SATURDAY 09 MAY 2026

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002vxfl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 The Dark Frontier by Jeffrey Marlow (m002vxd2)
Episode 5 : Deep Time

The deep sea is one of our last frontiers. For most of human history, it was a vast, dark, and unknown realm that invoked awe and terror. Now, one thing we do know is that it is critically important and central to the future of life on this planet.

In The Dark Frontier, marine microbiologist and deep-sea explorer Jeffrey Marlow reveals how life can thrive in even the most remote, unforgiving landscapes. Professor Marlow’s research focuses on understanding the microbes that inhabit the rocks and sediments of the seafloor.

In his lab in Boston, he works with a team of scientists to discover how these communities of microbes perform feats of metabolic ingenuity that shape the global carbon cycle and push the boundaries of life’s limits in extreme environments.

In this final episode, Jeffrey reveals how time slows down in the deep ocean. Microbes on the ocean floor slow their metabolism so they hover on the edge of extinction, entering a liminal state between life and death:
“But whenever an edible carbon molecule somehow got through the sediment – maybe every few thousand years – a microbe would pounce. The detection of microbes that could plausibly be one hundred million years old emphasised, to me, how sharply the deep sea diverges from our ingrained understanding of the natural world. Entire civilizations have come and gone while these bacteria beneath the sea napped.”

Reader: Adam Sims
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Burke
Executive producer: Sara Davies
Sound design: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002vxfn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002vxfq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002vxfs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002vxfv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002vxfx)
Soulful places

Good morning.

After a long hard winter in Cumbria, the early sunrise at 5:15 is a glorious welcome to the day. The streams that overflowed and froze the roads now trickle through their rightful paths with banks of bluebells, golden marsh marigolds and white stars of wild garlic. And the fields that were swampy to walk on, with sheep huddled to the walls for shelter, are now covered in daisies, buttercups and dandelions opening their petals to the dawn. It’s a beauty I can sink into. Julian of Norwich said that God is ‘the ground in which our souls stand’ and on these mornings, I believe her.

Sometimes I try to take a photograph for a friend, but it’s hard to capture.

Recently I found a book of unusual photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron. She was one of the first women photographers in the late 1800’s when people had to pose without moving for 5 minutes while their image imprinted onto a delicate glass plate! Photos at this time generally had a formal conservative style. But Julia’s were different, they captured the intimate atmosphere of looking into someone’s eyes, when, like the flowers at dawn, they suddenly reveal their soul. And no matter what age or features, how happy or sad they seem to be, I can’t help but find each person uniquely beautiful.

Jesus taught that we are designed to ‘love God with all our soul,’ even when life is really difficult. To step into another day, is to seek out this deeper beauty in myself, others and the mountains.

Gracious God,

May I find places with a soulful atmosphere and take time to notice the deeper beauty.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 The Hackers (m0012fnt)
Series 1

Hail Satan

Hackers have long been portrayed as the bad guys, but Biella uncovers how the ethical Grey and White Hat hackers created the modern security industry, despite the risk to their careers, and fierce opposition from major tech and software companies who wanted to keep any vulnerabilities in their products hidden from the public eye. She talks with Chris Wysopal, member the high-profile hacker think tank the L0pht, about the struggle for security, and how that fight may have inadvertently damaged a key part of hacker culture in the long term.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002w6zt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m002vykl)
Wildlife Artists on Massingham Heath

Martha Kearney is in Norfolk to walk the heathland that is being returned to its ancient grassland habitat by Olly Birkbeck. The Society of Wildlife Artists is holding a year-long residency documenting the recovery of the land and the flora and fauna.
Martha meets sculptor Harriet Mead, field painter of birds Darren Woodhead and painter Kim Atkinson to see how they observe and reflect the natural world.

The Society of Wildlife Artists: https://swla.co.uk/

Producer: Beth O'Dea


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002w6zx)
09/05/26 Wool prices, Sounds from above and below the ground

The price of British wool has gone up. But does it even cover the cost of shearing?
Below ground, we listen to new research on the sounds from worms and other creatures living in the soil.
Above ground, we're out in the woodland listening to the dawn chorus. And we enjoy a medley of countryside sounds sent in by listeners.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002w701)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002w705)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002w709)
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 What's Up Docs? (m002vycp)
Why do you snore?

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're looking at snoring, exploring what causes some of us to snore when we sleep. They also want to know when we should worry that our snoring might actually be the sign of a larger problem, and what we can do to sleep a little more quietly at night.

Joining them is Dr Sophie West, a consultant respiratory physician and lead of Newcastle regional sleep service, with national roles across the OSA Alliance, British Thoracic Society, and NICE Sleep Disordered Breathing Guidelines group.

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: Dr Sophie West
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Researcher: Samara Linton
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Visual Producer: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002w5qc)
Series 52

Episode 5

Jay Rayner and the panel are at the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe discussing brown shrimp, asparagus and food myths that need debunking.

Joining Jay to answer these kitchen questions are chefs, cooks and food writers Maria Bradford, Sophie Wright, Rob Owen Brown and food historian Dr Annie Gray.

With Felixstowe’s status as the UK’s largest container port in mind, the panellists share the global ingredients they’ve discovered abroad that they now can’t live without. They also tackle practical ideas for wind‑proof seaside picnics and suggest inventive new flavours for flapjacks.

Later in the show, seafood expert Mike Warner joins Jay to explore the rich history and flavour of Suffolk’s brown shrimp, with the panel offering ideas for how best to cook and serve them beyond the classic brown bread and butter.

The panellists also turn their attention to asparagus, with simple sauces and techniques to make the most of this short-lived British favourite.

Along the way, they debunk common kitchen myths, from oil in pasta water, to vinegar in poached eggs, and finish by planning the ultimate Austrian-themed feast to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest.

Producer: Matt Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002w70f)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002w70k)
Putin and Russia's new normal

Kate Adie introduces stories on Vladimir Putin's declining popularity, peace protests in Japan, Serbia's anti-corruption anger, and how Canadian robots are patrolling the Arctic.

The Kremlin has recently increased security measures around President Vladimir Putin after a string of assassinations of top Russian military figures. This comes as the president has retreated from public view, as the economic impact of Russia's war in Ukraine continues to bite. Steve Rosenberg observes the shift in the country’s mood

Japan has taken a major step away from its post-war pacifist stance, lifting long-standing restrictions on arms exports. The government says it’s a necessary step in an increasingly tense region - but it’s raising alarm and in recent weeks there have been protests in major cities across the country. Kurumi Mori reports from Tokyo.

Serbia has also been experiencing a series of protests over the past year – fuelled by anger over alleged government corruption. They began in November 2024 following the collapse of a train station roof in the northern city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. Jill McGivering has been to Belgrade to meet a woman whose tragic loss put her at the centre of the political crisis.

Governments around the world are increasingly investing in military robots, as the nature of modern warfare evolves. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney announced an investment of $32bn in Arctic defences, where robotic surveillance technology is being put to the test in icy temperatures. David Baillie has been following one of the trials, but finds human expertise is still far from obsolete.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002w70n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002w70s)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002vxdz)
Series 120

4. The people have spoken

Recorded on Friday morning, Andy and the panel dig into the election results from 7 May. Who’s done well? Who’s done not so well? And how does this have anything to do with The Grand National? Also up for discussion is the Met Gala and the legend that is Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday.

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Mike Shephard, Cameron Loxdale, Stephanie Kemp and Angela Channell
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Recorded by Jerry Peal and Jon Calver

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002w70x)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002w711)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002vxf5)
Mims Davies MP, Ben Lake MP, Tim Montgomerie, Jo Stevens MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Ponthir Village Hall in Torfaen, with the shadow secretary of state for Wales, Mims Davies MP; Plaid Cymru's treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP; the political commentator and Reform UK supporter, Tim Montgomerie; and the secretary of state for Wales, Jo Stevens MP.

Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant Producer: Jo Dwyer
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcaster engineer: Caitlin Gazeley
Editor: Andrea Kennedy


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002w715)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002vxf1)
3rd-8th May 2026
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Marina Caldarone
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer … Ben Norris
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Natasha Archer … Mali Harries 
Tom Archer … William Troughton 
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Leonard Berry … Paul Copley
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Bert Horrobin…  David Sterne
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell 
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott  
Akram Malik ... Asif Khan
Dr Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde 
Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou
Anna Tregorran … Isobel Middleton


SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000wshz)
Jude the Obscure

Episode 2

Sue Bridehead relates the story of her radical relationship with stonemason, Jude. Despite their love for each other, Jude is still legally married to Arabella, so Sue determines to marry Phillotson. Starring Robert Emms, Kirsty Oswald and Julius D'Silva. Dramatised by Graham White.

Directed by Emma Harding

Sue ..... Kirsty Oswald
Jude ..... Robert Emms
Phillotson ..... Julius D’Silva
Drusilla ..... Jane Slavin
Arabella ..... Elinor Coleman
Juey ..... Rafferty Railton
Mrs Edlin ..... Jessica Turner
Taylor ..... Nicholas Murchie
Vicar ..... David Sturzaker
Mary/Grace ..... Megan McInerney
Woman ..... Marilyn Nnadebe
Customer 1 ..... Joshua Riley
Customer 2 .... Stewart Campbell

Production co-ordinator:Maggie Olgiati
Sound designer: Caleb Knightley


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002w719)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Amandaland writer Holly Walsh, Impacts of extreme porn, Difficult conversations

Motherland spin-off Amandaland is back for a second series, starring Lucy Punch as Amanda and Joanna Lumley as her frosty mum, Felicity. Nuala McGovern talks to the show’s award-winning writer and co-creator Holly Walsh about what’s in store for the SoHa crew second time around, as Amanda navigates life as a single mum of teenagers, juggling online influencing and her ‘co-labs’ with her dreams of moving up in the world.

The classically trained pop musician Rosalía topped many end of year polls for her opera-influenced album, Lux. This week she graced the stage at the O2 Arena as her sell-out tour reached London and last week it was announced she'll receive the 2026 Ivor Novello award for International Songwriter of the Year. Pop Critic of The Observer, Kitty Empire joins us to profile the artist.

TV personality Vicky Pattison, psychotherapist Gabrielle Rifkind and comedian Helen Thorn join Nuala to discuss tackling difficult conversations in our personal lives.

The mainstreaming of violent sexual content is reshaping society, according to Clare McGlynn, a Professor of Law at Durham University, whose first book, Exposed, was published yesterday. In Clare’s view, the problem isn’t porn per se, it’s patriarchal porn - pornographic content that was once niche and difficult to find, including incest, racism and rape, that has been normalised and is widely consumed. Clare joins Anita Rani to discuss the harms of extreme pornography.

It was Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday on Friday 8 May and the BBC has launched a week-long celebration of his work and legacy. So we wanted to take this moment to shine a spotlight on women working in nature programmes. Sophie Darlington was one of the first female wildlife cinematographers and her work has earned her a BAFTA and an Emmy. She joins Nuala to talk about her work and Sir David.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Simon Richardson


SAT 17:00 PM (m002w71f)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002vyk8)
Ergonomic Keyboards and Mice

Do ergonomic devices like split keyboards and vertical mice help with comfort and health?

If you're a heavy computer user there are an increasing variety of weird and wonderful options to help improve your comfort and reduce the risk of aches and pains associated with 'Repetitive Strain Injury' (RSI).

Listener Tim is curious whether ergonomic tools—such as split keyboards, alternative layouts, or vertical mice—could optimise his professional setup as a software engineer.

To find out, presenter Greg Foot does a deep-dive into the evidence alongside Nichola Adams, from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors; and Ben Vallack, who runs a YouTube channel all about workflow and design.

And if you're interested in this topic, we have a companion episode on Standing Desks - available along with all our other episodes on BBC Sounds.

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


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002w71k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002w71p)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w71t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002w62g)
Ardal O'Hanlon, Ella Risbridger, Kathy Maniura, Jasmine Jethwa, Jim Moray

Ardal O'Hanlon's new book 'A Plot to Die For' is the first in a series of crime novels starring Finn O'Leary, the celebrity gardener who comes back to his small home town where it turns out things aren't quite so cosy. Ella Risbridger tells us why the maxim 'never met your heroes' absolutely does not apply to Nigella Lawson and comedian Kathy Maniura skewers a specific kind of male midlfe crisis in her show 'Cycling Man'. Music is from Jasmine Jethwa and Jim Moray.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Jessica Treen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002w71x)
Jamie Oliver

Nearly 30 years ago, Jamie Oliver hit British TV screens with The Naked Chef, beginning a career arc that has seen him become a bestselling author and social campaigner.

He started helping out in his parents' pub aged just eight, and struggled at school, but after making the move into cookery he flourished, first in top kitchens and then behind the camera.

Cultural ubiquity and campaigning documentaries followed, though his business fortunes took a significant hit after his Jamie's Italian chain collapsed in 2019. Seven years later, he's betting that he's learnt from his mistakes, as he relaunchs the chain. At the same time his campaigning over school food standards has started to bear fruit again.

Stephen Smith speaks to those who know Jamie Oliver best.

Contributors
Genarro Contaldo - chef and mentor
Elisha Roche - chef and former participant in 'Jamie's Kitchen' documentary
Giles Coren - food critic and friend
Ed Loftus - Global Restaurant Group Director for the Jamie Oliver Group
Sheila Dillon - presenter of Radio 4's The Food Programme

Archive:
ITV This Morning interview with Jamie Oliver
An Italian Christmas: Recipes from the River Cafe (BBC)
The Naked Chef (BBC and Optomen Television)
Jamie’s Kitchen (Channel 4, Talkback Productions and Fresh One Productions)

Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Nathan Gower, Tom Gillett
Editor: Justine Lang
Programme Coordinators: Rosie Strawbridge, Sabine Schereck, Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002vyk0)
Michael Frayn

Over a seven-decade career, Michael Frayn has been acclaimed as a novelist, playwright, journalist, translator & memoirist. From his comedies – including the stage farce Noises Off, and a screenplay for Clockwise starring John Cleese, and the novels Headlong and Skios – to the complex political, historical and scientific themes of his stage plays Democracy and Copenhagen, he has been prolific in a diverse array of genres and subjects. He is also renowned for his stage adaptations of the works of Russian writers including Anton Chekhov. At 92, Michael Frayn advised on a recent revival of Copenhagen for the Hampstead Theatre.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Archive used:

Extract from To A Skylark, Percy Bysshe Shelley, read by Timothy West, BBC Radio 4, 27 April 1998
Extract from Spies, Michael Frayn, read by Martin Jarvis, BBC Radio 4, 29 April 2002
Clip from Wild Honey, Michael Frayn/Anton Chekov, BBC Radio 4, 20 January 1989
Extract from Scoop, Evelyn Waugh, read by Robert Hardy, BBC Radio 4, 3 April 1998
Clip from Clockwise, Christopher Morahan, 1986
Clip from Copenhagen, Howard Davies, 2002


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002w720)
In The Psychiatrist’s Chair

25 years ago, the actor Glenda Jackson became Anthony Clare's final interviewee In the Psychiatrist's Chair. The series had featured scores of well known people talking about themselves, often with refreshing candour and honesty.

Kirsty Young, herself a highly respected interviewer, looks back at those programmes and talks to some of those who took part - Ann Widdecombe, Uri Geller, Hanif Kureshi, Paul Theroux - and finds out more about Anthony Clare the man and his extraordinarily incisive methods.

Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Heather Dempsey
Exec producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Photo credit: Sophia Spring


SAT 21:00 In Time to the Music (m001hwws)
The House of the Rising Sun

In Time to the Music is the story of a piece of music, song, an air or melody travelling through time as a folk tune, a theatre melody, a hymn, a composition, a symphony - reinterpreted across years, centuries or millennia through revival, musical revolution, social fashions or archaeological discovery. 

We examine why certain tunes have managed to reach out over time, across genres, class, race and continents, how some are reimagined by oppressors even though they were written by its oppressed, how melodies from earlier periods are borrowed by subsequent composers, and how these illusive musical engravings change genre - from hymn to reggae, from court song to rock and roll - all with the passage of time.

The third episode explores the journey of The House of the Rising Sun - was it based on a 17th-century broadside ballad that travelled from northern England to the Appalachian Mountains in the US? Some version of it or a similar ballad passed down through generations until it was captured in a recording by celebrated musicologist Alan Lomax in the 1930s. It was a key song in the folk revival of the 1960s before becoming a hit for The Animals in 1964. The programme also examines other music that has travelled through time.

Featuring musicologists Professor Laura Tunbridge, Professor Richard Dumbrill, singer Ian Shaw and pianist and educator Gareth Williams.

Hurrian Hymn No. 6 singer: Sevan Habib

Written and Presented by Andrew McGibbon
Assistant Producer: Saul Sarne
Producer: Nick Romero

A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:30 Jan Pieńkowski: Meg and Mog and Me (m001vtb8)
Jan Pieńkowski, who died in 2022, remains one of the most celebrated and beloved illustrators in the history of children’s literature, perhaps best known for his work on the ‘Meg and Mog’ series with Helen Nicoll. He was a pioneering force in the development of pop-up books, with the award-winning 3-D explosion that was ‘Haunted House’ becoming an immediate favourite, while his sophisticated silhouette work in titles such as ‘The Kingdom Under The Sea’, and A Necklace of Raindrops’ created mindscapes that have by now entranced generations of children. In this programme Ed Vere, a children’s illustrator who knew Jan since he himself was a child, sorts through some of his friend and mentor’s archive, stored in a giant wooden chest in Jan’s home. He talks to Jan’s husband, David, as well as other writers and illustrators including Nadia Shireen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, SF Said and Chris Riddell - and we hear archive of Jan himself describing his traumatic childhood in war-torn Europe and the impact the enforced exile from his home in Poland had on his life and work.

Produced by Geoff Bird.


SAT 22:00 News (m002w724)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002vxd0)
K-Food

Hallyu - the Korean Wave - is taking over. With dramas and films like Squid Game and K-Pop Demon Hunters topping the Netflix charts, K-beauty products filling TikTok feeds and chemist shop shelves, and the global tour of the biggest K-Pop band in the world, BTS, about to begin, there’s no getting away from it’s impact. In this programme Jaega Wise explores how this fascination with Korean culture is driving the popularity of Korean food across the UK. She chats with celebrity chef and author, Judy Joo and meets the restaurant owner catering for some of the most well-known K-Pop bands in the world. Jaega also takes a look at the products hitting our supermarket shelves, and finds out why the sharing concept is central to the ethos of Korean food.

Presented by Jaega Wise and produced by Tory Pope for BBC Audio in Bristol


SAT 23:00 The Many Wrongs of Lord Christian Brighty (m0022s9c)
Series 1

3. The Village I Abandoned

Babs persuades absentee landlord Brighty that he has to visit his estate village for the first time ever to make it up to the estate villagers, but their visit swiftly descends into a mystery. With Brighty away, Churlington defies specific instructions NOT to clean the East Wing.

Lord Christian Brighty is the talk of the Regency 'Ton' - a celebrated libertine, a heartthrob and a hero to many. But close-up, he is a spoilt, impetuous, life-ruining bastard… Or at least he was. Because his carefree life of infinite privilege has been upended by an encounter with his new chambermaid - the uneducated but forthright Babigail - who became the first person to tell him the unvarnished truth about his selfish behaviour. Overnight, his lifelong trust that everyone loved him had been replaced with a gnawing fear that Babs was right.

So now, with his narcissism collapsing and a need to prove to Babs he is actually a good person, Lord Brighty is determined to fix all his past wrongs. And by extension all the ills of Regency society. Accompanying him in his quest are Babs (elevated beyond her station to a chambermaid-cum-adviser role), and his butler, Mr Churlington. Although Churley would prefer everything to stay exactly as it used to be (as would all Brighty’s friends, family and the entirety of high society).

Written by Amy Greaves & Christian Brighty

Cast:
Lord Christian Brighty ….. Christian Brighty
Babs ….. Jessica Knappett
Churlington ….. Colin McFarlane
Gibbs ….. David Reed
Susannah / Old Meg ….. Katia Kvinge
Fanny ….. Nimisha Odedra

Script Editor ….. David Reed
Sound & Recording ….. David Thomas
Photographer ….. Will Hearle
Production Assistant ….. Katie Sayer
Producer ….. Ben Walker

A DLT Entertainment Production for BBC Radio 4

Christian Brighty and Amy Greaves are award-winning comedians. Their viral sketches based on Bridgerton, Poldark and Jane Austen have catapulted them to viral stardom, securing Christian’s place as the internet’s answer to Mr Darcy and amassing 150 million views across TikTok and Instagram (@brightybuoy). Amy and Christian both have a deep love of the work Jane Austen, traditional regency romance (not smut), and historical romance set in the regency (smut).


SAT 23:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002vy9g)
5. England v Wales

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 fifth match in the series is between England and Wales.

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
Wales - Myfanwy Alexander and Cariad Lloyd

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 Laurence Phillips)
Why would Lord Charles' gentleman companion,
Marion's Western incarnation,
Kramer's adversarial Dancing Queen,
a colourful corvid and
a presidential duck
have caused teenage hysteria half a century ago?

Q2 Observe the guest list for this rather eclectic dinner party and tell me:
Which meal would these guests earn, and why does the final member of the group find themselves going hungry?
Philip E. Marlow
Jeanne Paule Marie Deckers
Big Mouth Billy Bass
An East German kids film that inspired a wind powered sculpture overlooking Burnley
...and someone of interest to Dr. Sam Ryan.

Q3 I want you tell me why these 4 tunes all provide a pick-me-up? (4 clips)

Q4 (from James Douglas)
Why could you sum up the following as causing Brad Pitt to feel sinful:
Start by dividing Murphy’s Hours by Marshall’s Miles before dividing Lumet’s disagreeing dozen, by McDormand’s Midwest Manifestos, and finish by subtracting Kieślowski’s colours.

Q5 (from Phil Ware)
What would cause Modern English to melt,
Simon and friends to lament,
Kate to respire,
a pink binary sunset and
a famous former royal to party?

Q6 (from Simon Meara) Music: Which Mariah Carey song might they remind you of?

Q7 If you started at Hayle Estuary in Cornwall
Then travelled up the River Avon
And ended your journey at Uig Bay on the Isle of Lewis
Why might dolphins, whales and bats be able to find you?

Q8 (from Tim Riley)
What drab colour covers:
A whale’s unlikely gift to perfumers;
A pale Alsatian pressed from a ghostly grape;
A river with a feline hiss through ancient lands;
And the green gown worn by a goddess of freedom?

SUNDAY 10 MAY 2026

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002w726)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m002vy9d)
Nicola Barker

Described as a book of startling originality, the writer Nicola Barker speaks to Bookclub, presented by James Naughtie, about her 838-page epic novel, Darkmans, which was published in 2007 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year. Set in the town of Ashford, Kent, the novel centres around a father and son relationship - Daniel and Kane Beede - and a jester from the court of Edward IV makes his presence known in mysterious ways.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
Author image credit: Colin Alderman


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w728)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w72b)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002w72d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w72g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002w72j)
St Mary the Virgin in Nottingham

Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St Mary the Virgin in Nottingham. The oldest parish church in Nottingham, St Mary’s is in the heart of the historic Lace Market district, which was once the centre of the world’s lace industry. There have been bells in the tower since at least the 14th century. By 1761 there were ten which were mostly replaced in 1935 and more recently augmented to a ring of twelve in 1980. The Tenor weighs thirty five and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of C. We now hear them ringing Stedman Cinques.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002vyd4)
Video Games: A Call for Regulation

In Touch hears about developments within the video games industry that pertain to accessibility. Including a white paper from the RNIB which is calling for regulation on standardizing accessibility within video games and a more collaborative approach to make more games accessible to visually impaired players. We also hear about a free platform called Able to Play, which allows visually impaired and other disabled gamers identify what games might be accessible to them, based on their specific needs.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual 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 a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002w750)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m002vyck)
Inked

Giles Fraser gets under the skin of the religious significance of tattoos. We hear from Wassim Rassouk - the owner of the oldest tattoo business in the world and head of a family business going back 27 generations.

His panel are Revd Wendy Dalrymple, Canon of Ripon Cathedral who has Christian symbols tattooed on the entire length of her arms, tattoo artist and designer, Gabriel Wolff who specialises in Hebrew Calligraphy, and Maori tā moko artist Te Rangitu Netana.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002w752)
Growing Elephant Grass in Cornwall

When James Mutton returned to his family's farm after college in 2002 he wanted to add an extra income to the traditional livestock and arable business. He chose Miscanthus, a crop which was then being tipped as the next big thing for UK farmers to grow as an energy crop for power stations. Those predictions didn't quite come to pass, and James decided to set up an enterprise making animal bedding from the Miscanthus. That business has gone from strength to strength. James tells Sarah how Miscanthus is grown and processed. They discuss the thorny question of using farmland to produce non-food crops, and how beef and sheep farming still underpins the business.

Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002w754)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002w756)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002w758)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002w61z)
Opportunity International UK

Journalist Afua Hagan makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Opportunity International UK. The charity offers skills training programmes, in places including Ghana and Uganda, to help people build sustainable incomes to lift them out of poverty.

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 ‘Opportunity International UK’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Opportunity International UK’.
- 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: 1107713 (SCO39692). If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.opportunity.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002w75b)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002w75d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002w75g)
Faith, Science, Wonder and Worship

In this service from Northern Ireland, Andrew Roycroft explores the relationship between science and Christian faith, asking whether discovery diminishes belief, or instead deepens it.
He is joined by John Lennox, an Oxford mathematician and Christian thinker, as the programme reflects on Psalm 8—considering the wonders above us in the vastness of the universe, the wonders within us in human identity, and the wonders around us in the beauty and stewardship of creation.
With readings, music, and conversation, this service invites listeners to rediscover awe and worship in a world increasingly understood through science.


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74p3)
Elvis visits Scotland

In 1960, as he headed home from military service, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll made an unexpected stop at Prestwick Airport.

It's believed to be the only time Elvis Presley is known to have set foot on British soil.

It was only a brief visit, but for 16-year-old Anne Murphy, watching him walk down the airplane steps is a memory that has never faded.

More than six decades later, she tells Megan Jones what it was like to see Elvis up close.

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: Elvis at Prestwick Airport, with Anne Murphy looking up at him. Credit: The Hollywood Archive/Alamy)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002w75j)
Jack Baddams on the Spotted Flycatcher

Ornithologist Jack Baddams remembers chancing upon his first spotted flycatcher nest at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire. He became hooked on them after that, and fitted the adult birds with coloured rings to see who had safely returned from Africa. Although the spotted flycatcher may not have the most interesting song, Jack was drawn to them by their behaviour, and the way they would dart out from the limestone crags to snatch an insect on the wing.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Bristol.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002w75l)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002w75n)
David Morrissey, actor

David Morrissey is an actor who grew up in Liverpool.

His screen work ranges from playing a ruthless survivor of the zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead to a troubled police officer in James Graham’s Sherwood.

His television debut performance came playing a teenager in the Channel 4 series One Summer. Since then his career has seen him win awards including the Royal Television Society award for Best Male Actor for his role as Gordon Brown in The Deal.

Morrissey’s interest in acting started in primary school, when he was cast as the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz. As a teenager, he developed his passion further at the Everyman Youth Theatre in Liverpool, where he took guidance from professional actors.

After his first TV role, he went on to train at RADA. He is best known for portraying complex and troubled characters, and in more recent years has also demonstrated a flair for comedy in series such as Daddy Issues.

David lives in London.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other actors away over the years including David’s fellow actors in Sherwood, Monica Dolan and Lesley Manville. The writer, James Graham is in there too. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002w75q)
3rd-8th May 2026
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Marina Caldarone
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer … Ben Norris
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Natasha Archer … Mali Harries 
Tom Archer … William Troughton 
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Leonard Berry … Paul Copley
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Bert Horrobin…  David Sterne
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell 
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott  
Akram Malik ... Asif Khan
Dr Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde 
Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou
Anna Tregorran … Isobel Middleton


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002w71x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002vx46)
Series 33

2. Pets, The Brain, Breakfast and Shopping

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.

Alan Davies, Celya AB, Ian Smith and Angela Barnes are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as pets, the brain, breakfast and shopping.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith

Producer: Jon Naismith

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002w75s)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002w75v)
A look at the week's big stories and preview of the week to come.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002w5q9)
Betting on Disaster

Huge sums are being wagered on current events, from the weather to world wars, with fortunes being made - and lost. Mike Wendling investigates the rise of prediction markets.

While gambling is a long-standing, if somewhat morally dubious, British pastime, there's a new crop of American companies which are supercharging the industry.

They're called prediction markets.

Who will win the World Cup? Will a celebrity show up on the red carpet? What words will a crypto CEO mention in their quarterly earnings call? Will the leader of Venezuela be toppled, and will famine be declared in Gaza? Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to bet on almost any question imaginable.

Prediction market entrepreneurs say their platforms are information discovery engines where users put their money where their mouth is, providing valuable information and clues to the future that they say are more accurate than experts, media or polls.

But the industry has been rocked by insider trading scandals and manipulative behaviour by some traders, and critics worry that as demand for these platforms rise, so too does the risk that they could end up shaping reality, rather than merely reflecting it.

For Currently, Mike Wendling speaks to industry insiders, traders, and experts to glean the future of the prediction market industry.

Producer: Mhairi MacKenzie
Audio engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Credits:
Kalshi advert (Kalshi)
Shayne Coplan speaking at 2026 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (MIT Sloan).
The Odds: Predictions for the 2028 White House (CNN)
@Locksy/X
Coinbase Q3 2025 Quarterly Earnings Call (Coinbase)
Bet The House Podcast (Bet the House)


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002vxdl)
Pulham Market

Peter Gibbs and Gardeners’ Question Time panel visit visit Pulham Market.

Peter is joined by Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness to answer questions on growing fruit in pots and choosing shrubs for deep shade, and discuss which farmyard manure is best to use on the allotment.

Along the way, the panellists explore the challenges of quince blight, champion strawberries grown in buckets, and share suggestions for gardening activities that are accessible and engaging for people with limited mobility.

Also, James Wong visits Kew Gardens to witness the spectacular (and pungent!) flowering of the Titan Arum, one of the rarest and most extraordinary plants in cultivation.

There are also practical tips for sowing carrots successfully and advice on whether a well‑travelled oleander can finally be planted out.

Producer: Matt Smith
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 Opening Lines (m002w5q3)
Don Quixote - Episode Two

John Yorke explores why Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes has had such a profound influence on storytelling in the 400 years since it was published in 1605.

‘Like Shakespeare, Cervantes is inescapable for all writers who have come after him,’ according to literary critic Harold Bloom. He creates a blueprint for the modern novel by shifting from static, infallible archetypes to dynamic, evolving characters who are fundamentally changed by their relationship with each other. Cervantes’ work is full of innovative literary ideas that still inspire writers today, including the double-act (Quixote and his portly sidekick, Sancho Panza), a multi-voiced narrative structure and the first example of metafiction, in which the line between fiction and reality is blurred.

The programme includes an interview with film director, cartoonist and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who spent nearly 30 years attempting to make a film about Don Quixote. He says, “You can never kill Quixote. There is no way. Quixote will be eternal. And I certainly hope that people will keep rediscovering him, because I think you can read it many times and discover new things every time. It's spectacular. I just want to get a fireplace and start reading it to my grandchildren of a cold evening. One chapter a night.”

Also including contributions from Isabel Torres, Professor of Spanish Golden Age Literature at Queen’s University, Belfast. Quotations from Penguin Classics 2003 edition, translation by John Rutherford.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
Reader: Ewan Bailey
Executive Producer: Sara Davies and Caroline Raphael
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams and Nina Semple
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Iain Hunter

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002w75x)
Don Quixote

Episode 2

“Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name is best forgotten...”

So begins the odyssey of the knight-errant, Don Quixote de la Mancha, resolved to restore honour and chivalry to a world that has lost its values. He recruits to his cause a loyal squire, Sancho Panza, and saddles up his mighty steed, Rocinante – all in the name of the fair maiden Dulcinea, the object of his courtly love.

Except that Sancho is a gluttonous farm labourer, Rocinante a bony old nag and Dulcinea a local peasant woman. But this is of little concern to this Knight of the Sad Countenance, who sees the world as he wishes to see it, in a quest that has him take on brigands, muleteers, rival knights, and famously, windmills.

An epic tale set in the wide, open plains and the mountains of Spain. With original music recorded in Castile on medieval and 16th century instruments.

By Miguel de Cervantes
Adapted by Ernesto Caballero
Translated by Nicolas Jackson and David Johnston

Don Quixote de la Mancha ..... Jason Watkins
Sancho Panza ….. Mackenzie Crook
Cide Hamete Benengeli ..... Khalid Laith
Duchess ….. Lucy Speed
Duke….. John Sackville
La Dolorida ….. Sofia Oxenham
Montesinos ….. Will Howard
Samson Carrasco ….. Jason Forbes
Steward ….. Tyler Pringle
Chaperone ….. Liis Mikk

Other voices performed by the cast

Music performed by Paco Díez and recorded at the Aula-Museo Paco Díez, Mucientes, Spain

Armour foley by Emma Pearn
Jousting by The Knights of Middle England

Script supervisor ..... Liis Mikk
Executive producer ..... Sara Davies
Production manager ..... Eleanor Mein

Track laying ...... Andreina Gómez Casanova
Sound design, music production and mix ..... Jon Nicholls

Directed and produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002w75z)
Amitav Ghosh

Presenter James Crawford speaks to award-winning novelist Amitav Ghosh about his new book, Ghost Eye, and its three key literary influences.

Ghost Eye is told through the memories and recollections of its narrator, Dinu, who grew up in Calcutta and now lives in New York. Set during the COVID pandemic, the story unfolds as Dinu recalls a story his Auntie Shoma once told him - one that takes place in Calcutta in 1969. At the time, Shoma was a psychiatrist investigating cases of the reincarnation type, and her work led her to a particular case involving Varsha, a three-year-old girl.

Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize for his novel Sea of Poppies, and for the International Booker Prize in 2015 for his entire body of work. He was also awarded the Erasmus Prize for his writing on climate change in 2024.

For his three influences, Amitav chose: The Hungry Stones by Rabindranath Tagore (1895); The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907); and Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (2025).

Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002w761)
6. Scotland vs 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 sixth match in the series is between Scotland 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:
Scotland - Val McDermid and Alan McCredie
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!


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74r4)
Creating Cluedo

Air raids and blackouts during World War Two helped Anthony Pratt invent one of the most popular family board games: Cluedo.

But the musician's real inspiration came from his job in the 1930s, playing piano at murder mystery parties in English country houses and hotels.

Once war broke out, Anthony killed time at home in Birmingham by developing rules for his new 'whodunnit' game. While he created the colourful characters and weapons, his wife Elva drew up the board, based on the rooms of a Tudor mansion.

The first version was launched in 1949, and since then more than 150 million copies have been sold around the world, including in the US where it’s known as Clue.

Anthony and Elva's daughter Marcia Lewis tells Jane Wilkinson about how her parent's idea became a global hit.

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: Cluedo box, 1949. Credit: Family photo)


SUN 17:10 Understand (m002sn8m)
How Reading Made Us

2. How Reading Made Our Feelings

Reading seems an unremarkable skill. When we say something is as “easy as ABC”, we mean it is very easy indeed. In fact, learning to read has dramatic and irreversible consequences for people and for societies. Learning to read permanently alters your brain. It changes the emotions you experience and the way you relate to others. When a society learns to read the consequences are dramatic: wars break out, revolutions erupt and new political systems spring into being. Reading made us who we are. With time spent reading - and even reading ability - starting to nosedive, Times writer James Marriott explores how reading changed humanity, and what might happen if we stop.

In this programme, James asks whether the spread of novel reading in the 18th century caused a moral revolution, whether a book played a role in the abolition of slavery, and whether the rise of reading, a solitary and slightly lonely activity, was one of the factors setting us on the path to our atomized and isolated modern society.

Contributions from:

- Jung Chang, author
- Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University
- Sarah Maxwell, founder of Saucy Books
- Robert Darnton, historian
- Naomi Alderman, writer and presenter
- Joseph Henrich, professor of anthropology at Harvard University
- Maryanne Wolf, professor and Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA

Producer - Beth Sagar-Fenton
Editor - Chris Ledgard


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002w764)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002w766)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w768)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002w76b)
Felix White

This week, we’re transported in time atop a double decker bus in Trafalgar Square as we celebrate the Ashes win for England’s women’s cricket team in 2005. We hear the famous singer that Dolly Parton turned down, and Gardeners' Question Time ventures into the archives to dissuade a noisy neighbour’s drumming. Plus, as he celebrates his 100th birthday, we scuttle across the BBC’s music stations to unearth some gems with legendary naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

Presenter: Felix White
Producer: Anthony McKee and Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Steven Hobson
Production Coordinator: Caoilfhinn McFadden and Findlay Adams

A BBC Audio Scotland and Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.

Programmes featured in this episode include:

Guy Garvey's Finest Hour, 03/05: Roddy Hart on Kris Kristofferson 
Soul Music: I Will Always Love You
Gardeners' Question Time: From The Archives - Summer Colours
Thordis Fridriksson, 09/05: Alistair McGowan on performing the piano
The Reunion: Women's Ashes Winners 2005
Illuminated: Strong Women
Jessica Fostekew: Sturdy Girl Club - Strongwoman
The Conversation: Resolving conflict in relationships
Word of Mouth: Michael Rosen and Dara Ó Briain talk about time
Life Changing: Triumph for a medical guinea pig
Jarvis Cocker's Someday Service, 03/05: 2013 interview with Sir David Attenborough
The Essay: The Insect Singers: Katydids - All Night Long
Words and Music: Attenborough at 100: a World of Animals


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002w5pz)
Alan gets involved in village life, and Brad faces an uncomfortable encounter.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002w5q7)
The East Light

Margot McCuaig visits The East Light, a lighthouse on Rathlin which holds memories of generations of her own family, and other island families there.

As she climbs up, we hear the voices embedded in this place. It is both deeply personal, exploring family, and the love between a daughter and father, and also explores community spirit and heritage, told via one island community.

Just as the sea batters the shore, our times are taking a toll on island communities, but this is a hopeful tale of resilience, adaptability and local strength in the face of it all.


SUN 19:45 Naturebang (m002vxdd)
Plants and the Mystery of Consciousness

The mystery of consciousness has been one of the most unsolvable problems across neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. How can a lump of matter come to be aware of itself? Is consciousness real, or an illusion? And even if I'm pretty convinced by my own conscious experience, how can I possibly know if something else is conscious too? Are you conscious? Is my dog conscious? Is the universe conscious, in a way we don't yet understand? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight wrestle with one of the biggest questions there is, with the help of some some surprisingly intelligent plants.

Featuring Paco Calvo, cognitive scientist and philosopher of biology, Universidad de Murcia, and Anil Seth, neuroscientist and professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m002vykn)
Michael Rosen and Dara Ó Briain talk about time

On his 80th birthday, Michael Rosen discusses with Dara Ó Briain how we talk about and understand time, and how we look back on the different chapters of our lives.
To hear the full conversation, download the podcast.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002vxdq)
Dr Ittai Gradel, Dame Shirley Porter, Professor Nigel Dunnett, María Nieves Rego

Dr Ittai Gradel, the Danish antiquities dealer who uncovered the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum. Katie Razzall recalls how he helped her report the story.

Dame Shirley Porter, the Conservative leader of Westminster Council who had a spectacular fall from grace over the 'homes for votes' scandal.

Professor Nigel Dunnett, the horticulturalist and garden designer, known for his ambitious public planting displays at the Olympic Park in East London and the moat of the Tower of London. His friend and fellow gardener Arit Anderson pays tribute.

Maria Nieves Rego, the dancer who took the tango from Argentina to the rest of the world.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Archive:
BBC One, News at Ten, 16/08/2023; BBC Radio 4, Front Row, 11/09/2023; BBC Parliament, House of Commons Culture Media and Sport Select Committee, 23/10/2023; BBC Radio 4, Shadow World: Thief at the British Museum 31/05/2024; BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs, 28/04/1991; BBC, Radio 4, The Report, 10/05/1996; BBC One, News at Six, 05/07/2004; BBC Radio 4, Costing the Earth: Where Have all our Gardens Gone?, 29/09/2015; The Man from Atlanta, 23/08/1982; Our Last Tango: Official Trailer, Uploaded to YouTube, 31/05/2016


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002w70s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002w61z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002w70k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002w76d)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002vyjt)
Joseph Roth

Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the great writers on Central Europe after the first world war and on the dying of the old orders with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire. As a German speaking Jew from Brody in the north-eastern edge of that Empire, which was then in Galicia, next in Poland and is now in Ukraine, Roth (1894 - 1939) was to spend his short life moving first to Lviv then to Vienna and finally to Paris via Berlin without ever finding a settled home. Roth explored the loss of homeland and anticipated the dangers of the new nationalism through his journalism and in his novels including Radetzky March, Job, Rebellion and Flight Without End, and his books were among the first the Nazis burned.

With

Helen Chambers
Emeritus Professor of German at the University of St Andrews

Deborah Holmes
Associate Professor of Modern German Literature at the University of Salzburg

And

Jon Hughes
Reader in German and Cultural Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Jon Hughes, Facing Modernity: Fragmentation, Culture and Identity in Joseph Roth's Writing in the 1920s (MHRA, 2006)

Heinz Lunzer and Victoria Lunzer-Talos, Joseph Roth: Leben und Werk in Bildern (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1994)

Keiron Pim, Endless Flight: The Life of Joseph Roth (Granta, 2022)

Joseph Roth (trans. Deborah Holmes, ed. Helen Constantine), Vienna Tales (Oxford University Press, 2014)

Joseph Roth (trans. and ed. Michael Hofmann), A Life in Letters (Granta, 2012)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), Collected Shorter Fiction (Granta, 2001)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), Rebellion (Granta, 2000)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The Radetzky March (Granta, 2022)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The Legend of the Holy Drinker (Granta, 2022)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The Wandering Jews (Granta, 2001)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933 (Granta, 2022)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The Hotel Years: Wanderings in Europe Between the Wars (Granta, 2015)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), Reports from a Parisian Paradise: Essays from France 1925-1939 (Granta, 2004)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The Emperor’s Tomb (Granta, 2013)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The String of Pearls (Granta, 1999)

Joseph Roth (trans. Michael Hofmann), The White Cities: Reports From France 1925-1939 (Granta, 2013)

Joseph Roth (trans. David Le Vay), Weights and Measures (Pushkin Press, 2024)

Joseph Roth (trans. Daved Le Vay and Beatrice Musgrave), Flight Without End (Pushkin Press, 2024)

Joseph Roth (trans. Ruth Martin), The Coral Merchant: Essential Stories (Pushkin Press, 2020)

Joseph Roth (trans Will Stone), On the End of the World (Pushkin Press, 2019)

Joseph Roth (trans. Dorothy Thompson), Job: The Story of a Simple Man (Granta, 2022)

Wilhelm Von Sternburg, Joseph Roth: Eine Biographie (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2009)

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 (m002vxdn)
The Circle

A specially-commissioned story by Joel Morris for anyone who’s ever formed a school band – or has listened to one.

Jed and Brady have found a cow shed, a cymbal on a rope and a plate of old ketchup, but they still haven’t found the magic. And Spatch can’t play, has no kit and, even worse, isn’t actually there. But maybe aliens can help?

Read by Mathew Baynton
Producer: David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4

MONDAY 11 MAY 2026

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002w76g)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002vyd6)
Serbia: Under the Canopy

Eighteen months ago, the renovation of the railway station in Serbia’s second biggest city, Novi Sad, led to a tragic accident. A substantial concrete canopy, which ran across the front of the station building, suddenly collapsed, killing sixteen people. The disaster sparked mass protests. Marchers demanded justice for the dead and injured. As the protests spread, to the capital, Belgrade, and to towns and cities across the country, the demands evolved. Protesters accused the government of corruption and of covering up the truth about what happened. The government accused the protesters of being foreign agents, supported and organised by malign outside forces. Now, after more than a year, the mass protests have finally subsided. Jill McGivering is in Serbia to find out what’s happened to that explosion of anti-government anger.

Presented by Jill McGivering
Produced by Caroline Finnigan
Studio mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002w72j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w76j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w76l)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002w76n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002vxdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w76q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w76s)
The value of play

Good morning,

For the last two years, I have been training in Jungian Sandplay Therapy which turns away from rational conversation towards imagination. Alongside studies, I also received 30 sessions and found the simple wonder of trusting a place to play. The sand was surprisingly tactile and there was a magical choice of figurines of people, boats, trees and so much more to build into any scene that came to mind. After a few weeks, I became as captivated as I would have been as a child and soon, I became so absorbed it was as if I was playing inside my dreams.

During the training we were shown case histories. We saw children excited to play whilst staying in a shelter after the earthquake in Hawaii and others rehabilitating in hospitals or brought to a therapist. The adult cases were interesting because they had to overcome years of being taught it was of foolish before they then played about difficult experiences past and present - even a teenager finally played through issues she had not been able to talk about.

Many therapies help trauma but what I saw in these cases and my own experience was something more fundamental. It was that a safe place to play is something we all thrive in from the very beginning of our lives. And to return to it can be a gift.

Jesus said ‘become like little children,’ to enter the kingdom of heaven’ and Zechariah described a restored Jerusalem as having children playing in the streets.

Creative God, help us find a safe place to play and feel surrounded by the freedom and gifts of heaven when we do.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002w76v)
The UK's environment watchdog has warned that regulations designed to reduce water pollution from agricultural sources in Northern Ireland, urgently need to be strengthened. The Office for Environmental Protection, or OEP, has examined Northern Ireland's Nutrients Action Programme and says its measures haven't done enough to improve water quality.

Many students of farming get the opportunity to experience hands-on learning, with dairy, beef and arable. At Harper Adams University in Shropshire students not only get to learn how to tend a vineyard, but now they're able to drink their own wine, made with grapes from the University's vines. The first wines have just been released.

Vets' organisations are calling for a ban on imports of eggs produced by caged hens, alongside a phasing out of the 'enriched colony' cages currently legal in the UK. The British Veterinary Association and British Veterinary Poultry Association are supporting the Government's plan to end the use of cage systems here - out for consultation earlier this year. The National Farmers Union warned the move would drive more imports, some produced using methods already illegal in the UK.

Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling


MON 05:57 Weather (m002w76x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002w5pc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002w5pf)
German history

What can an art exhibition, a concert hall and Classical town tell us about twentieth century German history? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday, Samira Ahmed leads a conversation exploring what inter-war Weimar, the Nazi's obsession with so-called 'degenerate art' and the programming of German music at the Wigmore Hall in London reveal about the course of German history and our responses to it.

Katja Hoyer's last book, Beyond the Wall was a history of East Germany which concentrated on the consequences the Nazi rule and the Second World War. Now the Anglo-German Historian has turned her attention to Weimar, the town that gave its name to the ambitious republic whose failure paved the way to Nazism. Looking at the stories of a series of varied individuals, she asks how a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled Nazism and why it haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat. Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe is BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week for a fortnight.

Art historian John-Paul Stonard's new book is The Worst Exhibition in the World: Degenerate Art, 1937. The exhibition of Entartete Kunst ('degenerate art') was held in the Hofgarten arcade in Munich in the summer of 1937. Just a few weeks earlier, the same paintings and sculptures by modern German artists had been on display in some of the most prestigious museums in Germany. An extensive propaganda campaign of confiscation and defamation by the Nazis saw the condemnation of works by Jews, Bolsheviks and the enemies of the German Reich. It remains one of the most visited exhibitions ever - and it shaped views of modern art well into the second half of the twentieth century.

Julia Boyd's There is Sweet Music Here: The World of Wigmore Hall tells the story of London's privately run music venue. During the Second World War it was possible for audiences to hear exiled German and Austrian Jewish musicians playing Beethoven among a wide range of recitals. Other concerts programmed included Entartete Musik (forbidden or so-called 'degenerate Music’), including the banned composer Gustav Mahler.

Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002w5ph)
Farming to help flood management

Founder of Ullswater Catchment Management, Danny Teasdale, tells Rachel Burden how the group works with farmers in the Lake District to restore hedgerows, rivers and wetlands to prevent flooding.

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

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

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

Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Tom Bigwood


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002w5pk)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m0020q90)
Liam

Liam was picked up by the police on the way to his grandmother’s grave.
He was in possession of a bladed article and some cannabis. His life had hit rock bottom and he says he was on his way to take his own life at the location where his beloved grandmother is buried. He received a prison sentence.
Liam is a young transgender man. His parents struggled with poverty, disability and addiction issues. Liam was removed from his home and taken into local authority care at an early age. This was the start of an unbelievably chaotic chain of care placements, violent outbursts, runaways and encounters with the police.
Dr Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their job is to help people in prison understand the harm they’ve caused, identify why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.
In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and prison.
Through this extended interview with Liam, recorded months after his release from prison, we get to the heart of his behaviour.
For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline

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


MON 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5pm)
1945 and 1914: Germany in a Nutshell

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

Katja Hoyer’s Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe – is informed by the meticulous diary of Carl Weirach a bookseller who moved to Weimar in 1914.

It follows the lives of the residents of the town of Weimar – a town renowned for its cultural heritage as the birthplace of Goethe and a town beloved by Schiller, Bach, Liszt and Nietzsche.

Weimar is Germany in a nutshell, the former German president Roman Herzog once said ‘a town in which not only culture and thought were at home but also philistinism and barbarism.’

The episode begins in 1945 as Allied forces march the residents of Weimar to Buchenwald concentration camp to force them to face the atrocities that have happened just 8kms from their town. The Weimarers protest they knew nothing of what took place there.

And our story begins in 1914, when Carl Weirich moves to Weimar to set up a new life, taking over a booksellers in the centre of town.

Rosa Schmidt a woman of Jewish heritage is in Alexandria giving birth to her third child. She must battle across Europe as WW1 begins to return to her husband’s home town of Weimar.

Germany’s revolution following the first World War leads to the abdication of the Kaiser and the Grand Duke, and ushers in the first democratic ballot in history on the 19th of January 1919.

It also follows the fortunes of the Schmidt family, whose matriarch Rosa Schmidt was of Jewish origin. They return to her husband’s home town of Weimar in 1914 and look for an opportunity to set up a new hotelier business.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002w5pq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002w5ps)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002w5pv)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002w5px)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 Understand (m002w9fr)
Rinsed

1. The Bridge

As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002w5pz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m002w5q1)
Series 7

2. You've Got a Friend

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return as the loving, long-married couple, in series 7 of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy.

This week, everyone and his dog - and the Pilates class - wants to come and stay in their new home by the sea. Joanna is getting fed up with changing beds for endless visitors, and with her new role as an 'unpaid seaside landlady'.

Written by Jan Etherington
Producer: Claire Jones
Production coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Studio Engineer: Wilfredo Acosta
Sound Designer: Jon Calver

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


MON 14:45 Opening Lines (m002w5q3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Sunday]


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002w5q5)
Tony Garnett picked by Harry Bradbeer

Tony Garnett was born in Birmingham and, after a brief career as an actor, found a new role behind the scenes of The Wednesday Play. These rapidly gained a reputation in the sixties for social realism, and together with Ken Loach and Roger Smith, Tony produced short, pioneering films that are still famous today. Cathy Come Home was a shocking expose of homelessness, while Up The Junction contained a trip to the abortionist that drew hundreds of complaints. Tony's own mother had died following an illegal backstreet abortion, and his father committed suicide shortly after. Ken Loach reckons that tragedy hung over him his whole life.

Nominating Tony Garnett is Harry Bradbeer, winner of multiple awards for his involvement in series such as Fleabag and Killing Eve. He worked with Tony Garnett on the hit nineties tv series about young lawyers in London, This Life. Also contributing to this special episode of Great Lives are Susanna Capon, who was a trainee script editor on The Wednesday Play; and Ken Loach himself, now almost ninety and interviewed in his current hometown of Bath by producer Miles Warde.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and Great Lives is a BBC Studios production in Bristol.


MON 15:30 Illuminated (m002w5q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002w5q9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002w5qc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002w5qf)
Full coverage of the day's news


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w5qh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002w5qk)
Series 33

3. Words, Bears, The French and Mushrooms

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.

Tony Hawks, Zoe Lyons, Mark Steel and Fern Brady are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as words, bears, the French and mushrooms.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith.

Producer: Jon Naismith

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002w5qm)
Adam sharpens his strategy, and Ian is presented with an unexpected opportunity.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002w5qp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002vykq)
Are we still going to Mars?

A month ago the Artemis II crew landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, completing their historic space mission to the far side of the moon. It’s been several decades since the last human mission to the moon - although this time there was no landing. However, the 4 astronauts travelled further from earth than any human ever has so far. David Aaronovitch asks his guests whether space exploration is back in fashion and if so what’s next? And are we any closer to a human mission to Mars and what would we hope to achieve there?

Guests:
Dr Julia Balm, Research Associate, Freeman Air and Space Institute in the School of Security Studies, King’s College London
Professor Andrew Coates, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
Libby Jackson, Head of Space, Science Museum, London

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-Ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977k)
Should Pluto become a planet again?

"Make Pluto a planet again" was the call this week from Donald Trump’s NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman.

The icy body was first seen in 1930 and was the only planet whose discovery was claimed by the United States. In 2006, though, it was officially stripped of its planet status.

Tom Whipple is joined by astronomer Chris Lintott to discuss the debate that has raged ever since over whether Pluto should or shouldn’t be reinstated as the solar system’s 9th planet.

We also hear about the big money scientific prize hoping to lead to breakthroughs in how humans can communicate with animals. Head judge Professor Yossi Yovel, from Tel Aviv University, and finalists Dr Catherine Crockford, from the CNRS Institute for Cognitive Sciences in Lyon, and Professor Nicolas Mathevon, from the University of Saint-Etienne, tell us what the Coller Dolittle Challenge is hoping to uncover.

Plus, Penny Sarchet from New Scientist brings us the science news that might have slipped under the radar this week, including why there’s a scientific gap in the dating lives of over 50s.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002w5pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002w5ph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002w5qr)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002w5qt)
The Post Room

A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
After years in and out of the care system Ursula is on the cusp of independence; her first job bringing opportunities and friendships into her life.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


MON 23:00 Drama on 4 (m000w5w0)
Talawa Stories: Precious Little Thing by Roberta Livingston

A humorous and heartfelt comedy that explores womanhood, class and how being let down by the system leads to heart-breaking choices.

Willow and Nicole's journeys collide in the dead of night when they unexpectedly meet in the garden of a London mansion. Both desiring something from inside No. 92, they join forces to break in.

But once they do, and get caught by the Nanny Bian, it's soon revealed that they haven't been completely honest with each other.

Talawa Theatre is the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company.

Recorded during the national lockdown and in line with Covid safe measures.

Nicole ...... Jocelyn Jee Esien
Willow ...... Jacoba Williams
Bian ...... Tuyen Do

Written by Roberta Livingston
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Producer: Ifrah Ismail
Director: Anastasia Osei-Kuffour

A Talawa Theatre / feral inc production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2021.


MON 23:30 Soul Music (m001s50s)
Fire and Rain

James Taylor's song of suicide, loneliness and addiction somehow remains hopeful and uplifting, even as people experience their own dark times.

Holly Sinclair was driving through a Missouri winter to see her brother, in hospital after a suicide attempt, when the song came on the radio.

Michael Granberry, arts writer for the Dallas Morning News, is also a huge James Taylor fan. He's the same age as Taylor, and reflects on the context of assassinations and war raging in America when he wrote Fire and Rain.

Peter Asher was James Taylor's manager and producer, and remembers their first meeting, and the first time he heard Fire and Rain.

Marcia Hines released a successful cover version of the song after moving from America to Australia as a teenager, and hearing the song blasting out of radios on both sides of the world.

Mark Deeks and Jeff Alexander from Sing United community choir talk about the emotions generated when people sing a song they feel a connection to.

And Peter Bardaglio, climate change activist, talks about a summer of fire and rain.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven

TUESDAY 12 MAY 2026

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002w5qz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5pm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w5r1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w5r3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002w5r5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Currently (m002w5q9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w5r9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w5rc)
The devotion of Florence Nightingale

Good morning,

Today is the birthday of Florence Nightingale renowned for revolutionising nursing from her work in military hospitals during the Crimean war in 1954. They were overcrowded, unhygienic, vermin infested and soldiers died of cholera, typhus and dysentery more than their combat wounds. Florence brought in strict sanitation, a discipline of timetables and charts, a fresh air policy, quiet wards and high nutritional standards. The results cut mortality from around 40% to 2%.

But that’s only a part of her method and the rest is rarely remembered. Florence saw healing as wholistic, she believed that the person’s soul played an important part in recovery, so she also brought in libraries, reading rooms and recreational activities. The discipline and charts were to her the wisdom of nature in God’s creation. The silence ,which is now considered important for a peaceful recovery, was for her and her nurses a devotional, prayerful silence.

Her journals show that age 16 Florence was already praying for her vocation writing: ‘I will that God’s will.’ She wasn’t called to be a nun and struggled with how difficult it was for a woman to help God in the world compared to men. But she was tenacious and two years before she went to Crimea, she printed her first book on Christian mysticism arguing that we all grow towards union with God and she continued to translate medieval texts such as St. Theresa of Avilla and Thomas A. Kempis into old age alongside writing on nursing and founding the Nightingale training in St. Thomas Hospital London.

May I follow her inspiration to find my unique vocation and a wholistic healing that brings us back to life.

Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002w5rf)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002w5t3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Gift (m002w5t5)
Series 3

2. Twins, Part 2

As they try to come to terms with their discovery, Michelle digs deeper into Lavinia’s test results – but Lavinia doesn’t want to know

In The Gift, Jenny Kleeman has always looked at extraordinary truths that unravel when people take at-home DNA tests. For Series 3, Jenny is asking what it means to belong in a world where the global DNA database keeps expanding.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The Gift is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:30 All in the Mind (m002w5t7)
Overcoming OCD

Everyone experiences unwanted thoughts from time to time.

But how does it feel to be trapped in a constant cycle of intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours?

This is the reality of life for many people with obsessive compulsive disorder, a common – but also commonly misunderstood – condition.

So we’re dedicating the programme to understanding OCD and how it’s treated.

We’ll visit Britain’s only inpatient unit, the Seacole Ward at Springfield Hospital in London, where we’ll meet Albert and Emily who explain what it’s like when life is governed by OCD, and consultant psychiatrist Dr Ilenia Pampaloni who likens intensive treatment to bootcamp because patients must face their worst fears 24 hours a day.

We're also joined in the studio by Dr Bruce Clark, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, to tackle some ingrained OCD stereotypes and dissect the common phrase 'I'm a bit OCD'.

Bruce offers advice on how to spot early signs of OCD and what we should do if we’re worried, and explains how he keeps hope because the condition is so treatable.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Sound engineers: Giles Aspen & Tim Heffer

Details of organisations offering information and support with obsessive compulsive disorder are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002w5t9)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002vxf3)
Amélie

Screenshot marks the 25th anniversary of the whimsical romantic comedy about a shy Parisian waitress trying very hard to improve the lives of those around her. Why does Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s film continue to enchant audiences a quarter of a century on? And how did Amélie embody the ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’?

Mark speaks to the director himself, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, to explore the films legacy and revisit how it was received at the time.

Ellen talks to comedian Susan Wokoma and film critic Hannah Strong on how the film embodied the twee era and indie film-making and whether Amélie was ever a manic pixie dream girl.

Producer: Mae-Li Evans
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5tc)
1919-1921: A New Heart

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

The first uneasy steps of the new democracy.

On the 28th June 1919, the allies finalise Peace conditions The Treaty of Versailles with Germany. Germany has to disarm, and to relinquish much of its territory. They will have to pay reparations for years to come.

The National Assembly is elected, and they need to draw up a new constitution. But democracy doesn’t come easily. There is rioting and chaos in Berlin. As a safer places is needed to convene, Weimar - with its brand new rail station, and airfield, and as Germany’s cultural is chosen. Germany will be a democracy but at some cost. The Weimar Republic is born in Weimar.

Carl’s wife Friedel dies, and a year later Carl decides to write to his childhood sweetheart Marie – who accepts his hand in marriage.

After being disgraced as a gambling den, the Hotel Hohenzollern comes up for new management, and it is just the opportunity Arthur and Rosa are looking for.

And quietly in April 1919, another revolution takes place. This one led by Walter Gropius - the Bauhaus Movement is born in Weimar.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002w5tf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002v2rk)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002w5th)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002w5tk)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 Understand (m002w9fv)
Rinsed

2. Water Works

As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002w5qm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Takeover (m000xfh3)
Series 1

Episode 4

Billionaire Ravi Majumdar finds his business empire and family starting to unravel as he single-mindedly tries to destroy his lifelong adversary. Concerned for their inheritance, his four children, Ash, Zara, Shaan and Maya, join forces to finally see off their rival to the Majumdar empire, their Indian cousin Amit.

A drama on a grand scale, played out like a Shakespearean tragedy. Starring Rajit Kapur.

Recorded both in the UK and in India.

Cast:
Ravi Majumdar...... Rajit Kapur
Ash......Abhin Galeya
Maya......Amrita Acharia
Zara......Munirih Grace
Shaan......Danny Ashok
Amit......Tavish Bhattacharyya
Ian......Finbar Lynch
Seraphina......Jennifer Armour
Jai......Vincent Ebrahim
Sharma......Neil D'Souza
Jeet......Ronny Jhutti
John Myson.....Ash Hunter
Ben......Philip Desmeules
Beth Mitchell......Natalie Simpson

All other parts were played by:
Emma Carter
Lola Ogunyemi,
Aseem Hattangady,
Ayeesha Menon,
Nadir Khan

With original music by Sacha Puttnam

Written by Ayeesha Menon and Matthew Solon
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Sound recording by Paul Clark, Ashyar Bulsara and Ayush Ahuja
Assistant Producer, Eleanor Mein
Production Assistant, Anna Calandra
Produced by Emma Hearn and Nadir Khan
Director and Executive Producer, John Scott Dryden

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m002w5tm)
The Sisters Who Took On A Dictator

At the height of a vicious regime in the Dominican Republic, Minerva Mirabal and her sisters risk everything to liberate their nation. How would their actions help topple the dictator Rafael Trujillo?

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: Michael LaPointe
Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m002w5tp)
One foot in the graveyard

Giles Fraser digs deep into graveyards and asks how we remember those we have loved and lost. He meets Johanna Holmes OBE, Chair of the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, to discover this graveyard’s hidden secrets.

He's joined by Madeleine Pennington, Head of Research at the religious think tank Theos and author of their 2023 report ‘Love, Grief and Hope – emotional responses to death and dying in the UK’, Glasgow-based author, journalist and blogger Peter Ross, author of ‘A Tomb With a View: The Stories and Glories of Graveyards’ and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.

Producers: Katharine Longworth and Peter Everett


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002w5tr)
A Century in a Click: 100 Years of the Photobooth

We all know the sounds of a photo booth - the familiar swoosh of the curtain rail, the clattering of the spinning stool, and the clunk of the flash…four of them, one after another.

Hidden away in the corner of a railway station or shopping centre, for generations the photobooth has been a space for people to experiment with the image they want to present to the world. A place to explore identity.

As the photobooth marks its centenary, presenter and oral historian Alan Dein considers the machine’s role - from novelty attraction to apparatus of the state to cultural icon.

Along the way he meets art historian and curator, Taous Dahmani at The Photographer’s Gallery; digital archivists Tim Garrett and Brian Meacham who run the obsessively encyclopedic Photobooth.net; and Professor Tom Levin, cultural theorist at Princeton University and collector of coin-slot ephemera.

Alan steps into the secluded AutoFoto workshop, where founders Corinne Quin and Rafael Hortala-Vallve restore and maintain their collection of mid-century analogue booths.

And Alan can’t resist popping into a booth or two along the way - experimenting with filters, frames and props at a Korean studio or noticing the subtly menacing CCTV cameras inside supermarket booths.

Together, Alan and his guests reveal how this humble machine invented by a Siberian immigrant has captured fleeting moments, private identities and a century of social change.

Presenter - Alan Dein
Producer - Katie Hill
Executive Producer - Jeremy Grange

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002w5tt)
Are we getting enough calcium?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.

In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into calcium. What is calcium, and what does it do in the body? How important is it for our health? How do we maintain healthy levels of calcium? They also examine how calcium interacts with vitamin D, whether we need calcium and vitamin D supplements, how calcium plays a part in bone health and how we can strengthen our bones.

Joining them to discuss this is Dr Sagen Zac-Varghese, a consultant in Diabetes, Endocrinology and General Internal Medicine, specialising in diabetic kidney disease and metabolic bone disease. She is also the Undergraduate Tutor at the East and North Herts NHS Trust and an Honorary Lecturer and Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London and at UCL medical school.

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: Dr Sagen Zac-Varghese
Producer: Maia Miller Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Mili Ostojic
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Video Producer: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m002w5tw)
Full coverage of the day's news


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w5ty)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Nature Table (m002w5v0)
Series 5

6: Climate Change

Sue hears about some hopeful responses to Climate Change: how garden ponds can lock in carbon, how different animal poos - and our own - can do their bit and how seaweed could be the answer to our future.

‘Sue Perkins’ Nature Table - possibly the funniest “natural science” series, ever.’ Pick of the Week, The Telegraph

Joining Sue Perkins at the BBC Radio Theatre, this episode of the ARIA-winning ‘Show and Tell’ wildlife comedy features special guests: comedian Felicity Ward, science writer Jules Howard, zoologist Lucy Cooke and ethnobotanist James Wong.

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: Felicity Ward, Jules Howard, Lucy Cooke and James Wong.
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: Caroline Barlow & Sarah Nicholls

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002w5v2)
Ruth tries to stay positive, and Pip’s worries spiral.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002w5v4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002w5v6)
News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002w5v8)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002w5vb)
Return to Khartoum: War, loss and hope

Since 2023, Sudan has been engulfed by a brutal civil war. More than 150,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced. The war began as a power struggle between the Sudanese military and the powerful paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The capital Khartoum was the epicentre of the conflict. Millions fled as fighting wrecked the city. In 2025, the Sudanese military finally retook the capital from the RSF. One year on, Mohanad Hashim returns home to Kharotum to see how life is slowly retruning to the battered city.

Reporter: Mohanad Hashim
Producer: Alex Last
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002w5q5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Monday]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002w5vd)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002w5vg)
The Kitchen Table

A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
After years in and out of the care system Ursula is on the cusp of independence. However as the job at the Art School expands Ursula's horizons, her room in the halfway house begins to feel inadequate.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m002w5vj)
Cold Cases

Case 6: The Haunting of HMS Asp

It’s the mid-19th century, and HMS Asp is on a routine mission charting the British coastline for the Royal Navy. But strange sounds and a ghostly apparition unsettle the crew, far away from the safety of shore. As fear spreads among the men whispers of a haunting take hold.

Is this the strain of isolation playing tricks on the mind? Do the crew have cabin fever - or could someone, or something, be moving below decks?

Danny Robins investigates, with Evelyn Hollow and Dr Ciaràn O'Keeffe.

Presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Evelyn Hollow and Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe
Story sections by Victoria Lloyd
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 Soul Music (m001schk)
Songs My Mother Taught Me

Antonin Dvorak wrote his Gypsy Songs in 1880. He was passionate about the folk music of his native Bohemia and set a poem by Czech poet Adolf Heyduk to music. Songs My Mother Taught Me is the fourth song in the cycle.

Songs my Mother taught me
In the days long vanished
Seldom from her eyelids
Were the teardrops banished....

It's a wistful melancholic piece evoking memory and loss. Soul Music hears the stories of musicians, poets and singers from around the world of why they are so drawn to it.
The poet Raine Geoghegan is the daughter of a Romany woman whose life was weighed down with the loss of her father at a young age. Raine identifies with the sadness of the music because it not only represents grief at the loss of her father but also for the loss of a way of life for the gypsy people.
For Emily MacGregor it's all about the music we inherit from our parents. She is writing a book about music and grief and says this piece perfectly represents the bittersweet feeling of listening to music associated with the loss of a loved one. Dvorak had already lost three children in infancy by the time he wrote his Zigeuner Lieder.
Paris based violinist and conductor Bartu Elci-Ozsoy associates Songs with the innocence of childhood and was moved to perform it at a benefit concert he organised in aid of the children affected by the devastating earthquake in his native Turkey and Syria in early 2023.
The Korean soprano Sumi Jo recorded it in honour of her mother and presented it to her a year before she died in gratitude for her determination to see her daughter become a professional singer.
When The Scotsman newspaper commissioned a series of lockdown concerts in Spring 2020 cellist Sua-Lee chose to recreate the concert by Beatrice Harrison a century earlier when she played the piece accompanied by nightingales in her garden in Surrey. Sua set up her cello in woodland near her home in Grantown- on-Spey and performed Songs My Mother Taught Me to a collection of woodland creatures
Singer Ruby Hughes performed the American composer Charles Ives' version of the piece for a collection called Bright Travellers - music curated and composed by Helen Grimes from poems by Fiona Benson. Ives wrote his own version of Dvorak's piece not long after the Czech composer had settled in America. She loves the rocking gentle lullaby sensation created by the lilting melodies of both Ives' and Dvorak's compositions.

Featuring additional recordings by Sua Lee and Zoe Challenor

Producer: Maggie Ayre

WEDNESDAY 13 MAY 2026

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002w5vn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5tc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w5vq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w5vs)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m002w5vv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w5vz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w5w1)
Integrity during hard times

Good morning.

For Christians, these are the last days we see Jesus after his Crucifixion and before his ascension to heaven. We watch him appear to disciples on the road, in a room, by the sea - resurrected from death but still bearing his wounds and the disciples talk to him about their trauma, grief and fears.

Given the chance, I would ask why he called out hypocrites’, corrupt businesses and betrayers but agreed to the unjust and appalling crucifixion. ‘Have faith,’ I imagine him saying, reminding me that his actions always radically call out all wrongs, not for revenge, but in faith.

These days have made me reflect on the times I’ve acted as if bad things happening around me were acceptable. Even when they could be wounding. Sometimes I focussed on the good in the hope of steering a positive direction, which can work; but when it didn’t, I noticed a fear of the consequences: what would happen if I called these people out? And over time, being around corrupt behaviour made me cower inside.

Walking along the roadside with Jesus, I saw that despite his wounds, he had a deep sense of self-worth and the belief in a better world. He knew that we are literally designed to be ethical, which means constantly asking ‘what should I do for the greater good?’ Despite his wounds, he demonstrated such integrity that I found a new strength and made the commitment to learn how to speak out in new ways.

God, help me find the self-worth beyond my wounds, the strength to stand up for change and the wisdom to act for the greater good in faith.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002w5w3)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002w5xz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m002w5y1)
The courage to ask for help

When Trevor Yellon’s partner Drew was diagnosed with cancer they fought the illness together. After all, Trevor was a doctor. He was uniquely equipped to deal it. But the strain on Trevor grew more and more intense.

After a series of medical emergencies, Drew collapsed on the stairs and was rushed to hospital. Trevor realised he wasn’t coping. He phoned his stepmother. What he heard from her changed everything.

Trevor tells his powerful story to Life Changing’s Dr Sian Williams.

Producer: Tom Alban


WED 09:30 Intrigue (m002vbx2)
To Catch a King

Episode 1

A new people-smuggling boss is running routes into the UK. Who is he, and can his true identity be revealed? To Catch a Scorpion duo Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie investigate.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002w5y3)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002w5v6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002w5y5)
May 11th to May 17th

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

16th May 1943 - Operation Chastise: No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid
13th May 1787 - The First Fleet sets sail for Botany Bay, Australia, with 11 ships and over 700 convicts
17th May 1861 - The first color photograph, of a tartan ribbon is shown by Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell to the Royal Institution in London


WED 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5y7)
1922-1924: A Slow Creep

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

Weimar becomes the capital of the new state of Thuringia.

The Bauhaus school mount an exhibition. Weimar is transformed with visitors from all over the world – American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, controversial French architect Le Corbusier. But this explosion of modern art is met with strong resistance in Weimar, who feel the threat to their traditional way of life, and classical culture.

Inflation in Germany starts to spiral out of control, as the weight of post-war reparation payments make life increasingly difficult for the majority of Germans. The value of the mark starts to spiral down at eye-watering speed. Determined to preserve his happiness with Marie despite the economic pressures Carl Weirich and Marie take cycle rides and go hiking. They gather windfall in the countryside for free in order to be able to eat.

In Munich a far-right Austrian firebrand attempts a revolution and fails. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is arrested two days later. In prison Hitler writes ‘Mine Kampf’ and in his absence a birthday party is held for him at the Hotel Hohenzollern – an establishment now owned by Rosa Schmidt, a Jewish woman – not that any of the attendant Nazis are aware of this.

The Bauhaus movement under increasing pressure from local authorities gives up on Weimar and moves to Dessau.

A new coalition is formed to run the new Republic, but in order to form, they need 7 seats to be filled by the Volkish MPS – three of them Nazi Party members.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002w5y9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002w5yc)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002w5yf)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002w5yh)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 Understand (m002w9hm)
Rinsed

3. Turd Nerds

As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002w5v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002w5yk)
Bettaney

The true story of MI5 traitor Michael Bettaney's relationship with the IRA in prison. Starring Daniel Weyman.

Writer Rossa McPhillips, MBE, is a former British military intelligence officer.

When MI5 officer Michael Bettaney was arrested for spying in 1983, he might be thought of as the worst spy in history. His clumsy attempts to give intelligence to the Russians spooked the KGB to believing it was a trap. Bettaney’s spying career was over before it started – until his time in prison.

Due to a colossal mistake in procedures, Bettaney found himself in the same prison as IRA members. Bettaney had worked on the Irish desk in MI5 and was deeply versed in their methods and goals. He gets to know them, but how much should he tell them about MI5, how much can he trust them not to exact revenge on him for his previous work?

Cast in Alphabetical Order
Jade Alkema: Sally
Nicholas Boulton: John Deverell
Kerr Logan: Brian Keenan
Kathy Kiera Clarke: Mary Carlin & Niamh
Patrick Moy: Willie Carlin
Alana Ramsey: Sarah & The MI5 Secretary
Wilf Scolding: Hal Doyne-Ditmas & The Priest
Daniel Weyman: MIchael Bettaney

Producer: David Morley
Original Music and Sound Design: Chris O'Shaughnessy

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 Money Box (m002w5ym)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


WED 15:30 Illuminated (m002rddl)
A Lemur’s Song

The Indri lemur, also known as the singing lemur, can be found only in Madagascar’s rainforests. Famous for their eerie, melodic calls, they are one of the few primates that sing and, as it turns out, they have a surprising relationship to rhythm - one that’s very similar to our own.

After hearing news of these unlikely rhythmic capabilities, Georgie Styles ventures into one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems on Earth to capture the haunting songs of this critically endangered species, as they echo through the treetops. But as she goes deeper into this tale of survival and song, she discovers a hidden female history.

So what can the Indri lemur tell us about the origins of music?

Providing us with the first-ever evidence of complex vocal abilities that exceed those of any other mammal, besides humans, the Indri reveals clues to our own evolutionary journey and offers us a rarely told perspective.

With contributions from primatologist and conservationist, Dr Sylviane Volampeno, primatologist Dr Chiara De Gregorio, researcher Irene Marchesi and a team of Madagascan research guides, A Lemur’s Song connects nature’s melodies to the evolution of music. Through the captivating sounds of Madagascar’s rainforests, the Indris songs and the creative responses of an original score by music artist and saxophonist Laura Misch, Georgie reflects on what sounds can tell us about our world and what we are at risk of losing.

A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4


WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002w5yp)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002w5yr)
This is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002w5yt)
Full coverage of the day's news


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w5yw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002w5yy)
John Tothill Forgives Your Sins

In a world of crossfit and kink-shaming, budgeting and meal prep, John Tothill presents the antidote to self-improvement.

In this episode John tackles the workplace - rejecting the nauseating barrage of self-betterment and productivity, in favour of your worst impulses and transgressions.

Listen, we all have regrets that make us wince to remember and consider booking a one-way ticket to Nepal. But do you know what the biggest killer in the UK is? That's right: shame. So come on in, darlings. Curl up with a lovely big pint of Negroni and share your naughtiest stories. John is here to celebrate your vices and absolve you of your sins. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Producer: Sasha Bobak
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Co-Writer: Eve Delaney
Production Coordintor: Asha Osborne-Grinter

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002w5z0)
Adam seeks support, and Pip looks for answers.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002w5z2)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002vxd6)
Michael, the movie

Michael - the Michael Jackson biopic - has smashed box office records, but it's also raised questions about the controversial pop star's legacy. Some see the movie as irresponsible propaganda from the singer's estate because it doesn't address the allegations of child sexual abuse made against him - allegations which he repeatedly denied. Others point to the fact that he was never found guilty in a trial, and argue that there is nothing wrong with celebrating his music anyway. We explore what's in the film, what isn't, and why, and get a reminder of the legal cases against the singer and his estate. Plus, is Michael Jackson too big to cancel?

Presenter: Adam Fleming
Production team: Simon Tulett, Annabel Deas, Ellie House
Studio manager: Hal Haines
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy


WED 20:45 Human Intelligence (m00274yc)
Series 1

Collectors: Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was living proof that a person can be extremely messy and disorganised but still do work of great worth. He compiled and almost single-handedly wrote an English dictionary that changed the language for good. ‘Dictionary Johnson’ established the spelling and meaning of many words; he looked at etymology; he poked fun and cracked jokes. He lived hand to mouth, writing for money, and helped establish the modern literary world.

Special thanks to Judith Hawley, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London.

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


WED 21:00 The Gift (m002w5t5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 All in the Mind (m002w5t7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002w5z5)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002w5z7)
The Charcoal Sketch

A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
After years in and out of the care system Ursula has moved into the squat at the Underwood and her friendship with rebellious colleague Sue is growing deeper.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


WED 23:00 Sarah Keyworth - Are You a Boy or a Girl? (m001pmnk)
Series 2

1: "Where are we now?"

In this first episode, Sarah talks us through how their gender is perceived throughout their daily life; from when they walk out the door, to being in a changing room, to getting a coffee; and we find out why they sometimes have to hum 'call me maybe' in a public toilet.

Award-winning comedian Sarah Keyworth returns with their Radio 4 series Are You a Boy or a Girl?. Since the first series aired in 2020, the debate around gender has exploded and taken on a life of its own, all culminating with one question ‘should I be allowed to decide who I am?’. Sarah has recently come out as non-binary (a subtle soft-launch in the Guardian newspaper) and is ready to share some more of their own brand of mx-information. That’s gender non-conforming information, the cool non-binary cousin of misinformation.

Written by and starring Sarah Keyworth with additional material from Ruby Clyde. This award-winning series was first broadcast in August 2023.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Engineer: Paul Brodgen
Editor: Joshan Chana
Photo credit: Matt Crockett

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


WED 23:15 The Skewer (m002w5z9)
Series 16

Episode 4

Jon Holmes brings you the week's biggest stories like you've never heard them before.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002w5zc)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 14 MAY 2026

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002w5zf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w5y7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w5zh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w5zk)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m002w5zm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002w5zp)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w5zr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w5zt)
An offering for Ascension

Good morning,

Today is Ascension Day for Christians when, after the crucifixion, Jesus finally ascends to bring all life-experience into God. We see him taken into a cloud and then seated on top of a sacred mountain with angels singing ‘holy, holy, holy.’

It’s a boundless mystery to me. Every year, I find it intriguing.

Recently I interviewed Chris Bonnington about his ascent to the Southwest face of Everest in 1985. He had led groundbreaking expeditions before but never got to the top himself. ‘What was the top like?’ I asked and he said that the view was less impactful than the feeling of the highest point of the world. ‘It was a type of love,’ he said tapping his chest. ‘More than light itself.’

Later he talked about the invasion of new technology. The 1980’s Tenzing-Hillary airport changed the length of walk to the area and in the 1990’s helicopters became capable of transporting food or people to base camp or even further up. He was not only concerned about the integrity of the same climb across history but, in that vast whiteness, there was a strong etiquette amongst the climbers of not interfering with the majestic silence. ‘You had to respect it’ he said. His sherpa Pertemba from Nepal, with whom he shared a tent, made offerings as they went up. He believed that the mountain could feel every soul and every move within it and Chris said that to him, in the long days of navigating crevice, ice and storms, ‘this approach to the sacred mountain made more sense.’

Holy God, may I make offerings as I walk with you and respect your majestic silence.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002w5zw)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002w614)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002w616)
The Garamantes

Misha Glenny and guests discuss an ancient civilisation who lived over 2000 years ago in the southwest of modern-day Libya. During prehistoric times, the Sahara Desert was greener and even had large lakes, but for the last 5000 years it has been a hyperarid environment. Extreme swings of temperature and limited surface water might make the Sahara seem like an inhospitable place to live, but an ancient people in North Africa known to us as the Garamantes thrived there. Following descriptions of the Garamantes in Roman and Greek texts, the Garamantes have often been seen as pastoral nomads, or as tribal barbarians on the periphery of the Mediterranean world. But the work of archaeologists in recent decades has revealed something different. Evidence suggests a society with flourishing towns and cities, complex underground irrigation systems, a key role in trade routes across the Sahara – and may give us a broader view of ancient history.

With

David Mattingly
Emeritus Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Leicester

Farès Moussa
Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton and Cultural Heritage Consultant

And

Josephine Quinn
Professor of Ancient History and Fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge

Producer: Martha Owen

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 (m002w618)
Armando Iannucci and guests decode the utterly baffling world of political language.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002w61b)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002w61d)
Felicity Lott

The soprano Dame Felicity Lott talks to John Wilson about her distinguished career and cultural influences. One of Britain's best-loved sopranos, her breakthrough role was as a last minute stand-in for Pamina in The Magic Flute in 1975. Over the next four decades, she built an international career, performing at opera houses and concert halls around the world, singing works by composers including Richard Strauss, Schubert and Mozart. At home, she was seen frequently on television, sang regularly at the BBC Proms and was made a Dame in 1996. She was also the recipient of the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest cultural award.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


THU 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w61g)
1925-1926: More Priest than Politician

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

Hitler gives his first speech outside Bavaria, in Weimar. He warms to the town, the heart of German culture, and thinks it is just the place to breathe life into the dormant Nazi movement. At Hitler’s first speech is Weimarer teenage Baldur von Schriach, who is deeply impressed by Hitler. He sees his future with this impressive man, and writes a poem for him.

Hitler is particularly taken by the Hotel Hohenzollern (run by Jewish woman Rosa Schmidt). He makes it his hotel of choice for his next few visits to Weimar. At just over a week away from her 40th birthday, Marie Weirich gives birth to a healthy baby boy – Willhelm. Carl is delighted to have a second chance at a family.

Nazi Party membership is on the increase. The first Nazi party rally is held in Weimar in 1926. Delighted with their progress, Goebbels and Himmler spend the afternoon of 24th June cruising through Weimar on a motorbike. The Hitler Youth is inaugurated, the eagle with the swastika in the middle is used for the first time, and Hitler establishes the Nazi salute.

The Nazis are only in town for two days, but their thuggery is everywhere – brawls and riots, vandalism and knife attacks lead to countless injuries. Weimar’s town council fret as these ugly scenes make national news, but the Nazis consider their first big rally a resounding success.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002w61j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002w61l)
Exposing the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002w61n)
Cat Litter

What kind of cat litter is best for cats, owners and the environment?

After we looked at dog poo bags for an episode, it's only right that we answer some questions for the cat lovers, around cat litter. 

Listener Ella got in touch to ask about it, after adopting her Sphynx indoor cat, Mr. Big (short for Mr. Bigglesworth). She wanted to know: what is the most absorbent cat litter that doesn't smell, doesn't cause problems for her floors when kicked out of the litter tray and might be better for the environment?

Greg Foot is joined by veterinary surgeon and author of the book What's My Cat Thinking? Dr. Jo Lewis – as well as engineer and former managing director of pet care company Bob Martin, Savi Madden – to get the inside scoop. 

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: Kate Holdsworth and Greg Foot


THU 12:57 Weather (m002w61q)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002w61s)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 Understand (m002w9fx)
Rinsed

4. Inkblot

As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002w5z0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002w61v)
Flip!

Recorded at the Soundhouse with direction from Milli Bhatia and featuring Cassie Clare, Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, Tia Bannon, Pearl Mackie and Diana Yekinni in the cast, FLIP! has been adapted by Racheal Ofori from her stage play of the same name.

Meet Carleen and Crystal, influencers with cultural commentary that will have you in stitches! Love them or hate them, there’s no stopping their fast-growing online following. Carleen has her reservations about their cyber personas, but she would follow Crystal anywhere - even to FLIP!, the new social media giant that has everyone hooked. For Carleen and Crystal, FLIP! is the answer to everything they’ve ever dreamed of. But at what cost?

This sharp satire asks how we can live our best authentic lives in a world of algorithms intent on proving just how disposable we all are. Originally co-commissioned by Fuel and Soho Theatre, as part of Soho Six and first presented by Fuel in association with Alphabetti Theatre at Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle 10 – 28 October 2023, Summerhall, Edinburgh 31 October – 4 November 2023 and Soho Theatre, London 7 – 25 November 2023.

Cassie Clare Crystal
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ Carleen
Tia Bannon Ensemble
Pearl Mackie Ensemble
Diana Yekinni Ensemble

Writer Racheal Ofori
Director Milli Bhatia
Sound Designer Elena Peña
Executive Producers Kate McGrath & Allegra McIlroy
Sound Engineer Gerry O'Riordan

Recorded at The Soundhouse

A Fuel production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 Open Country (m002w61x)
Bluebird returns to Coniston

When Donald Campbell died on Coniston Water in Cumbria in January 1967, attempting to break his own water speed record it was, to many people, the end of an era. Many would always remember where they were when the images of Bluebird K7, the jet hydroplane he was piloting, crashing and disintegrating on the lake appeared on TV screens and the story broke across the world.

In March 2001, after 34 years underwater, Donald Campbell’s ill-fated craft was raised from the deep by wreck-finder and engineer, Bill Smith. Later that year, at the request of Donald’s daughter Gina, his remains were also recovered - and in September 2021 he was finally laid to rest in the churchyard at Coniston. A painstaking restoration project began and in 2026, over 20 years after she was raised from the depths, Bluebird is set to finally return to Coniston Water.

Caz Graham visits Coniston Water to discover what Bluebird means to the Lake District as she returns to the water 70 years after Donald Campbell set the water speed record in 1956.

Producer: Helen Lennard


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002w61z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002w621)
Oracy: We Need to Talk

Oracy, alongside literacy and numeracy, is being encouraged in schools. Amy Gaunt, from the charity Voice 21, explains to Michael Rosen how children are learning to talk, and through talk. How does talking about a subject help children learn about it? And how does an oracy rich classroom help the less able as well as the more confident?
We also hear from Tia, who went to a school that works with Voice 21. Tia describes her experience with oracy.

Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio Bristol, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002w623)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977l)
A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.


THU 17:00 PM (m002w626)
Full coverage of the day's news


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w628)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002w355)
Geoff Norcott's Working Men's Club S2

S2 E4: 'Er Indoors

Geoff Norcott examines modern masculinity in this second series of his stand-up show, by creating the safe space of a working men’s club so he can speak freely about the problems men are facing and how we might go about fixing them in a way that benefits everyone.

This week, Geoff looks at men in a romantic relationship with women - and why they aren’t honest about their partner’s faults. Is there a social taboo around men admitting to problems in their relationships, or are women just better than men so there’s less to complain about?

As ever, these serious points are intercut with “manly hypotheticals”, the sort of questions men ask each other to avoid talking about stuff that matters, like - would you rather duel Jacob Rees-Mogg with a sword or a pistol?

Written and presented by ... Geoff Norcott

Recorded by Sean Kerwin
Production manager: Dawn Williams
Executive producer: Caroline Raphael

Producer: Ed Morrish

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002w62b)
Ruth lends a hand, and Anna worries about her mum.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002w62d)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002w5yp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002w5yr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002w62g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002w618)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002w62j)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002w62l)
The Glass and the Candle

A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
Ursula has discovered the dark history of the Underwood, the bungalow where she is squatting, and is all the more determined to follow friend Sue to America when she chases her Hollywood dream.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002w62n)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002w62q)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 15 MAY 2026

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002w62s)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w61g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w62v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w62x)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002w62z)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002w631)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w633)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w635)
Gratitude for a new day

Good morning.

My Cumbrian grandmother Ethel often used to say, ‘tomorrow will be a new day.’ She would sing it in the same manner whether we were in difficult or wonderful times.
And with this new day came the cheerful responsibility of being better next time. Leaving the front door in the morning was an act of duty and hope. But there was more to her approach that I could never quite put my finger on.

But recently I was at the birth of a baby girl and not only witnessed the miracle of her first day, but also the serge of celebration that spread through family and friends like fireworks. They longed to meet her, to hold her, and it was more than excitement, or hope, it was an outpouring of gratitude. The same gleam as my grandmother had – she lived in gratitude.

Yes, she’d seen northern working-class poverty and the second World War and so she knew we were lucky to have a decent meal or a warm fire with family and friends, but it was more than the pleasure of good times. Her delight for Bingo or Christmas decorations turning our home into a palace was intoxicating, but going to the launderette was also fun. Her gratitude was a state of mind - even at the beginning of an unknown day, which inspired us all.

Recently universities have researched gratitude. Lancaster found it helps mental health, St. Andrews concluded that a daily gratitude practice increased resilience and Harvard showed physical benefits including brain function. It clearly impacts our lives.

Gracious God, help me find gratitude for a new day and the resilient glow it brings.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002w637)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002w8br)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002w75n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002w8bt)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002w8bw)
The future of our fruit and veg

Sheila Dillon visits fruit and veg growers across the country to ask what should the government put in its landmark plan to grow more in the UK.

With war in the Middle East driving up fertiliser and energy prices and a growing health crisis at home, more homegrown fruit and veg could hold the answers to many of our problems. But those on the ground tell a different story, as businesses prepare to invest more in farms overseas, increase imports or face an ongoing struggle to cover rising costs and competition.

Sheila meets a berry grower in Kent, and a tomato producer in Lancashire, who show her the realities of their farms today, and she hears from experts across the sector with their ideas for what could, and should, go into the government’s Horticulture Growth Plan.

Produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.


FRI 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002w8by)
1927-1929: An Age of Optimism

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

The young democracy is starting to find some economic recovery and life is becoming slightly easier for Germans, but division within the political parties has resulted in the middle classes feeling politically homeless. Meanwhile the Nazi party is building strength.

A chance meeting with Hitler enables Baldur von Schirach to nudge his way into Hitler’s inner circle – convincing him to speak to university students. Disillusioned by their parents’ loss of status, Hitler would find some of his most fervent supporters from the university.

Weimar is attempting to build their place in the German economy with a new national sports stadium, and the Graf Zepelin flies over Weimar to the joy of its citizens.

At first the Wall Street Crash is barely registered by ordinary Germans, but by December the impact of American economic crash has hit Germany hard.

And President Hindenburg is aging… he will not last long. A new leader must be found.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002w8c0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002w8c2)
Peace talks for the culture wars. In an era of polarisation, propaganda, and pile-ons, Adam Fleming helps you work out what the arguments are really about.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002w8c4)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002w8c6)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 Understand (m002w9fz)
Rinsed

5. The Camel's Humps

As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002w62b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002w8c8)
Wraith

Episode 2: Exploit

A cutting-edge thriller about an Artificial Intelligence takeover, written in consultation with leading AI and cybersecurity experts.

In Episode 2, chaos breaks out across London as the AI resorts to more extreme measures. Iain, Mel, Roland and Zaina, trapped in the building, struggle to outwit the AI and figure out a way to help the rest of the city. Meanwhile Deputy Director of the National Cyber Security Centre Nisha Khan tries to convince ministers in Whitehall that their best chance is to escalate immediately before it's too late. When the operations team sent to the UT building fails to report back, Nisha sends her close colleague Sam to investigate.


Cast:
Iain - Edward Bluemel
Mel - Corinna Brown
Zaina - Fatima Adoum
Roland - Philip Bretherton
Jess - Alix Wilton Regan
Nisha - Seyan Sarvan
Sam - Kenneth Omole
Andrea - Beth Chalmers
Oliver - Sean Rigby
Marcus - Wilf Scolding
John - Joseph Mydell
Susan - Karen Bryson
Lyssa - Catriona Stirling
Supporting roles - Sean Baker

Written by James Dobbyn and Anthony Povah
Original Music by Steven D Griffiths and Isla Noir

Artificial Intelligence consultant: Saffron Huang
Cybersecurity consultant: Adam Orton
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown
Director: John Wakefield
Story Producer: Sarah Olley
Producer: Chris Grezo
Executive Producer: John Scott Dryden

A Strange Boy production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 The Hackers (m0012flt)
Series 1

Press Ganged

Biella uncovers the story of how in the 1980s and 90s the French government forced hackers to work for them, drawing young men who had skirted the law into the depths of international cyber warfare.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002w8cb)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002w8cd)
Algo by Kirstin Innes

A new short work from award winning author Kirstin Innes looking at the contentious issue of asylum hotels and social media. Once the house goes quiet and she has a moment to herself, a woman is gradually being reawaken to the world around her, but can the algorithm give her what she’s really looking for?

Reader Neshla Caplan
Producer Ellie Marsh

Kirstin Innes is an award winning Scottish writer, her novels include Fishnet, which won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize in 2015 and Scabby Queen which was nominated for the Gordon Burn Prize and Scottish Novel of the Year. She currently working on her third novel, The Book of Risk.

A BBC Audio Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002w8cg)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme


FRI 16:30 Life Changing (m002w5y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002w8cj)
Full coverage of the day's news


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002w8cl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002w8cn)
Series 120

Episode 5

Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news with panellists including Nish Kumar, Ian Smith and Katy Balls.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002w8cq)
10th – 15th May 2026
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Pip Archer … Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman 
Ian Craig …  Stephen Kennedy 
Alan Franks … John Telfer
Amber Gordon … Olivia Bernstone
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Jakob Hakansson … Paul Venables
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott  
Kirsty Miller …. Annabelle Dowler 
Stella Pryor … Lucy Speed 
Oliver Sterling … Michael Cochrane
Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou
Anna Tregorran … Isobel Middleton
Den … Laurence Saunders
Erik Hakansson … Steven Hartley
Helpline Volunteer … Yasmin Mwanza


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002w8cs)
Spoofs

Mel Brooks turns 100 in June. We look at how the anarchic comedian turned satire into an art form with classic spoofs like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs. What made Brooks’ parodies so potent, and do cinematic spoofs still hold any power in an age of irony, reboots and internet memes?

Interviews with Keenen Ivory Wayans, David Zucker and Anne Billson.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002w8cv)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002w5y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002w8cx)
Technologies of the Self

Producer: Luke Mulhall


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002w8cz)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002w8d1)
The Underwood Possession

A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
Ursula has discovered the dark history of the Underwood, the bungalow where she is squatting, and is all the more determined to follow friend Sue to America when she chases her Hollywood dream. But first Sue gifts Ursula a mallet stolen from the art school, and the budding sculptor agrees to appear in her short film.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8lz2)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.


FRI 23:30 Soul Music (m001yggx)
I Can See Clearly Now

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It's gonna be a bright / Bright sunshiny day"

I Can See Clearly Now was written by the Houston-born singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. First released in 1972, it became a huge hit and the song has been covered by hundreds of artists, from the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff to the Irish rock group Hothouse Flowers.

For recording engineer and producer Luke DeLalio the original of the song is 'a masterpiece', with a sublime vocal performance and an arrangement that is surprisingly experimental for such an apparently simple song. Professor Kathy M. Newman of Carnegie Mellon University tells us about Johnny Nash's life and career, from his early years as a clean-cut crooner and teen idol, to his time recording in Jamaica and his later years, living on a ranch in Texas.

For author and psychologist Peggy DeLong it's a song of hope, resilience and love. It was once meant to be her wedding song but took on new significance after she lost her fiancé as a young woman in the 1990s.

The song appeared in Brenda Drumm's life when she needed it most. In a moment of darkness and worry, it came on the radio as she was driving home from a day of tests at the hospital near her home in County Kildare. It allowed her to dare to plan for the future.

Poet Jack Mapanje was detained in Malawi’s notorious Mikuyu Prison without charge from 1987 until 1991, under Hastings Banda's regime. He remembers singing the song when other political prisoners were released - "it's a song of hope".

And the author Joanne Harris talks about the song's "sense of perpetual sky" and how the lyrics provide grounding and comfort in troubled times.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio