British Museum

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 (m0029qk5)
Trump’s Tariff U-turn

The president has paused the introduction of higher tariffs on goods from most countries, but continues to ramp up the trade war with China.

What caused the change of heart? Nick speaks to the BBC’s Economics Editor Faisal Islam. (2:19)

And before the news about the pause on those tariffs broke Nick was joined by Carla Sands, a former economic advisor to Donald Trump who was US Ambassador to Denmark, to find out what he is trying to achieve with his trade policy. Does the president want things to be made in America or are the tariffs designed to make money by putting a tax on the price of imported goods? (15:18)

He also asked her about the row between Elon Musk and Trump’s trade advisor Pete Navarro after the Tesla boss called him a “moron”.

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 producers were Mike Regaard and Graham White. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


THU 23:30 Illuminated (m0028tns)
Night Bus

Ian Burke was not someone who grew up riding buses. His school was in walking distance, his parents had a car.

But one night in his 20s, he had a dream which began a love affair with bus travel.

Any spare moment is now spent exploring undiscovered routes or revisiting old favourites.

“It’s about the journey, the out-of-the-way, the overheard snippets of conversation, the weird and unfamiliar place names, the people you’re with, the unexpected,” says Ian.

He’s someone who can find beauty in an industrial estate or a gossip between pensioners.

But it’s time for a new adventure. In a bid to boost the local economy and provide safer travel for revellers and shift workers, Manchester is trialling new bus routes at night.

Alongside the drunken students dissecting their evening exploits and the night-time workers struggling to stay awake, we join Ian as he hops aboard the night bus to experience, for the first time, the darker side of both his home city and bus travel.

FRIDAY 11 APRIL 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0029qk7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cf27)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0029qk9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0029qkc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m0029qkf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 The Briefing Room (m0029qj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Thursday]


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m0029qkh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0029qkk)
Surprising Spirit

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0029qkm)
11/04/25 - Trade, Farmed Fish, Schmallenberg, Sark Dairy

At the end of a long week in world trade we look at where we are now with food exports and farming. The USA has delayed most of the high tarrifs it threatened - with most countries like the UK now facing a 10 per cent charge. But the trade war with China continues - and some British farmers buying American feed may be affected by that. China faces 125% tariffs on Chinese goods going into the US, and extra costs on Chinese ships entering American ports.

More than half the lambs on a Scottish farm have died after one of the first cases of Schmallenberg in the country. The Schmallenberg virus - which is spread by midges - killed up to 92 of the 152 lambs that Michael Goldie was expecting to deliver last month at his farm in Ayrshire. Scotland had remained largely free of Schmallenberg until January but concern is growing after a spike in cases. Richard Baynes met with Michael and his family to see the impact of the losses.

All this week we've been looking at farmed fish. Today we hear from the campaign group Wildfish, which wants all salmon farms closed.

And it's the end of an era for the Channel Island of Sark, as dairy production will end there next Friday. Farmers Katharine and Jason Salisbury have been producing milk, cream and award winning cheese at Sark Dairy Trust Farm since October 2019. But they are off to new pastures this month, and the search to find someone to take over has so far failed.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0029rql)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0029q9b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0029rqn)
Breast cancer drug approved, Women and contraception, Grief and music

A new type of drug for one of the most common types of breast cancer is now going to be available in the NHS in England. In Wales, the drug is approved for use but its funding is still to be decided, and the drug hasn't been approved for use in Scotland and Northern Ireland yet. Some 3,000 women a year could benefit after a clinical trial showed it can slow the progression of the disease. Nuala McGovern discusses how the drug works and who could benefit with Dr Liz O'Riordan, a former breast cancer surgeon who herself has had breast cancer and is currently in remission.

Emily MacGregor is a music historian and trombonist. After the sudden death of her father, a jazz guitarist, she found she wasn’t able to bear the sound of music. The very thing that once connected them became a source of pain and silence. In her new book, While the Music Lasts, she explains how she reconnected with her father through the pieces left on his music stand, from tangos to Handel, Cádiz to Coltrane. She joins Nuala to talk about how she learnt to navigate grief and how she discovered the joy of music again.

Between 2021 and 2022 the number of women having abortions rose by 17%. A recent study in the BMJ reported that, amongst women having abortions, the number of women using hormonal contraception fell from 18.8% in 2018 to 11.3% in 2023. Over the same period, the number of women undergoing abortions who were not using any contraception when they conceived went up by 14%. So are women turning their backs on hormonal contraceptives? Does this change lie with the contraceptives themselves, women’s access to contraception or could there be other factors like the increase in the use of fertility apps? Nuala speaks to Dr Paula Briggs, Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health, and journalist Barbara Speed.

In 2014, the Church of England passed the necessary laws to allow women to become bishops. For some, this was a controversial decision. In an attempt to smooth that change the five guiding principles were introduced which allowed those who felt unable to accept women’s ministry to flourish within the church. Now WATCH, Women and the Church, are calling for those provisions to be removed. Nuala speaks to Reverend Martine Oborne, Chair of WATCH, and Dr Ros Clarke, Associate Director of Church Society.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Emma Pearce


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m0029rqq)
Darina Allen: A Life Through Food

Dan Saladino finds out how a family farm in west Cork became one of the world's most influential cookery schools. Featuring Darina and Rachel Allen, Rory O'Connell and JR Ryall.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


FRI 11:45 The Scramble for Rare Earths (m001cf5r)
5. The Great New Game

Misha Glenny explores the world of rare earth metals. In this final episode he hears how Russia's interest in Ukraine might be partially motivated by its huge mineral deposits.

Guests:

Rob Muggah is a co-founder of SecDev, a Canadian data, science and open intelligence company focused on mitigating risks and strengthening resilience.
Dr Samuel Ramani teaches politics and international relations at Oxford University and is the author of two upcoming books on Wagner’s activities.
Dr Julie Klinger, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware and author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes

Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production coordinator: Janet Staples


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0029rqt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m0029rqw)
Set in Concrete

From ancient Rome onwards our civilisation has been built on concrete. It's incredibly useful but emits huge quantities of carbon dioxide in its production. What are the alternatives? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski explore the issues with a panel of experts: Professor Colin Hills from Greenwich University, Smith Mordak Chief Executive of UK Green Building Council, and structural engineer Roma Agrawal, who worked on the construction of London's tallest building, the Shard.

Producer: Emma Campbell

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Researcher: Harrison Jones

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0029rqy)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0029rr0)
Europe pledges more military aid to Ukraine.

Defence ministers meeting in Brussels have pledged 21 billion euros in new military aid to Ukraine as Trump's special envoy is in Russia for peace talks. We hear updates from Russia and Ukraine as well as an interview with former head of the British army Lord Dannatt. We discuss how the escalating tariff war between the US and China is affecting both economies and hear from a stunt woman as stunt work is set to be recognised by the Oscars.


FRI 13:45 The Banksy Story (m0029rr2)
When Banksy Comes to Town

5. Deal and No Deal

Roll-up! Roll-up! The Banksy circus is coming to town... What happens when Banksy does one of his naughty drawings on the wall of your house? For Season 2 of The Banksy Story, super-fan James Peak investigates (even though he isn't an art critic, or a journalist).

In the last episode of the season, Rod has some strong words for the man himself. Also, there's a mega-deal on the table. Will the Banksy sell for big bucks now it's off the wall and on the market? And will we finally find out what happened to Banksy's missing frying pan?

Written, Produced & Presented by James Peak
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Production Support: George Crowe
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Street Art Consultancy and Investigative Support: Steph Warren
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Rob Shiret, Rosie Bauer, Tracy Williams, Andy Voss & Noel Lewis.

This series is dedicated to the memory of Duncan Crowe.

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0029qjr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m0029rr4)
Discretion

Episode 1

Maria Kossecka, newly appointed Deputy Head of Mission, attends a rally with her boss James Reid, to see Milan Ogrisovic, the front runner in the forthcoming presidential elections. His supporters are numerous and vocal about his message of unity and his pro European views.

When Reid asks Maria to attend a dinner with Ogrisovic that night, she is apprehensive - it's her first major engagement. Little does she know that the week's events will soon overshadow those fears.

Maria...Sinead Keenan
Reid...Kevin McNally
Paul...Edward Hogg
Ogrisovic...Laurentiu Possa
Kathy...Kiran Sonia Sawar
Galina...Anna Krippa
Natsev...Avital Lvova

All other roles by Eddie Toll, Ani Russo and John Albasiny

Written by Chris Brandon.
Produced by Claire Broughton
Direction, Sound Design and additional production by John Wakefield

The Executive Producer is Jed Mercurio.

With thanks to Theresa Bubbear and Leigh Turner for their testimony and Tanya Nedashkovskaya for her translations

A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Why Do We Do That? (p0kvb7n2)
Series 2

12. Why do we play?

Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do humans play?

The Neanderthals are a species that was so close to us that we could reproduce with them, they had creativity, technology and they made art - handprints on cave walls and painted shells strung into necklaces. But it turns out the Neanderthals had shorter childhoods than us. Their children grew up quicker than their Homo sapiens counterparts.

We don’t know why Neanderthals went extinct. It is probably for a few reasons but is it possible that us having these longer childhoods, having more time to play, might have given us a creative edge. There are probably more important reasons for our survival over them but it is food for thought.

And we are still playing, anthropologist Brenna Hasset says play is part of learning how to be an adult so depending on where you grow up influences the type of games children play.

BBC Studios Audio
Produced by Emily Bird
Additional production Olivia Jani and Ben Hughes
Series Producer Geraldine Fitzgerald
Executive Producer is Alexandra Feachem
Commissioning Editor is Rhian Roberts


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0029rr8)
West Yorkshire: Unorthodox Advice, Edible Essentials and Sodden Patches

What unorthodox advice have you heard as a gardener? What fruit and veg can I grow in a sodden patch? If you could take one bag of seeds to a desert island, what would it be?

Kathy Clugston and the Gardeners’ Question Time team return to Bradford, West Yorkshire, to unearth the answers to your gardening dilemmas. Kathy is joined by garden designers Marcus Chilton-Jones, Matthew Pottage and Juliet Sargeant.

Later in the programme, we dig into the first edition of our brand-new Edible Essentials series. Ecological home grower and community gardener Poppy Okotcha shares her go-to spring checklist for growing delicious, sustainable crops.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0029rrb)
The Inventor's Redress by Richard Smyth

In Richard Smyth’s new short work, a disgruntled Victorian inventor pursues his former business partner, only to unearth three shocking discoveries.
Reader James Anthony Pearson
Producer Bethany Woodhead
Richard Smyth is a Yorkshire-based author and critic.
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0029rrd)
Lord Kalms, Melissa Llewelyn-Davies, Rex Cowan, Wilma Finla

Matthew Bannister on

Lord Kalms, who turned his family’s camera shop into the multi-million-pound Dixons electronics chain.

Melissa Llewelyn-Davies, the anthropologist who made an acclaimed TV series about Kenya’s Masai tribe before turning her camera on the UK.

Rex Cowan, the lawyer who changed career to become one of the world’s most successful shipwreck hunters.

Wilma Finlay, who worked with her husband David to introduce what they saw as more ethical animal husbandry on their farm in the Scottish borders.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive: On Your Farm, “The Ethical Dairy”, BBC Radio 4, Interviewer Caz Graham, 03/02/2019; Escape to the Country, Series 21, Dumfries & Galloway, BBC One, Presenter Sonali Shah, 25/05/2021; Children Calling Home, BBC, 25/12/1942; Escape to Fulfilment, Rex Cowan: Wreck Hunter, BBC, 02/09/1971; BBC News, 10/04/1972; Retail Week Legends, 28/07/2016; Desert Island Discs, Sir Stanley Kalms, BBC Radio 4, 01/07/2001; Dixons Advert, ITV, late 1970s; BBC News, 22/11/1986; London Plus – Broadwater Farm Riot, BBC News Archive; Nurses: The Team on B6, BBC; Diary of a Maasai Village, BBC; Scenes from the Farm, Documentary, Broadwater Farm Estate, London, UK, 1988


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m0029q4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m0029rrg)
Parliament recalled to debate legislation to save British Steel

The Prime minister aims to ‘take control’ of the Scunthorpe site with emergency powers. Also: the state of negotiations between Russia and the US over Ukraine. And which is the best adaptation of Pride and Prejudice ever made?


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0029rrj)
The Prime Minster recalls MPs from their Easter break for an emergency debate.


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m0029rrl)
Series 2

Tariffs, Theme Parks, and Twister

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 mourn the death of globalisation, take a tour of Keir's new theme park, and play a game of BBC Balance Local Elections Naked Week Joke Twister.

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: Freya Parker and Alicia Fitzgerald.

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 (m0029rrn)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Julie Beckett
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
David Archer…. Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davies
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Miranda Elliott…. Lucy Fleming
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Martyn Gibson…. Jon Glover
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
George Grundy…. Angus Stobie
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Rochelle Horville…. Rosie Stancliffe
Elizabeth Pargetter…. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m0029rrq)
Doppelgangers

With the Robert Pattinson starring film Mickey 17 fresh out in the cinema, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the world of doppelgangers and doubles on screen.

Ellen speaks to academic and doppelganger scholar Adam Golub about the difference between clones and doppelgangers and what the doppelganger tells us about life in 2025. Ellen then talks to an actress about what its like playing a clone.

Mark speaks to director Richard Ayoade about his 2013 film The Double. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is an adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novel from 1866. Mark and Richard discuss adapting such a classic novel, the distinct look of the film and the idea of Jung's 'shadow self' and its influence on doubles on screen.

Produced by Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0029rrs)
Pippa Heylings MP, Paul Johnson, Stephen Kinnock MP, David Reed MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Hatherleigh Community Centre in Devon, with the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for energy and net zero, Pippa Heylings MP; Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies; minister for care Stephen Kinnock MP; and the Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, David Reed.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Caitlin Gazeley


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m0029q4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Assume Nothing (m0029rrv)
Killer Dust - Omnibus Part 1

A hush-hush factory opening. No photographs allowed. A story of cover-ups, corporate espionage, fightbacks – and death ...

In this series, casually scanning old newspaper archives, Ophelia Byrne comes across an odd headline: “Hush hush process in Ballyclare firm.”

The newspaper was printed in 1967. “Strictly no photographs” was the order issued at the opening of the new factory.

“90 guests steered clear of a top-secret process.” All workers “will have to sign an oath of secrecy.”

What, she wonders, is this factory making?

Ophelia doesn’t know it when she starts out, but her subsequent investigation into this company, Turner and Newall, will take her from a small town in Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to places like Rochdale, Leeds and London.

It will bring her to one million documents released for a transatlantic trial – papers which show cover-ups and even corporate espionage.

The product, of course, is asbestos. You may think you know the story – it’s a dangerous substance.

But Ophelia marries previous journalistic investigations to new documents which reveal what government agencies knew about its risks, and when.

She combs through company correspondence which the manufacturers claimed did not exist, and clearly never imagined would become public.

This is the story of Killer Dust, from mountains of the material in mines still operating in countries today, to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the terraced streets of the north of England.

It is the story too of the people who fought and died for the truth to expose the reckless pursuit of profit in the making of one of the most dangerous building materials on the planet.

Presenter/ Producer: Ophelia Byrne
Studio Engineer: Gary Bawden
Executive Editor: Andy Martin


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029rrx)
Government seeks emergency law to 'take control' of British Steel

The government is recalling Parliament tomorrow to pass emergency legislation aimed at saving British Steel's plant in Scunthorpe. The "special measures" bill would allow the government to "take control" of British Steel, opening the door to nationalisation at a later stage. We ask whether nationalisation is inevitable.

Diplomats from the US and Iran meet tomorrow to discuss a nuclear deal. We speak to the British diplomat who negotiated the last such deal on how high the stakes are this time around.

And as Westminster City Council bans busking from next week, we ask two buskers how they avoid being annoying.


FRI 22:45 Maurice by E. M. Forster (m0029rrz)
10. The Boathouse

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 10, Alec makes a fateful decision and Maurice at last finds the friend he has dreamed of since adolescence.

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 (m0029rs1)
Trump's Tariffs... Chaos or a cunning plan?

Everything has changed…again! Or has it? The team assemble after President Trump scrapped his tariff plans (for 90 days at least) and reverted for a 10% levy across the board. Except for China, that is, who now face a rate of 125%.

So what is really going on? The Democrats are crying market manipulation, the markets remain chaotic, and MAGA Republicans are saying the country should trust the president. We try to separate the fact from fiction.

Plus the search for the youngest and oldest Americasters continues...

HOSTS:

- Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
- Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
- Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent

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 George Dabby with Rufus Gray, Claire Betzer and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike 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.

You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155

Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including 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.
The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm


FRI 23:30 Illuminated (m0028b77)
Thirty Eulogies

The story of how a heterosexual, Indian immigrant to England, ignorant of the gay scene, ended up delivering heartfelt eulogies to 30 homosexual men at the height of the AIDS crisis.

The experiences of Suresh Vaghela take us behind the headlines of the infected blood scandal and into a transformative relationship between a hemophiliac and the people who he came to regard as his new family.

(Including extracts from the BBC Sound Archive and from the 1975 World In Action documentary Blood Money, Granada TV)
Music by Jeremy Warmsley
Produced by Nicolo Majnoni
Executive Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4