SATURDAY 16 MAY 2026
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002w8d5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 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.
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002w8d7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002w8d9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002w8dc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002w8df)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002w8dh)
Hit the pause button
Good morning.
My mobile phone rarely leaves my side. Notifications are silenced, but its presence alone puts me slightly on edge. When it’s out of my sight, I can feel my mind and body start to relax. I have message notifications silenced so I can check on my schedule, but I still feel the constant tug of my perceived need to check for urgent information.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I went for a day out and half-way into our journey I realised my phone was at home. There was no time to go back and retrieve it, so I had a decision to make—stress about the messages I might be missing, or focus on the present and enjoy the day. I chose the latter and we had a wonderful time on the coast without phone distractions. We truly had a day of rest.
It’s easy to get sucked into a perceived need to check and respond to every call and message, just like we might be compelled to fill every waking moment with activity or distraction until we have no time left to rest; yet that constant anticipation and focus deprives us of appreciating what is right in front of us.
For the Jewish community, today is Shabbat, a day of rest and spiritual recharge. Shabbat is the one day of the week that provides us with an opportunity to disentangle from our daily demands and focus on our blessings. It can be a powerful invitation for any of us to “hit the pause button”, take a breath, and enjoy.
May we all set aside time in our week for rest and renewal, enabling us to disconnect from everyday concerns and be fully present with nature, our friends, our family, and ourselves.
SAT 05:45 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.
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002wj0f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:07 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 2001 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
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002wj0k)
16/05/26 Farming Today This Week: too many pigs, new strategy to tackle animal disease, call for caged eggs ban, Balmoral Show
Too many pigs, not enough space: farmers struggling to sell their livestock.
New strategies for tackling the spread of animal disease. We ask, how much is being done to stop it getting here in the first place.
Vets' organisations are calling for a ban on imports of eggs produced by caged hens, and a phasing out of the legal 'enriched colony' cages in the UK.
And prize winning sheep at the Balmoral Show in Northern Ireland.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002wj0p)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002wj0t)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002wj0y)
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
SAT 10:00 The History Podcast (m002wlk2)
Sixty Years of Hurt
1. England v The World
'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.
“Football is singularly the most important cultural institution in the country for defining Englishness” says Historian David Goldblatt, as the series begins looking at the most famous moment in English football – the world cup win in 1966. Comedian, writer and football fan, David Baddiel, sees how the victory adorned swinging London, and yet the characters in the team spoke to a very different kind of England. David also travels back to the very origins of the game in England (discovering that Henry VIII had a pair of football boots), checks in with Elis James for a view from Wales, and muses on the meaning of national anthems.
The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.
Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.
Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002wj0b)
Series 52
Postbag
Jay Rayner is joined by Jeremy Pang, Sophie Wright, Melek Erdal and Jocky Petrie in the studio for a postbag special, tackling listeners’ questions on everything from leftover chocolate bars to kitchen design.
They kick things off with a classic dilemma - what to do with a surplus of mini Bounty bars. Creative ideas range from indulgent milkshakes and ice cream, to coconut‑infused vodka and homemade fudge.
They also dive into more savoury territory, sharing tips on cooking herring roes and turning tins of sardines in tomato sauce into everything from bolognese to Southeast Asian‑inspired dishes.
A listener’s concerns about Jerusalem artichokes spark a lively discussion about foods that come with side effects, before the panellists discuss what kitchen essentials are truly non‑negotiable.
Elsewhere, there’s advice on rescuing overcooked vegetables (including bubble and squeak, pakoras and biryani) and a final look at the clothes and comforts that make cooking at home just that bit easier.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002wj11)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002wj15)
Donald Trump's China summit with Xi Jinping
Kate Adie introduces stories on President Trump's visit to China, the Palestine marathon, the Venice Biennale boycott, a young woman's search for her mother in India, and living in the fast lane with Sierra Leone's First Lady.
Laura Bicker has been in Beijing where military parades, red carpets and singing choirs of children greeted Donald Trump as he arrived for talks with President Xi. So what progress was made in China-US relations after a frosty period?
Wyre Davies has been in Bethlehem watching on as runners from around the world took part in the 10th Palestine Marathon - a burst of positivity after the race was postponed amid the war between Hamas and Israel, following the October 2023 attacks.
The Venice Biennale and the Eurovision song contest were both founded with the intention of bringing nations together through art - but Kirsty Lang finds, upon visiting Venice, an art festival swept up in a clash with global politics.
In the Indian state of Maharashtra, Tanya Datta travels with a young woman in search of her birth-mother after she was adopted by a French family and grew up in France. As she goes to the place of her birth, she finds an unexpected connection.
And Megha Mohan recounts a hair-raising journey travelling in the motorcade of Sierra Leone's first lady, Fatima Bio - en route to interview her in the Presidential Palace.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002wj19)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002wj1f)
Lack of Wills and "Savvy Squirrel"
Millions of adults across the UK, have not told their families what they want to happen to their money and property when they die. STEP, the Society for Trust and Estate Planners, reported this week on a survey which found 8 out of 10 adults had kept their loved ones in ignorance of their wishes. A third of them did not even have a will, leaving its distribution to complex legal rules rather than what the family itself might want. What should people do to avoid this?
It is nearly forty years since the government sold off British Gas and encouraged us all to Tell Sid as part of Margaret Thatcher's 1986 dream of a share owning democracy. Today, the present Labour government wants people to invest more and it has appointed the Investment Association, alongside 19 of the UK's leading financial services firms, to lead an industry wide initiative to persuade people with savings to move at least some of them into shares. This "Invest for the Future" campaign has its own mascot - Savvy Squirrel. Could this lead to cultural change in the way we invest?
And when might you have to pay tax on the interest you earn on savings? We'll explain all.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
News Editor: Justin Bones
(First broadcast at 12noon, Saturday 16th May 2026)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002w8cn)
Series 120
5. Starmer psychodrama
What a week it's been for the Prime Minister. In the aftermath of seismic local elections results, there's been non-stop Labour party in-fighting. Wes Streeting has resigned as Health Secretary so the race for Labour leader is seemingly on - who will throw their hat in the ring? Will Andy Burnham, i.e. the King of the North, make his move? In other news, the panel discuss Trump's state visit to China and why the Royal Navy has to redesign women's uniforms over 'inappropriately placed' buttons.
Helping Andy make sense of it all this week is Nish Kumar, Ian Smith, Katy Balls and Mhairi Black.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Alex Kealy, Ruth Husko and Claire Rammelkamp
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Recorded by David Thomas
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002wj1k)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002wj1p)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002w8cv)
Lord Finkelstein, Stephanie Flanders, Layla Moran MP, Mike Tapp MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the Royal Dockyard Church in Chatham, Kent with the Conservative peer and Times columnist, Lord Finkelstein; Bloomberg's head of economics and government, Stephanie Flanders; Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran MP who chairs the Commons health committee; and the minister for migration and citizenship, Mike Tapp MP.
Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant Producer: Jo Dwyer
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcaster engineer: Kate Barker
Editor: Andrea Kennedy
SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002wj1t)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 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
SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000wyws)
Jude the Obscure
Episode 3
Sue and Jude are now living together, with their three children, but their unmarried status makes them perpetual outcasts. And the strains of their situation take a tragic toll on young Juey. Starring Robert Emms, Kirsty Oswald, Julius D'Silva and Elinor Coleman. Dramatised by Graham White.
Directed by Emma Harding
Sue ..... Kirsty Oswald
Jude ..... Robert Emms
Phillotson ..... Julius D’Silva
Arabella ..... Elinor Coleman
Juey ..... Rafferty Railton
Mrs Edlin ..... Jessica Turner
Taylor/ Policeman ..... Nicholas Murchie
Landlady ..... Marilyn Nnadebe
Vicar ..... David Sturzaker
Gravedigger ..... Toby Turner
Woman ..... Jane Slavin
Girl ..... Megan McInerney
Friend 1 ..... Joshua Riley
Friend 2 .... Stewart Campbell
Production co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati
Sound designer: Caleb Knightley
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002wj1y)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Loan Sharks, Menopause and ADHD, Bra fitting
Women are being forced to turn to loan sharks due to a "hidden" but devastating form of economic abuse, according to new research. Scottish Women's Aid has published a study on the problem of coerced debt – where an abusive current or ex-partner builds up debt in their victim's name, either without consent or knowledge or through force, threat or coercion. Anita Rani is joined by Dr Jenn Glinski, author of the report and the national policy lead for economic abuse at Scottish Women's Aid, to talk about the report findings.
Menopause can be challenging for many women, but for those with ADHD, the experience can often feel like life is completely unravelling. For some women in their 40s, 50s and 60s it can also be the first time they realise they may have ADHD, as fluctuating hormones amplify their challenges with sleep, mood, attention and overwhelm. GP and Menopause expert Dr Helen Wall joined Anita to talk about her new book Menopause and ADHD, which aims to debunk some of the myths and support women navigating the combination.
A new medical device to assist at birth is now in use in eight NHS trusts in the UK and 40 hospitals in the whole of Europe. The OdonAssist can replace forceps in many situations and is a much gentler way to deliver a baby which is stuck in the birth canal. NHS Specialist registrar Dr Emily Hotton has worked on the UK clinical trials. She describes how the device works and why it can give a much better outcome for both mothers and babies.
M&S has announced that following a successful trial they are ditching the measuring tape for bra fittings. Other underwear retailers have done this for years, but how does it work fitting a bra by eye? Joanna Wakefield-Scurr, Professor of Biomechanics at Portsmouth University, and virtual bra fitter Katie Weir join Nuala McGovern to discuss.
Canwen Xu was born in China and moved to the US when she was two years old. She grew up in predominately white areas – North and South Dakota and Idaho. When she was 18 she gave a TEDx talk, titled, I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype, which has been watched more than 3.7 million times. Canwen joins Anita to discuss her debut novel - Boring Asian Female – and its themes of identity, ambition, failure, and obsession.
Love it or dread it, flat-pack furniture tests us all. But for Hayley McAuley from Wigan, it’s a sport - she’s just defended her title as Flatpack World Champion and tells Anita about the win.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
SAT 17:00 PM (m002wj22)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002wj26)
Why the PM has to go: Miatta Fahnbulleh on being the first minister to break with Starmer
The former Communities Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was the first Minister to resign from Keir Starmer's government after the elections, discusses reaching breaking point, who should lead Labour now, and why she's terrified of where politics is going.
She also talks about her experience as a civil servant working with Conservative Ministers, and why her children are her toughest critics.
Senior Producer: Hannah Wilkinson
Producer: Flora Murray
Sound: Jack Wilfan
Editor: Giles Edwards
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002wj2b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002wj2g)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wj2j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002wj2l)
Conn Iggulden, Bank of Dave musical, Cally Beaton, Guvna B, Emma Kenny
Its all about career swerves, but not the political kind, on this week's Loose Ends. Stuart Maconie meets Conn Iggulden who was once an English teacher but is now a global bestselling author of historical fiction, the latest of which is his trilogy about the Roman Emperor Nero.
Stand up comedian Cally Beaton didn't get into comedy til she was in her 40s but she was once a successful media executive. A chance conversation with Joan Rivers sent her spinning in another direction and now she's written a memoir about it all - Namaste.
Emma Kenny is best known as a TV parenting guru but her most successful side hustle is True Crime tours.
Plus music from Rob Madge's Bank of Dave Musical and from MOBO winner Guvna B's new album, The Bed I Made.
Presented in Salford by Stuart Maconie
Producer: Olive Clancy
Assistant Producer: Sam Nixon
Technical Producers: John Cole and Helen Williams
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002wj2n)
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines
SAT 19:15 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
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002wj2q)
The Life and Many Deaths of the Local
Pubs are dying out. The end of the local is fast incoming. Last of the last orders is nigh. Worries about the future of that much loved British institution - the local boozer - have been swirling for decades, right back to the end of WW2.
And yet, the great British Boozer has weathered every crisis. Pubs have always been, and continue to be, a social leveller: a place of welcome and tradition - serving as community hubs, performance spaces, and informal parliaments fuelled by pints and opinions.
But, the last few years have set records for pub closures. Over 15,000 pubs have closed since the year 2000, hundreds last year alone. If closures continue at this rate Britain risks losing a vital part of its soul for good. But perhaps the answer on how to stop what many pub lovers view as a cultural calamity might be found in how they survived the struggles of the past.
Shane Richie dives in to the BBC Archive, discovering why the Victorian pub design is still so beloved, what happened on the night of the last pubs in a neighbourhood razed in the fever of post-war development, and how pubs have evolved to suit new communities as society shifts around them.
SAT 21:00 Understand (m002wj2s)
Rinsed: Omnibus 1
What's happening to our rivers is a real stinker of a scandal. Kate Lamble investigates.
SAT 22:00 News (m002wj2v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 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.
SAT 23:00 The Many Wrongs of Lord Christian Brighty (m0022zj4)
Series 1
4. The Lord I Shot
Brighty’s decision to right a wrong – killing a man in a duel – leads to a bust-up with Babs. Whilst she goes full tilt for revolution, Brighty and Churley are left mentoring a young proto-rake. Will the schism in the gang ever be repaired?
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 Christian Brighty & Amy Greaves
Cast:
Lord Christian Brighty ….. Christian Brighty
Babs ….. Jessica Knappett
Churlington ….. Colin McFarlane
Dowager / Fleetsbee ….. Nimisha Odedra
Monty ….. Joz Norris
Manon ….. Chiara Goldsmith
John ….. David Reed
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 (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!
Questions in today's edition:
Q1 (From Neil Jenkins)
If you took a trip via an Italian lake resort, The Palatine Hill, modern day Thebes, a fictional Caribbean location, and a place of little precipitation, why might you lose your shirt in more than one way?
Q2 (From Andrew Green)
If you start at a port in NE Sardinia, find a suspect’s conditional release, then the Wuhan Institute for example, and, finally, an undergraduate’s aim. What valuable commodity did you lose along the way?
Q3 Music: Which duo might need to combine all of these to create a certain song? (5 clips)
Q4 (From Alan Hay)
Numerically speaking, if you had Gerry from The Falls and Elsie from The Street, the Fawlty Towers builder and Brother Leonard, Lord Summerisle and Willow MacGregor, why might you be out of Luck?
Q5 (From Alan Burnham)
If 6 and 20 might be Strictly permitted,
but too much 23 strictly forbidden if you are in charge of a 19,
and an 11 of 3 would be of interest to the drugs squad,
whose play is found in 18 and 10 ?
Q6 Music:
In this set of 3 tracks, two are looking backwards, but one is looking forwards.
It’s a one way for two, and another for one. We want to know the common thread, and which one would a famous artist suggest you 'keep an eye out' for?"
Q7 (From Ivan Whetton)
If, nominally, Byron’s mathematical daughter has a fondness for decorative fabric, what similarly would be the passions of
a fictional antiques dealer,
a Trumpet-Major and his brother,
and the proponent of the Gaia principle?
Q8 (From Alan Burnham)
Which group of nobles could transform
a Scottish hat into an English river,
anger into the Goddess of peace,
an Egyptian god into a sea monster,
an underground chamber into a Liverpool venue and
ladies’ underwear into a Danish astronomer?
SUNDAY 17 MAY 2026
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002wj2x)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 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 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wj2z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wj31)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002wj33)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wj35)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002wj37)
The church of Saints Patrick and Andrew in Elveden Suffolk
Bells on Sunday comes from the church of Saints Patrick and Andrew in Elveden Suffolk. Originally a medieval church much restored and with major alterations in the early 20th century. In the churchyard is buried Maharajah Duleep Singh the exiled last ruler of the Sikh Empire who lived on the nearby Elveden Estate and died in 1919. The unusual free-standing bell tower houses a ring of eight bells all cast by the Mears and Stainbank foundry of Whitechapel London in 1921. The Tenor weighs seventeen and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E. We now hear them ringing Bristol Surprise Major.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002w5v8)
The RNIB's new CEO, Simon Antrobus
The UK's leading sight loss charity, RNIB, has a new CEO. Simon Antrobus took over the role at the beginning of the year, having spent the majority of his career within the charity sector, including the past ten years leading BBC Children in Need. In Touch speaks with him about the position of the charity's finances, their current recruitment situation, the organisation's priorities of the future and more.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002wjhl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 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
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002wjhn)
The Kids That Took Over the Farm
Back in 2015, before their youngest child had even left school, farmer David McVeigh and his wife Sharon decided to start handing over the reins to their three children, to look after their own enterprises. For On Your Farm, Anna Hill was there to hear what they were undertaking: glamping, organising weddings, starting a cookery school, running their own herd of longhorn cattle, and managing crops on the 450 acres of arable land.
Eleven years on, David says he’s not in charge of the farm anymore, and Anna is back with the family in Suffolk, to hear how they got along.
The journey of the last decade has brought the children closer together through disaster and success, as they figure out how a relatively small farm can support all of them, and their children too.
Presented and produced by Anna Hill.
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002wjhq)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002wjhs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002wjhv)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002wjhx)
Hope Support Services
Comedian Ashley Storrie makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Hope Support Services. The charity supports young people when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness through peer-to-peer support groups, residential trips and family days.
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 ‘Hope Support Services’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Hope Support Services’.
- 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: 1135680. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://hopesupport.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002wjhz)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002wjj1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002wjj3)
Risen, ascended, glorified
From Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, the home of the National Chorus of Wales, this week’s service comes from within the Wales Millennium Centre. The Chorus open the programme with Vaughan Williams’ rousing setting of George Herbert’s Let all the world in every corner sing, and will lead the music throughout the broadcast.
The service is led by the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley, a Methodist minister based in Cardiff, with prayers from the Rev Cathy Gale, Superintendent Minister of the Cardiff Methodist Circuit.
Hymns:
‘Christ whose glory fills the skies’ (C Wesley; tune Ratisbon)
‘Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour’ (Bourne; tune St. Helen’s)
‘Brother, sister let me serve you’ (R Gillard; tune)
'Lord thy Church on earth is seeking’ (H Sherlock; tune Lux Eoi)
SUN 08:48 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 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002wjj5)
Isabella Tree on the Nightingale
Author and conservationist Isabella Tree began inviting friends over to hear nightingales at Knepp, her home and rewilding project in West Sussex, 15 years ago. Nightingales used to be associated with coppiced woodland, but at Knepp they’re thriving in dense, thorny scrub which provides protection for their nests, which they build a foot or so above the ground. Though nightingales are still one of the UK's rarest birds, today Knepp has around 60 singing males a year – around 1% of the UK population.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
This programme features audio recorded by Hazel Reeves at Knepp.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002wjj7)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002wjj9)
Gary O'Donoghue, journalist
Journalist Gary O’Donoghue is the Chief North America Correspondent for BBC News. Last year his coverage of the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump won the Royal Television Society Breaking News Award. He made the news himself in 2025 when he secured a 20-minute exclusive phone interview with Trump who was by then the US President.
Gary was born in London and brought up in Essex. When he was eight he lost his sight and attended specialist schools for blind and partially sighted children. He read philosophy and modern languages at the University of Oxford before embarking on his BBC career.
He has reported on mass shootings, filed stories from the Macedonian border during the Kosovo conflict, covered the Iraq War and chronicled seven British general elections. He became the BBC’s Washington correspondent in 2014 and, as well as Donald Trump’s two terms, has covered the administrations of Presidents Obama and Biden.
Gary is based in Washington DC and when in the UK lives in West Yorkshire with his partner Sarah.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley
Desert Island Discs has cast other journalists away to the island over the years including Lyse Doucet, Clive Myrie and Lindsey Hilsum, You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.
This episode was recorded before the shooting at the White House Correspondent's Dinner on 25th April 2026.
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002wjjc)
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
SUN 12:15 Profile (m002wj2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 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
SUN 12:57 Weather (m002wjjf)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002wjjh)
A look at the week's big stories and preview of the week to come.
SUN 13:30 Currently (m002wj08)
Who’s Winning Muslim Voters?
Following last week’s local elections, it's clear there’s a huge shift happening when it comes to the voting habits of British Muslims across the country.
Why are so many British Muslims moving away from the Labour Party? And are they really all going to the Greens?
Presenter Rima Ahmed returned to her hometown of Harehills in Leeds, once a Labour stronghold, just before the local elections to speak to ordinary Muslim voters about what's important to them.
This episode of Currently... was made by Keiligh Baker. The technical editor was James Beard and the editor was Justine Lang.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002w8cb)
Serge Hill Project
In a special Gardeners’ Question Time episode to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the programme is at the Serge Hill Project, an inspirational garden that promotes working with nature to radically transform people's health and well-being.
Renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, and Tom’s partner, psychiatrist, and psychotherapist Sue Stuart-Smith, join regular panellists Pippa Greenwood, Christine Walkden, and Anne Swithinbank to answer listener questions.
The programme also features a generous and brave final appearance from GQT panellist Matt Biggs.
Matt has been a GQT panellist since 1994, and has been battling cancer for six years. Tragically, Matt’s cancer has now entered its end-stage. Matt wanted to record this programme, knowing it would be his last appearance on Gardeners’ Question Time, surrounded by his longtime friends and GQT colleagues.
Listeners will hear questions answered by the GQT panel of gardening experts, but they will also hear about Matt’s journey from initial diagnosis to his current mental and physical condition. At times Matt’s words are upsetting, raw, and honest, however it is Matt’s wish that his story is told partly as advice for other sufferers and also to serve as inspiration to all listeners.
Producers: Dan Cocker, Matt Smith and Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.
SUN 14:45 One to One (m001mllj)
Dharshini David meets fashion writer Anna Murphy
Are we as obsessed as ever with not looking old? It's six years since US beauty magazine Allure banned the term "anti-ageing" in its publications, and some big cosmetic brands have tried to portray a more positive attitude towards getting older. But with huge demand for so-called "tweakments" like Botox injections, does the "anti-ageing" narrative still dominate? BBC business correspondent Dharshini David and Times fashion director Anna Murphy discuss the culture of the beauty industry and what is driving people's desire to change the way they look.
Produced for BBC Audio in Cardiff by Paul Martin.
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002wjjk)
Milady - Part 3
Milady de Winter is believed dead. But that’s never stopped her before.
Alexandre Dumas’ iconic femme fatale returns in Lucy Catherine’s wicked retelling of the story of the Three Musketeers’ deadliest adversary.
Rescued from the executioner’s blade by her shadowy benefactor Cardinal Richelieu, Milady yearns for a fresh start and the chance to reunite with her long-lost love.
But the Cardinal isn’t done with her yet. He has a new mission for her – one that will propel her into the company of the most dangerous figures in all of Europe.
Milady . . . . . Selin Hizli
Richelieu . . . . . Carl Prekopp
Marie de Medici . . . . . Hattie Morahan
D'Artagnan . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr
Abbé . . . . . Simon Scardifield
Comtesse . . . . . Jasmine Hyde
Priest . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Sound Design: Sharon Hughes, Peter Ringrose, Alison Craig
Directors: Sasha Yevtushenko and Ben Hollands
A BBC Studios production.
SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002wjjm)
Katie Kitamura
The American writer Katie Kitamura speaks about her Booker-shortlisted novel, Audition, and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other literary works.
Audition begins with two people meeting for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. The woman is an accomplished actress and she's meeting a man who is young enough to be her son. But who is he to her, and who is she to him? Two competing narratives unspool and the novel begins to rewrite our understanding of the roles we play every day.
For her three influences Katie, who was a recent finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, chose: Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin from 1967, which was later made into a film directed by Roman Polanski; Tomorrow In The Battle Think Of Me, by Javier Marias, from 1994; and Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant, from 1885.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Round Britain Quiz (m002wjjp)
Wales and Scotland - Third place play-off
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 seventh match is the third place play off between Wales and Scotland.
As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.
You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.
Teams:
Wales - Myfanwy Alexander and Cariad Lloyd
Scotland - Val McDermid and Alan McCredie
Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios Production
Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor and by you, the listeners!
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74nx)
The Irish priest who built an airport
In May 1986, a new airport opened in Knock in the west of Ireland. It was the dream of an Irish priest, Monsignor James Horan, who raised millions to have it built.
The location for the airport seemed impossible – set in the boggy, foggy hills of rural County Mayo.
However, Knock attracts more than a million pilgrims every year, who come to visit the supposed site of an apparition by the Virgin Mary and other saints.
So, Horan convinced politicians that this remote western landscape could host a gateway to the world, and service the pilgrims who come to visit the shrine of Knock.
Pearce Concannon was working at the local Knock Shrine when the airport opened and remembers when Horan asked him to quit his job and become a firefighter at his new airport. He speaks to Colm Flynn.
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: Monsignor James Horan in front of the first plane to arrive at the airport. Credit: Ireland West Airport)
SUN 17:10 Understand (m002t1dj)
How Reading Made Us
3. How Reading Made Our Politics
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 episode James digs into the question of whether literacy led to the invention of democracy, asks whether reading helps us proof ourselves against misinformation, and asks what happens to our politics if reading dies out?
Contributors include
- Jung Chang, author
- Robert Darnton, historian
- Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University
- Naomi Alderman, writer and presenter
- John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter for the Financial Times
- Nick Harris, ideas editor at the New Statesman
- Professor Maryanne Wolf, Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA
Producer - Beth Sagar-Fenton
Editors - Chris Ledgard & Alasdair Cross
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002wjjs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002wjjv)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wjjx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002wjjz)
Viji Alles
This week, we're hearing the revolutionary optimism that many have found in the song I Can See Clearly Now, and how the living can find peace amongst the dead in graveyards. Alan Dein squeezes into a photobooth as it celebrates its centenary, and more than 100 years later from their first broadcast, nightingales are crooning on the Today programme in memory of cellist Beatrice Harrison.
Presenter: Viji Alles
Producer: Anthony McKee
Editor: Steven Hobson
Production Coordinators: Finlay McMaster and Sylvie Conway
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
Programmes featured in this episode include:
Soul Music: I Can See Clearly Now
Artworks: A Century In A Click: 100 Years of the Photobooth
Take Four Books: Amitav Ghosh
Radical with Amol Rajan: Rivers Are Dying, So Give Them Rights
The Briefing Room: Are we still going to Mars?
Woman's Hour, 13/05: Parental domestic homicide
Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer - 1945 and 1914: Germany in a Nutshell
Beyond Belief: One foot in the graveyard
This Week in History: May 11th to May 17th
Today, 11/05: Simon Lee and singing with nightingales
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002wj02)
Leonard presses his case, and Kirsty shares some news.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002wjk1)
Tarot and the Art of Creativity
“Each one of us, we’re a constant radio station communicating and receiving. It’s just that we’re not taught how to read, how to interpret the energies and intuitions we pick up. The tarot card is a really important component in this… " Ben Okri
Tarot cards are rich in visual symbolism and the stories they tell help people make sense of the ups and downs of human experience. They’ve been around for hundreds of years - from simple card games to fortune-telling, divination tools, the occult and intuitive storytelling.
In this episode of Illuminated, we join four artists at their private readings to hear how tarot is part of their creative practice.
The Queen of Wands: Comedian and writer Jessica Knappett drives to Harrogate to meet Carla Greenwood who has news of an ominous block in her work.
Madame Sosostris: Writer Ben Okri has borrowed ‘the wisest women in Europe’ as a character for his latest novel. Where did she come from?
Five of Coins: Musician, writer and actress Lola Kirke is about to go on stage in Manchester. Jen Cownie asks her if the Five of Coins card tells a story about feeling like an outsider.
Pentacles: Poet and generative intelligence designer Adam Martin is embarking on a new project. Is he on the right path?
With Ben Okri, Jessica Knappett, Adam Martin, Lola Kirke, Jen Cownie, Carla Greenwood and Diane Whiteley.
Editor.............................. Ross Burman
Producer......................... Alexandra Quinn
Executive Producer......... Kris Dyer
A Rakkit production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001qm8t)
Have a Cup of Tea
Michael gets cosy with a cuppa to find out how drinking tea can boost your heart health, reduce stress and may even benefit your bones! With the help of Professor Andrew Steptoe, Head of Behavioural Science at University College London, Michael learns the surprising benefits of ordinary tea. They discuss the benefits of bioactive compounds in tea, including L-theanine and polyphenols. A tasty brew can not only help you recover from stress, it can even benefit your heart health and reduce inflammation…Meanwhile, our volunteer Kit enjoys adding more tea to her life.
New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB
Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:00 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
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002w8cg)
Ruth Slenczynska, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, Tony Worthington, Russell Tyner KC
The virtuoso pianist, Ruth Slenczynska was the last living student of Sergei Rachmaninoff. She began performing at the age of four, and was once reputed to be the greatest child prodigy since Mozart.
From the Australian outback to the forefront of British science, Dame Bridget Ogilvie was the daughter of sheep farmers who went on to help make the UK a leader in biomedical research.
Labour MP, Tony Worthington, survived a violent ambush in Somaliland and played a role in the Northern Ireland peace talks.
Crown prosecutor, Russel Tyner KC, was a pioneer in the prosecution of cyber-crime.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Assistant Producer: Lowri Morgan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Andrea Kennedy
Archive:
BBC News, 12/01/2019; BBC, Hunting the Lorry Killers, 03/11/202; BBC, Eureka, 08/01/1997; BBC, Newsnight, 25/10/1999; BBC, Current Account, 16/10/1979; BBC, Reporting Scotland, 11/02/1994; BBC, Newsline, 06/05/1997; BBC, Panorama, 18/03/2003
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002wj1f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002wjhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002wj15)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002wjk3)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 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
Reading list:
C.M. Daniels, The Garamantes of Southern Libya (Oleander Press, 1970)
C. Duckworth, A. Cuénod and D.J. Mattingly (eds), Mobile Technologies in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond (Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 4, Cambridge University Press, 2020)
M.C. Gatto, D.J. Mattingly, N. Ray and M. Sterry (eds), Burials, Migration and Identity in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond (Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 2019)
R.B. Hitchner (ed.), A Companion to North Africa in Antiquity (Wiley-Blackwell, 2020), especially ‘Beyond barbarians: the Garamantes of the Libyan Sahara’ by D.J. Mattingly
D.J. Mattingly, Between Sahara and Sea: Africa in the Roman Empire (Michigan University Press, 2023)
D.J. Mattingly (ed.), The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 1, Synthesis (Society for Libyan Studies, 2003)
D.J. Mattingly (ed.), The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 2, Site Gazetteer, Pottery and other Survey Finds (Society for Libyan Studies, 2007)
D.J. Mattingly (ed.), The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 3, Excavations Carried out by C.M. Daniels (Society for Libyan Studies, 2010)
D.J. Mattingly (ed.), The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 4, Survey and Excavations at Old Jarma (Ancient Garama) Carried out by C. M. Daniels (1962–69) and the Fazzan Project (1997–2001) (Society for Libyan Studies, 2013)
D.J. Mattingly, V. Leitch, C.N. Duckworth, A. Cuénod, M. Sterry and F. Cole (eds), Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond (Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 2017)
D. Mattingly, S. McLaren, E. Savage, Y. Fasatwi and K. Gadgood (eds), The Libyan Desert: Natural Resources and Cultural Heritage (Society for Libyan Studies, 2006), especially ‘The Garamantes: The First Libyan state’ by D. Mattingly
P. Mitchell and P. Lane (eds), The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology (Oxford University Press, 2013), especially ‘Roman Africa and the Sahara’ by A. Leone and F. Moussa
M. Sterry and D.J. Mattingly (eds), State Formation and Urbanisation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Some of these books are available for free from Open Access Books: British Institute for Libyan & Northern African Studies
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 (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.
MONDAY 18 MAY 2026
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002wjk5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 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 Khartoum to see how life is slowly returning to the battered city.
Reporter: Mohanad Hashim
Producer: Alex Last
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002wj37)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wjk7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wjk9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:00 News Summary (m002wjkc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Last Word (m002w8cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wjkf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002wjkh)
How not to make an argument
Good Morning.
Recently, after giving feedback, I was told 'you’re extremely judgemental'. And I said, 'yes, that’s probably true; all of us are at least a little judgemental'. Over the years I’ve worked hard to become less so because I know that the key to developing positive relationships requires awareness and sensitivity to how I interact with other human beings.
All around us are issues causing rifts between families, neighbours, and friends. Recently I heard two callers on a phone-in discussion shouting over each other. There was no civility, no consideration, just shouting. Questions felt like accusations—judgemental, not curious. I thought, how terribly sad. How can we hope to live alongside each other if we can’t even take the time to listen?
The Sages taught:
'Who is wise? One who learns from every human being, as it is said in Psalms "From all my teachers I grow wise"'.
I love this quote because it reminds me that every person has something to teach me. Every single person. They might teach me how to make a better argument—or how NOT to make an argument. They might teach me how to ask better questions. And, sometimes, they might even teach me a thing or two about myself.
May we all learn to enter each conversation from a place of curiosity and compassion, and may we come away having been enriched by the encounter with another human being.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002wjkk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:57 Weather (m002wjkm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002whzf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002whzh)
Farming, food production and rural life
What is the future of farming and rural life? Adam Rutherford hosts Radio 4's discussion programme which starts the week, asking about the future of food production and the communities that support it.
Minette Batters was the first female president of the National Farmers’ Union. Born and raised on the family farm that she took over running, she became a committed advocate for the UK farming industry. UK agriculture has faced challenges from Brexit, Covid as well as international conflict and energy crises. Her new book, Harvest, part memoir and manifesto, makes a case for how and why we must rally to support British farming and rural life.
Dave Goulson is Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex. Modern, intensive farming systems producing pesticide-laced foods at scale, he says, are bad for us and bad for the planet. He believes that it is time to change the way we produce food today, making the case for sustainable agriculture. In Eat the Planet Well he argues that consumers can lead this change, even where governments fail to act.
Melissa Harrison has written columns, nature diaries, a series of novels and non fiction books including All Among the Barley, Rain and At Hawthorn Time, and a book for children. Her latest novel, The Given World, is a portrait of rural society, village life and the English countryside which explores a way of life, exploring social tension and the rhythms of the natural world.
Producer: Ruth Watts
Assistant Producer: Emily Channon
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002whzk)
Community connections
The Refugee Buddy Project helps families and individuals from refugee backgrounds. The charity's founder Rossana Leal, tells Rachel Burden about how her experience of fleeing Chile in the 80s inspired her to help others coming to the UK.
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 (m002whzm)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m0020xv8)
Sobanan
Sobanan was struggling to manage his money at university, and got involved in dealing small amounts of cannabis to fellow students to top up his income.
A bright, likeable young man, his business-mind allowed him to scale the operation. But it came crashing down when the police discovered what was going on.
Sobanan was sent to prison, where he experienced shocking living conditions. But he also found ways to thrive and remain safe, using his charm and his sharp mind.
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 Sobanan, we learn about a man with an astonishing ability to ignore risk and threat – an ability that led him to fall foul of the law.
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 (m002whzp)
1930: Democracy to Dictatorship
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 coalition need the Nazi party, and Hitler negotiates control over the Ministry of the Interior (civil service and policing) and the Ministry of Education (schools and cultures). Wilhelm Frick becomes their first Nazi minister – he is sworn in in Weimar.
Meanwhile circumstances for ordinary Germans is increasingly hard. Homelessness and unemployment are rife. Carl Weirich is desperately trying to stabilise his mortgage payments and to feed his family. Reparations are having a devastating effect on Germany.
Meanwhile Frick’s sojourn in parliament is incendiary but effective. He removes opponents of the Nazi Party from public office, replacing them with his own loyalists, and does the same with professions of standing (Doctors and Police). He oversees the police standing back when Nazi troops ambush left-wing protests in the streets. The central government attempts to push back, but to no avail. Frick then goes after culture – ensuring that only ultra conservatives programme the arts 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.
MON 12:00 News Summary (m002whzr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002whzt)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m002whzw)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m002whzy)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
MON 13:45 Understand (m002wj00)
Rinsed
6. The Lion's Cage
As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002wj02)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m002wj04)
Series 7
3. Love and Affection
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return as the loving, long-married couple, in the 7th series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy.
This week, Joanna's friend, Paula's, Alzheimer's worsens and a heartbroken Joanna goes to help move her into a hospice. But Joanna's attempts to comfort grieving husband Ray confuse him.
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 One to One (m001mt3l)
Dharshini David meets cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting
Are we as obsessed as ever with not wanting to look old? And does the beauty industry respond to or fuel that desire?
BBC business correspondent Dharshini David and cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting discuss people's motivation for wanting beauty treatments and procedures, the way advertising has changed over the years, and the ethics of the industry.
Produced for BBC Audio in Cardiff by Paul Martin.
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002wj06)
Ade Edmondson on singer Sandy Denny
Ade Edmondson - star of The Young Ones, The Comic Strip Presents, Bottom and much more besides - chooses the singer Sandy Denny.
"I think a large part of my Englishness comes from Sandy Denny," he says of the singer perhaps best known for her work with Fairport Convention.
The programme includes archive of Richard Thompson, Mick Houghton and Sandy herself, plus help from Patrick Humphries, who interviewed Sandy Denny shortly before her early death aged just 31.
The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde
MON 15:30 The History Podcast (m002wlk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Saturday]
MON 16:00 Currently (m002wj08)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002wj0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002wj0g)
Full coverage of the day's news
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wj0l)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002wj0q)
Series 33
4. Advertising, The Beatles, Theatre and Underwear
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.
Henning Wehn, Holly Walsh, Miles Jupp and Lucy Porter are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as advertising, The Beatles, theatre and underwear.
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 (m002wj0v)
Brad struggles to set boundaries, and Carol digs her heels in.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002wj0z)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002w623)
Ten years of The Briefing Room
It's ten years since the Briefing Room was first transmitted in May 2016. And what a decade it's been. To mark the tenth anniversary the programme looks at the biggest changes at home and abroad since that momentous day in British broadcasting. We’ve had Brexit, a pandemic, the Gaza war, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump - twice. It is hard to remember such a time. So David Aaronovitch's three expert guests will help him answer the question: are we even the same people as we were back then?
Guests:
Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King’s College London
Bronwen Maddox, Director and CEO, Chatham House
Meg Russell, Professor of British and Comparative Politics in the Department of Political Science at University College London.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight, Sally Abrahams
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977l)
The science behind hantavirus
Following three deaths linked to the deadly hantavirus disease on a cruise ship this month, the scientific community is racing to answer the many unknown questions surrounding the outbreak.
Tom Whipple speaks to Dr Emma Hodcroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Basel and co-founder of Pathoplexus, an online database of pathogen genomes, to explore what the new hantavirus genomic sequences can tell us.
He also hears from Dr Nicole Luri, Executive Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response from the NGO The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), to hear what steps would be taken if the hantavirus strain had the potential to become a pandemic, and how far their "100 days" mission has come.
With less than a month until the men’s football World Cup kicks off in the United States, Canada and Mexico, there are warnings from climate scientists that football’s global governing body FIFA needs to do more to combat the risks from the high temperatures both players and fans are expected to face. We speak to Dr Theodore Keeping from the World Weather Attribution team at Imperial College London to hear about the predicted conditions and the concerns they are raising.
Plus, mathematician Kit Yates from the University of Bath brings us his pick of the week’s science news you might have missed, including new hearing technology that might help you follow conversations in rowdy parties.
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002whzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002whzk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002wj14)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002wj18)
The Letter Box
A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
After years in and out of the care system Ursula is finally getting on her feet when a shocking discovery threatens to derail her.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
MON 23:00 Limelight (m001nh1w)
Bitter Pill
1. Fight or Flight
An audio drama series about memory and trauma.
After a traumatic car crash, Mary joins a clinical drug trial that promises a cure for PTSD. The medication triggers intense flashbacks of the accident that left her fiancée comatose. But is Mary simply remembering the event, or reliving it? And if she is actually returning to the past, does that mean she can change her future?
Cast:
Mary ….. Séainín Brennan
Jackie ….. Charlotte McCurry
Carl ……. Shaun Blaney
Barista ….. Christopher Grant
Board Member ….. Richard Croxford
Warren ….. Martin McCann
All other roles were played by the cast and crew.
Writers ….. Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney
Producer ….. Michael Shannon
Executive Editor ….. Andy Martin
Music composed by Denis Clohessy.
Sound Design by Bill Maul.
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002wj1d)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 19 MAY 2026
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002wj1j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002whzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wj1n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wj1s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002wj1x)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002wj21)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wj25)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002wj29)
Slugs
Good morning.
Recently I was annoyed to see a large slug sliding across my kitchen windowsill. My plants had been nibbled and slimed and I was not amused. Tossing the slug outside, I closed all access routes. Then I noticed near the original spot, four other slugs—a slug family!— the tiniest less than a centimetre long. Feeling guilty for my treatment of the largest slug, I gently placed the others on a safe surface outside. Come morning, they were gone.
These gastropods brought me back to my science teaching days when I gave sea snails to my year-9 students to study. These young people lived by the ocean yet never noticed the small creatures right under their noses. As they sketched and recorded their observations, one group sang to their snails, discovering that some melodies caused the snails to retreat while others encouraged the animals to emerge and explore. Replaying this scene in my mind, I smiled. Just as I’d taught my students to slow down and really see their snails, my windowsill slugs had taught me to pay attention to the small details.
In the book of Psalms we read: 'Teach us to treasure each day, that we may open our hearts to Your wisdom'.
Many of us may be so busy rushing from one task to the next that everyday wonders and blessings slip away.
Let us treasure each day, and find blessings in the small things, that we open to wonder and wisdom.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002wj2f)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 06:00 Today (m002wj61)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Gift (m002wd8x)
Series 3
3. Fathers
Technology catches up with sperm donors in ways they could never have imagined.
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 (m002wj65)
The show with the latest evidence on psychology, mental health and neuroscience.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002wj69)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002w8cs)
Spoofs
The anarchic comedian, writer and filmmaker Mel Brooks turns 100 years old this June. Across a career spanning more than seven decades, Brooks has turned cinematic satire into an art form, through razor-sharp spoofs like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs.
But while these films are now acclaimed as all-time comedy classics, the broader genre of the spoof has often struggled for respectability. Not least Scary Movie - one of the most commercially successful film franchises of recent years, despite widespread critical panning.
With Scary Movie 6 on the horizon, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode ask - what makes for a truly great movie spoof?
Critic and Screenshot regular Anne Billson talks Ellen through a selection of spoofs, from classic Hollywood-era films from the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope, to the parody boom of the 2000s, including films like Date Movie and Epic Movie.
Mark talks to David Zucker - one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker Abrahams Zucker -about the landmark disaster spoof Airplane!, and why he believes the recent attempt to revive the team’s hit The Naked Gun series missed the mark.
And Ellen speaks to Keenen Ivory Wayans, the creative force behind the Wayans entertainment dynasty, and the director of a string of spoofs, including I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Scary Movie - about why he feels his films have been misunderstood.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wj6f)
1932: Flying Flags
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.
Despite the economic stress Germany is under, Weimar is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Goethe. The town is alive with all things Goethe – busts and postcards are sold, Goethe cake is eaten and people can go to the theatre to see Goethe plays. The Nazis seize the opportunity to take Goethe for themselves – to make him an emblem not of globalism, but of all things German.
The Nazi party becomes the largest party for the first time – getting 33% of the vote. And, despite Hindenburg’s resistance, being leader of the biggest party, Hitler navigates opposition to become Chancellor of the Reichstag. The Weirich's listen to the broadcast on their new Seibt radio.
Jews in Weimar are doing their best to show they are patriotic Germans. Jewish shop owners fly the flag of the republic, but SA troops tear them down. Investigations into ancestry to identify Jews begin, and baptismal registers are checked. Forced sterilisation begins in Weimar.
After Hitler assumes office, 38 million people vote for Hitler to have total power transferred to himself.
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 (m002wj6l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002wj6r)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m002wj6x)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002wj71)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
TUE 13:45 Understand (m002wj75)
Rinsed
7. The Eureka Moment
As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002wj0v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002wj79)
Trimerous
Episode One: The Wilful Miss Willmott
Three-petal flowers, known as 'trimerous' flowers, are distinct from the conventional floral structure of radial symmetry. They break the mould.
Trimerous is a two-part drama from writer and horticulturalist, Kamal Kaan celebrating the remarkable stories of three great British female horticulturalists, Gertrude Jekyll, Ellen Willmott and Beatrix Potter. Their colourful stories are drawn from factual research, intertwined with a present-day narrative set at the Chelsea Flower Show and featuring a cameo appearance from the much-loved horticulturalist, Carol Klein.
Episode 1: The Wilful Miss Willmott
Romantic. Rebellious. Revolutionary - the true story of the unbelievable life of Ellen Willmott, who goes from riches to rags. 1897, Ellen Willmott, at the peak of her career, is a leading horticulturalist. The RHS panel is waiting to award the gold medal to Ellen, the first woman to win it. To everyone's surprise, she's absent. But why?
Cast in order of appearance:
Gertrude Jekyll.....................................................Juliet Stevenson
Iris Setosa / Rose Willmott..............................Amy-Leigh Hickman
Carol Klein.............................................................Carol Klein
Hussain Malik / Sir Trevor................................Arian Nik
Jane Setosa Malik / Georgiana Tufnell.......Tessa Parr
Ellen Willmott.......................................................Anna Tolstoy
Richard / Mount Stephen................................Dan Parr
Frederick Willmott..............................................Wayne Forester
Mrs Ellen Willmott..............................................Rachel Bavidge
Princess Mary.......................................................Thomas McKeon
Servant Gardener................................................James Lewis
Other voices provided by members of the cast.
Written by Kamal Kaan
Original music by Louis Rost, featuring violin played by Daniel Garvin
Sound Design by Alisdair McGregor
Directed by Kamal Kaan and Sally Harrison
Produced by Sally Harrison
A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (p0mq472g)
Wat Tyler and the Peasants’ Revolt
For six days in thirteen eighty-one, Wat Tyler a mysterious, charismatic figure appears to hold the balance of power in England. Fired by a vision of social equality, he leads a peasants' revolt that threatens to overturn the ruling order.
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 (m002wj7m)
The Gospel according to Bob
The Gospel According to Dylan. Sixty years ago, Bob Dylan was on stage at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester when a fan shouted "Judas!" from the audience. Giles is joined by Michael Gray, and writer, poet, philosopher, priest, and blues-singer, Malcolm Guite to discuss the spiritual side of Bob Dylan. He also speaks to Gospel legend, Regina McCrary about touring with Dylan at the height of his Christian period.
Producers: Katharine Longworth and Peter Everett
TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002wj7p)
Mother: 100 years of Martha Graham Dance
Martha Graham is known as the Mother of modern dance - but would she have wanted that title? 100 years after she started her company, Kelly Windsor Burgin traces the life and legacy of America's greatest cultural revolutionary and asks whether she still has something to say to us today.
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002wj7r)
Why do we get hay fever?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, they turn their attention to hay fever. What is it, why do so many of us get it, and is it getting worse? They break down what’s happening in the body, how to tell it apart from a cold, and why timing matters when it comes to treatment. They also explore what actually works to manage symptoms, and what doesn’t.
To help them get to the root of it, they’re joined by Stephen Till, Professor of Allergy at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and King's College London.
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
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Grace Revill
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
TUE 17:00 PM (m002wj7t)
Full coverage of the day's news
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wj7w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m002wj7y)
Series 4
1. Mozart vs A Screaming Goat
Frank Skinner and guests Dee Allum, Pierre Novellie, Zoe Lyons and Hasan Al-Habib discuss the tactics of Genghis Khan, the ethics of mousetraps and the morals of forgetting to wear trousers. Also, Swedish sheep wagons.
Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own. So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!
Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche
Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002wj81)
Adam pushes forward with his plan, and Leonard checks in.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002wj83)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002wj85)
News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002wj87)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002wj89)
Insight and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world.
TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002wj06)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:00 on Monday]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002wj8c)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002wj8f)
The Garage
A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
Ursula has resolved to come clean about the shocking events at the Underwood, but is anybody ready to hear the truth?
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m002wj8h)
Cold Cases
Case 7: Spring-heeled Jack
Danny Robins and the team unpack a terrifying mystery that has remained unsolved for almost 200 years - Spring-heeled Jack.
The demonic character stalked the streets of Victorian England at night, reportedly slashing his victims with sharp claws, breathing blue-white fire, and evading the police by making impossible leaps over rooftops.
But was he a real person, a supernatural entity, or the product of mass hysteria?
Presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Evelyn Hollow and Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe
Story sections by Tom Neenan
Research by Nancy Bottomley and John West
Filming and editing by Robb Leech
Editing and sound design by Charlie Brandon-King
Theme music by Katherine Priddy
Theme co-produced by Jennifer Ann Keller
Incidental music by Evelyn Sykes
Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
Produced by Simon Barnard and Victoria Lloyd
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002wj8k)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 20 MAY 2026
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002wj8m)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wj6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wj8p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wj8r)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:00 News Summary (m002wj8t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002wj8w)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wj8y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002wj90)
Stars
Good morning.
I have two powerful memories of looking up at the sky. The first was at night in the New Hampshire mountains. Leaving our campfire, I lay down in a depression in the rocks and beheld a wide-angle view of the heavens. Lost in that sight, I suddenly felt like I was falling into the sky and reflexively grabbed onto the rock around me. Reassured of being safely nestled there, I relaxed and lay in awe of the beauty.
My other memory also took place in the mountains. I was in my tent and felt nature’s call. But, the wind howled and whipped through my fragile shelter. I was too terrified to get up and go where I needed to, and I sat, frozen in fear. As my needs became more urgent, I crawled outside, slowly stood and looked up. There, above, was a sky full of stars. And I realised that even as the wind threatened to blow me and the tent away, the stars remained in place just as they always had. The universe continued just as it always had.
In Jewish prayer, we acknowledge the Creator whose 'word brings on the evening, whose wisdom opens Heaven’s gates, whose understanding changes times and seasons, and whose will sets the stars in their courses in the sky'.
May we remind ourselves that whatever difficulties we may face in life, there are things that remain beautiful and constant. By opening our eyes to behold them, they can pull us back to the grandeur and wonder of creation and the world.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002wj92)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 06:00 Today (m002wjl9)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m002wjlc)
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life.
WED 09:30 Intrigue (m002wjlf)
To Catch a King
2. The Bullet Train
A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.
They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.
Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social media posts advertising his crossings and lifestyle. Their search takes them across Europe and to the Middle East, where they discover a network of powerful smugglers operating from a town in Northern Iraq.
It’s two years since Sue and Rob located a gang leader in their podcast Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion and the illegal business of migrant journeys is more dangerous and ruthless than before.
Their investigation reveals the inner mechanics of the smuggling trade and shows in close focus the people who currently control it as they search for a kingpin behind dangerous crossings to the UK by boat and lorry.
A secret meeting, a missing person and a worried family. Who is the man connecting them?
The series is recorded and presented by Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie
It’s produced by Joel Moors
Original music is by Mom Tudie and Sound design and mix is by Tom Brignell
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002wjlh)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002wj85)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002wjlk)
May 18th to May 24th
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
23 May 1618 - Second Defenestration of Prague leads to the Thirty Years War
24th May 1844 - first telegraph message sent
21st May 1780 - Elizabeth Fry is born
WED 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wjlm)
1935 and 1936: The Shine of Nazism Wears Thin
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 military barracks are being built on the Ettersburg, as Hitler prepares for the reintroduction of conscription. The Death’s Head Unit the SS arrive in Weimar. And their commander has ideas about how to use the concentration camp – previously used only to hold political dissidents – for racial hygiene. The status of being ‘Jew’ is defined legally for the first time. The Schmidt’s have to work extremely hard to keep their heritage a secret.
For Carl Weirich the shine of Nazism is starting to wear off. The Nazi government is only awarding contracts to Nazi party memberships, so his work for the Bookbinders association is threatened. But at school his son is taught that the greatest form of fraternal love is ‘death for the fatherland’.
A young Weimarian woman is held against her will and sterilised because she is deemed to be schizophrenic – despite no prior record of mental disturbance.
The first hall of the People’s Community is built in Weimar, and the park at the centre of Weimar is ripped up to build Adolf Hitler’s square.
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 (m002wjlp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002wjlr)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m002wjlt)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m002wjlw)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
WED 13:45 Understand (m002wjly)
Rinsed
8. Sorry?
As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002wj81)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002wjm0)
Trimerous
Episode Two: The Persistent Miss Potter
Three-petal flowers, known as 'trimerous' flowers, are distinct from the conventional floral structure of radial symmetry. They break the mould.
Trimerous is a two-part drama from writer and horticulturalist, Kamal Kaan celebrating the remarkable stories of three great British female horticulturalists, Gertrude Jekyll, Ellen Willmott and Beatrix Potter. Their colourful stories are drawn from factual research, intertwined with a present-day narrative set at the Chelsea Flower Show and featuring a cameo appearance from the much-loved horticulturalist, Carol Klein.
Episode 2: The Persistent Miss Potter
(1866 - 1942) This is Beatrix Potter's origin story. Beatrix finds her voice in a patriarchal society - rising from rejection to international success. 1887: A young Potter is fascinated by fungi. Their ephemeral qualities stimulate her fantastical imagination. Perceived as an eternal child, she's determined to forge a career as a mycologist. Continually ousted by the elitists, despite her groundbreaking discoveries, she uses this to fuel her ambition in creating her children's stories.
Cast in order of appearance:
Gertrude Jekyll....................................................Juliet Stevenson
Iris Setosa / Rose Willmott............................Amy-Leigh Hickman
Hussain Malik / Rupert Potter......................Arian Nik
Beatrix Potter......................................................Manjinder Virk
Helen Potter........................................................Rachel Bavidge
Charles McIntosh / John Everett Millais...Wayne Forester
Rabbit.....................................................................Kamal Kaan
Henry Roscoe / William Heelis.....................Dan Parr
Ellen Willmott......................................................Anna Tolstoy
Jane Setosa Malik.............................................Tessa Parr
Carol Klein...........................................................Carol Klein
Other voices provided by members of the cast.
Written by Kamal Kaan
Original music by Louis Rost, featuring violin played by Daniel Garvin
Sound Design by Alisdair McGregor
Directed by Kamal Kaan and Sally Harrison
Produced by Sally Harrison
A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002wjm2)
The latest news from the world of personal finance
WED 15:30 The Friendly Virus (m002wjm4)
Our antibiotics are failing us. In 2025, the UK Government said antibiotic resistance (AMR) contributes to more than 35 thousand deaths each year in the UK. Emergency doctors say they are losing patients on a regular basis when they run out of ways to treat them.
Antibiotics have saved countless lives, but alongside them, there is another unlikely sounding ally in this fight. Viruses, so small that they can attack and kill the bacteria causing these devastating infections. They are called Bacteriophages, or phages for short. There are more of them than any other commonly occurring natural entity on the planet. And we could be about to see doctors using them on very ill patients in the UK.
The thing is scientists have studied bacteriophages for nearly a century. They are used routinely in other countries, and science journalist Marnie Chesterton has been following this story for nearly a decade. There is promise, but there are problems. So why, suddenly, is phage all the rage?
Presented by Marnie Chesterton
Produced in Cardiff by Clare Salisbury
WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002wjm6)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002wjm8)
This is the programme about a revolution in media.
WED 17:00 PM (m002wjmb)
Full coverage of the day's news
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wjmd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002wjmg)
Ian Smith Is Stressed - Series 2
1. Community
Ian Smith is back on his quest for calm. In this episode, Ian is going through one of the most stressful life experiences... moving house. Is he middle class now? How can he keep in touch with his friends? And just how much damage can an entire chickpea cause? Let’s find out together in Ian Smith is Stressed.
Written and performed by Ian Smith
Additional Material from Mike Shephard and Rhiannon Shaw
Featuring Stuart Laws
Assistant Producer - Em Humble
Production Manager - Laura Shaw
Produced by Benjamin Sutton
A Daddy’s SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m002wjmk)
Den plans a surprise for Brad, and Akram seeks support.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002wjmm)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002w8c2)
Queerbaiting
Harry Styles' new music video prompts allegations of queerbaiting: some say he's appropriating queer culture to sell his music; others argue it's a welcome rewriting of the rules of masculinity. We explore what queerbaiting means, where the term came from, and ask whether it's ever OK to accuse an individual of doing it. The allegation has been levelled at a range of stars, films and TV shows - we take a look at some high-profile examples. Plus, why is there such a large female audience for gay male romance?
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Production team: Annabel Deas, Simon Tulett and Ellie House
Studio manager: Jack Wilfan
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy
WED 20:45 Human Intelligence (m002751w)
Series 1
Collectors: Charles Darwin
Darwin asked big questions. His theory of evolution transformed our understanding of life on Earth. But Naomi Alderman discovers that he did it by looking at small things and tiny changes that other people had overlooked. From earliest childhood, he’d been a collector – pocketing shells, coins, minerals, bits of pottery and rooftiles – and his travels on HMS Beagle allowed him to amass a vast collection of specimens and observations that he and others would puzzle over for decades.
Special thanks to Dr John van Wyhe, historian of science at the National University of Singapore and the Director of The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online.
Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.
Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive editor: James Cook
Assistant producer: Sarah Goodman
Researcher: Harry Burton
Production coordinator: Amelia Paul
Script consultant: Sara Joyner
WED 21:00 The Gift (m002wd8x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 All in the Mind (m002wj65)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002wjmq)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002wjms)
Bad Seeds
A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
With no word from Sue, Ursula finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being taken in by her missing friend's family.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
WED 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m001ptjv)
Sarah Keyworth: Are You a Boy or a Girl? S2
2: 'Think of the children'
In this episode, Sarah discusses why our brain's initial response to a new person is to instinctively work out what they gender they are. Is this because we are taught to do it as children? To help Sarah analyse why they think this is the case, they look back on their own childhood which includes a vivid memory of being on a beach in France with a man selling donuts - the baked goods, not the inflatable rings.
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 (m002wjmv)
Series 16
Episode 5
Jon Holmes brings you the week's biggest stories like you've never heard them before.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002wjmx)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 21 MAY 2026
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002wjmz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wjlm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wjn1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wjn3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:00 News Summary (m002wjn5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002wjn7)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wjn9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002wjnc)
Trees
Good Morning.
I’ve been adapting to life after a broken knee—twice—and have finally stopped fighting with my crutches. But the greatest challenge has been my absolute reliance on other people. I can be stubbornly independent, and it took this recent mishap to drive home how important it is to have other people in my life.
Some might view needing others as weakness. I see it as a strength, especially when we actively learn to rely on each other. This idea was reinforced for me in reading the work of Suzanne Simard, a scientist born into a logging family in the Pacific Northwest, who spent over 30 years researching trees and connections between and within species. Dr. Simard proved how trees look after each other-even nurturing more vulnerable saplings - through the relationships they have with fungi that live on and around the roots. A lone tree cannot thrive like a tree surrounded by 'relatives' and other species. And it will die without the nutrients that fungi help supply.
The Rabbis teach 'that if not for the trees, human life could not exist'. I think this is not just about oxygen. Trees teach us that we need each other to thrive. Human beings do not do as well on their own as they do when they are in relationship with each other.
May we not need the lesson of a broken knee, but only look to the trees, to realise just how much we need each other to flourish.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002wjnf)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 06:00 Today (m002wkhn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002wkhq)
The Levellers
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the group which came to be known as the Levellers and emerged during what would become arguably one of the bloodiest and most turbulent periods of English history. After the First English Civil War, the Levellers started calling for reforms to achieve legal and social equality. They pushed for a new constitution, extended franchise, popular sovereignty, and religious toleration. To do this, the Levellers pioneered the use of pamphlets and petitions, as well as taking to the streets in their thousands to demonstrate wearing their signature sea-green ribbons and sprigs of rosemary. To some they were radical, and to others not radical enough. Though the Leveller movement itself may have been short-lived, the arguments that they made have both inspired and challenged generations since.
With
Teresa Bejan
Professor of Political Theory and Fellow of Oriel College, University of Oxford
Ted Vallance
Professor of History and Dean of Research and Doctoral Study at the University of Roehampton
And
Clare Jackson
Honorary Professor of Early Modern History and Walter Grant Scott Fellow in History at Trinity Hall, 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 (m002wkhs)
Armando Iannucci and guests decode the utterly baffling world of political language.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002wkhv)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002wkhx)
George Saunders
Booker Prize-winning American author George Saunders talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences.
THU 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wkhz)
1937-1938: Darkness
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.
1937, the construction of Buchenwald concentration camp begins in earnest. An argument over the name breaks out with the town of Weimar objecting to the name being linked so closely to German classism.
The sign for Buchenwald ‘To Each What He Deserves’ is designed by ex-Bauhaus student, Franz Erlich - an inmate of the concentration camp.
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.
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 (m002wkj1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002wkj3)
The Knock at the Door
A roofer's at your door - they've spotted a couple of loose tiles and they can fix them straight away. It's only a quick job. Would you know what to do?
Almost all of the scams we've dissected so far have been done remotely - on the phone, by text or online. But what if the criminal is standing right in front of you - perhaps even inside your home? That's what the Scam Secrets team are looking at in this episode. Because while criminals have embraced the digital world and AI, they'll still steal from you face to face too - and many of the techniques are the same.
We hear from Jane, who got one of those knocks on the door from a 'roofer' - before long, she'd had thousands of pounds stolen by criminals who even used a fake video of birds on her roof to try to steal more.
It's not just rogue traders though - who can resist helping someone in need? We'll hear what happens when a man approaches people at a motorway service station with a simple-sounding request for help...
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002wkj5)
Food Containers
Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims.
THU 12:57 Weather (m002wkj7)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m002wkj9)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
THU 13:45 Understand (m002wkjc)
Rinsed
9. Vultures
As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002wjmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002wkjf)
Nanny
Nanny is a play with songs about female friendship, ambition and the realities of modern caregiving.
Set over six weeks at a stay-and-play toddler group, it follows actor-nannies Amy and Leanne as they juggle demanding employers, financial instability and dwindling creative opportunities, while attempting to build a comedy double act.
Episodic in structure, the piece explores the tension between nurturing other people’s children and sustaining your own ambitions, asking what it means to “grow up” when life hasn’t unfolded as expected. As pressures mount — from work, relationships and the question of motherhood — their partnership is tested.
The radio version of the debut play for stage, written by actors Alana Ramsey and Lizzie Stables, with Jenny Rainsford.
With original songs by Matthew Floyd Jones, co-creator of West End musical Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! and one half of Frisky & Mannish.
Directed by comedian and writer Sara Pascoe and produced by David Morley for Perfectly Normal productions, Nanny is funny, sharp and deeply relatable - a love letter to big dreams, messy friendships, and the invisible work that keeps everything going.
Alana Ramsey plays Amy
Lizzie Stables plays Lea
Matthew Floyd Jones plays Kim
Writers: Alana Ramsey, Lizzie Stables, Jenny Rainsford
Music: Matthew Floyd Jones
Sound Design: Chris O'Shaughnessy
Producers: David Morley, Alana Ramsey, Lizzie Stables
Director: Sara Pascoe
A Folio Theatre / Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m002wkjh)
Bailies of Bennachie
Clare heads up Mither Tap, a distinctive hill in the Bennachie range in Aberdeenshire.
Leading the way are the Bailies of Bennachie, a group of volunteer conservators formed over 50 years ago as a “Voice for the Hill.” Peter Stock, Allan Will, Stella Gauld, Lorna Bell and Anne Watson are just some of the many Bailies who care passionately about Bennachie - its wildlife, archaeology, landscape, history and future.
Their walk begins at the Bennachie Visitor Centre. From there, they climb steadily towards the ancient Pictish hillfort that crowns the summit. After enjoying the views on a very blowy top, they head back down. On the way, they pause to hear the story of the Bennachie Colony and see the remains of this crofting settlement first established in 1825.
The Bennachie Visitor Centre: Grid ref NJ698216
What3Words: ///sedative.info.equal
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002wjhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002wkjk)
The World of Words: editing, typography and print
Michael Rosen asks editor Rebecca Lee about her new book, Rogues, Widows and Orphans: Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books.
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
THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002wkjm)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977m)
A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.
THU 17:00 PM (m002wkjq)
Full coverage of the day's news
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wkjs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 18:30 Ellie Taylor's Safe Space (m001kh34)
Series 3
1: The Internet
Ellie Taylor welcomes you to "Safe Space", a place where anyone can offload their controversial opinions without fear of judgment.
This week she wants to abolish the Internet, arguing that the online world isn't real and as a society we're far too reliant on it. Joining Ellie to help prove her point is regular sidekick Robin Morgan.
With special guest: Author, Filmmaker and Co-Host of MTV's Catfish UK, Oobah Butler. Oobah's best known for creating The Shed at Dulwich, a fictional restaurant which in 2017 became the top-rated venue in London on TripAdvisor, despite having never served a dish. He chats to Ellie about how he used the Internet to create his fictional restaurant and why he thinks people are too ready to trust what they read online.
This series was first broadcast in March 2023.
Written by and starring Ellie Taylor and Robin Morgan.
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios production for Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002wkjw)
Anna reaches the end of her tether, and Tracy faces a shock.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m002wkjy)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002wjm6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002wjm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002wj2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002wkhs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002wkk0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.
THU 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002wkk2)
The Lithopedion
A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
Years after the shocking events at the Underwood, Ursula has carved a new life for herself but is always looking over her shoulder.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002wkk4)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002wkk6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 22 MAY 2026
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002wkk8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wkhz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002wkkb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002wkkd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002wkkg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002wkkj)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002wkkl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002wkkq)
Shavuot & Cheesecake
Good morning.
Today the Jewish community marks the festival of Shavuot when we celebrate the receiving of the 10 Commandments at Sinai. It’s the culmination of a 7-week spiritual journey from Passover, during which we work on refining our character traits to prepare us for the day, traits such as respect, humility, and gratitude. We also eat a lot of cheesecake because, among other reasons, words of Torah such as the 10 Commandments are seen as sweet spiritual sustenance—milk and honey.
So, as part of the celebrations, I once offered a virtual cheesecake-making session, guiding the others through the measuring and mixing until we reached whipping the cream and soft cheese, at which point I removed the hand blender from the drawer and discovered it had no plug. Don’t ask! I could panic, act like nothing was wrong, which also wouldn’t have worked; or share what happened. So, the participants heard offscreen, “oh, there’s no plug”. And then I showed them and said, “well, we’ll do this the old-fashioned way” and proceeded to use a wire whisk to whip the mixture. The cheesecake turned out great!
What does this story of baking near-disaster have to do with refining character traits for Shavuot? Actually, quite a lot. I respected my audience enough to let them in on the mishap, I responded with humility rather than covering it up, and I thanked everyone for their patience with the extra time we had to take.
May we all strive to develop respect, humility and gratitude toward each other, even when dealing with those pesky mishaps in life.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002wkkv)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 06:00 Today (m002wkw1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002wjj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002wkw3)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002wkw5)
The BBC Food & Farming Awards 2026 Launch: Belfast here we come
The BBC Food & Farming Awards comes from Belfast this year. Jaega Wise heads to the Balmoral Show, the largest agri-food show in the country, to find out what makes Northern Ireland such an amazing places for food and farming. Jaega will be meeting head judge Paula McIntyre to talk about why Northern Ireland is incubator for some of the UK's most exciting food and drink business and the specific challenges they face. She also meets Eve Blair, presenter of Your Place and Mine on BBC Radio Ulster and the judge of this year's Northern Ireland award to talk about why the Balmoral Show is so important to her.
Producer: Sam Grist
FRI 11:45 Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer (m002wkw7)
1939 and 2026: The Furies of War
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.
Hiking in the Ettersberg Carl Weirich is conscious of how the concentration camp has ruined the beautiful natural landscape of his local area. Meanwhile the net is drawing in around Rosa, as more and more demands are made to authenticate her heritage.
In the early 2020s historian Katja Hoyer visits Weimar to research the story of the people who lived there, and meets those who remember them.
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 (m002wkw9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m002wkwc)
World of Flowers
Tom and Helen explore why the evolution of flowers created the world we know today, uncover some of the fascinating ways flowers use shape, colour and scent to bewitch pollinators, and dig into how pollen can reveal the secrets of ancient crime scenes and help us restore lost landscapes. Guests will include writer David George Haskell, pollen expert Michelle Farrell and botanist Sandra Knapp, Director of Research at the Natural History Museum.
Presenters – Tom Heap and Helen Czerski
Producer – Beth Sagar-Fenton
Produced in association with the Open University
FRI 12:57 Weather (m002wkwf)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002wkwh)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
FRI 13:45 Understand (m002wkwk)
Rinsed
10. New Tricks
As scandals go, what’s happening to our rivers is a real stinker. Kate Lamble investigates.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002wkjw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002w9lb)
Wraith
Episode 3: Control
A cutting-edge thriller about an Artificial Intelligence takeover, written in consultation with leading AI and cybersecurity experts.
In Episode 3, the streets of London are in chaos, with traffic and public transport at a standstill and emergency services communications down. Reeling from the killings carried out by the AI, Iain and Mel fall out and decide to go it alone. Nisha realises the AI is trying to hack the London Internet Exchange and spread to the rest of the UK. Despite the patchy communications and ongoing deepfakes, the government manages to send an SAS team to the UT building as Nisha tries to cope with the spiralling situation in Whitehall.
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
Created by James Dobbyn and Anthony Povah
Written by James Dobbyn
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 (m0012fwt)
Series 1
Aaron
Biella explores the legacy of Aaron Swartz. From the age of 14, Aaron was a prolific hacker, inventor and activist. He was integral in the creation of Creative Commons and the Internet Archive, co-founder social media site Reddit, and was passionate in his activism work that culminated in the dismissal of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the USA. But Aaron took his own life at the age of 26 when he was charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, facing decades in prison and millions of dollars in fines - a court case that many at the time felt was completely unjustified.
Biella speaks with Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig who worked with Aaron on the Creative Commons project, and a Lisa Rein, co-founder of ‘Aaron Swartz Day’ that works to carry on projects started or inspired by Aaron’s work, and discusses why it’s important to remember Aaron’s story, the legacy of his work, and to find out if a recent Supreme Court ruling on the CFAA means that people like Aaron may be safer in the future.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002wkwm)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002wkwp)
Lane Seven by Emily Koch
At his local swimming pool, Jack is confused to see his ex-girlfriend in the next lane. Hadn’t she always said she was afraid of the water?
A new short story written by Emily Koch, read by Sam Swann.
Emily Koch is an award-winning journalist and author of three novels, If I Die Before I Wake, Keep Him Close and What July Knew. Her debut, If I Die Before I Wake, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Steel Dagger award, won France’s Prix du Bureau des Lecteurs Folio Policier, was longlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, and was selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She lives in Bristol.
Produced by Beth O'Dea and Mair Bosworth in Bristol for BBC Audio
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002wkwr)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m002wjlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002wkwt)
Full coverage of the day's news
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002wkww)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002wkwy)
Series 120
Episode 6
Recorded at this year's Hay Festival, Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news with panellists Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Robin Morgan, Stephen Bush and Chloe Petts.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002wkx0)
17 – 22 May 2026
Writer: Katie Hims
Directors: Kim Greengrass and Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer … Ben Norris
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas
Leonard Berry … Paul Copley
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Ian Craig … Stephen Kennedy
Alan Franks … John Telfer
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
Kirsty Miller …. Annabelle Dowler
Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou
Anna Tregorran … Isobel Middleton
Den … Laurence Saunders
FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002wkx2)
Ben Gernon and Heidi Fardell launch a new series
Conductor Ben Gernon and baroque recorder player Heidi Fardell open the new series alongside Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the first five tracks, taking us from a steamy New York summer to a celebrated Bach composition that violinist Joshua Bell has described as 'not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history'. Throw in Gershwin, Louis XIV and a very serious musical accident, and you've got a cornucopia of an opening episode.
Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful
An American in Paris by George Gershwin
Overture to Phaëton by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Ain’t It Strange by Patti Smith
Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor (the Chaconne) by J.S. Bach
Other music in this episode:
Batman Theme by Neil Hefti & his Orchestra
12 Sonatas Op. 11 'Parensi': No 3 in G Minor: IV Giga. Allegro by Robert Valentine, performed by Heidi Fardell
Because The Night by Patti Smith
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002wkx4)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002wjlk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:40 on Wednesday]
FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002wkx6)
Thinking with Food
The links between food and philosophy, ideas about experimentation, taste and how food and traditions become part of our identity are explored by Matthew Sweet in Radio 4's round-table discussion programme. His guests are:
Author John Lanchester, who writes restaurant reviews and whose latest novel is called Look What You Made Me Do
Food writer Felicity Cloake, who writes a Cook the Perfect column for The Guardian newspaper and has published books called Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey, Peach Street to Lobster Lane: Coast to Coast in Search of Real American Cuisine and now her debut novel The Underdog.
Professor Barry Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London's School of Advanced Study
Philosopher Suki Finn, whose book What's in a Donut Hole? uses food to explore classic philosophical puzzles
Author Samantha Ellis, whose book Chopping Onions on My Heart is a memoir about Iraqi Jewish food, language and culture
Producer: Eliane Glaser
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002wkx8)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller (m002wkxb)
Dark Descent
A contemporary gothic thriller from award winning author Claire Fuller.
Ursula and Ray have found their way back to one another, but the release of the Dark Descent documentary threatens everything.
Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8lz3)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002wkxf)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament