SATURDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2025
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002htfd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 Life Chances (m000sbfg)
Achieving for All
20 years ago, journalist Athar Ahmad walked through the gates of his secondary school in west London. The school was what everyone in the area described as a ‘rough’ school but its students all felt as though they faced many of the same challenges and went through many of the same experiences.
But three of Athar’s classmates wouldn’t make it to the age he is now.
In this raw and personal series, Athar asks why the lives of his classmates went down such different paths and why three of them ended up dead - murdered brutally and violently.
As Athar tries to make sense of what happened, he explores issues around multiculturalism, identity and life for communities in the UK, told through the prism of a school at the crossroads of modern Britain.
Presenter: Athar Ahmad
Producer: Georgia Catt
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002htfg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002htfj)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002htfl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002htfn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002htfq)
Oh for a sat-nav!
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning
Just five hundred and thirty-three years ago today, Christopher Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands. I think he’d have a huge entourage of ships, men and supplies and that he’d have spent ages before that date, planning his journey. He hoped to find a new route to Asia, not realising that there was a huge continent in the way! Christopher missed Florida because he changed course a bit and landed instead on one of the islands we now know as the Bahamas. But of course, that was just the beginning of a whole new exploration.
They do say ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans’ and how often have I made all sorts of grand plans, only to find them turned on their heads in a way I couldn’t possibly have imagined.
A passionate fan of the film ‘The sound of Music’, keen choir member and pianist, before I was married, I planned that my children – would be just like the Von Trapp family, all dressed in the same little outfits, made out of old curtains, singing in sweet harmony around me.
Well, there are three children and they all love music but my daughter sings only in the shower; son number one has made a living out of something called Drum’n’Bass – quite a long and very noisy way from the sweet arias I envisaged and son number two plays the drums with a rock band in his spare time.
Lord God, Support us when our plans don’t work out the way we hoped and help us to make the most of the new route you offer.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m002305h)
18. The Night the Earth Shook
In a small Italian city nestled in the Apennine mountains, a series of low level tremors are setting nerves on edge. Is this just a passing phase, or a prelude to something far more devastating?
Producer: Ilan Goodman
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002j5hl)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SAT 06:07 Open Country (m002ht25)
Pingos and Pool Frogs
Martha Kearney discovers the Ice Age ponds in Norfolk, called pingos, which are being brought back to life, and provide a home for the Northern Pool Frog. It's the UK's rarest amphibian and had become extinct in this country, but it's now breeding there again and Martha is keen to see one. With 400 pingos, Thompson Common is the most important site for pond wildlife in the country and also holds a precious store of seeds.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust:
https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ThompsonCommon
Find out more about The Pingo Trail Walk:
https://www.explorenorfolkuk.co.uk/pingo-trail.html
Work supported by Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme.
Producer: Beth O'Dea
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002j5hn)
06/09/25 Farming Today This Week: Bovine TB strategy review, rural racism, algal blooms, short straw
There should be more urgency and a bigger budget to tackle TB in cattle in England while farmers should be empowered to do more to eradicate the disease. Those are headlines from a new report published today. It also calls for a bovine TB tzar to co-ordinate government policy along with investment in IT systems, vaccination and testing. We hear from the report's author, Professor Sir Charles Godfray, the Badger Trust and the National Farmers' Union.
The blue green algae on Lough Neagh has had a big impact on residents and businesses this summer.
Researchers say racism in rural areas is often not reported but has a profound impact on people who visit and live in the countryside.
A wet winter and dry spring meant cereal crops were hard to sow and grew slowly. The result, straw short in stature and in short supply, so greater costs for livestock farmers.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002j5hq)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002j5hs)
Today (Saturday)
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002j5hv)
Michael Rosen, Ghostwriting, Dry Stone Walls, and Oti Mabuse's Inheritance Tracks
Former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen, shares his guide to hope and happiness during troubling times in the world and after his battle against Covid-19 during the pandemic - plus he reveals the joy of returning to work with "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" illustrator, Helen Oxenbury, for the first time in more than 30 years with "Oh Dear, Look What I Got!".
Kristie De Garis is a writer, photographer and one of the few female dry stone wallers in the UK. Based in Perthshire, she fixes the cracks in both the countryside and at home, as she lives with her two children and two ex-husbands.
Journalist and professional ghost-writer, Zoë Apostolides, creates memoirs for those who are old or dying to pass down to their family - but it was the creation of her own grandmothers memoirs during lockdown that revealed more than she thought.
All that, plus former Strictly star Oti Mabuse shares her Inheritance Tracks.
Presenter: Adrian Chiles
Producer: Ben Mitchell
SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002j5hx)
Marie Antoinette: last French queen before the Revolution
Greg Jenner is joined in the eighteenth century by historian Professor Katherine Astbury and comedian Jen Brister to learn about French queen Marie Antoinette. Born an Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette went on to be the last queen of France before the Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy. She is famous now for saying "let them eat cake", for her love of fashion, and her supposedly extravagant spending at a time when ordinary people in France were going hungry. But how true are any of these stories, and where did these myths about her originate? In this episode, we look at Marie Antoinette’s Austrian childhood and overbearing mother, her marriage to Louis XVI and time as queen of France, and the hatred directed at her by the revolutionaries. Along the way we take in her involvement in politics, her love of the theatre, and her possible Swedish sweetheart.
If you’re a fan of radicals and revolutionaries, maligned women from history and royal scandals, you’ll love our episode on Marie Antoinette.
If you want more from Jen Brister, check out our episodes on Emma of Normandy and Hernán Cortés and Malintzin. Or for controversial French queens, listen to our episode on Catherine de’Medici.
You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.
Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw
Written by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002j5hz)
Series 49
Brentwood
Jay Rayner and a panel of expert chefs, cooks and food writers are in Brentwood, Essex answering questions from an audience of eager home cooks. Joining Jay to offer their tasty tidbits are food writers Mallika Basu, Melissa Thompson and Melek Erdal and chef Jocky Petrie.
The panel share the best ways to use up a glut of cucumbers, their favourite sweet and salty flavour combos, and disclose which foods they find themselves dreaming about. We also hear recipes for Kurdish cold soup, homemade fruit pastilles and cocktails fit for a best friend.
Situated in Brentwood, home to Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker, Jay chats to the owner Kevin Parrish about the food served at their underground canteen.
Producers: Dan Cocker and Dulcie Whadcock
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002j5j1)
Vicki Young and guests discuss the resignation of the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and what the cabinet reshuffle means for the government. The panel of journalists includes Caroline Wheeler, the political editor of the Sunday Times; Ben Riley Smith, the political editor of the Daily Telegraph; and Ailbhe Rea, the associate editor of Bloomberg UK.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002j5j3)
China eyes a new world order
Kate Adie introduces stories from China, Afghanistan, Spain, Armenia and Finland.
In Beijing this week, President Xi Jinping declared his country to be ‘unstoppable’. Flanked by President Putin and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un at a vast military parade, China put on a striking display of its growing military power. BBC China correspondent Laura Bicker was watching on in Beijing.
Afghanistan was struck by an earthquake last Sunday, destroying homes and triggering landslides, killing around 1400 people. Yogita Limaye has been in Jalalabad where she saw the rescue effort first hand, amid the strict social rules imposed by the Taliban.
Spain has been experiencing some of its worst wildfires in recent years and among the affected areas is Galicia - a region usually known for high rainfall and lush vegetation. It’s also where you can find Europe’s largest herd of wild horses - which are credited with helping to limit the spread of the fires. John Murphy went to find out more.
Last month, leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan finalised a peace agreement aimed at ending a decades-old conflict between the two countries. Julia Paul travelled to Armenia to visit an innovative scheme using digital technology to preserve the country’s Christian heritage, lost or damaged during the war years.
And Finland is celebrating 80 years of the Moomins! The family of gentle trolls and their friends have garnered fans around the world since the first book was published by author Tove Jansson in 1945. Heidi Fuller Love has been exploring how the characters have come to embody Finnish values.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinator: Rosie Strawbridge
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002j5j5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002j5j7)
Inheritance Planning and State Pension Underpayments
We look at changes which the Government has announced – and the speculation around those it hasn’t. Pension inheritance rules will change in 2027. It may seem a long time away, but people are making plans now. We hear from some of those pension planners as they try to clear up any confusion around the changes. We also look at speculation around what might be in the Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget, which she announced this week will take place on November 26.
His Majesty's Revenue and Customs tells Money Box it's deploying hundreds of staff to bring down waiting times for people making claims about missing state pension payments. It's already written to 370,000 people, mainly women, who took time off work to care for children and now might be getting less money than they should be because of an error in their National Insurance records. But given that HMRC has already admitted it's been, in its words, "inherently challenging" to try to fix the problem it might come as little surprise the vast majority of people still missing money, haven't been paid what they're owed.
Just a few weeks ago thousands of would-be university students found out whether they had achieved the right grades to get into the university of their choice. Now comes the reality check, when many wonder how they will afford to pay for it. Some argue that the level of Government maintenance loans only covers half the true cost of student living. The Higher Education Policy Institute has just conducted a study into maintenance loans in England and reckons they only cover half of the true costs of student life.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Amber Mehmood, Jo Krasner, Catherine Lund
Editors: Jess Quayle, Craig Henderson
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002hv77)
Series 118
1. Flags out, stamp duty. Stamped out, off duty.
Andy Zaltzman is joined by Alasdair Beckett-King, Andrew Maxwell, Lucy Porter and Coco Khan to break down the week in news. Topics include Angela Rayner skipping out on stamp duty, Xi Jinping's summit, the decline in cement, a new leader for the Green Party, and the rapid multiplication of St George's flags.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Rebecca Bain, Milo Edwards, Ruth Husko and Mike Shephard.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002j5j9)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002j5jc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002htdy)
Richard Fuller MP, Dame Meg Hillier MP, Sherelle Jacobs, Zack Polanski AM
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Kimpton Memorial Hall in Hertfordshire, with the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Richard Fuller MP; the chair of the Treasury select committee, Dame Meg Hillier MP; Telegraph columnist Sherelle Jacobs; and the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Zack Polanski AM.
Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Phil Booth
SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002j5jf)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002htdt)
Oliver raises the delicate topic of Susan and Neil with Amber. Amber maintains she finds the idea of apologising to them too difficult after everything that’s happened. They let George down and it’s them who should be apologising. And Neil taking the ring away has really hurt her. She heads off to a massage appointment with Kate. When she explains she’s an influencer Kate jokes she hopes Amber won’t give her a terrible review. She suggests they could talk about a collaboration. Amber declares she’d love that; Spiritual Home has a really nice vibe. As the treatment begins Amber chats happily about her upcoming wedding, naming her fiancé as George. Shocked Kate puts two and two together and realises who Amber is. When Kate explains she’s Alice’s sister, Amber suggests Alice needs to take some responsibility for George’s plight – in fact it could even be her fault George is in prison. Kate needs to accept there’s fault on both sides. Given Alice’s history, George was just the scapegoat. Incandescent Kate throws Amber out.
Zainab starts to update Lynda on the drink incident yesterday, becoming distressed in the process. Lynda calms her, before Oliver interrupts to speak to Zainab. He explains they’ve had a complaint from a guest who witnessed what happened at the Tearoom. Zainab fears the worst, but Oliver’s on her side – Lawrence is a piece of work and deserved what she did. Later Lynda tells Zainab she showed admirable restraint. She intends to speak to Lawrence and resolve this ridiculous situation once and for all.
SAT 15:00 The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (m000v2mf)
1. Symptoms
Young Hugh Casthorpe goes on a short visit to a sanatorium in the mountains, and finds that he cannot leave.
Is it because he has a respiratory disease which the sanatorium is supposed to cure, or is it because he has fallen helplessly in love with another patient, a beautiful married woman?
Either way, Hugh becomes a long-term patient.
Trapped on this enchanted and sinister mountain, Hugh meets and learns from his fellow patients, gets acquainted with another constant companion, Death, and explores the dark and dangerous aspects of love.
Thomas Mann’s novel is a literary icon, a tragi-comedy, a masterpiece of deep thought, sly irony, sex, love and death.
Written from a translation by John E Woods
Dramatised by Robin Brooks
Narrator ..... Lucy Robinson
Hugh Casthorpe ..... Luke Thallon
James Simpson ..... Hugh Skinner
Doctor Crowmarsh ..... Sandy Grierson
Professor Jones ..... Richard Harrington
Clauda Civet ..... Genevieve Gaunt
Edie Robinson ..... Keziah Joseph
Marjorie ..... Georgina Strawson
Stour ..... Ed Jones
Sound Design by Alisdair McGregor
Produced by Fiona McAlpine
An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5jh)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: actor Robin Wright, life after a parent’s suicide, disliking your child's friends
Actor Robin Wright joined Nuala McGovern to discuss directing and starring in new series The Girlfriend, based on the book by Michelle Frances. Best known for her award-winning role in House of Cards and much-loved movies such as Forest Gump and The Princess Bride, Robin plays Laura in the psychological thriller, a protective mother who is deeply suspicious of her son’s new girlfriend Cherry, played by Olivia Cooke.
Woman's Hour spoke to women who have had the experience of someone close to them taking their own life. They spoke frankly and honestly to reporter Jo Morris about what happened, both immediately in the aftermath of a death by suicide but also reflect on the long-term impact. We hear from Eloise, who was just 14 when her dad Damian took his life two years ago.
Who was Scotland’s first, largely forgotten, female MP? The Duchess of Atholl had campaigned against votes for women but in 1923 she stood for election herself, and won. Her biographer Amy Gray joined Nuala to address the many contradictions of this pioneering politician. In her new book, Red Duchess: A Rebel in Westminster, Gray argues that Atholl hasn’t received the credit she deserves for championing the welfare of women and children at home and abroad and for challenging the appeasement of Nazi Germany - a decision which ended her political career.
This week sees many children heading back to school and settling into a new school year and they might be reuniting with old friends, or even introducing you to new ones. But what if you don’t like your child’s friends? Anita is joined by comedian Ria Lina and parenting coach Sue Atkins to discuss.
New research from Oxford University has revealed that teenagers who suffer moderate or severe period pain, are more likely to experience chronic pain as adults. What is the link at play and how can we treat women who suffer from their teen years into adulthood? We hear about the findings from Katy Vincent, Professor of Gynaecological Pain and Consultant Gynaecologist and explains what this can teach us about mitigating pain in sufferers.
There's a new woman deciding what's hot and what's not in the world of fashion. Chloe Malle has been appointed as the head of US Vogue - the biggest job in the industry - replacing the formidable Dame Anna Wintour. Nuala was joined by Financial Times fashion editor Elizabeth Paton to discuss.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne MacGregor
Editor: Andrea Kidd
SAT 17:00 PM (m002j5jk)
More arrests made at rally against Palestine Action ban
Police in London arrest protesters opposing the group's ban under anti-terrorism legislation. We get the latest on Keir Starmer's reshuffle and speak to Lord Gove, Michael Gove, about what to expect from the new home secretary.
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002j5jm)
China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff
An exclusive exit interview with Admiral Sir Tony Radakin on the week he steps down as the UK's military chief.
Radakin's time as head of the armed forces was dominated by responding to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
As he leaves, he is adamant that the UK is "safe" and that the war has been a "disaster" for Putin.
He also talks about the recent show of military strength in China and what it was like serving four UK prime ministers.
Producer: Daniel Kraemer
Researcher: Lauren Tavriger
Studio Manager: Gareth Jones
Editor: Giles Edwarnds
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002j5jp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002j5jr)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5jt)
Nigel Farage rows back on small boats pledge
The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has backtracked on his pledge to stop small boats crossing the Channel within two weeks of entering government.
Sir Keir Starmer's new chief secretary has denied that the Cabinet reshuffle is evidence of a government in crisis.
Police have made around 150 arrests at a demonstration in London in support of the banned group, Palestine Action.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002j5jw)
Robert Webb, Cecelia Ahern, Patrick Marber, Curtis Stigers, Nova Twins
Clive Anderson is joined by the multi-platinum selling American Jazz singer Curtis Stigers, Rob Webb on Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping, best-selling Irish novelist Cecila Ahern, author of P.S I Love you, on her new book Paper Heart, director Patrick Marber discusses his spin on Mel Brook's musical The Producers and Mercury prize shortlisted rock duo Nova Twins.
Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Jessica Treen
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002j5jy)
Zack Polanski
Zack Polanski scored a resounding victory in The Green Party leadership election on a platform promising bold communication and "eco-populism".
Polanski has had an unorthodox path into politics, previously working as an actor, hypnotherapist and mental health counsellor. But he’s been dogged by a 2013 article in The Sun involving a reporter who claimed he helped her try to boost her bust size through the power of thought.
Born in 1982, Polanski is gay and Jewish, and changed his name at 18 to embrace the identity erased by his family's anglicised surname. His first foray into politics was joining The Liberal Democrats, and he stood unsuccessfully for Camden Council and The London Assembly. He joined the Greens in 2017, and was elected to City Hall in 2021, becoming the party's deputy leader the following year.
In his pitch for the leadership, he linked the climate crisis to inequality and called for radical action to fix it. Now leader of The Green Party, Polanski has vowed to "take the fight to Labour", telling The Labour Party,"We are here to replace you."
Stephen Smith talks to friends and colleagues tracing Polanski’s journey from actor to politician.
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Lucy Proctor and Ben Crighton.
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Nick Holland
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002ht1k)
Alison Balsom
Classical trumpeter Alison Balsom talks to John Wilson about the most significant influences and experiences that have inspired her career. Having recorded 17 studio albums since 2002, she has been named Gramophone Artist of the Year, won three Classical Brit Awards, along with an OBE for services to music. She has performed with leading conductors and orchestras around the world, including at the Last Night of the Proms.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002j5k0)
Pauline Cutting: Surgery Under Siege
A small Palestinian refugee camp became the scene of a harrowing siege in 1985 amidst the Lebanon war. Bourj al-Barajneh was cut off from food, water and medical supplies while surrounded by the Amal militia with its residents under constant threat from bullets and shelling.
Dr Pauline Cutting was a young surgeon who travelled to Lebanon to treat the wounded but instead found herself trapped and operating by torchlight under devastating conditions.
Using a radio powered by a car battery to speak to the BBC, she brought global attention to the plight they were facing.
Saleyha Ahsan meets Dr Cutting in her home in North Wales to recount those six months under siege and the many lives she and her team saved.
Presenter and co-producer: Saleyha Ahsan
Co-producer: Jay Behrouzi
Executive Producer: Richard McIlroy
A BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m002hv3t)
Does the media reflect or exacerbate public disquiet?
One story has been dominating the news for several weeks: immigration. Whether it’s debates about how to stop the small boats, protests outside asylum hotels, speeches pledging mass deportations or balaclavad ‘patriots’ painting red crosses on roundabouts, there’s been no shortage of reporting and impassioned opinions on the subject. It is no doubt an important issue for many people, but is it as big as our perception of it?
‘Media’ comes from the Latin word medius, meaning "middle". It is a form of communication which mediates between our perception of the world and reality. Print and broadcast media are governed by codes of practice which prohibit the distortion of truth through the publication of inaccurate or misleading information. But are there more subtle ways in which the media can influence public opinion, creating a feedback loop of ‘newsworthiness’?
Defenders of print journalism contend that it takes its news priorities and agenda from real public concern and real events of objective importance. Journalists and columnists may put a spin on them, but their concern is to report and dramatise, not to distort. Critics of the papers – particularly the right-wing press – believe they have their own political axes to grind, and they set the collective news agenda while having an interest in stirring public anger via commercial ‘clickbait’. Even the BBC has had its impartiality scrutinised by those who believe it has given undue prominence to Nigel Farage (who is currently experiencing a surge in the polls) in its political coverage for more than a decade. In that time, however, social media has completely changed how we consume the news. Mainstream media, for all its faults, has a process of accountability when its deemed to have made errors of editorial judgment. Whereas social media algorithms are designed to promote discontent above fact-checking.
On balance, does the media reflect or exacerbate public disquiet?
Chair: Michael Buerk
Panellists: Inaya Folarin Iman, Tim Stanley, Mona Siddiqui and Matthew Taylor.
Witnesses: Zoe Gardner, Paul Baldwin, George Monbiot and Baroness Tina Stowell MBE.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
SAT 22:00 News (m002j5k2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002htcn)
Manx Made
Jaega Wise heads to the Isle of Man to find out what’s driving a growing movement to produce more of the island’s own food, and why its approach might matter beyond its shores. She hears about the challenges facing producers, how the fishing industry is adapting, and what it means to work within a UNESCO biosphere. Just 6% of food bought in Manx shops is locally produced — a figure the Manx NFU is campaigning to change. Meanwhile, the Government has announced reforms to primary school meals after discovering half of the food served was ultra-processed, and very little was locally sourced.
Contributors:
Chris Waller, NOA Bakehouse
Sue King, author of "Ham & Eggs and Turtle Soup: A Slice of Manx Culinary History"
Jack Emmerson – Sea Fisheries Policy Manager, Isle of Man Government (DEFA)
Dr David Beard – Chief Executive, Manx Fish Producers Organisation
Elizabeth Townsend and Nick Scarffe, Kerroo Brewing Co
Helen Crosbie, Isle of Man Sea Salt
Jenny Shepherd and Rawdon Hayne – Isle of Man Charcuterie
Sarah Comish, Manx National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Shirley Callow, Isle of Man Creamery
Daphne Caine, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Isle of Man Government
Pippa Lovell, Chef, The Laxey Glen.
Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
SAT 23:00 Icklewick FM (m002j5k4)
Series 2
2. The Tenner
Icklewick comes down with a bout of Royal fever when the town’s first King Charles tenner is discovered by serial hotline botherer, Pat. When the patriotism inevitably turns sour, Chris and Amy are forced to intervene in order to prevent Simon from leading a home invasion. The gang also speak to Icklewick’s unluckiest resident.
Icklewick FM is created and written by Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill, with additional material from the cast.
Starring:
Amy Gledhill
Chris Cantrill
Mark Silcox
Colin Hoult
Janice Connolly
Phil Ellis
Lucy Beaumont
Shivani Thussu
Jin Hao Li
Tom Burgess
Nicola Redman
Tai Campbell
Em Humble
James Carbutt
Series Artwork by Sam O'Leary
Music, sound design and additional material by Jack Lewis Evans.
Line Produced by Laura Shaw
Produced by Benjamin Sutton.
A Daddy’s Superyacht production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:30 Nature Table (m001ghys)
Series 3
Episode 5
Celebrating the natural world and all it's funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a 'Show & Tell', in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet's wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Recorded at The Eden Project.
In this episode, Sue welcomes:
* Wildlife Conservationist Jaclyn Pearson
* Lepidopterist Marcus Rhodes
* Comedian Edward Rowe
Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts.
Additional material by Kat Sadler.
Producer Simon Nicholls.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.
SUNDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2025
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5k6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002htxv)
Melissa Lucashenko
Goorie author Melissa Lucashenko joins Take Four Books from the Edinburgh International Book Festival to discuss her novel, Edenglassie.
The three books that inspired the creation of Edenglassie are: Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland (1904), The Bone People by Keri Hulme (1985), and The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (2008).
The supporting contributor for this episode is Rodge Glass, a lecturer in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, where he also teaches post-colonial literature.
Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5k8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5kc)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002j5kf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5kh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002j5kk)
All Saints Church, Daresbury in Cheshire
Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church, Daresbury in Cheshire. The parish is the birthplace of the author Lewis Carroll, whose father, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, was vicar there. One of the stained glass windows includes characters from the book ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’. There are eight bells all cast by the Warner foundry of Cripplegate, London in 1913. The tenor bell weighs sixteen and one quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E. We hear them ringing rounds and call changes.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002htvr)
Online Safety Act; A TikTok Trend
Since this summer, age verification checks are required on certain websites under the Online Safety Act. The aim is to protect children and young people from content online that is deemed inappropriate or even harmful. But In Touch has heard from listeners that they are having issues with the accessibility of these age verification measures, and that they are being applied to a wide range of sites, not just those that feature only pornographic content. In Touch discusses this issue and its wider implications.
We also discuss a recent trend that showed up on social media which appeared to feature children and young people being told by an adult to pretend to be blind, with the aim of 'winning' a large cash prize or luxury trip.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway
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 (m002j5m1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct5tgm)
The mosque for Bangladesh’s transgender women
In Bangladesh, hijras - once a revered community - have long lived on the margins. Also known as the third gender, hijras form a diverse group, including those born intersex - meaning their physical traits don’t fit neatly into ‘male’ or ‘female’ categories - and transgender individuals. Traditionally seen as spiritual figures with the power to bless or curse, they are now outcasts, denied homes, jobs, and opportunities. But in a quiet village in Mymensingh, a spiritual revolution is taking place.
Reporter Sahar Zand has gained rare access to this community, spending time with its leader, Tanu - a transgender woman and practising Muslim - who has built a sanctuary where hijras can reconnect with faith. At the heart of this transformation is a Quran study group, offering hijras the religious education they were long denied, and a newly built mosque - the first in Bangladesh to welcome them as equals, after they were expelled from others. With the help of an imam who risked everything to stand by them, they are reclaiming their right to Islam.
But as religious conservatism rises, so do the threats against them. Their village is no longer just a refuge; it is the frontline of a battle for acceptance. Can faith be the key to breaking barriers, or will they be forced back into the shadows?
[Photo Credit: Rashi studying the Quran photo by Sahar Zand]
Producer/presenter: Sahar Zand
Executive producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production coordinator: Mica Nepomucen
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002j5m3)
Insects to the Rescue
Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent has been growing soft fruit for over one hundred years and has been run by the same family since the late 19th century. The business now operates on a vast scale, producing 250 tonnes of strawberries a week, as well as raspberries and blackberries. It also has arable land, salad crops, meadows and woodland. Charlotte Smith visits the farm, which is between Sevenoaks and Maidstone, to meet the fourth and fifth generations of this farming family and find out why insects have become such a central part of their fruit-growing operation. As well as encouraging creatures like hoverflies and ladybirds by leaving wild areas on the field margins, they also buy in boxes of native insects to introduce into the polytunnels. These are carefully chosen for their ability to eat the pest insects which damage the fruit, so reducing the need for chemical pesticide. She also hears about high-tech detection devices which have been installed on the farm to monitor insect populations.
Producer: Emma Campbell
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002j5m5)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002j5m7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002j5m9)
First Millennial Saint; Mystery of Musa al-Sadr and Archbishop of Canterbury 'Frontrunners'
Pope Leo will preside over a service of canonisation for the first time today. The ceremony also stands out because of the age of one of those being made a saint; Carlo Acutis, who was British born, was just 15 when he died of leukaemia. We discuss the significance of soon-to-be Saint Carlo Acutis with BBC’s Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool.
Musa al-Sadr was a hugely influential Lebanese-Iranian Shia cleric. He disappeared on a visit to Libya in 1978, and although there have been persistent rumours that he was killed by the Gaddafi regime, no one has been able to say for sure what happened to him. A new BBC Eye documentary called ‘The Mystery of Musa al-Sadr’ may have the answer. We speak to the programme’s producer and reporter, Moe Shreif.
It has been a long wait - for eight months there has been no archbishop of Canterbury. We are now being told that we will know the name of the next leader of the Church of England and indeed the worldwide Anglican communion by the end of September or early in October. The process of choosing him - or, perhaps, for the first time, her - takes place behind closed doors, but we asked Madeleine Davies of the Church Times to take us through the most-talked about candidates.
Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Katy Davis & Linda Walker
Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino
Studio Managers: Olivia Miceli & Mike Smith
Editor: Dan Tierney
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
Race Against Dementia
Ambassador Christian Hewgill makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Race Against Dementia. The charity, founded by Sir Jackie Stewart, funds research scientists who are working to find preventative treatments and cures for dementia.
The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week. Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0755 for 7 days.
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Race Against Dementia’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Race Against Dementia’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.
Registered Charity Number: 1165559. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.raceagainstdementia.com
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002j5mf)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002j5mh)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002j5mk)
Saints, Scholars and Song
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship” - St Thomas Aquinas
This famous quote from the Dominican Friar, St Thomas Aquinas, touches on a deep truth; friends bring meaning to our lives in a myriad of ways. Though friendship is often overlooked, for many it not only provides essential support and comfort, it also has a spiritual significance. Fr Matthew Jarvis, reflects on the relationship between friendship and the sacred and explores the important role it it has on the path to sainthood.
As the canonisations of two new saints, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, and Blessed Carlo Acutis, happen in Rome, Fr Matthew focusses on how their devotion to God and to their friends, set these young men apart.
This year also marks the 500th Anniversary of the birth of the composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Recognised as one of the most influential composers of the late Renaissance, his music expresses a rich theology, as different voices interweave to create polyphonic lines. The Southwell Consort sing music by Palestrina and some of his contemporaries, in this service from St Dominic's Priory - The Rosary Shrine in London.
MUSIC:
Salve Regina
Dominican Rite
Sanctus from Missa Puer Natus
Thomas Tallis
Adoro Te Devote (Godhead here in hiding)
Metrical Chant arr. Gareth Wilson
Text: Thomas Aquinas (1227) trans. G. Manley Hopkins
Ave Maria
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Agnus Dei from Missa Brevis
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Sacris Solemniis
John Sheppard
Sing We of the Blessed Mother
Tune: Abbots Leigh
Leader: Fr Matthew Jarvis OP
Choir: The Southwell Consort
Directors of Music: Dominic Bevan and William Dawes
Organist: Martin Stacey
Producer: Katharine Longworth
SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74jg)
The 'Turbot War'
In 1995, an international row broke out between Canada and Spain over fishing quotas. It started with gunfire and ended with a deal.
The dispute began after Canada set up restrictions to protect fish stocks, including the turbot. A 320km (200 mile) controlled zone was placed around the country’s north Atlantic coast. Fishermen also had to stick to quotas.
But, according to Canada, some boats from the European Union were catching far more turbot than had been agreed.
As a warning, the coastguard chased off one Spanish trawler, shooting machine gunfire over the bow and arresting the crew.
But Spanish officials were furious and denied any wrongdoing. The Turbot War had begun.
Brian Tobin was Canada’s Minister for Fisheries and Oceans. He tells Jane Wilkinson about the part he played in the dispute.
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.
(Picture: Brian Tobin and a turbot. Credit: Jon Levy/AFP via Getty Images)
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002j5mp)
Tolga Aktas on the Jay
Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas remembers his first encounter with a jay, in a busy park in south London. Even though jays are widespread in the UK, they can be elusive, so to see such a colourful and exotic-looking bird in his humble park was a special moment. Autumn is a great time to look out for jays, when they're foraging for and burying acorns, to retrieve later in the winter.
Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol
This programme features a recording from Xeno-Canto by Arjun Dutta (Eurasian Jay - XC915378)
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002j5mt)
Seeing red: a week of political turmoil
Paddy and guests assess what next for the government after Angela Rayner resigns. Plus, hundreds of arrests at a Palestine Action demonstration - we speak to someone who was there and a former chief constable. And Mark Kermode has a new book about the secrets of the cinema soundtrack - he guides us through some great movie music moments. Reviewing the news are food guru Henry Dimbleby, comedy writer Henry Normal, and Observer political editor Rachel Sylvester.
SUN 10:00 The Reunion (m002j5my)
Women's Rugby Word Cup
For decades, Rugby was a macho male sport. Misogyny was practically part of its DNA. The drinking culture, the casual attitude to sexism, and the back of the bus songs which seemed to be centred around breasts and female genitalia came with the territory.
No-one at the sport's governing level seemed to care either. Repeated attempts to get recognition for women’s players were casually rejected and, despite a history dating back to the late 19th century, women’s rugby failed to thrive.
Then, in 1991, it all changed with the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup in South Wales featuring 16 nations. That was followed in 1994 by a hastily arranged tournament in Scotland.
The players who played in those tournaments can rightly call themselves pioneers. They begged and borrowed kit, trained around their work, and often had to play on long abandoned back fields. They proudly wore the badge of their country and competed on the big stage.
Kirsty Wark is joined by four of those ground-breaking England women rugby players - Sue Dorrington, Mary Forsyth, Deborah Griffin and Alice Cooper, one of the founders of the 1994 Scotland tournament Sue Brodie, plus England player Giselle Mather, Wales international Amanda Bennett and former England men’s international Brian Moore.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002j5n1)
WRITER: Katie Hims
DIRECTOR: Pip Swallow
EDITOR: Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge.... Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Tom Archer.... William Troughton
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Martyn Gibson.... Jon Glover
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
Chelsea Horrobin.... Madeleine Leslay
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Zainab Malik.... Priyasasha Kumari
Stella Pryor.... Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell.... Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling.... Michael Cochrane
Lawrence.... Rupert Vansittart
SUN 12:15 Profile (m002j5jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m002hxsr)
Series 95
3. It's what Emily Brontë would have wanted
Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Paterson Joseph and Rachel Parris to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include my perfect first date, when I was staying at The White Lotus and I'm in a WhatsApp group with Sue Perkins.
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Additional material by Eve Delaney
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m002j5n3)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002j5n5)
France on the brink?
French government faces vote of confidence in a divided National Assembly. We'll ask if the turmoil reflects a deeper problem at the heart of the state. Also on the programme, Eclipses still have the power to surprise, to strike awe, to remind us perhaps of our insignificance. We'll discuss the music they've inspired.
SUN 13:30 The Documentary Podcast (w3ct7y7y)
Student Predator: Surviving Zhenhao Zou
Earlier this year, Chinese student Zhenhao Zou was jailed for 24 years for drugging and raping ten women in the UK and China. He has been described by police as one of Britain’s “most prolific sexual predators”. After his trial, detectives said they feared he may have attacked 50 more women – many of whom are yet to be identified. Following connections on Chinese social media, reporter Wanqing Zhang from the BBC’s Global China Unit has been speaking exclusively to several of Zou’s victims, and a translator who has helped them, revealing shocking details about his crimes.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002htd6)
The Eden Project
What can I plant in September for an autumn winter harvest? Do you have any horticultural heroes that inspired your career in horticulture? What easy flowers could be grown in pots and easily picked by children?
Kathy Clugston and a distinguished panel of horticultural experts head to the iconic Eden Project in Bodelva, Cornwall, where they field questions from an enthusiastic live audience. Tackling everything from persistent pests to planting dilemmas, the panel includes houseplant specialist Anne Swithinbank, award-winning garden designer Chris Beardshaw, and allotment aficionado Frances Tophill.
Later in the programme, Kathy visits the National Wildlife Centre to speak with Dan James, Director of Development, about their vital work in conserving the UK’s native flora and fostering biodiversity.
Senior Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod
A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m00201sp)
Kafka's The Trial
John Yorke explores the enduring mystery and power of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.
All Joseph K was expecting when he awoke was breakfast. Instead he is arrested for a nameless crime and finds his life gradually, utterly consumed by the process. Set in a nameless city very like the twisting alleyways and cramped confines of Kafka’s Prague, the book was only published after the writer’s death. Since then, it has become a world famous tale of unending, indefinable bureaucratic unease.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods.
As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters
Contributors:
Professor Carolin Duttlinger-Co-director of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre
Ed Harris - Playwright who has adapted Kafka's work for a major season on BBC Radio 4
Readings from The Trial by Franz Kafka trans. Mike Mitchell (Oxford World's Classic 2009)
Reader: Jack Klaff
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound Designer: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Mark Burman
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m00201sr)
Franz Kafka - The Trial
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K is arrested. But his crime is not revealed.
In attempting to establish his innocence, K steps into a nightmarish world of institutional absurdity he can’t escape.
The most quintessentially ‘Kafkaesque’ of Kafka’s work, The Trial is a sinister satire, charting one man’s descent into self-destruction in the face of a society that has become a machine. This daring, debauched and darkly comic adaptation is written by award-winning dramatist Ed Harris.
CAST (in order of appearance)
K ..... Iwan Rheon
Franz/Albert ..... Phil Davis
Willem/Magistrate ..... Lee Ross
Mrs Godbee ..... Nina Wadia
Eliška/Supervisor ..... Celeste Dring
Edmund ..... Rick Warden
Thrasher ..... Jason Barnett
Dr Huld ..... Adrian Scarborough
Leni ..... Gwyneth Keyworth
Block ..... Mark Heap
Dramatist ..... Ed Harris
Director ..... Anne Isger
Sound ..... Pete Ringrose and Keith Graham
Production Co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Daniel Bishop
A BBC Studios Audio Production
With thanks to Abigail Le Fleming for playing the recorder.
Ed Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, DOT. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include STRANGERS LIKE ME (National Theatre Connections), MONGREL ISLAND (Soho Theatre), NEVER EVER AFTER (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and WHAT THE THUNDER SAID (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m002j5nb)
Paula Hawkins
Presented by James Naughtie, Radio 4's Bookclub, speaks to the writer Paula Hawkins about her debut thriller The Girl On The Train. The book was published by Doubleday in 2015 to great acclaim and has sold millions of copies. Told in the first-person the novel's protagonist is Rachel Watson, a 33-year-old divorcee with addiction issues. The book was made into film in 2016 directed by Tate Taylor and starring Emily Blunt as Rachel. This episode was recorded at the Edinburgh International Books Festival.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m001gk81)
Series 3
Episode 6
Celebrating the natural world and all it's funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a 'Show & Tell', in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet's wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Recorded at ZSL London Zoo.
In this episode, Sue welcomes:
* Lead Keeper at ZSL London Zoo Jessica Jones
* Fungarium Curator at Kew Gardens Lee Davies
* Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi
Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts
Additional material by Kat Sadler.
Producer Simon Nicholls.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74q5)
President Clinton plays the sax in Prague
In January 1994, two presidents enjoyed a memorable night in the Czech Republic – ending with an impromptu jazz performance.
Five years after the fall of communism, the US president Bill Clinton visited Prague to share his hopes for a new transatlantic alliance.
Key to his vision was his friendship with the Czech president Vaclav Havel, a playwright who had been imprisoned for dissidence during the Cold War.
During the visit, Havel arranged a series of surprises for Clinton including a reunion with the family he had stayed with on a visit to Prague in 1970.
The final surprise took place at the city’s famous Reduta jazz club. Havel presented Clinton with a saxophone and the two friends performed together on stage – a moment which came to symbolise the new partnership between East and West.
Vicky Farncombe uses archive from the Vaclav Havel Center and the William J Clinton Presidential Library to relive the big night out.
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: Presidents perform at the Reduta jazz club. Credit: Office of the President of the Czech Republic)
SUN 17:10 En-Gulfed (m002gqft)
Culture Capture?
BAFTA winning activist and satirist Heydon Prowse gives a personal take on how and why the Gulf States are so interested in British culture.
From cash-strapped theatres and museums to huge infrastructure projects, Gulf money is a key ingredient across our cultural landscape. What does this mean to us and what’s in it for them? Critics cry ‘culture washing’ but is this really what’s going on and should we care?
Written and presented by Heydon Prowse
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002j5nf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002j5nh)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5nk)
Russia targets main government building in Kyiv
The main government building in Kyiv has been hit for the first time, in Russia's biggest attack on Ukraine so far.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002j5nm)
Naomi Alderman
There’s a lot of soul in unexpected places this week. From the sacred lurking inside a loaf of bread in Italy, to the ways that grief inspired the creation of the Beatles' greatest music, from a Trojan journey to Michael Rosen’s celebration of the language of his childhood. There’s heart and soul in a doctor’s account of how a hospital in North London managed to save the lives of six people who became very ill during a drug trial, and in the ways that writing can get us through the toughest times in life.
Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinator: Caroline Peddle
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002j5np)
Brad and Amber head home from the cricket. Amber admits to being bored. Even when Brad enthuses over the winning highlights she eyerolls that life’s too short. She updates Brad on being thrown out of Spiritual Home. Brad suggests Kate might be someone who finds it hard to forgive and forget – she’ll definitely be off George’s welcome home party list then. Amber suggests a big bash at the village hall. Brad favours Grange Farm, where Amber will have more control.[Amber resolves to ask Eddie. Her phone pings with followers incessantly, and Brad challenges her to turn it off. He points out the full moon, but she’s not looking. Exasperated, he asks her if she can’t do something else. Amber defends her influencer status. She wasn’t clever enough or pretty enough at school, and this is something she’s good at. And she’ll get even better once she’s had her teeth done. Brad wants to know she’s doing this for herself and not because someone online says so. Amber starts to cry and runs off.
The Ambridge team celebrate their win despite certain relegation. The mood’s darkened by the arrival of Lawrence. Lynda insists she’s standing by Zainab and the complaint, meeting Lawrence’s menacing threats with an announcement to the pub crowd. She encourages Lawrence to bring up the subject of team payments. Lynda admits they have paid players, and apologises. Lily’s horrified Lynda’s taking the blame, but Freddie reckons they should quietly leave. Tom and Adam reckon this is divisive, setting friend against friend. They need to take action.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002j5nr)
The Cat Killer Detectives
When decapitated cats start appearing in South London, animal rescue duo Boudicca Rising and Tony Jenkins spring into action. They’ll do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this mystery.
It’s 2015 and the two volunteers running the South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) Facebook page, stumble upon a vet’s poster telling locals to keep their pets safe as there have been a series of “mutilations” in the area.
When Boudicca and Tony share the vet’s warning, they’re flooded with messages from pet owners saying something similar has happened to their cats.
Boudicca and Tony convince the police to launch Operation Takahe, an investigation into the “Croydon Cat Killer.”
Far from stepping back, Boudicca and Tony find themselves at the centre of the operation; investigating “crime scenes,” breaking bad news to pet owners and being interviewed by press. The case takes over their lives.
Presented and produced by Natasha Fernandes
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound design: James Beard
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0016xq7)
Eccentric Exercise
In this episode, Michael reveals how the part of your workout that often feels easier - running downhill after a brutal run up to the peak, or lowering down weights rather than lifting them up - is one of the quickest ways to improve your strength and enhance your workout. It’s the flip side of a lot of movements you’ve already been focused on. To find out more, he speaks to Prof Tony Kay at the University of Northampton who delves into the bizarre benefits of Eccentric Exercise. He reveals why the muscle-lengthening phase of exercise is more effective than the muscle-contracting phase… and how lengthening your muscles is the key to stronger muscles, bones, a healthier heart, and could even help burn more calories than a seemingly tougher workout when you’re finished.
SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m002ht29)
How to Persuade a Courtroom
Michael Rosen talks to criminal defence barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind about the legal language of Crown Court cases in England and Wales. From the grandeur of the courtroom and stock phrases like "with respect to my learned friend" to the more colloquial directness of talking to a defendant. How do barristers build persuasive arguments when talking to a jury, or when discussing legal matters with the judge? Do weak arguments hide behind elaborate language? Do the best barristers use more stripped back language? And how do they deliver their words? The tone, the pace, the performance.
Produced in partnership with The Open University for BBC Audio Bristol by Becky Ripley.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002htdg)
Joe Bugner, Ann McManus, Angela Mortimer Barrett, Frank Strang
John Wilson on
Joe Bugner, the heavyweight boxer who fought the titans of the sport from Henry Cooper, Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier.
Ann McManus, the writer for Coronation Street who went on to be one of the founders of Shed Productions that created hit drama series such as Bad Girls, Footballer Wives and Waterloo Road.
Angela Mortimer Barrett, the multiply Grand Slam winning tennis player – winner of the 1961 Wimbledon women’s singles championship.
And Frank Strang, the entrepreneur who bought a RAF radar station in Shetland and turned it into a space port.
Interviewee: Gareth A Davies
Interviewee: Eileen Gallagher
Interviewee: Debbie Jevans
Interviewee: Chris Jones
Interviewee: Scott Hammond
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Archive used:
Joe Bugner, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 11/06/1973; Battle of Britain Heavyweights, Cooper v Bugner, BBC, 16/03/1971; Ali v Bugner, World Championship Fight, BBC, 01/07/1975; Ann McManus interview, BBC Radio 4, Front Row, 08/03/2006; Coronation Street, Hayley tells Roy scene, Coronation Street YouTube channel, uploaded 07/02/2015; Bad Girls, Season 1 Episode 1 - Trailer, Bad Girls YouTube Channel, uploaded 18/06/2019; Bad Girls, ITV Promo, 1999; Angela Mortimer interview, 1961, BBC; Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship, BBC Radio, 1961; Frank Strang interview, BBC Radio Shetland, 17/07/2025; Frank Strang interview; Frank Strang obituary, BBC Radio Shetland, 13/08/2025;
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002j5j7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002j5j3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002j5nt)
Ben Wright is joined by Labour peer and former Shadow Cabinet minister Thangam Debbonaire; Conservative Baroness Tina Stowell; and Professor of Politics and political historian, Tim Bale. They discuss the looming contest for a new Labour deputy leader following the resignation of Angela Rayner, and digest the implications of the Cabinet reshuffle. Ben reports from the Reform UK conference, hearing directly from Nigel Farage and other elected representatives, about their confidence that the party will form the next government. Rowena Mason - Whitehall editor of The Guardian - brings additional expert insight and analysis.
SUN 23:00 Artworks (m002ht1c)
What Happened to Counter-Culture?
5. Interzone
More than just a cultural trend – counter-culture became a social movement so powerful it shaped institutions, businesses, politics and the attitudes and aspirations of whole generations – including everything from haircuts to voting choices. In fact, it became so prevalent that it’s sometimes hard to remember how things have changed under its influence.
Comedian Stewart Lee presents a five-part series exploring the evolution and key ideas that have driven counter-culture from its beginnings with the Beats, folk and jazz in the 1950s, to its heights in the 1960s and 70s including the hippies and the early tech-communalists, the new liberation movements and punk, to the 1980s and early 90s, where political power on both sides of the Atlantic pushed back against the values of the ‘permissive society’.
Talking to artists, musicians, writers, activists and historians, Stewart continues to the present day asking where we are now, in the digital age of social media silos and the so-called ‘culture wars’ – what’s happened to counter-culture? Was it co-opted, did it sell out? Or did its ideas of freedom and identity become so entrenched within mainstream culture it’s legacy has become unassailable? Or has it migrated politically to the Right? Throughout the series, the counter-culture is explored not only in terms of its history, extraordinary cultural output and key events – but also its deeper political and philosophical impact, its continued meaning for our own age.
Part 5 - Interzone explores the confluence of the early rave scene and new waves of eco-protest in the late 80s/early 90s as possibly the last great counter culture in the UK before the arrival of the internet. Meanwhile the online world has made the idea and actuality of counter-culture much more difficult. Our far more fragmented digital society means there is no 'mono' culture or single idea of 'the Establishment' to push back against, as there was in the 1950s and '60s. Or has counter-culture become redundant - a victim of its own success, no longer necessary because historically it won many of it its key arguments? Others worry such gains are fragile and easily reversed. Despite their roots in the counter-culture, the tech companies have become a powerful force in society - would a new counter-culture mean disconnection before we can reconnect again?
Contributors include DJ and producer Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim, musician and songwriter Damon Albarn, journalist and author John Harris, musician Brian Eno, founding member of Hard Art and fashion designer Clare Farrell, author and critic Olivia Laing, musician Nick Saloman, former managing editor of Rolling Stone Ed Needham, founder of Rolling Stone Jann Wenner, author and critic Kevin Le Gendre, historian of cyber culture Fred Turner and artist Jeremy Deller.
Presenter: Stewart Lee
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 23:30 The History Podcast (m0024bgf)
The Lucan Obsession
9. A Race Across the World
Our interest in Lord Lucan could have petered out after the inquest. But people start to spot him all over the world. Could he really have escaped the UK?
Alex von Tunzelmann explores what role this idea plays in our fixation with the Lucan case.
She hears how the media kept the story going, inventing sightings for copy and jollies abroad. People admit to elaborate hoaxes and blatantly fabricating stories.
But should we dismiss the idea? Alex finds one story from a closed police file that completely bowls her over.
Producer: Sarah Bowen
SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002htdb)
Kindnesses by David Constantine
An original short story for Radio 4 from David Constantine, winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.
In a nameless town, two very different men, both struggling and lost from society, find solace in small acts of kindness...
Readers: Jason Barnett and Sam Dale
Writer: David Constantine is an acclaimed poet and writer, best known for his critically acclaimed collections of short stories, including Tea at the Midland. He is the winner of both the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.
Producer: Justine Willett
MONDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2025
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5nw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002htvt)
Galicia’s wild horses in peril
Europe’s largest herd of wild horses, in north-west Spain, is under threat. Numbers have halved in the last fifty years. Now around ten thousand wild horses roam freely in the hills and mountains of Galicia. But they are facing a number of challenges, not least the loss of their habitat and the threat from their main predator, wolves. There are also legal demands imposed by the regional government which have placed added financial burdens on the local people who, in effect, “own” these horses. And yet Galicia’s wild horses have been an integral part of the local culture for centuries, particularly during annual festivals known as “rapas das bestas,” the shearing of the beasts. The horses are also known as engineers of the landscape, credited with boosting the local flora and fauna and with helping to control forest fires.
John Murphy travels to Galicia to hear what is happening to these extraordinary animals and why they are so important.
Producer and presenter: John Murphy
Co-producer and translator: Esperanza Escribano
Programme co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Programme Mix: Eloise Whitmore
Crossing Continents editor: Penny Murphy
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002j5kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ny)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5p0)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
MON 05:00 News Summary (m002j5p2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5p4)
Susan Hulme reports as members of the Lords debate plans to improve animal welfare.
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5p6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5p8)
Remembering Queen Elizabeth
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning.
I find it hard to believe that it’s three years since our dear Queen Elizabeth died. I am now quite used to praying for Charles our King in church services but, at the same time, I had to check that it was actually three years and not two or even one, since we came home from holiday on September the eighth to a changed world.
It hit me personally because I’d had the amazing experience of being a Chaplain to Her Majesty and had met the Queen on a number of occasions, astonished, always, that she knew who I was.
When I received the letter inviting me to be one of thirty-six honorary chaplains, I honestly thought that some friends were having a laugh, knowing how much I love the Royals, so I phoned Buckingham Palace to make sure. Yes, said a kind lady, you’ll get a badge and a bright red cassock and you’ll preach in a Royal chapel once a year. And I did that and I attended garden parties and other jollies for eleven years, ‘til it was someone else’s turn to have that weird and wonderful privilege.
But maybe the loveliest outcome of this experience is that my name’s in Who’s Who, the directory of people of note, and it says Easter, Ann Rosemarie, born Upton Park, daughter of Harry Easter and Audrey, nee Boater. And that’s extraordinary! My dear parents would never, ever have imagined themselves in Who’s Who. But the Queen had that effect on people, making them feel valued.
Lord God, help us today to make those around us feel special.
Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5pb)
08/09/25: Biosecurity at the borders, Forage Aid grants, farmland birds.
MPs deliver their verdict on measures to prevent meat and dairy products being imported illegally into the UK. The report published today by the Commons' Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee is unlikely to make comfortable reading for DEFRA. The Addington Fund countryside charity is opening its Forage Aid grant scheme in response to feed shortages caused by the drought conditions experienced in some parts of the country. And, there are signs that declines in some farmland bird species are slowing thanks to agri-environment schemes.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
MON 05:57 Weather (m002j5pd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002j5q5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002j5q7)
Arundhati Roy and maternal inheritance
The Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy looks back at her foremost influences in her memoir, Mother Mary Comes To Me. While her writing and activism are shaped by early circumstances – both financial and political – at the centre is her relationship with her mother, who she describes as ‘my shelter and my storm’.
The poet Sarah Howe won the TS Eliot prize for poetry for her debut collection, Loop of Jade. In her new work, Foretokens, she returns to the complex inheritance of family and language, as she tries to piece together the fragmentary, often mythical, early life of her Chinese mother, given away at birth.
The academic Lea Ypi travels through the history of Ottoman aristocracy to the making of modern Albania and the early days of communism as she attempts to retrace the life of her beloved grandmother. In her new book, Indignity: A Life Reimagined, she reveals the fragility of truth, as her own memories collide with secret police reports and newly discovered photographs.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002j5q9)
Saving stitches
Co-founder of social enterprise Stitch the Gap, Amanda Stark, tells Rachel Burden how they affect environmental change by teaching sewing skills to reduce waste and save money. Amanda is passionate that this life-long skill is not lost for future generations. She runs classes for all ages and bereavement workshops where people can use a loved one's clothing to make a memory bear.
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
Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Clare Fordham
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5qc)
Angela Rayner fallout, Do we need to take creatine? Papua New Guinea
The fallout from Angela Rayner's departure continues to dominate the headlines today as Labour's National Executive Committee is expected to meet to agree the timetable for the race to replace Rayner as the party's deputy leader. Since the reshuffle, women fill three of the four great offices of state for the first time, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary, and the Foreign Secretary. To discuss the role of women in Labour’s reshuffled cabinet and the party's future leadership - as well as Rayner's legacy - Nuala McGovern is joined by Lucy Dunn, political correspondent at The Spectator, and Rachel Cunliffe, Associate Political Editor at The New Statesman
As the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia approaches later this month, we hear why the country is currently one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. Two-thirds of women in PNG have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, which is almost twice the global average. Tahina Booth is a former elite athlete and founder of Grass Skirt Project who is trying to break the cycle of gender-based violence through sport. Tahina joins Nuala along with Joku Hennah, a journalist and activist who regularly speaks out about all forms of gender-based violence - including domestic and sexual violence, and killings related to sorcery accusations.
Playwright Danusia Iwaszko has spent 17 years running writing workshops in high-security prisons. Her new play Penned Up draws on that work, following a teacher who helps a group of men find their voices through theatre. Over the course of the 10-week programme we see the humanity in these inmates, as well as the cracks in our criminal justice system.
You may have seen articles and social media posts branding creatine supplements as the ‘secret weapon’ for women, claiming they can ‘boost brainpower’, and ‘level up’ our lives, especially during the menopause or perimenopause. But what is creatine? Should we all be taking it - and what impact might it have? To find out more, Nuala is joined by GP Dr Fionnuala Barton and registered dietician Laura Clarke, who specialises in the menopause.
Presented by: Nuala McGovern
Produced by: Sarah Jane Griffiths
MON 11:00 The Great Influencer Experiment (m002j5qf)
Canaries in the Mine
Influencers once defined social media — polished, aspirational, and easy to dismiss. But a quiet shift is underway as the influencer era gives way to the “creator economy”, where talent, rawness and authenticity are at the fore. People sharing niche passions are now building followings in the millions and turning their interests into livelihoods. But can this new world really deliver on its promise — or is success still reserved for the lucky few?
To find out, reporter Osman Iqbal recruits three online rookies: Emily, a potter and stroke survivor, Alun, a beard historian and Danyah, a veteran theatre performer. Each has talent, each has a story, but all are social media novices.
Will authenticity and creativity be enough to cut through in a world controlled by algorithms? Or will the lure of visibility and the pressure to perform overwhelm them before they’ve even begun?
Presenter: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Tony Churnside
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
MON 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5qj)
Episode 1: Fugitives
This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.
This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’
Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.
In this first episode, Arundhati Roy tells the story of how, at the age of 30, her mother leaves her husband. She and her two young children – Arundhati and her brother - live in a dank holiday cottage which used to belong to her mother’s father. Mary Roy’s health deteriorates and she spends most of her time in bed, leaving the children to run wild and make friends with strangers. But then Arundhati’s uncle arrives to evict them – as a woman, he claims, Mary Roy has no right of inheritance.
Read by Shaheen Khan
Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:00 News Summary (m002j5qm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002j5qp)
WhatsApp Scam, Windows Update and DIY Disasters
An unexpected phonecall led to one listener losing control of her WhatsApp account. We hear what criminals can do with that power, and how to stop them. Also on the programme - Microsoft phases out security support for older versions of Windows. We'll tell you what you need to know. There's a warning about how badly wrong things can go if you try to book holiday accommodation online, however careful you might be. And there are some jobs that really shouldn't be attempted at home - what's the worst DIY disaster you've been involved in?
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
MON 12:57 Weather (m002j5qr)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m002j5qt)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
MON 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j5qw)
The Fort
1. The Plan
Afghanistan, January 2007.
It's a piece of military daring that went down in history: Three Royal Marines and a Royal Engineer hold on to the side of Apache attack helicopters, heading into battle to recover a fallen comrade.
Those involved in a gripping, almost unbelievable day, tell their story, many speaking for the first time.
It begins with British forces, tasked with bringing security to Helmand Province in the South of Afghanistan.
But Lieutenant Colonel Rob Magowan commanding the IX Battlegroup has a problem.
Jugroom Fort.
The Taliban command and control centre is a crucial route for enemy fighters making their way in from Pakistan. They train there. They rearm there. Jugroom Fort is the launchpad for attacks on British troops.
But a bold plan to occupy the ancient stronghold with the battle-hardened Royal Marines of Zulu Company is about to meet intense resistance.
And amid a gruelling firefight, a man is left behind.
The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.
Produced by Kev Core
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002j5np)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Believe It! (m0017v6n)
Series 6
Holiday
This is the sixth series of Jon Canter's "radiography" of Richard Wilson - exploring elements of Richard's life that are very nearly true.
Expect visits from David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen, Arabella Weir and Stephen Mangan to name but four.
Richard Wilson decides to hold the party to end all parties. But who will be invited? And will they come? And who's doing the canapés?
Written by Jon Canter
Starring
Richard Wilson
Sir Ian McKellen
Arabella Weir
Jos Vantyler
Roberto
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:45 Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell (m0019kkx)
Episode 4
Evan S. Connell's Mrs Bridge is an extraordinary tragicomic portrayal of suburban life and one of the classic American novels of the 20th century.
Mrs Bridge, a conservative housewife in Missouri, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. Her married life begins in the early 1930s – and soon after she and her young family move to a wealthy country club suburb of Kansas City. She spends her time shopping, going to bridge parties and bringing up her children to be pleasant, clean and have nice manners. The qualities that she values above all else. And yet she finds modern life increasingly baffling, her children aren't growing up into the people she expected, and sometimes she has the vague disquieting sensation that all is not well in her life.
In a series of comic, telling vignettes, Evan S. Connell illuminates the narrow morality, confusion, futility and even terror at the heart of a life of plenty.
First published in 1959 it was perhaps overshadowed by the critical attention paid to contemporaries like Philip Roth and John Updike - although Mrs Bridge was a finalist for the National Book Award in that year. Ten years later Connell published Mr Bridge which follows that same events largely from the point of view of Walter Bridge. In 1990, James Ivory directed the film Mr and Mrs Bridge based on both novels and starring Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. Fans of the book today include the novelist David Nicholls and Tracey Thorne, author and singer.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Evan S Connell
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002j5qz)
Jock Stein, first British football manager to win the European Cup
Jock Stein, first British football manager to win the European Cup, picked by composer Sir James MacMillan and aided by Jock Stein’s biographer, Archie MacPherson. Jock Stein was manager of Celtic FC when they won the European Cup in Lisbon in 1967. He later died while managing Scotland in a world cup qualifier against Wales – the date, September 1985, exactly forty years ago.
"I saw in my grandfather and my father certain characteristics that I saw in Jock Stein." Sir James MacMillan
Includes archive of Jock Stein, Gordon Strachan and Billy Connolly, a big fan of the European Cup winning Celtic team.
Archie MacPherson is the author of Jock Stein: The Definitive Autobiography, and a familiar face to viewers of Scottish football in the eighties and nineties and beyond. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde
MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002j5hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Saturday]
MON 16:00 The Documentary Podcast (w3ct7y7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002j5hz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002j5r1)
French PM on the brink
French MPs are expected to vote no confidence in François Bayrou's government. We hear from a deputy from the governing party. Plus, the deputy leadership election signals a debate over Labour's future.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5r3)
Six people have been killed by Palestinian gunmen in Jerusalem
The Israeli military has surrounded two villages in the occupied West Bank, after six people were killed in a shooting in Jerusalem. Also: The new Home Secretary says she could suspend visas from countries with no migrant return deals. And there's a mixed reaction from London's commuters as the first day of a transport strike causes widespread disruption.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002j5r5)
Series 95
4. What's that wonderful smell?
Sue Perkins challenges Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks, Emma Sidi and Desiree Burch to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Dame Maggie Smith, my favourite pizza topping and Wimbledon.
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Additional material by Eve Delaney
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m002j5r7)
Stella has news: she’s submitted the application form for the job David told her about, and rehoming adoption advisor has found her a match with a dog. They’re happy with Stella’s potential new job circumstances so it looks like it’s all systems go. She’s made an appointment at the rehoming centre; Rosie can go with them. Pip’s not sure – what if the dog’s not suitable and Rosie falls in love with it? However Stella thinks Rosie’s a valuable member of the interview panel. After meeting the dog Stella and Pip agree they like her. And with Rosie clearly loving her too it seems like job done. But Pip still has reservations. This was just one short visit; the dog is still an unknown quantity. Stella sees the sense in being cautious, but is confident Cleopatra can be trained. They’ll see how it goes; nothing needs to be decided yet.
Stressed Adam’s rushing to get Xander ready for school and snaps at Ben, who’s arrived to offer to give Xander a lift. Apologetic Adam gratefully accepts. Ben thinks Adam needs to find time to switch off. Adam takes him at his word and later goes for a walk. He feels guilty that Home Farm paperwork’s piling up. The farm’s in a bad way financially. Ben sympathises. To their surprise Ruairi arrives from London, with an offer of help. Adam insists Kate’s exaggerated the difficulties, but Ben reckons Adam should think again. Adam admits reluctantly that there’s truth in what Kate’s told Ruairi, and he’d be grateful for his help.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002j5r9)
Maxine Peake on Mary Whitehouse, West End star Marisha Wallace
Maxine Peake talks about starring in the Nottingham Playhouse's new show The Last Stand of Mary Whitehouse, which explores the life of the 60s conservative campaigner whose views on sexuality and morality always kept her in the news.
The National Library of Scotland is celebrating its centenary with an exhibition showcasing books nominated by the public. But the Library has found itself making headlines for not including one gender critical book, The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht. We speak to one of the book's editors Lucy Hunter Blackburn.
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson was published in 1934 and has recently been republished by Persephone Books. The novel explores six months in the life of a Bavarian family during the rise of Hitler. We ask publisher Francesca Beauman and historian Lara Feigel why the novel needs to be read today.
Marisha Wallace discusses her new concert album Live in London, on which she sings hits from Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls, Dreamgirls and Cabaret while telling how a young farm girl from the American south should become a big star on the West End.
MON 20:00 Rethink (m002ht2c)
Rethink...the meaning of terrorism
What is terrorism?
Without doubt, it is a pejorative term; few people would ever want to be called a terrorist, and when the word terrorism is attached to a belief system, it delegitimises it in the eyes of the public.
It's an emotive word with severe consequences for any individual or group given the label. Virtually everybody agrees that being a terrorist is not a good thing and that the law must seriously punish them.
But there isn't an agreed international definition of what terrorism is.
The UK has a legal definition, but it differs from other western democracies. When does property damage become a terror offence? How do police officers decide the difference between support for a cause and membership of a proscribed organisation? Should individuals without an ideology who plan or commit mass murders be considered terrorists? Are UK anti-terror laws too broad, or too narrow? And can violence by states be counted as terrorism?
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Lisa Baxter
Contributors:
José Ángel Gascón, Professor of Argumentation in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Murcia
Jonathan Hall KC, UK Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
Nick Aldworth, Threat, risk & security strategist, former Detective Chief Superintendent and National Coordinator in Counter Terrorism Policing.
Leonie Jackson, Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Northumbria University, and author of " What is Counterterrorism For?"
Richard English, Professor of Politics at Queen's University Belfast, and author of Does Counter-Terrorism Work?
Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002ht2f)
What does caffeine do to our bodies?
Sweet, caffeinated energy drinks are in the headlines again as the UK Government says it wants to ban under 16s from buying them. Some can contain the equivalent caffeine as 2 to 4 espressos. James Betts, Professor of Metabolic Physiology at the University of Bath, explains the science behind how caffeine affects the bodies of adults and children.
Earthquake scientist Dr Judith Hubbard from Cornell University in the US explains what we are learning from the magnitude 6 earthquake which hit Afghanistan this week. Professor Dan Levitin is a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician, and the third author shortlisted for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize. In his book ‘Music as Medicine’ he explores whether music can be harnessed to heal us. And BBC science journalist Caroline Steel brings her selection of brand new research.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Lucy Davis, Tim Dodd, Clare Salisbury
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002j5q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002j5q9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j5rc)
French PM Francois Bayrou ousted in confidence vote
A no-confidence vote in France has led to the ousting of the country’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou just nine months after he took office. It now means President Emmanuel Macron has lost his third prime minister in just over a year. We explore how opposition parties are reacting to the news and how the crisis might be resolved.
Also: A BBC exclusive interview with the comedian Graham Linehan, after he was arrested at Heathrow airport for his social media posts. And the remarkable story of one man who survived six days with a broken leg on the edge of a Norwegian glacier.
MON 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j5rf)
Episode Six
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.
Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 Blasts from the Megaphone (m001w8zg)
It’s one of the most instinctive of human actions - to cup our hands around our mouths in order to amplify our voices - and the megaphone has been doing the same job for us for centuries.
The poet Paul Farley wants to listen back through history to the megaphone’s many and various echoes, finding out where and when it’s been put to use.
He starts out in Ancient Greece and the birth of theatre - where masks not only transformed the look of actors, they also served to raise the volume of their voices so audiences could get their full quota of catharsis. From there, Paul travels to the northern seas of pre-Viking Europe where megaphones appear to have been used to keep oarsmen in time with one another.
Engineers of the industrial revolution honed the shape and quality of the megaphone, allowing artists, musicians, film directors, avant-garde poets - and marchers and protestors as well as the authorities standing against them - to raise their lips to the mouthpiece and belt out their voices loud and proud ever since.
Are these simple instruments, Paul wants to know, chiefly instruments of power or resistance, and do they succeed in raising the voices of the oppressed or finally just add to the impenetrable cacophony of modern life?
With special thanks to film historian, Kevin Brownlow.
Presented by Paul Farley
Produced by Geoff Bird
Executive Producer: Eloise Whitmore
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j5rh)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as MPs were again split over the decision to ban the Palestine Action group.
TUESDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2025
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5rk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5qj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5rm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5rr)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002j5rt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5rw)
Sean Curran reports as MPs question the policing of protests against the banning of the Palestine Action group. Also, the Ministry of Defence's top civil servant is put on the spot over the Afghan data breach.
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ry)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5s0)
Grandparents then and now
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning.
I was delighted to learn that, in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches, today we celebrate Saint Joachim, husband of Saint Anne, the parents of Mary, and grandparents of Jesus.
Anne and Joachim had had no children and they were getting on a bit so Joachim went and fasted in the desert for forty days, then met Anne at the Golden Gate in the wall of Jerusalem and, nine months later, Mary was born. There was an ancient belief that a child born of older parents was destined for great things – think of Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac – and certainly Joachim and Anne’s daughter Mary was a woman of courage.
But I’d like to think that Jesus was often looked after by his grandparents. I know it isn’t always possible but I do think that, where they are able, grandparents can add a very special extra layer of love and care into their grandchildren’s lives. My mother had multiple sclerosis so she and my father could not help practically, but my children were very close to my parents and would have long discussions about all sorts of subjects.
Maybe Joachim and Anne told Jesus stories about their childhoods and shared with him the long-held promise of God that, one day, a Messiah would come to show people the way of true peace.
Lord God, thank you for grandparents and the people who stand in for them. May we who are able to influence young people, guide them to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5s2)
09/09/25: More school meals using more British produce? The Nightjars of Cannock Chase
Free school meals are set to be extended to families on Universal Credit from September next year. A new report says serving more free school meals could create a great opportunity for British farmers, to supply the extra fruit and vegetables needed. The report commissioned by Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, warns that the opportunity could be missed unless action is taken to improve procurement of British produce in school catering. We discuss why successive government promises on procuring British food for the public sector have proven difficult to put into practice. And hooded eyelids, camouflaged feathers, and a strange unearthly call: the Nightjars of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
TUE 06:00 Today (m002j6xx)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m002j5w8)
Mark O'Shea on close encounters with venomous snakes
How do you feel about snakes? What about highly venomous ones?
For Mark O’Shea, close encounters with the world’s most rare and deadly snakes are not only his profession, but his passion.
Mark is a Professor of Herpetology - the area of zoology focusing on reptiles and amphibians - at the University of Wolverhampton.
After dropping out of college in his teens, Mark's life could have taken a very different direction; but prompted by a fascination with reptiles that started with a childhood trip to the zoo, he's gone on to have a career spanning research, international expeditions and broadcasting. He's also worked with international medical teams, studying deadly species and helping to generate antidotes for some of the world’s deadliest venoms.
In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Mark reveals the challenges around generating antivenom for countries that need it, the pros and cons of keeping snakes as pets, and what you need to know if you ever get bitten...
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor for BBC Studios
TUE 09:30 Universities Challenged (m002j6xz)
Tuition Impossible
Universities are in crisis. They're facing social and financial pressures that threaten to undermine the foundations they're built on, maybe even their very existence.
Sophia Smith Galer won Celebrity University Challenge last year as part of the Durham team. As the first in her family to go to university she's a big fan of higher education.
Now Sophia's asking the questions and they're big difficult questions for British Universities. Is a major university at risk of going bust and what happens if it does? It the battle for free speech tearing universities apart? And is a degree still worth it?
Over three episodes, Sophia speaks to students, staff and leaders across the higher education sector.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j6y2)
Jung Chang, Labour deputy leader race, Jaysley Beck's mother.
Jung Chang’s Wild Swans, the epic family memoir that followed the lives of Jung, her mother and grandmother through China's 20th century, was banned in mainland China, but was a smash hit worldwide upon publication in 1991. Now Jung’s sequel, Fly, Wild Swans, brings her family’s story up to date. She joins Nuala McGovern.
The Labour deputy leadership race could be an all-woman affair, with all current declarations coming from female MPs. Nuala gets the lowdown from Kitty Donaldson, chief political commentator for The i Paper.
The All Party Parliamentary Group report on PCOS - or polycystic ovary syndrome - has found that women face prolonged delays in diagnosis, fragmented care, and limited access to treatments. The condition is also expected to undergo a name change later this year to more accurately reflect what it is. Nuala hears from Chair of the APPG, Labour MP Michelle Welsh and Caroline Andrews from PCOS charity Verity.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck took her own life in 2021, after filing a complaint against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber. He had pinned her down and tried to kiss her at a work social event. An inquest into her death earlier this year determined the Army's handling of the complaint played "more than a minimal contributory part in her death". Webber has now pleaded guilty to sexual assault at a pre-trial hearing, and is awaiting sentencing. Jaysley's inquest in February this year heard that her line manager also harassed her, with the Army failing to take action. Jaysley's mother Leighann McCready and her solicitor Emma Norton, from the Centre for Military Justice, join Nuala.
Janet Willoner, aka the Tree growing granny, has grown more than 4,000 trees in her garden. She forages for seeds, grows them, and they eventually grow in forests in her local area of North Yorkshire. She has been nominated in the BBC’s Make a Difference Awards in the Green category. She speaks to Nuala.
TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m002htdw)
Callum Au and Natalie Duncan and the beauty of brass
Trombonist, arranger and big band leader Callum Au, and composer, pianist and singer Natalie Duncan, are today's studio guests as they look for unexpected links that connect five disparate tracks. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from an early Adele classic to a reinterpretation of a Roberta Flack hit via a 15-minute reworking by Duke Ellington of one of his most celebrated works.
Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
Chasing Pavements by Adele
Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington
Tuba mirum by Mozart
Back Together Again by Roberta Flack, ft Donny Hathaway
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
Other music in this episode:
Krupastrophe by Callum Au & Louis Dowdeswell
Heaven by Emeli Sandé
Sinfonia 'Infernali' from L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack
Empty Chairs by Don McLean
TUE 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j6y4)
Episode 2: The Sliding-Folding School
This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.
This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’
Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.
In this second episode, Arundhati Roy tells the story of how her mother, who had left her alcoholic husband and is now homeless and penniless, manages to start a school, in two small halls belonging to the local Rotary Club. Arundhati and her brother become her pupils. The curriculum is somewhat eccentric:
‘Mrs Roy taught me Shakespeare, Kipling and A. A. Milne. She read me parts of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. And the opening passage of Lolita. She would slash through my compositions, mark me three out of ten, and write comments like “Horrible. Nonsense.” She taught me to write and resented the author I became.’
Read by Shaheen Khan
Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002j6y6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002j6yb)
Call You & Yours: Where do you go for affordable fashion?
On today's Call You & Yours we want to know where you're buying your clothes?
Clothes sales are up - bouyed by a dry summer and sporting and music events. But, the cost of clothes is increasing.
The supermarkets have decided to step up their game this Autumn - competing with the likes of Zara and Mango. Supermarkets used to be all about the basics- but now their clothing ranges are fashion forward and being recommended by Style Editors.
As the cost of living rises - we want to know where you shop for stylish clothes for the best possible price. What do you think of high street clothing shops, can you find things you like at the price you want? What abouT shopping secondhand? Do you use Ebay. Depop or Vinted - can you still find bargains in charity shops?
Our phone lines open at
11am, and you can call 03700 100 444.
Or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS
TUE 12:57 Weather (m002j6yg)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002j6yl)
Labour's deputy leadership contest hots up
We hear from delegates at the Trades Unions Conference in Brighton, as more candidates for the Labour Party deputy leadership put their names forward. Plus, we get an update from Nepal's capital Kathmandu, as anti-corruption protests escalate.
TUE 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j6yr)
The Fort
2. Everyone Volunteered
The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces. Many are speaking for the first time.
A Royal Marines raid on a Taliban stronghold has been met with fierce resistance - leaving Lance Corporal Mathew Ford missing behind enemy lines.
Commander of the Information Exploitation Battlegroup Lieutenant Colonel Rob Magowan is presented with a live drone feed revealing the location of the Royal Marine. And he's warm. But a ground rescue attempt heading straight back into the hornets' nest presents formidable danger.
Attack helicopter pilot Tom O'Malley has a plan - to fly in at speed with four armed volunteers on the sides of two Apaches. They will quickly grab Mathew and deliver him to safety from under the noses of the Taliban. But fuel is low and the clock is ticking.
They need an answer now.
And Lieutenant Colonel Rob Magowan says: "Do it."
But who will go? Former Royal Engineer Captain Dave Rigg and serving Royal Marine Captain Chris Fraser-Perry take up the story.
Produced by Kev Core
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002j5r7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001fmxx)
Good Enough
By Georgia Fitch
Christine’s always been great at keeping everyone else happy (even if she says so herself). But caring for her two elderly parents isn’t easy, especially as one is an old party animal who thinks the world revolves around him. She’s got a lot on her plate. And the plate is spinning at 300mph. It won’t be long until her grip starts to slip.
A funny, frank and moving drama about caring for the elderly in the wake of a global pandemic.
CAST
Christine ….. Monica Dolan
Charlie ….. Michael Bertenshaw
Shaun ….. David Hounslow
Kobi ….. Kwabena Ansah
Lucy ….. Ella Harding
Linda ….. Chloë Sommer
Therapist ….. Joanna Monro
Paramedic ….. Jonathan Forbes
Written by Georgia Fitch
Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Pete Ringrose and Ali Craig
Production Co-ordination by Maggie Olgiati
A BBC Audio Production
TUE 15:00 Extreme (m0027h5z)
Peak Danger
8. Only The Mountain Knows
In the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed 11 lives, the surviving climbers leave K2 behind. As they do, they’re walking into a worldwide media frenzy.
Everyone wants to know what happened? What went wrong? And most of all - was it worth it?
A heartbroken Cecilie Skog tries to put her life back together and forge a new future.
Her fellow climbers deal with the trauma and fallout of what’s happened. Some of them will never return to the mountains again.
But will Cecilie?
Featuring climbers Cecilie Skog, Lars Nessa, Wilco van Rooijen, Pasang Lama, Fredrik Sträng, Eric Meyer, Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Kim Jae-Soo. Also featuring June Yoon as the voice of Kim Jae-Soo.
Special thanks to Fredrik Sträng for providing archival footage.
Host and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Producers: Leigh Meyer & Amalie Sortland
Editor: Josephine Wheeler
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander, with additional engineering from Daniel Kempson.
Original Music by Adam Foran, Theme music by Adam Foran and Silverhawk
Executive Producers: Max O’Brien & Craig Strachan
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Novel production for the BBC
TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vp5)
Freddie’s Second Verse
Freddie once signed to a major record label. He appeared in high-production music videos and looked set for fame. But the pressure and pace of that life left him feeling hollow. In one of the world’s busiest cities, he now follows a very different path - one built on silence, discipline, and spiritual growth.
Freddie reflects on his decision to leave the music industry behind and embrace Buddhism. He now works as a nail technician and shares how his beliefs shape his daily life. Alongside him is Carl, his partner, who offers moving insights into how their shared values deepen their relationship.
The episode captures striking contrasts: the buzz of the city versus the calm of local temples; a nail salon’s chatter against the resonance of monastery chanting. Through honest conversations and ambient recordings, we step into Freddie and Carl’s world, where Buddhist practice offers an anchor amid chaos.
Their story explores what it means to redefine success, maintain spiritual discipline in a hyperactive city, and find peace through faith. It also touches on themes of identity, mindfulness, and how love and belief can thrive under pressure.
Freddie’s journey is not one of retreat, but of radical reorientation - a decision to slow down in a world that keeps speeding up. This is a rare and intimate portrait of life shaped by stillness, purpose, and the search for something more lasting than applause.
Producer/Presenter: John Offord
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002j6z0)
Finding Elgar
Meet Edward Elgar - composer of Land of Hope and Glory, moustachioed symbol of Empire, and not obviously the kind of man Adrian Chiles would feel a deep connection with. But spend a little time with Elgar - really listen to him - and a very different character starts to emerge.
In Finding Elgar, Adrian Chiles heads out into the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire - where both he and Elgar spent their formative life - and sets out to rescue Sir Edward from the clutches of empire and stuffy concert halls. Along the way, he finds a surprising kinship with the composer - both Midlands-born, both Catholic, both prone to mood swings and bursts of enthusiasm, Adrian starts to see Elgar not as the voice of the establishment, but as a man constantly on the edge of it.
Adrian takes us from London concert halls to the hearing Elgar's music played on the Malvern Hills, via his father's music shop, his cottage birthplace and the church organ loft where the composer learned his craft. We follow Adrian as he traces Elgar’s journey from self-taught son of a piano tuner to national treasure - and asks how a composer with so much doubt, mischief and melancholy ended up as the soundtrack of British establishment.
Along the way, he meets musicians, scholars and fellow fans who all help to build a picture of the man behind the moustache. A man full of contradiction, tenderness and a love of silly games (including one involving beards).
Contributors include Ian Venables, a composer and fellow Worcester resident; the music writer Jude Rogers; flautist Catherine Handley; and academic and oboist Uchenna Ngwe. Adrian also meets Adrian Brown, the founder of the Elgar Sinfonia, and goes into the hills with Shulah Oliver, a professional violinist from Elgar country. Tom Allenby reads excerpts from Elgar's letters and W.H. Reed's biography.
Producer: Katie Hill
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002j6z4)
Should you take magnesium supplements?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around health and wellbeing.
In this episode, the Doctors turn their attention to the mineral of the moment - magnesium. Hyped up on social media, Chris and Xand want to dig into the different roles magnesium plays in regulating the human body, what happens when we’re deficient in magnesium, and whether we should be supplementing magnesium.
To find out, Chris and Xand sit down with Professor Stella Volpe. Stella is the Head of the department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise at Virginia Tech in the US. Stella specialises in prevention of diabetes and obesity, as well as sports nutrition. Her research has included studies of the role of magnesium in the body.
If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Professor Stella Volpe
Producer: Jo Rowntree and Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Grace Revill
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 17:00 PM (m002j6z8)
Israel attacks Hamas leaders in Doha
There's international outrage at what Israel calls a 'precise' strike on Hamas's leaders, who had been part of cease-fire negotiations. Qatar had been mediating. Plus, the boss of the worst-ranked hospital in England, and the joy - or otherwise - of the lunchtime meal deal.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j6zf)
Israel carries out strike on senior Hamas leaders in Qatar
Israel has bombed the Qatari capital Doha. The attacks targeted the senior leadership of Hamas, who'd been meeting to discuss the latest ceasefire proposals for Gaza. Also: Six Labour MPs have now confirmed they are running to become the party's next deputy leader, after Angela Rayner's resignation last week. And staff at a zoo in Shropshire were stunned when one of their lizards produced eight hatchlings, despite not having had access to a mate.
TUE 18:30 Room 101 with Paul Merton (m002j6zk)
Series 3
Jack Dee
Paul Merton asks Jack Dee what he would put into Room 101.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002j5vk)
Dane’s feeling like the Flower and Produce Show is currently just carrots in a tent. It could do with some Grey Gables sizzle, and Lily is the one to provide it. Horrified Lily points out it’s this Sunday so there’s little time. There’s also a wedding on that day so options are limited. Dane’s favouring a Medieval theme; he’s made a start and wants Lily to get thinking. Lily gets a call from Fallon, who’s miffed about the cricket payments scandal. Lily promises to sponsor Fallon’s memorial swim for Ash. She shares her angst over the Flower and Produce task she’s been given. Fallon stresses the importance of the show to the village. She urges Lily not to jazz it up too much. Lily suggests some initiatives to Dane, who thinks they’re all brilliant. If Lily oversees the show, he’ll take care of the wedding. Lily catches up with Azra who’s heading for the spa, and asks if she’d like to be a judge. Azra isn’t keen at first and refuses – until Lily mentions Charlotte Smith might be the other judge, at which point Azra’s right on board. She’s a big fan. However she’s disappointed to find Dane has appointed Fallon as second judge to be with Charlotte. Lily apologises for letting Azra down, and Azra tries to be big about it. She’s pleased for Fallon; it’ll be a tonic for her after the disappointment of the cricket. Azra knows Fallon feels Lynda’s betrayed Harrison’s legacy as former team captain. That really is letting people down. Doesn’t Lily agree?
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002j6zm)
Marks and Gran on Freud and Hitler, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performance, Medea on stage and screen
Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have created some of comedy's most beloved characters, including Birds of a Feather's Sharon and Tracey, and The New Statesman's Alan B'Stard. As their play Dr Freud Will See You Now Mrs Hitler comes to London, they discuss alternate histories, the limits of comedy, and how they still make each other laugh.
Medea remains one of the most complex and terrifying characters in mythology, and Natalie Haynes's new novel No Friend to this House reimagines the story of the sorceress from Colchis. She discusses depictions of Medea with theatre director Carrie Cracknell.
As the National Gallery launches an architectural competition to build a new wing, funded by two huge donations from charitable foundations, art curator and critic Kate Bryan joins Tom to discuss what the building might hold, how the National Gallery might be able to attract new audiences, and the place of art in today's world.
And the award-winning pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason joins Front Row to talk about her upcoming concerts, her album Fantasie and gives us a special performance.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Tim Bano
TUE 20:00 Today (m002j5tv)
The Today Debate: Should we send fewer people to prison?
Our prisons are full - so full there have been waves of early releases in the last year to free up space. In Scotland we learned today that prisoner numbers are higher than they were the last time inmates had to be let out early.
The new Justice Secretary David Lammy is introducing reforms for England and Wales which replace short prison sentences with "tougher" community punishments and much more tagging for those leaving jail.
All this raises the question: Should we send fewer people to prison? Anna Foster discusses that live with a panel of experts.
TUE 20:45 In Touch (m002j6zp)
Guided Holidays
In Touch visits the Lake District and tags along to Ellie Bennet's holiday. Ellie booked a sighted guide through a free guiding service called Cambrian Visions. Cumbrian Visions provides visually impaired holiday makers with a guide to accompany them on their various activities. There is also a similar service happening in Devon, called The Cliffden Buddies, which came first. Julian Griffen, of The Cliffden Buddies and Lee Hodgson of Cumbrian Visions tell In Touch about their services and how it all got started.
For more information:
Cumbrian Visions
Founder and Coordinator: Lee Hodgson
Tel: 07976 669708
Email: hodgson@liverdogs.co.uk
Cliffden Buddies
Founder and Coordinator: Jules Griffen
Tel: 07500 206948
Email: cliffden.buddies@outlook.com
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino
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 (m002j6zr)
Saving Gaza's Past
The history of Gaza dates back more than 5000 years. In antiquity, it was a key port on the Mediterranean coast. Assyrians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans have all left their mark on this small territory. This rich history is seen by Palestinians as central to their identity. Amid the death and destruction of the war, the BBC’s Middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell meets the Palestinians who’ve desperately tried to save what remains of Gaza’s past.
Reporter: Yolande Knell
Producer: Alex Last
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002j5qz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:00 on Monday]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j6zt)
Does Israel's Qatar strike end hopes for diplomatic end to war?
There's been a dramatic escalation today in Israel's war against Hamas, as a strike on the Hamas leadership in Qatar drew widespread condemnation. Has it killed off any hope of a diplomatic solution to the war in Gaza?
Also:
France's President Macron has announced his new pick for Prime Minister - 24 hours after losing his last one. We're live in Paris.
And we hear about the impact of a recording studio for young people in Nottingham - where Prince Harry announced a £1 million donation to Children in Need.
TUE 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j6zw)
Episode Seven
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.
Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Eastern Classical (m001pmhw)
In 2023, East Asian musicians have never been more prominent in western classical music. But it’s not a simple case of East Asian musicians being welcomed onto the world stage, a glorious coming of age. Their emergence has come with much judgement, and European critics have bolstered many racist stereotypes in the process.
Mark Seow examines the clichés and truths that East Asian musicians face and, in the process, attempts to make sense of his own story.
Speaking to a range of musicians with East Asian heritage in the UK, Europe, Japan and Malaysia, Mark tells the real story of East Asian musical achievements and influence in the 21st century.
With contributions from: Maxine Kwok, LSO; Eunsley Park, London Philharmonia; Dr Maiko Kawabata, Royal College of Music and the Open University; Augustin Lusson, The Beggar’s Ensemble; Professor Daniel Leech Wilkinson, KCL; Dr David Chin, Artistic Director of Bachfest Malaysia and Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra; Masaaki Suzuki, founder of Bach Collegium Japan; and Alex Ho, composer and co-founder of Tangram. With thanks to Thomas Cressy.
Presenter: Mark Seow
Producer: Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j6zy)
Sean Curran reports on some tough questions for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2025
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002j700)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j6y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j702)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j704)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
WED 05:00 News Summary (m002j706)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j708)
Sean Curran reports on some tough questions for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j70b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j70d)
Back to school
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning.
I reckon that most of our children are back to school by now, with their oversized blazers to grow into, and their shiny new pencil cases.
There’s inevitable trepidation about a different classroom, perhaps in a new school and new teachers – most of whom will feel similarly apprehensive, but, once we get going, the majority will settle into the routine of school life and enjoy it..
I loved it, especially my small co-educational grammar school, but the bigger boys sometimes got a bit lively; one twirled his duffle bag so wildly around his head that the catch broke and it flew straight at my face, smashing my glasses!
I next saw that boy when, as a senior officer of the local council, he laid a wreath at a remembrance service that I was conducting – that was a bit of a shock but we still enjoy meeting up occasionally and laugh at his aim.
School teaches us to pass exams in useful subjects but it teaches us so much more too. We learn about diversity; that what we regard as the norm, may be quite different for other people. We learn about team work. We learn about leadership and about getting our voices heard and we learn that there are some people for whom life will almost always be a struggle and we learn how we can support them to be part of the group.
Lord, please bless all our schoolchildren and their teachers and support staff as they begin a new school year and help them to learn humanity above all else.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002j70g)
10/09/25: A reset for farming and government? Licences to burn peatland, Corncrakes on Lewis
Could the reshuffle be an opportunity to reset the relationship between farmers and the government? The National Farmers Union President is optimistic, on the Union's Back British Farming day.
Unlicensed burning of vegetation on moorland in England where there's a deep layer of peat will be banned, DEFRA has confirmed. Land managers will have to apply for burning licences for land where 30cm of peat lies beneath the surface, previously licensing only applied to 40cm of deep peat. Environmentalists believe the move will safeguard peatland habitats and stored carbon. Landowners are angry at the decision, and argue that fewer controlled precautionary burns will increase the fuel available for wildfires - which themselves release more carbon into the atmosphere.
And, efforts to increase numbers of the elusive Corncrake in the Western Isles.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
WED 06:00 Today (m002j5tn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day. Audio credit: Blackadder/BBC/Ben Elton.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m002j5tq)
Are Afghan nationals more likely to be convicted of sexual offences?
Tim Harford looks at some of the numbers in the news. This week:
Is it true that interest payments on the UK’s national debt are equivalent to £240 per month for everyone in the country?
Reform UK claim that Afghan migrants are 22 times more likely to be convicted of sex offences. Is that number correct?
We try to make sense of a claim that one in 10 women are being driven to leave work by their menopause symptoms.
And we investigate a claim comparing the speed of a snail and the war in Ukraine.
If you’ve seen a number you think we should look at, email the team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Nicholas Barrett
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
WED 09:30 Shadow World (m002hp7h)
The People vs McDonald's
5. Clowning Around
When Helen digs out some old letters from her former partner John, she finds some potential clues.
In 1986, members of environmental group, London Greenpeace, published a leaflet called ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s?’ It claimed McDonald’s was exploiting workers, destroying rainforests, torturing animals, and promoting food that could make people sick, even cause cancer...
McDonald’s said the claims in the leaflet were untrue and defamatory and the company demanded an apology.
Helen Steel, a gardener, and a former postman named Dave Morris, refused.
Mark Steel takes us into the murky world of McDonald’s Corporation vs Steel & Morris – aka 'McLibel' - the longest-running trial in English history which would turn the spotlight on the way big business operates. As well as bringing issues like rainforest destruction and advertising to children into the mainstream, it would also be the moment our current Prime Minister first comes to prominence. If that isn’t enough, this story would ultimately have connections with a dark and shameful secret at the heart of the British state - something which Mark discovers he himself had been a victim of.
Shadow World: Gripping stories from the Shadows – BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter: Mark Steel
Producer: Conor Garrett
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Mix: Tim Heffer
Music Score: Phil Kieran
*Archive excerpts from director Franny Armstrong’s ‘McLibel,’ reproduced with the permission of Spanner Films
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5ts)
Noel Clarke libel case, Bras after cancer, Comedian Emma Doran
On 22 August, the High court rejected Noel Clarke’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy.
The writer, actor and producer of the Kidulthood trilogy sued the Guardian News & Media over seven articles and a podcast published between April 2021 and March 2022 in which women accused him of sexual misconduct. He was seeking £70 million in damages. In a high court judgment with a 220-page document, Mrs Justice Steyn rejected Clarke’s claims, and ruled the newspaper had succeeded in both its defences: of truth and public interest. Nuala McGovern is joined by Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, along with Lucy Osborne and Sirin Kale, the investigative journalists who uncovered the story.
Finding the perfect bra can be quite difficult at the best of times but what about after breast cancer? A study by Portsmouth Hospital and the university is looking at how to develop better bras to cope with changes after cancer surgery and radiotherapy. Associate Professor Edward St John is a breast surgeon at the hospital and an academic at the university. He joins Nuala along with Celeste Ingram, a patient taking part in the research.
We’ve all heard of the fight or flight response in the face of danger, but there's also freeze, and then there's fawn, also known as people pleasing, or appeasing. Clinical psychologist Dr Ingrid Clayton has written about this in her new book, Fawning - Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves and How to Find our Way Back. Nuala spoke to Ingrid about her own teenage experiences that made her want to help others overcome this form of trauma response and what fawning looks like in practice.
The Irish comedian Emma Doran is about to tour Ireland and the UK with a new stand up show, Emmaculate, and it's her third and biggest one yet, with new dates being added just this week. If you haven't caught Emma on stage you might know her from social media where her caustic takes on parenthood or schoolyard and workplace politics have hundreds of thousands of followers. She's a mother of three and she's also written a book called Mad Isn't it? which tells the story of how she got unexpectedly pregnant at 18, and after a decade of young parenthood eventually found her way into comedy. Emma joins Nuala in the Woman's Hour studio.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Andrea Kidd
WED 11:00 Today (m002j5tv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5ty)
Episode 3: 'How's that crazy mother of yours?'
This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.
This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’
Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.
In this third episode, Arundhati is sent away to boarding school at the age of 13. She misses her beloved dog Dido more than she misses her mother or brother. But when she returns home for the holidays, the dog is not there:
‘Mrs Roy had had her shot. Because she mated with an unknown street dog. It was a kind of honour killing. Dido’s kennel stood there empty. I wanted to live in it. I didn’t, of course. I would have risked being shot, too.’
Meanwhile Mrs Roy’s new school goes from strength to strength and expands into a campus of its own. The architect who designs the new buildings, Laurence Wilfred Baker, inspires Arundhati to apply to architecture school in Delhi, and so: ‘starting at the age of 16, I gradually, deliberately, transformed myself into somebody else.’
Read by Shaheen Khan
Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m002j5v2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002j5v6)
Water Industry Complaints; Food Banks; Recruitment Scams
2025 has been another turbulent year for England and Wales' water industry. Pollution scandals, rising bills, financial instability, regulatory violations, and public distrust have dominated headlines, culminating in a government pledge to scrap Ofwat and overhaul regulation following the report by the Independent Water Commission in July. The Consumer Council for Water released it's latest Household Complaints report today, it shows the consumer watchdog received the highest number of complaints about water companies in almost a decade, with bills being the consumers main concern. We'll be talking with the report writers and hearing about one consumer that has been faced with nearly 100 days of disruption caused by a collapsed sewer.
A new report by Trussell shows that more than 14.1 million people in the UK faced hunger in the past year due to lack of money – a sharp rise from 11.6 million in 2022.
The food bank and anti-poverty charity will be with us to discuss the new report, and we also hear from one young mother who has to use food banks despite working.
And Scam Secrets presenter Shari Vahl will be telling us about the latest scam that is targeting those looking for work. We will hear about one person who thought they were doing a trial shift at a new job, which ended with them receiving demands to payback a DWP loan.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Dave James
WED 12:57 Weather (m002j5vb)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m002j5vf)
The PM is quizzed on Lord Mandelson's links to Jeffrey Epstein
As UK ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson says he believes further "embarrassing" correspondence between himself and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein will be published, we discuss with a government minister if his position is tenable. Former head of the British army Lord Dannatt reflects on the state of security in Europe after 19 Russian drones enter Polish airspace, and should our teenagers be doing more chores at home ?
WED 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j5vh)
The Fort
3. Killing Ground
The story of Jugroom Fort takes a step back in time to the eve of battle.
January 2007. The battle-hardened Royal Marines of Zulu Company assemble ahead of a massive air bombardment of the target, a notorious Taliban stronghold. Their orders include the possibility of crossing the Helmand River and attacking on foot. At
5am - that order is given. They're going in.
Captain Chris Witts commands the amphibious Viking vehicles. As the treacherous crossing is made, the marines ready themselves.
As they launch their attack, they discover that despite a night of heavy bomging - Jugroom Fort is far from deserted.
Lance Corporal Glyn Sadler and Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describe the switch from eerie silence - to an intense firefight.
The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces. Many are speaking for the first time.
Produced by Kev Core
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002j5vk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029j9m)
Life and Time - Series 2
The Officers, Part One: One Year
The first series of Life and Time was awarded Bronze at his year's ARIAS and now the second series returns. This time writer, James Fritz focuses on the Prison Officers.
Prison Officer, Michael Rose featured briefly in the first series and he's back. Michael is good at his job. It's rewarding but the pressure is growing. A wave of experienced officers are leaving and not being replaced. Then one day Rihanna joins. A young newbie and Michael needs to show her the ropes but Michael is becoming disillusioned and alarmed about the prison crisis - death by a thousand cuts. Rihanna, her new boots too shiny and the prison keys heavy on her belt, hasn't a clue about what lies ahead and that life on the inside is just as tough for the officers as it is for the prisoners.
Michael ..... Robert Glenister
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Paul ..... Jason Barnett
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Steven ..... Gabin Kongolo
Toby ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Control Room/Officer Moritz ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Directed by Tracey Neale
Writer: James Fritz
Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
Technical Producer: Keith Graham
Production Co-Ordinator: Ben Hollands
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002j5vm)
Money Box Live: The Cost of University
About a quarter of a million 18-year-olds in the UK secured a university place this summer and are now preparing to head off to their chosen institution. The numbers increased by about 5% at a time when the costs associated with getting a degree are also rising.
There's a patchwork of different funding models across the UK, but for students in England and Wales tuition fees have gone up for the first time in eight years. We take a look at how tuition and day-to-day costs are funded across the UK, and hear from students about their housing - another major cost that has been increasing.
Debt is also now a major part of the university experience, with students in England graduating with an average debt of £53,000. One graduate explains how she has struggled to make a dent in her debt over the past 10 years despite holding well paid jobs.
Felicity Hannah is joined by Tom Allingham from the student money website Save the Student and Clare Dickens, director of the Student Life team at the University of Wolverhampton.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: James Graham and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle
(This episode was first broadcast at
3pm on Radio 4 on the 10th of September 2025).
WED 15:30 New Elements (m002j5vp)
What does it take to make something which has never existed on Earth before? The search for element 120 on the periodic table has begun at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen, who is used to studying the processes of creation, visits the 88-Inch Cyclotron facility at Berkeley where the next new element may be created very soon.
To uncover what motivates scientists to pursue something that is possibly only produced in the violent explosions of stars he speaks with the scientists trying it now, the scientists who last made an element at Berkeley 50 years ago, and a historian of the fraught history of element discovery.
The answer is not as straight forward as he suspected.
Presenter: Andrew Pontzen
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth
Image Credit: Berkeley Lab Heavy Element Group
WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002j5vr)
Alas WH Smith and Jones
Rebrands, name changes, financial black holes. Just what is going on with WH Smith?
This week, David Yelland and Simon Lewis look at the reputation of a high street institution. With stores up and down the country now being called TG Jones, what sort of messaging - if any - has taken place between the new owners and Smith's existing customers? And with most of us looking for a cheap online deal, they'll also explain why retail PR is no longer the glamorous industry it once was.
And in the extended edition on BBC Sounds, who wants to live forever? Well the answer seems to be the leaders of China and Russia. President Xi Jinping and President Putin have been overheard discussing how the advances in biotechnology could lead to eternal life. This happened just before a social media frenzy suggesting President Trump had died. He hadn't. But in a world of increasingly elderly leaders, what are the PR challenges of persuading the rest of us that they're alive and well and fit for office?
Plus it's Coldplay versus KitKats. Yes, the summer has been bookended by two big sex scandals. One of them revealed very publicly at a Coldplay gig - the other, behind the closed doors of Nestle. But as Simon and David explain, the level of coverage a scandal receives doesn't always dictate how serious it is.
Producer: Duncan Middleton
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: Eve Streeter
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002j5vt)
Super Mario is 40, Russia Whatsapp ban, Murdoch succession, The media v The Judiciary?
Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall on Super Mario at 40 with the Guardian's Video Games Editor Keza MacDonald, State crackdowns on social media in Russia and Nepal with Eva Hartog from Politico and Dr Nayana Prakash from Chatham House. Also resolution in the Murdoch family succession battle with Claire Atkinson from The Media Mix and the impact of media coverage on the judiciary with Sir Robert Buckland and legal journalist Frances Gibb.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
WED 17:00 PM (m002j5vw)
Polish PM: we’re closest to conflict since WW2
Russian drones in Polish skies draw condemnation. Former head of the CIA General Petraeus calls for further sanctions against Russian assets. Plu, the joy of jazz, as a campaign is launched to save jazz clubs from closure.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5vy)
Starmer facing calls to dismiss Lord Mandelson
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to dismiss Lord Mandelson, after the UK's ambassador to the United States admitted that revelations about his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were 'very embarrassing'. In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Lord Mandelson said a birthday note he wrote to Epstein in 2003 may not be the last of their messages to emerge - describing the association as being 'an albatross around his neck'. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has questioned how much the Prime Minister knew about his ambassador's ties to Epstein.
WED 18:30 Do Gooders (m002j5w0)
Series 2
2. The School
Gladys reveals she’s going to church, which takes the whole office by surprise and incenses Lauren. Ken uses the revelation to teach a few lessons of his own. Meanwhile, Clive struggles to comes to terms with the fact he’s aging. Inevitably, things turn out to be not quite as they'd seemed.
Garrett Millerick’s ensemble sitcom Do Gooders returns for another series. The show takes us back behind the curtain of fictional mid-level charity, The Alzheimers Alliance, as the fundraising events team continue their daily struggle for survival. Cue more office feuds, more workplace romances and more catastrophic fundraising blunders – all par for the course when trying to ‘do good’ on an industrial scale.
Cast
Gladys – Kathryn Drysdale
Lauren – Ania Magliano
Clive – Garrett Millerick
Harriett – Fay Ripley
Achi – Ahir Shah
Ken – Frank Skinner
Guest Star
Niamh – Katie Norris
Writer – Garrett Millerick
Additional Material – Katie Storey
Sound Engineer – David Thomas
Editor – David Thomas
Production Assistant – Jenny Recaldin
Producer – Jules Lom
Executive Producers – Richard Allen-Turner, Daisy Knight, Julien Matthews, Jon Thoday
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m002j5w2)
Lynda tries to steer Lily off the topic of the cricket payments and toward the Flower and Produce Show, but after a cursory agreement that Dane’s idea of a Medieval theme is thoroughly naff, Lily swings the conversation back. Why did Lynda do it? People are blaming her and whilst she’s taking responsibility, it wasn’t her idea, it was Lily’s. Lynda explains her hand was forced by Lawrence. Making it public sooner would have been the more honest thing to do. Lily maintains they should now share the blame, but Lynda doesn’t want Lily’s reputation tarnished. Her own has weathered greater storms than this.
Brad feels he might have upset Amber, and asks Lily’s advice. Lily suggests he simply ask her. Brad thanks her for the advice. He wonders what’s happening with the cricket situation. He thinks it’s weird and not like Lynda to do something dodgy. Guilt-ridden Lily explains it’s more complicated than people think, and it’s not fair to blame Lynda entirely. Later Lily admits to Lynda that she’s told Brad the truth of the matter, and also sent a message around the team asking them to meet on Friday.
Stella’s brought Cleo the dog home. Ben observes she’s settling well. Stella’s concerned about Rosie, who doesn’t always do as she’s told, but realises she has to be given a chance. All goes well until Cleo gets hold of Rosie’s favourite giraffe toy. Pip admits it wasn’t Cleo’s fault, but it’s made Rosie more nervous of the dog. She and Stella need to chat about what happens next.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002j5w4)
The Grand Finale of Downton Abbey
As the Downton Abbey franchise comes to an end after fifteen years, with the cinema release of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale this Friday, we discuss the enduring appeal of the upstairs-downstairs class-based period drama with the chatelaine of the 'real Downton', Highclere Castle, the Countess of Carnarvon, and with Caroline Frost of The Radio Times.
Suede frontman Brett Anderson talks to us about the 21st century anxieties which have informed the renowned indie-rock band's new album, Antidepressants.
Two medical professionals who've turned a razor-sharp scalpel to writing informed by their careers in the NHS: Adam Kay, the junior doctor-turned writer of the bestselling memoir This Is Going to Hurt, discusses writing his debut novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, a murder-mystery set in the corridors of a busy hospital. And nurse and playwright Uma Nada-Rajah talks about her tragicomic production Black Hole Sign which is set in an A+E department and which opens in Scotland this weekend.
Plus we hear about a new initiative - launched today - which aims to develop filmmaking skills in children as young as 3 years old.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m002j5w6)
Is ‘net zero’ a moral pursuit?
The party conference season kicked off with claims and counter claims about the viability of Nigel Farage’s proposals for government. One issue that unites Reform and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives is scrapping the 2050 net zero target, echoing US President Donald Trump's pledge to "drill, baby, drill" and embark on new oil and gas exploration.
This is a turbulent time in international politics. The prospect of achieving a global consensus on climate action seems a forlorn hope. What’s more, critics of the UK net zero target argue that the costs will cause a decline in living standards for little overall benefit.
Forget economic arguments: what is the moral thing to do in the face of a warming planet, rising sea levels, more extreme weather, food and water insecurity, and human displacement?
Readers of Immanuel Kant might be tempted to invoke his ‘categorical imperative’, a moral rule that says you should act in a way that you would want to apply to everyone, regardless of your personal desires or the potential outcomes of your actions. In climate terms, it means pursuing net zero as a moral good in itself. Utilitarian ethics, however, says that the right action is the one producing the most happiness and the least unhappiness for the greatest number of people. Therefore, it could be argued that the detrimental consequences of pursuing net zero in the UK, combined with its questionable global benefit, make it immoral.
Is ‘net zero’ a moral pursuit?
Chair: Michael Buerk
Panellists: Matthew Taylor, Ella Whelan, Giles Fraser and Anne McElvoy.
Witnesses: Maurice Cousins, Alice Evatt, Tony Milligan and Sorin Baiasu.
Producer: Dan Tierney
WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m002j5w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Illuminated (m002j5nr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j5wb)
US conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot dead in Utah
Charlie Kirk, the US conservative activist and major ally of President Donald Trump, has been shot dead while speaking at a university campus event in Utah. Police are still looking for the attacker. On social media, Trump wrote, "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie".
Pressure continues to mount on the government over the future of Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, as more revelations emerge about his past association with Jeffrey Epstein. We speak to one Labour MP who says Mandelson should be sacked.
And a defence of the much-maligned author of the Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - as his first novel in eight years is released.
WED 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j5wd)
Episode Eight
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.
Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Ria Lina Gets Forensic (m002j5wg)
Series 1
1. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Lapsed-forensic-scientist-turned-stand-up-comedian Ria Lina turns her scientific scrutiny to the various treatments out there that boast anti-aging effects.
In this episode, she’s joined by comedian, actress, author, podcaster and celebrated improviser Cariad Lloyd to see if Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can help to clear brain fog.
Featuring Ria Lina and Cariad Lloyd
Written by Ria Lina and Steve N Allen
Produced by Ben Walker
A DLT Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 The Skewer (m002j5wk)
Series 14
Ep 1 - Jet 2 Migrant Holidays, The Magic Patriotic Roundabout, and a Putin Loop
The four-time Gold Comedy winner at the Radio Academy Awards returns as Jon Holmes remixes the news into the current affairs comedy concept album where world events meet popular culture in a satirical mash-up.
This week - Jet 2 Migrant Holidays, The Magic Patriotic Roundabout, Mandelson's 'Special Friend', and a Putin Loop.
Producer: Jon Holmes
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j5wn)
The prime minister is challenged over US Ambassador Lord Mandelson's past links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Sean Curran reports.
THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2025
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5wq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5ty)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ws)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5wv)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
THU 05:00 News Summary (m002j5wx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5wz)
Prime Minister's Questions: Sean Curran reports as Sir Keir Starmer is challenged over US Ambassador Lord Mandelson's past links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5x1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5x3)
I love the Sewing Bee!
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning.
I was brought up in homemade clothes, some were made for me and some were handed down from cousins because home made stuff has a habit of lasting for ever - especially if you don’t like it!
My mother had always knitted and sewn and my father was a trained engineer so when my sister and I needed new clothes, he would create a pattern by copying parts of a dress or a skirt onto newspaper and then my Mum would cut it out of fabric from the market and sew it up. Looking back, they made some lovely outfits but what we really wanted was a dress from a shop…..
But it’s with happy nostalgia that I watch The Great British Sewing Bee. It’s amazing how a dozen very different people – women and men, young and not so young, all sorts of cultures and backgrounds – come together to make gorgeous clothes, some from scratch, some transforming tents or swimming costumes to make something completely new and different.
The sewers compete against the clock and against each other, all aiming to delight the judges and eventually to win the coveted prize of Sewer of the Year. It’s a frantic race to the finish but I am often moved by the contestants who will stop their work to help another person who’s stuck. Creativity is a wonderful gift from God, no doubt, and where would we be without it, but kindness somehow trumps them all.
They say ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind’
Lord God, help us to be kind today.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5x5)
We've discussed the impact of President Trump's trade policy on producers here in the UK, we now turn our attention to American farmers, who are being hit by retaliatory tariffs imposed on American products by countries around the world.
The American Soybean Association says that exports to China have practically halted after China imposed an extra 20% tariff in response to American tariffs on Chinese goods. China is instead importing soya from South America because it's cheaper, just as it did during President Trump’s first trade war in 2018.
Low prices for US corn and soybean, combined with rising costs are already placing pressure on farm incomes. And with record high yields predicted for the upcoming harvest, some forecasters are warning of an over-supply of crops without a customer, potentially adding further downward pressure on US grain prices.
Woodland creation is one of the most important ways of helping us meet our climate change targets, and that starts with seeds. But they're not always easily available, sometimes British supply is short or not up to scratch, leading to a reliance on less genetically appropriate imports, which carry a risk of pests and diseases. To solve that problem, the domestic production of seeds is being expanded at Forestry England’s new Tree Seed Processing Centre in Cheshire.
And keeping an ear on on farmland birds is becoming easier with the use of AI.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
THU 06:00 Today (m002j74b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Illuminated (m002h9np)
Into the West
The red-billed chough is the most dashing crow in the world. These rare, flamboyant, scarlet-legged, scarlet-billed denizens of Britain’s Celtic coasts are communal and comic, intelligent and daring. They’re also sublime aeronauts, riding the breeze as though they’re made of it.
For writer Horatio Clare, the chough is his totem. He’s loved the bird since he first encountered it in the 1980s during childhood holidays to Pembrokeshire. And more than forty years on from that joyous first encounter he still seeks them out. It’s his annual pilgrimage.
In this episode of Illuminated, we join Horatio on that pilgrimage as he tells the story of a bird with a beak and legs the colour of a saint’s blood… or perhaps a king’s blood; whose cry says its name and whose presence symbolises a nation’s identity. It’s the story of a bird which embodies myths… and creates new ones; a bird which fled into the West over two centuries ago and which is finally returning to a wider world.
Horatio begins his journey on Pen Llŷn, the westernmost spur of North Wales and one of the red-billed chough’s strongholds. His guide as he walks the sea cliffs is naturalist and folklorist Twm Elias. Twm lived alongside chough as he grew up on Llŷn and remembers a childhood visit to Caernarfon Castle, where his friend Dic John made a grab for the Castle’s ‘tame’ chough – and got a painful pecking in return.
Twm sees chough as a symbol of the wild coastal areas of north Wales. But it’s also wrapped up in ideas of Cornish identity too. Dr. Loveday Jenkin grew up on stories of King Arthur becoming a chough when he died. Yet, just as she heard those stories, the very last choughs were dying out in Cornwall.
But then, in 2001, thirty years after the last chough disappeared, three birds from Ireland made landfall in the far west of Cornwall. The following year two of them built a nest and the population grew from there. Hilary Mitchell from Cornwall Birds tells the story of how the avian symbol and spirit of the county returned.
The chough is associated now with the western Celtic coasts. But once upon a time it ranged right across the British Isles. And maybe it will again. Horatio heads in the opposite direction… east… to a place which hasn’t seen chough for at least two centuries, despite the bird being embedded in its iconography.
In Dover he meets Paul Hadaway from Kent Wildlife Trust to discover how a bird which was a symbol of the martyr and saint Thomas a Becket is once again flying in Kentish skies. And Jenny Luddington from the Trust explains how she’s drawn on an old tradition of hooden creatures – carved wooden animal heads on poles – to create a hooden chough and tell the story of the bird’s return to Kent.
Horatio Clare discovers that the chough’s story has come full circle as old myths rehatch and new ones take wing.
Presenter: Horatio Clare
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Wales production for BBC Radio 4
THU 09:30 How to Play (m002j74d)
Max Richter's Four Seasons Recomposed with Elena Urioste and Odyssey Ensemble
Violinist Elena Urioste and the brand new Odyssey Ensemble invite us to eavesdrop on rehearsals as they prepare to perform one of this century's best loved instrumental works.
German-born British composer Max Richter's moving and atmospheric music has made him one of the most influential of his generation, with over 3 billion streams. He describes his reinterpretation of the Four Seasons as an "off-road trip through Vivaldi's landscape"- using the baroque masterpiece as a blueprint to develop fragments of the melodies and cast them in a new light. From Spring through to Winter, his suite is infectious, dramatic and packed with emotion. Behind the rehearsal room doors, we hear from players as they "unlearn" Vivaldi, bring their own layers of interpretation and try to emulate heat and ice through their instruments.
Featuring violinist/director Elena Urioste, 2nd violinist Steven Crichlow, cellist Sarah Ayoub and double bassist Noah Daniel.
With thanks to Josh Asokan and the rest of Odyssey Ensemble - the UK’s first professional orchestra exclusively dedicated to amplifying real-life stories of asylum-seekers and refugees through orchestral music.
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio
Photo credit: Odyssey Ensemble/Monika S. Jakubowska
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j74g)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pregnancy drug DES, Novelist Heather Morris
For decades thousands of pregnant women across the UK were prescribed the drug Diethlystilbestrol or DES, a synthetic hormone that was meant to help prevent miscarriage. But the drug left a legacy of life-altering health problems for some of their children, including infertility and rare cancers. Anita Rani speaks to ITV Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker who has investigated what they are calling a medical scandal that continues to devastate lives, talking to the women who say more must be done to help those exposed to the drug as new concerns emerge over the impact of DES on a third generation.
Author Heather Morris wrote The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which went on to become one of the bestselling books of the 21st century. Her new novel, The Wish, follows Jesse, a 15-year-old with terminal leukaemia who wants to have a digital 3D recreation of her life for her family and friends. To accomplish this, she connects with Alex, a lonely CGI designer. The book explores their unlikely friendship and its impact on both of their lives. Heather joins Anita to talk about mortality, family, healing through connection and what it means to be remembered.
Last week we heard from three women who have had a loved one take their own life. They spoke honestly and movingly about what happened to them in the immediate and long term aftermath of such a loss. Today we are taking a look at the historical context of suicide. Anita speaks to BBC New Generation thinker Dr Stephanie Brown, who is Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull and doing research in this area.
In 2023 Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor went viral on TikTok after Emerald Fennell used it in a key scene in the film, Saltburn. That resurgence, along with her popular Kitchen Discos that got lots of us through the lockdown set the scene for her bravely titled new album, Perimenopop, which is released tomorrow, a celebration of womanhood in middle age. Sophie joins Anita in the Woman's Hour studio.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Corinna Jones
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002j74j)
Alicia Vikander
Swedish-born Alicia Vikander won global acclaim in 2015 for playing Vera Britten in Testament Of Youth, and a humanoid robot in the thriller Ex-Machina. The following year she won an Academy Award for her supporting role with Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, along with a Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Since then her diverse range of screen roles have included playing a spy boss in the film Jason Bourne, computer game heroine Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, and Gloria Steinem in the biopic The Glorias. The daughter of acclaimed stage actor Maria Fahl, she tells John Wilson how she first performed on stage at the age of seven in a musical written by Benny and Bjorn of ABBA. She also appeared in Swedish television dramas and films as a child actor. In 2025 Alicia Vikander makes her return to the stage in a new version of Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea at The Bridge in London, her first theatre role since she was a child.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
THU 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j74l)
Episode 4: She's Leaving Home
This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.
This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’
Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.
In this fourth episode, Arundhati is studying architecture in Delhi. She still goes home in the holidays, and her mother has become an influential public figure:
‘She began to speak out in public about the trauma she had endured as a child and young woman. She spoke of her father’s violence towards her. Mrs Roy publicly said she married the first man who proposed to her to get away from her father…’
At home, though, Mrs Roy becomes increasingly volatile. She screams at Arundhati, calling her ‘whore’ and ‘prostitute’.
‘At the end of the holidays, I returned to Delhi and I wrote and told her that I loved her but wouldn’t be coming home again and I would no longer need money from her. Her responses were so insulting that I stopped reading them.’
Read by Shaheen Khan
Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m002j74n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002j74q)
Hello Mum? I Can't Hear You
Your phone pings - it's a loved one who needs your help. Would you know what to do?
Lots of us have received the 'Hello Mum' text - sometimes it's dead easy to spot. But what if the circumstances fit, and they catch you completely unawares?
In this episode, Shari Vahl, Alex Wood, and Dr Elisabeth Carter discuss how the scam, which preys on parental instinct and urgency, is getting increasingly cunning - and they examine the tools the fraudsters use to manipulate us.
Listener Anne, who was almost conned out of £2,000, tells her story. Guest expert Nick Sharp from the National Crime Agency tells us how these criminals are targeting us - and he's no exception, having recently received a Hello Dad message that landed on his work phone.
As ever, the red flags will be waving when there's something to watch out for, and you'll be armed with the knowledge to steer well clear of the criminals.
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002j74s)
Dough - The Future of Housebuilding
Could your future home be built by a robot bricklayer?
Greg Foot, host of the BBC Radio 4 show 'Sliced Bread', now brings you 'Dough'.
Each episode explores future wonder products that might rise to success and redefine our lives.
Experts and entrepreneurs discuss the trends shaping what today's everyday technology may look like tomorrow, before a leading futurist offers their predictions on what life might be like within five, ten and fifty years.
This episode examines the future of UK housebuilding.
Will new homes be cheaper to run and built to a higher standard?
What potential do robots have to build quality homes quickly and cheaply?
Could building homes with bricks become a thing of the past?
Might 3D printing homes with concrete be a realistic alternative?
And will factories play a bigger part in meeting the demand for new housing?
Alongside Greg is the futurist Tom Cheesewright and expert guests including Prof. Richard Fitton, Professor of Building Performance at the University of Salford and Salar al Khafaji, the CEO and founder of Monumental which builds autonomous on-site construction robots.
Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North Production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
THU 12:57 Weather (m002j74v)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m002j74x)
Lord Mandelson sacked as Ambassador to the US
Lord Mandelson is sacked as Ambassador to the US. A former cabinet colleague and a former foreign minister discuss the impact on Labour and the relationship with America.
THU 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j74z)
The Fort
4. The Break-in
The Royal Marines Commandos have launched their ground assault on Jugroom Fort.
A jagged, v-shaped hole has been blasted into its side, and fresh from a nerve-wracking river crossing, the men of Zulu Company surge from their Viking vehicles to take up positions and press home their assault.
This will be the location for "the break-in", the moment of any attack on an enemy encampment when the defences are breached.
5 Troop are the tip of the spear. Commanded by Al Weldon, Rifleman Marine Mike Cleary is "point man" - leading the way.
Speaking for the first time about their experiences, Al and Mike describe the moment the eerie quiet of a seemingly deserted stronghold is shattered.
Overwhelmed by enemy fire, Zulu Company regroup and attempt to marshal their casualties from the "killing ground".
Last to leave, Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describes last-ditch efforts to account for their missing man.
Senior Marine, Lance Corporal Mathew Ford cannot be found. And as the enemy fire continues around them difficult decisions are made to ensure the safety of the rest of the company.
The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.
Produced by Kev Core
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002j5w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029jk1)
Life and Time - Series 2
The Officers, Part Two: Thirty-Eight Weeks
James Fritz's award winning drama series continues. Prison Officer Rihanna Campbell has been shown the ropes but is under pressure. She is the new key worker to Steven, a prisoner who can be challenging. Can a young, poorly paid and poorly trained officer perform miracles or will she be broken by a system that is struggling to cope with overcrowding, under staffing and lack of funding.
Michael ..... Robert Glenister
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Steven ..... Gabin Kongolo
Writer: James Fritz
Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
Technical Producer: Keith Graham
Production Co-Ordinator: Ben Hollands
THU 15:00 Open Country (m002j751)
The Menai Strait
Martha Kearney visits the Menai Strait - the stretch of water which separates Ynys Môn or Anglesey from mainland Wales. She learns about its treacherous tides and hears about the history of its two bridges, both built in the 19th century to improve travel between London and Ireland. The Menai Suspension Bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and will celebrate its 200th anniversary at the start of 2026. The newer Britannia Bridge had to be completely rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1970.
Martha meets an academic from Bangor University who explains how ocean physics make the waters of the Strait so dangerous. At low tide she braves the pouring rain to go rock-pooling with a wildlife expert, who explains why the Strait is such a special habitat for marine life. She also visits Church Island - a tiny island in the middle of the Strait which is home to an ancient church - and meets the people who look after it.
Producer: Emma Campbell
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002j753)
Crash Bang Wallop: The Sound of Words
Michael Rosen is joined by linguist Dr Catherine Laing to discuss onomatopoeia and other words that sound like their meanings. Not just words for sounds like 'crash' and 'bang', or words for animal noises like 'woof' and 'quack', but also other words which perhaps hold something of their meaning within their form. Is there something rough about the word 'rough'? Does 'smooth' feel smooth? And how can we play with this in everyday speech and in poetry?
Produced by Becky Ripley, in partnership with the Open University.
THU 16:00 Rethink (m002j755)
Rethink: how can flying be less polluting?
Aviation has a problem: it's reliant on fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases when they're burned in a jet engine. Other industries are worse polluters, but in the next few decades, they are likely to decarbonise much faster than the airline sector.
Why? Because kerosene is a light enough fuel for planes to get off the ground, while producing enough thrust for them to do so. Also it enables airliners to carry passengers to the other side of the world.
International flight has only been around for less than 100 years, but research suggests that it's responsible for 4% of total global warming to date. It's not just that airliners pump out carbon dioxide, but they also emit nitrous oxides and soot. Even contrails, which are mostly water vapour, have a warming effect high up in the atmosphere.
Can efficiencies in jet engines, optimal routes and air traffic control lead to less fuel being used? What technologies are available to make flying cleaner? Is the pace of change fast enough to meet net zero by 2050?
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Lisa Baxter
Contributors:
David Lee, Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Dr Mark Bentall, Head of the Research and Technology Programme, Airbus
Dr Naomi Allen, Head of Research at the Royal Aeronautical Society,
Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy in the School of Engineering at the University of Manchester.
Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive, Sustainable Aviation
Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m002j757)
Could we have evidence of life on Mars?
News broke this week that rocks picked up by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars may have found chemical signatures left by living organisms.
With the search for life on the red planet capturing our imaginations for decades, Victoria Gill is joined by science journalist Jonathan Amos to look at what we know about the history of life on Mars, and what could be different about this discovery.
As commemorations take place this week for the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we hear about the project helping to protect birds in New York from the effects of a giant annual light display in memory of the victims of the tragedy.
Dr Andrew Farnsworth, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, tells us how they’re working with the organisers of the Tribute in Light memorial to help save the lives of a wide range of birds.
Victoria is joined by managing editor of the New Scientist, Penny Sarchet, to look through this week’s most exciting scientific discoveries.
And in our series profiling the six books shortlisted for this year’s Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize, we speak to neuroscientist and clinical neurologist Professor Masud Husain about his book Our Brains, Our Selves, and what his encounters with patients reveal about how our brains make up who we are.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Tim Dodd
Editor: Martin Smith
THU 17:00 PM (m002j759)
America reacts to the killing of Charlie Kirk
America reacts to the killing of Charlie Kirk. Also on the programme, Michael Gove discusses the departure of US Ambassador Peter Mandelson.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j75c)
Lord Mandelson is sacked as the UK's ambassador to the United States
Lord Mandelson has been sacked as the British ambassador to the United States, because of what the Foreign Office said was new information about his links to the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Also: The FBI have released pictures of a man they want to question about the fatal shooting of the prominent conservative activist, Charlie Kirk. And Ireland threatens to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest unless Israel is banned.
THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002j75f)
Glenn Moore's Almanac Series 2
Arrest!
Comedian Glenn Moore looks in his almanac at world events and what he was doing at the time. This episode is a case of wrongful arrest, mistaken identity and a heroic struggle to clear his name as Glenn Moore is mistaken for... Glenn Moore!
Perhaps best-known for his outrageously brilliant one-liners on Mock The Week, Glenn delivers a tale of comic mishaps and extraordinary scenes interwoven with a big event in history – and looks back through his almanac to find out other strange connections to the day as well.
Written by Glenn with additional material by Katie Storey (Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, The Last Leg) and produced and directed by David Tyler (Cabin Pressure, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive, etc.)
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002j639)
Stella and Ben explain to Pip that whilst Rosie wasn’t at fault yesterday, both Rosie and Cleo need to learn how to react with each other in a challenging situation. Pip is persuaded that Cleo’s trainable, and agrees she can stay on the condition that if the dog shows any aggression Rosie and Pip won’t come to Stella’s any more.
Azra’s hoping to meet Charlotte Smith at the Flower and Produce on Sunday and wants to make sure she can engage her in intelligent conversation. She seeks Stella’s advice on farming talk, declaring her starting point is to ask Charlotte what her favourite cow is. Stella suggests not talking shop, recommending instead that Azra chats about ordinary things.
Ruairi feels like he’s being fobbed off at Home Farm. Adam insists he’s coping fine on his own but Ruairi can see he’s stressed. Adam maintains he has Ruairi’s interests at heart – anyone can see his life’s in London. Ruairi’s not so sure. He’s not getting a lot from his graduate scheme and he’s fed up of trying to prove himself. He feels useless. Adam reminds him how caring he is and suggests he gives himself a reset to work out what he really wants. They agree that after Brian’s recent mistakes it’s time he considered retirement. Ruairi offers to talk to him. If Brian won’t go, they’ll need a farm manager unless they can persuade Stella back. They need some of these plans to work, otherwise the next storm might see Home Farm blown away.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m002j75h)
Review Show: David Bowie Centre and the BBC National Short Story Award Shortlist
Writer Jenny McCartney and journalist and screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse in London – the new home for the Bowie archive, where visitors can book one-on-one time with items.
They also discuss the film Spinal Tap II- the sequel to the cult 1984 mockumentary about a heavy metal band.
Plus Jung Chang’s Fly, Wild Swans – the follow up to her best-selling family autobiography Wild Swans.
And we’ll be revealing the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet
THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002j5vr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002j5vt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002j5jw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 One to One (m001sd00)
Future Cities: Tori Herridge meets Ed Finn
Tori Herridge is a palaeontologist who spends her life studying creatures from the past – but when it comes to humans, she’s obsessed with the future. In the last of three episodes she speaks to Ed Finn, founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, about how science, art and science fiction can work together to help us picture the far future and avoid the dystopias we fear.
Presenter: Tori Herridge
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Made in Bristol by BBC Audio.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j75k)
The questions for Starmer after Mandelson's exit
Lord Mandelson has been sacked as Ambassador to Washington over his ties to the sex offender Jeffery Epstein, just days before President Trump's state visit to the UK. We ask what questions this raises about the Prime Minister's own judgement.
Also on the programme:
The killer of Charlie Kirk - the American right-wing political activist and ally of President Trump - is still at large. We speak to a British student who debated him at Oxford earlier this year.
And as the sequel to This is Spinal Tap is released - we ask whether it'll strike a chord, 40 years on from the iconic original.
THU 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j75m)
Episode Nine
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.
Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002j75p)
Identity Politics: Why the Left Needs to Stop Fighting Culture Wars (Ash Sarkar)
There are some new (and old) faces on the left of British politics hoping to challenge Keir Starmer’s struggling Labour government, but could a party to the left of Labour ever win power?
His predecessor Jeremy Corbyn has setup a new party with another former Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, who has declared that “Labour is dead”.
And the Green Party of England and Wales has elected eco-populist Zack Polanski, who is urging left-leaning voters to back him rather than waiting around for Corbyn’s party to get off the ground.
The journalist and political commentator Ash Sarkar has written a book called ‘Minority Rule’, which argues that the Left has become bogged down in identity politics and needs to stop fighting the culture wars so it can focus on building a broad coalition of support.
A contributing editor at left-wing media organisation Novara Media, Ash discusses the radical potential for a Marxist approach to contemporary British politics and why she thinks Karl Marx would’ve loved Twitter.
She also talks to Amol about why she can’t think of a ‘dumber group of people’ than Keir Starmer’s cabinet and what lies behind the recent success of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Grace Reeve and Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Mike Regaard and Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j75r)
Sean Curran reports as MPs digest the sacking of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2025
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002j75t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j74l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j75w)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j75y)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002j760)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j762)
Sean Curran reports as MPs digest the sacking of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j764)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j766)
The day of Encouragement
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter
Good morning.
I was fascinated to learn that September 12th, today, has been declared the National Day of Encouragement in the United States of America. They say that it’s a day to uplift and encourage people and I’ve no doubt that, done with care, such a day must make an enormous difference in people’s lives and thus lift their communities too.
My younger son loved his baby sling but probably spent rather longer in it, tied to my chest, than he ought to have done. Standing in a queue one day, a lady looked over at my son, sleeping soundly, and I said, a bit defensively, ‘He’s a proper mummy’s boy, this one’ to which the lady replied, ‘And you’re a proper boy’s Mummy’ and that was so kind and positive and made me feel better about myself and the baby.
I do really try to give honest encouragement when I can and I say ‘honest’ because it’s all too easy to gush about anything but, if it’s not real, our words are empty and meaningless and thus not helpful. If our hope is to give others courage, we need not only to appreciate what they’ve done but to support them in going further. We know from our own experience that there will be risks to take and, that sometimes people fail, but, if we know that, if we feel that others believe in us, we can try again and, next time, fail better.
Lord, help us to show others that we genuinely believe in them, to give them courage and hope and so to bring your Kingdom of love nearer to this earth and all its children.
Amen
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002j768)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 06:00 Today (m002j62q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m002j5my)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j62s)
Davina McCall, Highland Games, Essex accents
Davina McCall, one of TV’s most popular presenters has a new book out, Birthing, co-written with the midwife, Marley Henry. Davina joins Anita Rani to talk about her stellar career so far, including hosting Big Brother for 10 years, campaigning for better menopause care and building a fitness empire. What makes her tick? And what drives her forward to clear hurdles such as an usual childhood, drug addiction and most recently, brain surgery for a benign tumour that she nicknamed Jeffrey.
Funding of at least £2 million a year needs to be restored to help combat Female Genital Mutilation in the UK, according to a new report by the Women and Equalities Committee. It says that access to health services for FGM survivors in the UK is inconsistent and a postcode lottery. Anita hears from the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, the Labour MP Sarah Owens and from Hibo Wardere, the educational lead and co-founder of the charity Educate Not Mutilate.
Last month Scottish history was made at the Glenurquhart Highland Games as the World Female Heavy Events Championship was held for the first time. The Championship brought together women from across the globe to compete in the heavyweights, including tossing the caber. As we reach the end of the season, athletes Elizabeth Elliott and Emmerleigh Barter, who competed in the games, join Anita Rani to discuss how it felt to compete at this level on home soil.
If you're making your way through Essex on the train in the coming days, you might notice poems being read over the PA system, with young women and girls sharing how they feel about their accent. It's part of a new project from the University of Essex and c2c Rail, celebrating the Essex accent. Anita is joined by Dr Tara McAllister-Viel who led the project and the comedian Esther Manito who is from Essex.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002j62v)
Follow the Food: The Rise of Food Tourism
Sheila Dillon investigates the growing number of food tours and trails in the UK as consumers show more and more interest in the provenance of what is on their plate. She heads to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire – a town that boasts the title of Rural Capital Of Food - and joins a walking tour that spans pork pie producers, stilton sellers, a samosa wallah and a prizewinning brewery.
Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol
FRI 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j62x)
Episode 5: A Declaration of Love
This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.
This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’
Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.
In this final episode, Arundhati describes her ‘brittle, tentative’ reunion with her mother after a seven-year absence from home. She becomes a published writer and wins the Booker Prize with her first novel, The God of Small Things:
‘The only person I called after the prize was announced was my mother. It would have been about
2am for her in Kottayam. She was up, watching the news on tv. “Well done, baby girl.” An incredible expression of love. I’d caught her on a good day.’
In September 2022, after a period of increasing frailty, Mrs Roy died.
‘I spun unanchored in space with no coordinates. I had constructed myself around her. I had grown into the peculiar shape that I am to accommodate her. I had never wanted to defeat her, never wanted to win. I had always wanted her to go out like a queen. And now that she had, I didn’t make sense to myself any more.’
Read by Shaheen Khan
Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke
Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002j62z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m002j631)
World of Steel
The modern world is built on steel but can it ever be green? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski search for the holy grail of environmentally friendly steel.
Panellists:
Ed Conway – Sky Economics & Data Editor and Author of “Material World”
Will Arnold – Head of Climate Action, The Institution of Structural Engineers
Dr Abi Ackerman – Imperial College London
Caroline Ashley – Director, SteelWatch
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
FRI 12:57 Weather (m002j633)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002j635)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
FRI 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j637)
The Fort
5. The Dirty Dash
Overwhelmed by enemy fire, Zulu Company have marshalled their casualties from the "killing ground" and staged a hurried withdrawal.
Last to leave, Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describes desperate efforts to account for their missing man.
Senior Marine, Lance Corporal Mathew Ford cannot be found.
Back at base - the decision is instant. A "no-brainer".
"We're going back to get him."
A small, mobile group of volunteers is assembled for the "dirty dash" - a race back to the scene of the battle in the Viking vehicles. Captain Chris Witts gives an insight into the nature of decision-making under pressure.
But it's a plan that the enemy may see coming. An alternative option comes from a pilot high above them.
The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.
Produced by Kev Core.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002j639)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002hzht)
Mothercover
Episode 3: Family Liaison
Gwen decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands. But what she finds out will make her doubt everything she thought she knew.
An Aberystwyth-set thriller, by BAFTA Cymru nominee Fflur Dafydd, with original music by Mercury Prize nominees Gwenno and Rhys Edwards.
CAST
Gwen.... Alexandra Roach
Liz.... Remy Beasley
Owen... Sacha Dhawan
Geraint.... Matthew Gravelle
Dean... Alex Harries
Mina.... Behnaz Vakili
Kirsty.... Aoife Moss
Puppeteer.... Cellan Wyn
Ioan.... Liam Donnelly
Theo.... Cai Roberts
Original Music.... Gwenno and Rhys Edwards
Sound design.... Rhys Morris
Production Co-ordinators.... Lindsay Rees and Eleri McAuliffe
Assistant Producer.... Ryan Hooper
Technology Consultant... Gareth Mitchell
Directed by Fay Lomas
Produced by Fay Lomas and John Norton, BBC Audio Drama Wales
FRI 14:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m0022z9f)
19. A Different Kind of Justice
How does a small informal survey lead to shocking truths about the US justice system thirty years later?
Producer Lauren Armstrong Carter
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002j63c)
Summer Garden Party: Potting Shed
What is this mysterious vegetable growing in my vegetable patch? Can you identify this mysterious plum? How can I make my cottage garden look full of life?
Kathy Clugston hosts a lively Potting Shed edition of Gardeners’ Question Time, recorded at the vibrant GQT Summer Garden Party held at RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex.
Joining her is the show’s renowned panel of horticultural experts — Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden, James Wong, Bunny Guinness, Dr Chris Thorogood, Matthew Wilson, and Pippa Greenwood — ready to tackle gardening dilemmas from enthusiastic visitors.
From tackling vine weevils and dealing with contaminated soil, to coaxing supermarket-bought pear trees into fruiting, the panel shares practical advice, clever solutions, and plenty of gardening wisdom throughout the programme.
Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali
A Somethin Else Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002j63f)
Fairy Penguin by Rachel Trezise
Original short fiction by Rachel Trezise.
Keisha tries to survive a school trip to Bristol Zoo. She doesn't have the right hair, the right friends or the latest electronic pets.
Reader: Georgia Henshaw
Sound: Nigel Lewis
Producer: John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales Production
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002j63h)
The Duchess of Kent, Giorgio Armani, Valerie Pearlman, Rick Davies
John Wilson on:
The Duchess of Kent, who stepped back from royal duties to teach music in primary schools.
Giorgio Armani whose suit designs help define the look of the 1980s and beyond.
Valerie Pearlman who made legal history by being the first judge in the UK finish a trial via fax machine and video link from her hospital bed.
Rick Davies, who sold millions of records in the 70s and 80 as one of the two singers in the band Supertramp.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Archive used:
The Royal Wedding: HRH Duke of Kent and Miss Katharine Worsley in York Minster, BBC, 08/06/1961; Real Story, BBC One, 15/03/2004; Royal Wedding, BBC Archives, 08/06/1961; Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 21/12/1990; Ladies’ Singles, 1993 Wimbledon Championships, BBC Archives; Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 21/12/1990; BBC Look North Hull, BBC, 06/09/2025; The Clothes Show, BBC; Rick Davies Interview, WLNG 92.1FM, “Lunch on the Deck”; Bark Out Loud Dogs Media, LLC – Supertramp Interview
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m002j5tq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002j63k)
Charlie Kirk suspect brought into custody
A suspect is brought into custody in connection with the murder of Charlie Kirk. President Trump's spiritual advisor joins us live. Also on the programme, Sir Anthony Seldon assesses the Prime Minister's prospects after another difficult week and we discuss new research that enables our pets to call us - and each other.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j63n)
The man suspected of killing the activist Charlie Kirk is in police custody
US officials have confirmed the arrest of the man they suspect of shooting dead the conservative political activist, Charlie Kirk, at a college campus in Utah. Also: A government minister admits some Labour MPs are feeling despondent after the departures of Lord Mandelson and Angela Rayner. And a warning about player burnout from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002j63s)
Series 118
2. Cards revealed and Reshuffle
Andy Zaltzman is joined by Daliso Chaponda, Susie McCabe, Geoff Norcott and Ash Sarkar to break down the week in news. Expect discussion on the Labour Deputy Leader Election, the return of the Mandelson, strikes on Qatar, Russian drones in Poland and telepathic Google searches.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Simon Alcock, Carwyn Blayney, Ruth Husko and Alex Kealy.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002j63x)
Amber acknowledges it upset her when Brad questioned her about getting her teeth done, but he’s right. She’s a fraud. The teeth are all part of a fake picture she portrays. Brad reckons she doesn’t have to pretend; she can just be who she is. Amber worries George might not like the real her once he’s released and sees her without make up. Brad assures her George is completely in love and a much better person for meeting her. This makes Amber cry again. She thanks Brad for helping her see things clearly. She’s going to ditch the veneers, they belong to the fake Amber. She can put the money she saves towards George’s party.
Tom guesses that the meeting Lily’s called is about the cricket payments and quizzes Freddie, who ducks the questions. When Lily arrives she comes clean to the room that paying players was her idea, not Lynda’s. Tom accuses her of treating the team like dirt. Lily protests she thought it would be a way of building a stronger team. Lynda chips in that whilst it was the wrong thing to do, Lily’s trying to apologise and put right that wrong. Tom maintains the team’s divided and has been lied to. Freddie promises Lynda he’ll keep an eye on Lily. Lily tells them she’s resigned as director of cricket. Later Lily admits to Freddie that all her mistakes are making her feel aimless. Freddie tries to point out the positives, just as Lily gets a message from Tom – the team are never playing for Ambridge again.
FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002j641)
Catrin Finch and Rhodri Marsden on absence and resilience
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and musician and composer Rhodri Marsden join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add five more tracks, with unexpected and surprising connections. The eclectic music choices range from an Americana classic knocked off in just 30 mins to the winner of this year's Ivor Novello Award for Best Album, via a reworking of a Bach organ sonata for piano.
Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
Louie Louie by The Kingsmen
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Víkingur Ólafsson
My Dearest Dear by Ivor Novello – sung by Mary Ellis
WHO AM I by Berwyn
Other music in this episode:
P.I.M.P. by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
El Loco Cha Cha by René Touzet
Louie Louie by Richard Berry
Fly Me To The Moon by Bart Howard, sung by Frank Sinatra
Someone Like You by Adele
Hotel California by The Eagles
It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Robert Quinney
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002j645)
Lord Deben, Miranda Green, Timandra Harkness, Luke Pollard MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Liskeard Public Hall in Cornwall, with the Conservative peer Lord Deben; Miranda Green of the Financial Times; writer and broadcaster Timandra Harkness; and the defence minister and Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard.
Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Nick Ford
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002j648)
September 8th - September 14th
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
This week: 8th - 14th September
- 9th September 1976. Death of Mao Zedong
- 12th September 1846. HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, the British expedition searching for a Northwest Passage, become trapped in ice.
- 12th September 1940. Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings
Presented by Viji Alles and Jane Steel.
Producers: Sofie Vilcins and Luke Doran.
FRI 21:00 The Verb (m002j64b)
The Adverb from the Ledbury Poetry Festival
Ian McMillan presents poetry in performance with Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen in this recording of The Adverb at the Ledbury Festival.
They share poems of friendship, childhood, and of love in its many forms - from the love of a child for a parent, to the love of balconies.
Jackie Kay is the former Makar (Poet Laureate) of Scotland - she shares poems of great tenderness from her latest collection May Day and from earlier collections too.
Hollie McNish is one of our best-loved poets. In books like 'Nobody Told Me' and 'Lobster', her work explores taboos around the body and the experience of motherhood. In this programme we hear her poetry of friendship too.
Michael Pedersen is a poet and author, as well as the Makar for Edinburgh. He has been acclaimed for his attention to male friendship in his collection 'The Cat Prince' and for the poetic writing in his new book 'Muckle Flugga' - which is filled with warmth and humour.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j64d)
Charlie Kirk murder suspect detained
A suspect in the murder of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been arrested. Tyler Robinson is 22. He was confronted by his father, who recognised pictures of him released by the FBI and, with the help of a pastor, persuaded him to hand himself in.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing growing criticism from within the Labour Party after he sacked Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, with one backbencher saying he "doesn't seem up to the job".
And are we too reliant on potentially vulnerable global satellite positioning systems? An industry leader says near misses are more common than you may think.
FRI 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j64g)
Episode Ten
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.
Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct7t5x)
Charlie Kirk's killing: A dangerous moment for America?
Charlie Kirk, the right-wing influencer and trusted ally of Donald Trump has been shot dead while speaking with students at a university in Utah.
Kirk was one of the most prominent conservative activists and media personalities in the United States, and a trusted ally of Donald Trump. Many credit his influence - particularly with young people - as a key reason behind Trump’s victory in last year’s election.
The president, visibly angry and upset, delivered a message to the nation last night in which he described Kirk’s killing as a “dark moment for America”.
Justin, Sarah and Marianna assess who Charlie Kirk really was. what made him so successful and how dangerous a moment this could be for America as a whole.
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America Editor
• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent
GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
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• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, George Dabby, Alix Pickles, Rufus Gray and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.
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FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j64k)
Alicia McCarthy reports from Westminster as the House of Lords starts two days of debate on plans to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.