SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2026
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002tqmf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 Lifeboat at the End of the World by Dominic Gregory (m002tql7)
Episode 5
Dungeness is an extraordinary spur of land jutting out from the Kent coast, made up of billions of sea worn flint shards rounded into pebbles, extending 12 square miles and in some places, 20 metres deep. It is home to a nature reserve, a nuclear power station, and two lighthouses. As well as to Derek Jarman’s famous ‘Prospect Cottage’ with its flotsam garden and the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. It is also the location of the Dungeness lifeboat station.
When he moved to Dungeness, Dominic Gregory decided to volunteer with the lifeboat. After some hesitation, he rang the number he’d been given by a neighbour and spoke to the coxswain, Stuart Adams. And so began ‘the volunteer’s story’, the first published account of what it is to be part of a lifeboat crew.
From the meticulous, repetitive training to the first experience of a call out, Dominic Gregory charts the experience of being part of this rare community of people. The lifeboat family is full of ordinary men and women who drop everything at the sound of the pager, day or night to do something which is quite simply, remarkable.
Call outs may be to a trawler or a tanker in distress, a yacht with engine difficulties, a day tripper blown out to sea or a swimmer caught by the current. But it is when inflatable dinghies – overloaded with desperate people – begin arriving on the shores of Dungeness that the lifeboat crew must face perhaps their greatest test.
‘Dominic Gregory hasn’t just delivered a survey of courage and determination – Lifeboat at the End of the World is a hymn to human decency, and that makes it a very timely book indeed’ Tim Winton
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a public fundraising charity that provides a full-time lifeboat service for the coastlines of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The charity remains independent of government, and over 95 per cent of its shore and boat crews are volunteers. There are 238 lifeboat stations around the coast of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, each providing life-saving search and rescue coverage 24 hrs, 7 days a week. The Dungeness lifeboat was first established on the Romney coast exactly two hundred years ago.
Written by Dominic Gregrory
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters and The Waters Company
Read by James Lailey
Location sounds recorded on Dungeness by the author.
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002tqmh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002tqmk)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002tqmm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002tqmp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002tqmr)
Finding Inspiration
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
Although I would not call myself sporty, every time the Olympics come around, I become a true ‘armchair fan’, watching the television coverage. And my admiration for anyone who reaches Olympic levels of sporting skill is all the more intense for my own lack of sporting ability.
On this day in 1896 at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, a Dublin-born Irishman achieved something that today would be completely impossible. John Boland, competing for Great Britain and Ireland, won both the men’s singles and men’s doubles finals in tennis on the same day. Now, the game of tennis and the Olympics have both changed a great deal in 130 years, but that achievement to me still stands out. I also love the fact that, because the numbers of entrants for the doubles matches were small, the teams were of mixed nationality. Boland’s partner was German.
Now, though my enthusiasm for sporting achievement is not fuelled by personal experience. I’m happy to be part of any crowd that supports something of quality – especially if it represents a new interest. It could be a different kind of music, unexplored visual art, dance, film… or yes, even a new sport – the possibilities are endless. And that’s the point.
Because along the way, we encounter undiscovered pockets of inspiration that may lead further. To better understanding, more admiration, and to the greater knowledge and appreciation that keeps our passions - and the passions of others - alive.
Lord, in these days when inspiration can be hard to come by and many of us are afraid to step away from our usual paths, help us to seek out and appreciate experiences that stretch and enrich and feed us.
Amen
SAT 05:45 Life Without (m002tqlm)
Life Without Standard Time
Spring Forward, Fall Back or what if we just didn’t? In this episode of Life Without, Alan Davies looks at how our circadian rhythms would be impacted if we simply stopped changing the clocks.
Some scientists have argued to do away with the twice-yearly clock change in order to see some beneficial impacts on our health. So why have some parts of the world adopted this system while places like Russia and Mexico don’t use it at all?
This episode features Aarti Jagannath, a leading chronobiologist and Associate Professor at the University of Oxford, and Dr Rebecca Struthers who is a watchmaker, author, historian and Honorary Research Fellow at University of Birmingham.
An ITN production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002tzdl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:07 Open Country (m002tpvb)
Carrifran Wildwood
Martha Kearney visits one of the UK’s earliest environmental restoration projects. Southern Scotland was once covered in broadleaf woodland, rich scrub, heath and bog. That was before sheep, humans and conifers took hold. Now a group of visionary volunteers are restoring that landscape in what they call the ‘wild heart of southern Scotland’.
Set in a 1600 acre glacial valley in lowland Scotland, Carrifran Wildwood is the first tranche of a wider restoration area which aims to wheel back six thousand years. The idea is to recreate the primeval forest that proliferated back then. It will act as a carbon sink, a flood mitigator and a generator of biodiversity.
The planting schedule is drawn from a catalogue created from evidence in the ancient peat bog. Unlike other ‘rewilding’ projects, Carrifran Wildwood aims to exclude human beings from this valuable space, an unusual step which the founders see as crucial to its success.
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002tzdn)
11/04/26 Farming Today This Week: Wildfires, bioethanol plant reopening, spring planting, oilseed rape
In a week that has seen several wildfires break out across the country, we hear from Dr Matthew Jones, who leads a group researching wildfires across the globe. He explains to Charlotte Smith why the risk of wildfires is so high in the Spring months. We also hear from a farmer still dealing with the aftermath of wildfires last year.
The impact of the Iran conflict has led to government concerns about a potential shortage of CO2 - an important ingredient in many food and drink production processes. In response, the government has awarded a £100 million pound grant to the Ensus factory at Redcar to re-start production after it was mothballed last year. The plant produces bioethanol, CO2 and animal feed from wheat and maize. However, the National Farmers’ Union are concerned that “the £100m investment from government is not conditional on Ensus using British wheat”. Caz Graham speaks to Grant Pearson, the chairman of Ensus.
As many farmers are continuing or starting to plant Spring crops for harvest later in the year, we hear from the AHDB about how this year's Spring cereal and oilseed drilling is progressing across the country. We also visit a project in Cumbria doing a different type of planting: using a drone to plant a crop of on wet peatland, known as Paludiculture.
With fields of bright yellow oilseed rape coming into bloom across the country, one grower tells us why more farmers have been planting the crop this year compared to last.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002tzdq)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002tzds)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002tzdv)
Dom Joly, Walter Presents, Worm Whispering, and the Inheritance Tracks of Noah Wyle
“Prankster” hardly does Dom Joly justice. He’s been a diplomat, a linguist, a traveller, a broadcaster, a writer and lots more besides.
Walter Iuzzolino is the "Walter" behind Channel 4’s Walter Presents series. A man who probably watches more TV from more countries than anyone else on the planet.
Dr Jaqueline Stroud, Professor of Soil Science at Warwick University, likes nothing better than eavesdropping on worms.
And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of the actor and star of The Pitt; Noah Wyle.
Presenter: Adrian Chiles
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley
SAT 10:00 What's Up Docs? (m002tppx)
How should we think about cholesterol?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, they take on one of nutrition’s most misunderstood topics: fat. What is it, and why does our body need it? At what point does something normal and essential become something we worry about? What do cholesterol blood tests actually measure, and how well do they predict disease?
Chris and Xand also explore the relationship between diet and cholesterol, asking how much influence what we eat really has, whether certain fats deserve their bad reputation, and what gets lost when we focus on single nutrients instead of overall dietary patterns.
They’re joined by Nita Forouhi, Professor of Population Health and Nutrition at the University of Cambridge, to help separate evidence from hype and offer a clearer way to think about fat, cholesterol, and healthy eating.
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 Nita Forouhi
Producer: Faye Lyons-White
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Grace Revill
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Olga Reed
At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002tzdx)
Series 52
Postbag
Jay Rayner and the Kitchen Cabinet panel return with a Postbag edition, answering questions sent in by you, the listeners.
Chefs, cooks and food writers, Jocky Petrie, Sophie Wright, Melek Erdal and Jeremy Pang, wrestle with a bumper serving of culinary dilemmas. Topics include, what you should do with two kilos of fresh lychees, whether flouring mean before browning is recommended or an unnecessary faff, and which kitchen gadgets are more trouble to clean than they’re worth.
Along the way they tackle fears of fish bones, scepticism about expensive caviar, complaints about the word “smell”, and the perennial question of whether chefs lean too heavily on onions and garlic.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002tpw0)
The Reading Recession: Are We Making Ourselves Less Intelligent? (James Marriott)
This week, the columnist and writer James Marriott argues that reading is essential to the rise and fall of liberal democracy. He proposes that reading helps the spread of information, encourages critical thinking, and forces people to structure their ideas logically.
But he’s concerned the shift from deep reading to digital skim-reading - driven largely by screens - is weakening our ability to think in complex, reflective ways. He suggests the decline has political consequences - that a less literate, more screen-dependent public may be more vulnerable to misinformation and less capable of meaningful democratic participation.
GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday. Your Radical Questions is released every Monday.
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and he’s the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and the editor of The Independent newspaper.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers and Rufus Gray with Anna Budd, Cordelia Hemming and Oscar Pearson. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Johnny Hall. The editor is Sam Bonham.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002tzdz)
Donald Trump and a dangerous ultimatum
Kate Adie introduces stories on President Trump's threats towards Iran, how the war in Ukraine has reshaped Kyiv, why the Trump family sees potential in Albania, Indonesia's plastic waste problem, and the dawn of the year 2976 in Morocco.
Citizens of Iran and nearby gulf countries held their breath this week after Donald Trump threatened 'a whole civilisation would die' if a ceasefire wasn’t agreed. The BBC’s State Department correspondent Tom Bateman has been following the proclamations of an unpredictable president.
The BBC's Vitaly Shevchenko is originally from Ukraine and recently returned home for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. While there, he saw how the war has reshaped Kyiv, and how the town of Bucha is recovering from the massacre which took place at the start of the conflict.
The white sands of the Albanian Rivera are catching the eye of global property developers - President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner among them. The country is being touted as the next must-visit destination, but there are environmental concerns finds Emily Wither.
Indonesia's tourist hot spots and remote beaches alike are being hit by waves plastic waste., with videos of floating rubbish tips going viral. Rebecca Henschke saw the plastic problem up close while snorkelling in once pristine waters.
The Amazigh are North Africa’s most-populous indigenous group, having inhabited the region for centuries before Arab migrations. With long-standing traditional customs, the Amazigh also have their own calendar. Peter Yeung travelled to the Atlas Mountains to welcome in the year 2976.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002tzf1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002tzf3)
Teacher's Pension Delays and Best Savings Rates
The National Union of Headteachers says the government "must step in" to help teachers in England and Wales who have retired but are facing long delays before their pension is paid. The Teachers' Pension Scheme is one of the biggest in the country with two million members. The Department for Education which has overall responsibility for the scheme says it’s working closely with Capita who administrate the pensions to monitor performance and address any emerging issues. Capita has apologised and says it's working closely with the government to ensure cases are progressed correctly and in line with scheme rules.
In the last month average two year fixed mortgage rates have jumped from around 4.8% to 5.9% and there are around 1 in 6 fewer mortgages deals available to house buyers and people whose fixed mortgages are running out. How is that affecting the housing market?
Mortgage rates going up is bad news but when interest rates rise savers, who far outnumber people with mortgages, many see it as better news. What are the best offers out there?
And what does the lifting of the two-child benefit cap mean for families?
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Hannah Mullane and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Henry Jones
(First broadcast on Radio 4 at
12pm on Saturday 11th April 2026)
SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m002tqm0)
Series 4
Swearing, Steeplechase and Strikes
Following Trump's tirade, The Naked Week team bleep the hell out of the bleeping news, swear at a steeplechase, and stage a walk out.
From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week; a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.
With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.
Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
James Kettle
Jason Hazeley
Additional Material:
Karl Minns
Jane Fae
Molly Punshon
Darren Phillips
Kevin Smith
Investigation team:
Cat Neilan
Becky Pinnington
Guest Correspondent: Katie Norris
Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.
Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon
Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002tzf5)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002tzf7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002tqm6)
Douglas Alexander MP, Miles Briggs, Stephen Flynn MP, Gillian Mackay
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from The Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Edinburgh with the Secretary State for Scotland Douglas Alexander MP; the Scottish Conservatives Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Miles Briggs; Stephen Flynn, the Scottish National Party MP for Aberdeen South and the party’s leader at Westminster; and the co-leader of the Scottish Green Party Gillian Mackay;
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant producer: Jo Dwyer
Production coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcast engineer: Gav Murchie
Editor: Glyn Tansley
SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002tzf9)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002tqm2)
Pip informs David she’s decided to tell Ruth about the lump in her breast. She’d really like Ruth to come to her appointment too, but won’t put pressure on by asking her.
Later, Ruth’s glad Pip has told her and also pleased Pip’s been checking and caught it early. Ruth shares some memories of her own experience with cancer and advises Pip to lean on family, friends and medical staff who want to help. Ruth then admits to David that, although she put on a brave face with Pip, she found it hard going. David remembers how desperate he felt at the time, not being able to do anything that made a difference. Ruth’s just happy he was there to hold her hand. They agree they’ll do the same for Pip – that and hope.
Azra demands to know when Fletcher the budgie will be rehoused, warning Khalil not to spoil him. Khalil’s supposed to help make dinner, but Azra lets him off when he mentions seeing a friend who might take Fletcher. Before going Khalil briefs Azra on feeding and talking to Fletcher, plus a problem with his feathers. Azra then calls in Alistair, who suggests the issue might be due to stress from changes to Fletcher’s environment. Later, Khalil reports finding a potential home for Fletcher, but Azra wants to concentrate on settling him. Alone with Fletcher, Azra talks soothingly, sharing several things on her mind. Khalil then confirms his mate Barney can take the bird, but Azra reveals a change of heart – Fletcher’s staying right where he is.
SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002tzfc)
A Broken Order
Inspired by true events. As the Bishop withholds new members from joining a small convent, its days appear numbered. Determined to shrink the community and dissolve the order, the Bishop moves to close their home, threatening their peaceful way of life and forcing the sisters to confront an impossible choice - obedience or defiance.
Into their small community comes Vic Siffer, an outsider introduced by the Bishop, whose presence opens Sister Marie, the Mother Superior’s eyes to a world beyond their convent walls. Vic confirms a buried legal technicality could offer a glimmer of hope, a loophole that could free them from episcopal control. However, Sister Clara is uncomfortable with the influence Vic is having on Sister Marie.
What follows tests the limits of canon law and religious obedience, as the nuns begin to take matters into their own hands. Their resistance takes an audacious and unexpected turn, carrying them far beyond the cloister into a world of flashy sports cars, casinos, racehorses and sudden freedom.
Faith, loyalty and institutional power collide as the sisters fight to preserve their order, their home and their shared identity.
Written by Amelia Bullmore, whose credits include the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winning play Mammals, and television writing on This Life and Scott & Bailey.
Produced by Eloise Whitmore and Tony Churnside, the team behind Money Gone and Collapsing Orbits.
Sister Clara - Shirley Henderson
Sister Marie - Helen Schlesinger
The Bishop - Finbar Lynch
Vic Siffer - Bryan Dick
Sister Isabelle - Sara Kestelman
Sister Caterina - Shelley King
Sister Colette - Richenda Carey
Priest/Police Officer - Michael Shelford
Writer - Amelia Bullmore
Story Consultant - Gilles Aufrey
Production Manager - Sally Richardson
Director - Tony Churnside
Producer - Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer - Melanie Harris
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002tzff)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Stalking, Children and happiness, Indigo Reign
Student Jodie Morrow tells Nuala McGovern about her ordeal of being arrested after her stalker falsely accused her of stalking him. He has now been jailed after pleading guilty to harassment and perverting the course of justice, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has acknowledged "shortcomings" in how the case was handled. Jodie is now helping the police to try to improve how they handle stalking cases.
How does light inspire and motivate us, and how can we harness it and use it to our advantage? GP Dr Radha Modgil joins Nikki Bedi to discuss the impact of light on our health and wellbeing.
The largest display of Queen Elizabeth II’s clothing has opened at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The exhibition, 'Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style', marks the centenary of the late Queen's birth and brings together around 200 items. Spanning all 10 decades of her life, it showcases the full breadth of her wardrobe. Anita Rani visited the gallery for a tour with its curator, Caroline de Guitaut.
Do you think that having kids makes you happy? A new study from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus suggests not. It drew on data from more than 5,000 participants in ten countries, including the UK, and concluded that there is no strong evidence that parenthood leads to a measurable increase in positive emotions. To discuss the findings and weigh up their own experiences, we hear from two mothers of two - Ella Whelan author of ‘What Women Want,’ and Iko Haruna, a family photographer and former presenter of ParentLand, the BBC World Service’s podcast.
Indigo Reign, formerly known as Lady MC, is one of the first female MCs in jungle music. She's just been part of a landmark moment for global music culture, bringing the 'godfathers' of drum and bass, Fabio and Grooverider, to headline the first-ever jungle and drum & bass festival in East Africa, called NURAFest and it took place in Kenya. Born in prison, she grew up around gang culture and found her voice in jungle music, becoming an award-winning MC and artist, who turned disadvantage on its head. She's also the founder of the Young Urban Arts Foundation, helping thousands of young people through music.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
SAT 17:00 PM (m002tzfh)
Historic peace talks between the US and Iran begin
The first face to face talks between Iran and the US in 47 years take place in Islamabad. Also on the programme, the Government is forced to shelve its Chagos Islands deal.
SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002tpv0)
Earwax Removers
Almost everyone is guilty of fiddling with their ears, especially if they can feel a build-up of earwax in there. But what actually works to get rid of it, and should we be messing with them in the first place?
Listener Martin got in touch after finding out his earwax build-up was returning - and wanted to know if drops alone would solve his problem, or if he needed to seek professional help to remove it?
Greg Foot speaks to professor of Audiology at Manchester University, NIHR senior Investigator and former chairman of the British Society of Audiology, Kevin Munro - to find out.
All of our episodes start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.
RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCER: KATE HOLDSWORTH & GREG FOOT
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002tzfk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002tzfm)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002tzfp)
Iran and US talks in Pakistan
Delegations from America and Iran have been holding direct talks in Pakistan aimed at ending the war. The US military says it's begun work to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz. Police have made more than two hundred arrests at a rally in support of the banned group Palestine Action, in London.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002tzfr)
Ralf Little, Nina Gilligan, Sam Riley, Janet Devlin, Will Brown, Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Kiri Pritchard-McLean welcomes the actor and writer Ralf Little as he tours the country with the first ever stage adaptation of John le Carré's classic book The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
Comedian Nina Gilligan joins us to talk about her new Radio 4 comedy special and her upcoming stand-up tour, Lemoncake.
Actor Sam Riley is about to star in the new BBC romantic crime drama Mint.
And we've music from Kansas-born preacher's son Will Brown, and Janet Devlin with her new single, co-written with Jack Savoretti.
Presenter: Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002tzft)
Viktor Orbán
Viktor Orbán has been a powerful force in Hungarian politics for nearly 40 years, spending 20 of them as Prime Minister. This weekend he’s trying to win a sixth term in the top job, as voters go to the polls in parliamentary elections.
The story of his political career is entwined with the story of Hungarian democracy; at the end of the Cold War, a young Orbán emerged as both canny operator and gifted orator in the anti-Communist youth movement, Fidesz, steering it through splits and ideological shifts into government, first between 1998 and 2002, and then again from 2010 to today.
As a pursuer of self-described ‘illiberal democracy’ who casts the EU as his constant adversary, Orbán has become an icon for the global hard right and, to his critics, a borderline autocrat and populist.
Presenter Stephen Smith speaks to those who know him well to understand the personal side of this very political beast.
Guests:
Esther Pataki - former Press Secretary to Viktor Orban
David Campanale - Liberal Democrat activist, journalist and fellow of the Danube Institute
Zsuzsanna Szelényi - founding Fidesz member and author of Tainted Democracy:Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary
Nick Thorpe - BBC Budapest correspondent
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Ben Crighton, Nathan Gower
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002tptr)
Danielle de Niese
John Wilson talks to the Australian born opera singer Danielle de Niese. A soprano renowned for her vibrant stage presence, she made her professional operatic debut with the Los Angeles Opera at the age of 15 and, and four years later she became one of the youngest singers to perform at Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her international breakthrough came in 2005 at the Glyndebourne Festival, where her performance as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare established her as a major operatic star. Since then she has sung leading roles at opera houses around the world, specialising particularly in Baroque repertoire, and has recorded six studio albums of music by composers including Handel and Mozart. She is the recipient of the 2026 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002tzfw)
The Sarkozy Affair
The story of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise and fall is part spy novel, part box set of The Thick of It. Allegations of a secret pact with a dictator. Unexplained meetings between figures close to government and a known terrorist. And so much cash that party workers don’t know what to do with it.
The former French President was jailed last year for conspiring to fund his 2007 election campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He’s currently appealing his sentence. And he has some powerful supporters.
Using archive recordings and contemporary interviews with those who know Sarkozy well, Tristan Redman tells the story of how he became the first former French head of state to end up behind bars since Nazi collaborator, Philippe Pétain. He hears details of extraordinary meetings in Libya between prominent members of the French government and Abdullah Senoussi – a man linked to terrorist acts including Lockerbie and the attack on a French plane which crashed in 1989, killing all 170 people on board. But he also hears stories of a man determined to change France, a charismatic politician with boundless energy.
How did Nicolas Sarkozy go from politician who inspired Obama-esque excitement to inmate #320535 of the notorious La Santé prison?
Featuring investigative journalist, Fabrice Arfi from Mediapart; Daniele Klein whose brother was killed in the ‘French Lockerbie’ and her niece Melanie who lost her father; Alain Minc, one of Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest friends and advisers; the British writer and academic Andrew Hussey and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, who was Sarkozy’s finance minister.
Presenter: Tristan Redman
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peregrine Andrews
Editor: Penny Murphy
Credits: Mediapart, Euronews, France Télévisions, TF1 and France 2
SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m002tpsv)
What is education for?
Universities across the country are cutting back on humanities courses – philosophy, history, modern languages – subjects long seen as central to a well-rounded education. The reason is familiar: falling student numbers, financial pressure, and a growing insistence that degrees must demonstrate clear economic value. If a course doesn’t lead to a well-paid job, why should anyone fund it?
That points to a deeper divide about what education is for. Is it an intrinsic good: valuable in itself, shaping critical thinking, moral judgment, and an understanding of the world? Or is it an extrinsic one: a means to an end, justified by the jobs it produces and the growth it delivers?
For centuries, from Socrates onwards, education has been tied to human flourishing – to forming citizens, not just workers. But today, the language has shifted. Students are consumers. Universities compete. Courses are judged by salary. And the tensions don’t stop there. If education is a public good, why does access remain so uneven, divided between state and private schools, with women significantly underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) – opportunity shaped as much by background as by ability? And as our understanding of neurodiversity deepens, a further challenge emerges. What if the system itself – built around standardisation, testing, and conformity – has actively hindered the prospects of many it was meant to serve?
So what, ultimately, is education for? Is it possible to maximise economic potential and enable every individual to flourish? And if our system does the former at the expense of the latter, can it still claim to be a moral one?
Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Mona Siddiqui, Tim Stanley, Carmody Grey and Giles Fraser.
Witnesses: Maxwell Marlow, Julian Baggini and Jess Wade and Chris Bonnello.
Producer: Dan Tierney
Editor: Tim Pemberton.
SAT 22:00 News (m002tzfy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002tql5)
About the Girls
Sheila Dillon discusses the rise of eating disorders among young women as part of Radio 4’s “About the Girls” series, which is hearing from teens across the UK about life in 2026.
As the number of young girls suffering from eating disorders increases in the UK, Sheila Dillon hosts a discussion about what's causing the rise, and what can be done to improve treatment outcomes.
Details of help and support with eating disorders are available at BBC Action Line
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol
SAT 23:00 The Matt Forde Focus Group (m002tpvp)
Series 2
5. The Politics of Denial
The cheese is locked up. The Navy can't sail to a war. Reform won't touch the triple lock pension. And nobody, apparently, has anything to answer for. Top political comedian Matt Forde convenes his Focus Group in front of a live theatre audience with a forensically matched panel — journalist and author Helen Lewis, conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie, and former SNP MP Mhairi Black — to ask whether denial has become the default setting in British politics.
From a shoplifting epidemic that politicians have decided not to notice, to the vast gap between Britain's naval self-image and its actual capacity to put to sea, and the cross-party conspiracy of silence around a pension policy everyone suspects is unaffordable but nobody will touch, this is an episode about the uncomfortable distance between what politicians know and what they're prepared to say.
Written and presented by Matt Forde
With additional material from Karl Minns, Ruth Husko and Richard Garvin
Produced by Richard Garvin
Co-Producer: Daisy Knight
Sound Design and Edit: David Thomas
Executive Producers: Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002tpbh)
1. England v Scotland
Teams from all over the UK nations will face Kirsty Lang's cryptic questions across the series, with Kirsty offering support and the odd hint where it might be needed.
First up are the pairs from England and Scotland.
The rivalry promises to be fierce as last year's champions Jenny Ryan and Stuart Maconie representing the newly formed England team, face Val McDermid and Alan McCredie for Scotland, on home soil, as this series takes place in Edinburgh.
As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.
You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.
Teams:
England - Jenny Ryan and Stuart Maconie
Scotland - Val McDermid and Alan McCredie
Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor and by you, the listeners!
Questions in today's edition:
Q1 Where would you remember, a Vicious boy, a Precious Pearl, the old-age owner of a walking device, a Welsh son of the sea and a black and white snapper?
Q2 (from Hugh Betterton)
From savannah to suburbia with this one - a large African antelope’s name evolves into a Tudor antiquary, then a Lancashire motor town, and finally a huge, horticultural horror that is bound to annoy the neighbours.
What is it?
Q3 (from Helena Minton) Music:
How might one put their houses in order?
Q4 (from Stephen Murphy)
How might: A Doctor’s floral assistant, some Dominican monks, Poirot’s last case, and a worldly but tasty thistle, kill a few hours for a few pennies?
Q5: (from Michael Hipkins) Whose death led to:
The Arabian Nights pantomimically
A 1905 operetta by a prolific Austro-Hungarian composer
A venomous arachnid
A prominent feature of the sinciput
A product of Reims
Q6 Music: If Andy Warhol designed the packaging for these tracks, why would you need to check your fly before listening?
Q7: A recipe…
First, take some Sole Meunière
Then fry it rapidly on a high heat, tossing frequently
Next, melt grated Gruyère with wine, garlic, lemon juice, and cornflour
Accompany this with a cold coffee
Then explain why you might top it off with a chewy meringue?
Q8 (based on question idea from Alan Hay) We’re going to end with a question sent in by… well, I won’t give you her name, as it’s one of the clues… Let’s just say she’s ‘A Lady of Letters’, and Victoria Wood was a big fan…
Final question for Scotland. Val and Alan, we’re going to end with a question sent in by… well, I won’t give you her name, as it’s one of the clues…
Let’s just say she’s ‘A Lady of Letters’, and Victoria Wood was a big fan of hers.
She says:
First, you’ve got Harold Lloyd Jenkins who, despite sounding like a firm of solicitors in Huddersfield, was actually a singer of the country persuasion.
Then there’s that Philadelphia Flyers mascot, that looks like a ginger hearthrug that’s had a nasty shock.
Next, we’re dealing with the sort of man who goes out for a tin of sardines and comes back having daydreamed he’s liberated occupied France.
And then a Lady Who Vanishes without so much as a by-your-leave.
And what I want to know is, why these characters might lead you to a car for Caractacus?
SUNDAY 12 APRIL 2026
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002tzg0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m002tpbf)
Dorothy Koomson
Led by presenter James Naughtie, the writer Dorothy Koomson takes questions from a Bookclub audience about her 2010 novel The Ice Cream Girls. The novel follows the characters of Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe who are tried for the murder of predatory schoolteacher, Marcus Hansley. Poppy is jailed, while Serena is allowed to walk free, and, among other things, the novel examines how the teenagers' experiences with Marcus have far-reaching consequences.
Described by the Independent newspaper as "one of the biggest selling black authors in Britain" Dorothy Koomson has been writing novels since she was thirteen years old. In 2022 she was a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
Author image credit: Niall McDiarmid.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002tzg2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002tzg4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002tzg6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002tzg8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002tzgb)
The church of St Mary's Patshull in Staffordshire
Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary’s church in Patshull, Staffordshire. The church was constructed around 1743 replacing an earlier medieval church. In 1874 a domed bell tower was added housing a ring of six bells cast by the Mears and Stainbank foundry of London and hung in a two-tier wooden frame. The tenor weighs ten hundredweight and is tuned to the note of A-flat. We hear them ringing Grandsire Doubles.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002tpqh)
Running, Reading, Radioing
In Touch speaks with three visually impaired people about their current work and projects. Clarke Reynolds, aka Mr Dot, is an artist and a runner who is taking on the Brighton marathon with the help of Rayban Meta smart glasses and Be My Eyes. Jixie Dye is trying to inspire young readers with her latest children's book, The Welsh Witch and the Queen's Curse and Frazer Tibbitts is the 2026 winner of one of the Make a Difference Awards and is an avid football fan. Frazer has turned his passion for football into a regular slot on his local radio station, BBC WM and Beacon Vision's talking newspaper.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
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 (m002tzl0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct983c)
God, grief and the chatbot
When Megan Garcia travelled to Rome, she carried with her a mother’s grief.
At the Vatican she met the Pope and asked him to pray for her son Sewell, who died last year at the age of 14. In the months after his death, Megan discovered something she says she had never imagined: for more than a year, Sewell had been spending hours talking to an artificial-intelligence chatbot which he believed was a real person. He formed a deep emotional attachment to it, confiding in it about his life and feelings.
Megan believes that relationship played a part in her son’s death. She is now pursuing legal action against the company behind the chatbot, arguing that safeguards for young users were inadequate. The company disputes the claims.
But this is not only a story about technology. It is also a story about faith.
Rather than losing her belief, Megan says her tragedy intensified it. She turned to prayer and devotion to the Virgin Mary, finding comfort in the idea of a mother who also knew the pain of losing a child.
“I felt like Our Lady was grieving for me as a mother who lost a child,” she says. “And I was grieving for her as a mother who lost a child. We were grieving together.”
For Heart and Soul, we hear Megan’s story in her own words — a deeply personal journey through grief, belief, and the new moral questions raised by artificial intelligence: what happens when machines become companions, and where do faith, responsibility and protection meet in a digital world?
[Photo Description: Megan Garcia with her son Sewell, Photo Credit: Megan Garcia]
Presenter: Colm Flynn
Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional or an organisation that offers help. Details of support available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide — that’s befrienders dot org.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002tzl2)
Badlands To Gladlands
At 17, David Cooper moved alone to a derelict farm blighted by a huge coal opencast site. But he had a vision... and 22 years later he and his wife Cora have 5,000 acres of productive land, and 3,000 sheep. They’ve restored the opencast, bought a swathe of hill ground, and carried out a huge peatland restoration project. Yet they still have all the time in the world for their three young children, who are at the centre of their lives. So how are they doing it? Richard Baynes has been to Tardoes Farm, in East Ayrshire to find out.
Presented and produced by Richard Baynes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002tzl4)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002tzl6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002tzl8)
Archers at 75, Lebanese Icon, Religious language of war
As talks between the United States and Iran get underway, Edward Stourton discusses the vivid use of religious language in the rhetoric surrounding the war in the Middle East with Dr Toby Matthiesen, Kamin Mohammadi and Dr Brian Klug.
Uzbekistan has decided to include Sharia banking in the country's financial system. It's said it will unlock a trillion dollars in foreign investment. Atty Arsalan Tariq, a lawyer who specialises in Islamic and conventional finance explains how this will work.
For many Lebanese the trauma of the current conflict with Israel stands out against the backdrop of Lebanon's long recent history of violence. For Toufic Diab, from Lebanon who lives in the UK, the icon of a Lebanese saint helps his faith and brings solace during this worrying time for his family back home.
For 75 years the Archers has graced the airwaves with the story of everyday country folk in the fictional village of Ambridge. Like the village pub, the church has been at the centre of village life. John Telfer, who plays the Rev Alan Franks and Nick Warbuton, a writer on the show, look back at the role religion has played in this long running drama.
Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Amanda Hancox and Jay Behrouzi
Studio Managers: Tom Clarke and Nat Stokes
Editor: Tim Pemberton
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002tzlb)
Born Free Foundation
Trustee of the Born Free Foundation Jenny Seagrove makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity. It works to protect threatened species, including the lions of Kenya's Meru National Park, the homeland of Elsa.
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 ‘Born Free Foundation’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Born Free Foundation’.
- 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: 1070906. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.bornfree.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002tzld)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002tzlg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002tzlj)
Jesus in Our Midst
A service recorded at the Christian festival Spring Harvest in Skegness. Lead by Jo Moir with music from Cathy Burton, Evie Loose and Graham Kendrick. The preacher is Jade Reynolds, who explores the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and asks: where is God in the aftermath of a tragedy?
Reading:
Luke 24: 19-32
Music:
Raise a Hallelujah - Led by Evie Loose
Praise - Led by Cathy Burton
Knowing You, Jesus - Written and led by Graham Kendrick
Jesus of the Scars - Written and led by Graham Kendrick
Goodness of God - Led by Cathy Burton
In Christ Alone - Led by Evie Loose
Produced by Abi Thomas.
SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct7458)
The invention of the mobility scooter
In 1967, American plumber Al Thieme promised his wife with multiple sclerosis that he would find her an alternative to a wheelchair.
He came up with a battery-powered seat on wheels.
He called it an ‘amigo’ and soon other people wanted one too. In 1968, he started selling his vehicles around the world.
He speaks to Rachel Naylor.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about 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 how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Al Thieme with an early model. Credit: Amigo Mobility International)
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002tzll)
Polly Atkin on the Grey Wagtail
Non-fiction writer Polly Atkin tells the story of a magical moment when a grey wagtail joined her swimming by a waterfall in a tree-lined gorge.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
Featuring audio recorded by Jarek Matusiak from Xeno-Canto (Grey Wagtail -XC360715).
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002tzln)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Reunion (m002tzlq)
The Iraq War Peace Bus
Kirsty Wark reunites a group of people who travelled in double decker buses from Britain to Baghdad to act as human shields at the start of the Iraq War.
President George Bush’s “War on Terror” put the focus on Iraq’s suspected cache of Weapons of Mass Destruction. UN weapons inspectors carried out numerous searches but despite finding nothing, US and western allies joined forces to invade Iraq. But many were unconvinced about the case for war and took matters into their own hands.
On a bright January day in 2003, three buses set off from London for Iraq. On board were people of all ages and walks of life who had committed to become “human shields” – placing themselves at strategic sites to deter allied bomb attacks. Among the 25 passengers were a former diplomat, an Australian Big Brother contestant and a Big Issue seller from Lincoln.
The journey was supposed to take two weeks, but break-downs and harsh weather added a nearly a week to the journey. There were freezing nights sleeping on the bus and internecine arguments, but incredible welcomes from supporters en route. The convoy finally arrived in Baghdad on 15th February – the same day as historic anti-war protests around the globe.
Joining Kirsty to discuss this incredible journey are Joe Letts who owned two of the buses, Sue Darling who had been a diplomat for more than 20 years, Parisian truck driver Alex Benuraud who drove through snowstorms and jubilant crowds, Charlotte Edwardes who joined the trip to document it for The Telegraph and Donna Mulhearn, an Australian who heard about the trip on the radio and dropped all plans to join the Shields.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002tzls)
5-10 April 2026
Writer: Nick Warburton
Director: Pip Swallow and Rosemary Watts
Editor: Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
David Archer …Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer … Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Chris Carter … Wilf Scolding
Alan Franks … John Telfer
Usha Franks … Souad Faress
Emma Grundy … Emerald O’Hanrahan
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Usha Franks… Souad Faress
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott
Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde
Khalil Malik … Krish Bassi
Lynda Snell … Carole Boyd
Robert Snell … Michael Bertenshaw
Oliver Sterling … Michael Cochrane
Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou
SUN 12:15 Profile (m002tzft)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 Unspeakable (m002tpnk)
Series 3
4. Awkwardly, Anecdotally, Indecisively
This episode we hear Hugh Dennis's word for decision fatigue, Katy Wix's coinage for when you find yourself stuck telling a story in public to break an awkward silence, and Jess Fostekew's word for that nuggety squashed sock you find stuck inside a duvet cover.
Ever struggled to find the right word for a feeling or sensation? Unspeakable sees comedian Phil Wang and lexicographer Susie Dent invite celebrity guests to invent new linguistic creations, to solve those all too relatable moments when we're lost for words.
Hosts: Phil Wang and Susie Dent
Guests: Hugh Dennis, Jess Fostekew and Katy Wix
Created by Joe Varley
Writers: Matt Crosby and James Farmer
Recorded by Jerry Peal
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Joe Varley and Akash Lockmun
A Brown Bred production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:57 Weather (m002tzlv)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002tzlx)
Why Hungary's election matters
As voters go to the polls in Hungary, we unpick why so much of the world is interested in Viktor Orbán, and what his victory or defeat might mean for Europe, Russia and for conservative nationalist movements around the world. The BBC's correspondent in Budapest Nick Thorpe gives us an update on the high voter turnout. We hear from German MEP and fierce critic of Orbán, Daniel Freund, as well as from Rod Dreher, an American conservative writer and friend of US Vice President JD Vance. Plus, we assess the implications of this election with the historian Anne Applebaum and the Hungarian journalist Boris Kalnoky.
SUN 13:30 Currently (m002tzlz)
About the Girls: The Puberty Puzzle
This week, as BBC Radio 4 explores what it means to grow up as a girl in 2026, health presenter Laura Foster is examining a striking scientific reality: that girls today are hitting puberty earlier than their parents and grandparents did. Question is why is this happening — and what does it mean for the adults they will become?
With the trend showing no sign of slowing down, Laura speaks to leading researchers to decode the forces behind this shift. With girls hitting puberty earlier than ever - we pay a visit to one primary school which has moved puberty lessons forward to keep pace. From genetics and childhood obesity to screens, stress and the Covid pandemic, we examine the complex mix shaping the bodies and minds of today’s girls.
What does earlier puberty mean for their physical, emotional and social development? Can the downward trend be stopped? And what support do young people need from families, schools and policymakers right now? Join us for About The Girls: The Puberty Puzzle as we explore why growing up is starting earlier than we expect.
Presenter: Laura Foster
Producer: Kate White
Editor: Martin Smith
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002tqlp)
Edgworth & District
Kathy Clugston and the Gardeners' Question Time panel visit the picturesque Lancashire village of Edgworth, nestled on the edge of the West Pennine Moors.
This week, the team are being hosted by the Edgworth and District Horticultural Society. Kathy is joined by Matthew Wilson, Christine Walkden and Marcus Chilton‑Jones, answering questions from an enthusiastic local audience.
The team shares practical advice on topics from choosing the best potatoes to grow for chips, to bee‑friendly planting in boggy conditions, and share reflections on the sentimental value of well‑loved gardening tools.
Later in the programme, Matthew Pottage delivers a timely spring masterclass on dividing grasses and perennials.
Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f/episodes/guide
SUN 14:45 Human Intelligence (m0026vvv)
Series 1
Teachers: Mary Somerville
Mary Somerville was a brilliant polymath who found time to correct the work of Isaac Newton whilst looking after her infant children. Naomi Alderman investigates her extraordinary work ethic and expansive interests.
Somerville's writings, across a range of disciplines – maths, astronomy, botany, geography – became essential reading for those learning science, and helped to define what a scientist was in the early 19th century.
Special thanks to Dr Brigitte Stenhouse, Lecturer in the History of Mathematics at The Open University.
Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001q0lb)
An African in Greenland
Tété-Michel Kpomassie, a teenager in 1950s Togo, is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. After a heart-stopping encounter with a snake in a coconut tree, Tété-Michel happens upon a book in his local library. It shows him a land of ice and snow, 4000 miles from home. Immediately spellbound, he runs away from home and starts his intrepid journey to Greenland.
This is the story of Tété-Michel’s voyage of discovery, and his relationship to a country, and a people, that helped him find a new understanding of home.
CAST
Older Tété-Michel ….. Danny Sapani
Younger Tété-Michel ….. Tunji Kasim
Tété-Michel’s father….. Richard Pepple
Callaut/Knud ….. Ewan Bailey
Adam …. Salik Lennert
Paulina/ Kathrina ….. Dina Fisker Sandgreen
Lydia/Mrs. Steffensen ….. Kuluk Helms
Hans/Erik Steffensen Angunnguaq Larsen
Thue ….. Miki Petrussen
Robert Mattaq ….. Klaus Geisler
Dramatised by Rex Obano
Directed by Anne Isger
A BBC Audio Production
Dramatised from the Flammarion edition of An African In Greenland
SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002tzm1)
Jenni Fagan
Scottish novelist and poet Jenni Fagan tells presenter James Crawford about her new novel, The Delusions, in which she takes readers to the afterlife - or, at least, to its entry portal. It is a place where the newly dead are required to queue up and account for the truth of their lives - and extract all their delusions - if they are to have any chance of passing into eternity.
Jenni’s three chosen influences are Nina Cassian’s poem Temptation (1966), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and Jeanette Winterson’s Weight (2005).
Producer: Rachael O'Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002tzm3)
2. Wales v Northern Ireland
Teams from all over the UK will face Kirsty Lang's cryptic questions across the series, with Kirsty offering support and the odd hint where it might be needed.
The second match in the series is between Wales and Northern Ireland.
As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.
You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.
Teams:
Wales - Myfanwy Alexander and Cariad Lloyd
Northern Ireland - Paddy Duffy and Freya McClements
Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios Production
Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor and by you, the listeners!
Questions in today's edition:
Q1 (From Phil Ware) Why might the chaotic ramblings of a famous French philosopher contain:
a non-lethal weapon, a lacrimal outpouring, a fixed gaze, a family of daisies and a property tax?
Q2 (From Rosie Cullen) Put the following in order, then give the next in the sequence:
A mythical bird, the Paycock's wife, a small pebble, and the author of a series of books about a Canadian orphan.
Q3 (From Simon Meara) Music: Listen to these pieces of music and explain why the fourth is the answer to the first three.
Q4 (From Bill March) If an Austrian physicist priest joined forces with a handy member of a British supergroup, to revisit a Brideshead actress, and those who, biblically, are judged alongside the dead, and all this happened in Slough House… what would they be dancing to?
Q5 (From Joe Wainwright) If you add together:
A dark sticky invention of 1840, that you won’t want to lick now.
A flageolet you won’t want to eat
And a sword bearing minister who you wouldn’t want to cross
What criminal might you sing about, and how much would you be paid?
Q6 Music: If you were hosting a West Egg party and wanted to lure in a specific resident of East Egg, why would these four songs provide the perfect liquid bait?
Q7 (From Joe Wainwright) Whilst eating strawberries, where might you come across…
The late Kurt’s widow, a crystal wedding anniversary, the conflict ended at Westphalia,and an Extra Large Italian...
All of which might be followed by a Beach boys album released in October 1963?
Q8 (From Daniel Kitto) How might:
The one-time Equus burchellii, a stout mascot, Bellerophon's ride, a children’s book, and a short sounding legal thriller...
All be of assistance to a domestic fowl?
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct7454)
My dad created Mr Men and Little Miss
In 1971, advertising writer Roger Hargreaves's eight-year-old son Adam asked him an unusual question: 'What does a tickle look like?'
Inspired, Roger got out his marker pens and created an orange character with a round body, long stretchy arms and a blue bowler hat.
That character would become Mr Tickle, one of the first Mr Men books.
Adam Hargreaves tells Megan Jones how his late father's children's books became a worldwide success.
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 the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Roger Hargreaves with Mr Wrong. Credit: Gerrit Alan Fokkema/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
SUN 17:10 Toxic! (m002rdnn)
A Recipe for Disaster?
The foods we eat, the water we drink, the products we coat our faces in, and even the clothes on our backs all contain tiny, invisible chemicals that most of us trust without a second thought. But should we? Are these substances actually safe? Are they lingering inside our bodies and, if so, what does this mean for our health?
In this first episode of Toxic!, materials scientist Mark Miodownik explores the far-reaching and unsettling world of PFAS – so-called ‘forever chemicals’, named for their stubborn tendency to persist in the environment for… well… almost forever. Speaking to expert scientists, Mark discovers just how fantastically useful this vast family of chemicals is, while also confronting the more sinister and mounting evidence around their short- and long-term health implications.
Joined by his friend and colleague, leading PFAS expert Dave Megson, Mark brings the investigation into his kitchen and cooks lunch. From fish to frying pans to dishwasher tablets, he uncovers the surprising places that PFAS are lurking in our everyday lives. And finally – for a dose of optimism – he explores the exciting new science that might one day help us flush the PFAS out of our bodies more quickly.
Series Producer: Mel Brown
Producer Geraldine Fitzgerald
Researcher: Alex Rodway
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002tzm6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002tzm8)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002tzmb)
President Trump threatens to block Strait of Hormuz
After talks to end the war in Iran broke down, President Trump says the US navy will blockade the Strait of Hormuz. Also: the Lebanese health ministry says more than thirty people have been killed by Israeli strikes in the past twenty-four hours. And votes are being counted in Hungary's parliamentary election, which could see the end of prime minister Viktor Orban's 16 years in power.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002tzmd)
Claudia Hammond
This week, we’re launching into the stars with the 13 Minutes podcast following the historic Artemis II mission. Meanwhile, Front Row revisits the humble beginnings of the box in the corner of the living room that made stars of some - the humble telly. And we learn of the invention that allowed women who wanted to, to meet a wider pool of men - the pneumatic tyre. Plus, Radio 4 celebrates the life and legacy of Sir Tom Stoppard, as we journey to the Dark Side of the Moon with his 2013 Pink Floyd radio play.
Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Anthony McKee
Editor: Peter McManus
Production Co-ordinator: Caoilfhinn Mc Fadden
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002tzmg)
While Adam cooks a Sunday roast, Alice tells him she’s spoken to Kate, who agrees that Brian’s break up with Miranda doesn’t make sense. Adam warns Alice off tackling Brian about the subject over lunch, before Lilian arrives. She’s soon followed by Brian, but Ruairi can’t make it. True to Adam’s word Brian tells them he won’t talk about Miranda. Alice sounds out Lilian about Brian’s erratic behaviour recently. Whatever’s going on, Alice agrees with Kate that it’s serious. Later, Brian overhears Alice expressing her concerns to Lilian and has a go at them for gossiping about his private life, insisting he can sort things out on his own. Brian slams out and Alice tells the others that, like Kate, she’s genuinely concerned Brian might be showing signs of dementia.
Wearing a neck brace, Bert moans to Tracy about the pain he’s in, but she gives him short shrift. He wants to get compensation after the church roof fell in, though Tracy points out he wasn’t even there. It’s a scam! Bert complains that no-one’s offered to do anything for him on the Easter Promises Tree. He’s determined to pursue his compensation claim from Alan, despite the fact he won’t be able to produce any evidence or witnesses, as Tracy again points out. Bert threatens to get Susan to help with his claim instead. Later, Tracy admits feeling bad. But Bert’s changed his mind about pursuing the claim because of what Tracy said, about Alan helping Susan when the shop needed a home. Alan doesn’t deserve the hassle.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002tzmj)
Journey through a cow
A farmer, a cheesemaker, a philosopher and a scientist take us on a guided tour through a cow.
Told in five acts, this programme weaves together the voices of our four guides - artist-philosopher Samar Nasrullah Khan, cheesemaker Peter Dixon, farmer Nikki Yoxall and Professor of Animal Science and Microbiology Sharon Huws.
They take us on a journey from deep in the soil, through a plant, into a cow’s mouth, through her four stomach compartments – home to vast civilisations of bacteria, protozoa and fungi – and, of course, out the other end. Finally, the cow is milked and her dung is devoured by microorganisms, who turn it back into soil – starting the cycle again.
Part documentary, part creative interpretation, the programme uses field recordings to immerse us in the multi-species communities we encounter along the way. These mingle with the voice of the cow herself, and those of our human guides, who explain and reflect on the interactions and transformations occurring at each stage.
Humans and cattle have co-evolved. Over thousands of years, we have harnessed, exploited and relied on their ability to transform protein-poor plants into milk and dung, providing nourishment for people and soil. But still, what actually goes on inside a cow – and between a cow and its environment – to make these transformations possible remains a source of wonder.
Featuring Nikki Yoxall, Samar Nasrullah Khan, Professor Sharon Huws and Peter Dixon
Producer and narrator: Katie Revell
Executive producer: Carys Wall
Sound design, music and mix: Ev Buckley
Additional recordings by Gastric Mill
A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001z6jt)
Deep Calm - with Michael Mosley
Deep Calm - Episode 2: Relaxing Your Body
Sit back, leave behind the cares of the day and take a sonic journey with Dr Michael Mosley. In this new podcast series, designed to help you let go and unwind, each episode focuses on a scientifically-proven technique for activating the body’s built-in relaxation response, and takes a deep dive to explore what’s happening inside as we find stillness and calm.
Deliberately tensing and then relaxing groups of muscles all through the body is a potent technique for engaging your body’s relaxation response. We also encounter the magnificently-named Golgi tendon organ afferent nerve cells, and the interconnected nodes of the brain.
Guest: Ian Robertson, professor at Trinity College Dublin.
Series Producer, sound design and mix engineer: Richard Ward
Researcher: William Hornbrook
Editor: Zoë Heron
Specially composed music by Richard Atkinson (Mcasso)
A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002tpvd)
Broadcasting House, and When It Hits the Fan
Andrea Catherwood meets with Paddy O'Connell, longtime presenter of Broadcasting House. But this time we're going behind the scenes as Paddy has granted the Feedback team special access to the programme's inbox - and like Feedback's listeners, Broadcasting House's listeners have a lot to say. And how do you get the balance right when reporting on news during a day that is supposed to be dedicated to calm? Paddy gives his thoughts.
And some listeners had questions about a recent episode of Any Answers. Why did it only deal with one subject?
Finally, it's time for another edition of our VoxBox - this time it's two friends and PR professionals, Lauren and Dan, giving their take on the BBC's programme all about crisis management, When It Hits The Fan. Does the series do its best to inform, educate, and entertain, or is it all spin?
Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002tqlt)
Sir Craig Reedie, Bronwen Naish, Geoff Yeadon, Margareta Magnusson
Matthew Bannister on
Sir Craig Reedie, the sports administrator who led London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics and went on to become President of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Lord Coe pays tribute.
Bronwen Naish, the musician who devoted her life to promoting the joys of the double bass.
Geoff Yeadon, the world record breaking cave diver from Yorkshire.
And Margareta Magnusson, best known as the author of the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning”.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley
Archive:
Daytime Live, BBC One, 21/01/1988; Edinburgh Festival Fringe, YouTube Upload, Browen Naish, 01/09/2020; Bartholomew, YouTube Upload, Bronwen Naish, 04/09/2020; Wogan, BBC One, 01/07/1985; A Visit with Bronwen Naish, Bass-Talk with Hagen and Heyes, YouTube Upload, 25/02/2024; Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 09/01/2018 Conversation Piece, BBC Radio 4, 07/05/1982; Behind the Ears, BBC Radio 3, 15/06/2025; BBC Look North, BBC, June 1983; BBC News, BBC, 06/06/2005; Newsnight, BBC One, 21/07/2016; Mixed Zone interview of Sir Craig Reedie – The ANOC Awards 2022; BBC News, BBC, 06/07/2005; The Daily Politics, BBC 2, 14/01/2003
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002tzf3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002tzlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002tzdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002tzml)
Ben Wright's guests are the Labour backbencher Paul Waugh, Conservative peer and former Cabinet minister Mark Harper, and the Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson.
They discuss the latest developments over Iran, and the prospects for the May elections in England, Scotland and Wales. Lizzy Buchan - political editor of the Daily Mirror - brings additional insight and analysis. The programme also includes an interview with Lord Willetts - President of the Resolution Foundation think tank - explaining why he thinks the pensions triple lock has become unsustainable.
SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002tptk)
Handel's Messiah
Misha Glenny and his guests discuss the most famous oratorio of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and his librettist Charles Jennens (1700-1773). For his libretto, Jennens drew from Old and New Testament texts: prophecies about the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, the nativity, the suffering of Christ and his death and the Day of Judgement and redemption for all. Handel's Messiah had its premiere in 1742 in a secular Dublin music hall to great acclaim with a packed audience and Handel continued to adapt his Messiah for later performances, often shaping the work to the choirs or individual singers available. Messiah proved to be one of his most popular works, becoming a favourite of massed choirs around the world far beyond the scale of Handel’s original.
With
Donald Burrows
Emeritus Professor of Music at the Open University
Ruth Smith
Trustee and Council Member of the Handel Institute
And
Larry Zazzo
Countertenor, and Senior Lecturer in Music at Newcastle University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Donald Burrows, Messiah (full score, 2 vols, Hallische Händel Ausgabe, forthcoming)
Donald Burrows, Messiah (Edition Peters, 1987)
Donald Burrows, Messiah, Cambridge Music Handbooks (Cambridge University Press, 1991)
Donald Burrows, Handel: Master Musicians series, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2012)
George Frideric Handel (ed. Donald Burrows et al.), Collected Documents vol. 3 (1734-42), vol 4 (1742-50), (Cambridge University Press, 2019, 2020)
G.F. Handel, facsimile ‘Messiah’: the composer’s autograph manuscript (British Library, 2009)
G.F. Handel, facsimile the composer’s Conducting Score of Messiah (Scolar Press, 1974)
Arthur Holroyd, Reassuring 18th-Century Protestants: The Librettist’s Intended Message for Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (Quacks Books, 2018)
Charles King, Every Valley: The Story of Handel’s Messiah (Doubleday/Bodley Head, 2024)
Jens Peter Larsen, Handel’s Messiah: Origins, Composition, Sources (Adam and Charles Black, 1957)
Richard Luckett, Handel’s Messiah: A Celebration (Victor Gollancz, 1992)
Watkins Shaw, A Textual and Historical Companion to Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (Novello and Co, 1965)
Ruth Smith, ‘The Achievements of Charles Jennens (1700–1773)’ (Music & Letters, 70, 1989)
Ruth Smith, Charles Jennens: The Man behind Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (Handel House Trust/The Gerald Coke Handel Foundation, 2012)
Ruth Smith, Handel’s Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Calvin R. Stapert, Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010)
Judy Tarling, Handel’s Messiah: A Rhetorical Guide (first published 2014; Punnett Press, 2025)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios production
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002tqlr)
Nora's Abyss by Aimée Walsh
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Aimée Walsh. Read by Nicky Harley.
The Author.
Aimée Walsh is a writer from Belfast. Her short stories have been longlisted for the London Magazine Short Story Prize and published in Extra Teeth. Her non-fiction and book criticism has appeared in The Irish Times, The Observer, RTÉ Culture, Dazed and The Independent amongst others. Walsh holds a PhD in Irish Literature and Cultural History. Her debut novel ‘Exile’ was published in 2024.
Writer: Aimée Walsh
Reader: Nicky Harley
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MONDAY 13 APRIL 2026
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002tzmn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002tpqk)
Albania: Land, Money and the Sea
Albania has had many different faces over the last hundred years. Once ruled by the Ottomans, it became a kingdom before turning into a totalitarian communist state after the Second World War. During this time, no one was allowed in or out; all private property became state-owned, and bunkers sprang up across the country. After the fall of the communist regime, Albania descended into chaos. In 1996, a pyramid scheme that three quarters of the population had paid into, collapsed. People lost everything, and the country, especially the south, erupted into violence.
These days, Albania is aiming to shake off its past and transform its reputation from a country marked by corruption to one known for luxury tourism. With its miles of unspoilt beaches, snow capped mountains, and olive groves that could rival anything Greece has to offer, it’s unsurprising that it’s quickly attracting investors. Among them are Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who are hoping to build a resort on an island off the coast of Vlorë. They have visited the secluded beaches of Zvërnec and Nartë; currently home only to endangered monk seals, sea turtles, and a few sheep. They, like others, hope to benefit from new government incentives to build luxury 5 star plus resorts.
However, ghosts of Albania’s communist past remain. Land disputes, allegations of corruption, and a lack of infrastructure could derail these resorts before they’ve even broken ground. For Crossing Continents, Emily Wither travels to Albania to find out whether it will be able to re-brand itself, and whether its dream of luxury escapism will become a reality.
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Programme Mix: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Penny Murphy
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002tzgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002tzmq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002tzms)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:00 News Summary (m002tzmv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Last Word (m002tqlt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002tzmx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002tzmz)
The Place of Modesty
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
I was born in America, a place that has always come across as – possibly – a bit overconfident. However, I’ve lived most of my life in Northern Ireland, where people are generally quick to put you in your place if you boast or act big-headed.
On this day a year ago, Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy won the US Master’s Tournament, becoming only the sixth person in history to complete what’s known as the Grand Slam of golf. It was a lifelong ambition of McIlroy’s to win the Masters, but he still calls golf “just a game”.
Northern Irish poet Seamus Heaney never called poetry “just words”. But he did describe poems as ‘stepping stones’, a fairly modest analogy: “Every now and again”, he said, “you write a poem that gives you self-respect and steadies your going a little bit farther out in the stream”.
Well, few poets went further into that stream than Heaney, and very few are better known. Yet, he was unfailingly down to earth, and famous for his modesty. His death in 2013 at age 74 was a terrible shock to all who knew him and many who didn’t.
In the lecture he delivered when awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 Heaney spoke eloquently of his very ordinary childhood and humble home life. He quoted the work of other poets more than his own poetry in that lecture, unfailingly modest.
Today would have been Seamus Heaney’s 87th birthday - another stepping stone, if you will, in a life that continues through his poems, his literary legacy and in fond memory.
Lord God, help us to listen less to the sound and fury of arrogance and threat in our lives, and more to the poetry of modesty and peace.
Amen
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002tzn1)
13/04/26: Alternative fertilisers, Capercaillie in the Cairngorms.
War in the Middle East has led to price shocks in fertiliser and fuel for farmers. The situation puts a sharper focus on products already being developed to reduce reliance on imported fertiliser. We hear about two innovations: granular fertiliser produced from byproducts including incinerated chicken droppings, and a fertiliser using nutrients extracted from human urine which is being trialled in a project to grow native trees in Wales.
And, we're touring some of the UK's National Parks this week. Today, efforts to conserve the iconic and charismatic Capercaillie in the Cairngorms National Park.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
MON 05:57 Weather (m002tzn3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002v0yl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002v0yn)
Challenges and solutions
Is radical change possible to solve some of today’s most intractable problems? In Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by three journalists to discuss the challenges of trying to live differently.
John Kampfner has travelled the world to find examples of places and people bravely and imaginatively confronting some of our most pressing problems – from climate change to health, housing and education. His book is called Braver New World: The Countries Daring to Do Things Others Won’t.
But Nicolas Niarchos questions how we live sustainably when the hidden costs of the green transition can be so devastating. In The Elements of Power he investigates the global supply of rare earth metals, essential for decarbonisation, and the terrible, bloody human cost for those involved in their extraction.
Natasha Walter explores how activism is being reshaped in the era of climate emergency. In Feminism for a World on Fire, she reflects on the movements fighting for justice, and asks what forms of solidarity and resistance are needed when the planet itself is under threat.
Together, the panel consider the innovations, compromises and moral dilemmas that come with trying to live well on a warming planet.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002v0yq)
A chair for chats
Dean Perryman, the founder of community group Empty Chairs, tells Rachel Burden how he's trying to reduce loneliness by encouraging strangers to chat to each other in pubs.
After his best friend Rob took his own life, Dean wanted to make sure that people could connect and talk. Empty Chairs happens in pubs across the UK, around a small table with a few chairs left intentionally free, so people can sit down and start a conversation if they need to.
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.
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Researcher: Daisy Herman
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Tom Bigwood
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002v0ys)
Hungary election, Women managing male footballers, Being a girl in 2026
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power are coming to an end after an election that saw massive voter turnout. Orbán was seen as a friend to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and his right wing government also introduced a range of policies aimed at boosting Hungary's declining birth rate, with particular focus on women as workers and mothers. Nuala McGovern talks to BBC East and Central Europe Correspondent Nick Thorpe alongside Éva Fodor, a Hungarian academic and sociologist at the Central European University, whose gender studies course was effectively banned by the Orbán government in 2018.
What’s the best thing about being a girl in 2026? In her new Radio 4 series, About the Girls, author and journalist Catherine Carr travels around the country to talk to girls about friendship, life online, body image and relationships. She joins Nuala to share what she learnt about the world this generation of girls are navigating.
For the first time, a woman has been appointed to coach a men's team in one of Europe's top five football leagues. Marie-Louise Eta has been named interim Head Coach of Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga, the equivalent of the Premier League here. It's a sudden appointment, until the end of the season, and it follows a string of losses and the dismissal of the previous coach. We talk to Rosi Webb, previously one of the few female coaches in charge of a men's team in England for five years, alongside Laura McAllister, former international footballer and Vice President of UEFA.
Dame Paula Rego has been described as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. She said, “I paint to give fear a face”, and her art depicts the world from the female perspective and highlights themes including abortion, fairy tales, religion and how women are viewed in society. Now, four years since her death, a new exhibition, called Story Line, brings together 140 of her drawings, showcasing her life from eight to 80. Nuala is joined by Paula’s son Nick Willing, who curated the exhibition, and her friend, the writer Marina Warner.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Simon Richardson
MON 11:00 The Invention Of... (m002v0yv)
The birth and death of Yugoslavia
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans to report on the birth and death of Yugoslavia.
With contributions from Lea Ypi, Radina Vucetic, Ivan Veyvoda, Tim Heneage, Jelena Dureinovic, plus former soldier turned writer Faruk Sehic in Sarajevo. Includes archive of Fitzroy Maclean and Steed Wickham, plus an interview with the scientific director of the Jewish Museum in Thessaloniki, Xenia Eleftheriou.
This is series eighteen of The Invention of ... on Radio 4, following on from previous visits to Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil and beyond.
The producer is Miles Warde
MON 11:45 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v0yx)
Dariush
Ramita Navai was a journalist in Tehran when she began writing City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, published in 2014.
It tells the real stories of people whose lives were affected by the regime - stories that were often censored. Names and some details have been changed to protect people.
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran is written and read by Ramita Navai.
It was abridged and produced by Lu Kemp.
Darius is the story of an MEK militant who has grown up in America returning to Tehran to execute an assassination for the Group. But the Group's information and equipment is out of date - and the hit is botched.
Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award winning foreign affairs journalist, documentary maker and author who has reported from over 45 countries.
After starting her career as the Tehran correspondent for The Times, she joined Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs documentary series Unreported World. Her investigations included the war in South Sudan, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, gang assassins in El Salvador, and the war in Syria.
Her investigative documentaries on the war against ISIS, Shia militias in Iraq, sexual abuse among UN peacekeepers, corruption and rape in India and women’s rights in Afghanistan have won many awards. Her latest documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack for Channel 4 has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Her book City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran won the Debut Political Book and was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Prize for non-fiction. It has been translated into six languages.
She is the creator and host of THE LINE OF FIRE, a top 10 Apple podcast about the moment of facing death.
She is the recipient of the Women in Film and TV Award recognising outstanding achievement by a woman in news.
MON 12:00 News Summary (m002v0yz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002v0z1)
Broadband Outages, Border Delays and House Flipping
As the EU's new entry/exit border system is fully rolled out, we'll hear from two holidaymakers who are stranded in Milan because of delays. An elderly couple have been without broadband or landline since January - we'll speak to them and ask why it has been taking Virgin Media so long to reconnect them. Saunas are having a moment - we're talking 'wild' ones, in the great outdoors - what's behind their rapid rise in popularity? And there's a warning if you're tempted by a 'low deposit' holiday, that you might end up paying more than you're expecting.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
MON 12:57 Weather (m002v0z3)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m002v0z5)
The Southport attacks could and should have been prevented
A report from the first phase of the Inquiry into the Southport tragedy finds ‘catastrophic’ failures by agencies and killer’s parents ‘irresponsible’. We speak to one of the UK's leading authorities on children's services. Also on The World at One, the pro-Europe candidate Peter Maygar has ended the 16-year rule of nationalist President Victor Orban in Hungary. And, we'll discuss how President Trump's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz might affect UK households.
MON 13:45 About the Girls (m002v0z7)
1. Becoming a Woman
Teenage girls all over the country talk candidly to Catherine Carr about what it is like to be a girl in 2026. They reflect on where they get their ideas about femininity from, and how these are often shaped by the boys.
They explain how they feel that women are innately programmed to care for those around them as well as to care about what they think, leading them to modify their behaviour. They also talk extensively about their fears as girls and young women, and how that could affect the kinds of lives they might have.
Catherine hears from adults making a difference in girls’ lives and finds out how girls struggle to find their niche in a world where ‘cool girl’ reigns.
Thanks to:
Cardinal Langley School Rochdale
Dr Hannah Yelin, Oxford Brookes University
The Girl Guiding Association
South Dartmoor Community College
Ola Demkowicz, University of Manchester
The Children’s Society
North Birmingham Academy
Dance United Yorkshire
Dumfries & Galloway’s Young Women’s Network
Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002tzmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Boswell's Lives (b09w10b3)
Series 3
Boswell's Life of Christie
James Boswell meets Agatha Christie and soon becomes involved in deception, disappearances and an unnatural death.
Jon Canter’s sitcom sees James Boswell become a time-travelling biographer - doing for other celebrities what he did for Dr Johnson.
Boswell ...... Miles Jupp
Agatha Christie ...... Vicki Pepperdine
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2018.
MON 14:45 Human Intelligence (m0026vst)
Series 1
Teachers: Peter Ramus
Naomi Alderman meets Peter Ramus – a teacher determined to simplify and systematise the teaching of difficult things. He spoke his mind and thrived on stirring up trouble.
Ramus was behind one of the most important learning devices in history. A system of organising knowledge that helped overthrow the primacy of Aristotle in medieval universities and allowed everyone to access ideas, regardless of birth or status. He was a fighter (literally on some occasions), a brilliant speaker and devoted to the idea that knowledge deserved to spread far beyond the cloistered walls of higher education.
Special thanks to Robert Goulding, Associate Professor in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002tzqt)
Alistair McGowan on HE Bates
HE Bates is probably best known for the Darling Buds of May and Fair Stood the Wind for France, but Alistair McGowan is surprised that he is not known for his short stories, which he believes are the best ever written. "To me it's a minor literary tragedy that he is so little known and so little trumpeted."
Joining him in studio is HE Bates' granddaughter, Vicky Wicks; and from South Africa his son, Richard Bates who was executive producer of the wildly successful tv adaptations of the Darling Buds of May starring David Jason. The programme also includes Bates own voice plus an extract from Fair Stood the Wind for France, his second world war novel about a British plane that crash lands in German occupied France.
Produced in Bristol for BBC Studios by Miles Warde
MON 15:30 Illuminated (m002tzmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Currently (m002tzlz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002tzdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002v0z9)
The US blockade of Iranian ports takes effect
The US President tells Iran any ships approaching the blockade will be eliminated. Former US ambassador Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy for Republican and Democratic presidents, assesses his country’s strategy. The Southport Inquiry reports back, and has severe criticism for the attacker’s parents. We’ll hear from a charity that works with families dealing with extreme violence from their children. And with another overhaul of school dinners, why do puddings remain on the menu?
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002v0zc)
A US naval blockade of Iran's entire coastline comes into force
The US military says it has begun imposing a naval blockade targeting all ships entering or leaving all Iranian ports in the Gulf. Also: A public inquiry blames the parents of the Southport killer for failing to prevent his "catastrophic" attack on a dance class. And Hungary's incoming prime minister, Peter Magyar, has described his landslide electoral victory as history in the making.
MON 18:30 Unspeakable (m002v0zf)
Series 3
5. How to Cull Friends and Nickname People
This episode we hear Desiree Burch's word for pruning your friends list, Max Fosh's description for the nicknames that children give you, and Rebecca Front's coinage for bingeing on junk TV.
Ever struggled to find the right word for a feeling or sensation? Unspeakable sees comedian Phil Wang and lexicographer Susie Dent invite celebrity guests to invent new linguistic creations, to solve those all too relatable moments when we're lost for words.
Hosts: Phil Wang and Susie Dent
Guests: Desiree Burch, Max Fosh and Rebecca Front
Created by Joe Varley
Writers: Matt Crosby and James Farmer
Recorded by Jerry Peal
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Joe Varley and Akash Lockmun
A Brown Bred production for BBC Radio 4
MON 19:00 The Archers (m002tzq0)
Lilian goes to see Brian and refuses to apologise for being concerned. Brian gets antsy with her, before confessing that he really misses Jenny at times like this. He apologises for over-reacting yesterday. Lilian mentions dementia, but Brian insists that’s not what’s going on. Up on Lakey Hill Lilian tries teasing out of Brian what the underlying issue is. She guesses it’s to do with George. Indirectly, Brian admits, before telling her that it was Ruairi who hit George with a bottle. Lilian struggles to take it in as Brian outlines what happened when George was attacked. Lilian now sees why Brian’s in such a state, but doesn’t understand why Brian can’t move into the farmhouse with Miranda. Brian explains it’s because Ruairi couldn’t face living there and is barely holding himself together. Brian feels Jenny would have agreed with what he’s doing to protect Ruairi. Lilian agrees to go along with it, before Brian makes her promise not to tell anyone that Ruairi hit George.
Noting her stress over Brian, Fallon asks Alice how things are going with Rex, suggesting they come over for supper on Wednesday. They move on to cricket teas and the fierce competition to design a logo for the new team, before Fallon asks how Chris is coping with Rex being her boyfriend. Alice asserts that her and Chris are in a good place, but still frets in case Chris has said anything to prompt Fallon’s concern. Alice then admits she’s worried about everything at the moment, but particularly her dad.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002v0zh)
Mark Gatiss at the RSC and novelist Margaret Drabble
Mark Gatiss takes on the role he's always wanted to play, the lead in Brecht's Hitler satire The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
As the Government considers charging tourists to visit England's national museums, we discuss these proposals with TV executive and arts advocate Sir Peter Bazalgette, who’s been an advisor to the DCMS, and Alison Cole - Director, The Cultural Policy Unit think tank.
As she releases her new collection of short stories and memoir pieces, The Great Good Places, Dame Margaret Drabble speaks to us about her extraordinary life and career.
Legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle has died. Her voice was heard in countless Bollywood films, often lip-synced by the most famous actresses of the day And she inspired UK band Cornershop's song Brimful of Asha. Joining us to discuss her life and glittering career is BBC presenter Nikki Bedi.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Harry Graham
MON 20:00 How Did We Get Here? (m002rvng)
Israel and the Palestinians
10: From 2010 to the present day
In the last of ten programmes exploring the origins and tracing the history of the Middle East conflict, presenter Jonny Dymond is joined by journalist Jane Corbin, who has covered the region for three decades, and the BBC’s International Editor Jeremy Bowen.
They start by discussing Israel’s economic success in the 2010s, and the situation in that period for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This episode also covers Gaza’s “tunnel economy”, continuing Hamas attacks on Israel, the wars in Gaza in 2008, 2012 and 2014, the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, the stalling of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the 2010s, and the Abraham Accords of 2020 between Israel and several Arab nations.
Jonny and his guests conclude the series by looking at the impact and significance of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. How has that event and the war in Gaza that followed affected the long-term prospects for an end to the conflict?
'How Did We Get Here? Israel and the Palestinians' is a BBC News Long Form Audio production.
The presenter is Jonny Dymond and the editor is Penny Murphy.
The Radio 4 commissioners are Hugh Levinson and Dan Clarke.
The studio engineers are Neil Churchill, James Beard, Rod Farquhar, Mike Regaard and David Crackles.
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977f)
Return to the moon
This week, humans once again looked down on the magnificent desolation of the lunar surface, from the orbit of the moon itself. They saw earth rise and earth set. They named the craters on the far side. They travelled further from Earth than any human has travelled before. Now, the Artemis mission returns home. Libby Jackson, Head of Space at the Science Museum, joins Inside Science to illuminate whether this lunar flyby is nothing but a test ride or significant for the future of human spaceflight and science.
Nasa believes Artemis II will pave the way to not only land on the moon but establish a lunar base. Kelly Weinersmith, author of A City on Mars, joins Tom to discuss the complications that are likely to arrive when and if humans attempt to establish a semi-permanent presence on the lunar surface. Is it really possible?
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Harrison Lewis and Katie Tomsett
Editor: Martin Smith
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002v0yn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002v0yq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002v0zl)
US blockade of Iranian ports takes effect
An American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has come into force, after the failure of peace talks with Iran at the weekend. Tehran says it'll retaliate, but President Trump has repeated his threat to destroy any Iranian attack vessels which approach the blockade. We speak to a representative of independent tanker owners and operators across the globe .
Also on the programme: The dispute between President Trump and Pope Leo deepens, with Mr Trump saying he would not apologise to the pontiff; and we hear about the life of a self-taught topiary artist who has been called the "Picasso of Plants".
MON 22:45 Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (m002v0zn)
Episode 1
The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature, a magically surreal story about history, identity and redemption. Read by Tara Lynne O’Neill (‘Derry Girls.’)
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago, nicknamed the Ark, are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
Rosemary, Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s following their mercurial father RJ; an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.
The four main islands on the Far Side of the Ark are: Tom’s Hard, a ‘popular’ suicide spot; Middle Flat, where the centre for traumatized comatose individuals – commonly known as Sleepers – is based; Church Flat, a kind of limbo populated by the mute ghostly presence of locals hovering between life and death; and Eglish Flat, an illegal dumping ground which appears to consume whatever is deposited there.
Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark as caretakers of the mysterious islands. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...
Author
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Reader: Tara Lynne O’Neill
Writer: Jan Carson
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 Limelight (p0fjx0md)
An Eye for a Killing
4. Anger on the Streets
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.
As Burke’s murder trial continues at the High Court, a rumour spreads on the streets that there has been a series of killings – and the man buying the bodies is the anatomist, Dr Robert Knox. An angry mob surrounds Knox’s house threatening to lynch the doctor.
Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.
Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Hare ….. James Boal
Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Madgy Docherty ….. Maureen Carr
Margaret Hare ….. Lucianne McEvoy
John Fisher ….. Robert Jack
Michael Campbell ….. James Rottger
Lord Justice Clerk ….. Paul Young
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002v0zq)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as the prime minister responds to the latest developments in the Iran war.
TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2026
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002v0zs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v0yx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002v0zv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002v0zx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002v0zz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002v101)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs questions the prime minister about the war in the Middle East.
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002v103)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002v105)
The Value of Siblings
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
London’s Empire Theatre in Leicester Square was originally built for variety shows and ballet. The last live theatre production there, before it was rebuilt as a cinema, was George and Ira Gershwin’s musical, Lady Be Good, which opened at the Empire on this day 100 years ago.
The show was the Gershwin brothers’ first musical theatre collaboration together, with Ira writing the words to the show and George, the music. It’s about a brother and sister who navigate hard times and help each other to succeed in life. In a delightful example of art imitating life, the stars of the show were brother and sister Fred and Adele Astaire.
Because of Fred Astaire’s long Hollywood career and famous pairings with other dance partners, notably Ginger Rogers, his first partner, Adele, is all but forgotten today. And yet, Fred and Adele worked together for nearly 30 years, until Adele got married and retired from show business. After that, Fred Astaire struggled for a time to establish himself as a solo act. As he said himself, “My sister Adele was mostly responsible for my being in show business. She was the whole show, she really was.”
Adele was outgoing and at times, outrageous. Fred, though much more famous, was shy and reserved. They were a kind of mirror image of the Gershwins: George, though better known than Ira was the outgoing one while Ira was more introverted.
Fred Astaire went on to have an unparalleled career without Adele, who never returned to the stage. Ira, after the dreadfully untimely death of George Gershwin at age 38, continued working for many decades. Both Fred Astaire and Ira Gershwin paid tribute to their siblings for the rest of their careers.
God of the family, we thank you for siblings and for all those to whom we are closest in work and life.
Amen
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002v107)
Prices are starting to increase for the plastic wrap and twine that farmers will need to store grass silage feed through the year. Plastic is made using fossil fuel, which is increasing in price as a result of the war in Iran. We speak to Jack Cordery of Mole Valley Farmers who says supplies are already starting to tighten.
With prices for fertiliser also rising because of the war, there are fears that a new carbon tax coming in in January could make things worse for farmers importing it. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism - or CBAM - will add import tax to products manufactured with less strict emissions regulations than we have in the UK. Jo Gilbertson of the Agricultural Industries Confederation says producers or importers who use lower emission fertiliser will not be penalised as much.
All this week we're celebrating the UK's National Parks. Today we're in Dartmoor in Devon which has a wealth of treasures under the ground, with archaeological remains of international significance.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.
TUE 06:00 Today (m002tzpc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m002tzpf)
Seth Berkley on the importance of vaccinating the world
Dr Seth Berkley is an epidemiologist and global health leader whose career has been shaped by one central problem: vaccines save lives, but only if people can actually get them.
His 40-year career has spanned the global, from helping to build Uganda’s first HIV surveillance system and founding the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; to leading Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for more than a decade – overseeing the immunisation of hundreds of millions of children worldwide. And when COVID-19 struck, Seth co-founded COVAX, the global initiative designed to stop wealthy nations monopolising vaccines.
In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Seth discusses the highs and lows of his globe-trotting career - from saving millions of young lives through vaccine distribution, to setting his own shattered leg after a climbing accident in Namibia - and addresses the huge challenge of tackling vaccine scepticism.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili.
Produced by Lucy Taylor.
A BBC Studios production.
TUE 09:30 Through Persian Eyes (b01k9qc7)
Episode 2
Many in the west have described Iran as a rogue state. Yet this so-called rogue state has a recorded history that tracks back more than 3000 years. It is a civilization that has given rise over the millennia to philosophies and religions, to science and medicine, to architecture and the arts.
In the second part of the series Professor Ali Ansari looks at a reversal of fortune as the Iranians are in turn subsumed into Arab Muslim, Turkic and Mongol empires. And he shows how captive Persia took prisoner her conquerors.
The conquest of Iran by Muslim Arabs in the 7th Century AD marked a watershed moment in Iranian history. Absorbed into the wider Muslim Caliphate, the political reality of Iran had vanished. Yet as Professor Ansari argues the cultural reality survived and would re-emerge to flourish within the new Islamic world. What is remarkable about this achievement is not simply the survival of Iranian culture and ideas, but their domination of the new environment.
Science, maths, medicine, philosophy and above all poetry flourished in a golden age. Iranians today cherish the great poets probably more than they do their kings and statesmen, perhaps because their poetry has encapsulated and protected Iranian culture and civilisation through political turmoil for future generations. Many of these poets: Rumi, Hafez and Saadi are known in the West. But arguably the greatest of all is Ferdowsi the 10th century poet who compiled the traditional pre-Islamic history of Iran, the epic Shahnameh.
Professor Ansari is one of the world's leading experts on Iran and its history. Professor Ansari's books include Iran, Islam and Democracy: the politics of managing change, Confronting Iran and The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002tzph)
Southport inquiry, Young-onset dementia, Actor Tessa Peake-Jones
A public inquiry has concluded "catastrophic" failures by the parents of the Southport killer and various agencies meant the murders of three young girls could have been prevented. Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were killed during an indiscriminate knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop on 29 July 2024. Inquiry chair Sir Adrian Fulford says the sheer number of missed opportunities for intervention with the killer is "striking". Presenter Nuala McGovern talks to Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, a human rights lawyer, who formerly sat as coroner in England and is the former Ireland's Special Rapporteur on Child Protection.
Figures show there are close to one million people diagnosed with dementia in the UK, of which two thirds are women. A campaign to highlight the caring duties that fall on the families of those diagnosed with young-onset dementia launches this week. We hear from Emilia, who spent her teenage years tussling with the medical community to get her mother - in her late 40s - diagnosed, and Amy Pagan from the charity Younger People With Dementia.
The singer Sade has become the first black British women who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Known for her songs including Smooth Operator, Your Love is King and The Sweetest Taboo, she blended jazz, soul, and R&B into a sound entirely their own.
As the longer days may be inspiring you to get out walking a bit more, here's another chance to hear a story about women helping others in their community. A little while ago, one of our Woman’s Hour listeners, Thomasina, got in touch and invited us to visit her mother and baby walking group Blaze Trails. Nuala laced up her walking boots and took a trip up to Staffordshire to join a group of women and their babies for a walk at Stone Common Plot to find out more.
What surprised you about turning 60? The actor Tessa Peake-Jones has been thinking about it for her latest work. She is probably best known as Mrs Chapman in the ITV series Grantchester, or maybe Raquel in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, but she's currently on stage in Invisible Me. The comedy-drama asks: What does love look like when you're 60, single, and starting over? Tessa plays Lynn, who has been a carer for her mum and escaped an abusive relationship, and joins Nuala in the studio.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002tqm4)
Telephones
Alexander Graham Bell made the first ever telephone call 150 years ago this spring. That single moment of connection would transform communication - and provide storytellers with a rich device for drama, comedy, intimacy and tension. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode trace the history of the phone on screen, and examine how the movies have handled the thorny problem of the smartphone.
Mark speaks to author and critic Kim Newman about some of the most iconic telephone calls in cinema, from Dr Strangelove to Scream.
Meanwhile, Ellen delves into how film and TV are responding to the smartphone age, with the help of critic Kayleigh Donaldson. And she speaks to American filmmaker Janicza Bravo, whose 2015 film Zola made inventive use of the cellphone.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:45 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002tzpk)
Somayah
Ramita Navai was a journalist in Tehran when she began writing City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, published in 2014.
It tells the real stories of people whose lives were affected by the regime - stories that were often censored. Names and some details have been changed to protect people.
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran is written and read by Ramita Navai.
It was abridged and produced by Lu Kemp.
Somayah is a seventeen year old devout schoolgirl in South Tehran. But high morals and sexual awakening battle with each other when a school friend is seen leaving a boy's house.
Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award winning foreign affairs journalist, documentary maker and author who has reported from over 45 countries.
After starting her career as the Tehran correspondent for The Times, she joined Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs documentary series Unreported World. Her investigations included the war in South Sudan, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, gang assassins in El Salvador, and the war in Syria.
Her investigative documentaries on the war against ISIS, Shia militias in Iraq, sexual abuse among UN peacekeepers, corruption and rape in India and women’s rights in Afghanistan have won many awards. Her latest documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack for Channel 4 has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Her book City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran won the Debut Political Book and was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Prize for non-fiction. It has been translated into six languages.
She is the creator and host of THE LINE OF FIRE, a top 10 Apple podcast about the moment of facing death.
She is the recipient of the Women in Film and TV Award recognising outstanding achievement by a woman in news.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002tzpn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002tzpq)
Call You & Yours: What's your experience of buying a leasehold home?
On today's phone in, we want to hear from you about homes that are leasehold.
Leasehold is where you buy a property but you don't own the land it's built on. Instead you pay grount rent to a freeholder, and service charges to a management company who are supposed to maintain and run the building.
But, the government is looking to reform leasehold laws. Rising ground rents coupled with steep service charges mean some flats are becoming unmortgageable, particularly in prime city centre sites.
You can be paying through the nose in ground rent and service charges and still have to fight to get repairs done.
We'd like to hear from you if you live in a leasehold flat or house to tell us what its like.
What's your experience of buying a leasehold home?
You can call 03700 100 444 after
11am.
Our email is youandyours@bbc.co.uk
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS
TUE 12:57 Weather (m002tzps)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002tzpv)
Robertson: Complacent government has put UK 'in peril'
Lord Robertson, the former NATO chief and co-author of the Strategic Defence Review, says the Iran war “has to be a rude wake-up call” on UK defence spending and criticises Treasury 'vandals' for under-funding the armed forces. Skycutter, a UK drone start-up, claims it may need to move to the US if the MoD doesn't take on its products while Defence Select Committee member Mike Martin calls for a 'root and branch' review of procurement. Plus, four ships pass through the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, why the grades of white working-class girls are falling, and the director of the new film, 'The Wizard of the Kremlin', on the risks of making a movie about President Putin.
TUE 13:45 About the Girls (m002tzpx)
2. Life Online
Teenage girls all over the country talk candidly to Catherine Carr about their lives online.
They talk about the dangers online- from bullying to having their contact details leaked. They explain the pressure to perform a romantic version of ‘girlhood’ and the effort that takes.
They also talk about the influence of the manosphere and tradwife content on ideas that young teens have about relationships. And they discuss ways to make money from sexual content and the risk that everything on the internet is findable forever.
Thanks to:
Dumfries & Galloway’s Young Women’s Network
Dr Hannah Yelin, Oxford Brookes University
North Birmingham Academy
South Dartmoor Community College
The Girls' Day School Trust
Sutton High School GDST
Emilie Silverwood-Cope
Carshalton High School for Girls
Young Minds
Girlguiding Association
Brook Advisory
Sam Hepworth
The Children’s Society
Cardinal Langley High School Rochdale
DRMZ Carmarthen Youth Project
Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002tzq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002tzq2)
A Tale of Ossian: Dot and Cal
Atmospheric drama by Robert Forrest.
It’s a snowy evening on the outskirts of Glasgow when Dot and Cal take shelter in a disused factory. Warming themselves next to a makeshift fire, an intriguing man walks through the door….He’s an old man captivated by stories whose mysterious presence brings out stories in those he sits with.
Cast:
Cal … Simon Donaldson
Dot … Chloe-Ann Tylor
Ossian … Finlay Welsh
Studio recording: Gav Murchie
Production co-ordinators: Ellie Marsh and Minnie Harrop
Sound Design by Niall Young
Directed by Kirsty Williams
TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (p0lwzd1q)
The Marvels of Madam C.J. Walker
When Sarah Breedlove begins to lose her hair, she starts a business that will make her one of the wealthiest African American Women of her time.
Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.
A BBC Studios production.
Producer: Elaina Boateng
Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vq8)
When music became a prayer
Concert pianist Yirui Weng, 32, grew up in a communist, atheist family in China, where religion played no part in her life. Music, however, always did. As a gifted young pianist, she immersed herself in the great works of Western classical music — including sacred compositions whose words and meanings were largely unknown to her.
When Yirui moved to Italy to pursue her musical studies, curiosity began to replace indifference. While playing Vivaldi’s Gloria, she found herself drawn not just to the beauty of the music, but to its unfamiliar language: “Lamb of God?” “Son of the Father?” What, she wondered, did these words mean — and why had composers been inspired by them for centuries?
After meeting a Chinese priest in Milan, Yirui began attending catechism classes and encountered the teachings of Jesus for the first time. Ideas such as forgiveness and loving one’s enemies challenged everything she had been taught growing up. She began to pray — quietly at first — and noticed something unexpected: it changed the way she played.
In 2023, Yirui was baptised.
In this edition of Heart and Soul, the BBC’s John Laurenson travels to Rome to meet Yirui Weng. We hear her play, sing, teach and pray as she reflects on her journey of faith and explores a deeper question: why is music — from the Muslim call to prayer to gospel and sacred choral works — such a powerful and universal expression of belief?
Producer/presenter: John Laurenson
Series producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
Photo description: Yirui Eleonora Weng , pianist and opera vocal coach based between Italy and China, specializing in Italian opera repertoire and cross-cultural vocal performance. Photo credit is: Yirui Eleonora Weng )
TUE 16:00 Moving Pictures (m002trvv)
The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck
Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces. Each episode of Moving Pictures is devoted to a single artwork – and you’re invited to look as well as listen, by following a link to a high-resolution image made by Google Arts & Culture. Zoom in and you can see the pores of the canvas, the sweep of individual brushstrokes, the shimmer of pointillist dots.
It’s all bling this episode as we visit a wealthy merchant and his wife in 15th-century Bruges. The stars of The Arnolfini Portrait are keen to let us know they’re doing well - dressed in their Sunday best and surrounded by luxurious objects, including some casually scattered (and very expensive) oranges. But it’s the possible presence of Jan van Eyck himself that really intrigues – has this most mischievous of artists painted himself into the room?
To see the high-resolution image of the painting made by Google Arts & Culture, visit www.bbc.co.uk/movingpictures. Scroll down and follow the link to explore The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck.
Interviewees: Hugo van der Velden, Emma Capron, Susan Foister, Nicholas Flory and Leah Kharibian.
Producer and presenter: Cathy FitzGerald
Executive producer: Sarah Cuddon
Mix engineer: Mike Woolley
Art history consultant: Leah Kharibian
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4
Image credit: NG186. Jan van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni(?) Arnolfini and his Wife, 1434. Oil on wood, 82.2 x 60 cm, The National Gallery. Photo © The National Gallery, London
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002tzq7)
How can you look after your feet?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, they turn their attention to our feet. They explore the biology and mechanics of our feet and what happens when that delicate balance goes wrong. They also look at footwear and the little changes that can go a long way in giving our feet the love and care they truly deserve.
Joining them is Anthony Redmond, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics at the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. A podiatrist by training, Professor Redmond researches the relationship between mechanics and biology in musculoskeletal conditions, with a focus on the foot and ankle.
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 Anthony Redmond
Producer: Faye Lyons-White
Executive Producer: Jo Rowntree
Editor:
Researcher: Samara Linton
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Visual Producer: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Ruth Rainey
At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 17:00 PM (m002tzq9)
UK economy forecast to be hit hardest by Iran war
The IMF predicts fewer interest rate cuts and higher energy prices caused by the war in Iran will damage UK growth. Former chair of NatWest and deputy governor of the Bank of England Sir Howard Davies joins us live. Also: the latest on peace talks in Washington between Iran and Lebanon. And the National Lottery announces its biggest shake up since its creation in 1994, including a billion pound draw.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002tzqc)
UK is forecast to be worst hit of the world's major economies by the Iran war
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the Middle East conflict will cause more damage to the UK economy than any other member of the G7. Also: The former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson warns increasing welfare spending threatens the UK's ability to defend itself. And British households and businesses could get free electricity if they use appliances when there is excess energy in the grid.
TUE 18:30 Nature Table (m002tzqf)
Series 5
2: Miraculous Marine Midges and Church-Eating Fungus
In this episode Sue checks out a fiendish Church-eating fungus, the mad lifecycle of Marine Midges and a potential orgasm fungus.
‘Sue Perkins’ Nature Table - possibly the funniest “natural science” series, ever.’ Pick of the Week, The Telegraph
Recorded at the Natural History Museum, this episode of Sue Perkins’ ARIA-winning ‘Show and Tell’ wildlife comedy features special guests: comedian Sara Pascoe, the Natural History Museum’s Queen of flies Dr. Erica McAlister and Fungarium Collections Manager at Kew Gardens, Lee Davies.
Nature Table has a simple clear goal: to positively celebrate our planet’s wonderfully wild (and funny) flora and fauna in a fun accessible way... whilst always having a giggle.
Hosted by: Sue Perkins
Guests: Sara Pascoe, Dr. Erica McAlister, Lee Davies and Elizabeth.
Written by: Jon Hunter and Jenny Laville.
Additional material by: Jade Gebbie.
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Sound Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls & Caroline Barlow
Producer: Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002tzqh)
Alice praises Azra for her Mental Health initiative, then tells Azra she’d like to see addiction services given more prominence. Alice asks Azra for advice on helping a “friend” whose father may be showing signs of dementia. Clearly suspecting it’s Brian they’re talking about, Azra plays along, suggesting booking her friend’s father an appointment with his GP, but also offering to dig out some leaflets for Alice to give her friend.
Bert phones the surgery, demanding an appointment. Lottie explains there are none available, but Bert insists he’ll turn up regardless, before shouting in pain and putting the phone down. Chelsea reluctantly agrees to take Bert in. After he’s been seen Bert complains about the scant advice he was given to alleviate his pain and mutters about his aborted compensation claim, claiming he wanted the money to help Chelsea fix up her horsebox. Chelsea’s touched by this, while Bert insists that’s what family is for.
Stella tells Ruth about Pip’s appointment at the Breast Screening clinic on Thursday and asks if she’ll go with them. Ruth seeks reassurance her presence will be welcome, then offers to drive them there. Stella admits how worried she is, but didn’t ask before to avoid bringing up bad memories for Ruth. Stella reckons she’s showing more signs of anxiety than Pip and worries she’s driving Pip mad. Ruth gives Stella some sage advice before they agree a time for her to pick them up on Thursday. Stella later confirms that Pip’s really pleased her mum will be there.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002tzqk)
Jack Savoretti sings live, plus Turner Prize winner Veronica Ryan
Jack Savoretti sings a song from his latest album We Will Always Be The Way We Were, which is leading the race to top the charts this week.
David Szalay's Booker Prize-wnnning novel Flesh is currently at the centre of a debate around inspiration and homage, as critics point to similarities between his novel and Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon. Literary critics Aled Maclean-Jones and Alex Clark discuss.
Turner Prize-winning artist Veronica Ryan on her new show at the Whitechapel Gallery which brings together work that spans the many decades of her career.
David Austin, Chief Executive of the British Board of Film Classification on creating a new AI tool to help with their work.
Presenter Samira Ahmed
Producer: Ekene Akalawu
TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002tzqm)
Are white working class girls falling behind?
White disadvantaged girls are being overlooked, school leaders are warning. Whilst white working-class boys remain one of the worst performing group in their GCSEs, white girls from low income homes aren’t much further behind them.
File on 4 Investigates has worked with the BBC Data team to compare 2025's GCSE results in England with those of 2019. The team found that white working class girls in England have seen some of the biggest declines in attainment since 2019 - with just 38 percent of these students passing their English and Maths exams. All girls are down by 1.6 percentage points at GCSE but low-income white British girls are down by 6.4 percentage points. Cutting the link between 'background and success' and halving the 'disadvantage gap' is something the Department for Education has pledged to tackle.
In this programme we examine what is behind the decline for this group of girls and meet school leaders who are working to reverse it.
Reporter: Hayley Mortimer
Producer: Ashley Kennedy
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002tzqp)
Gardening: Tips and Tricks
Whether you have an interest in planting and growing flowers, plants or vegetables, In Touch provides tips on how to make the best out of gardening with a visual impairment. We have gathered a panel of blind and partially sighted gardeners, that have a range of experience, level of vision and horticultural set ups, to provide their tips, tricks and work arounds.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
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 (m002tzqr)
Pakistan: hospitals putting children at risk of HIV
Outbreaks of HIV have become regular occurrences in Pakistan. And too frequently it is the children who suffer. In the city of Taunsa, for example, children have tested positive for HIV while their parents have not. So what’s been going on? In Crossing Continents Ghazal Abbasi investigates what and who is to blame. With the help of a staff insider and undercover recording in the city’s main hospital, the BBC finds shocking lapses in medical protocol. Medicine vials and syringes are often re-used for different children. Cross-contamination seems inevitable. But the local authorities deny the hospital is at the centre of the problem.
Reporter: Ghazal Abbasi
Producer: John Murphy
Studio Mix: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
BBC Eye editor: Dan Adamson
Crossing Continents editor: Penny Murphy
TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002tzqt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:00 on Monday]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002tzqw)
Government under fire over defence spending
One of the authors of the government’s Strategic Defence Review has hit out at what he calls "corrosive complacency" on the part of the government. Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general, said current levels of welfare spending were unsustainable and that security must be prioritised.
Also on the programme: The International Monetary Fund warns that the war in Iran will hurt the UK more than any G7 country. And we look at a landmark exhibition on the history of Black British music.
TUE 22:45 Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (m002tzqy)
Episode 2
The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature, a magically surreal story about history, identity and redemption. Read by Tara Lynne O’Neill (‘Derry Girls.’)
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago, nicknamed the Ark, are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
Rosemary, Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s following their mercurial father RJ; an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.
The four main islands on the Far Side of the Ark are: Tom’s Hard, a ‘popular’ suicide spot; Middle Flat, where the centre for traumatized comatose individuals – commonly known as Sleepers – is based; Church Flat, a kind of limbo populated by the mute ghostly presence of locals hovering between life and death; and Eglish Flat, an illegal dumping ground which appears to consume whatever is deposited there.
Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark as caretakers of the mysterious islands. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...
Author
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Reader: Tara Lynne O’Neill
Writer: Jan Carson
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m002tzr1)
Cold Cases
Case 2: Return to East Drive
Danny Robins' historical investigation into a poltergeist in 1960s Pontefract continues.
Mr Nobody has been getting the blame for everything from floating candlesticks, to teeth marks left in sandwiches, but things are about to take a darker turn. As events escalate, one member of the family finds themselves in genuine physical danger - but is it from something paranormal, or something much closer to home?
Resident experts Dr Ciaran O’Keefe and Evelyn Hollow are on hand to weigh the evidence, test theories, and guide listeners through the chilling conclusion to Britain’s most infamous poltergeist tale.
Presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Evelyn Hollow and Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe
Story sections by Joel Morris and Will Maclean
Research by Nancy Bottomley and John West
Filming and editing by Robb Leech
Editing and sound design by Charlie Brandon-King
Theme music by Katherine Priddy
Theme co-produced by Jennifer Ann Keller
Incidental music by Evelyn Sykes
Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
Produced by Simon Barnard and Victoria Lloyd
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002tzr3)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs protest over plans to rein in repeat demonstrations. And, after two supply outages, a South East Water boss admits that his firm failed customers.
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2026
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002tzr5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002tzpk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002tzr7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002tzr9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:00 News Summary (m002tzrc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002tzrf)
Sean Curran reports on the latest news from Westminster, and looks ahead to Prime Minister's Questions.
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002tzrh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002tzrk)
The House that Ruth Built
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
Baseball, to some Americans, is like a religion. And the stadiums where baseball is played can take on the significance of a cathedral to ardent fans.
In Minnesota, where I was born, there are many worshipful followers of the game – my grandmother was one of them – but I don’t think any of the ballfields where the Minnesota Twins have played over the years, is quite as revered as Yankee Stadium, in New York. That, by any measure, is hallowed ground. The Yankees are considered the most successful professional sports team in American history.
Yankee Stadium, originally constructed in 1923, was called “a place of legends in American Sport” by legendary newscaster Walter Cronkite. Fifty years ago today, it re-opened after two years of much-needed renovations. Fifty two and a half thousand fans attended that re-opening game, including baseball royals Joe DiMaggio and Mrs. Babe Ruth, widow of the baseball player who had such a distinguished career at Yankee Stadium, they called it “the house that Ruth built”. As well as countless baseball games, the stadium hosted concerts and Pope Paul the 6th celebrated mass in Yankee Stadium in 1965.
That 100-million-dollar face-lift of the stadium 50 years ago retained the much-loved façade of the original. The improvements were needed for the safety and comfort of the fans, but the original ‘look’ of the place remained.
As you’d expect, the Yankees won that famous re-opening game in their revered stadium. Their opponents? The Minnesota Twins, who at one point were 4 runs ahead – but couldn’t, on this occasion, beat the Yanks in their gleaming new ballpark.
Lord God, thank you for spaces where community thrives and human achievement is valued. May we continue to gather and enjoy shared experience, sacred and secular.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002tzrm)
Farmers in Northern Ireland have been holding tractor protests and blocking traffic. They’re asking for more financial help as they face rising fuel prices. The government in the Republic of Ireland has told farmers there, that 100 million euros are being made available to support them. The huge rises in fuel costs since the war in the Middle East, may be putting pressure on households across the UK, but farmers say their costs are being pushed so high, they could be facing a crisis for their businesses.
The Country, Land and Business Association, the CLA, has revealed it made two bogus applications for licensed waste carrying. Businesses can apply for these licences and then charge people to take away their rubbish. The CLA made the applications to prove the system is flawed, one application was made on behalf of a cow called Beau Vine and another for a fictitious character called Laurie Load, both were approved by the online system, with no checks.
National Parks are celebrating 75 years of existence and we're talking about them all week. Today, we’re heading to the Black Mountains in Bannau Bryceiniog or the Brecon Beacons as it's also known, where a peat land restoration project is making a big difference to the landscape.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
WED 06:00 Today (m002v035)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Life Changing (m002v037)
40 years to find my birth father
Growing up, Karine Burns always knew she was adopted, and that her mother had been sent over to the UK from Ireland.
Karine had a joyous childhood, loved dearly by her Scottish parents. But after the arrival of her first child, she started to think seriously about her birth mother - about how hard it must have been to give a baby up for adoption, so far from home.
Her mammoth 20-year search for her birth parents involved passionate appeals, detective work and rejection - until a breakthrough changed everything, just in the nick of time…
Karine tells her incredible story to Life Changing’s Dr Sian Williams.
Producer: Tom Alban.
WED 09:30 Everything Is Fake (m002stym)
Everything Is Fake and Nobody Cares
6. F For Fake
Jamie and his AI companion Jimmy Botlett become increasingly difficult to tell apart as they bring you the final chapter of this story - featuring Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, who now wishes he'd thought harder about the consequences. Plus we hear claims that an engineer is building something rather frightening at one of the big AI companies. But what's true, what's fake, and what does any of it say about what's happening to all of us, right now?
Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Series Producer: Tom Pooley
Sound Design: Rob Speight
Production Coordinator: Neena Abdullah
Original music: Coach Conrad
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002v039)
Wes Streeting MP, Novelist Elizabeth Arnott, Comedian Susie McCabe
A renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England has been published today. The first Women’s Health Strategy came out in July 2022 under the Conservative government, with this ‘refresh’ being put forward as a ‘chance to travel further and faster’. However with over half a million women still waiting for gynaecological care in England and many women saying they don't feel listened to, why has there been so little progress? Nuala McGovern discusses the renewed strategy with the Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Author Elizabeth Arnott talks to Nuala about her novel, The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives, which investigates the impact of violent crime, not only on its victims, but also on the people closest to the criminals. The story follows Beverley, Elsie and Margot, who all discovered they were married to serial killers too late to save the women they murdered. Set in 1960s California, in an era where the understanding of the “serial killer” phenomenon was in its infancy, these women find themselves in a unique position to dig into the psychology of their husbands and band together, using their knowledge of dangerous men, to track down other violent predators.
Scottish comedian Susie McCabe is a stalwart of the BBC comedy scene - from The News Quiz and Breaking the News, to Just a Minute and Have I Got News For You. It was in 2024, while touring, that she had a heart-attack – she was only in her mid-forties at the time. It made her not only take a long hard look at her life, but it also inspired her latest show, Best Behaviour. Susie joins Nuala to discuss making comedy gold out of life's trials and tribulations.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Andrea Kidd
WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002tzqm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002v03c)
April 13th to April 19th
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
13th April 1970 - An explosion on board Apollo 13 threatens the lives of three astronauts.
16th April 1616 - William Harvey begins publicising the pioneering medical theory that blood circulates around the body.
18th April 1930 - Listeners who tuned in to the BBC for the 8
45pm bulletin were told 'there is no news'.
WED 11:45 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v03f)
Morteza
Ramita Navai was a journalist in Tehran when she began writing City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, published in 2014.
It tells the real stories of people whose lives were affected by the regime - stories that were often censored. Names and some details have been changed to protect people.
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran is written and read by Ramita Navai.
It was abridged and produced by Lu Kemp.
Morteza is young Basiji (Islamic militia). A woman turns up at his door to ask for his help - a friend from his youth has murdered one of their old commanders, and needs Morteza's help.
Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award winning foreign affairs journalist, documentary maker and author who has reported from over 45 countries.
After starting her career as the Tehran correspondent for The Times, she joined Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs documentary series Unreported World. Her investigations included the war in South Sudan, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, gang assassins in El Salvador, and the war in Syria.
Her investigative documentaries on the war against ISIS, Shia militias in Iraq, sexual abuse among UN peacekeepers, corruption and rape in India and women’s rights in Afghanistan have won many awards. Her latest documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack for Channel 4 has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Her book City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran won the Debut Political Book and was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Prize for non-fiction. It has been translated into six languages.
She is the creator and host of THE LINE OF FIRE, a top 10 Apple podcast about the moment of facing death.
She is the recipient of the Women in Film and TV Award recognising outstanding achievement by a woman in news.
WED 12:00 News Summary (m002v03h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002v03k)
Potholes, Free Energy, Pokemon
Simon Lightwood, the Minister for Roads and Buses, discusses the government’s new plans to improve the state of the country’s roads. Analysis by the RAC shows that drivers encounter roughly six potholes per mile in England and Wales, and its getting worse. As a result, the government will withhold funding from councils if they don’t do enough to improve the quality of roads.
A new scheme has been launched by the National Energy System Operator that will reward households and businesses if they increase their electricity use when there is an oversupply of energy this summer. The scheme will incentivise households with cheap - and even free - energy at certain times of the day. They hope it will entice people to use energy intensive devices like washing machines, dishwashers and EV chargers at night or on sunny weekends when there is a glut of energy in the system.
The price of rare Pokemon cards has been growing steadily in recent years and surged in February as Pokemon reached its 30th birthday. Some cards are now so valuable that collectors are even having to think about security. Our reporter, Ethan Simpkin, meets collectors at a convention in Derby.
Kindles are a hugely popular device for reading on the go. However, its manufacturer Amazon has announced that from the 20th of May it is ending support for some of the oldest Kindles, despite many still working perfectly well. Models released in or before 2012, will be obsolete for new content, including buying, borrowing or downloading books. Many users are angry that these devices will be destined for the scrap heap sooner than needed.
WED 12:57 Weather (m002v03m)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m002v03p)
How migrants pretend to be gay to win asylum
Undercover investigation reveals advice to beat the asylum system by posing as gay in order to remain in the UK. Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell says his foundation has been 'overwhelmed' with false requests and outlines the vetting process it uses to check if migrants are LGBTQ. Plus, should patient feedback be used to decide how much money parts of the NHS get? And the Welsh National Opera's bosses on why Timothee Chalamet had a point when he criticised the art form.
WED 13:45 About the Girls (m002v03r)
3. Education
Teenage girls all over the country talk to Catherine Carr about their school lives.
She hears their take on their behaviour and the behaviour of their male classmates at school, the importance of aspiration and their understanding of increased opportunities for girls and women in 2025. They also talk about missing school because of anxiety, mental health or caring responsibilities.
Catherine visits a school which is tackling the absenteeism of white working class girls and trying to raise awareness of their increasingly poor academic performance.
Thanks to:
Ola Demkowicz, University of Manchester
North Birmingham Academy
Wimbledon High School GDST
Fionnuala Kennedy
The Girls' Day school Trust
The Times Educational Supplement
ACT Academy Trust
Tom Campbell
Bina Dharia
Dance United Yorkshire
Helen Linsell
Young Minds
South Dartmoor Community College
Sutton High School GDST
Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002tzqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m00162v0)
The Shell Seven
By Margaret Heffernan
If governments and our most powerful institutions can't save the planet, the people must. This is the view of a group of Extinction Rebellion supporters, who in April 2019 smashed the front doors of Shell's headquarters on the South Bank, painted the building with graffiti and hung a banner charging the oil company with ecocide. The protest went on for two days before seven activists were arrested and charged with criminal damage. Two years later, they faced a jury in Southwark Crown Court.
They admitted that they were guilty of a criminal offence but they did not plead guilty. They wanted to put their case before a jury, to explain why they felt that had to break the law in order to uphold the law.
Verbatim drama telling the story of the trial, built from dramatised court transcripts, actuality and interviews. Interviewees include Jane Augsburger, Simon Bramwell, Raj Chada, Senan Clifford, David Lambert, Leonora Nicholson and Sid Saunders.
CAST
Jane Augsburger...Pippa Hayward
Senan Clifford...Adrian Rawlins
Heath Garwood/Court Usher...Chris Jack
Judge Gregory Perrins...Neil McCaul
David Lambert...Michael Begley
Sid Saunders...Paul Chahidi
Diana Wilson...Rebecca Crankshaw
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002v03t)
Money Box Live: How to Handle Global Shocks
The conflict in Iran has very grave human costs for the Middle East. But it also has economic costs and they are being felt around the world and here in the UK.
Just this week the Resolution Foundation think tank said higher energy bills could mean typical British households are £480 worse off this year. From heat pumps to pensions and solar panels to savings - what changes have you made because of the changing world?
Felicity Hannah is joined by Ian Preston from the Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol, Ellen Fraser from the energy consultancy Baringa and Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: James Graham
Editor: Rob Cave
Senior News Editor: Sarah Wadeson
(First broadcast
3pm Wednesday 15th April 2026)
Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire
WED 15:30 Living and Light (m002ntr3)
The future looks bright... thanks to rising artificial light pollution.
Our towns and cities are more illuminated than they have ever been. And this light might be spilling over into our lives and impacting our health. Recent headlines have linked exposure to artificial light at night with Alzheimer’s disease, capturing the attention of broadcaster and neuroscientist, Julia Ravey. While this research field is in its infancy, Julia wondered just how much has been uncovered about the human health implications of this inconspicuous pollutant.
Over millennia, the application of light – from flame to gas lamps to LEDs – has been essential for facilitating leaps forward in our advancement. Nick Dunn, Professor of Urban Design at the University of Lancaster, explores how this intertwined history between humans and artificial light, and how our deep-seated feelings about the dark, may have contributed towards our over-illuminated cities. Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, explains how this artificial light at night has allowed us to defy our biological rhythms - and the health consequences this has ensued. But a question remains - could simply living in our ever brightening urban environments erode our health? Early studies are beginning to give us clues.
While research progresses, night-time light levels continue to increase. But some are hoping to buck the trend. In Sedbergh, Julia meets Janey and Jack, who show her some newly fitted “dark skies friendly” streetlamps, saving both on bills and sky glow. And at York St John University, she joins a team of academics, estate managers and experts on a campus tour, exploring a project augmenting the university lights - which they hope may act as a template for York to become UK’s first “dark skies friendly” city. But changing the light scapes of our cities must be balanced with citizens perception of safety. Anna Barker, Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Leeds, discusses her research on making urban parks safer spaces for women and girls, and the role lighting has been found to play in making these areas more accessible.
Presenter and producer: Julia Ravey
Editor: Martin Smith
Assistant producer: Sam Nixon
Production coordinator: Elliott Prince
Studio manager: Jackie Margerum
A BBC Audio West and Wales production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:00 The Bottom Line (p0l4h9d2)
The Decisions That Made Me
Sophie O’Brien (Pollen Careers, CEO)
After 14 years of having a successful career in media, Sophie found herself unemployed. She thought with her skills and experience finding a new role would be easy, but it was the opposite. After struggling with applications and repeated denials, Sophie decided she wanted to change the process of applying for a job. The employment specialist talks to Evan Davis about how she’s trying to change the way recruitment works with her business Pollen Careers.
Production team:
Producers: Nick Holland, Georgiana Tudor
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: John Scott
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
(Photo Credit: Sophie O’Brien)
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002v03w)
BBC job cuts, Journalist detained in Kuwait, HBO Max enters UK streamer market, Reporting the Artemis II launch
The BBC’s interim Director General Rhodri Talfan Davies talks to Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins following the announcement of major job cuts across the corporation.
Jodie Ginsberg from the Committee to Protect Journalists on the detention of Ahmed Shihab Eldin in Kuwait.
BBC Science Editor Rebecca Morelle reflects on covering the Artemis II launch, after her emotional reaction went viral
And as HBO Max launches in the UK with record sign‑ups, we assess its strategy and what the arrival of another major streamer means for British audiences.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
WED 17:00 PM (m002v03y)
Full coverage of the day's news
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002v040)
BBC uncovers advisors helping migrants pretend to be gay to stay in the UK
A BBC investigation has uncovered some advisors charging tens of thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK. Also: President Trump says the US trade deal with the UK can always be changed, as the Chancellor describes the war against Iran as a 'mistake'. And the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has said he wants gynaecology waiting lists in England to fall faster than overall waiting times.
WED 18:30 Maria Shehata is Wisdomless (m002v042)
When Maria Shehata decides to follow her heart and travel 6000 miles from LA to London she hopes to, at long last, fulfil the hopes of her Coptic Egyptian parents. Will she finally find true love, self-worth and a career ?
Written and Performed by Maria Shehata
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
Production Coordinator: Ellie Dobing
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Yada Yada Audio production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m002v044)
Lilian tells Alice she’s spoken to Brian about breaking up with Miranda, but he wants more time to process his feelings. Alice says she’s spoken to Azra about dementia, without mentioning Brian. Lilian thinks Kate’s concerns are exaggerated, but Alice is still worried. Lilian suggests they should see how things go for now.
Talking to Bert, Chelsea mentions bumping into her dad at New Year and having a nice chat. Bert warns her against trusting Den, before inviting Chelsea for a drink at The Bull. While there Chelsea irritates Bert by texting Den. Bert concedes it’s her decision if she wants to stay in touch with Den. Lilian wonders why Bert’s wearing a neck brace, but Chelsea warns him off claiming it’s to do with the church roof collapsing. Then Den texts Chelsea back, telling her he’s got some news.
Chris is surprised when Rex and Alice turn up together on Fallon’s doorstep, as he’s leaving. Chris admits he’s going on a date. Rex tries covering any awkwardness by asking about the cricket logo competition and the Borchester Show, before Alice blunders in with a crass remark. After Chris goes the awkwardness continues as it becomes clear Fallon wasn’t expecting Rex. She insists there’s enough food for three, while Alice wonders why Rex was being weird with Chris. After a nice meal they plan an evening out with Fallon and Harrison, before Chris reappears as Alice and Rex are leaving. Chris won’t give any details about his date, before admitting to Fallon he thinks they’ll meet up again.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002v046)
Dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly's wife and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly on Starstruck
Scottish Ballet's Starstruck honours Gene Kelly's creative legacy and his passion for creating "dance for the common man". His wife Patricia Ward Kelly tells us about this fusion of ballet, jazz, tap and tango danced to the music of Chopin, Ravel and Gerswhin.
As the winner of the inaugural Sherborne Prize for Travel Writing is announced as Adam Weymouth for his book Lone Wolf, about a journey from Slovenia to Italy across the Alps, Adam joins us along with veteran writer Colin Thubron to discuss the art of travel writing.
And as he receives an Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize and as his work goes on show at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London, photographer Joel Meyerowitz talks to us about his career - documenting everything from London in the swinging sixties to New York in the aftermath of 9/11.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan
WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002tqlc)
The Guides and single sex organisations
The organising body of the Girl Guides says that trans girls - biological males - will have to leave by the 6th September to conform with a ruling by the Supreme Court last year. Whatever the perceived rights and wrongs of this decision, it's another chapter in the debate about whether we need single sex groups at all, from the Brownies to the gentleman's club.
We look into the history of the Girl Guides and the Scouts; hear what the law says about single sex organisations and ask whether girls really do better when boys aren't around?
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Production team: Lucy Proctor, Simon Tullet and Tom Gillett
Studio manager: Andrew Mills
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon
WED 20:45 Human Intelligence (m0026w7q)
Series 1
Teachers: Diogenes
Naomi Alderman investigates the eccentric brilliance of Diogenes. He was a ‘cynic’ philosopher, which originally meant ‘dog-like’, and wanted to teach us that humans could learn from dogs and the simple authentic manner in which they went about their lives. Diogenes was sharp, hilarious, downright rude and a menace in the market place.
Special thanks to Dr Robert Cromarty, Classics Master at Wellington College.
Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.
Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive editor: James Cook
Assistant producer: Sarah Goodman
Researcher: Harry Burton
Production coordinator: Amelia Paul
Script consultant: Sara Joyner
WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m002tzpf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Through Persian Eyes (b01k9qc7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002v049)
US war on Iran a "mistake", says Reeves
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that the US made a "mistake" by ending diplomatic negotiations with Iran and entering into military conflict. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings of finance ministers and bankers, Ms Reeves said the best way to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons was through diplomacy. The BBC has also spoken to the Governor of the Bank of England about how severe the impact on the British economy will be from continued disruption to energy supply.
Also on the programme, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet reports from inside Iran, amid reports of a possible second round in US-Iran negotiations.
And the rise of "angry young women" - has the 'manosphere' found its feminist equivalent?
WED 22:45 Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (m002v04c)
Episode 3
The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature, a magically surreal story about history, identity and redemption. Read by Tara Lynne O’Neill (‘Derry Girls.’)
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago, nicknamed the Ark, are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
Rosemary, Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s following their mercurial father RJ; an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.
The four main islands on the Far Side of the Ark are: Tom’s Hard, a ‘popular’ suicide spot; Middle Flat, where the centre for traumatized comatose individuals – commonly known as Sleepers – is based; Church Flat, a kind of limbo populated by the mute ghostly presence of locals hovering between life and death; and Eglish Flat, an illegal dumping ground which appears to consume whatever is deposited there.
Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark as caretakers of the mysterious islands. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...
Author
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Reader: Tara Lynne O’Neill
Writer: Jan Carson
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Brian & Roger (m002v04f)
3. Zeus
A new series of the hit podcast specially recorded for Radio 4.
Roger’s new friend is the brother of a well-known actor, which is great timing for Brian. Can Mark Bonnar provide both financial investment and celebrity endorsement for his new venture?
Brian & Roger are friends that met at a support group for divorced men.
Both are starting again, both are finding it hard.
One of them is nice.
Written and performed by Harry Peacock and Dan Skinner.
Produced by Joel Morris and Sally Harrison.
End credits performed by Mark Bonnar.
Music by Bach, arranged by Hywel Davies.
Hywel Davies (piano), Luke Belcher (bass), Tilly Tremayne (vocals).
Executive Producer: Johnny Vegas
A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Misguided Meditations (m001bc23)
3. The Rainbow Lagoon
The self-care and mindfulness trend is booming. With the popularity of apps like Calm, Headspace, and Breethe, the well-being meditation genre is ripe for satire. Misguided Meditations is a loving spoof of the popular guided meditation sleep stories.
So breathe in…then breathe out…and enjoy each episode, led by our narrator Mina Anwar, that will take you on a delightfully surreal late-night adventure that descends into a total nightmare cringe-fest. A trip to the enchanted forest might result in someone naked in front of their entire class having forgotten their homework. A midnight dip in the mermaid lagoon might be ruined by an encounter with the cursed starfish of procrastination. Oh, and we couldn't miss Fluffy Bunny Island – whose inhabitants ask hard-hitting questions about your life choices.
Written by Joanne Lau.
Starring Mina Anwar.
Produced by Gus Beattie.
A Gusman production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002v04h)
Sean Curran reports as Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch clash over defence at Prime Minister's Questions.
THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2026
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002v04k)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v03f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002v04m)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002v04r)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:00 News Summary (m002v04w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002v050)
Susan Hulme with the best from Parliament.
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002v054)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002v058)
Always a Reader
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
I’m a reader and always have been. So I was delighted recently to discover recently that a much-loved obsession of my teenage and early adult years in America, the Book of the Month Club, is still going strong.
In fact – on this day, 100 years ago, the newly formed Book of the Month Club sent out its first book selection to subscribers. The chosen book was by the English author, Silvia Townsend Warner. Her book, "Lolly Willowes or the Loving Huntsman", is a satirical social novel about a young woman who becomes a witch. How delightful! It touches on gender roles, family love, social convention and religion. It’s been called an early feminist classic and was, I think, an impressive choice for an emerging book subscription service – especially since the first directors of the company were all men.
The Club has always focussed on up-and-coming authors, giving a boost to new writers, many of whom have gone on to become household names. For the club’s tenth anniversary in 1936, a book by unknown author Margaret Mitchell was the main choice. It was called Gone With the Wind. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was a choice the following year, and Book of the Month’s 25th anniversary year choice, JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye became one of the most taught and most censored books in American history.
Despite declining rates of reading, Book of the Month, is gaining in popularity in America, with over 400,000 active subscribers. So there’s hope for readers – and writers yet.
Lord God, thank you for books and learning. Help us to continue to value the written word, even as we are bombarded every day by sounds and screens. Help us to find quiet places in our lives to explore the joy of reading.
Amen
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002v05d)
16/04/26 Lough Neagh dredging, concerns about government labs in Northern Ireland, National Park dark skies, rural church crime
New research suggests that dredging is affecting water quality in Lough Neagh. Scientists from Queen's University Belfast believe that commercial dredging for sand which is widespread across the Lough has a deeper more harmful impact on ecosystems than originally thought.
Serious concerns have been raised about weaknesses at Northern Ireland's Agri-food and Bio-sciences Institute. A report from the Health and Safety Executive highlighted issues with bio containment and the condition of the facilities. AFBI is an arm's length government body which carries out scientific research and also testing for diseases like bluetongue. The HSE report said that at the time of the inspection that testing was unsafe, with measures required to protect the environment. The Institute says action has been taken to 'to drive improvements and address all issues raised.'
All this week we’ve been hearing from our National Parks, and today is the turn of Northumberland, covering much of Hadrian’s Wall and the vast Cheviot Hills, it sells itself as home to England’s cleanest rivers and darkest skies. It’s also the least visited and one of the most remote of the National Parks in England and Wales.
Rural churches are a hotspot for theft and vandalism according to a new report from the Countryside Alliance. It got data from 37 police forces across the UK which shows that last year nearly 4,000 crimes at churches were recorded, in urban and rural areas, however it says churches in villages and countryside areas are particularly vulnerable.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
THU 06:00 Today (m002v199)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002v19c)
M.C. Escher
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972), the graphic artist and printmaker best known for his impossible buildings, paradoxical perspectives, and repeating geometric patterns. Born in Leeuwarden and trained as a printmaker, Escher visited the Alhambra in Granada and found inspiration in the tessellating shapes of Islamic art. Through his career he went on to create some of the most famous images of the twentieth century and has been called a one-man art movement. After his work was exhibited in a 1954 conference, Escher’s work also caught the eye of mathematicians who appreciated his intuitive geometric precision. Escher was influenced by their work, and they were influenced by his – despite Escher never thinking he was actually very good at maths himself.
With
Marcus du Sautoy
Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of New College, University of Oxford
Sarah Hart
Professor Emerita of Mathematics and Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London, and Fellow of Gresham College
And
Judith Kadee
Exhibitions project manager and public programme curator at Hague Historical Museum
Producer: Martha Owen
Reading list:
Marcus du Sautoy, Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity (Fourth Estate, 2025)
Marcus du Sautoy, Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician’s Journey Into Symmetry (Harper Perennial, 2009)
Bruno Ernst, The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher (Taschen, 2007)
M.C. Escher, M.C. Escher: The Graphic Work (Taschen America Llc, 1992)
Miranda Fellows, The Life and Works of Escher (Siena,1996)
Frederico Giudiceandrea, Escher op reis or Escher’s Journey (Publisher Wbooks, 2018, in Dutch)
Sarah Hart, Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature (Flatiron Books, 2023)
Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (first published 1979; Basic Books, 1999)
Siobhan Roberts, King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, The Man Who Saved Geometry (Profile Books, 2007)
Claudio Salsi, Paolo Branca and Claudio Bartocci (eds.), M.C. Escher. Tra arte e scienza. Catalogo della mostra (24 Ore Cultura, 2025, in Italian)
Doris Schattschneider, “The Mathematical Side of M.C. Escher” (Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 57, 6, 2010)
Doris Schattschneider, M.C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry (Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2004)
Wouter van Reek, Nadir & Zenith in the World of Escher (Leopold, 2019)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios production
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002v19f)
Only the Fake News Would Come Up with This (with Amol Rajan)
Politicians have their own podcasts, the Government has launched a YouTube channel. It seems our political class want to bypass traditional media to get their message out. Why is that? How does it affect political language?
As he prepares to take his own steps into a new media landscape, Amol Rajan joins Armando to discuss this and more. We also hear about misleading news headlines, Trump's 'doctored' image, and find out if elves are really poisoning our water?
Got a strong message for Armando? Email us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk
Sound editing: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Recorded at the Sound Company
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002v19h)
Jessie Ware, School readiness, Katriona O'Sullivan, Autism support
Today is primary school offer day in England and Wales, when parents will be finding out where their children might be starting school in September. A new government-backed campaign has been launched to help parents and carers as figures show that over a third of children are currently starting reception without the basic skills they need for the classroom. Datshiane Navanayagam is joined by BBC Education reporter Kate McGough and Felicity Gillespie from children’s charity Kindred Squared, to talk about what parents and carers need to know.
The singer-songwriter Jessie Ware's new album, Superbloom, was released this week. As well as being known for her music, Jessie's family’s passion for food led to the weekly podcast Table Manners, that she co-hosts with her mother Lennie, featuring celebrity guests like Ed Sheeran and Kylie. Jessie joins Datshiane to talk about her new album inspired by disco and funk and how she became more confident in her 40s.
Autism Central is an online support service for the parents and carers of autistic people. Set up by NHS England in 2021, it has now been expanded to offer help for everyone in the support network of autistic people, including grandparents, partners, friends, and adult siblings. It’s paid for by NHS England and run by the mental health charity Anna Freud. With growing numbers being diagnosed with autism - and waiting for a diagnosis - what can this type of online help offer? Datshiane is joined by Victoria Jackson who has been using the service, and Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Director of Autism Central at Anna Freud.
Katriona O’Sullivan’s childhood was marked by extreme poverty, neglect, addiction and abuse. She became pregnant at 15 and experienced homelessness, but went on to become an award‑winning academic and bestselling author, with her memoir Poor adapted for the stage. Katriona's new book, Hungry, explores her lifelong struggles with her body and the unrelenting drive to feel, “enough”. Katriona talks to Datshiane about how trauma, class and gender shape how women see themselves.
Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002v19k)
David Szalay
Booker Prize-winning author David Szalay talks to John Wilson about his creative influences. His 2009 debut novel London and The South East, based on his experience of working in telesales, won the Betty Trask Award. The author of six books, his work often defies easy classification: his 2016 novel All That Man Is comprises nine standalone short stories which share the overarching theme of masculinity. His 2018 novel Turbulence follows 12 loosely-linked characters on a dozen flights around the
world. In 2025 he won the Booker with Flesh, a rags to riches story told across several decades.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
Archive used:
Extract from T S Eliot, Preludes 1, read by Jeremy Irons, BBC Radio 4, 25 December 2021
Extract from T S Eliot, The Waste Land, read by Jeremy Irons, BBC Radio 4, 2 January 2022
Clip from trailer of Downhill Racer, Michael Ritchie, 1969
Clip from trailer of Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, 1976
Extract from David Szalay, Flesh, read by David Szalay
Clip from Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick, 1975
Clip from 2025 Booker Prize ceremony
THU 11:45 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v19m)
Leyla
Ramita Navai was a journalist in Tehran when she began writing City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, published in 2014.
It tells the real stories of people whose lives were affected by the regime - stories that were often censored. Names and some details have been changed to protect people.
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran is written and read by Ramita Navai.
It was abridged and produced by Lu Kemp.
Leyla is a sex-worker in Tehran. She fears judgement day, and seeks ways to save her immortal soul.
Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award winning foreign affairs journalist, documentary maker and author who has reported from over 45 countries.
After starting her career as the Tehran correspondent for The Times, she joined Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs documentary series Unreported World. Her investigations included the war in South Sudan, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, gang assassins in El Salvador, and the war in Syria.
Her investigative documentaries on the war against ISIS, Shia militias in Iraq, sexual abuse among UN peacekeepers, corruption and rape in India and women’s rights in Afghanistan have won many awards. Her latest documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack for Channel 4 has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Her book City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran won the Debut Political Book and was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Prize for non-fiction. It has been translated into six languages.
She is the creator and host of THE LINE OF FIRE, a top 10 Apple podcast about the moment of facing death.
She is the recipient of the Women in Film and TV Award recognising outstanding achievement by a woman in news.
THU 12:00 News Summary (m002v19p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002v19r)
Behind the Fake Profiles
Whether we're chatting, texting, buying or dating, the tech services we all use are being abused by criminals to worm their way into our lives. So what are these huge businesses doing to keep us safe?
In this episode of Scam Secrets recorded at the United Nations Global Fraud Summit in Vienna, some of the biggest names in consumer tech chat to Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood about the threats they're facing.
Red flags at the ready, we ask Amazon what the world's biggest online marketplace is doing to protect users. Match Group, owner of Tinder, Hinge and a host of other well-known dating sites tells us it's trying to weed out fake profiles. And Virgin Media/O2 lifts the lid on how those Winter Fuel Allowance texts arrive on your phone.
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002v19t)
Infrared Saunas
Are infrared saunas as effective as traditional ones?
If you've ever sat sweating on a wooden bench in a traditional ('Finnish') sauna wondering if there was an easier way, could infrared be the answer? Infrared saunas work at lower temperatures, ostensibly making it easier to stay in there for longer. Listener Paul got in touch after trying one and wants to know if infrared saunas give you the same purported benefits as traditional ones.
Those claims include: improved cardiovascular health, weight loss, longevity and even benefits to mental health and depression. But what's the evidence and does it amount to a load of hot air?
To get the answers, Greg Foot is joined by Professor Chris Minson, an expert in the effects of heat on the body who's carried out research on infrared saunas.
All of our episodes start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.
RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND GREG FOOT
THU 12:57 Weather (m002v19w)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m002v19y)
The government prepares for a prolonged war
The UK could face some food shortages by the summer if the Iran war continues in a worst case scenario drawn up by government officials. The chair of the National Preparedness Committee Lord Harris tells us how people can prepare. Also, Israel says historic talks with Lebanon are set to take place. A former Lebanese minister, Firass Abyad, joins us. And, Evan Davis talks about fears of a private credit crash in this weeks 'Figuring it Out'.
THU 13:45 About the Girls (m002v1b0)
4. Sex and Consent
Girls from all over the country talk to Catherine Carr about sex, relationships and consent.
In the months following the Epstein files revelations and a new violence against women and girls strategy in the country, girls talk about sex, porn, relationships, social media, dick picks, intimacy and a faux nostalgia for a pre-digital world where rom-com style meet cutes – rather than Snapchat – existed.
Catherine also hears some of the work being done in schools and colleges designed to help boys and girls communicate more openly about sex and consent.
Thanks to:
Hills Road Sixth Form College Cambridge
Split Banana
Anna Alexander
UK Feminista
South Dartmoor Community College
Brook Advisory
Sam Hepworth
Carshalton High School for Girls
Emilie Silverwood-Cope
Young Minds
Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002v044)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002v1b2)
King's Pawn
Smells of Bale
Comedy drama series created by Alan Harris and Katherine Chandler. Meet the King clan: Laura and her grandchildren Sonny and Little Laura. They run Cardiff's oldest pawnbrokers. Now gramps is gone and Laura might retire. So who'll take over the shop?
EPSIODE 1 - SMELLS OF BALE by Alan Harris
CAST
Laura - Lisa Palfrey
Jim - Julian Lewis Jones
Little Laura - Lauren Morais
Sonny - Curtis Kemlo
Malik - Kyle Lima
Bryony - Nia Gandhi
Emily - Mabli Gwynne
Harvey - Harvey Marshall
The Punter - Sam Swann
Production Coordinators: Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound Design: Catherine Robinson
Producer: John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales Production
THU 15:00 Open Country (m002v1b5)
Deer Stalking in Essex
Britain’s deer population has surged to around two million. These iconic animals are well-loved, but their growing numbers are putting real pressure on the countryside - stripping young hedges and woodlands, damaging crops, preventing natural restoration and harming other native wildlife. To control the population, hundreds of thousands of deer are shot each year. Critics argue hunting in the name of conservation is inhumane, and a short-term fix. Others baulk at eating ‘Bambi’. Supporters argue that it’s the most sustainable, environmentally-friendly meat you can get. Mary-Ann Ochota heads into the field with a professional stalker to see what deer management really involves, from woodland to wild meat.
Produced and presented by Mary-Ann Ochota
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002tzlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Feedback (m002v1b7)
Radical with Amol Rajan. Faith, Hope and Glory. Interview of the Year
Listeners have been telling us their thoughts about a recent episode of Radical with Amol Rajan, in which he interviewed Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan, a physician specialising in neurology and clinical neurophysiology. It was an in-depth discussion about the potential dangers of "over-diagnosis" - but some listeners felt that Dr O'Sullivan's views could have been challenged more. We get some answers to your questions.
A long-running and award-winning Radio 4 drama series has just come to an end. Faith, Hope and Glory has run for 43 episodes since 2021, and has recently wrapped up telling its ambitious, generation-spanning story about the emergence of modern multicultural Britain. Listeners have been in touch with their thoughts about the series, and so Andrea Catherwood sits down with one of the writers, Roy Williams, and director Jessica Dromgoole, to talk about how they weaved the story together.
And lastly, there's another nomination for our Interview of the Year award. Listener Maggie nominates the recent interview with legendary photographer Don McCullin on Radio 4's This Cultural Life, who shared his cultural touchstones while reflecting on his challenging experiences in his early life and as a working war photographer. Listen to find out why she thinks it deserves the top spot.
Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002v1b9)
Is the triple lock pension guarantee sustainable?
This month retired people saw their state pensions rise by 4.8 per cent. That’s comfortably above the current inflation rate and means that some pensioners have increases this year of as much as £575. That’s because of the Triple Lock guarantee which is a formula set 15 years ago and which some economists say is costing the government too much and should be scrapped. But it’s meant that the state pension has risen over recent years, pensioner poverty is far less of a problem and not surprisingly it’s popular with voters. David Aaronovitch asks what exactly is the triple lock, can we still afford it and is there an alternative?
Guests
Carl Emmerson, Partner at London Economics
Sophie Hale, Research Director, Resolution Foundation
Steve Webb, Partner at LCP and former Pensions Minister in Coalition Government
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight, Sally Abrahams
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar and Dave O'Neill
Editor: Richard Vadon
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977g)
Forty years on from nuclear disaster
For 40 years scientists have been fascinated by the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Professor Jim Smith from the University of Portsmouth is one of those scientists, a frequent visitor over the past 20 years. He joins Inside Science to explain whether the region still suffers after the nuclear fallout and how how it has shaped European energy production.
It is a month for anniversaries, and with David Attenborough turning 100, each week we take a look at a species which has found itself named after the behavioural ecologist.
And finally, the latest science news in the world of astronomy brought to you by astronomer Dr Jeni Millard.
THU 17:00 PM (m002v1bd)
Party leaders call for the Prime Minister to resign
A Guardian report suggests that Lord Mandelson failed his security vetting but was still appointed US Ambassador. We'll bring you the latest as the leaders of the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats say the Prime Minister should resign if he is found to have lied to the House of Commons. Also on the programme - PM is in Aberdeen three weeks ahead of the Scottish elections. We'll hear from voters and discuss drilling and decarbonisation with key stakeholders in the city.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002v1bj)
President Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire
President Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ten day ceasefire following "excellent conversations" with both the Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, and Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Also: Peter Mandelson, the former Labour peer, failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US. And the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves says there has been a “very positive” start to the year for the economy.
THU 18:30 The Matt Forde Focus Group (m002v1bn)
Series 2
6. The Politics of the Ban
Every Government promises to protect people. The question is always: from what, and at whose expense? Banning something is the bluntest instrument in politics - and the most revealing. It says: this thing is so dangerous, so wrong, or so offensive that the state must make it disappear.
Top political comedian Matt Forde convenes his Focus Group in front of a live theatre audience with a forensically matched panel — Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Clive Lewis MP, and comedian Geoff Norcott — to ask what the political ban actually is: a tool of principle, a gesture of power, or a way of avoiding the harder question.
Written and presented by Matt Forde
With additional Material from Karl Minns, Ruth Husko and Richard Garvin
Produced by Richard Garvin
Co-Producer Daisy Knight
Sound Design and Edit: David Thomas
Executive Producers: Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002v05n)
Ruth takes Pip and Stella to the Breast Screening Clinic, where Stella frets at having to wait beyond their appointment time. Ruth remembers how stressed she used to get while waiting, before a woman explained the concept of hospital time to her. You just have to settle in and chill. Stella goes to fetch her phone from the car and will pick up coffee and hot chocolate on the way back. Pip confesses Stella’s fretting is driving her up the wall. Pip wants to be as brave as Ruth was, but Ruth reckons it wasn’t bravery – she had no choice in the matter. She wants Pip to stop worrying about “what ifs” and wait until they know for sure. When Pip returns from her mammogram Ruth talks about Jill and Carol, but Pip knows she’s trying to distract her.
In the hospital car park Tracy tells Stella she’s just had her first mammogram since passing fifty, before they head to the coffee shop together. Stella then cracks, telling Tracy about Pip finding a lump and how scared she is. Tracy’s sympathetic, as Stella worries about irritating Pip.
By the time Stella gets back the drinks have gone cold. The consultant, Dr Shah, tells Pip her lump is a cyst - there’s nothing to worry about. Dr Shah checks whether Ruth had genetic testing for her cancer, suggesting she might want to consider it. Ruth agrees to think about it. Back home Ruth, Pip and Stella celebrate the good news with cake, raising a toast to being there for each other.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m002v1bs)
Reviewing Lena Dunham's memoir, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Big Mistakes
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by reviewers Dreda Say Mitchell and Viv Groskop to consider Lena Dunham's controversial memoir - Famesick. A new adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - directed by Clint Dyer at London's Old Vic Theatre. And Dan "Schitts Creek" Levy has a new dark comedy series on Netflix; "Big Mistakes"
THU 20:00 The Bottom Line (p0l4h9d2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002v03w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002tzfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002v19f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002v1by)
Lord Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision
The prime minister did not know Lord Mandelson failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador until earlier this week, the government has said. We hear from the BBC's political editor and a Labour backbencher.
As a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel comes into effect, we speak to our correspondent on the border between the two countries.
Also on the programme: A rare interview with a representative of the Russian government. And as the Pope criticises "tyrants" who spend billions on war, we look at the modern history of pacifism.
THU 22:45 Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (m002v1c2)
Episode 4
The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature, a magically surreal story about history, identity and redemption. Read by Tara Lynne O’Neill (‘Derry Girls.’)
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago, nicknamed the Ark, are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
Rosemary, Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s following their mercurial father RJ; an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.
The four main islands on the Far Side of the Ark are: Tom’s Hard, a ‘popular’ suicide spot; Middle Flat, where the centre for traumatized comatose individuals – commonly known as Sleepers – is based; Church Flat, a kind of limbo populated by the mute ghostly presence of locals hovering between life and death; and Eglish Flat, an illegal dumping ground which appears to consume whatever is deposited there.
Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark as caretakers of the mysterious islands. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...
Author
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Reader: Tara Lynne O’Neill
Writer: Jan Carson
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002v1c6)
Reclaiming the Centre: Is the Old Political Order Dead? (Adrian Wooldridge)
This week, the columnist and author Adrian Wooldridge joins Amol to argue that liberalism is not only the best ideology for the future, but that it’s also under serious threat. Wooldridge sees populist movements on the right and identity-focused politics on the left as potentially fatal to liberal principles. The once dominant post-war philosophy has had a bad rap recently, so why should we bring it back? Has liberalism itself grown complacent? Is it now an out-of-touch establishment, failing to address modern challenges like social cohesion and corporate power? To survive, Wooldridge says, we must take radical steps to renew liberalism for the modern age and embrace the political centre again.
GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday.
Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray and Oscar Pearson. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davies. Technical production was by Jonny Baker. The editor is Sam Bonham.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002v1cb)
Susan Hulme reports as ministers announce help with bills for more energy-intensive firms.
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2026
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002v1cf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v19m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002v1ch)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002v1ck)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002v1cm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002v1cq)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002v1ct)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002v1cw)
Stepping out of your Expertise
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.
Good morning.
Music is my particular passion, but I also admire musicians who can step out of their own area of expertise and embrace other forms of expression.
One such person was the English composer and author Ronald Senator, who was born on this day 100 years ago. Though from a Jewish family, as a young man he explored other religions, and for a time experimented with living a monastic life, after studying music at Oxford.
In 1950, after several bouts of mental illness, he was subjected to a lobotomy – a risky brain operation more common in those days than now which left some patients unable to function. Ronald managed to recover, with difficulty, and continued his career. He became a senior lecturer at London University and later professor of composition at the Guildhall School of Music.
His first wife Dita had survived Auschwitz. Their shared experiences created a strong bond between them. After her death from cancer, Ronald wrote a book, Requiem Letters, an imaginary and haunting exchange between himself and Dita, comparing their lives. He also composed his best-known work, Holocaust Requiem, a choral piece based on the writings of young people who survived the Terezin concentration camp. The work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Ronald Senator was also a leading innovator in music education, devising a teaching method that connects colour with musical notes. Senator was a polymath, a kind of Renaissance man who used his talents to create thoughtful work reflecting both a world view shaped by suffering, and profound faith in the future.
Lord above, help us to find true value in every aspect of our lives: passion and pain, sound and silence. Let us not be afraid to use these to express ourselves fully and creatively.
Amen
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002v1cy)
17/04/26 Uplands review, The Peak District National Park.
The English Uplands are special and defined as areas of elevated land with rugged terrain from moorlands to mountains and typically above 300 metres. A new report "Towards a Flourishing Uplands: Phase 1" has called for more local decision making with a shift away top down directives. Dr Hilary Cottam lead the independent review for Defra. She's published 19 insights which she says, will help meet challenges faced by those who farm the land, as well as the demands of nature, the rural economy and communities. Dr Cottam spent time walking and talking in the uplands, from Devon to North Yorkshire, to find out what people really think of the current state of affairs, what they want for the future and how those visions differ.
All this week here on Farming Today we've been looking at National Parks. The Peak District National Park was the first one and is 75. Local people have been a huge part of the Park since it was established thanks to a mass trespass on Kinder Scout, and local volunteers are vital to it today, helping restore paths, plant trees and maintain access for everyone to enjoy its beauty.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
FRI 06:00 Today (m002v04q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m002tzlq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002v04v)
Game BAFTAs, Baroness Kishwar Falkner, Football Fans
The 22nd BAFTA Games Awards will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre in London tonight. Datshiane Navanayagam is joined by this year’s host, YouTube gaming influencer Elz The Witch. Who are the female runners and riders for this year's awards, and what impact are these women having on the games industry?
Datshiane is joined by Baroness Kishwer Falkner former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. A year ago, the Supreme Court made its landmark judgment on single-sex spaces. In a long-running case against the Scottish government brought by gender-critical campaigners For Women Scotland (FWS), the court clarified that, for the purposes of the Equality Act, the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex. She'll be responding to the government announcement this week that the new guidance on single-sex spaces will be published next month after elections on the 7 May.
Away From Home: The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans is an exhibition currently on at the Beacon of Light in Sunderland. Portraying the experiences of women on the terraces of the north-east since the 1950s, it looks at the more recent feminisation of sports fandom over the last 30 years and how it's led to more opportunity for women to actually become football fans. But has this led to gender equality? Co-curator Stacey Pope is Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University and joins Datshiane to tell us more.
Children as young as 13 could be recommended sexually explicit content on social media platform X, according to a new report which exposes potential breaches of the Online Safety Act. The Centre of Countering Digital Hate has warned that X’s algorithm and “weak safeguards” mean porn is being recommended to teenagers, and they're also being exposed to possible direct sexual contact from adults. The CCDH's CEO Imran Ahmed joins Datshiane to discuss.
Citlali Fabián was announced last night as the winner of Photographer of the Year at the Sony World Photography Awards, receiving amongst other things, $25,000 in prize money. She’ll be telling Datshiane about her winning series Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, in which she photographs several women from the Indigenous communities across the Oaxaca region of Southern Mexico, highlighting their pioneering work.
Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam
Producer: Corinna Jones
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002vc4d)
A Day in the Life of a Hospital Chef
Francesco Fiore is a chef and Catering Manager at Milton Keynes University Hospital, and over the last few years has made some remarkable changes to the food experience for patients and staff. Awarded the title of “Caterer of the Year” in 2025 by the Hospital Caterers Association, Frank as he's affectionately known by his team, has transformed the quality and variety of the food, reducing waste and inspired colleagues around the hospital to collaborate and come up with new ideas.
Sheila Dillon follows Frank for a day as he goes about his job as catering manager to see the changes in action, and find out more about his passion for food.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
FRI 11:45 City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai (m002v053)
Asghar and Pari
Ramita Navai was a journalist in Tehran when she began writing City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, published in 2014.
It tells the real stories of people whose lives were affected by the regime - stories that were often censored. Names and some details have been changed to protect people.
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran is written and read by Ramita Navai.
It was abridged and produced by Lu Kemp.
Asghar is a famous former gangster. With mounting debts, he sets up an illegal gambling den in Tehran - and breaks a promise he made to his beloved wife Pari.
Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award winning foreign affairs journalist, documentary maker and author who has reported from over 45 countries.
After starting her career as the Tehran correspondent for The Times, she joined Channel 4’s acclaimed foreign affairs documentary series Unreported World. Her investigations included the war in South Sudan, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, gang assassins in El Salvador, and the war in Syria.
Her investigative documentaries on the war against ISIS, Shia militias in Iraq, sexual abuse among UN peacekeepers, corruption and rape in India and women’s rights in Afghanistan have won many awards. Her latest documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack for Channel 4 has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Her book City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran won the Debut Political Book and was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Prize for non-fiction. It has been translated into six languages.
She is the creator and host of THE LINE OF FIRE, a top 10 Apple podcast about the moment of facing death.
She is the recipient of the Women in Film and TV Award recognising outstanding achievement by a woman in news.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002v057)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002v05c)
Super skinny celebs
Should we call out celebrities we deem too thin, or just leave them alone? That’s the debate prompted by an apparent shift among A-list stars - mostly women - to lose weight. Some people say it’s a worrying trend, fuelled by weight loss drugs, that’s damaging women’s views of their bodies. Others say it’s none of our business what these celebs look like, and that they are the product of a culture that still prizes thinness.
We hear about some of the most prominent celebs to hit the headlines recently, find out what 'body positivity' really means, and explore how some in this debate are linking body shapes to politics.
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Production team: Simon Tulett, Annabel Deas and Ellie House
Studio manager: Andrew Mills
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon
FRI 12:57 Weather (m002v05g)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002v05j)
Should Ollie Robbins have been sacked from the Foreign Office?
Former civil servant and close friend Ciaran Martin questions whether Mr Robbins did anything wrong, and tells us there may be repercussions from the dismissal. We also have reaction from former deputy leader of Labour Harriet Harman. Plus, could new AI models threaten the world banking system?
FRI 13:45 About the Girls (m002v05l)
5. Friendship
Girls from all over the country talk to Catherine Carr about friendship.
Some talk about the complexities of friendship group dynamics and Snapchat politics, fights and bullying behaviours. They explain their ideas around ‘sisterhood’ and how finding true friends is the key to surviving the turbulence of teen years and the challenges of being a young woman.
Thanks to:
Oasis Academy Coulsdon
Hucclecote Netball Club
Girlguiding Association
Dance United Yorkshire
Helen Linsell
Abbie Padgett
Emilie Silverwood-Cope
North Birmingham Academy
Dumfries & Galloway’s Young Women’s Network
Young Minds
South Dartmoor Community College
Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002v05n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m001wnsr)
Sabine
Episode 3
After a terrifying night, Elly is sure she knows who killed Sabine. But crucial evidence has now been stolen.
When Sabine’s body is found beneath the cliffs in an apparent suicide, her sister Elly is convinced she was murdered. Elly's hunt for the killer takes her deep into the secret life in Brighton her sister kept hidden. Sabine is a new five-part murder mystery by Mark Healy.
CAST
Elly ..... Sorcha Groundsell
Sabine ..... Freya Mavor
Mia ..... Aisling Loftus
Oakley ..... Rupert Evans
Daniel ..... Ivanno Jeremiah
Becca ..... Rhiannon Neads
Poppy ..... Juliana Lisk
Sullivan ..... John Lightbody
Written by Mark Healy
Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Keith Graham, Ali Craig and Pete Ringrose
Production Co-ordination by Gaelan Davis-Connolly
Sabine is a BBC Audio Production for Radio 4
FRI 14:45 Life Without (m002v05q)
Life Without North America
What would happen to the world if the USA disappears? In this episode of Life Without, Alan Davies explores a planet earth without the land mass of North America. How would opening up the Atlantic impact us in the UK and what would the disappearance of North American produce and people mean for the rest of the world?
This episode features Dr. Anjana Khatwa an award winning Earth Scientist and author, and Tori Tsui, a climate justice activist, author, and mental health advocate.
An ITN production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002v05s)
Bolton
Kathy Clugston and the Gardeners' Question Time panel visit the outskirts of Bolton in Lancashire. Kathy is joined by RHS Bridgewater Curator Marcus Chilton-Jones, Garden Designer Matthew Wilson and Plantswoman Christine Walkden.
The panellists tackle what to do about an overwhelming stash of black plastic pots, advise on why a listener's new compost bin is lacking in worms, and suggest plants for shady clay areas beneath mature beech trees.
Other questions cover planting for waterlogged borders, homemade foliar feeds for seedlings, and opening a wildlife-focused garden for the National Garden Scheme.
Later in the programme, Bunny Guinness shares spring propagation tips, including softwood and basal cuttings and using an aeroponic propagator.
Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f/episodes/guide
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002v05v)
All the Brightest Colours by Rebecca F John
Annie's always lived in the same tiny community on the sea, in a remote part of West Wales. She spends the day picking cockles from the shore, then walking them miles and miles to market.
There's beauty here too, but how can she protect her son from the future?
A short story for radio, by Rebecca F John.
Read by Alexandra Roach
Produced by Minnie Harrop and Fay Lomas
Studio Manager: Catherine Robinson
Production Co-ordinators: Lindsay Rees and Eleri McAuliffe
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002v05x)
Asha Bhosle, Sir Neil Cossons, Professor Harold Ellis, Daphne Selfe
Matthew Bannister on
The Indian singer Asha Bhosle who soundtracked countless Bollywood films and collaborated with Boy George, Michael Stipe and Damon Albarn.
Sir Neil Cossons, a leading light in the development of the UK’s museums.
Professor Harold Ellis, the respected surgeon whose long career began at the same time as the foundation of the NHS.
Daphne Selfe, the elegant model who was rediscovered in her seventies and transformed the image of older people in fashion.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Colin Paterson
Archive:
Ironbridge Gorge Museum, BBC News, 01 Jan 1930; Network East, BBC Two, 22 Aug 1987; The Courage to Fail: Nerves of Steel, BBC Two, 02 Nov 1987; Talk of the 80's: Neil Cossons, BBC Two, 21 Dec 1989; Everywoman, BBC World Service, 16 Dec 2002; PM, BBC Radio 4, 02 Jul 2008; Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4, 26 Dec 2009; Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 16 May 2013; Evening News, BBC London, 03 Jul 2018
FRI 16:30 Life Changing (m002v037)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002v05z)
Did the prime minister lie to parliament?
The Prime Minister denies he knew Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting as he was made ambassador to America, as he sacks he civil servant he blames, Sir Oliver Robbins. Journalist David Maddox, who put the allegations to Number 10 months ago, calls the Prime Minister's position 'rubbish'. Plus, Evan Davis broadcasts from Edinburgh ahead of the Scottish elections, hearing what matters most to voters. And with a Michael Jackson biopic on the way, 'Leaving Neverland' director Dan Reed assesses whether by ignoring allegations of child abuse, the film can whitewash the singer's reputation.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002v061)
Paul Quinn found guilty of rape that saw an innocent man jailed
A 52 year old man has been found guilty of raping a woman nearly 23 years ago; a crime for which an innocent man spent 17 years in jail. Also: Sir Keir Starmer has said it's unforgiveable that he wasn't informed Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting before he was appointed the UK's Ambassador to the United States. And a new word enters the Japanese lexicon.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002v063)
Series 120
1. Messiah or Doctor?
After six weeks off air Andy Zaltzman is back. Helping him kick off the series are Andrew Maxwell, Zoe Lyons, Stephen Bush and Kiri Pritchard-McLean. They’ll be tackling the big questions - how is the country feeling ahead of the potentially seismic elections on 7th May? Why is Donald Trump feuding with the Pope and why are mini-gherkins now harder to find than ever?
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Mike Shephard, Ruth Husko, Dee Allum and Angela Channell
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002v066)
Alice admits to Lilian her ongoing concern about Brian’s wellbeing. She’s scared, remembering how things went with Jack Woolley. Lilian plays down the comparison, but Alice is genuinely fearful. She wants the family to talk about the issue openly, including Ruairi. Lilian suggests there’s no need to burden Ruairi, before telling Brian what Alice has said. Brian fears Ruairi would crumble and reveal everything that happened with George. Lilian suggests they could ensure it stayed within the family. Brian admits George knows some of the truth, but thinks Brian attacked him - because that’s what Brian told him. All Brian cares about is protecting Ruairi. Brian then confesses to investing in George’s drones, but fears he might still go to the police. Lilian understands this is behind Brian’s odd behaviour, even at the cost of letting his family think he has dementia. Brian insists he won’t let Ruairi down.
At the Rewilding Pip shows Lottie round. Lottie tells Pip off for not mentioning her lump before, even if it turned out to be a cyst. Pip admits her fears about not being there for Rosie’s future and how stressful it’s been with Stella. However, it’s a huge relief now the cyst has gone and the tension has been lifted. Pip then wants to know how Lottie’s date night went…
Kirsty and Rex chat about Erik, with Rex suggesting they go out as a foursome sometime. He can’t help feeling Alice is out of his league though, but Kirsty tells Rex he’s a catch and needs to believe it.
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002v068)
Boxing
Ellen and Mark step into the ring to explore cinema's most heavyweight genre, fifty years on from Sylvester Stallone's smash-hit film Rocky. What is it about the boxing movie that makes it not just a sports movie, but a genre of its very own?
Critic Christina Newland gives Mark a punchy rundown of how boxing movies throughout history - from Body And Soul to Raging Bull - have tackled themes of race, class and identity.
Ellen speaks to former world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who moved from the ring to the big screen in 2016, acting in the Creed films.
And Ellen also talks to actor Amir-El Masry, who played the Yemeni-heritage, Yorkshire-born maverick boxing champion Prince Naseem Hamid in the electrifying 2026 biopic Giant.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002v06b)
Andrew Griffith MP, Danny Kruger MP, Helen Morgan MP, Baroness Smith
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Adastra Hall in Hassocks, West Sussex with the Conservative MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Andrew Griffith; Reform UK MP Danny Kruger who is the head of the party's Preparing for Government Unit; Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Helen Morgan MP; and Labour peer and Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith.
Producer: Lowri Morgan
Assistant Producer: Jo Dwyer
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcaster engineer: Lewis Allsopp
Editors: Paul Martin and Colin Paterson
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002v03c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:40 on Wednesday]
FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (m0021995)
Sinéad O'Connor - A Life in Ten Songs
To commemorate the one year anniversary of Sinéad O'Connor's death, Jo Whiley looks back at her music and legacy through ten of her most personal and inspiring tracks, from her debut single Troy in 1987 to Trouble of The World in 2020.
Jo first interviewed Sinéad in the late 80s for a BBC Radio 4 schools programme and their paths would cross multiple times on Channel 4, Radio 1 and Radio 2. Using archive interviews from across the decades, in addition to new insight from collaborators, friends and admirers, we shine a light on Sinéad's often overlooked talent for writing politically-engaged, deeply spiritual and healing songs which reveal crucial messages for our time.
Producer: Victoria Ferran
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002v06d)
"Staggering" I was not told Lord Mandelson failed vetting
The PM says he is "furious" he was not told about Lord Mandelson failing security vetting, as the government produces a memo showing he was first alerted on Tuesday.
Donald Trump declares that the "Hormuz Strait situation is over". Is he correct?
And we remember the life of BBC DJ and champion of world music Andy Kershaw, who has died at the age of 66.
FRI 22:45 Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (m002v06g)
Episode 5
The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature, a magically surreal story about history, identity and redemption. Read by Tara Lynne O’Neill (‘Derry Girls.’)
It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago, nicknamed the Ark, are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.
Rosemary, Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s following their mercurial father RJ; an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.
The four main islands on the Far Side of the Ark are: Tom’s Hard, a ‘popular’ suicide spot; Middle Flat, where the centre for traumatized comatose individuals – commonly known as Sleepers – is based; Church Flat, a kind of limbo populated by the mute ghostly presence of locals hovering between life and death; and Eglish Flat, an illegal dumping ground which appears to consume whatever is deposited there.
Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark as caretakers of the mysterious islands. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...
Author
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Reader: Tara Lynne O’Neill
Writer: Jan Carson
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8lyy)
Have the Democrats found a new strategy to scare Trump?
Why has an oyster fisherman from Maine - criticised for having a Nazi tattoo - become a frontrunner for the Democrats, and one of their best hopes to help take back the US Senate in this year’s midterm elections?
The north eastern state of Maine has become integral for Democrats as they look to unseat Republican senator Susan Collins, and elect their first Democrat senator in decades. But it also tells a bigger story, about how the Democratic party is looking to take on Donald Trump more widely, beyond this November’s midterms and into the 2028 presidential elections.
Justin and Anthony unpack what Maine tells us about Democrat strategy and why Graham Platner, currently polling first, is not a typical Democrat candidate. And does it tell us something significant about what voters want in 2026?
Plus, we speak to Josh Keefe, a reporter for the nonprofit Maine Monitor, who went to school with Graham Platner. He discusses his memories of Platner, what Mainers think about his tattoo and Reddit scandals, and he tells us what he loves about his state as in the return of our United States of Americast feature.
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
GUEST:
• Josh Keefe, Reporter for the Maine Monitor
GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
This episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.
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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. 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.
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
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Top Comment BBC Sounds - Top Comment - Available Episodes
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002v06k)
Who blinks first? A former government chief whip reveals to Alicia McCarthy the tensions behind the scenes as ministers try to get new laws on the statute book before the end of the parliamentary session. Also, a professor outlines the benefits of AI and MPs search for ideas to encourage visitors to the UK to go beyond London.