Archive On 4

Barbara Castle - the Red Queen, clever, sexy and single-minded she was the most important female politician the Labour party has produced.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer ANNE PERKINS, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for MARGARET THATCHER .She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

We hear of her early life growing up in a Yorkshire family -more bourgeois than she'd admit - devoted to the Independent Labour Party and William Morris; tales of climbing out of college windows at Oxford with her friend, the pioneering broadcaster Olive Shapley; her devotion to the open air which led to the founding of the Pennine Way - she tramped the inaugural walk in a tweed skirt and brogues, alongside Hugh Dalton.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the 'stridency' the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her . And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

We hear intimate archive interviews with Barbara Castle recorded before her death, and new interviews including Baroness Shirley Williams , Baroness BETTY BOOTHROYD ,Janet Anderson , and the veteran political commentator GEOFFREY GOODMAN.

Producer Lindsay Leonard.

An appraisal of the Labour politician Barbara Castle, in the centenary of her birth.

An appraisal of Barbara Castle in the centenary of her birth.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer ANNE PERKINS, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for MARGARET THATCHER.She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the stridency the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her. And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

The Poles and the Planet

It is a story of courage, sacrifice, rivalries and friendships, but 50 years after the first triumphant crossing of Antarctica, the story of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition is nearly forgotten.

Set against the scientific frenzy of the International Geophysical Year of 1957 which saw the launch of the space age, ADAM FOWLER tracks down the survivors of the last great journey on Earth and asks what legacy they have left.

In this week's Archive On Four, historian ALAN DEIN celebrates the centenary of his mentor GEORGE EWART EVANS, collector of Suffolk farming tales.

Evans began by chatting to his neighbours over the fireside in the 1950's and transcribing stories about poaching shepherding, smuggling and ditching.

The talk was of a hardscrabble life, of leaky roofs and meals of pea soup and pollard dumplings and beef only at Christmas with occasional festivities like the Whitsun fair.

With the help of BBC producer David Thomson, Evans recorded many of these tales and they were broadcast on the Third Programme.

Evans came from a Welsh mining village and he sympathised with the labourers' stories about the tyranny of the trinity of the parson, squire and farmer.

He was a sympathetic listener who asked allowed his community to speak for itself and he captured the stories of people whose traditions had been unbroken for generations, who worked on the land before mechanisation and who believed in magic and folk wisdom and had intuitive understanding of working with animals.

Evans' eleven books about the working lives and folk stories of Blaxhall are a portrait of every facet of his village and paved the way for books and programmes, both fiction and not fiction, about British agricultural life.

ALAN DEIN talks to people who remember him in the village of Blaxhall and to his son Lord (Matthew) Evans and youngest daughter Susan as well as historian Owen Collins.

A WHISTLEDOWN PRODUCTION FOR BBC RADIO 4.

In this week's Archive On Four, historian ALAN DEIN celebrates the centenary of his mentor GEORGE EWART EVANS, collector of Suffolk farming tales. Evans began by chatting to his neighbours over the fireside in the 1950's and transcribing stories about poaching shepherding, smuggling and ditching.

Evans came from a Welsh mining village and he sympathised with the labourers' stories about the tyranny of the trinity of the parson, squire and farmer. He was a sympathetic listener who asked allowed his community to speak for itself and he captured the stories of people whose traditions had been unbroken for generations, who worked on the land before mechanisation and who believed in magic and folk wisdom and had intuitive understanding of working with animals.

ALAN DEIN looks back at the life of the American oral historian Studs Terkel, who died earlier this month. Includes unique archive material from Terkel's own collection of recordings covering almost 50 years of interviews and broadcasts.

The influence of the political father has long been a defining aspect of politics, but how has this relationship changed actual decisions made and what impact do these ghostly forebears have on the supposedly meritocratic Westminster scene today?

DAVID CAMERON described his father, after his death this autumn, as one of the biggest influences on his politics. Ed Miliband's victory speech cited his Marxist father's influence on his thinking and determination - and David has quoted him repeatedly.

In Political Patriarchs Westminster columnist ANNE MCELVOY charts some of the most influential relationships of leading politicians and their fathers, from the Chamberlain family business of Joe and Austen, to WINSTON CHURCHILL shaping his ambitions according to his father Randolph - and the fathers who have shaped politics to the present day.

In it, she uses the BBC archive, surprisingly rich in this subject, and does new interviews with people like MARGARET THATCHER's biographer CHARLES MOORE about the formative influence of her father Alderman Roberts, cut with her own recollections of her father as the guiding spirit of her beliefs.

She also charts the Left's intriguing attachment to its own brand of heredity in dynasties like the Foots, Benns and the Milibands.

The programme also explores the culture and psychological roots of the father-child inheritance and asks if political offspring consciously try to redress the failings of their fathers in a different context.

Producer: Rebecca Stratford.

Christina Hardyment re-evaluates life below stairs in interwar Britain, particularly for maids in middle-class homes. From December 2007.

ALAN DEIN hears how London's East End Bangladeshi community forged new alliances to oppose racism in the 1970s and 80s.

The East End had been a centre of racial struggle and opposition since the 1930s, when Oswald Mosely's Blackshirts had paraded through the then largely Jewish streets around Brick Lane.

By the 1970s a new wave of predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants faced racism again from the National Front and its sympathisers.

As provocation and attacks increased, this community made new alliances with local anti-fascist activists, culminating in large-scale movements such as Rock Against Racism.

Once again Brick Lane and the streets beyond became a battleground.

How the anti-racist struggles in London's East End in the 1970s and 80s relived the past.

The East End had been a centre of racial struggle and opposition since the 1930s, when Oswald Mosely's Blackshirts had paraded through the then largely Jewish streets around Brick Lane. By the 1970s a new wave of predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants faced racism again from the National Front and its sympathisers.

As provocation and attacks increased, this community made new alliances with local anti-fascist activists, culminating in large-scale movements such as Rock Against Racism. Once again Brick Lane and the streets beyond became a battleground.

Fellow climber STEPHEN VENABLES recalls Sir Chris Bonington's fraught but successful 1975 expedition to Everest. From 2005.

Mountaineering is a harsh, unforgiving but ultimately rewarding pursuit - Chris Bonington's 1975 excursion up the South West face of Everest was marred by two deaths, but captured the public's imagination. With significantly less technological advantages than present-day climbers, Chris Bonington's team were faced with numerous personal and environmental challenges. He kept an audio diary which helps piece together the team's progress.

Also a writer, photographer and engineer, Sir Chris Bonington has written 17 books and finally reached the summit of Everest in 1985 with a Norwegian expedition. He has been mountaineering since 1951, when he was 16 years old, and continues to this day.

Denys Blakeway looks at the history and purpose of the royal tour, exploring the travels of Queen Elizabeth II. From April 2006.

Be it a malnourished child in Africa, a neglected dog or a day centre desperately in need of new equipment, it seems that there is no end to the number of people, animals or organisations that could benefit from a charitable donation.

And if charities can harness the power of the media with a hard-hitting advert, a celebrity endorsement or an emergency appeal, then it is likely that their cause will reap far greater financial rewards.

Fergal charts the history of the relationship between charity and the media, and considers the way the message is conveyed, the impact of celebrity endorsement, the quality of charity programmes and the responsibility and risks to the media in encouraging us to make a donation.

The history of charity and the media goes back to the earliest days of broadcasting.

The BBC's first charity appeal was in 1923, when it broadcast an appeal on radio for the Winter Distress League, a charity representing homeless veterans of the First World War.

The appeal raised 26 pounds.

In 1927 the BBC set up the Appeal Advisory Committee, whose role, to this day, is to decide on the BBC's choice of charity partners and to oversee campaigns including The Radio 4 Appeal, Comic Relief and Emergency Appeals such as the Haiti Earthquake Appeal, which was broadcast recently.

Commercial broadcasters have also played their part in raising money for charity.

In 1988 ITV launched its own all-night charity appeal, in the guise of the ITV Telethon.

The 27-hour TV extravaganza saw all of its regional broadcasters come together to raise money for disability charities across the UK and the programme was repeated again in 1990 and 1992.

In 2009, Sky Sports ran an interactive red button campaign during the Champions League final so that viewers could donate to a DAVID BECKHAM-endorsed campaign to raise awareness of malaria.

Programme contributors:

Diane Reid, BBC Charity Appeals Advisor

Lucy Polson, UK Representative for the charity SOS Sahel

Caroline Diehl, chief executive of the Media Trust

JENNI MURRAY, broadcaster

John Grounds, director of Child Protection Consultancy.

FERGAL KEANE looks at the relationship between charity and the media.

Be it a malnourished child in Africa, a neglected dog or a day centre desperately in need of new equipment, it seems that there is no end to the number of people, animals or organisations that could benefit from a charitable donation. And if charities can harness the power of the media with a hard-hitting advert, a celebrity endorsement or an emergency appeal, then it is likely that their cause will reap far greater financial rewards.

The history of charity and the media goes back to the earliest days of broadcasting. The BBC's first charity appeal was in 1923, when it broadcast an appeal on radio for the Winter Distress League, a charity representing homeless veterans of the First World War. The appeal raised 26 pounds. In 1927 the BBC set up the Appeal Advisory Committee, whose role, to this day, is to decide on the BBC's choice of charity partners and to oversee campaigns including The Radio 4 Appeal, Comic Relief and Emergency Appeals such as the Haiti Earthquake Appeal, which was broadcast recently.

Commercial broadcasters have also played their part in raising money for charity. In 1988 ITV launched its own all-night charity appeal, in the guise of the ITV Telethon. The 27-hour TV extravaganza saw all of its regional broadcasters come together to raise money for disability charities across the UK and the programme was repeated again in 1990 and 1992. In 2009, Sky Sports ran an interactive red button campaign during the Champions League final so that viewers could donate to a DAVID BECKHAM-endorsed campaign to raise awareness of malaria.

Described as the 'Mozart of physics', Feynman's amazing life and career seemingly had no end of highlights. A student at MIT and then Princeton (where he obtained an unprecedented perfect score on the entrance exam for maths and physics), he was drafted onto the Manhattan Project as a junior scientist. There his energy and talents made a significant mark on two of the project's leaders, Robert Oppenheimer and Hans Bethe. The latter would become Feynman's lifelong mentor and friend. Bethe called his student 'a magician', setting him apart from other scientists as no ordinary genius. In 1965, Feynman shared a Nobel for his unique contribution to the field of Quantum Electrodynamics making him the most celebrated, influential and best known American Physicist of his generation. Something that would continue until his death from cancer in 1988.

At the same time as his scientific reputation was building, Feynman's unconventional attitude and behaviour was helping to create his reputation for eccentricity. When bored of writing equations on chalk boards or lecturing in his lab, he would go off in search of inspiration down at the local strip club, watching the go-go girls and scribbling his calculations on napkins. He played bongos and cracked safes. He was multi-disciplined before the term was even invented, allowing his curiosity to stray into biology, psychology and computing. He was playful and imaginative because he saw the value in not being solely focused on applied research. His eccentricity would at times infuriate his colleagues but it was simply a natural consequence of how he thought. From a young age, as he explains in the programme, his father instilled in him an insatiable curiosity about the world, a desire to know at a fundamental level, how it operated. It simply wasn't enough to know the name of something. His father also taught him to carry a healthy disrespect for the natural hierarchy of things. Recounting a hilarious story about his Father's dislike of the Pope, Feynman saw status and honours as little more than ephemera: 'epaulets and uniforms' and his father, a uniform salesman by trade, 'knew the difference between a man with the uniform on and the uniform off - it's the same man'.

Though few ever understood mathematics or physics like Feynman, he truly believed that science was simply too important to be left exclusively to scientists and his energy and humour was essential in getting the public interested and inspired to find out how the world works for themselves, something that is essential today as science plays an increasingly central role in world events and everyday life.

Producer: RAMI TZABAR.

BRIAN COX presents a tribute to the genius of physicist Richard Feynman.

BRIAN COX presents an archive tribute to the genius of physicist Richard Feynman.

At the same time as his scientific reputation was building, Feynman's unconventional attitude and behaviour was helping to create his reputation for eccentricity. When boredArchive On 4

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Described as the 'Mozart of physics', Feynman's amazing life and career seemingly had no end of highlights. A student at MIT and then Princeton (where he obtained an unprecedented perfect score on the entrance exam for maths and physics), he was drafted onto the Manhattan Project as a junior scientist. There his energy and talents made a significant mark on two of the project's leaders, Robert Oppenheimer and Hans Bethe. The latter would become Feynman's lifelong mentor and friend. Bethe called his student a magician, setting him apart from other scientists as no ordinary genius. In 1965, Feynman shared a Nobel for his unique contribution to the field of Quantum Electrodynamics making him the most celebrated, influential and best known American Physicist of his generation. Something that would continue until his death from cancer in 1988.

At the same time as his scientific reputation was building, Feynman's unconventional attitude and behaviour was helping to create his reputation for eccentricity. When bored of writing equations on chalk boards or lecturing in his lab, he would go off in search of inspiration down at the local strip club, watching the go-go girls and scribbling his calculations on napkins. He played bongos and cracked safes. He was multi-disciplined before the term was even invented, allowing his curiosity to stray into biology, psychology and computing. He was playful and imaginative because he saw the value in not being solely focused on applied research. His eccentricity would at times infuriate his colleagues but it was simply a natural consequence of how he thought. From a young age, as he explains in the programme, his father instilled in him an insatiable curiosity about the world, a desire to know at a fundamental level, how it operated. It simply wasn't enough to know the name of something. His father also taught him to carry a healthy disrespect for the natural hierarchy of things. Recounting a hilarious story about his Father's dislike of the Pope, Feynman saw status and honours as little more than ephemera: epaulets and uniforms and his father, a uniform salesman by trade, knew the difference between a man with the uniform on and the uniform off - it's the same man.

During World War II British prisoners-of-war had a remarkable ally in the shape of Britain's other secret service, MI9.

Its job was to smuggle information and ingenious devices into camps to ensure the success of some of the most daring escape stories ever.

John Stephen Dalziel finds out more about the organisation which was to provide inspiration for IAN FLEMING's 'Q' in one of the most amazing untold stories of World War II.

Produced by Pamela Rutherford.

First broadcast on Radio 4 in March 2002.

John Stephen Dalziel finds out more about the organisation which was to provide inspiration for IAN FLEMING's Q in one of the most amazing untold stories of World War II.

How Britain's other secret service, MI9, ensured daring escapes of Second World War prisoners. With John Stephen Dalziel. From March 2002.

Towards the end of every year, thousands of people head north of the border at a time when the days are bewilderingly short and the weather, at best, unpredictable. The reason? Hogmanay.

In this archive hour, JAMES NAUGHTIE investigates the history and traditions behind this peculiarly Scottish celebration.

Producer: Caroline Barbour

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.

Down Your Way was one of Britain's longest-running radio series. It started in 1946 when BBC producer Leslie Perowne hit on the idea of spinning out a popular music programme on the BBC Home Service with short interviews with members of the public. The idea was an instant success, and Down Your Way became a staple of the BBC's radio schedules for decades. At the height of its success in the 1950s - when television had yet to make a significant impact - it was attracting 10 million listeners a week. It finished its run in 1992.

Cultural historian, Professor JEFFREY RICHARDS argues that Down Your Way portrayed a 'heritage Britain', intent on preserving the past, which provided listeners with a reassurance that - despite all appearances to the contrary - nothing would ever really change in their green and pleasant land.

Producer: Libby Cross

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.

Twenty-five years ago, film-maker John Edwards interviewed 50 of the surviving cameramen who had worked for the cinema newsreel companies in America and Europe. His recordings were lost and recovered only recently.

The story of the newsreel, from the Lindbergh take-off to the Apollo splash-downs, can now be told in the voices of the men who filmed history.

JON CULSHAW uncovers an extraordinary audio archive of early Morecambe and Wise material, including a number of long lost tapes.

This is a genuine archive find of real importance. A few years ago, Doreen Wise, widow of Ernie, cleared the old family garage of piles of tapes and 78 recordings.

At the end of last year, Independent radio company Whistledown were contacted by Eric and Ernie's agents, and producer David Prest offered to look at the material.

It was an extraordinary sight - a couple of old fruit boxes full of reel to reel tapes and a musty old red suitcase brimming with 78 records,' says producer David Prest.

The most important finds are a number of long-lost episodes of Eric and Ernie's first radio show, 'You're Only Young Once' which was made for the BBC between November 1953 and June 1954.

These feature songs, sketches, their trade mark banter and guest cameo appearances from other well-known perfomers including BOB MONKHOUSE.

The tapes in Ernie's garage are believed to be 'run off' copies recorded at 33/4 ips by studio engineers immediately after the recordings, and probably never played since, as well as acetate copies which Doreen paid the studio engineer a few shillings for.

Much of the value of the material is in what it shows about their comedy development. The early radio series are very naturalistic, and feature historical sketches and songs which precede the 1970s BBC TV shows by almost 15 years', says David.

Other treats include: ANDRE PREVIN's speech to Eric and Ernie at a Variety Club lunch in 1974, rare recordings of their Great Yarmouth and Blackpool shows from the mid-late sixties.

Also included are many original master tapes of songs, written for the duo, which show their skill in the recording studio.

The producers are David Prest and STEWART HENDERSON, and this is a Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

KONNIE HUQ looks back at 40 years of Sesame Street, the experimental children's TV show.

KONNIE HUQ looks back at four decades of Sesame Street.

It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.' GEORGE BERNARD SHAW.

A hundred years ago, Shaw ridiculed the British obsession with class, recognising that its most powerful expression was not in what someone said, but how he or she said it.

An imperative for anyone at public school or studying at Oxbridge, was speaking in RP, a 'non' accent which denoted all that was masterful in the British Empire.

But changes are afoot. CHERYL COLE's push from American X Factor because of her Geordie accent has exasperated many Brits, who love her AND her accent and think the Yanks are missing out.

Using a wealth of archive, we hear how the drive to hide linguistic, geographical roots often went hand in hand with a desire to be seen as part of the metropolitan set. The fear of being labelled as provincial, unfashionable or rustic would develop into 'RP' - Received Pronunciation.

With access to archives of soldiers during the First World War, Melvyn discusses the rarity of hearing different accents at the time. He points out that RP was the 'non' site-specific accent of the officer class while everyone else was identified by their regional accents.

The BBC burst on the scene with Lord Reith who insisted that RP be used for BBC broadcasting, arguing that it had greater 'clarity' and was better suited for broadcasting.

We hear about the post war levelling and the move away from RP. The popular music scene developed an accent of it's own - JOHN PEEL went to public school, but cultivated a soft scouse accent, instinctively recognizing this as an acceptable voice in popular music - adopting a non-standard UK accent - with 'Jafaican' as one of the burgeoning metropolitan accents - suggesting individual freedom

Producer: Kate Bland

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW.

The fear of being labelled as provincial, unfashionable or rustic would develop into RP - Received Pronunciation.

Using a wealth of archive, we hear how the drive to hide linguistic, geographical roots often went hand in hand with a desire to be seen as part of the metropolitan set. The fear of being labelled as provincial, unfashionable or rustic would develop into RP - Received Pronunciation.

The broadcast was a mixture of ancient carols, folk songs, calypso, West African music, dixieland, skiffle, children's carols and glees. Singers across the country contributed live performances, with Lomax sitting at the centre of the web in a Birmingham studio. It was thrilling, innovative and daring.

This musical time capsule gathers the memories of those involved to recapture the flavour of this pioneering BBC broadcast.

Producer: JOLYON JENKINS

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.

Memories of those involved in the BBC's 1957 groundbreaking live Christmas Day broadcast.

The memories of those involved in the BBC's 1957 groundbreaking hour-long live Christmas Day broadcast from around the country.

Novelist PAUL BAILEY takes an autobiographical journey through the BBC sound archive in celebration of London, as documented by the microphone from 1930 onwards.

He recalls aspects of the city which have disappeared forever, from horse traffic to street markets, and looks at how radio has represented - and misrepresented - the average Londoner.

Producer: Thomas Morris

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.



Novelist PAUL BAILEY takes an autobiographical journey through the BBC sound archive in celebration of London as documented by the microphone from 1930 onwards. He recalls aspects of the city that have disappeared for ever, such as horse traffic, and considers how the radio has represented the average Londoner.

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.

Phil Daniels presents a look back at the Mod movement of the 1960s.

Poet Paul Muldoon recalls a fellow Belfast wordsmith who innovated radio production, loved rugby and drank hard. From January 2007.

It's more than a decade since the Mexican State Railway System operated its last continuous passenger service across the country. Sound recordist CHRIS WATSON spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel this route. In this sound portrait, based on his original recordings, we recreate the journey of the 'ghost train'; evoking memories of a recent past, capturing the atmosphere, rhythms and sounds of human life and wildlife along the tracks of one of Mexico's greatest engineering projects.

Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis. From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years. From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds. Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, JOHN WAYNE. Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas. The dangers of working here are legendary. The ghost train travels on .. a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city. In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals. Cattle are even driven along them. But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop. Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death. The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.

The recordings used in this programme were originally made by CHRIS WATSON whilst in Mexico with a film crew for the BBC Television programme, Great Railways Journeys: Mexico. Sadly, since these recordings were made, the artist Phil Kelly has died (August 2010).

Narrator CHRIS WATSON

Producer SARAH BLUNT.

An acoustic journey by train across Mexico is recreated using archive recordings.

The ghost train travels on..

Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis. From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years. From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds. Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, JOHN WAYNE. Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas. The dangers of working here are legendary. The ghost train travels on.. a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city. In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals. Cattle are even driven along them. But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop. Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death. The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.

The findings of the investigation were so uncomfortable for the US Military that they were suppressed.

Some 400 hours of tape show that US soldiers raped and murdered hundreds of civilians in not just one but three villages in an orgy of killing that proved to be a turning point in the Vietnam War.

Robert Hodierne reveals the truth about the infamous My Lai massacre of 16 March 1968.

Brian Wilson looks at the life of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Churchill's man in the East.

'Brian Wilson looks at the life of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Churchill's man in the East.'

The first weather forecasts lasted five minutes and resembled a military briefing. Today they last a couple of minutes but viewers barely pay any attention, they recall little of what the forecasters said. Weather forecasters call for more time but does anyone place too much faith in the BBC's weather forecast anymore?

We'll hear from the forecasters - MICHAEL FISH, Bill Giles and Sian Lloyd - what does it mean to be at the forefront of the British public's interaction with their favourite subject?

Along the way we'll hear evocative archive of extreme weather events like: floods of '53, hard winter of 63, red rain in '68, summer of '76 and the gales of '87.

Messing with the weather is a tricky business. The latest style of TV graphics, the infamous tilting map called the fly over, caused disapproval up and down the country. Why was our Pleasant Land coloured brown not green? Proud Scots protested that their country appeared diminished- surely another example of bias from the South East of England?

Iain will ask what role the weather plays in our culture - any writer purposefully tuned to the language of the moment will be obliged to employ the weather as a moral sub-text, a framing device, a ceiling of depression - weather as prediction. Weather as a liquid mirror in which the writer, reads our future. A curious link develops between the great winds of 16 October 1987 and the collapsing financial markets on 'Black Monday.

Producer: Barney Rowntree

A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4.

IAIN SINCLAIR asks what the weather means to us?

A curious link develops between the great winds of 16 October 1987 and the collapsing financial markets on Black Monday.

IAIN SINCLAIR finds out why the weather forecast has always been a national obsession.

Iain will ask what role the weather plays in our culture - any writer purposefully tuned to the language of the moment will be obliged to employ the weather as a moral sub-text, a framing device, a ceiling of depression - weather as prediction. Weather as a liquid mirror in which the writer, reads our future. A curious link develops between the great winds of 16 October 1987 and the collapsing financial markets on Black Monday.

Priestley became the voice of the nation during the darkest days of the Second World War.

Using original broadcasts, information stored in BBC files and interviews with his son Tom Priestley and step son Nicolas Hawkes, Archive on Four revisits these extraordinary broadcasts and asks why, in spite of their astonishing popularity, Priestley was taken off air.

Presented by MARTIN WAINWRIGHT.

Producers: Catherine Plane and Phil Pegum.

Archive on Four explores the hugely popular World War Two radio broadcasts of JB Priestley

Archive on Four marks the 70th anniversary of a broadcasting phenomenon - the story of how Yorkshire man J.B. Priestley became the voice of the nation during the darkest days of the Second World War.

Mark talks to Angie Hobbs, Professor of The Public Understanding of Philosophy at Sheffield University, who suggests that the queue for the Queen was the queue Britain had been training for all its life. Our queuing prowess is all part of our self-mythology, she suggests. We really aren't the only nation who can queue.

Archive reveals queuing to be a bit like a classroom for grown-ups. Adults take on improvised roles: the queue joker, the queue grumbler, the passive-aggressive queuer. Mark finds that in truth the Brits are the most grumbling of all the nation's queuers because they expect things to be done more efficiently than they are. He recalls the ‘passive competitiveness' in his favourite Eddie Izzard sketch - ‘The Supermarket Queue'.

Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to “Britishness”. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.

Mark joins David Lammy MP during his constituency surgery to discuss how he observes the queues in his constituency in Tottenham North London. What's poignant is the reality that queueing often means things aren't working properly.

The real question Mark asks is not why we queue, but why we think we're so good at it?

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four.

Mark Thomas explores why the British believe they're born to queue.

Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to “Britishness??. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.

If there was ever a written constitution of Britishness then ?queueing' would have its own chapter titled #TheQueue with an image of humble mourners lining the streets of London to see Queen Elizabeth II lying-in-state. As Mark Thomas reveals through the archive though, the ?humble queue' may in fact be nothing of the sort. Instead, it's a microcosmic minidrama - a place of shifting alliances, shame, anger and sometimes love and reconciliation - that speaks volumes about who we are and who we think we are.

Archive reveals queuing to be a bit like a classroom for grown-ups. Adults take on improvised roles: the queue joker, the queue grumbler, the passive-aggressive queuer. Mark finds that in truth the Brits are the most grumbling of all the nation's queuers because they expect things to be done more efficiently than they are. He recalls the ?passive competitiveness' in his favourite Eddie Izzard sketch - ?The Supermarket Queue'.

Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to ?Britishness?. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.

If there was ever a written constitution of Britishness then ‘queueing’ would have its own chapter titled #TheQueue with an image of humble mourners lining the streets of London to see Queen Elizabeth II lying-in-state. As Mark Thomas reveals through the archive though, the ‘humble queue’ may in fact be nothing of the sort. Instead, it’s a microcosmic minidrama - a place of shifting alliances, shame, anger and sometimes love and reconciliation - that speaks volumes about who we are and who we think we are.

Mark talks to Angie Hobbs, Professor of The Public Understanding of Philosophy at Sheffield University, who suggests that the queue for the Queen was the queue Britain had been training for all its life. Our queuing prowess is all part of our self-mythology, she suggests. We really aren’t the only nation who can queue.

Archive reveals queuing to be a bit like a classroom for grown-ups. Adults take on improvised roles: the queue joker, the queue grumbler, the passive-aggressive queuer. Mark finds that in truth the Brits are the most grumbling of all the nation’s queuers because they expect things to be done more efficiently than they are. He recalls the ‘passive competitiveness’ in his favourite Eddie Izzard sketch - ‘The Supermarket Queue’.

Mark joins David Lammy MP during his constituency surgery to discuss how he observes the queues in his constituency in Tottenham North London. What’s poignant is the reality that queueing often means things aren’t working properly.

The real question Mark asks is not why we queue, but why we think we’re so good at it?

If there was ever a written constitution of Britishness then ‘queueing' would have its own chapter titled #TheQueue with an image of humble mourners lining the streets of London to see Queen Elizabeth II lying-in-state. As Mark Thomas reveals through the archive though, the ‘humble queue' may in fact be nothing of the sort. Instead, it's a microcosmic minidrama - a place of shifting alliances, shame, anger and sometimes love and reconciliation - that speaks volumes about who we are and who we think we are.

Archive reveals queuing to be a bit like a classroom for grown-ups. Adults take on improvised roles: the queue joker, the queue grumbler, the passive-aggressive queuer. Mark finds that in truth the Brits are the most grumbling of all the nation's queuers because they expect things to be done more efficiently than they are. He recalls the ‘passive competitiveness' in his favourite Eddie Izzard sketch - ‘The Supermarket Queue'.

Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to “Britishness ?. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.

Mark talks to Stephen Reicher, Professor of Psychology at St Andrews University, who describes a rehashing of tropes from the war-years and how queueing became a shortcut to `Britishness`. He points to the way in which patience in queuing can be seen to be a bit like the Blitz spirit, fair play, stoicism - employed when a country needs to affirm a sense of national identity during national crisis.

With a decade of peeking down every dark alleyway of the internet The Digital Human has a unique archive of our lives lived online; how we connect to one another, how we explore and express who we are and how we accept these new technological innovations into our lives often without question. Aleks selects the most revealing and thought provoking stories from our back catalogue to see how far we've come and where our technologies might be taking us.

To help here explore these ideas Aleks will be joined by Emma Smith who'll reach out to the audience in Edinburgh and at home through the uniquely digital form of performance ASMR, have you headphones ready! Poet and comedian Kate Fox will talk about how she found her tribe online after being diagnosed as autistic in her 40s. And after his technology fable Appliance was short listed for the Orwell Literary prize, award winning poet and novelist J.O. Morgan will offer a meditation on our relationship with technology with a specially commissioned piece of writing.

Throughout music will beprovided by Andrew Wasylyk playing music specially composed for the occasion.

Aleks Krotoski celebrates a decade of The Digital Human live from the Edinburgh Festival.

It was a landmark fight that cemented Johnson's right to call himself the first black heavyweight champion of the world, busting stereotypes of black men as inferior in both body and mind.

100 years on, Gary Younge explores what the archives tell us about four boxers who span the century - Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.

How have they shaped, and been shaped by, our attitudes to black masculinity?

Joe Louis was the first black boxer to be given a shot at the heavyweight title after Jack Johnson.

We hear his iconic fight against German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938, which symbolised democracy vs facism and made Louis a national hero.

Now one of the best-loved sportsmen of all time, Gary explores why early in his career Muhammad Ali was one of the most hated men in the US.

We hear Ali on fighting form in an interview by David Frost in the run up to 1974's Rumble in the Jungle.

By the end of the 20th century Mike Tyson seemed to confirm fears that black men were violent and out of control.

How far was he in control of his public image? We hear the reaction to Tyson's infamous fight against Evander Holyfield in 1997, in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear.

Gary interprets the archive with the help of experts including Ali biographer Mike Marqusee, Joe Louis' son Joe Louis Barrow and Ellis Cashmore, author of Tyson: Nurture of the Beast.

Producer: Peggy Sutton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Gary Younge explores how boxers have shaped attitudes to black men over the past 100 years

On 4th July 1910 Jack Johnson beat Jim Jeffries in the so-called fight of the century. It was a landmark fight that cemented Johnson's right to call himself the first black heavyweight champion of the world, busting stereotypes of black men as inferior in both body and mind.

100 years on, Gary Younge explores what the archives tell us about four boxers who span the century - Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. How have they shaped, and been shaped by, our attitudes to black masculinity?

Joe Louis was the first black boxer to be given a shot at the heavyweight title after Jack Johnson. We hear his iconic fight against German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938, which symbolised democracy vs facism and made Louis a national hero. Now one of the best-loved sportsmen of all time, Gary explores why early in his career Muhammad Ali was one of the most hated men in the US.

By the end of the 20th century Mike Tyson seemed to confirm fears that black men were violent and out of control. How far was he in control of his public image? We hear the reaction to Tyson's infamous fight against Evander Holyfield in 1997, in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear.

This extraordinary recording - kept in family archives - describes the lives of ordinary people caught up in the political turmoil between the two Russian Revolutions of 1917.

Henry Dicks was the son of an Estonian-based Englishman, sent to school in Petrograd during the First World War. He recorded his memories in an interview with his son in 1967. The tape covers the period immediately after Rasputin's death and the fall of the Tsar, all the way through to the Bolshevik attack on the Provisional Government's Winter Palace in October 1917, which Henry saw first-hand.

Henry remembers the joy after the Tsar's fall when 'the whole population seemed to be in the streets', servants became 'much cheekier' and his schoolmasters shed their uniforms.

But then the Bolsheviks strengthened their power and Henry describes the unnerving feeling in metropolitan Petrograd that they were 'getting away with it'.

One October morning when, as he remembers, 'the air was thick with foreboding', Henry watched the attack of the Winter Palace. Once the Bolsheviks had seized power, Henry describes 'a kind of terror beginning' and he eventually fled via Finland, where he was marooned in a hotel amid a civil war...

With: Helen Rappaport, Stephen Lovell

Producer: Phil Tinline.

Henry remembers the joy after the Tsar's fall when the whole population seemed to be in the streets, servants became much cheekier and his schoolmasters shed their uniforms.

But then the Bolsheviks strengthened their power and Henry describes the unnerving feeling in metropolitan Petrograd that they were getting away with it.

One October morning when, as he remembers, the air was thick with foreboding, Henry watched the attack of the Winter Palace. Once the Bolsheviks had seized power, Henry describes a kind of terror beginning and he eventually fled via Finland, where he was marooned in a hotel amid a civil war...

Emily Dicks visits St Petersburg to trace her grandfather's memories of 1917's revolutions

Henry remembers the joy after the Tsar's fall when the whole population seemed to be in the streets, servants became much cheekier and his schoolmasters shed their uniforms.

But then the Bolsheviks strengthened their power and Henry describes the unnerving feeling in metropolitan Petrograd that they were getting away with it.

One October morning when, as he remembers, the air was thick with foreboding, Henry watched the attack of the Winter Palace. Once the Bolsheviks had seized power, Henry describes a kind of terror beginning and he eventually fled via Finland, where he was marooned in a hotel amid a civil war...

October 15th 1964: General Election day. It was a heady time - the Beatles had topped the charts all summer with A Hard Day's Night. And during the last days of campaigning, the Olympic Games in Tokyo were offering a welcome televisual distraction, with Mary Rand our gold-medal poster-girl all over the front and back pages as the polls opened.

For Britain's political leaders they were days of trading claims and counter-claims: in the blue corner, Tory grandee Alec Home - pronounced, aristocratically, as 'Hume' - the incumbent Prime Minister who'd two years previously had to renounce his peerage and fight a by-election in order to accept the premiership. Labour's leader was pipesmoking honest-john Northerner HAROLD WILSON, whose avuncular addressing of ordinary folk and champion of technology gave him for some a modern appeal in keeping with the age. The Liberals were led by Jo Grimond, statesmanlike and distinctly upper-middle class, whose party had just won a startling by-election. It was a fascinating fight.

Both Wilson and Home were relative newcomers: Macmillan's resignation had propelled Sir Alec, a charming, if diffident foreign-affairs specialist. into the limelight, where he often appeared out of touch with the concerns of ordinary voters. Wilson too had taken the top job unexpectedly when Labour's much loved and admired Hugh Gaitskell died unexpectedly in 1963. What with sex scandals, gaffes and the satirical bite of TW3 and Beyond the Fringe, it was quite a fight, and one Wilson was expected by many to cruise.

And yet, as the results poured in, it looked like it would be a dead heat...

Producer: Simon Elmes.

ELINOR GOODMAN explores the general election that brought HAROLD WILSON to power in 1964.



Producer: Simon Elmes.

In 1978 and early 1979, Britain was divided. There were street protests and marches; a government with no majority battled to keep its authority. Immigration was controversial; so was racist violence. By the time of the 'Winter of Discontent' strike wave, institutions were under such pressure that the status quo seemed to be breaking down. Who knew what awaited Britain just a few months ahead?

On the left, many worried about the rise of the National Front, and a broader shift towards authoritarianism, including the actions of the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group. Plays, articles and pop songs anticipated an oppressive right-wing government.

On the right, meanwhile, many foresaw the ever-greater extension of state and trade union power. Novels, TV dramas and political essays and speeches pictured a coming left-wing dictatorship.

And underpinning all this was a broader fear: of social breakdown.

Yet even as the barriers that had kept post-war Britain relatively stable seemed to be collapsing, something else was stirring. Young people, galvanised by punk and political fear, began to challenge other barriers, through movements like Rock Against Racism. So did all that fear and chaos also reach beyond party politics to forge an unexpected new way of being British?

Interviewees include: Prof. Avtar Brah, Lord Donoughue, David Edgar, Prof. Steven Fielding, Lord Lawson, Mykaell Riley, Tom Robinson, Lucy Whitman

Producer: Phil Tinline

Phil Tinline traces the political fears and hopes swirling in Britain in 1978 and 1979.

Yet even as the barriers that had kept post-war Britain relatively stable seemed to be collapsing, something else was stirring. Young people, galvanised both by punk and by political fear, began to challenge other barriers, through movements like Rock Against Racism. So did all that fear and chaos also reach beyond party politics to forge an unexpected new way of being British?

Interviewees include: Avtar Brah, Lord Donoughue, David Edgar, Professor Steven Fielding, Lord Lawson, Mykaell Riley, Tom Robinson, Lucy Whitman

Since its launch in 2003, Funny Women has given a platform to some of the brightest comedy stars. Katherine Ryan, Sarah Millican, Sara Pascoe, Rosie Jones, Bridget Christie, Andi Osho, Jayde Adams, London Hughes, Kerry Godliman and many others all performed in the finals early in their careers.

In 20 Years of Funny Women, Kerry Godliman presents archive performances and new interviews with Funny Women alumni including Diane Morgan, Zoe Lyons, Rachel Parris, Desiree Burch, Sindhu Vee, Jessica Fostekew, Charlie George, Amy Gledhill, Thanyia Moore, Gemma Whelan and all of the 2022 award winners - including the double-winning rising-star Lorna Rose Treen.

And we hear from the Funny Women founder Lynne Parker and the ‘Matron' of Funny Women, Jo Brand.

20 Years of Funny Women is a celebration of Funny Women and funny women - and a reflection of how the comedy landscape has changed over the last 20 years.

Produced by Laura Grimshaw

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4

Kerry Godliman presents a look back over 20 Years of the Funny Women Awards.

And we hear from the Funny Women founder Lynne Parker and the ?Matron' of Funny Women, Jo Brand.

And we hear from the Funny Women founder Lynne Parker and the ‘Matron’ of Funny Women, Jo Brand.

And we hear from the Funny Women founder Lynne Parker and the ‘Matron' of Funny Women, Jo Brand.

The Poles and the Planet

It is a story of courage, sacrifice, rivalries and friendships, but 50 years after the first triumphant crossing of Antarctica, the story of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition is nearly forgotten.

Set against the scientific frenzy of the International Geophysical Year of 1957 which saw the launch of the space age, Adam Fowler tracks down the survivors of the last great journey on Earth and asks what legacy they have left.

In this quirky programme, one-time Europe correspondent John Sergeant asks a variety of people to assess how the subsequent four decades has impacted on their lives. Diplomat Sir Michael Jenkins, one of the first senior civil servants to serve in the new EEC, gives his candid take on what it was like to work in a totally different cultural environment in those early months.

Claire Mooney and her twin brother Danny from Manchester look back through the archives and reflect on why they voted differently in the 1975 EEC Referendum. Bill Newton-Dunn and Michael Welsh talk about their initial bewilderment at being among the first elected Euro MPs in 1979. There's discussion about how closer European involvement impacted on UK culture - people who upped sticks for a life on the Costa Blanca tell us why and Reggie Perrin creator David Nobbs explains how it even inspired him to write a sitcom.

Veteran foreign correspondent Ann Leslie reminisces about changes in our food habits and myths around EU regulations while psychologist Ronete Cohen, who now lives and works in England and Holland, reflects on how the Channel Tunnel changed her life. And as the debate over immigration controls continues, Archive on 4 goes to Lincolnshire to hear how the influx of Polish migrants has impacted on the town of Boston. The final verdict on the UK's role in Europe is left to a Greek, Italian, German and Spaniard over a coffee in Bonn.

Produced by Ashley Byrne

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.

John Sergeant marks the 40th anniversary of the UK's joining the EEC.

Taking the speech section by section, he BBC's Media Editor Amol Rajan and a range of contributors reflect on the enduring influence and significance of the speech, which was delivered to local Conservative Party members in Birmingham just a few days ahead of the crucial second reading of the 1968 Race Relations Bill.

Professor David Dabydeen of the University of Warwick talks about Powell's failure to realise that the racial unrest in America, which he feared might spread to Britain, was around basic civil rights such as the right to vote, and the right to sit on a bus.

David Lammy MP talks about the fear that the speech created amongst his family at the time, becoming part of the wallpaper of his childhood.

The text of the speech included observations on immigrants taken from Enoch Powell's Wolverhampton constituents, and ended with a reference to a moment in Virgil's Aeneid when the prophetess Sibyll predicts civil war in Italy with 'the River Tiber foaming with much blood'.

Only a short section of Powell's speech was actually recorded on the night but, for this programme, the full text is recreated by the actor Ian McDiarmid, who has played Enoch Powell on stage recently in the play What Shadows.

Producer: Nathan Gower

Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Amol Rajan reflects on Enoch Powell's 1968 Rivers of Blood speech and hears it in full.

The BBC's Media Editor Amol Rajan reflects on the enduring influence and significance of the speech, which was delivered to local Conservative Party members in Birmingham just a few days ahead of the crucial second reading of the 1968 Race Relations Bill.

The text of the speech included observations on immigrants taken from ENOCH POWELL's Wolverhampton constituents, and ended with a reference to a moment in Virgil's Aeneid when the prophetess Sibyll predicts civil war in Italy with the River Tiber foaming with much blood.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Producer: JON NAISMITH

Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls

A BBC Studios production

Greg James presents a compilation of the long-running, self-styled antidote to panel games

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, recently voted ?greatest radio comedy show of all time' in a Radio Times poll, is 50 years old this month. Greg James unearths a bumper selection of clips and quips from half a century of the antidote to panel games, featuring many of the show's most popular panellists and silliest rounds.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, recently voted ‘greatest radio comedy show of all time’ in a Radio Times poll, is 50 years old this month. Greg James unearths a bumper selection of clips and quips from half a century of the antidote to panel games, featuring many of the show’s most popular panellists and silliest rounds.

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, recently voted ‘greatest radio comedy show of all time' in a Radio Times poll, is 50 years old this month. Greg James unearths a bumper selection of clips and quips from half a century of the antidote to panel games, featuring many of the show's most popular panellists and silliest rounds.

Born out of a commercial war between record labels - shellac was expensive and fragile - RCA Records released the first 7' record on 10th January 1949. Eight decades later 7' singles are in more demand than ever from avid collectors - some commanding four figure sums - and a whole new generation born when the iPod became king are discovering the beauty of the physical 7' over the digital file and streaming.

In this Archive on 4, Pete Waterman, who knows a thing or two about the 7' single, charts its history since the 1940s.

Along the way, he hears from a plethora of people for whom the single has played a huge part of their lives - Petula Clark and John Leyton of 'Johnny Remember Me' fame remember the early years as recording artists in the 1950s. There was the moral panic of the rock'n'roll and beat generation, as mothers in headscarves queued up decrying the degenerative influence of the coffee bar and its jukebox. But the force of the 7' single changed lives, and helped to introduce the world to the teenager.

Pete guides us through pop culture high points, and low points, when British artists dominated the US singles charts - events that injected a newfound confidence and self-belief into the domestic music industry.

Among those recalling their own relationship with the 7' single is composer Simon May (of EastEnders fame) who had a series of singles hits in the 70s . He explains the excitement of watching the unlikeliest success stories rise up the charts. Pete also talks to producer Royston Mayoh who made the 80s ITV music shows Razzmatazz and The Tube.

We hear about 7' singles parties when enthusiastic young fans would show off and swap their latest records. Pete talks about the sound of the vinyl single, we hear how they were made initially and from one of only two Jukebox factories that exist in the world where they are still making vinyl 7' singles

Pete looks at the phenomenon of the A and B side, the charity and novelty songs which were greatly enabled by the 7' market and the way covers changed everything in later years, and the bizarre and off-beat world of the 'flexidisc' - the freebie giveaway often found on the cover of magazines.

Where does the single fit in history and where does it sit today? Peter Waterman, tries to answer the question in a way only he can.

Producers: Wayne Wright and Ashley Byrne

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

Pete Waterman marks the 75th anniversary of the 7' single.

999 was the first emergency telephone number in the world when it was launched on June 30th, 1937. Within the first week, more than a thousand calls were made to the service with one burglar arrested less than five minutes after a member of the public had dialled 999. Impressive stuff. But there were teething problems...

In the early days, only those wealthy enough to own a telephone could hope to avail of the service. Exchange room operators complained of stress caused by the raucous buzzers which alerted them to 999 calls. Advancing technology connected with the system began to alter the relationship between public and police. Almost unbelievably in hindsight, the 999 service wasn't made fully available across the nation until 1976.

Exactly 80 years after it was introduced, IAN SANSOM dials up the remarkable story of our three digit emergency number. Between rare archive, real life-or-death emergencies and interviews with call handlers on the front line, Ian takes a personal look at the evolution of 999 and asks what the future holds for this pioneering British institution.

Producer: CONOR GARRETT.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.

IAN SANSOM dials up the story of the 999 service, launched in 1937.

'Ian Sansom dials up the story of the 999 service, 80 years after it was introduced.'

Backwards Catastrophe is the latest in an occasional series of Archive on 4 programmes which journey through their subjects in reverse chronology.

It's part polemic, part satire, part lyrical collage.

Producer: Martin WIlliams

Travelling in reverse through the archives to trace the roots of the environmental crisis.

It's not a current affairs programme ? and it doesn't focus primarily on the scientific or political debates.

It's an elegy: part polemic, part satire, part lyrical collage.

It begins from the uncontroversial acceptance that man-made climate change is real and that the consequent cascading problems affecting the earth's life-sustaining systems are exacerbated by the apparent difficulty of collective action in a deeply unequal world. The effects of climate change are projected to be felt everywhere and are also projected to fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable ? and on those historically least responsible for the problem.

The programme is broken into five sections.

The first section is introduced by Jo Dodds, who has first-hand experience of the now regular and devastating bush fires in New South Wales, Australia. It begins with the poem A Song on the End of the World by Czes?aw Mi?osz and covers some of the debates of the present day, ending with the resolutions of the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The second section is introduced by Marinel Ubaldo, a climate activist from the Philippines. It begins with the poem Fire and Ice by Robert Frost and proceeds from the time of the Millennium back to the Kyoto Conference in 1997.

The third section is introduced by Hilda Nakabuye, the founder of Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. It begins with the poem Estuary by Ian Hamilton Finlay and moves between 1988 ? when Dr James Hansen testified to the US Senate that ?climate change has begun' ? and 1992, when the UN Earth Summit was held in Rio.

The fourth section is introduced by Eleanor Terrelonge, who founded the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council. It begins with The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth, read by Tony Harrison, and centres around some pre-climate change catastrophising from the early 1970s.

The fifth section begins with the poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith. It is introduced by Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani people from the Ecuadorean Amazon, a recent winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize. She takes us further back in time ? to an island in the southern Pacific which might have something to say about our future.

It made sense to bring the natural world into the programme, and so as the archive spools backwards in time it is accompanied by a variety of recordings by Peter Cusack, BJ Nilsen, Chris Watson and Martin Williams.

The programme rolls along to variations on a melody whose title goes some way to encapsulating things: Mad World.

Thanks to Emma Lewis, Sophie Pinchetti of Amazon Frontlines, Abid Hossan Raju, and Cam Walker of Friends of the Earth.

Reading by Diana Almeida.

Producer: Martin Williams.

It's not a current affairs programme – and it doesn't focus primarily on the scientific or political debates.

It begins from the uncontroversial acceptance that man-made climate change is real and that the consequent cascading problems affecting the earth's life-sustaining systems are exacerbated by the apparent difficulty of collective action in a deeply unequal world. The effects of climate change are projected to be felt everywhere and are also projected to fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable – and on those historically least responsible for the problem.

The third section is introduced by Hilda Nakabuye, the founder of Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. It begins with the poem Estuary by Ian Hamilton Finlay and moves between 1988 – when Dr James Hansen testified to the US Senate that ‘climate change has begun' – and 1992, when the UN Earth Summit was held in Rio.

The fifth section begins with the poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith. It is introduced by Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani people from the Ecuadorean Amazon, a recent winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize. She takes us further back in time – to an island in the southern Pacific which might have something to say about our future.

It’s not a current affairs programme – and it doesn’t focus primarily on the scientific or political debates.

It’s an elegy: part polemic, part satire, part lyrical collage.

It begins from the uncontroversial acceptance that man-made climate change is real and that the consequent cascading problems affecting the earth’s life-sustaining systems are exacerbated by the apparent difficulty of collective action in a deeply unequal world. The effects of climate change are projected to be felt everywhere and are also projected to fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable – and on those historically least responsible for the problem.

The third section is introduced by Hilda Nakabuye, the founder of Uganda’s Fridays for Future movement. It begins with the poem Estuary by Ian Hamilton Finlay and moves between 1988 – when Dr James Hansen testified to the US Senate that ‘climate change has begun’ – and 1992, when the UN Earth Summit was held in Rio.

It's not a current affairs programme - and it doesn't focus primarily on the scientific or political debates.

It begins from the uncontroversial acceptance that man-made climate change is real and that the consequent cascading problems affecting the earth's life-sustaining systems are exacerbated by the apparent difficulty of collective action in a deeply unequal world. The effects of climate change are projected to be felt everywhere and are also projected to fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable - and on those historically least responsible for the problem.

The third section is introduced by Hilda Nakabuye, the founder of Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. It begins with the poem Estuary by Ian Hamilton Finlay and moves between 1988 - when Dr James Hansen testified to the US Senate that ‘climate change has begun' - and 1992, when the UN Earth Summit was held in Rio.

The fifth section begins with the poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith. It is introduced by Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani people from the Ecuadorean Amazon, a recent winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize. She takes us further back in time - to an island in the southern Pacific which might have something to say about our future.

American satirist Joe Queenan follows up his Brief Histories of Irony and Blame with A Brief History of Anger - spats, tantrums and explosions from the archive. Good anger, bad anger, creative anger, and the occasional childish moment caught on microphone. With contributions from Christopher Hitchens, Conrad Black, Russell Crowe, Joan Rivers, Joan Bakewell, and Johnny Cash. Plus new interviews with John Sergeant, Natalie Haynes and Matthew Parris, and a running commentary of anger from the presenter himself.

My kids make me angry. My job makes me angry. The producer makes me angry. Then there's my wife, other people's wives, other drivers, airports, and worst of all my football team... And then there are interviewers. Interviewers always make me angry.

The producer is Miles Warde.

' My kids make me angry. My job makes me angry. The producer makes me angry. Then there's my wife, other people's wives, other drivers, airports, and worst of all my football team ... And then there are interviewers. Interviewers always make me angry.'

' My kids make me angry. My job makes me angry. The producer makes me angry. Then there's my wife, other people's wives, other drivers, airports, and worst of all my football team... And then there are interviewers. Interviewers always make me angry.'

Blame the abstract, blame the real, blame the stars, blame the bankers, blame the mother-in-law, blame anyone but yourself - The American satirist Joe Queenan presents A Brief History of Blame, an archive opera in six acts featuring Margaret Thatcher, Niall Ferguson, Tom Wrigglesworth, Richard Nixon, Melvyn Bragg, the Archbishop of Canterbury, plus new interviews with Germaine Greer, John Sergeant and Charlie Campbell. Together they reveal that we are all now living in a babel of blame.

Queenan gives no nonsense answers to six headings, including How Blaming Began. There are explanations for the word scapegoat, discussion of the role of parents in messing things up, and a rare outing from Margaret Thatcher in a performance of Yes Minister which she wrote herself. I want you to abolish economists, she demands. Don't worry if it goes wrong - I'll get the blame, I always do.

My qualifications for presenting this programme are impeccable, says Queenan. My father was an alcoholic, my mother an emotionally distant manic depressive. Together we grew up in a charm free housing project in Philadelphia. So don't whine to me about how tough life is.

The producer is Miles Warde, who previously collaborated with Joe Queenan on A Brief History of Irony and An American's Guide to Failure.

Blame the abstract, blame the real, blame the stars, blame the bankers, blame the mother-in-law, blame anyone but yourself....

Queenan gives no nonsense answers to six headings, including How Blaming Began. There are explanations for the word scapegoat, discussion of the role of parents in messing things up, and a rare outing from Margaret Thatcher in a performance of Yes Minister which she wrote herself. 'I want you to abolish economists, ' she demands. 'Don't worry if it goes wrong - I'll get the blame, I always do.

'My qualifications for presenting this programme are impeccable,' says Queenan. 'My father was an alcoholic, my mother an emotionally distant manic depressive. Together we grew up in a charm free housing project in Philadelphia. So don't whine to me about how tough life is.'

Blame the abstract, blame the real, blame the stars, blame the bankers, blame the mother-in-law, blame anyone but yourself ....

Queenan gives no nonsense answers to six headings, including How Blaming Began. There are explanations for the word scapegoat, discussion of the role of parents in messing things up, and a rare outing from Margaret Thatcher in a performance of Yes Minister which she wrote herself. I want you to abolish economists,  she demands. Don't worry if it goes wrong - I'll get the blame, I always do.

My qualifications for presenting this programme are impeccable, says Queenan. My father was an alcoholic, my mother an emotionally distant manic depressive. Together we grew up in a charm free housing project in Philadelphia. So don't whine to me about how tough life is.

The producer is Miles Warde, who previously collaborated with Joe Queenan on A Brief History of Irony and An American's Guide to Failure.

'Chronologically, culturally, and cardiovascularly I am undeniably a boomer even though I never did acid, never read CATCH-22, and despise the Grateful Dead. There is no escaping it. I was 13 when the Beatles came to America, I routinely made love not war, I was part of the solution and not part of the problem, and I was present in Washington D.C the day a million of us levitated the Pentagon through the sheer, awesome power of drug-induced telekinesis. Also I saw Hendrix. And Joplin. And the Stones. So there is just no denying it. I am a Boomer par excellence. As Jim Morrison once said, I am a spy in the house of love.'

With new interviews and cunning archive, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump (why won't these men move out the way?) plus UK politician David Willetts, author of The Pinch, and Emma Soames of Saga magazine. New material comes from economist Dr Marina Adshade, who has been calculating how many boomers there are worldwide; plus Jonn Elledge of the New Statesman; and star of both Strictly and Barging Round Britain, John Sergeant.

Joe Queenan is the author of Balsamic Dreams: A Brief But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation. He is 72.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde who requested that Joe Queenan watch the Swedish horror film, Midsommar.

In Midsommar everyone aged 72 is made to jump off a cliff.

Produced by Miles Warde

American satirist Joe Queenan (b1950) addresses the faults and failings of a generation.

In Queenan on Cunning, the satirist JOE QUEENAN explores a word rarely associated with the current President of the USA.

From Odysseus to Bismarck, via Brer Rabbit and Machiavelli's The Prince, there's a fine tradition of tricksters and hucksters, but where does the Donald fit in the mix?

You need patience, intelligence, forward planning - some of these are Trump-like qualities. Stress on the some. But he's by no means a modern day Odysseus. Not much of a sailor.

With contributions from Adam MacQueen, author of The Lies of the Land; EDITH HALL, who wrote a cultural history of Homer's Odyssey; and TIBOR FISCHER, whose forthcoming novel is called How to Rule the World.

Plus JOHN SERGEANT, KATHY LETTE, RICHARD NIXON, Alistair McAlpine, LAURA BARTON... and a campaigning American president cross-faded with a much loved song from The Jungle Book.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

American satirist JOE QUEENAN explores cunning.

From Odysseus to Bismarck, via Brer Rabbit and Machiavelli's The Prince, there's a fine tradition of tricksters and hucksters, but where does the Donald fit in the mix?

You need patience, intelligence, forward planning - some of these are Trump-like qualities. Stress on the some. But he's by no means a modern day Odysseus. Not much of a sailor.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

Plus John Sergeant, Kathy Lette, Richard Nixon, Alistair McAlpine, Laura Barton ... and a campaigning American president cross-faded with a much loved song from The Jungle Book.

Makes me wonder why I should keep off the grass. And it makes me want to go on the grass!

American satirist Joe Queenan presents A Brief History of Disobedience, follow up to his programmes on Blame, Shame, Anger and Irony. He travels in time from the Old Testament to Tarrytown, his home in suburban New York. The aim? To discover the importance of not doing what we are told. As the hippies used to say, let your life be a counter friction to the machine.

With notable contributions from the archive - Gandhi, the Suffragettes, the Greenham Common Peace protestors.

Heroes of Disobedience include Martin Luther, Geronimo, Woody Guthrie and The Doors. Plus Matthew Parris on Margaret Thatcher, Bill Finnegan of the New Yorker on his barbarian days as a surfer, and Karen Moline on writing dirty books.

Plus helpful hints about how to be usefully disobedient in everyday life.

Joe Queenan is an Emmy award winning broadcaster and writer.

Produced in Bristol by Miles Warde.

Joe Queenan offers a Brief History of Disobedience, follow up to Blame, Anger and Shame.

'Oh my goodness, look at that sign over there. Keep Off The Grass. Makes me wonder who put it there. Makes me wonder why I should keep off the grass. And it makes me want to go on the grass!'

American satirist JOE QUEENAN presents A Brief History of Disobedience, the follow up to his programmes on Blame, Shame, Anger and Irony. He travels in time from the Old Testament to Tarrytown, his home in suburban New York. He aims to discover the importance of not doing what we are told. So let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.

With notable contributions from the archive - Gandhi, the Suffragettes, the Greenham Common Peace protestors. Our Heroes of Disobedience include MARTIN LUTHER, Geronimo, Woody Guthrie and The Doors. Plus MATTHEW PARRIS on MARGARET THATCHER, Bill Finnegan on his barbarian days as a surfer and Karen Moline on writing dirty books. And finally, helpful hints about how to be usefully disobedient in everyday life.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

JOE QUEENAN on a Brief History of Disobedience, the follow up to Blame, Anger and Shame.

Oh my goodness, look at that sign over there. Keep Off The Grass. Makes me wonder who put it there. Makes me wonder why I should keep off the grass. And it makes me want to go on the grass!

'I'm in the south, at one of the many re-enactment battles of the American civil war that go on every year. Thousands have turned up to re-fight a war they lost. We don't do this in the north - it would be odd, and divisive, perhaps even inflammatory. But the memories of a conflict that took place over 150 years down here - they don't go away.'

This is the first of two archive programmes from JOE QUEENAN, with A Brief History of Lust coming next week.

Failure features archive contributions from classics professor Edith Hall; historian Geoffrey Regan; writer Armando Iannucci; former political correspondent and Strictly star John Sergeant; plus music from Laura Marling, Viv Albertine of the Slits and rock and roll's greatest failure, John Otway.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

JOE QUEENAN on the romance of failure, or the dreaded 'failure chic'.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal, said WINSTON CHURCHILL. The American satirist JOE QUEENAN thinks he might be wrong. In this archive hour follow up to his previous programmes on Blame, Shame, Anger and Irony, Queenan rails against the very idea of failure. His sharpest attack is reserved for the supposed romance of defeat. From Braveheart in Scotland via the heretic Cathars in France to the pretend soldiers in Virginia still re-enacting the American Civil War, Queenan explores whether there may be something noble about losing a war.

I'm in the south, at one of the many re-enactment battles of the American civil war that go on every year. Thousands have turned up to re-fight a war they lost. We don't do this in the north - it would be odd, and divisive, perhaps even inflammatory. But the memories of a conflict that took place over 150 years down here - they don't go away.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal, said Winston Churchill. The American satirist Joe Queenan thinks he might be wrong. In this archive hour follow up to his previous programmes on Blame, Shame, Anger and Irony, Queenan rails against the very idea of failure. His sharpest attack is reserved for the supposed romance of defeat. From Braveheart in Scotland via the heretic Cathars in France to the pretend soldiers in Virginia still re-enacting the American Civil War, Queenan explores whether there may be something noble about losing a war.

American satirist Joe Queenan explores the romance of failure, or what he calls the dreaded 'failure chic'.

Ian Hislop, John Sergeant, Kathy Lette, Barry Cryer and Madonna join the American satirist Joe Queenan in a search for the meaning and purpose of irony - or saying one thing to mean something else. Juvenal, Swift and John Lennon all find a place in the spotlight, as do the bible, Oliver Cromwell and World War One.

Some might think it ironic that the BBC has hired an American presenter for this show, says the presenter, but the latest chapter in irony's history was written in the United States. The reference is to the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers, and the proclamation that the Age of Irony was dead. Shattered Nation Yearns to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again, replied the Onion newspaper. We have an interview with the editor about the dangers of stepping into the irony-free zone.

The programme also features Armando Iannucci, Kurt Anderson, Brenda Maddox, Dean Martin, Bert Kaempfert and The Mike Flowers Pops.

The producer is Miles Warde.

'What is irony ? Why do we need it ? Does it have any socially redeeming features whatsoever, or is it merely nasty ?'

Some might think it ironic that the BBC has hired an American presenter for this show,' says the presenter, 'but the latest chapter in irony's history was written in the United States.' The reference is to the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers, and the proclamation that the Age of Irony was dead. 'Shattered Nation Yearns to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again,' replied the Onion newspaper. We have an interview with the editor about the dangers of stepping into the irony-free zone.

Satirist JOE QUEENAN charts the rise and fall of the 'nudge nudge wink wink' epidemic.

What is irony ? Why do we need it ? Does it have any socially redeeming features whatsoever, or is it merely nasty ?

Some might think it ironic that the BBC has hired an American presenter for this show, says the presenter, but the latest chapter in irony's history was written in the United States. The reference is to the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers, and the proclamation that the Age of Irony was dead. Shattered Nation Yearns to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again, replied the Onion newspaper. We have an interview with the editor about the dangers of stepping into the irony-free zone.

The producer is MILES WARDE.

Ian Hislop, John Sergeant, Kathy Lette, Barry Cryer and Madonna join the American satirist Joe Queenan in a search for the meaning and purpose of irony - or saying one thing to mean something else. Juvenal, Swift and John Lennon all find a place in the spotlight, as do the bible, Oliver Cromwell and World War One.

Some might think it ironic that the BBC has hired an American presenter for this show,' says the presenter, 'but the latest chapter in irony's history was written in the United States.' The reference is to the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers, and the proclamation that the Age of Irony was dead. 'Shattered Nation Yearns to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again,' replied the Onion newspaper. We have an interview with the editor about the dangers of stepping into the irony-free zone.

The programme also features Armando Iannucci, Kurt Anderson, Brenda Maddox, Dean Martin, Bert Kaempfert and The Mike Flowers Pops.

The producer is Miles Warde.

Satirist Joe Queenan charts the rise and fall of the 'nudge nudge wink wink' epidemic.

A family of Syrian migrants relive their perilous journey to seek a new life in Europe.

In the spring of 2015 the Dhnie family embarked on the perilous journey to Europe. They risked their lives in rubber boats and got caught up in riots at border crossings, they slept rough, ran out of money and regularly asked themselves 'Is it worth it?

In this programme the family answer that question. Award-winning journalist Manveen Rana, who accompanied the Dhnie's over the many months during which they made their way to Europe, visits them in Germany to re-live key moments of their journey, and to find out what's happened to them since. She plays back to them the recordings she made with them, an emotional and compelling soundtrack which became a powerful and multi award-winning documentary and ongoing podcast series for The World At One. As events are replayed Manveen gathers the family's response to them, eighteen months on.

In this intimate and personal programme, Manveen reveals who has prospered and why some of the family bitterly regret the decision to seek a new life in Europe.

Producer: Dixi Stewart.

In this programme the family answer that question. Award-winning journalist Manveen Rana, who accompanied the Dhnie's over the many months during which they made their way to Europe, visits them in Germany to re-live key moments of their journey, and to find out what's happened to them since. She plays back to them the recordings she made with them, an emotional and compelling soundtrack which became a powerful and multi award-winning documentary. As events are replayed Manveen gathers the family's response to them, two years on.



Producer: Dixi Stewart.

'In the spring of 2015 the Dhnie family embarked on the perilous journey to Europe. They risked their lives in rubber boats and got caught up in riots at border crossings, they slept rough, ran out of money and regularly asked themselves 'Is it worth it?'

With contributions from historian Suzannah Lipscomb, classicist Edith Hall, plus Agnes Poirier, Joan Bakewell (of course), Caitlin Moran and Richard Herring on Rasputin; a specially composed new poem on lust from Elvis McGonagall; and music from Prince, T Rex, Bessie Smith and Cole Porter.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

American satirist Joe Queenan presents a new history of lust.

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt - and this insane epidemic of shame - both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous - it's got to be reined in.

Featuring archive of Bill Clinton, Jane Garvey, John Prescott, Jon Ronson, Tim Stanley of the Daily Telegraph, and Sir Peter Viggers, the 'duck house man'; plus new interviews with classics professor Edith Hall and novelist Kathy Lette, and music by Fats Domino, Bessie Smith and Question Mark and The Mysterians.

Shame follows Joe Queenan's previous programmes on Anger, Irony and Blame.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt - and this insane epidemic of shame - both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous - it's got to be reined in.'

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.'

Produced in Bristol by MILES WARDE.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4in 2015.

American satirist JOE QUEENAN explores Shame.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt - and this insane epidemic of shame - both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous - it's got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I?m never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt ? and this insane epidemic of shame ? both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous ? it's got to be reined in.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt ? and this insane epidemic of shame ? both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous ? it's got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that?s when society becomes almost pathological. I?m never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt ? and this insane epidemic of shame ? both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous ? it?s got to be reined in.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that’s when society becomes almost pathological. I’m never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it’s got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that’s when society becomes almost pathological. I’m never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it’s got to be reined in.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.

'When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt – and this insane epidemic of shame – both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous – it's got to be reined in.'

When you do something wrong and then you admit that you did it, and people keep after you ... that's when society becomes almost pathological. I'm never willing to give the public the benefit of the doubt - and this insane epidemic of shame - both the trivial, and the miserable, the deadly, even the murderous - it's got to be reined in.

But in this hour of strangers, wanderers, commuters, foreigners, migrants, outcasts, interlopers and aliens, Queenan grapples with what strangers have brought to our world. Includes archive of Decca Aitkenhead on the joys of hitching, Harry Allen the Media Assassin on why skin marks you out, and poet Elvis McGonagall with a bravado stand up performance on why he wants to be foreign.

Plus new interviews with Catherine Carr (host of Where Are You Going?) and Emma Garland, who recounts flying to New York to see a man she'd only known online. It didn't go well. Plus Alexei Sayle (presenter of Strangers on a Train) and Professor Edith Hall on why the Greek word xeno can mean friend, alien and guest.

This is Joe Queenan's twelfth brief history for Radio 4. He's an Emmy award winning broadcaster and writer whose books include Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the baby Boomer Generation.

The producer for BBC studios in Bristol is Miles Warde

Joe Queenan on strangers - an opportunity or a threat?

The American writer Joe Queenan with his latest brief history - are strangers an opportunity or a threat?

It's time to travel down the rabbit hole of truth as American satirist JOE QUEENAN explores a murky world of fake news, prejudice and alternative facts.

'Recent politics have shown that the truth is no fun,' he explains. 'It's like a vegetable your mother makes you eat. Yes it may be nourishing, but it tastes terrible.'

With archive contributions from DONALD TRUMP, DORIS LESSING, Jeremy Corbyn, Peter Mandelson and Theresa May; plus new interviews with Mark Borkowski, EDITH HALL and JULIAN BAGGINI, author of a Short History of Truth.

This is JOE QUEENAN's follow up to previous editions on Blame, Shame, Irony and Anger.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

Recent politics have shown that the truth is no fun, he explains. It's like a vegetable your mother makes you eat. Yes it may be nourishing, but it tastes terrible.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

When Sue MacGregor quietly retired from The Reunion last year, there was no fanfare, montage of past heroics or on-air hullabaloo, just a spontaneous ripple of applause from the original cast of the musical 'Cats'.

It marked the end of 52 years of continuous broadcasting on the BBC, including a unique unbroken run on Radio 4 since its inception. In this goodbye to the network, she reflects on some of her most memorable moments, and the way broadcasting has changed since 1968.

She represents the deepest values of the BBC, was once described as the 'crown imperial' of Radio 4, and has forged a unique relationship with listeners over the decades as the presenter of programmes like Woman's Hour, Today, A Good Read, Conversation Piece and many more.

Radio Times readers still place her in the Top 5 of the all-time best voices on radio.

In this programme, she recalls frying eggs at Piccadilly Circus (on a famously hot day in the late 60s), the El Vino's sit ins of the early 70s (the last men only wine bar on Fleet Street), being smuggled into Winnie Mandela's Soweto home whilst she was under house arrest, both wedding and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and memorable encounters with Julie Andrews, MARGARET THATCHER, BETTE DAVIS and a very angry Conservative Party Chairman.

Producers: Ellie Clifford and David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

When Sue MacGregor quietly retired from The Reunion last year, there was no fanfare, montage of past heroics or on-air hullabaloo, just a spontaneous ripple of applause from the original cast of the musical Cats.

She represents the deepest values of the BBC, was once described as the crown imperial of Radio 4, and has forged a unique relationship with listeners over the decades as the presenter of programmes like Woman's Hour, Today, A Good Read, Conversation Piece and many more.

When Sue MacGregor quietly retired from The Reunion in 2019, there was no fanfare, montage of past heroics or on-air hullabaloo, just a spontaneous ripple of applause from the original cast of the musical 'Cats'.

First broadcast in September 2020.

She represents the deepest values of the BBC, was once described as the 'crown imperial' of Radio 4, and has forged a unique relationship with listeners over the decades as the presenter of programmes like Woman’s Hour, Today, A Good Read, Conversation Piece and many more.

In this programme, she recalls frying eggs at Piccadilly Circus (on a famously hot day in the late 60s), the El Vino’s sit ins of the early 70s (the last men only wine bar on Fleet Street), being smuggled into Winnie Mandela’s Soweto home whilst she was under house arrest, both wedding and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and memorable encounters with Julie Andrews, Margaret Thatcher, Bette Davis and a very angry Conservative Party Chairman.

When Sue MacGregor quietly retired from The Reunion in 2019, there was no fanfare, montage of past heroics or on-air hullabaloo, just a spontaneous ripple of applause from the original cast of the musical 'Cats'.

It marked the end of 52 years of continuous broadcasting on the BBC, including a unique unbroken run on Radio 4 since its inception.

In this goodbye to the network, she reflects on some of her most memorable moments, and the way broadcasting has changed since 1968.

Representing the deepest values of the BBC, Sue was once described as the 'crown imperial' of Radio 4, and has forged a unique relationship with listeners over the decades as the presenter of programmes like Woman's Hour, Today, A Good Read, Conversation Piece and many more.

Radio Times readers still place her in the Top 5 of the all-time best voices on radio.

In this programme, she recalls frying eggs at Piccadilly Circus (on a famously hot day in the late 60s), the El Vino's sit ins of the early 70s (the last men only wine bar on Fleet Street), being smuggled into Winnie Mandela's Soweto home whilst she was under house arrest, both wedding and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and memorable encounters with Julie Andrews, Margaret Thatcher, Bette Davis and a very angry Conservative Party Chairman.

Producers: Ellie Clifford and David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2020.

Sue MacGregor looks back on five decades of broadcasting in this final goodbye to Radio 4. From September 2020.

Delving through a wealth of archive, Peter White explores the role of the assistance dog. From guide dogs to guard dogs, hearing dogs to healing dogs, he looks at how we have become dependent on canines. Producer Elizabeth Foster

To mark the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent Peter White examines the changing role of the working dog, from the early 1900s to their role in today's society, using extensive and sometimes previously unbroadcast archive.

Perennially 'man's best friend', dogs are also now man's best colleague.

From guide dogs to guard dogs, hearing dogs to healing dogs, Peter examines the ways in which we have become so dependent on canines.

Over the years we have progressed from guide dogs to dual purpose dogs, to dogs that can detect imminent epileptic fits, smuggled drugs and explosive devices - even dogs that can do your washing.

The programme features a mix of historical material, new interviews and previously untransmitted archive of the trainers, the owners and those that place their lives in the paws of their dogs.

Peter White examines the changing role of the working dog.

Perennially 'man's best friend', dogs are also now man's best colleague. From guide dogs to guard dogs, hearing dogs to healing dogs, Peter examines the ways in which we have become so dependent on canines. Over the years we have progressed from guide dogs to dual purpose dogs, to dogs that can detect imminent epileptic fits, smuggled drugs and explosive devices - even dogs that can do your washing.

NB

Interviewees include Fabiola Ching, 17 year old editor at Coalition zine; Gabi from GabiFresh.com; Eleanor Hardwick, staff photographer at Rookie Mag; sixth form girls at a Coventry school; Pauline Black, lead singer of The Selecter, and former Riot Grrrl Olivia Laing. Archive dates back to the 1920s and comes up to date with more recent interviews featuring Caitlin Moran and Beth Reekles, whose secured a major publishing deal after her novel 'The Kissing Booth' received over 19 million reads.

Ruby Tandoh shows how young women are finding a powerful new voice via the internet.

It's 170 years since William Makepeace Thackeray wrote his gazetteer of early Victorian social life, The Book of Snobs. Most of our views on snobbery come from this single text. Now, writer DJ Taylor wants to update this user's guide to the snob for the 21st century. He is joined in his search for the modern snob by snobs and snob observers from all walks of life, as well as by voices from the archive.

From the Raj to reality TV, from Westminster to the gentlemen's outfitters of Savile Row, Taylor argues that, at bottom, most of us are snobs and that snobbery is an essential part of the face we offer to the world.

Comedian Al Murray explores the role of snobbery as a comedic device, from Fawlty Towers to his own Pub Landlord. Jess Phillips MP reveals the snobberies of Parliament - and says we would all benefit if the Palace of Westminster was mothballed and replaced with a more up-to-date institution. And, with broadcaster and self-professed beer snob Hardeep Singh Kohli, Taylor asks why more and more people are using snobbery as a marker of identity, a badge of pride.

Produced by Hannah Marshall

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.



A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

It's 170 years since William Makepeace Thackeray wrote his gazetteer of early Victorian social life, The Book of Snobs. Most of our views on snobbery come from this single text. Now, writer DJ Taylor wants to update this user's guide to the snob for the 21st century. He is joined in his search for the modern snob by snobs and snob observers from all walks of life, as well as by voices from the archive.

From the Raj to reality TV, from Westminster to the gentlemen's outfitters of Savile Row, Taylor argues that, at bottom, most of us are snobs and that snobbery is an essential part of the face we offer to the world.

Comedian Al Murray explores the role of snobbery as a comedic device, from Fawlty Towers to his own Pub Landlord. Jess Phillips MP reveals the snobberies of Parliament - and says we would all benefit if the Palace of Westminster was mothballed and replaced with a more up-to-date institution. And, with broadcaster and self-professed beer snob Hardeep Singh Kohli, Taylor asks why more and more people are using snobbery as a marker of identity, a badge of pride.

Produced by Hannah Marshall

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Why did Edwardian novelists portray journalists as swashbuckling, truth-seeking heroes, but post-WW2 depictions present them as an alienated outsider? Why are contemporary fictional journalists often deranged, murderous or intensely vulnerable?

Jonathan considers how journalists have been represented in various distinct periods of the 20th century, explaining why the representations vary so widely. Crucially, this is a history of the press, told not by historians and sociologists, but by journalists and the creators of fiction themselves.

In uncovering many forgotten fictions, Jonathan explores the bare-knuckled literary combat conducted by writers contesting the disputed boundaries between literature and journalism.

The contributors include Simon Jenkins, Kelvin McKenzie, Francine Stock, Hadley Freeman, and S Town producer Brian Reed.

Produced by Sean Glynn and David Waters

An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.

Jonathan Freedland tells the story of journalism as depicted in fiction.



An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.

Since then, of course, much has changed, and Professor Nye considers how instances such as the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the isolationism of Donald Trump and the widespread reporting of mass shootings have tarnished America's soft power, while other countries both democratic and authoritarian have sought to push their own soft power credentials through music, sport and language.

Nye talks with Gavin Esler about the role of soft power during the dying days of the Cold War, and Tony Blair's efforts to corral the UK's leading cultural figures in a bid to bolster its own soft power potential. Professor Ngaire Woods describes the importance of making sure soft power is implemented effectively in order to maintain a united front against Russia in Ukraine. Maria Repnikova charts the varying fortunes of China and South Korea in their sustained efforts to extend their influence through soft power, and Frank Cottrell Boyce recalls the soft-power messages around, for example, the NHS and same-sex relationships that helped re-invent the image of Britain across the world.

Produced by Geoff Bird

Does soft power still wield force in a time of brutal displays of hard power in Ukraine?

Ellah Allfrey looks at its evolution from its origins as a mispronunciation of the Spanish 'negro' in the 17th century. She illuminates how and why the capitalised 'Negro' became the more acceptable version of the word in the 1920s (the landmark adoption of Negro by the New York Times was in 1930); through to the subsequent re-appropriation of the N word in rap and hip-hop culture. But even when coming from the mouths of black people the N word continues to cause offence. There have been calls for the word to be banned. But is this possible or desirable?

'There are some words in English that are so controversial that they are shortened to a single letter lest they cause offence. Perhaps the most inflammatory is the N-word. The proxy barely disguises the racial insult, 'nigger', which has topped lists of ugly and hateful words since it was first uttered in the seventeenth century. It has regularly wounded black people, its target, down the ages. When, for instance, the African American boxer, MUHAMMAD ALI, was asked why he resisted the draft in the Vietnam War, he is alleged to have said: 'No Vietnamese ever called me nigger.'

(Photo credit - AFP/Getty Images)

Ellah Allfrey looks at the evolution of the N-word.

There are some words in English that are so controversial that they are shortened to a single letter lest they cause offence. Perhaps the most inflammatory is the N-word. The proxy barely disguises the racial insult, nigger, which has topped lists of ugly and hateful words since it was first uttered in the seventeenth century. It has regularly wounded black people, its target, down the ages. When, for instance, the African American boxer, Muhammad Ali, was asked why he resisted the draft in the Vietnam War, he is alleged to have said: No Vietnamese ever called me nigger.

Ellah Allfrey looks at its evolution from its origins as a mispronunciation of the Spanish negro in the 17th century. She illuminates how and why the capitalised Negro became the more acceptable version of the word in the 1920s (the landmark adoption of Negro by the New York Times was in 1930); through to the subsequent re-appropriation of the N word in rap and hip-hop culture. But even when coming from the mouths of black people the N word continues to cause offence. There have been calls for the word to be banned. But is this possible or desirable?

Emotion is no longer private. Whether a marital collapse on reality TV or real-time twitter updates on the progress of an abortion, emotions are hung out there for all to witness. Whatever element of self-restraint may exist in our cultural DNA, it's increasingly under siege.

We've come a long way from when the ruling classes saw reticence and fair play as virtues uniquely their own and lamented 'the emotionally-uncontrolled and latently-violent working class'; when English public schools were created specifically to educate boys into showing submission, courtesy and devotion to their superiors; and when there lurked a real fear of the working class 'losing control', rebelling, and giving rise to anarchy.

Louisa Foxe goes on a journey through the archives - sometimes horrifying or amusing, always revealing and perceptive - and reveals how and why the British attitudes towards the expression of emotion have changed; how the nation has swung in and out of its penchant for repression over 600 years; and how that first Victorian stiff upper lip, far from being entrenched, was actually the product of post-Romantic pragmatism, anxiety about manliness and colonial necessity.

Taking their toll on the stiff upper lip, Louisa argues, have been two world wars, the socialist project, the rise of therapy culture, and the demise of the aristocracy's moral influence.

The results? Exclusively positive, some would say. But archive from World War One to Princess Diana, and interviewees including Frank Furedi, Ralph Fiennes, David Starkey, Andrew Motion, Peter Hitchens, and Thomas Dixon suggest that results are mixed at best and that we haven't changed as much as we believe.

Producer: David Coomes

A CTVC Production for BBC Radio 4.

Motion began the Archive in 1999 with sound producer Richard Carrington, and it is still growing in size. It includes contemporary poets reading their work, including Seamus Heaney, UA Fanthorpe and Jackie Kay and historic recordings by poets including Hilaire Belloc, Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and even Tennyson and Browning. As well as the poems there are sections for children and teachers, interviews with poets, poets in residence and useful information about genres, forms and metres. If you want to know what an anapaest is, or a pantoum, the Poetry Archive can help.

Motion and Carrington talk about why they created the archive, and state that there is more to it than simply preserving poets reading their work. Motion develops his theme that poetry is primarily an aural art, and what this reveals. The poet's voice is fundamental: the windswept moor is in the voice of Ted Hughes; Charles Causley's Cornish accent and dialect are important. The sound of a poem is an aspect of its meaning. At the recording session when Carol Ann Duffy reads her book Rapture for the archive, Richard Carrington speaks about his role: not to coax a performance so much as to help the poets to be themselves.

Andrew Motion and Richard Carrington lead us around the archive, playing gems that we might otherwise have missed. They talk, too, about what is missing, and appeal to people who might have recordings. For example, they do not know how Thomas Hardy, AE Housman and DH Lawrence sounded because as far as we know they never made recordings. But they might have, and one day they might turn up.

Andrew Motion tells the story of the proudest legacy of his time as Poet Laureate.

Motion's stint as Poet Laureate ended with predictable discussions about his successor and what he did or didn't do. But the lasting legacy of his laureateship and the great achievement of his tenure is his creation, with sound producer Richard Carrington, of the remarkable online Poetry Archive, begun in 1999 and growing. It includes contemporary poets reading their work, including Seamus Heaney, UA Fanthorpe and Jackie Kay and historic recordings by poets including Hilaire Belloc, Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and even Tennyson and Browning. As well as the poems there are sections for children and teachers, interviews with poets, poets in residence and useful information about genres, forms and metres. If you want to know what an anapaest is, or a pantoum, the Poetry Archive can help.

b00kc071ANDREW MOTION explores and tells the story of the proudest legacy of his time as Poet Laureate, The Poetry Archive - hundreds of poems, read by their authors and all available online, free to everyone.

Motion began the Archive in 1999 with sound producer Richard Carrington, and it is still growing in size. It includes contemporary poets reading their work, including Seamus Heaney, UA Fanthorpe and Jackie Kay and historic recordings by poets including Hilaire Belloc, Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and even Tennyson and Browning. As well as the poems there are sections for children and teachers, interviews with poets, poets in residence and useful information about genres, forms and metres. If you want to know what an anapaest is, or a pantoum, the Poetry Archive can help.

Motion and Carrington talk about why they created the archive, and state that there is more to it than simply preserving poets reading their work. Motion develops his theme that poetry is primarily an aural art, and what this reveals. The poet's voice is fundamental: the windswept moor is in the voice of Ted Hughes; Charles Causley's Cornish accent and dialect are important. The sound of a poem is an aspect of its meaning. At the recording session when Carol Ann Duffy reads her book Rapture for the archive, Richard Carrington speaks about his role: not to coax a performance so much as to help the poets to be themselves.

Andrew Motion and Richard Carrington lead us around the archive, playing gems that we might otherwise have missed. They talk, too, about what is missing, and appeal to people who might have recordings. For example, they do not know how Thomas Hardy, AE Housman and DH Lawrence sounded because as far as we know they never made recordings. But they might have, and one day they might turn up.

Andrew Motion tells the story of the proudest legacy of his time as Poet Laureate.

He explores whether the First Amendment, with its guarantees of free speech and a free press, can survive the polarisation fed and watered by unrestrained partisan 'fake news'.

A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4

The end of the Fairness Doctrine and the rise of political polarisation in US broadcasting

He explores whether the First Amendment, with its guarantees of free speech and a free press, can survive the polarisation fed and watered by unrestrained partisan fake news.

The journalist Steve Richards reported at the time on the long hot summer of 2003 and its turbulent aftermath - from the original BBC report to the Hutton Inquiry hastily convened to investigate Dr Kelly's death which sent further shockwaves through the heart of the media, politics and power. In this major documentary, he retraces a poignant, compelling and profoundly human story from its outset to its consequences, with the help of fascinating archive and new interviews. He talks to key players in the story, friends and associates of Dr Kelly, and senior figures in the government, Whitehall and the BBC.

What was it like for those closely involved? How does it affect them still? What lessons have they learned? How will Dr David Kelly be remembered?

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan

Exploring the inside story of the death of Dr David Kelly 20 years on.

The discovery of the body of Dr David Kelly on 18th July 2003 in the woods on Harrowdown Hill in Oxfordshire shocked the world. Just two months earlier, in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, the scientist and former UN weapons inspector had met a BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan at a London hotel. Their conversation formed the basis of Gilligan's infamous report on the BBC's Today programme, suggesting the then Labour government had 'sexed up' a dossier on Iraq's WMD in the lead up to the war. Gilligan's report triggered a bitter dispute between the BBC and government figures led by Tony Blair's communications director Alastair Campbell. As the row escalated, Dr Kelly was publicly outed as a possible source for the Gilligan report and called to parliament to be grilled by MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee. As pressure on him mounted, Dr Kelly went missing. He was found dead and ruled to have taken his own life.

Additional research by Laura Wilkinson

Programme mixed by Hal Haines

AIDS was first reported in the UK in December 1981, but the government response was slow. The gay community - still enjoying the freedoms won with the de-criminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 - looked after its own. The Terence Higgins Trust was formed after one of the earliest AIDS deaths in 1982, and Gay Switchboard promulgated 'safer sex'. In 1984 a test for the newly-discovered virus, HIV, became available.

By December 1984 two heterosexuals had died of AIDS in the UK - both haemophiliacs who had been given contaminated blood products. With the spread to intravenous drug users, it became obvious that the UK was following the same pattern as the US, where cases were doubling every 6-8 months. Something had to be done.

Secretary of State for Health, Norman Fowler, launched an information campaign in November 1986. TV adverts featured tombstones and icebergs, and leaflets dropped though 23 million letterboxes.

Thirty years after the start of AIDS, Simon Garfield reviews the early years, hearing from Norman, now Lord, Fowler, Lisa Power of THT, Professor Anthony Pinching - an immunologist who was an early expert on AIDS, and Jonathan Grimshaw - diagnosed with HIV in 1984 and founder of Body Positive.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Simon Garfield traces the story of AIDS from 5 mysterious deaths in LA to the UK epidemic.

AIDS was first reported in the UK in December 1981, but the government response was slow. The gay community - still enjoying the freedoms won with the de-criminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 - looked after its own. The Terence Higgins Trust was formed after one of the earliest AIDS deaths in 1982, and Gay Switchboard promulgated 'safer sex'. In 1984 a test for the newly-discovered virus, HIV, became available.

By December 1984 two heterosexuals had died of AIDS in the UK - both haemophiliacs who had been given contaminated blood products. With the spread to intravenous drug users, it became obvious that the UK was following the same pattern as the US, where cases were doubling every 6-8 months. Something had to be done.

Secretary of State for Health, Norman Fowler, launched an information campaign in November 1986. TV adverts featured tombstones and icebergs, and leaflets dropped though 23 million letterboxes.

Thirty years after the start of AIDS, Simon Garfield reviews the early years, hearing from Norman, now Lord, Fowler, Lisa Power of THT, Professor Anthony Pinching - an immunologist who was an early expert on AIDS, and Jonathan Grimshaw - diagnosed with HIV in 1984 and founder of Body Positive.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Simon Garfield traces the story of AIDS from 5 mysterious deaths in LA to the UK epidemic.

With the global economy still recovering from the crash of 2008, the reputation of high finance often appears to be at an all time low. Banks and the people who run them are a common target of scorn both in pop culture and political debate. The world's masters of money have been brought low - and in full public view. But is banker-bashing really a new phenomenon, or do its roots actually run far deeper?

Andrew Ross Sorkin - author of Too Big to Fail and co-creator of the TV show Billions - traces the reputation of bankers, from the mysterious stockbrokers of late 17th century London to the shock crashes of 1929 and 2008 and the success of films such as Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. He asks if we have always been ambivalent about the financial world and those who make it tick.

Featuring economist J K Galbraith, financier Charlie Munger, director Oliver Stone, anthropologist Karen Ho and historian Lucy Inglis.

Produced by Alice Bloch and Victoria Shepherd.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Andrew Ross Sorkin traces the reputation of UK and USA bankers through history.

'In the spring of 2015 the Dhnie family embarked on the perilous journey to Europe. They risked their lives in rubber boats and got caught up in riots at border crossings, they slept rough, ran out of money and regularly asked themselves 'Is it worth it?'

In this programme the family answer that question. Award-winning journalist Manveen Rana, who accompanied the Dhnie's over the many months during which they made their way to Europe, visits them in Germany to re-live key moments of their journey, and to find out what's happened to them since. She plays back to them the recordings she made with them, an emotional and compelling soundtrack which became a powerful and multi award-winning documentary. As events are replayed Manveen gathers the family's response to them, two years on.

In this intimate and personal programme, Manveen reveals who has prospered and why some of the family bitterly regret the decision to seek a new life in Europe.

Producer: Dixi Stewart.

In this programme the family answer that question. Award-winning journalist Manveen Rana, who accompanied the Dhnie's over the many months during which they made their way to Europe, visits them in Germany to re-live key moments of their journey, and to find out what's happened to them since. She plays back to them the recordings she made with them, an emotional and compelling soundtrack which became a powerful and multi award-winning documentary and ongoing podcast series for The World At One. As events are replayed Manveen gathers the family's response to them, eighteen months on.



Producer: Dixi Stewart.

60 years ago, the BBC tentatively embarked upon its very first televised coverage of British General Election results.

It helped to shine a light on the personalities of the powerful and made major stars of some quite unlikely political anoraks, academics and journalists.

Political commentator Anthony Howard reflects on the highs and lows of election nights over the years as he replays some magic moments and finds out from some of the major players what it was like to be at the centre of history in the making.

Archive of legendary presenters like Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day and Alistair Burnett is mixed with classic excerpts of some of the great political characters of election nights past.

Anthony Howard himself has been appearing on TV election night specials for more than four decades and he reflects on his first appearance alongside a very young Nigel Lawson (then a journalist himself) in 1964.

A Night to Remember looks at how each election would bring ever more dramatic theme tunes and more and more sophisticated graphics.

Peter Snow looks at how the swingometer became a regular feature while Sue Lawley reveals how she was once accused of stealing it!

And then there's the cock ups and quirky moments, from Richard Dimbleby being forced to prove he's not wearing pyjamas to the break in proceedings in the mid 60s for the all-male BBC team to admire the young ladies in the studio.

Anthony Howard celebrates 60 years of election results broadcasting on TV.

60 years ago, the BBC tentatively embarked upon its very first televised coverage of British General Election results. It helped to shine a light on the personalities of the powerful and made major stars of some quite unlikely political anoraks, academics and journalists.

A Night to Remember looks at how each election would bring ever more dramatic theme tunes and more and more sophisticated graphics. Peter Snow looks at how the swingometer became a regular feature while Sue Lawley reveals how she was once accused of stealing it!

This was a night for hanging out in the star's mansion in Beverly Park (which had ‘the European opulence of an upscale spa'), for meeting his protege and girlfriend Bria Valente, and for listening to tracks in Prince's limo, a local club – even his bedroom.

Contributors include keyboard player Doctor Fink, sound engineer Susan Rogers, biographer Dan Piepenbring who was working on Prince's memoir just before he died, and Kristin Scott Thomas whose first ever film role was in the Prince directed Under The Cherry Moon.

Produced by Clem Hitchcock

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Music critic Ann Powers reflects on time spent with Prince in his Hollywood mansion.

This was a night for hanging out in the star's mansion in Beverly Park (which had ?the European opulence of an upscale spa'), for meeting his protege and girlfriend Bria Valente, and for listening to tracks in Prince's limo, a local club ? even his bedroom.

To mark the fifth anniversary of Prince’s passing, US music critic and broadcaster Ann Powers presents a tribute framed around a night she spent with the star in 2008.

This was a night for hanging out in the star’s mansion in Beverly Park (which had ‘the European opulence of an upscale spa’), for meeting his protege and girlfriend Bria Valente, and for listening to tracks in Prince’s limo, a local club – even his bedroom.

This was a night for hanging out in the star's mansion in Beverly Park (which had ‘the European opulence of an upscale spa'), for meeting his protege and girlfriend Bria Valente, and for listening to tracks in Prince's limo, a local club – even his bedroom.

This was a night for hanging out in the star's mansion in Beverly Park (which had ‘the European opulence of an upscale spa'), for meeting his protege and girlfriend Bria Valente, and for listening to tracks in Prince's limo, a local club - even his bedroom.

US music critic and broadcaster Ann Powers presents a tribute to Prince, framed around a night she spent with the star in 2008.

Producer: Clem Hitchcock

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2021.

Music critic Ann Powers reflects on a career defining night she spent with musician Prince in his Hollywood mansion. From 2021.

Could teaching virtues such as honesty, self-control, fairness, resilience and respect actually solve the challenges facing society today?

The benefits of having a strong character and solid moral compass have always been a particularly British obsession. Brits were the sort of people who knew both how to survive the blitz and queue politely.

We may have been confident in our moral fibre in the days of British Imperialism and the stiff upper lip required for two world wars. But in the post-war shift towards a less constrained and judgemental society 'character talk' dropped out of public discourse, except when considering someone's suitability for office.

The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues has been conducting the most extensive research ever undertaken into moral virtues among UK schoolchildren. It would appear they are scoring lower on some traditional values when faced with a series of moral dilemmas. But it also seems that young people are increasingly concerned about how they are viewed.

We hear from Professor James Arthur a leading expert on character education who has studied how best to teach character and has advised Governments about policies to do so.

It would appear Character is back...

Drawing from the riches of the BBC archive we find out if this apparent decline is responsible for many of the recent societal ills, and it would appear that parents have a share in the blame!

Toby Young during his time on Vanity Fair in New York succeeded in rubbing everyone up the wrong way with his abrasive character. It resulted in his book and then the film 'how to lose Friends and Alienate People'. Recently he's also had to deal with his own character coming under public scrutiny.

Of course adults think that standards and moral values are worse in the younger generation. This has been the thinking since the dawn of time. But are we right to be pessimistic?

Toby also delves into the nature v nurture debate and asks Behaviour Geneticist Professor Robert Plomin how much of our character is down to our genes

A school in Birmingham has joined up with a leading research university to demonstrate how character education can be taught as well caught.

In new recordings, Toby visits the University of Birmingham School, where competition is fierce with around 1900 applications for 150 places.

A lively and provocative journey into character cut through with historic insight.



A lively and provocative journey into character cut through with historic insight.

For four years London and the South East would witness vicious confrontations between the remnants of Oswald Mosley's British Union of facists and Jewish ex-serviceman organised in the 43 Group.

Their members were decorated soldiers, airmen and sailors with a sprinkling of East End toughs and youngsters like trainee barber Vidal Sassoon. They broke with the leaders of the the Jewish community in their no-holds barred, physical opposition to the return of facism to Britain's streets. They operated beyond the law and were fuelled by rage, guilt at the fate of Europe's Jews, and the tension of British policy in Palestine. Their goal was to drive facism from the streets and silence its message of intolerance, anti-semitism and racism. Alan Dein uncovers a little known story of post war conflict.

Alan Dein uncovers a little known story of postwar conflict.

A Rage in Dalston: Alan Dein uncovers a little known story of postwar conflict between the remnants of Mosley's British Union of Fascists and the 43 Group of Jewish ex-servicemen.

As part of BBC Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth' team, she's also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament.

Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'?

To find out how best we get to zero carbon nirvana, Alice looks back at which great green plans have worked and which remain in the lab. What has really changed in the 40 years since 'climate change' began to be discussed by world leaders, and can the environmental archive tell us what we need to do about it?

Alongside some of the serious and real achievements such as fewer plastic bags, incredible advances in renewable energy and electric cars which work, Alice explores some of the more radical ideas in the archive.

Why, in the future, might we stop having pets or multiple children?

For the answer we can delve back to 'Costing the Earth' in 2010. To keep emissions below 2 degrees we might be eating insects, riding around in airships or holidaying on cruise ships propelled by kite. Or we might have finally figured out how to make carbon capture and storage economical, cracked the fusion power conundrum and found a way to make our waste work for us.

By looking back at campaigns and ideas which have really worked, Alice hopes to find some suggestions for how we should proceed before it's too late.

Producer: Helen Lennard

Professor Alice Roberts delves into the archives to find out how to save planet Earth.

As a palaeontologist, Professor ALICE ROBERTS knows a lot about mass extinctions. As part of Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth' team, she's also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament. Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'? To find out how best we get to zero carbon nirvana, Alice looks back at which great green plans have worked and which remain in the lab. What has really changed in the 40 years since 'climate change' began to be discussed by world leaders, and can the environmental archive tell us what we need to do about it?

Alongside some of the serious and real achievements such as fewer plastic bags, incredible advances in renewable energy and electric cars which work, Alice explores some of the more radical ideas in the archive. Why, in the future, might we stop having pets or multiple children? For the answer we can delve back to 'Costing the Earth' in 2010. To keep emissions below 2 degrees we might be eating insects, riding around in airships or holidaying on cruise ships propelled by kite. Or we might have finally figured out how to make carbon capture and storage economical, cracked the fusion power conundrum and found a way to make our waste work for us.

As part of BBC Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth' team, she's also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament. Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'?

Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ?barf ride'?

As part of BBC Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth’ team, she’s also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament.

Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk’s low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride’?

Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'?

As a palaeontologist, Professor ALICE ROBERTS knows a lot about mass extinctions. As part of Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth' team, she's also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament. Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'? To find out how best we get to zero carbon nirvana, Alice looks back at which great green plans have worked and which remain in the lab. What has really changed in the 40 years since 'climate change' began to be discussed by world leaders, and can the environmental archive tell us what we need to do about it?

As part of BBC Radio 4's 'Costing the Earth' team, she's also heard a lot about the many potential solutions to our current planetary predicament. Some are already proven: we know what we have to do to de-carbonise so why are we still rushing towards the environmental apocalypse faster than Elon Musk's low carbon Hyperloop transporter AKA the ‘barf ride'?

For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company, Swiss-based Crypto AG, to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was owned for over 20 Cold War years by the CIA in partnership with the BND, the German Intelligence Service. The machines that many customers bought had deliberately weakened security – a window through which the CIA and BND could read the diplomatic traffic between their embassies, their trade negotiators and their own spies.

The BND sold out its share in 1993 for a tidy profit while the CIA continued until the company was broken up in 2018.

Crypto AG's own secret was only cracked last year in a combined investigation by German ZDF television, Swiss SRF and the Washington Post following the discovery of a secret history, Operation Rubicon, that had been assembled by some of the operatives who had been involved in the deception.

A Spy in Every Embassy is the story of the story, presented by German intelligence journalist Peter F Muller, who produced last year's television programme for ZDF, and British journalist David Ridd.

It gives the chronology of the manoeuvrings, arguments, successes and deceptions of the partnership that remained secret for a quarter of a century. Its revelations offer a new perspective on some of the landmark events of those decades - the Falklands War, the US bombing of Libya from British airfields, the negotiations that lead to the Camp David Accords and the Iranian Hostage crisis, as well as the daily churn of intelligence information from around the world about both friends and opponents.

The programme considers the collateral damage of deception on a grand scale. Most employees of Crypto AG knew nothing of the built-in weaknesses of the machinery they were building or trying to sell to governments in some very dangerous parts of the world.

Produced by John Forsyth

Assistant Producer: Alexandra Quinn

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Extracts read by Lanna Joffrey, Annette Kossow, Blanca Belenguer, Mike Christofferson and Thilo Buergel.

Archive by kind permission of ZDF Television, Crypto Museum, Harry S Truman Library, National Security Agency Archive and Bletchley Park podcast.

Image courtesy www.cryptomuseum.com

The Swiss spy machine company secretly owned by the CIA and German BND.

The programme considers the collateral damage of deception on a grand scale. Most employees of Crypto AG knew nothing of the built in weaknesses of the machinery they were building or trying to sell to governments in some very dangerous parts of the world.

“The intelligence coup of the century.?? The extraordinary story of the longest running and most successful secret intelligence operation of the 20th Century.

?The intelligence coup of the century.? The extraordinary story of the longest running and most successful secret intelligence operation of the 20th Century.

For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company, Swiss-based Crypto AG, to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was owned for over 20 Cold War years by the CIA in partnership with the BND, the German Intelligence Service. The machines that many customers bought had deliberately weakened security ? a window through which the CIA and BND could read the diplomatic traffic between their embassies, their trade negotiators and their own spies.

Crypto AG’s own secret was only cracked last year in a combined investigation by German ZDF television, Swiss SRF and the Washington Post following the discovery of a secret history, Operation Rubicon, that had been assembled by some of the operatives who had been involved in the deception.

A Spy in Every Embassy is the story of the story, presented by German intelligence journalist Peter F Muller, who produced last year’s television programme for ZDF, and British journalist David Ridd.

“The intelligence coup of the century. ? The extraordinary story of the longest running and most successful secret intelligence operation of the 20th Century.

For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company, Swiss-based Crypto AG, to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was owned for over 20 Cold War years by the CIA in partnership with the BND, the German Intelligence Service. The machines that many customers bought had deliberately weakened security – a window through which the CIA and BND could read the diplomatic traffic between their embassies, their trade negotiators and their own spies.

`The intelligence coup of the century.` The extraordinary story of the longest running and most successful secret intelligence operation of the 20th Century.

For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company, Swiss-based Crypto AG, to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was owned for over 20 Cold War years by the CIA in partnership with the BND, the German Intelligence Service. The machines that many customers bought had deliberately weakened security - a window through which the CIA and BND could read the diplomatic traffic between their embassies, their trade negotiators and their own spies.

Stretching back to the Dark Ages and emerging in 1960s Newcastle, Lee reveals an alternative tradition of English poetry as the preserve of ordinary working people.

Sunderland cork cutters, shipyard workers and pit men encounter Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg and Ezra Pound.

And how a meeting between a 16-year-old schoolboy and one of the great modernists of English literature, Basil Bunting, contributed to the flowering of the north east as an international destination for the whole Beatnik generation.

Lee Hall discovers an alternative poetry tradition as the preserve of ordinary people.

Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, uncovers a hidden history of English poetry. Stretching back to the Dark Ages and emerging in 1960s Newcastle, Lee reveals an alternative tradition of English poetry as the preserve of ordinary working people.

Sunderland cork cutters, shipyard workers and pit men encounter Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg and Ezra Pound. And how a meeting between a 16-year-old schoolboy and one of the great modernists of English literature, Basil Bunting, contributed to the flowering of the north east as an international destination for the whole Beatnik generation.

In the weeks leading up to Castlemorton, New Age Travellers had tried to establish small festivals in Gloucestershire and Somerset - but had been moved on by police at every turn.

Arriving in West Worcestershire, they parked up at Castlemorton with the intention, they claim, of gathering just a few hundred people.

But, to the horror and outrage of local people, between 20,000 and 30,000 people arrived, with many staying at the site for an entire week.

The law that was created in response to the gathering, Part V of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, makes it a criminal offence to hold an unlicensed gathering playing any music that is “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.”

The festival is now widely regarded as the tipping point in a culture war which saw many aspects of the Traveller lifestyle outlawed in the UK.

Presented, written and produced by Tom Barton

Sound Design: Barney Philbrick and Joel Cox

A Bespoken Media production for BBC Radio 4

The rave that changed Britain, 30 years on from the Castlemorton Common festival.

The law that was created in response to the gathering, Part V of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, makes it a criminal offence to hold an unlicensed gathering playing any music that is “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.??

The law that was created in response to the gathering, Part V of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, makes it a criminal offence to hold an unlicensed gathering playing any music that is ?wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.?

The law that was created in response to the gathering, Part V of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, makes it a criminal offence to hold an unlicensed gathering playing any music that is “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats. ?

The law that was created in response to the gathering, Part V of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, makes it a criminal offence to hold an unlicensed gathering playing any music that is `wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.`

With its new documentary strand Man Alive, it set out to bring 'human affairs, not current affairs' to our TV sets, with all the candour and emotion that statement promised.

In this programme Simon Farquhar examines how television, social hierarchies and norms were rapidly evolving in front of our eyes.

As the generation gap yawned, class divisions became blurred, traditional relations between men and women were challenged, and questions were asked about attitudes to sex and sexuality, Man Alive documented it all with a sympathetic eye and its trademark question: How do you feel?

Contributors include Sir DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, Dame Esther Rantzen, Twiggy, David McGillivray, Vivienne Barton and Dr Jill Singer.

Producer: Adam Bowen.

Welcome to the 1960s and the earliest days of a new TV channel, BBC2, determined to explore the ordinary and extraordinary fringes of a rapidly changing society.

With its new documentary strand Man Alive, it set out to bring human affairs, not current affairs to our TV sets, with all the candour and emotion that statement promised.

In this programme, Simon Farquhar examines how TV, social hierarchies and norms were rapidly evolving in front of our eyes.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Simon Farquhar examines how Man Alive reflected changing TV and social values in the 1960s

With its new documentary strand Man Alive, it set out to bring human affairs, not current affairs to our TV sets, with all the candour and emotion that statement promised.

She speaks to the Dalai Lama, as well as refugees in India and Britain, who recount their personal tales and discuss their hopes for the future.

Isabel reflects on the journey made by the Dalai Lama's followers over the last 50 years and considers the challenges for these displaced people as they strive to preserve their culture and regain their autonomy.

The Dalai Lama, as well as refugees in India and Britain, recount their personal experiences and discuss their hopes for the future. Isabel reflects on the journey made by the Dalai Lama's followers over the last 50 years and considers the challenges for these displaced people as they strive to preserve their culture and regain their autonomy.

She speaks to the Dalai Lama, as well as refugees in India and Britain, who recount their personal tales and discuss their hopes for the future. Isabel reflects on the journey made by the Dalai Lama's followers over the last 50 years and considers the challenges for these displaced people as they strive to preserve their culture and regain their autonomy.

The Dalai Lama, as well as refugees in India and Britain, recount their personal experiences and discuss their hopes for the future. Isabel reflects on the journey made by the Dalai Lama's followers over the last 50 years and considers the challenges for these displaced people as they strive to preserve their culture and regain their autonomy.

But in a career spanning many decades, he also made travel programmes, Points of View, the Today programme and Stop the Week which ran on Radio 4 from 1974 to 1992.

Laurie Taylor takes a look at the life and work of one of Britain's broadcasting legends in the company of some of the former contributors to Stop the Week; Ann Leslie, Matthew Parris, Sarah Harrison and Nick Tucker.

There are also contributions from Will Wyatt, Victor Lewis-Smith and Hunter Davis and a wealth of archive that reveals a complex man, a consummate wordsmith and one of the first TV celebrities.

Robert died aged 83 in 2011.

Producer: Helen Lee

Laurie Taylor takes a look at the life and work of one of Britain's broadcasting legends.

We all know ROBERT ROBINSON as the chairman of such broadcasting classics as Ask the Family and Brain of Britain but in a career spanning many decades, he also made travel programmes, Points of View, the Today programme and Stop the Week which ran on Radio 4 from 1974 to 1992.

In Archive on 4: A Tribute to ROBERT ROBINSON, LAURIE TAYLOR takes a look at the life and work of one of Britain's broadcasting legends in the company of some of the former contributors to Stop the Week; Ann Leslie, MATTHEW PARRIS, Sarah Harrison and Nick Tucker.

We all know ROBERT ROBINSON as the chairman of such broadcasting classics as Ask the Family and Brain of Britain but in a career spanning many decades, he also made travel programmes, Points of View, the Today programme and Stop the Week which ran on Radio 4 from 1974 to 1992. In Archive on 4: A Tribute to ROBERT ROBINSON, LAURIE TAYLOR takes a look at the life and work of one of Britain's broadcasting legends in the company of some of the former contributors to Stop the Week; ANN LESLIE, MATTHEW PARRIS, Sarah Harrison and Nick Tucker. There are also contributions from Will Wyatt, Victor Lewis-Smith and Hunter Davis and a wealth of archive that reveals a complex man, a consummate wordsmith and one of the first TV celebrities.

We all know Robert Robinson as the chairman of such broadcasting classics as Ask the Family and Brain of Britain but in a career spanning many decades, he also made travel programmes, Points of View, the Today programme and Stop the Week which ran on Radio 4 from 1974 to 1992. In Archive on 4: A Tribute to Robert Robinson, Laurie Taylor takes a look at the life and work of one of Britain's broadcasting legends in the company of some of the former contributors to Stop the Week; Ann Leslie, Matthew Parris, Sarah Harrison and Nick Tucker. There are also contributions from Will Wyatt, Victor Lewis-Smith and Hunter Davis and a wealth of archive that reveals a complex man, a consummate wordsmith and one of the first TV celebrities.

Ever since British mass democracy began, the working-class vote has played a crucial part in returning the Conservative Party to power.

And yet, for many years, there was barely a handful of working-class Conservative MPs in Parliament.

But the rise of the working class Tory culminated by the 1980s with the central presence in the Thatcher Cabinet of Norman Tebbit, and the introduction of such policies as council house sales.

Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John Major all came from 'humble' backgrounds, in stark contrast to their aristocratic predecessors.

So where is the working-class Tory today? On the one hand, Britain appears to some a much less hierarchical society.

On the other, we have our first Etonian Tory PM in almost half a century.

David Davis is a Tory from a working-class background - and is the man Cameron beat in 2005 for the Party leadership.

In this programme, he explores the rise and fate of the working-class Tories, as charted in the BBC sound archive.

And he talks to former and current working-class Tory Cabinet Ministers like Lord Tebbit, Conservative Party Chairman Baroness Warsi, and Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

He discovers why, in Oldham in 1899, one of Britain's toughest trade union leaders ran alongside Winston Churchill as a Tory candidate.

Davis listens to a rare interview with Edith Pitt, a young Birmingham woman who left school at 13, became a Conservative during the Depression of the 1930s, and went on to serve in Government.

And he explores the attitudes of senior Tories to the '30s hunger marchers - of whom his grandfather was one.

And how the Depression shaped the politics of future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, many of whose Geordie voters were working-class.

But he also examines the crucial divide at the heart of working-class Toryism.

Macmillan's supporters backed him as a wealthy man who knew how to run things.

But there was another kind of working-class Tory, driven more by aspiration than deference.

Davis discovers how Norman Tebbit, who himself grew up poor in the 1930s, considered Macmillan a failure as Prime Minister.

And how, when the upwardly mobile Tebbit became a Cabinet Minister, he found Macmillan disparaging him as a Cockney interloper in the party elite.

And he rediscovers Reginald Bevins, a Liverpudlian of 'modest' background who left Labour to join the Tories and ended up in Cabinet under Macmillan.

He watches an interview in which Bevins recounts his despair at the choice of the aristocratic Alec Douglas-Home as Macmillan's successor.

Two of the great comic creations of the 1960s - Albert Steptoe and Alf Garnett - were defiant working-class Tories.

With historian Dominic Sandbrook, Davis watches episodes of 'Steptoe and Son' and 'Till Death Us Do Part' to unpick how the working-class Tory was seen in the age of Harold Wilson.

He explores how the appeal of Tory Enoch Powell to Labour voting dockers complicated the picture in the early 1970s.

And how all this looked from Europe.

And he asks Lord Tebbit, Eric Pickles, Baroness Warsi, election expert John Curtice and former Tony Blair speech-writer Philip Collins, who comes from a family of working-class Tories, what part they think this durable tribe now plays in Cameron's Britain.

With: Philip Collins, John Curtice, Juliet Gardiner, Ross McKibbin, Eric Pickles, Martin Pugh, Dominic Sandbrook, Lord Tebbit, Baroness Warsi.

PRESENTER:

David Davis was born in 1948 to a single mother, and was brought up on a council estate in south London.

He was adopted by a Polish Jewish print-worker with strong trade union links; his grandfather was a committed Communist.

He attended state school and Warwick University, and was the National Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students.

He became a Tory MP in 1987, and was Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008.

PRODUCER - PHIL TINLINE.

David Davis explores the history of a crucial political group: the working-class Tories.

So where is the working-class Tory today? On the one hand, Britain appears to some a much less hierarchical society. On the other, we have our first Etonian Tory PM in almost half a century.

David Davis is a Tory from a working-class background - and is the man Cameron beat in 2005 for the Party leadership. In this programme, he explores the rise and fate of the working-class Tories, as charted in the BBC sound archive.

And he explores the attitudes of senior Tories to the '30s hunger marchers - of whom his grandfather was one. And how the Depression shaped the politics of future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, many of whose Geordie voters were working-class.

But he also examines the crucial divide at the heart of working-class Toryism. Macmillan's supporters backed him as a wealthy man who knew how to run things. But there was another kind of working-class Tory, driven more by aspiration than deference.

Davis discovers how Norman Tebbit, who himself grew up poor in the 1930s, considered Macmillan a failure as Prime Minister. And how, when the upwardly mobile Tebbit became a Cabinet Minister, he found Macmillan disparaging him as a Cockney interloper in the party elite.

And he rediscovers Reginald Bevins, a Liverpudlian of 'modest' background who left Labour to join the Tories and ended up in Cabinet under Macmillan. He watches an interview in which Bevins recounts his despair at the choice of the aristocratic Alec Douglas-Home as Macmillan's successor.

Two of the great comic creations of the 1960s - Albert Steptoe and Alf Garnett - were defiant working-class Tories. With historian Dominic Sandbrook, Davis watches episodes of 'Steptoe and Son' and 'Till Death Us Do Part' to unpick how the working-class Tory was seen in the age of Harold Wilson.

He explores how the appeal of Tory Enoch Powell to Labour voting dockers complicated the picture in the early 1970s. And how all this looked from Europe.

David Davis was born in 1948 to a single mother, and was brought up on a council estate in south London. He was adopted by a Polish Jewish print-worker with strong trade union links; his grandfather was a committed Communist. He attended state school and Warwick University, and was the National Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students. He became a Tory MP in 1987, and was Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008.

Adventures In Alienation

20150523

For most of us, having to leave home, at least once in our lives, is inevitable, necessary and not unwelcome. The idea of modern, secular homelessness is banal, in contrast to the imposed exile that so many are obliged to endure.

The writer Amit Chaudhuri left India for England as part of his journey to becArchive On 4

20171125

Writer Amit Chaudhuri explores the idea of exile and modern, secular homelessness.

The writer Amit Chaudhuri left India for England as part of his journey to becoming a writer. He resists the labels of exile or emigre or immigrant. Through these 'Adventures in Alienation', he encounters the experiences of others - among them Kirsty Gunn, James Wood and voices from the BBC Sound Archive - and examines his own understanding of what it means not to belong.

Produced by Rachel Hooper.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.



A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Producer Caroline Bayley

Sound Engineer James Beard

Editor Jasper Corbett

Who was the real John le Carre and what was his relationship with his country, Britain?

Writer, spy, outsider, insider, neighbour, friend. Who was the real John le Carr退 and what does his writing tell us about him and his country? In this edition of Archive on 4, John le Carr退's friend and fellow writer Philippe Sands pieces together the inner life of a beloved chronicler of postwar Britain. Using archive interviews with le Carr退 and new interviews with his editors and one of his sons, Philippe Sands charts le Carr退's shifting sense of identity, and his relationship with Britain.

Writer, spy, outsider, insider, neighbour, friend. Who was the real John le Carr退 and what does his writing tell us about him and his country? In this edition of Archive on 4, John le Carr钀s friend and fellow writer Philippe Sands pieces together the inner life of a beloved chronicler of postwar Britain. Using archive interviews with le Carr退 and new interviews with his editors and one of his sons, Philippe Sands charts le Carr钀s shifting sense of identity, and his relationship with Britain.

Writer, spy, outsider, insider, neighbour, friend. Who was the real JOHN LE CARRE and what does his writing tell us about him and his country? In this edition of Archive on 4, JOHN LE CARRE's friend and fellow writer Philippe Sands pieces together the inner life of a beloved chronicler of postwar Britain. Using archive interviews with Le Carre and new interviews with his editors and one of his sons, Philippe Sands charts Le Carre's shifting sense of identity, and his relationship with Britain.

Who was the real JOHN LE CARRE, and what was his relationship with his country, Britain?

Writer, spy, outsider, insider, neighbour, friend. Who was the real John le Carré and what does his writing tell us about him and his country? In this edition of Archive on 4, John le Carré's friend and fellow writer Philippe Sands pieces together the inner life of a beloved chronicler of postwar Britain. Using archive interviews with le Carré and new interviews with his editors and one of his sons, Philippe Sands charts le Carré's shifting sense of identity, and his relationship with Britain.

Produced by Caroline Bayley

This special edition of Archive on 4 uses those past recordings and also hears from medical teams on duty today at the Bradford Royal Infirmary as they reflect on the last twelve months. With the vaccination program well underway there is cause for optimism, but patients are still being treated on the covid wards and there are many people needing ongoing treatment for long covid.

The series enjoyed unparalleled access at a time when so little was known and people were anxious for information: hospitals were shut to visitors and no other media access had been granted. Dr Wright, a veteran of cholera, HIV and Ebola epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa, managed to capture the emotions, sacrifices and inventiveness of his colleagues: his diaries went out on Radio 4 and the World Service and he also wrote weekly accounts for BBC News Online.

A few weeks into the pandemic other journalists and photographers gained access to hospitals, but even then this series was often ahead of the curve. Dr Wright carried his recorder everywhere as he helped lead the response at his hospital, the Bradford Royal Infirmary. His colleagues became known to audiences as they battled exhaustion, infection, and coped with their own bereavements. The hospital played a leading role in national trials which helped bring new treatments into use.

This was a time of fear and lockdown created the conditions for rumours and fake news to spread. Dr Wright skilfully navigated the need to inform and educate and conveyed the reality faced by NHS staff. The volume of his output at a time when he and his colleagues were under remarkable strain was remarkable: achieved by carrying his little recorder everywhere, and always keeping it sealed as he went onto the covid wards.

The pandemic quickly changed every aspect of hospital life, from new ICU wards to the widespread use of CPAP machines. At the start, Dr Wright was unsure about making this kind of commitment to programme making but one year on he is glad that this important public record exists. He had overseen the response to other infectious diseases elsewhere in the world, Ebola for example and HIV, but nothing had quite prepared him for what was happening in his own hospital:

We began this pandemic year knowing so little, and now we have learnt so much. We have learnt about our deep reserves of bravery and compassion in NHS and care staff. We have learnt about the remarkable kindness and generosity and the strength in our communities. We have learnt about the power of science and research to develop effective treatments and vaccines.

We have also learnt how unequal the pandemic has affected our country. It is the oldest have died in the greatest numbers and the poorest who have suffered the most. There will be a long shadow from the pandemic as the virus bursts back into flame in the coming months and the economic consequences are felt.

Produced by Sue Mitchell

Presented by WINIFRED ROBINSON

Dr John Wright shares recordings made over the last year on the covid wards in Bradford.

We began this pandemic year knowing so little, and now we have learnt so much. We have learnt about our deep reserves of bravery and compassion in NHS and care staff. We have learnt about the remarkable kindness and generosity and the strength in our communities. We have learnt about the power of science and research to develop effective treatments and vaccines.

We have also learnt how unequal the pandemic has affected our country. It is the oldest have died in the greatest numbers and the poorest who have suffered the most. There will be a long shadow from the pandemic as the virus bursts back into flame in the coming months and the economic consequences are felt. 

From Benny and Bjorn composing from piano on the tiny island of Viggsö in the Swedish archipelago to the myriad of ways in which the vocals of Agnetha (a soprano) and Frida (a mezzo) are blended together in the studio, ABBA's writing, singing and production is opened up to illuminate their entire sound world.

ABBA - Inside the Music follows the evolution of their craft across all eight studio albums before the band separated, from the Schlager influenced folk of Ring Ring (1973) to the electronic soundscapes of The Visitors (1981) – a huge musical transformation worthy of comparison to The Beatles. Along the way, the group experimented with genres as diverse as reggae, glam rock, prog rock, disco and latterly musical theatre. But behind all of it is their signature, Nordic blend of melancholy and euphoria, the two moods – minor and major - running together across the whole of ABBA's output.

The group weren't always as beloved as they are today. ABBA faced huge derision from the serious music press both at home and abroad, which accused them of ignoring politics and disengaging pop music from the counter-culture. 'We have met the enemy and they are them,' wrote one critic for Rolling Stone. But even their fiercest opponents acknowledged ABBA's compositional skill and the special dynamic of Frida and Agnetha's vocals.

Hearing from songwriters, producers, composers, singers and critics, this programme goes inside ABBA's score in search of their craft and their musical art.

Multiple Ivor Novello winner and Grammy-nominated songwriter Iain Archer presents.

Featuring music writers Jan Gradvall and Paul Morley, ABBA's live concert engineer Claes af Geijerstam, singer and broadcaster Catherine Bott, jazz critic and author Kevin Le Gendre, songwriter Guy Chambers, classical singer Anne Sofie von Otter, ABBA historian Carl Magnus Palm, director of The Ivors Academy Tom Gray, composer and conductor Leo Geyer, singer songwriters Annika Kilkenny and Connie Talbot, author and artistic associate at the South Bank Gillian Moore and Dan Gillespie Sells, lead singer of The Feeling and composer of the musical ‘Everybody's Talking About Jamie'.

Producer and piano (except when it's Benny): Simon Hollis

Guitar: Iain Archer

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4

Exploring ABBA's songwriting and craft on the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win.

Exploring ABBA's songwriting and musical craft across their studio albums - from Ring Ring in 1973 to The Visitors in 1981 - on the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win.

For most of us, having to leave home, at least once in our lives, is inevitable, necessary and not unwelcome. The idea of modern, secular homelessness is banal, in contrast to the imposed exile that so many are obliged to endure.

The writer Amit Chaudhuri left India for England as part of his journey to becoming a writer. He resists the labels of exile or emigre or immigrant. Through these 'Adventures in Alienation', he encounters the experiences of others - among them Kirsty Gunn, James Wood and voices from the BBC Sound Archive - and examines his own understanding of what it means not to belong.

Produced by Rachel Hooper.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.



A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

For most of us, having to leave home, at least once in our lives, is inevitable, necessary and not unwelcome. The idea of modern, secular homelessness is banal, in contrast to the imposed exile that so many are obliged to endure.

The writer Amit Chaudhuri left India for England as part of his journey to becoming a writer. He resists the labels of exile or emigre or immigrant. Through these 'Adventures in Alienation', he encounters the experiences of others - among them Kirsty Gunn, James Wood and voices from the BBC Sound Archive - and examines his own understanding of what it means not to belong.

Produced by Rachel Hooper.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

As Libyans absorb the impact of the death of Gaddafi, Owen Bennett-Jones explores what happens next after dictators leave power.

Some, like Gaddafi and Romania's Ceausescu, are killed outright.

Some, like Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic and Liberia's Charles Taylor, end up in international courts.

Yet others, like Stalin and Mao, pass away peacefully in bed.

So how does the manner of the dictator's downfall shape their country's chances of recovery?

Presenter: Owen Bennett-Jones' long reporting experience includes his time in Romania after the fall of Ceausescu in 1989.

Producer: Simon Watts.

'With Gaddafi dead, Owen Bennett-Jones explores what happens after dictators fall.'

See it twice - the sensation is the same - a shock wave blasting the camera; those men standing staring, with strange sun glasses covering their face.

Between 1952 and 1991 over 22,000 service men took part in nuclear testing - most conscripted - at sites in Australia, and close by, including Christmas Island where the veterans in this programme were stationed. Most servicemen had no idea what they were doing until they arrived - and then they found out with a mixture of shock and awe. One soldier wrote home that - 'the next bomb blast may well destroy the whole island - but at least it will be quick!' Everyone was terrified.

So what was the human fall out of the fall out - not only on the people who took part, but their children too?

We are all equally transfixed, awed, and horrified, by archive footage from the early years of nuclear testing. But who were those men, sitting in bunkers, standing in rows, laughing in shock? What about them, and what about their children?

Gordon Murray, academic and playwright at the University of Winchester, has been gathering stories from the children of the soldiers ordered to stay on Christmas Island during the tests - back in the 50's and 60's. Many of them have health issues, or a sense of what he calls, the Nuclear Uncanny, which they believe comes from the tests their fathers were exposed to.

What is the effect of knowing that your father was exposed to perhaps 5 or 6 nuclear tests? Is it surprising that campaigning for compensation, and attempts to get scientific confirmation of ill health resulting from the tests, continues.

Using recordings, dramatic recreations and imaginative sound pieces, re-enacting those moments that would change lives for ever - Gordon Murray resists a human experiment that few would now subject themselves to willingly.

Credits for Dramas Included in the programme all written by Gordon Murray

STEVE CLIFFORD

Narrator - Kristin Millward

Clifford - Ryan Hayes

Brian - Rupert Lazarus

Paul Carter - Sound design

Chris Drohan - Composer

Featuring interviews with Steve Clifford and Ian Farlie.

SHELLY GRIGG

Narrator - Suzanna Hamilton

Priest - Alan David

Francis Dercum - Matt Gavan

Chris Drohan - Sound Design and Composer

Singer - Amanda Smallbone

Canticle arrangement Stephen Solloway

Featuring interviews with Shelly Grigg and Brother Hugh SSF.

SHARON HARRIS

Narrator- Suzanna Hamilton

Hamm - Ronan Paterson

Stage Manager - Fiona Peek

Sound design and composition Stephen Solloway

Interview Editor James Keane

The human fall out from the Pacific Nuclear tests - dramatically revisited.

Between 1952 and 1991 over 22,000 service men took part in nuclear testing - most conscripted - at sites in Australia, and close by, including Christmas Island where the veterans in this programme were stationed. Most servicemen had no idea what they were doing until they arrived - and then they found out with a mixture of shock and awe. One soldier wrote home that - the next bomb blast may well destroy the whole island - but at least it will be quick! Everyone was terrified.

Crime writer Val McDermid and a panel of guests listen to tape recordings by Agatha Christie that have never previously been broadcast, discussing the light that they shed on the novelist's working methods and how they have influenced the way in which her works have been dramatised. With biographer Laura Thompson , archivist John Curran , director Enyd Williams , dramatist Kevin Elyot and writer Michael Bakewell.

Producer Robyn Read Shortened repeat on Mon at 3pm

Val McDermid listens to previously-unbroadcast recordings made by Agatha Christie.

Crime writer Val McDermid listens to recordings made by Agatha Christie which have never before been broadcast.

A panel of guests, including dramatist Kevin Elyot, biographer Laura Thompson, archivist John Curran, who has recently deciphered Christie's notebooks, director Enyd Williams and writer Michael Bakewell, discuss their approach to dramatising her novels for TV and radio and the light that these recordings shed on Christie's working methods.

The advice column began life in the women's magazines.

It was the role of the kindly, but mythical aunt to re-enforce the social codes of the day, dispensing jaunty, practical, nearly always morally serious advice to their readers.

Radio brought a new outlet for those doling out advice.

It started in the buttoned-up 1940s with paternalistic lectures from Charles Hill, the Radio Doctor (and later chairman of BBC) on subjects such as tummy trouble and melancholia and bloomed into the frank and sometimes shocking phone-ins.

Today, the 'advice industry' has expanded from radio to TV, the internet and advice columns in the newspapers, where readers can offer their own comments.

Throughout the history of agony we have moved from social etiquette to sexual etiquette in terms of the questions that are being asked, and agony aunts have both reflected and influenced trends.

The increasing candour of the programmes reflects a parallel shift in British emotional engagement and the rise of therapy culture, which, some would argue, is not necessarily something to be celebrated.

The programme tracks these developments, exploring the phenomenon of the agony aunt and examining how the way advice is delivered has changed to suit the times.

Jenni Murray presents a history of personal advice, from the agony aunts to the phone-in.

The advice column began life in the women's magazines. It was the role of the kindly, but mythical aunt to re-enforce the social codes of the day, dispensing jaunty, practical, nearly always morally serious advice to their readers.

Radio brought a new outlet for those doling out advice. It started in the buttoned-up 1940s with paternalistic lectures from Charles Hill, the Radio Doctor (and later chairman of BBC) on subjects such as tummy trouble and melancholia and bloomed into the frank and sometimes shocking phone-ins.

Today, the 'advice industry' has expanded from radio to TV, the internet and advice columns in the newspapers, where readers can offer their own comments. Throughout the history of agony we have moved from social etiquette to sexual etiquette in terms of the questions that are being asked, and agony aunts have both reflected and influenced trends.

'JENNI MURRAY presents a history of personal advice, from the agony aunts to the phone-in.'

Joe Queenan recalls the long and turbulent relationship between the BBC and the first television don, historian AJP Taylor.

Taylor's broadcasting career spanned five decades, beginning on BBC radio and then switching to the new medium of television, where his unscripted lectures brought serious history out of the university lecture halls and into the living rooms of millions of people for the first time. His broadcasts were as provocative as they were popular, at one point arousing bitter condemnation in the House of Commons, and his relationship with the corporation was often far from cordial.

It dropped the sulky don, as he became known, from the airwaves on numerous occasions - once for refusing to speak any further in a live discussion programme. For his part, Taylor campaigned vigorously for an independent competitor to the BBC, and frequently mocked it in the press. Still, the relationship served both well over the years, providing Taylor with the mass audience he craved and the BBC with many hours of entertaining and enlightening broadcasting from one of the greatest academics of his day.

Queenan, a long-term admirer of Taylor, tells the story of the historian and the corporation through written and broadcast archives.

In this documentary for Archive on 4, we re-visit the Suffolk village (Charsfield) on which the book was based with a group of local young people, students of Kesgrave High School who are recording and filming fresh takes on the original in a project called Akenfield Now, led by Dr John Gordon of the University of East Anglia and funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

We also hear from the author of Akenfield, RONALD BLYTHE, now 96.

With:

Harvey Osborne

Jan Pedgrift

Garrow Shand

Cyril Kindred

Martin Llewellyn

Peter Driver

Steven Brian

Producer: Nick Carter Miles

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2019.

How has English rural life changed since RONALD BLYTHE wrote his bestseller Akenfield?

Fifty years ago, Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village became a bestselling book. A film by PETER HALL followed.

We also hear from the author of Akenfield RONALD BLYTHE, now 96.

Fifty years after the publication of RONALD BLYTHE's bestseller Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, we revisit Charsfield in Suffolk - the real village where Ronald conducted the interviews on which the book was based.

Anna Davies, aged 18 and part of a group of Suffolk sixth formers following in Ronald's footsteps, tries to find out how rural life has changed since the original Akenfield. Not content to settle for a rose tinted view of rural life, Anna talks with residents of the village today and delves into the archives. We also hear from Ronald himself - now 96 - to try and get a full picture of what country life has become.

Hearing just how difficult life in places like Suffolk once was, it's hard to deny that a huge amount has been gained in the last century, but has something also been lost?

This edition of Archive on 4 re-visits the Suffolk village (Charsfield) on which the book was based, with a group of local young people.

They are students of Kesgrave High School who are recording and filming fresh takes on the original in a project called Akenfield Now.

It's led by Dr John Gordon of the University of East Anglia and funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Anna Davies explores how has English rural life has changed since Ronald Blythe's 1969 bestseller Akenfield? From 2019.

Alan Lomax is a towering figure in the history of music, afforded a front page obituary by the New York Times following his death in 2002. A pioneering musicologist, folklorist and broadcaster, in the 1930s Lomax extensively recorded American folk and blues musicians. Over the course of his career he collected over 3000 hours of music and in-depth interviews.

While Lomax's influence in sparking the folk music revival of the 1960s is well known, in this programme Billy Bragg tells a story of far greater significance. His central thesis is that Lomax's mission was to empower black Americans by awakening them to their folk culture. The politically charged nature of Lomax's work resulted in him being hounded out of the US during the Red scare and the FBI kept a file on him for 30 years.

Interviews include Lomax's former assistant the folk singer Shirley Collins, singer and Civil Rights documentarian Candie Carawan, Lomax's biographer John Szwed and Lomax's daughter Anna.

This programme was made with the help of Alan Lomax's Association for Cultural Equity and the Library of Congress who have supplied a wealth of stunning archive material - including Lomax's field recordings, oral history interviews and groundbreaking radio broadcasts.

Presenter: Billy Bragg

Producer: Max O'Brien

A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.

Billy Bragg explores the politics behind the work of folklorist Alan Lomax.

To mark the centenary of the birth of folklorist Alan Lomax in 1915, Billy Bragg presents a new and original thesis. Billy argues that the legendary song hunter was a vital, but overlooked figure in the Civil Rights Movement, whose recorded archive would become the authoritative repository of black folk culture in America.

They gave their son Gorki's first name.

For more than a decade from the late 1950's Alexei accompanied his parents to trade union conferences, mostly in seaside towns.

These were important times in British and international industrial politics.

There were national strikes in shipbuilding and engineering; the redundancy without pay or notice of 6,000 car workers; the London bus strike; the fight for equal pay; responses to de-colonisation; the Aberfan disaster; Barbara Castle's 'In Place of Strife'.

On Saturday 11th Sept , with a repeat on Monday 13th - the day the 2010 TUC Conference opens in Manchester - Alexei selects the choicest pieces of archive to conjure the atmosphere of these important events.

Set against this is his personal story of these years, his own interaction as a child with the characters involved, and his own development, politically, personally, even physically.

And he brings his inside knowledge to bear...revealing how, for instance, the biggest bruisers were, at the closing balls, the most deft of dancers, and how comrades from France and Eastern Europe were nonplussed by their encounter with, for instance, Brown Windsor Soup.

Producer: Julian May.

Alexei Sayle on his boyhood seaside holidays - at trade union conferences in their heyday.

Alexei Sayle's parents were, in Liverpool, unusual; both Communists, his mother from a Lithuanian Jewish family, his father a railway union official. They gave their son Gorki's first name. For more than a decade from the late 1950's Alexei accompanied his parents to trade union conferences, mostly in seaside towns.

These were important times in British and international industrial politics. There were national strikes in shipbuilding and engineering; the redundancy without pay or notice of 6,000 car workers; the London bus strike; the fight for equal pay; responses to de-colonisation; the Aberfan disaster; Barbara Castle's 'In Place of Strife'.

On Saturday 11th Sept , with a repeat on Monday 13th - the day the 2010 TUC Conference opens in Manchester - Alexei selects the choicest pieces of archive to conjure the atmosphere of these important events. Set against this is his personal story of these years, his own interaction as a child with the characters involved, and his own development, politically, personally, even physically. And he brings his inside knowledge to bear...revealing how, for instance, the biggest bruisers were, at the closing balls, the most deft of dancers, and how comrades from France and Eastern Europe were nonplussed by their encounter with, for instance, Brown Windsor Soup.

Nick Clarke joins Alistair Cooke to listen to some gems from his career as one of Britain's best loved broadcasters. From December 1999.

A portrait of the 20th century as viewed through the eyes of one of the world's greatest broadcasters.

Combining extracts from the 2,654 editions of Cooke's Letters from America (Radio 4) and reflections from Cooke today, the programme follows the key elements of what is often referred to as the American century.

Biographer NICK CLARKE joins Alistair Cooke to listen to some of the gems from his career as one of Britain's best loved broadcasters, talking about the differences between UK and US English, Bobby Kennedy's assassination and golf, among other things.

Produced by Tony Grant.

A portrait of the 20th century as viewed through the eyes of one of the world's greatest broadcasters - Alistair Cooke.

Combining extracts from the 2,654 editions of BBC Radio 4's Letter from America with reflections from Alistair, the programme follows the key elements of what is often referred to as the American century.

Biographer NICK CLARKE joins Alistair Cooke to listen to some of the gems from his career, talking about the differences between UK and US English, Bobby Kennedy's assassination, golf and so much more.

Producer: Tony Grant

Combining extracts from the 2,654 editions of BBC Radio 4?s Letter from America with reflections from Alistair, the programme follows the key elements of what is often referred to as the American century.

George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was unique, not because it was number one around the world, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

Growing up in the 1970s, musician and composer Nitin Sawhney was aware of George and his interest in Indian classical music, particularly his close connection with Ravi Shankar. He knew Harrison's hit singles, but his most famous album, All Things Must Pass, remained unexplored.

Was this LP, written in the latter years of the 1960s already out of date in 1970, or was it in fact ahead of its time, with its heart-felt lyrics and religious themes?

Interviewees include:

Olivia Harrison

Michael Palin

Jools Holland

Biographers, Graeme Thomson and Joshua M. Greene

Keyboard player, Bobby Whitlock

Drummer, Alan White

Guitarist, Dave Mason

Presenter: Nitin Sawhney

This reappraisal of George Harrison's most successful album was made to tie in with the 50th anniversary of its 1970 release.

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2020.

Composer Nitin Sawhney tells the story of George Harrison's most famous album.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One'. GEORGE HARRISON's All Things Must Pass was unique, - not only because it became the most successful debut solo album by a Beatle, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

While Lennon sang about peace, McCartney about love and Ringo about Sweet Sixteens, Harrison embraced ideas of death, God, the meaning of life and suffering.

Composer NITIN SAWHNEY tells the story of the making of GEORGE HARRISON's most successful album and shows how, with its themes, lyrics and musical style, it was ahead of its time.

Interviewees include Olivia Harrison, MICHAEL PALIN, JOOLS HOLLAND, biographers Graeme Thomson and Joshua M. Greene, keyboard player Bobby Whitlock, drummer Alan White, and guitarist Dave Mason.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One'. George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was unique, not because it was number one around the world, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

Growing up in the 1970s, musician and composer Nitin Sawhney was aware of George Harrison and his interest in Indian classical music, particularly his close connection with Ravi Shankar. He knew Harrison's hit singles, but his most famous album, All Things Must Pass, remained unexplored. Was this LP, written in the latter years of the 1960s already out of date in 1970, or was it in fact ahead of its time, with its heart-felt lyrics and religious themes? This month sees the 50th anniversary of the its release and so is a good time to reappraise George Harrison's most successful album.

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2020.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ?the Quiet One'.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One’.

George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass was unique, not because it was number one around the world, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

Growing up in the 1970s, musician and composer Nitin Sawhney was aware of George and his interest in Indian classical music, particularly his close connection with Ravi Shankar. He knew Harrison’s hit singles, but his most famous album, All Things Must Pass, remained unexplored.

This reappraisal of George Harrison’s most successful album was made to tie in with the 50th anniversary of its 1970 release.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One'.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One'. GEORGE HARRISON's All Things Must Pass was unique, - not only because it became the most successful debut solo album by a Beatle, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

In November 1970 a triple album was released by the Beatle previously known as ‘the Quiet One'. George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was unique, not because it was number one around the world, but because of its fascination with Eastern religion.

Georgia is joined by others who worked with the Rolling Stones at the Altamont concert on December 6, 1969 - including their Business Manager Ron Schneider, the Tour Manager Sam Cutler, Production Designer Chip Monck, film maker Albert Maysles, photographer Eamon McCabe and journalist Michael Lydon.

A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4

Mick Jagger's personal assistant returns to the scene of the Rolling Stones' 1969 concert.

Georgia Bergman, who was Mick Jagger’s personal assistant in 1969, returns to the scene of one of rock’s most notorious concerts. She gives an insider’s perspective on the cultural impact of the event, detailing why it happened, what went wrong and how the concert marked the end of the 60s hippie dream.

This state of affairs didn't happen overnight. Michael Goldfarb traces the current era of partisan gridlock to the midterm election of 1994, when the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich took over the House of Representatives. His view of politics, it's the war of all against all, as opposed to an arena for compromise and consent, has taken over.

Michael looks at Gingrich's rise to power and examines the ignoble history of rude, violent debate that has characterised American politics from the country's founding. And he asks if there is any way out of America's current predicament.

A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4

Michael Goldfarb looks at the history of rude, violent debate that has marked US politics.

This state of affairs didn?t happen overnight. Michael Goldfarb traces the current era of partisan gridlock to the midterm election of 1994, when the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich took over the House of Representatives. His view of politics, it's the war of all against all, as opposed to an arena for compromise and consent, has taken over.

Michael looks at Gingrich's rise to power and examines the ignoble history of rude, violent debate that has characterised American politics from the country?s founding. And he asks if there is any way out of America?s current predicament.

This state of affairs didn’t happen overnight. Michael Goldfarb traces the current era of partisan gridlock to the midterm election of 1994, when the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich took over the House of Representatives. His view of politics, it's the war of all against all, as opposed to an arena for compromise and consent, has taken over.

Michael looks at Gingrich's rise to power and examines the ignoble history of rude, violent debate that has characterised American politics from the country’s founding. And he asks if there is any way out of America’s current predicament.

Debate about Murdoch has continued since her death in 1999.

Her legacy as a writer has been overshadowed by the publication of her husband John Bayley's memoir about her decline into Alzheimer's disease and the subsequent film adaptation, starring judi dench and Kate Winslet, and directed by Richard Eyre.

Bidisha listens to archive conversations between Murdoch and writers AN Wilson, as byatt and SUSAN HILL, and discovers a renaissance of interest in the writer as her emphasis on morality and goodness in a godless world seems to resonate today.

Bidisha examines the life and work of fellow novelist iris murdoch

Author Iris Murdoch has a complex reputation thanks to her husband's memoirs.

Debate about Murdoch has continued since her death in 1999. Her legacy as a writer has been overshadowed by the publication of her husband John Bayley's memoir about her decline into Alzheimer's disease and the subsequent film adaptation, starring Judi Dench and Kate Winslet, and directed by Richard Eyre.

Bidisha examines the life and work of fellow novelist Iris Murdoch.

Speaking on condition that the recording would only be released after her death, Andrea Levy gave an in-depth interview to oral historian Sarah O'Reilly for the British Library's Authors' Lives project in 2014.

Drawing on this recording, along with comments from friends, family and collaborators, this programme explores Levy's changing attitude towards her history and her heritage and how it is intimately bound up with her writing.

Andrea grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life:

'I have dreams now where I sit down with my parents and we talk about the difficulty of being a black person in a white country. But at the time? No help whatsoever.'

A significant day arrived when she attended a racism awareness course in her workplace in the 1980s. Staff were asked to split into two groups. 'I walked over to the white side of the room. But my fellow workers had other ideas and I found myself being beckoned over by people on the black side. I crossed the floor. It was a rude awakening. It sent me to bed for a week.

Writing came to Levy's rescue. Her first three books - Every Light In The House Burnin' (1994), Never Far from Nowhere (1996) and Fruit of the Lemon (1999) - explored questions of immigrant identity and were semi-autobiographical. Through her writing, she explored the historical connection between Britain and the Caribbean as a profoundly British concern, and her literary project was to make people of both small islands aware of their intertwined history.

It was the publication of the prize-winning Small Island in 2004 that propelled Andrea Levy to international acclaim.

The novel told the story of Jamaican families like her own integrating into post-war Britain and drew directly from the experiences of her parents and their passage to the Mother Country. The success of Small Island held deep personal significance for Andrea: 'From then on I thought, 'Things are possible'.

Writing The Long Song, her novel set on a 19th century Caribbean slave plantation, was, she says, 'the most terrifying thing to have to go into'. With the recent Windrush scandal and wider debates about the legacy of the slave trade in Britain, Levy's work could not be more relevant. The Long Song was published in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But it was during the writing of this book that Andrea was diagnosed with the cancer that would, she knew, eventually kill her.

Andrea Levy speaks here for the first time about living with a terminal illness and her hopes for posterity. And we hear an excerpt from a previously unpublished dialogue from her archives, now housed at the British Library, in which she tackles her imminent demise with her trademark wit and wisdom.

With Gary Younge, Baroness Lola Young, Louise Doughty, Helen Edmundson, Sarah Williams, Margaret Busby, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Catherine Hall and Andrea's husband Bill Mayblin.

Voice actors:

Josef-Israel

Lynsey Murrell

Producers:: Melissa FitzGerald & Sarah O'Reilly

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

Andrea Levy speaks candidly about her writing life and her impending death.

Author Andrea Levy, alongside friends and family, speaks candidly about her writing life and her impending death. From 2020.

Speaking on condition that the recording would only be released after her death, ANDREA LEVY gave an in-depth interview to oral historian Sarah O'Reilly for the British Library's Authors' Lives project in 2014. Drawing on this recording, along with comments from friends, family and collaborators, this programme explores Levy's changing attitude towards her history and her heritage and how it is intimately bound up with her writing.

ANDREA LEVY grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life: 'I have dreams now where I sit down with my parents and we talk about the difficulty of being a black person in a white country. But at the time? No help whatsoever.

It was the publication of the prize-winning Small Island in 2004 that propelled ANDREA LEVY to international acclaim. The novel told the story of Jamaican families like her own integrating into post-war Britain and drew directly from the experiences of her parents and their passage to the Mother Country. The success of Small Island held deep personal significance for Andrea: 'From then on I thought, 'Things are possible'.

Voice actors: Josef-Israel and Lynsey Murrell.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald & Sarah O'Reilly

ANDREA LEVY grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later on a Jamaican banana producer's boat. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life: 'I have dreams now where I sit down with my parents and we talk about the difficulty of being a black person in a white country. But at the time? No help whatsoever.

ANDREA LEVY speaks here for the first time about living with a terminal illness and her hopes for posterity. And we hear an excerpt from a previously unpublished dialogue from her archives, in which she tackles her imminent demise with her trademark wit and wisdom.

ANDREA LEVY grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life: I have dreams now where I sit down with my parents and we talk about the difficulty of being a black person in a white country. But at the time? No help whatsoever.

A significant day arrived when she attended a racism awareness course in her workplace in the 1980s. Staff were asked to split into two groups. I walked over to the white side of the room. But my fellow workers had other ideas and I found myself being beckoned over by people on the black side. I crossed the floor. It was a rude awakening. It sent me to bed for a week.

It was the publication of the prize-winning Small Island in 2004 that propelled ANDREA LEVY to international acclaim. The novel told the story of Jamaican families like her own integrating into post-war Britain and drew directly from the experiences of her parents and their passage to the Mother Country. The success of Small Island held deep personal significance for Andrea: From then on I thought, 'Things are possible'.

Writing The Long Song, her novel set on a 19th century Caribbean slave plantation, was, she says, the most terrifying thing to have to go into. With the recent Windrush scandal and wider debates about the legacy of the slave trade in Britain, Levy's work could not be more relevant. The Long Song was published in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But it was during the writing of this book that Andrea was diagnosed with the cancer that would, she knew, eventually kill her.

ANDREA LEVY grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later on a Jamaican banana producer's boat. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life: I have dreams now where I sit down with my parents and we talk about the difficulty of being a black person in a white country. But at the time? No help whatsoever.

ANDREA LEVY grew up in North London in the 1960s, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. Her father Winston came to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, and her mother Amy arrived six months later. At home, Jamaica was never discussed. Levy recalls how her parents believed that, in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss, and the silence around race in the family home haunted her throughout her life.

Writing came to Levy's rescue. Her first three books - 'Every Light In The House Burnin' (1994), 'Never Far from Nowhere' (1996) and 'Fruit of the Lemon' (1999) - explored questions of immigrant identity and were semi-autobiographical. Through her writing, she explored the historical connection between Britain and the Caribbean as a profoundly British concern, and her literary project was to make people of both small islands aware of their intertwined history.

It was the publication of the prize-winning Small Island in 2004 that propelled ANDREA LEVY to international acclaim. The novel told the story of Jamaican families like her own integrating into post-war Britain and drew directly from the experiences of her parents and their passage to the Mother Country. The success of 'Small Island' held deep personal significance for Andrea.

Writing 'The Long Song', her novel set on a 19th century Caribbean slave plantation, was, she says, 'the most terrifying thing to have to go into'. With the recent Windrush scandal and wider debates about the legacy of the slave trade in Britain, Levy's work could not be more relevant. 'The Long Song' was published in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But it was during the writing of this book that Andrea was diagnosed with the cancer that would, she knew, eventually kill her.

ANDREA LEVY speaks candidly about her writing life and her impending death. From 2020.

Speaking on condition that the recording would only be released after her death, Andrea Levy gave an in-depth interview to oral historian Sarah O’Reilly for the British Library’s Authors’ Lives project in 2014. Drawing on this recording, along with comments from friends, family and collaborators, this programme explores Levy’s changing attitude towards her history and her heritage and how it is intimately bound up with her writing.

Writing 'The Long Song', her novel set on a 19th century Caribbean slave plantation, was, she says, 'the most terrifying thing to have to go into'. With the recent Windrush scandal and wider debates about the legacy of the slave trade in Britain, Levy’s work could not be more relevant. 'The Long Song' was published in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But it was during the writing of this book that Andrea was diagnosed with the cancer that would, she knew, eventually kill her.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald & Sarah O'Reilly

[LISTEN NOW]

Starting with The Goon Show, she takes us on a personal tour of the pop culture scene that includes The Beatles, Beyond The Fringe and That Was The Week That Was, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Monty Python and The Rutles. We hear how a core group of British musicians and satirists influenced each other, sharing a similar view of the world and a fearless desire to disrupt and lampoon the political and social norms in which they'd been brought up.

Contributors include David Quantick, composer John Altman, comedy historian Jem Roberts, and 'Legs' Larry Smith of the Bonzos.

Producer: Victoria Ferran

Executive Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Annie Nightingale explores the links between new music and comedy during the 1960s.

Annie Nightingale explores the links between comedy and new music during the youth revolution of the late 50s and 60s.

As one of the country's leading academics and a former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures (a role for which he received his knighthood), Blunt's influence reached to the top of the establishment. In a Britain polarised by the Cold War, Blunt's exposure provoked an unprecedented media storm and turned him into a national hate figure.

Blunt had shared 1,771 top secret documents with Russia during the war and played a key role in the escape of Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and Kim Philby, fellow members of the Cambridge Five. Ironically, Stalin's regime was so distrustful of everything they received that it is questionable how much impact the information that Blunt shared actually had.

David Cannadine, the current President of the British Academy, reassesses Blunt's career before his exposure as well as the fallout afterwards. He uncovers the controversy which erupted over Blunt's academic position after he was revealed as a spy, and how the academic community came to terms with the revelation of a traitor in its midst.

Eventually stripped of his knighthood and expelled from academic life, Blunt's rapid downfall was driven as much by a hostile disdain for his position as a privileged left-wing intellectual, and by a rampant homophobia in the press that labelled him a 'treacherous Communist poof'.

Can artistic reputations survive political actions or personal disgrace, and what issues does Blunt's story raise for institutional loyalty and professional identity?

David Cannadine speaks to many of Blunt's former students and those directly involved in the raw and personal clash of ideals over Blunt's position, some of whom remained sympathetic to him as a great intellectual and great teacher, and saw themselves as defenders of intellectual liberty against a political witch-hunt.

With Dawn Ades, Christopher Andrew, Miranda Carter, Richard Davenport-Hines, Neil MacGregor, Charles Moore, Charles Saumarez Smith, Deborah Swallow, Sarah Whitfield and Richard Verdi.

Historical research: Martin Spychal

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4

David Cannadine on the controversy caused by the unmasking of Anthony Blunt as a spy.

David Cannadine, the current President of the British Academy, reassesses Blunt’s career before his exposure as well as the fallout afterwards. He uncovers the controversy which erupted over Blunt's academic position after he was revealed as a spy, and how the academic community came to terms with the revelation of a traitor in its midst.

David Cannadine speaks to many of Blunt’s former students and those directly involved in the raw and personal clash of ideals over Blunt's position, some of whom remained sympathetic to him as a great intellectual and great teacher, and saw themselves as defenders of intellectual liberty against a political witch-hunt.

Anthony Burgess is best known as the author of A Clockwork Orange, published 50 years ago.

Burgess was born in 1917 in one of the poorest areas of North Manchester. It was entirely unpredictable that such a major literary figure and polymath would spring from such a humble background.He remained in Manchester until he graduated from the University, but never went back to live there and was careful to disguise his Northern accent.

Paul Morley - a fellow Northern exile - visits some of the key landmarks of Burgess's early life - Xaverian College where he was taught by strict Catholics from the Xaverian Brothers; the Free Trade Hall where he heard the Hall退 Orchestra; Central Library where he began a lifelong process of self-education.

Paul also considers Burgess's continuing passion for writing classical music; his first creative ambition was to be a composer. He wrote over 200 pieces of pieces of classical music, including full-length symphonies and a ballet. Very little of his music was performed during his lifetime, but it is now attracting interest from musicians and academics.

Burgess's legacy includes not only 33 published novels, two autobiographies and a large amount of journalism but a previously unheard archive of about 800 audio cassettes and home movies. Paul Morley visits The International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester, which is cataloguing this rich, diverse and remarkable archive.

Contributors include Dr Andrew Biswell, biographer of Anthony Burgess and Director of The International Anthony Burgess Foundation; Paul Philips, author of a book about Burgess's music; and Dr Kevin Malone an expert on the music Burgess himself wrote for his own dramatized version of A Clockwork Orange.

Paul Morley - a fellow Northern exile - visits some of the key landmarks of Burgess's early life - Xaverian College where he was taught by strict Catholics from the Xaverian Brothers; the Free Trade Hall where he heard the Hall? Orchestra; Central Library where he began a lifelong process of self-education.

Paul Morley - a fellow Northern exile - visits some of the key landmarks of Burgess's early life - Xaverian College where he was taught by strict Catholics from the Xaverian Brothers; the Free Trade Hall where he heard the Hallé Orchestra; Central Library where he began a lifelong process of self-education.

PETER COOK, ENOCH POWELL, MARGARET THATCHER, SHEILA HANCOCK, TONY BENN...just a few of the famous voices in this exploration of the Any Questions archive. Jonathan Dimbleby and a special panel of guests offer new answers to old questions from the archive, and explore the changing character of political argument on Radio 4's flagship debate programme. Recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre, and on the panel: BONNIE GREER, DAVID BLUNKETT, MATTHEW PARRIS and Ann Widdecombe.

Producers: Camellia Sinclair and Chris Ledgard

However while politics, pollution and the very real threat of terrorism may indeed have made our world less stable, science broadcaster Robin Ince considers whether our concern with disaster is also age-old and sometimes imagined. Using the archive he explores our longstanding preoccupation with the apocalypse, from religion and science to comedy and drama, and what it tells us about the way we think.

Drawing on diverse sources from nuclear missile tests to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Orson Wells' infamous radio hoax, Ince discovers how destruction has been portrayed in different ways across the decades, with archive contributions from thinkers including physicist Richard Feynman and philosopher Noam Chomsky.

He hears from contemporary commentators with an interest in the darker side of human thought. Novelist Lionel Shriver and psychotherapist Susie Orbach are among those who explain what the apocalypse means to them.

Ince also searches the archive for practical advice in the event of catastrophe. He meets Professor Lewis Dartnell, a disaster-expert who explains how to reboot civilisation in the event of apocalypse.

Presenter: Robin Ince

Producer: Harry Kretchmer

Broadcaster Robin Ince explores our longstanding obsession with the end of days.

This year the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at two and a half minutes to midnight, their judgement that humanity had moved closer to its own destruction. It's a theme embraced in popular culture, from the surprise-bestseller, The Ladybird Book of the Zombie Apocalypse to armageddon-chic on the catwalk.

Producer: Harry Kretchmer.

In 2017, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, their judgement that humanity had moved closer to its own destruction.

However while politics, pollution and the very real threat of terrorism may indeed have made our world less stable, Robin Ince considers whether our concern with disaster is also age-old and sometimes imagined.

Using the archive, he explores our longstanding preoccupation with the apocalypse, from religion and science to comedy and drama, and what it tells us about the way we think.

Robin hears from contemporary commentators with an interest in the darker side of human thought. Novelist Lionel Shriver and psychotherapist Susie Orbach explain what the apocalypse means to them.



Producer: Harry Kretchmer.

In 2017 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, their judgement that humanity had moved closer to its own destruction. It's a theme embraced in popular culture, from the surprise-bestseller, The Ladybird Book of the Zombie Apocalypse to armageddon-chic on the catwalk.

The launch of Apollo 13 on April 11th 1970 was NASA's third bid to land people on the moon. It came just nine months after the triumph of Apollo 11, which saw Neil Armstrong's famous small step win the space race, leaving the United States victorious over the Soviet Union. Apollo 12 followed suit a few months later, executing its lunar landing with pinpoint accuracy. By the time of Apollo 13, NASA appeared to have found its rhythm. And yet to the public and the media, a feat that had appeared impossible less than a year earlier, now began to seem routine.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: “Houston, we've had a problem” and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges – the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

Kevin Fong relives the rescue with access to the mission audio archives as well as new interview material with surviving astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise and a host of characters who worked round the clock to save Apollo 13 and NASA, from disaster.

Presented by Kevin Fong and produced by Andrew Luck-Baker.

Houston, we've had a problem. How the mission of Apollo 13 was saved

With access to the mission audio archives as well as new interview material with surviving astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise as well as a host of characters who worked round the clock to save Apollo 13 and NASA, from disaster.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: “Houston, we've had a problem?? and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges – the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: ?Houston, we've had a problem? and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges ? the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

The launch of Apollo 13 on April 11th 1970 was NASA’s third bid to land people on the moon. It came just nine months after the triumph of Apollo 11, which saw Neil Armstrong’s famous small step win the space race, leaving the United States victorious over the Soviet Union. Apollo 12 followed suit a few months later, executing its lunar landing with pinpoint accuracy. By the time of Apollo 13, NASA appeared to have found its rhythm. And yet to the public and the media, a feat that had appeared impossible less than a year earlier, now began to seem routine.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert’s seemingly innocent message: “Houston, we’ve had a problem” and insist that what they’re seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges – the mission is over and now they’re in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: “Houston, we've had a problem ? and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges – the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: `Houston, we've had a problem` and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges - the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

Kevin Fong explores the story of Apollo 13, told by the astronauts who flew it and the ground crew that saved it.

But Apollo 13 would turn out to be anything but routine. Flawed from the start, its fate was sealed by a faulty oxygen tank installed months earlier that would later explode, triggering a catastrophic series of events that threatened the spacecraft and the lives of the crew, over and over again. At first the teams in mission control are puzzled by astronaut Jack Swigert's seemingly innocent message: “Houston, we've had a problem” and insist that what they're seeing on their consoles in Houston must be an instrumentation failure. But then the truth emerges – the mission is over and now they're in the fight of their lives to save the crew.

Presenter: Kevin Fong

Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Kevin Fong explores the story of Apollo 13, told by the astronauts who flew it and the ground crew that saved it. From 2020.

The launch on April 11th 1970 was NASA's third bid to land people on the moon. It came just nine months after the triumph of Apollo 11, which saw Neil Armstrong's famous small step win the space race, leaving the USA victorious over the Soviet Union.

Kevin Fong relives the rescue with access to the mission audio archives.

Plus new interview material with surviving astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise and a host of characters who worked round the clock to save Apollo 13 and NASA, from disaster.

It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time.

Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement.

Through extraordinary NASA archive, the first British astronaut Helen Sharman goes inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Researchers: Diane Richardson and Colin Anderton

Written and produced by Chris Browning.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

British astronaut Helen Sharman on the first mission taking humans beyond Earth's orbit

British astronaut Helen Sharman tells the story of the NASA mission that first took humans beyond the Earth's orbit. From 2018.

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ‘one small step' came humanity's giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, the first British astronaut Helen Sharman goes inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Written and produced by: Chris Browning

The first mission to take human beings beyond the earth's orbit

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ‘one small step' came mankind's giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve 1968 orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, we go inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Producer: Chris Browning

Brilliant stories told using archive material from the BBC and beyond.

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ‘one small step' came humanity's giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, Earthrise showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, the first British astronaut Helen Sharman goes inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ‘one small step' came mankind's giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve 1968 orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, Earthrise showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, we go inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ?one small step' came humanity's giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, the first British astronaut Helen Sharman goes inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Six months before Neil Armstrong’s ‘one small step’ came humanity’s giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, the first British astronaut Helen Sharman goes inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Six months before Neil Armstrong’s ‘one small step’ came mankind’s giant leap. It was December 1968. Faced with President Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, NASA made the bold decision to send three astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time. Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve 1968 orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, 'Earthrise' showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement. Through extraordinary NASA archive, we go inside the capsule to tell the story of the first time man went to another world.

Six months before Neil Armstrong's ‘one small step' came humanity's giant leap.

Those three astronauts spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon. Their legendary photograph, Earthrise showed our planet as seen from across the lunar horizon - and was believed to have been a major influence on the nascent environmental movement.

Matthew Sweet attempts to live in the moment and evade posterity as he pieces together an edition of Archive on 4 without the use of any archive whatsoever - and in a valiant attempt at auto-destructive radio, tries to remove all trace of this very programme from the world.

Archives are everywhere. They're in every business, every high street, every attic and every pocket: museums consecrated to all kinds of ephemera, collections of writerly marginalia awaiting the attention of curious researchers - and self-storage warehouses are flourishing, as people pay to hold onto those things they can evidently live without.

And as we stand there at the concert filming the action over the heads of all the other people filming the action, or Live Tweet the latest drama or extend our selfie stick to squeeze ourselves in next to the Mona Lisa, aren't we missing something fundamental? Isn't this ever-present urge to archive (as if we're afraid of impermanence, confused about what's public and what's private) affecting our ability to experience the here and now?

Usually in one of these programmes it isn't long before we hear a grainy old bit of tape or the long-preserved voice of some venerable figure - the ancestor worship of the sound archive. But not this time.

Like an excursion in retro radio, this programme has to be experienced in real time. It won't be available on iPlayer or the programme webpage or as a podcast. If you want to hear it you'll have to tune in as it is broadcast. After that... it will be no more.

Featuring: William Basinski, Mike Figgis, Christopher Frayling, Aleks Krotoski, Hanif Kureishi, Andy Martin, Joanna Norledge, Caroline Shenton and Carolyn Steedman.

With music recorded for the programme by Rhodri Davies.

Producer: Martin Williams.

Matthew Sweet on the modern proliferation of archives.

British art schools have produced some of the world's most successful artists, designers, filmmakers and musicians. Britain has built up a strong reputation for creativity around the world and politicians are interested in capitalising on our creative brand.

Brian Eno was at art school at a particularly exciting time. In the sixties, art colleges were independent and experimental; students were challenged to rethink what art and art education were about. Brian relates his memories of Ipswich College of Art under the radical educationalist Roy Ascot, and reflects on the importance of this experience. But he also sounds a warning note - he says art schools are under huge pressures and the effects are threatening creativity.

This programme brings together artists, musicians, art tutors and archive recordings to explore the last half century of art education and the state of Britain's art schools today.

We hear the perspectives of high profile figures in art and design - Grayson Perry, Richard Wentworth, Eileen Cooper, Peter Kindersley, and Jay Osgerby to name a few.

Britain depends on its art schools if it's to sustain its reputation for creativity. But are art schools becoming too much like universities and excluding those very people who will produce the innovations of the future?

Produced by Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.



A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

From Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College or Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville - public statuary is a lightning conductor for popular protest and unrest. But why are these figures of the past - often erected in another era with different moral expectations - so often in the front line of political conflict today? Lawrence Pollard and guests gather in the sound archives to listen to the symbolic moments that statues fall and explore the difference between iconoclasm by the powerful and powerless and what these events tell us about history, identity and nature of collective memory. With Dr Madge Dresser, Dr Rahul Rao, Afua Hirsch and Dr Tiffany Jenkins.

Producer: Viv Jones.

From Saddam Hussain in Iraq, Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College or Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville - public statuary is a lightning conductor for popular protest and unrest. But why are these figures of the past - often erected in another era with different moral expectations - so often in the front line of political conflict today? Lawrence Pollard, along with historians whose expertise cover the globe, gather in the sound archives to listen to the symbolic moments that statues fall and explore the difference between iconoclasm by the powerful and powerless and what these events tell us about history, identity and nature of collective memory.

Producer: Mark Burman.



Producer: Viv Jones.

Producer: Mark Burman.

By the time of his death, Asa Briggs had come a long way.

From a childhood helping run his dad's struggling shop in Depression-era West Yorkshire, he began his career at amazing speed. At 16, he arrived at Cambridge University from his grammar school. At 21, he was cracking codes at Bletchley Park. In 1945, he turned down the offer of a safe Labour seat. In his late twenties, he had a fellowship at Oxford. In 1951, he went on a road trip round Syria and Turkey with a young student of his - Rupert Murdoch.

Briggs became the official historian of the BBC, where he learned to run institutions - and then grabbed the chance to build one himself. At the new University of Sussex, he was there from the start, helping to make it the most visible of the new universities of the 1960s. And then he played a major role in shaping the Open University.

In this programme, Tristram Hunt explores the energetic life of one of his heroes. He argues that Briggs was steeped in the Victorian era.

First, through his Victorian grandfather, who took him on tours of the architectural glories of the North of England.

Second, Briggs was a leading historian of the Victorian era, and played a huge role in rescuing it from negative stereotypes.

But third, Asa Briggs was a Victorian himself - in the sense that he wanted to sustain their great effort to improve life. His mission to open up access to education modernised and built on the Victorians' legacy.

With: Dan Briggs, Jean Seaton, David Kynaston, Miles Taylor, Bill Cash MP.

Produced by Phil Tinline in association with the Open University.

Tristram Hunt tracks the life's work of the historian and university founder Asa Briggs.

By the time of his death last year, Asa Briggs had come a long way.

By the time of his death earlier this year, Asa Briggs had come a long way.

From a childhood helping run his dad's struggling shop in Depression-era West Yorkshire, he began his career at amazing speed. At 16, he arrived at Cambridge University from his grammar school on a scholarship. Not content with that, he did a second degree at the same time. At 21, he was cracking codes at Bletchley Park. In 1945, he turned down the offer of a safe Labour seat. In his late twenties, he had a fellowship at Oxford. In 1951, he went on a road trip round Syria and Turkey with a young student of his - Rupert Murdoch.

Briggs became the official historian of the BBC, where he learned to run institutions - and then grabbed the chance to build one himself. First as a Dean, then as Vice-Chancellor, at the new University of Sussex, he was there from the start - building up the institution from a port-a-cabin office at first. He made Sussex the most glamorous of the new universities of the 1960s, appearing on chat shows with David Frost and James Baldwin and being interviewed by Vogue. And then he played a major role in shaping a much bigger, more radical institution: the Open University.

In this programme, Tristram Hunt explores the exhaustingly energetic life of one of his heroes. He argues that Briggs was steeped in the Victorian era

First, through his benevolent Victorian grandfather, who talked to him, took him seriously, and took him on tours of the architectural glories of the industrial North of England.

Second, Briggs was a leading historian of the Victorian era, and played a huge role in rescuing it from the calumnies of the Bloomsbury Group and giving the Victorians' drive to improve 'ordinary' lives their due.

But third, Hunt argues, Asa Briggs was a Victorian himself - in the sense that he wanted to sustain their great effort to improve life right through the twentieth century. His great mission to open up access to education - which drove him to build Sussex and the Open University - was both a mission to modernise and to build on the Victorians' legacy.

Hunt explores how Briggs achieved all this, how he was at odds with both communist and conservative historians - and how he coped when the optimism of the postwar era soured in the 1970s.

And he argues that Briggs' Victorian heritage, particularly through the apostle of 'self-help', Samuel Smiles, allowed him to engage with Britain's Thatcherite turn in the 1980s.

Evans began by chatting to his neighbours over the fireside in the 1950's and transcribing stories about poaching shepherding, smuggling and ditching.

The talk was of a hardscrabble life, of leaky roofs and meals of pea soup and pollard dumplings and beef only at Christmas with occasional festivities like the Whitsun fair.

With the help of BBC producer David Thomson, Evans recorded many of these tales and they were broadcast on the Third Programme.

Evans came from a Welsh mining village and he sympathised with the labourers' stories about the tyranny of the trinity of the parson, squire and farmer.

He was a sympathetic listener who asked allowed his community to speak for itself and he captured the stories of people whose traditions had been unbroken for generations, who worked on the land before mechanisation and who believed in magic and folk wisdom and had intuitive understanding of working with animals.

Evans' eleven books about the working lives and folk stories of Blaxhall are a portrait of every facet of his village and paved the way for books and programmes, both fiction and not fiction, about British agricultural life.

Alan Dein talks to people who remember him in the village of Blaxhall and to his son Lord (Matthew) Evans and youngest daughter Susan as well as historian Owen Collins.

A WHISTLEDOWN PRODUCTION FOR BBC RADIO 4.

Alan Dein celebrates the centenary of George Ewart Evans and his tales of Suffolk.

In this week's Archive On Four, historian Alan Dein celebrates the centenary of his mentor George Ewart Evans, collector of Suffolk farming tales. Evans began by chatting to his neighbours over the fireside in the 1950's and transcribing stories about poaching shepherding, smuggling and ditching.

Evans came from a Welsh mining village and he sympathised with the labourers' stories about the tyranny of the trinity of the parson, squire and farmer. He was a sympathetic listener who asked allowed his community to speak for itself and he captured the stories of people whose traditions had been unbroken for generations, who worked on the land before mechanisation and who believed in magic and folk wisdom and had intuitive understanding of working with animals.

As a creative archaeologist, she wanted to unravel the connections between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide them safely over, especially when she discovered that datalink - effectively text messaging - is increasingly being used, so that voice communication is on the wane.

Listening to archive of transatlantic flights from the first by Alcock and Brown in 1919, Christine discovered that the west coast of Ireland looms large in the history. She visited Shannon airport in County Clare, scene of many departures and reunions and, in the 1950s and 60s - before the jet engine - a stop-over for most of the popular icons of the day as their planes re-fuelled after the 3000 mile flight; every US President since JFK has visited Shannon, and most stars from Marilyn Monroe to Fred Astaire.

And at the North Atlantic Communications Centre in nearby Ballygirreen, Christine met the faces behind the voices she heard coming out of the dark on her own Atlantic Crossing.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.



Producer: MARYA BURGESS.

As a creative archaeologist, she wanted to unravel the connections between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide them safely over, especially when she discovered that datalink - effectively text messaging - is increasingly being used, so that voice communication is on the wane.

Listening to archive of transatlantic flights from the first by Alcock and Brown in 1919, Christine discovered that the west coast of Ireland looms large in the history. She visited Shannon airport in County Clare, scene of many departures and reunions and, in the 1950s and 60s - before the jet engine - a stop-over for most of the popular icons of the day as their planes re-fuelled after the 3000 mile flight; every US President since JFK has visited Shannon, and most stars from Marilyn Monroe to Fred Astaire.

And at the North Atlantic Communications Centre in nearby Ballygirreen, Christine met the faces behind the voices she heard coming out of the dark on her own Atlantic Crossing.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.

JOHN LLOYD unearths the private papers of his friend and colleague DOUGLAS ADAMS, and discovers more about the agonies he went through to write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, forty years ago.

The papers, donated to St John's College, Cambridge University, include note books, ramblings, rants about how hard it is to write, unfinished scenes and passages never included in DOUGLAS ADAMS' books.

JOHN LLOYD co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and DOUGLAS ADAMS had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to 'give me the boot' and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

Other contributors to the programmes include the original producer and now novelist Simon Brett; original cast members SIMON JONES, Geoffrey McGivern and Mark Wing-Davey; and Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

John also discusses how unpublished writings by DOUGLAS ADAMS have just been used in a new series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, about to be transmitted on Radio 4.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.

JOHN LLOYD unearths the private papers of his friend and colleague DOUGLAS ADAMS, and discovers more about the agonies he went through to write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

JOHN LLOYD uncovers the private papers of the late DOUGLAS ADAMS.

JOHN LLOYD co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and DOUGLAS ADAMS had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to give me the boot and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.

As a creative archaeologist, she wanted to unravel the connections between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide them safely over, especially when she discovered that datalink - effectively text messaging - is increasingly being used, so that voice communication is on the wane.

Listening to archive of transatlantic flights from the first by Alcock and Brown in 1919, Christine discovered that the west coast of Ireland looms large in the history. She visited Shannon airport in County Clare, scene of many departures and reunions and, in the 1950s and 60s - before the jet engine - a stop-over for most of the popular icons of the day as their planes re-fuelled after the 3000 mile flight; every US President since JFK has visited Shannon, and most stars from Marilyn Monroe to Fred Astaire.

And at the North Atlantic Communications Centre in nearby Ballygirreen, Christine met the faces behind the voices she heard coming out of the dark on her own Atlantic Crossing.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.

I love it. It's the nearest thing to poetry that I ever got to read on the radio - wonderful cadences' - CHARLOTTE GREEN, Radio 4 announcer and newsreader is just one of dozens of professional broadcasters who've been transfixed by the strangely elegiac nature of the curt and abbreviated language of the formal statement of weather conditions around our island. For Archive on 4, Charlotte's former colleague, PETER JEFFERSON presents an elegy to the Shipping Forecast, travelling via the archive through the history and romance of the sea areas that daily make their weather known to seafarers.

The sea is calm tonight.

The tide is full, the moon lies fair

Upon the Straits; - on the French coast the light

Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,

Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

But MATTHEW ARNOLD's poem 'Dover Beach' also perfectly encapsulates the spirit in which many Radio 4 listeners embrace the Forecast; gazing into the depths of the night, a seascape of indigo swept by a distant lighthouse beam. So is the Shipping Forecast as much a hymn to our former seafaring island as formal meteorological bulletin, to be shared and enjoyed by landlubbers who've long escaped all contact with the sea and ships....?

Peter travels to Exeter where the Forecast is compiled from the Met Office's supercomputer's myriad pieces of data... and talks to sailor and radio-lover LIBBY PURVES, national poet of Wales and composer of an ode to the Forecast, GILLIAN CLARKE and to photographer Mark Power, who shot a stunning sequence of black-and-white images of the sea areas.

Producer: Simon Elmes.

I love it. It's the nearest thing to poetry that I ever got to read on the radio - wonderful cadences - CHARLOTTE GREEN, Radio 4 announcer and newsreader is just one of dozens of professional broadcasters who've been transfixed by the strangely elegiac nature of the curt and abbreviated language of the formal statement of weather conditions around our island. For Archive on 4, Charlotte's former colleague, PETER JEFFERSON presents an elegy to the Shipping Forecast, travelling via the archive through the history and romance of the sea areas that daily make their weather known to seafarers.

I love it. It's the nearest thing to poetry that I ever got to read on the radio - wonderful cadences - Charlotte Green, Radio 4 announcer and newsreader is just one of dozens of professional broadcasters who've been transfixed by the strangely elegiac nature of the curt and abbreviated language of the formal statement of weather conditions around our island. For Archive on 4, Charlotte's former colleague, Peter Jefferson presents an elegy to the Shipping Forecast, travelling via the archive through the history and romance of the sea areas that daily make their weather known to seafarers.

One hundred years, to the day, after the birth of Arthur Miller his biographer, Christopher Bigsby, mines the BBC's and his own archives, tracing the life and work of this towering American figure.

When Miller turned 80 Bigsby, with the radio producer Julian May, spent a weekend at Miller's Connecticut home and, on the porch with the birds singing, recorded him recalling his life. Miller talks about his early days as the son of an illiterate Polish immigrant in Harlem, surviving the Depression and his initial struggles as a writer. He remembers his first sight of Marilyn Monroe and his hearing before the Un-American Activities Committee which informed 'The Crucible'.

As well as these monumental events this programme includes his insights into lesser known aspects of his life. How his earliest performed dramas were written for radio in the 1940s, for stars such as Orson Welles, recordings of which Bigsby found. There is, too, the story of how be became a music collector, and how he was a carpenter.

There are contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Warren Mitchell and Brian Dennehy, who all played Willy Loman, and Ying Ruocheng, who played the role in Beijing. Henry Goodman speaks about working on his late play, 'Broken Glass'. We hear from Harold Pinter, Nicholas Hytner and John Malkovich. And there is previously unbroadcast material from Miller's brother and sister, and his wife, the photographer, Inge Morath.

Christopher Bigsby traces the life and work of Arthur Miller, mostly in Miller's own words

Attention must be paid to such a person,' says Linda of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman'. Miller himself spent his long life paying close attention to the society and times in lived in. He scrutinised the American Dream in 'Salesman', in 'The Crucible' revealed its hysteria and in 'All My Sons' its corruption.

Attention must be paid to such a person, says Linda of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' . Miller himself spent his long life paying close attention to the society and times in lived in. He scrutinised the American Dream in 'Salesman', in 'The Crucible' revealed its hysteria and in 'All My Sons' its corruption.

Attention must be paid to such a person, says Linda of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman'. Miller himself spent his long life paying close attention to the society and times in lived in. He scrutinised the American Dream in 'Salesman', in 'The Crucible' revealed its hysteria and in 'All My Sons' its corruption.

On the evening of 30th January 1968, Julian dined with his cameraman Ernie Christie in a hotel in Saigon, while reporting the Vietnam War. There were few journalists there at the time because the Communists had agreed to a truce during Tet, the Vietnamese festival of New Year, and many of the international press corps had left the city.

It was Ernie's telephone call, in the darkness of the early hours of the 31st January, which alerted Julian to the Tet Offensive. Ernie was staying in a hotel close to the Presidential Palace and he called Julian to tell him there was heavy fighting in the streets nearby. As Julian says, 'In Saigon we were used to the lullaby of distant gunfire, but this was something much more immediate - the unmistakable thump of a heavy machine gun, far too close for comfort.

Julian and Ernie took up a position in the driveway of an elegant house and shot close-up footage which at the time would only be seen in the movies. For several hours they remained in this position, trapped in the driveway by gunfire, with the mutilated body of a red-headed, bespectacled American military policemen hanging out of a Jeep beside them. Julian says that the face of that man still haunts him to this day.

It was not until that evening that they begin to learn the scale of the Tet Offensive - thousands of Communist troops had infiltrated Saigon, attacking dozens of targets including the American Embassy. Almost every provincial town and major US base in South Vietnam had also been assaulted.

Julian's reporting of Tet got to the heart of the conflict. He interviewed American GIs and Vietnamese civilians caught up in the war, bringing a human side to the tragedy that was unfolding. His style was serious, yet honest and down-to-earth and ground-breaking, the 'soldier's-eye view' reportage he produced of the Tet Offensive won him a BAFTA and later an OBE for his services to broadcasting.

Tet turned out to be the turning point in the Vietnam conflict, coming completely out of the blue, it caught the American military and the world at large off-guard. Against the armed might of the USA and its allies, the Communists suffered a tactical defeat, but in the long term they won an extraordinary strategic and propaganda victory. It was those images, nightly on television, that finally turned the US public against the war and convinced them that it could not be won.

Fifty years on, Julian returns to his archive to recount his personal experiences, drawn from the heart of the Vietnam war. He recounts how during his time reporting in Vietnam, the Joint US Public Affairs Office threatened to take away his accreditation because they believed his reports to be 'Anti-American' and unbalanced.

Julian explores how Tet was the spark which ignited a series of explosive events that made it a turning point, not only in the Vietnam war, but in modern history. The anti-Vietnam war movement, which spread worldwide, gave powerful moral support to other causes that challenged the establishment. The Civil Rights Movement in the US, and women's rights and student rights movements almost everywhere, took inspiration and courage from the growing opposition to the war.

Contributors include: Martin Bell; Don North, formerly of ABC News; Lien-Hang Nguyen, Professor of History at Columbia University; Andrew Preston, Professor of American History at Cambridge University; Tariq Ali; Sheila Rowbotham.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald.

A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.

JULIAN PETTIFER reflects on the Tet Offensive of 1968 as a turning point in world history.

Julian and Ernie took up a position in the driveway Archive On 4

Conbtributors include: Martin Bell; Don North, formerly of ABC News; Lien-Hang Nguyen, Professor of History at Columbia University; Andrew Preston, Professor of American History at Cambridge University; Tariq Ali; Sheila Rowbotham.

Barbara

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20100906

An appraisal of Barbara Castle in the centenary of her birth.

Barbara Castle - the Red Queen, clever, sexy and single-minded she was the most important female politician the Labour party has produced.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer ANNE PERKINS, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for MARGARET THATCHER.She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

We hear of her early life growing up in a Yorkshire family -more bourgeois than she'd admit - devoted to the Independent Labour Party and William Morris; tales of climbing out of college windows at Oxford with her friend, the pioneering broadcaster Olive Shapley; her devotion to the open air which led to the founding of the Pennine Way - she tramped the inaugural walk in a tweed skirt and brogues, alongside Hugh Dalton.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the 'stridency' the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her. And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

We hear intimate archive interviews with Barbara Castle recorded before her death, and new interviews including Baroness Shirley Williams , Baroness BETTY BOOTHROYD ,Janet Anderson , and the veteran political commentator GEOFFREY GOODMAN.

Producer Lindsay Leonard.

Brilliant stories told using archive material from the BBC and beyond.

It was Ernie's telephone call, in the darkness of the early hours of the 31st January, which alerted Julian to the Tet Offensive. Ernie was staying in a hotel close to the Presidential Palace and he called Julian to tell him there was heavy fighting in the streets nearby. As Julian says, In Saigon we were used to the lullaby of distant gunfire, but this was something much more immediate - the unmistakable thump of a heavy machine gun, far too close for comfort.

Julian's reporting of Tet got to the heart of the conflict. He interviewed American GIs and Vietnamese civilians caught up in the war, bringing a human side to the tragedy that was unfolding. His style was serious, yet honest and down-to-earth and ground-breaking, the soldier's-eye view reportage he produced of the Tet Offensive won him a BAFTA and later an OBE for his services to broadcasting.

A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the stridency the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most Archive On 4

As part of an occasional series of Archive on 4 programmes which tell their stories in reverse, Backwards Brexit begins in the present day and picks a selective path backwards in time to illuminate and juxtapose some of the themes and sentiment that gathers about the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

It's not a news programme.

It's part satire, part polemic: a partial and imaginative accompaniment to a febrile period whose slippery discourse has drawn out magical thinking and seemingly demonstrated the ability of words to float free of meaning. It implicitly relies on a sense that, on some level, Brexit is a discussion about history.

It's made up of five sections.

The first section begins today, with the announcement of the UK's imminent departure from the EU. It then moves backwards to the 1990s, to the end of Margaret Thatcher's premiership and the period of Maastricht. From there, it moves backwards again to the 1970s, beginning with a vote to join the EEC in 1971 and a referendum to stay there four years later. After that it jumps back to the 1950s, when the foundations of the EU were built up, as the legitimacy of the British Empire was brought down. In the final section we go much further back in time and look outwards from a Northumberland shore.

The programme ends with a refrain from Harold Macmillan, a quote which might mean nothing, but in light of the mean win/lose strategising of current conversation, has the feeling of profundity: 'It's a moral question, it's what kind of people we want to be.

Producer: Martin Williams

Thanks to Roger Boaden, Olivette Otele, Ailsa Rutter, Marshall Tisdale and Emmett!

This week's Archive on 4 goes backwards in time to find the roots and routes of Brexit.

Spooling in reverse - from the confusions of the present day to a Northumberland shore ten thousand years ago - we're like a terrier off the lead in a cow field: rolling around in the muck of it.

The programme ends with a refrain from Harold Macmillan, a quote which might mean nothing, but in light of the mean win/lose strategising of current conversation, has the feeling of profundity: It's a moral question, it's what kind of people we want to be.

Spooling in reverse -- from the confusions of the present day to a Northumberland shore 10000 years ago -- we're like a terrier off the lead in a cow field: rolling around in the muck of it.

At home, surrounded by their own parenting paraphernalia, comedy couple JOSIE LONG and Jonny Donahoe leap into the fictional and factual world of parenting to discover what lessons we can learn or loose from our TV and Radio counterparts.

Script writers from every generation have embraced parents, and the misadventures of mums and dads have kept TV and Radio in business for decades. In the early days, putting parents on TV and Radio was all about showing us how it 'should' be done, but in recent years writers have reflected back to us what we're really like!

And as family set ups have evolved from mum and dad, to mum and mum, dad and dad or mums or dad, Radio and TV writers have travelled that route too. Parents have provided them with a seemingly endless source of material which in turn has provided us with ideas as to how to parent better or simply reassured us that we're not the only ones doing it badly.

From 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em' to 'Motherland', sit back, relax and enjoy a journey of parenting mayhem and memories that will unite us all!

Presented by JOSIE LONG and Jonny Donahoe

Produced by Nicola Humphries

Featuring TV Writer and Critic Michael Hogan, Jennifer Traig, author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting, and Dr Charlotte Faircloth, Lecturer in Sociology of Gender at UCL.

Parenting comedy couple JOSIE LONG and Jonny Donahoe share their parenting archive clips.

Barbara Castle - the Red Queen, clever, sexy and single-minded she was the most important female politician the Labour party has produced.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer Anne Perkins, examines her life and legacy.

The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem.

In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for Margaret Thatcher.She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

We hear of her early life growing up in a Yorkshire family -more bourgeois than she'd admit - devoted to the Independent Labour Party and William Morris; tales of climbing out of college windows at Oxford with her friend, the pioneering broadcaster Olive Shapley; her devotion to the open air which led to the founding of the Pennine Way - she tramped the inaugural walk in a tweed skirt and brogues, alongside Hugh Dalton.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit.

And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions.

Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the 'stridency' the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's.

Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her.

And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

We hear intimate archive interviews with Barbara Castle recorded before her death, and new interviews including Baroness Shirley Williams , Baroness Betty Boothroyd ,Janet Anderson , and the veteran political commentator Geoffrey Goodman.

Producer Lindsay Leonard.

A long-overdue appraisal of Barbara Castle in the centenary of her birth.

An appraisal of the Labour politician Barbara Castle, in the centenary of her birth.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer Anne Perkins, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for Margaret Thatcher.She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the 'stridency' the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her. And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the stridency the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer Anne Perkins, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for Margaret Thatcher .She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her . And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

Barbara Castle - the Red Queen, clever, sexy and single-minded she was the most important female politician the Labour party has produced.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer Anne Perkins, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for Margaret Thatcher.She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

We hear of her early life growing up in a Yorkshire family -more bourgeois than she'd admit - devoted to the Independent Labour Party and William Morris; tales of climbing out of college windows at Oxford with her friend, the pioneering broadcaster Olive Shapley; her devotion to the open air which led to the founding of the Pennine Way - she tramped the inaugural walk in a tweed skirt and brogues, alongside Hugh Dalton.

Then there were her dogged campaigns for equal pay and child benefit. And that's before we get to the breathalyser and the Unions. Her passionate skills of oratory leap out of the archive, crackling with energy and fire.She was a feminist but was always puzzled by what she saw as the 'stridency' the movement took on in the seventies and initially resisted the idea of all-women shortlists.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her. And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

We hear intimate archive interviews with Barbara Castle recorded before her death, and new interviews including Baroness Shirley Williams , Baroness Betty Boothroyd ,Janet Anderson , and the veteran political commentator Geoffrey Goodman.

Producer Lindsay Leonard.

2010 is the centenary of her birth and in this archive hour , her official biographer Anne Perkins, examines her life and legacy. The further we move from the 20th century, the more remarkable her achievements seem. In one of the ironies of politics, she paved the way for Margaret Thatcher .She embodied the spirit of the starry-eyed landslide Labour government of 1945 and was a unique participant in the history of the left.

She wasn't averse to using her great personal charm to negotiate her way out of some of the most monumental political battles of the era - dressed impeccably and no stranger to the hairdresser's. Did she stand out precisely because she was that rare creature : a colourful woman amongst all the grey suits ? Or was it her potent mix of lightning wit, passion, diligence, red bouffant and fierce intellect that helped carve out a place in history for her . And could she have achieved all she did if she'd had children?

Poet PAUL FARLEY explores how the language of poetry and sports commentary compare. With Sir Peter O'Sullevan. From June 2012.

A journey through the BBC archives.

In this Archive on 4, Rob Brydon takes a fresh look at the Barry Humphries he admired since childhood to then becoming his friend. Alongside interviews with those who knew and understood him best, Rob delves deep to unpick his more complicated side - the satirist with a compulsion to point out the absurd or pompous, no matter how raw or uncomfortable it was.

According to Drama Critic John Lahr, Humphries was all contradictions and we learn about the sometimes fine line between himself and the characters he portrayed, including the epitome of vulgarity, Sir Les Patterson. Could Humphries theatrical creations have been used as a tool to ridicule and tease the rest of the world to conceal his true self? “I still see myself as a Dadaist, even when I try to be respectable. I like to cause deep offence as it pleases me, it means I'm alive, ? said Humphries.

Like Shakespeare created The Fool, Barry Humphries used his characters to say the unsayable. He admitted to being an outsider, not quite fitting into society, and early on would stage surreal performance art in the street, with members of the public unsure what was going on. Were the audience in on the joke or having fun poked at them? The paradox of the Dandy is that he wants to rebel against society, and at the same time be accepted by it.

Humphries was rebellious and beloved by the people that he disdained. When asked how he might feel without Edna and Les in his life, he said that they were 'cathartic and god knows what might happen to me if they didn't exist'.

Presenter: Rob Brydon

Producers: Hayley Redmond, David Prest

An HR Presents and Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Rob Brydon takes a fresh look back at the unique Australian entertainer, Barry Humphries.

Barry Humphries was a satirist with a compulsion to point out the absurd or pompous, no matter how raw or uncomfortable it was. Rob Brydon reflects with those who knew him best.

From in-house journals to industrial musicals, from opinion research to email cascades, the actor and communications expert Vincent Franklin explores the archive to chart the different ways in which companies have talked to their workers - and how staff have talked back.

He investigates the first in-house journals from the Lowell Offering, written by American female mill workers in the 1840s, to the magazines for British Nylon Spinners a hundred years later.

He hears how American corporations developed the Industrial Musical in the 1950s, getting top class songwriters to pen numbers extolling things like the virtues of tractors, in order to galvanise their workforce.

Drawing on the contorted corporate language spoken around his character in the Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve, Vincent talks to its creator John Morton about the use of language in staff communication - when it works and when it doesn't.

During the programme, he explores how workforces have been addressed by their managers, whether to tell them good news or bad.

And he also hears about the new techniques in corporate comms being used today. With a profession numbering around 45,000 people, how have the demands of the job of doing internal communications changed?

Along with the voices from the archive, we hear other new interviews with Tom Watson, Emeritus professor at Bournemouth University's Faculty of Media and Communication, Jennifer Sproul Chief Executive of the Institute of Internal Communication, Kathie Jones, archivist and former member of the British Association of Industrial Editors ,Steve Young who co-wrote the book Everything's Coming Up Profits about the age of the Industrial Musicals and Amol Rajan, former Editor of the Independent newspaper.

Producer: Emma Kingsley.

He investigates the first in-house journals from the Lowell Offering, written by American female mill workers in the 1840s, to the magazines for British Nylon Spinners a hundred years later.

Along with the voices from the archive, we hear other new interviews with Tom Watson, Emeritus professor at Bournemouth University's Faculty of Media and Communication, Jennifer Sproul Chief Executive of the Institute of Internal Communication, Kathie Jones, archivist and former member of the British Association of Industrial Editors ,Steve Young who co-wrote the book Everything's Coming Up Profits about the age of the Industrial Musicals and Amol Rajan, former Editor of the Independent newspaper.

He investigates the first in-house journals from the 'Lowell Offering', written by American female mill workers in the 1840s, to the magazines for British Nylon Spinners a hundred years later.

Along with the voices from the archive, we hear other new interviews with Tom Watson, Emeritus professor at Bournemouth University's Faculty of Media and Communication, Jennifer Sproul Chief Executive of the Institute of Internal Communication, Kathie Jones, archivist and former member of the British Association of Industrial Editors ,Steve Young who co-wrote the book 'Everything's Coming Up Profits' about the age of the Industrial Musicals and Amol Rajan, former Editor of the Independent newspaper.

He uncovers a network of dealers and buyers, supplying a community of 'crate diggers' and 'beat miners' and a world in which samples from records bought for a few pence in a car boot sale can provide the basis for a million-selling hit.

Broadcaster Toby Amies digs into the archives to discover the significance of old vinyl.

He uncovers a network of dealers and buyers, supplying a community of 'crate diggers' and 'beat miners' and a world in which samples from records bought for a few pence in a car boot sale can provide the basis for a million-selling hit.

Broadcaster Toby Amies digs into the archives to discover the significance of old vinyl.

Historians have poured over JOSEPH GOEBBELS and his reputedly efficient propaganda machine - particularly the Nazi manipulation of radio to gain and maintain power. But few have explored the leading opponent of his propaganda - the German Service of the BBC. Fewer still have acknowledged that the BBC's radio transmissions to Germany contained not only news and comment but also drew on an unusual method of British psychological warfare, satire and humour, as a form of counter-propaganda.

From mid-1940 until the very end of the war, pioneering satire feature programmes were written by German exiles under the close supervision of British authorities. They included Frau Wernecke - a sketch fronted by a fictional Berlin housewife, Kurt and Willi - a double act depicting two bungling Nazi propagandists, and Letters from Corporal Hirnschal - a soldier writing to his wife. Meanwhile another popular feature, Hitler on Hitler tried to point out inconsistencies in the Fuhrer's rhetoric.

What did the authors of these programmes, the BBC officials and the relevant governmental institutions hope to achieve with satire as a weapon of war?

Timur Vermes pours over the archive with experts, hears testimony from those who risked their lives listening to the satire, and tries to work out if satire is effective as wartime propaganda.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

Timur Vermes on how the BBC used humour in its battle with Hitler during the World War II.

Producers: Ashley Byrne, Iain Mackness, Kristina Moorehead

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2019.

Timur Vermes on how the BBC used humour battling with Hitler during the Second World War.

Historians have pored over Joseph Goebbels and his reputedly efficient propaganda machine - particularly the Nazi manipulation of radio to gain and maintain power. But few have explored the leading opponent of his propaganda - the German Service of the BBC.

Timur Vermes pores over the archive with experts, hears testimony from those who risked their lives listening to the satire, and tries to work out if satire is effective as wartime propaganda.

Producers: Ashley Byrne, Iain Mackness & Kristina Moorehead

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2019.

Housed in the unlikely spot of the Museum of English Rural Life, Beckett - the lifelong outsider - would have enjoyed the absurdity of finding his archives next to dairy farming data and combine harvester records. As a result, perhaps not unintentionally, Beckett's tapes have remained here as a well-kept secret.

Many of the tapes are interviews recorded by Beckett's friend, the scholar James Knowlson, while he was researching an official biography. The interviews they contain reveal fascinating insights into the way Samuel Beckett worked closely and collaboratively with his actors and friends - including Sian Phillips, Paul Daneman, Billie Whitelaw and Harold Pinter - and the respect they showed for him in return.

Taking Krapp's Last Tape as inspiration for this programme, Robert tells the story of the Samuel Beckett archive at Reading and invites surviving collaborators, friends and those who have found inspiration in Beckett's work.

These include:

Tom Stoppard

Edna O'Brien

Lisa Dwan

Lady Antonia Fraser

Robert asks them to listen to extracts from the tapes and reflect on his unique method and the expression of his genius.

Robert aims to gain new insight into the mind of one of the 20th century's literary giants, while bringing out the poignancy and nostalgia involved in revisiting memories and life-events through the tapes.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2019.

Robert McCrum explores Samuel Beckett's literary career through rare recordings.

Taking Krapp's Last Tape as inspiration for this programme, Robert tells the story of the Samuel Beckett archive at Reading and invites surviving collaborators, friends and those who have found inspiration in Beckett's work - including Tom Stoppard, Edna O'Brien, Sian Phillips, Lisa Dwan, Lady Antonia Fraser and James Knowlson - to listen to extracts from the tapes and reflect on his unique method and the expression of his genius.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald

Taking Krapp's Last Tape as inspiration for this programme, Robert tells the story of the SAMUEL BECKETT archive at Reading and invites surviving collaborators, friends and those who have found inspiration in Beckett's work - including TOM STOPPARD, Edna O'Brian, SIAN PHILLIPS, Lisa Dwan, Lady ANTONIA FRASER and James Knowlson - to listen to extracts from the tapes and reflect on his unique method and the expression of his genius.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Robert McCrum explores the elusive Samuel Beckett’s astonishing literary career through rare audio tape recordings from the Samuel Beckett Research Centre at the University of Reading.

Robert McCrum explores Samuel Beckett's astonishing literary career through rare audio tape recordings. From 2019.

The happily bored Phill Jupitus takes a creative look at our attitude to this misunderstood emotion. He will examine what boredom is, and how it has influenced our leisure time, our workplaces, our creativity and our evolution. Phill will examine its impact on comedy, art, music, and television, taking us from punk to prison, from J. R. R. Tolkien to Sherlock Holmes, from Danish sex clubs to London's 'Boring Conference'.

This will be a lively look at the simple, very real and essential emotion of boredom, and a stout defence of the right to sometimes just sit down and do nothing.

Interviews include - the Reverend Richard Coles, the writer Natalie Haynes, the artist George Shaw, the comedy writer and producer Robert Popper, the psychologist Peter Toohey, the punk musician Gaye Black (formerly of The Adverts), the psychologist Sandi Mann, the BBC newsreader Simon McCoy, Dr Teresa Belton and the social media entrepreneur Jodie Cook.

Interviews include - the Reverend RICHARD COLES, the writer NATALIE HAYNES, the artist George Shaw, the comedy writer & producer ROBERT POPPER, the psychologist Peter Toohey, the punk musician Gaye Black (formerly of The Adverts), the psychologist Sandi Mann, the BBC newsreader Simon McCoy, Dr Teresa Belton and the social media entrepreneur Jodie Cook.

PHILL JUPITUS explores the importance of being bored.

As an author, Jake has written about corruption; the shadowy figure of the bent copper has featured in more than one of his novels. In this programme, he's making some enquiries into that abhorrent character...

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single “bad apple”, to the “Fall of Scotland Yard” and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers' lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order', ‘Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction – why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

Producer: Hannah Marshall

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.

Author Jake Arnott traces the history of corruption in the Metropolitan police.

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single “bad apple??, to the “Fall of Scotland Yard?? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers' lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Author Jake Arnott traces the history of corruption in the Metropolitan police, from Dixon of Dock Green to Line of Duty. What?s changed?

As an author, Jake has written about corruption; the shadowy figure of the bent copper has featured in more than one of his novels. In this programme, he?s making some enquiries into that abhorrent character...

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single ?bad apple?, to the ?Fall of Scotland Yard? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers? lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he?s right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (?Law and Order?, ?Judge John Deed?) and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction ? why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order', ‘Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction – why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single ?bad apple?, to the ?Fall of Scotland Yard? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers? lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (?Law and Order?, ?Judge John Deed?) and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction ? why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single ?bad apple?, to the ?Fall of Scotland Yard? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers' lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (?Law and Order', ?Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction ? why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

Author Jake Arnott traces the history of corruption in the Metropolitan police, from Dixon of Dock Green to Line of Duty. What’s changed?

As an author, Jake has written about corruption; the shadowy figure of the bent copper has featured in more than one of his novels. In this programme, he’s making some enquiries into that abhorrent character...

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single “bad apple”, to the “Fall of Scotland Yard” and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers’ lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he’s right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order’, ‘Judge John Deed’) and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction – why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single “bad apple??, to the “Fall of Scotland Yard?? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers’ lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he’s right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single “bad apple ?, to the “Fall of Scotland Yard ? and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers' lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order', ‘Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction – why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

From the lone corrupted officer, often characterised as a single `bad apple`, to the `Fall of Scotland Yard` and the realisation that a barrel of bad apples might be a better metaphor, Jake hears about whistle blowers' lives ruined and murder cases blighted by police corruption that still reverberate to this day. He speaks to Steve Noonan from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body now responsible for tackling corruption in the force, and asks whether he's right to suggest that institutionalised police corruption is a thing of the past?

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order', ‘Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction - why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

Writer G F NEWMAN (‘Law and Order', ‘Judge John Deed') and sociologist Sarah Moore explore police corruption in fiction - why are we so obsessed with watching bent coppers on TV? And journalists Martin Short and Graeme McLagan reveal the role of journalists in holding the police to account.

We hear Marin talk very personally about her memories of working with the maestro at the famous Tanglewood music center in Massachusetts and watching him conduct concerts in New York.

We also hear the reflections of Leonard's daughter, Jamie Bernstein, who remembers - as a child - watching the Young People's Concerts that Bernstein presented to vast televisions audiences across America while director of the New York Philharmonic.

John Mauceri and Matthew Barley who, like Marin, benefitted from Bernstein's teaching and mentoring offer their perspectives on his huge capacities as a teacher, conductor and composer.

The programme considers the music Bernstein himself composed, in particular West Side Story, Kaddish and Mass. Marin discusses what makes Bernstein's music so rewarding and complex, so innovative, experimental and widely appreciated. She admires his commitment to harmony, to tonal music - the place where he felt music communicated most deeply to people.

Presented by Marin Alsop

Produced by Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop remembers her mentor, the great Leonard Bernstein.



A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

No other conductor has made such an impact on MARIN ALSOP as LEONARD BERNSTEIN. He taught her at several points along her path to becoming a professional conductor and imparted his humanistic perspective on life and his love of sharing great music with others. He instilled in her his beliefs, his values, his dedication to education, as well as his understanding of conducting. Her sense of gratitude to Bernstein is part of the subject of this programme.

We hear Marin talk very personally about her memories of working with the maestro at the famous Tanglewood music center in Massachusetts and watching him conduct concerts in New York.

We also hear the reflections of Leonard's daughter, Jamie Bernstein, who remembers - as a child - watching the Young People's Concerts that Bernstein presented to vast televisions audiences across America while director of the New York Philharmonic.

John Mauceri and Matthew Barley who, like Marin, benefitted from Bernstein's teaching and mentoring offer their perspectives on his huge capacities as a teacher, conductor and composer.

The programme considers the music Bernstein himself composed, in particular West Side Story, Kaddish and Mass. Marin discusses what makes Bernstein's music so rewarding and complex, so innovative, experimental and widely appreciated. She admires his commitment to harmony, to tonal music - the place where he felt music communicated most deeply to people.

Presented by MARIN ALSOP

Produced by Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

'Acclaimed conductor MARIN ALSOP remembers her mentor, the great LEONARD BERNSTEIN.'

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life. ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

Producer: ALEXANDRA FEACHEM.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular The Brains Trust. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular The Brains Trust. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life. ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

Robin takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind.

But, as Robin Ince discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with.

His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience.

He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.

Robin takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem

Robin Ince listens back to some of the BBC archive of philosopher Bertrand Russell.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind.

But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience.

He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life. ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life. ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

Producer: ALEXANDRA FEACHEM.

Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as Robin Ince discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular The Brains Trust. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life. Robin Ince takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular The Brains Trust. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But, as ROBIN INCE discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with. His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience. He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular 'The Brains Trust'. His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.ROBIN INCE takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions

To complement Radio 4's British New Wave drama season PAUL ALLEN, presents a first-hand account of it, using the archive to illuminate the social changes which allowed it to flourish.

For ten years after the Second World War the battered British public had been soothed, culturally, by urbanity and charm. In the mid-fifties it was as if a huge wave - the New Wave - had crashed over a quiet beach; frightening and exhilarating.

PAUL ALLEN witnessed this. He was a theatre-struck schoolboy when he read KENNETH TYNAN's remark that he 'couldn't love anyone who didn't want to see 'Look Back in Anger'. He relished the language and northern working class voices in the novels of Alan Sillitoe such as 'Saturday Night' and 'Sunday Morning' and felt the rage of David Storey's play 'This Sporting Life'. Then came the challenging sexuality of Nell Dunn's 'Up the Junction'.

PAUL ALLEN, was a young reporter in the North of England, then a regional critic and a national broadcaster, presenting 'Kaleidoscope', Radio 4's daily arts show, for 20 years. He interviewed and got to know the leading figures of the New Wave - JOHN OSBORNE ('Look Back in Anger'), STAN BARSTOW ('A Kind of Loving'), BARRY HINES ('Kes'), Margaret Forster ('Georgy Girl') and Alan Sillitoe.

Using the BBC's and his own archives Paul explores the artistic and social upheavals of the British New Wave. He reveals how it was not a single movement, but a series of progressions in literature and theatre, and in popular forms beyond these, and went way beyond 'kitchen sink' dramas.

Producer: JULIAN MAY.

PAUL ALLEN witnessed this. He was a theatre-struck schoolboy when he read KENNETH TYNAN's remark that he couldn't love anyone who didn't want to see 'Look Back in Anger'. He relished the language and northern working class voices in the novels of Alan Sillitoe such as 'Saturday Night' and 'Sunday Morning' and felt the rage of David Storey's play 'This Sporting Life'. Then came the challenging sexuality of Nell Dunn's 'Up the Junction'.

Producer: JULIAN MAY.

Buckley helped to move conservatism from the outer fringes to the very centre of American political life.

Waspish, provocative, sometimes infuriating but never dull, his weekly programme Firing Line became the world's longest-running TV show with a single host.

From 1966 to 1999, everyone from presidents to poets, politicians and punks submitted to Buckley's weekly interrogations.

A Paladin Invision production for radio 4.

A selection of conservative writer and intellectual William F Buckley's finest moments.

Buckley helped to move conservatism from the outer fringes to the very centre of American political life. Waspish, provocative, sometimes infuriating but never dull, his weekly programme Firing Line became the world's longest-running TV show with a single host. From 1966 to 1999, everyone from presidents to poets, politicians and punks submitted to Buckley's weekly interrogations.

Ken Barnes - Bing Crosby's record producer - explores how this beloved American crooner also maintained a high profile radio career. One out of four Americans tuned into his Kraft Music Hall.

For 30 years, Bing Crosby was the King of Radio, hosting over 4000 broadcasts - including singing and speaking with stars like Louis Armstrong, Groucho Marx, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Hope.

Producer: Caroline Barbour

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.



First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.

For 30 years, Bing Crosby was the King of Radio, hosting over 4000 broadcasts - including singing and speaking with stars like Louis Armstrong, Groucho Marx, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Hope.

Producer: Caroline Barbour

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.

Ken Barnes explores how a beloved singer became king of radio.

LENNY HENRY explores a transformative moment in the career of late comedian RICHARD PRYOR.

LENNY HENRY retraces the late comedian RICHARD PRYOR's seven month stay in Berkeley, California - a crucial moment in his artistic development.

RICHARD PRYOR is often hailed as the greatest stand up comedian of all time. For LENNY HENRY, it was Pryor's fearless act in the mid 70s and 80s that inspired him as a young comic. And he remains Lenny's comedy hero to this day.

But the RICHARD PRYOR that Lenny knows and loves had a very different act when he first started out in 1960s New York. A self-confessed Bill Cosby clone, charming audiences with his 'white bread' humour.

It's the stuff of legend how Pryor's biting social satires, salty language, and character-driven routines like The Wino and The Junkie came about after he threw away a lucrative job in Las Vegas and vowed to reinvent himself. But, for Lenny, the key to Pryor's artistic transformation lies in his short stay in Berkeley, California. When he arrived in February 1971, revolution was in the air. A hub for American counterculture, there were pitched battles in the streets between activists and the police. Berkeley was also home to the Black Panthers and a burgeoning black arts movement.

Pryor made friends with a local radio producer who invited him on to the local station KPFA, gave him a recorder so he could brainstorm new material, and taped several of his performances around town. With these little-heard tapes, Lenny pieces Pryor's life together during his self-imposed exile. Pryor immersed himself in black history and culture, hanging out with intellectuals like Ishmael Reed and Cecil Brown. For the first time, Pryor was taken seriously as an artist and we get a fascinating glimpse him recording free verse poetry. We also hear Pryor experimenting with edgier material at local clubs. For example, we hear blistering attacks on police brutality and his response to the 1971 Attica prison rebellion - which sound remarkably modern even today.

Contributors include: N

ovelist and poet, Ishmael Reed

Former poet laureate of California, Al Young

Richard's widow and keeper of his archives, Jennifer Pryor

Comedian and director, David Steinberg

Actress and comedian, Liz Torres

Author of Becoming RICHARD PRYOR, Scott Saul

Producer: Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.



A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Flowering from the more arcane parts of the hippy movement but mutating into something quite different, why was there such a huge crossover appeal for the British public? Was this a continuation of the Sixties cultural battleground of restrictive morality being secretly titillated, or was it something else - something darker? These questions certainly puzzled factual television at the time.

The age of Black Aquarius matched the late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - dark dimensions, secret rites, unearthly energy – but filtered through ‘the permissive society', through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and new kinds of consumption and lifestyle. And while dark forces were summoned in the grooviest of Chelsea flats they were being unearthed in the countryside too, a fantasy of pagan ritual and wicker men, of tight-lipped locals and blood sacrifice at harvest time.

Contributors include MARK GATISS, KATY MANNING, CAROLINE MUNRO, KIM NEWMAN, Highgate Vampire hunter David Farrant and Piers Haggard, director of ‘The Blood on Satan's Claw'.

Producer: SIMON HOLLIS

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.

The dawning of the age of Black Aquarius, the second great wave of pop occultism in the UK

MATTHEW SWEET explores the dawning of the age of Black Aquarius - the rise (and sudden end) of the weirdly great wave of occultism in British popular culture in the 1960s-70s.

From underground journals like the Aquarian Arrow and specialist bookshops appearing in cities all over Britain to the bestselling novels of Dennis Wheatley, moral panics about upper-crust Satanic cults in the tabloid press and the glut of illustrated books, magazines and TV drama. It was a wildly exuberant seam of British pop culture, but where did it come from, and why did it all take off then?

Flowering from the more arcane parts of the hippy movement perhaps, but mutating into something quite different - why was there such a huge mainstream, crossover appeal for the British public? At one point, Dennis Wheatley had five books in the bestseller list simultaneously. Was this a continuation of the Sixties cultural battleground of restrictive morality being secretly titillated, or was it something darker?

This era matched the first, late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - astral planes, dark dimensions, unearthly energies - but the second wave was filtered through 'the permissive society', through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and (for this was all about Chelsea mansions, exotica and sports cars too) new kinds of consumption and lifestyle.

The age of Black Aquarius matched the late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - dark dimensions, secret rites, unearthly energy ? but filtered through ?the permissive society', through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and new kinds of consumption and lifestyle. And while dark forces were summoned in the grooviest of Chelsea flats they were being unearthed in the countryside too, a fantasy of pagan ritual and wicker men, of tight-lipped locals and blood sacrifice at harvest time.

Contributors include Mark Gatiss, Katy Manning, Caroline Munro, Kim Newman, Highgate Vampire hunter David Farrant and Piers Haggard, director of ?The Blood on Satan's Claw'.

The age of Black Aquarius matched the late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - dark dimensions, secret rites, unearthly energy – but filtered through ‘the permissive society’, through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and new kinds of consumption and lifestyle. And while dark forces were summoned in the grooviest of Chelsea flats they were being unearthed in the countryside too, a fantasy of pagan ritual and wicker men, of tight-lipped locals and blood sacrifice at harvest time.

Contributors include Mark Gatiss, Katy Manning, Caroline Munro, Kim Newman, Highgate Vampire hunter David Farrant and Piers Haggard, director of ‘The Blood on Satan’s Claw’.

The age of Black Aquarius matched the late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - dark dimensions, secret rites, unearthly energy – but filtered through ‘the permissive society', through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and new kinds of consumption and lifestyle. And while dark forces were summoned in the grooviest of Chelsea flats they were being unearthed in the countryside too, a fantasy of pagan ritual and wicker men, of tight-lipped locals and blood sacrifice at harvest time.

Contributors include MARK GATISS, KATY MANNING, CAROLINE MUNRO, KIM NEWMAN, Highgate Vampire hunter David Farrant and Piers Haggard, director of ‘The Blood on Satan's Claw'.

The age of Black Aquarius matched the late Victorian craze for the occult in its intensity and popularity, and certainly drew from some of that era's obsessions - dark dimensions, secret rites, unearthly energy - but filtered through ‘the permissive society', through a hugely eclectic counterculture, swinging sexual liberation and new kinds of consumption and lifestyle. And while dark forces were summoned in the grooviest of Chelsea flats they were being unearthed in the countryside too, a fantasy of pagan ritual and wicker men, of tight-lipped locals and blood sacrifice at harvest time.

CLIVE ANDERSON explores the reasons behind the apparent decline in the level of respect shown to the football referee and asks - amid all the abuse, death threats and endless scrutiny and criticism - who on earth would want to be a referee.

He searches through the archives for evidence of a golden age in which the referee's decision was final, and traces the various changes in the game which appear to have fuelled the problems for referees. When and why did things turn so ugly?

Top referees, commentators, sports journalists and former players discuss how television coverage, slow motion cameras and endless analysis by pundits have contributed to the growing pressures on the man in the middle. They argue about who is blame for undermining the authority of referees - over-paid players, aggressive managers or the media. Do the referees contribute to their own problem, by making too many mistakes or being overly officious?

Former professional referee Dermot Gallagher says that, despite high-profile incidents and worrying accounts of violence against referees in parks football, there has never been a better time to be a referee.

Rugby, cricket and other sports are not without their problems in this area, but why does the situation appear to be so acute in football? Sports sociologist, Dr Richard Elliot considers whether behaviour towards sports officials reflect changes in attitudes towards authority in wider society.

An Above the Title production for BBC Radio 4.

CLIVE ANDERSON searches for a golden age of respect for the football referee.

Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens debate whether religion is a force for good.

Adam Scourfield interviews three British veterans - of the Second World War, the Northern Irish Troubles and the Falklands - all of whom were blinded in the course of these conflicts.

Ray Sherriff was in the Parachute Regiment during World War Two, and fought in Italy and Sicily, even after being shot in the chest in North Africa. He was blinded while fighting at Arnhem, and taken prisoner.

Ray Hazan was serving in Northern Ireland in 1973, when he severely injured by a parcel bomb, which took his sight, and his right hand, and killed his colleague. When Adam spoke to him in 2000, he had not talked about this for 27 years.

Terry Bullingham served as a Fleet Air Arm engineer in the Falklands on HMS Antrim. He vividly recalls the Argentinian air assault which blinded him. As he sardonically remarks, the last thing he saw was a Mirage - the plane that attacked his ship.

So each man's experience of military life before they were blinded is very different from the others. Even the ways they lost their sight are surprisingly divergent. But they each share the terrible moment of realising that their lives had changed forever.

And from there, Adam traces their different routes to coming to terms with what had happened to them.

Written and Presented by Adam Scourfield

Producers: Adam Scourfield and Phil Tinline.



Producers: Adam Scourfield and Phil Tinline.

Margaret Rutherford was a benign battleaxe, chin wagging like a windsock, famous as Miss Marple, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit and for her roles in Passport to Pimlico, The Importance of Being Earnest and an Oscar-winning performance in The VIPs. Stephen Fry looks back at the life and work of one of our finest comedy actors and one of Britain's best-loved box office stars.

The comic and dramatic roles Margaret played were as nothing to the astonishing true crime stories that shaped her life and career. Murder was to play a part in her life, beyond the role of Miss Marple. She was also a regular visitor to a young offenders' institution and had a family secret that she never revealed.

The programme includes archive of Margaret herself, film director David Lean, writer Rumer Godden, comedian Frankie Howerd, actor Robert Morley, her husband Stringer Davis, and informally adopted daughter Dawn Langley Simmons. We also hear from Andy Merriman (author of Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners) and actress Damaris Hayman.

And Stephen talks to one of Margaret's distant relatives. Somewhat surprisingly, it's the Rt.Hon.Tony Benn.

Producer: Tamsin Hughes

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.



A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

The comic and dramatic roles Margaret played were as nothing to the astonishing true crime stories that shaped her life and career. Murder was to play a part in her life, beyond the role of Miss Marple. She was also a regular visitor to a young offenders' institution and had a family secret that she never revealed.

The programme includes archive of Margaret herself, film director David Lean, writer Rumer Godden, comedian Frankie Howerd, actor Robert Morley, her husband Stringer Davis, and informally adopted daughter Dawn Langley Simmons. We also hear from Andy Merriman (author of Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners) and actress Damaris Hayman.

And Stephen talks to one of Margaret's distant relatives. Somewhat surprisingly, it's the Rt.Hon.Tony Benn.

Producer: Tamsin Hughes

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

Stephen Fry on the mysterious life of the much-loved comedy great Margaret Rutherford.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND re-examines the 1990s as a rare decade of peace and prosperity.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND re-examines the 1990s from a new angle - recalling it as a rare period of peace and prosperity. But could it also be the decade which ultimately led to Trump and Brexit?

Sandwiched between the end of the Cold War and the war on terror, the 1990s now look like an oasis of calm. The decade witnessed the end of apartheid in South Africa, the fall of the Soviet Union and peace in Northern Ireland. As a result, people became preoccupied by more domestic dramas. Just as the UK was gripped by the saga of Charles and Diana's marriage, the Americans were hooked on the OJ Simpson trial.

Jonathan unearths a rich selection of archive and hears from MPs John Redwood and HARRIET HARMAN about their perspectives on this most unusual decade. But he also argues that some of the forces unleashed in that decade would only start to manifest themselves in the middle of the 2010s - with the rise of DONALD TRUMP and the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Producer: LAURENCE GRISSELL.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.



Producer: LAURENCE GRISSELL.

For Ann, a card-carrying alternative kid, Madonna was a guilty pleasure. She was watching and listening as the self-made ingenue made her name on songs about virginity and pregnancy, women's pleasure and their secrets. Ann related to her inner struggle as a Catholic girl trying to overcome a rules-based childhood, but she still had questions - was Madonna just an opportunist cashing in on every hot issue of the day or did she really mean to get us thinking?

Then, in 1989, Ann went fully public as a Madonna fan, with the release of Like A Prayer, which claimed the rock and roll centre of pop for a woman. The album also contained an insert, Facts About AIDS, meant to both save lives and fight against the homophobic myths about the disease that were rampant.

Not only were critics dismissive of Madonna because of her glamour, and conservatives afraid of her because she was so bold, she proved challenging to many precisely because she put her pleasure, a woman's pleasure, first.

As Madonna ascended into pop superstardom, the controversies raged. When Ann became an activist fighting for AIDS awareness and free speech, she started to see Madonna as an ally, later interviewing her for the New York Times (as the paper's chief pop critic) on the release of Ray of Light in 1998. They talked about yoga and Ann was impressed with this studious, earnest Madonna. As more controversies hit the headlines, the superstar just kept going. A new vista always beckons.

But as the Material Girl turns 65, what should we make of her now? The world's best-selling female recording artist in history, Guinness World Records acknowledges that only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have conclusively sold more records worldwide than Madonna.

Contributors include:

Composer Stephen Bray who co-wrote many of Madonna's hits - including Into The Groove, Express Yourself, True Blue - and produced Papa Don't Preach.

Writer, academic and former record label exec Carol Cooper

Playwright Brian Mullin whose stage show Live To Tell is about writing a Madonna jukebox musical while living with HIV

Carlton Wilborn who appeared in the Vogue video and was a backing dancer on two of Madonna's world tours

Scholar, artist and queer activist Kay Turner whose books include I Dream of Madonna: Women's Dreams of the Goddess of Pop. As a singer and musician, she has performed in numerous all-women bands including the rock punk lesbian-feminist art band Girls in the Nose whose repertoire includes the track More Madonna Less Jesus.

Producer: Victoria Ferran

Executive Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Music critic Ann Powers reflects on the pop superstar's four-decade career.

For Ann, a card-carrying alternative kid, Madonna was a guilty pleasure. She was watching and listening as the self-made ingenue made her name on songs about virginity and pregnancy, women’s pleasure and their secrets. Ann related to her inner struggle as a Catholic girl trying to overcome a rules-based childhood, but she still had questions - was Madonna just an opportunist cashing in on every hot issue of the day or did she really mean to get us thinking?

Not only were critics dismissive of Madonna because of her glamour, and conservatives afraid of her because she was so bold, she proved challenging to many precisely because she put her pleasure, a woman’s pleasure, first.

Bloody Sunday was the moment that changed the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland. It saw the re-birth of the IRA with hundreds of new recruits joining in the immediate aftermath of that day's events. And it was the spark which ignited and intensified the so-called Troubles, which left 3600 dead and tens of thousands injured.

Producer: Jim Frank

Editor: Penny Murphy

Fifty years on, Peter Taylor assesses the legacy of 'Bloody Sunday' in Northern Ireland.

Fifty years ago on 30 January 1972, a day that came to be forever known as “Bloody Sunday??, soldiers of the First Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, shot dead 13 civil rights marchers in Londonderry/Derry. Peter Taylor tells the story of that day with a mix of his own unique archive and new interviews from those on all sides about what the events meant then and still mean today - including a rare interview with Lord Saville, who carried out an exhaustive 12 year Inquiry into the events of that day.

Fifty years ago on 30 January 1972, a day that came to be forever known as ?Bloody Sunday?, soldiers of the First Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, shot dead 13 civil rights marchers in Londonderry/Derry. Peter Taylor tells the story of that day with a mix of his own unique archive and new interviews from those on all sides about what the events meant then and still mean today - including a rare interview with Lord Saville, who carried out an exhaustive 12 year Inquiry into the events of that day.

Fifty years ago on 30 January 1972, a day that came to be forever known as “Bloody Sunday ?, soldiers of the First Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, shot dead 13 civil rights marchers in Londonderry/Derry. Peter Taylor tells the story of that day with a mix of his own unique archive and new interviews from those on all sides about what the events meant then and still mean today - including a rare interview with Lord Saville, who carried out an exhaustive 12 year Inquiry into the events of that day.

Fifty years ago on 30 January 1972, a day that came to be forever known as `Bloody Sunday`, soldiers of the First Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, shot dead 13 civil rights marchers in Londonderry/Derry. Peter Taylor tells the story of that day with a mix of his own unique archive and new interviews from those on all sides about what the events meant then and still mean today - including a rare interview with Lord Saville, who carried out an exhaustive 12 year Inquiry into the events of that day.

Bob Dylan and Me offers a series of essays, richly woven together with songs and archive interviews.

Cerys Matthews talks about Bob Dylan's personal impact on her life and music.

Paul Morley reflects on Dylan's ability to acquire fame by staying aloof.

Professor Christopher Ricks looks at Dylan's years with God.

Eddi Reader reflects on the women in his songs.

Billy Bragg takes on Bob's troubadour tradition.

Beat poet Michael McClure gives a personal view on the man.

Natasha Morgan talks about the night she saw Bob Dylan's first British appearance in 1961.

Also featured in the programme will be a number of rare Bob Dylan interviews, many not broadcast on British radio before.

We will hear Dylan's radio debut from 1962 on WBAI, 'I was with the carnival off and on for six years,' and he tells KQED San Francisco in 1965, ' Do you think of yourself primarily as a singer or a poet?' 'Oh I think of myself as more a song and dance man y'know

Sound Design by Alice K.

Winz

Producers: David Prest and Caroline Hughes.

A cast of musicians, writers and poets reflect as Bob Dylan turns 70.

Cerys Matthews talks about Bob Dylan's personal impact on her life and music. Paul Morley reflects on Dylan's ability to acquire fame by staying aloof. Professor Christopher Ricks looks at Dylan's years with God. Eddi Reader reflects on the women in his songs.

Billy Bragg takes on Bob's troubadour tradition. Beat poet Michael McClure gives a personal view on the man. Natasha Morgan talks about the night she saw Bob Dylan's first British appearance in 1961.

We will hear Dylan's radio debut from 1962 on WBAI, I was with the carnival off and on for six years, and he tells KQED San Francisco in 1965, Do you think of yourself primarily as a singer or a poet? Oh I think of myself as more a song and dance man y'know

Sound Design by Alice K. Winz

We will hear Dylan's radio debut from 1962 on WBAI, I was with the carnival off and on for six years, and he tells KQED San Francisco in 1965,  Do you think of yourself primarily as a singer or a poet? Oh I think of myself as more a song and dance man y'know

'A cast of musicians, writers and poets reflect as BOB DYLAN turns 70.'

From his very first interviews when he arrived in New York in 1961 in search of Woody Guthrie and a path to musical eminence, Dylan created mystique and drama by offering obfuscate descriptions of his early life, as he set about creating a bohemian troubadour myth that transcended the real suburban Zimmerman upbringing.

He enjoyed these early fabrications and, realising they gave him power over journalists, he continued to use contradiction, dissension and confutation in interviews to avoid being labelled and typecast.

As his reputation grew, his patience withered and, before long, the media began describing him as tense, belligerent, taciturn, grim and irascible. All these iterations of one of the most acclaimed and admired singer songwriters in modern music are incorporated in to this unique soundscape.

A Zinc Media production for BBC Radio 4

The many variations of Bob Dylan's life and music told in his own words.

The many variations of Bob Dylan’s life and music told in his own words, combining rare interviews, studio outtakes, archive and musings, all set to his music. Part of Radio 4's celebrations of Dylan's 80th birthday.

The many variations of Bob Dylan's life and music told in his own words, combining rare interviews, studio outtakes, archive and musings.

On October 5th 1974, two bombs exploded in pubs in Guildford, Surrey. On November 21st that same year, two more devastated pubs in Birmingham. The events that followed led to the most serious challenge for British justice in modern times. This is the story of how Chris Mullin investigated the cases as a young journalist, exposing the mistakes and corruption within the police investigations, and tracking down some of the real bombers. He reveals why these cases became the most significant miscarriages of justice in modern times, and why wrongful convictions - like the Post Office cases - still happen today.

Chris Mullin reveals how 1974's Guildford and Birmingham bombings changed British justice

Fifty years after bombs exploded at pubs in Guildford and Birmingham, Chris Mullin reveals how these cases changed British justice, and asks if reform has gone far enough?

[LISTEN NOW]

In 1943, the RAF contacted the BBC with a dramatic offer - they were willing to send a two-man radio crew on a bombing raid over Berlin. The BBC chose Wynford Vaughan-Thomas for the mission. He accepted, knowing he might never return.

So on the night of 3rd September 1943, Vaughan-Thomas recorded for the BBC live from a Lancaster Bomber during a bombing raid over Berlin.

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's experiences as a wartime reporter were remarkable; he was at Belsen and at the Normandy landings, reporting as it happened. The recording over Berlin shows his remarkable courage, literally under fire, and his description of the bombing and the views from the plane are rich indeed.

Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it 'the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you.

Stephen Evans puts Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's recordings in context. He looks at the experience on the ground in Berlin that night, reflects on the place of the broadcast in journalistic history, and dips into a lifetime of reflections from Vaughan-Thomas on a night which changed his life for ever.

Featuring Karin Finell, Max Hastings, Roger Moorhouse, Harold Panton, Jean Seaton, Dietmar Seuss and David Vaughan-Thomas.

Producer: Martin Williams.

Stephen Evans on Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's 1943 dispatch during a bombing raid on Berlin.

Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you.

In 1943 the RAF contacted the BBC with a dramatic offer: they were willing to send a two-man radio crew on a bombing raid over Berlin. The BBC chose Wynford Vaughan-Thomas for the mission. He accepted, knowing he might never return.

Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you.

Producer: Martin Williams.

In 1943 the RAF contacted the BBC with a dramatic offer: they were willing to send a two-man radio crew on a bombing raid over Berlin. The BBC chose Wynford Vaughan-Thomas for the mission. He accepted, knowing he might never return.

So on the night of 3rd September 1943, Vaughan-Thomas recorded for the BBC live from a Lancaster Bomber during a bombing raid over Berlin.

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's experiences as a wartime reporter were remarkable; he was at Belsen and at the Normandy landings, reporting as it happened. The recording over Berlin shows his remarkable courage, literally under fire, and his description of the bombing and the views from the plane are rich indeed.

Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it 'the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you.

STEPHEN EVANS puts Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's recordings in context. He looks at the experience on the ground in Berlin that night, reflects on the place of the broadcast in journalistic history, and dips into a lifetime of reflections from Vaughan-Thomas on a night which changed his life for ever.

Featuring Karin Finell, MAX HASTINGS, Roger Moorhouse, Harold Panton, JEAN SEATON, Dietmar Seuss and David Vaughan-Thomas.

Producer: Martin Williams.

Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you.

“I started getting very very worried for my life and just had to get myself out of that situation - .so I ended up in Berlin”

In 1976, moving to the epicentre of the Cold War more than saved his life and career. It allowed him to rediscover his youthful creative passions for art and literature, and - as one of the most famous people on the planet - to hide in plain sight. Dressed in simple check shirt and jeans, Bowie enjoyed relative anonymity on the streets of Berlin. With Iggy Pop as his flatmate, he lived in a cheap apartment in a working-class district of the city. And in Hansa Studios, alongside musical collaborator Brian Eno and producer Tony Visconti, he began one the most artistically ambitious periods of entire career, honing a completely new sound with the albums Low and Heroes.

For many years his time in Berlin between 1976 and 1978 has been mythologised and romanticised by writers, filmmakers, critics and by Bowie himself. There's no footage of Bowie in Berlin and very few photographs. But now documentary filmmaker Francis Whately reveals what really happened thanks to the testimonies of three women who knew Bowie intimately, all talking publicly about their relationships with him for the first time. Artist and former RSC actor Clare Shenstone, performer and legendary nightclub owner Romy Haag, and former journalist Sarah-Rena Hine all shared time with him in Berlin. Exclusive interviews with these remarkable muses, alongside other first-hand witnesses and a cache of previously unheard archive interviews, help tell a completely new story. Bowie In Berlin reveals how he drew upon the history, culture and anonymity of the German city to recuperate and regenerate.

Over those Cold War months of rain and beer, cycle-rides and cigarettes, Bowie wrenched himself from his past and thrust himself towards the future. For the first time we can hear how, in Berlin, David Bowie reinvented himself - as himself.

Writer and presenter: Francis Whately

Producer: John Wilson

A Blackstar production for BBC Radio 4

Interviewees: Clare Shenstone, Romy Haag, Sarah-Rena Hine, Esther Freidman, Michael Rother, Tony Visconti, Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar.

Archive: David Bowie, Iggy Pop

In 1976 David Bowie - mired in drugs, depression and divorce - moved to Germany. Friends and lovers from that time remember how Berlin saved Bowie's life and reinvented his career.

[LISTEN NOW]

Traditionally the wireless has been somewhat formal, but occasionally reporters have been overwhelmed by what they're witnessing, contributors so passionate in argument and commentators overcome by mirth - or drink - that the conventions are dropped.

Then communication comes pure, direct and unselfconscious: a Battle of Britain dogfight sounds like sport, sport like war, a naval fleet becomes fairyland, the author of a fairytale about rabbits attacks another guest.

Hear the moments when Radio reveals far more than what is said.

Producer: JULIAN MAY

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.

SEAN STREET examines those moments where Radio forgets itself.

SEAN STREET examines those moments where Radio forgets itself, when laughter, alcohol or sheer emotion overwhelm. From January 2000.

SEAN STREET examines those moments where Radio forgets itself. From 2000.

Hear the moments when Radio reveals far more than what is being said.

Shaun Ley recalls the dramatic rise and fall of the SDP during the 1980s.

The party never quite made a breakthrough, but did it change British politics? Is the SDP's legacy its impact on the other main parties?

In January 1981 four former cabinet ministers announced that they were about to leave the Labour Party.

Over the subsequent two years, dozens of MPs joined them; it appeared as if the fledgling party might, as Roy Jenkins put it, 'break the mould'.

But the electoral breakthrough never happened, partnership with the Liberals ended in acrimony, and in a final humiliation, the SDP polled fewer votes than the representative of the Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election.

It was a failure.

Or was it? In 'Breaking the Mould', Shaun Ley draws on sound archive and fresh contributions with key players to consider whether the SDP has had a bigger impact than is generally recognised.

Was the SDP 'a Labour saving device', because it gave Labour a severe shock, without which it would never have modernised sufficiently to win office again? And did the SDP's ideas eventually triumph, not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in the counsels of New Labour and even inside Conservative Party headquarters? Was the triumph of the SDP exemplified by the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010? - the present Government includes former SDP-ers, and not just among the Liberal Democrats.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.

Shaun Ley recalls the dramatic rise and fall of the SDP during the 1980s. The party never quite made a breakthrough, but did it change British politics? Is the SDP's legacy its impact on the other main parties?

In January 1981 four former cabinet ministers announced that they were about to leave the Labour Party. Over the subsequent two years, dozens of MPs joined them; it appeared as if the fledgling party might, as Roy Jenkins put it, 'break the mould'. But the electoral breakthrough never happened, partnership with the Liberals ended in acrimony, and in a final humiliation, the SDP polled fewer votes than the representative of the Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election. It was a failure.

Or was it? In 'Breaking the Mould', Shaun Ley draws on sound archive and fresh contributions with key players to consider whether the SDP has had a bigger impact than is generally recognised. Was the SDP 'a Labour saving device', because it gave Labour a severe shock, without which it would never have modernised sufficiently to win office again? And did the SDP's ideas eventually triumph, not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in the counsels of New Labour and even inside Conservative Party headquarters? Was the triumph of the SDP exemplified by the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010? - the present Government includes former SDP-ers, and not just among the Liberal Democrats.

Over the subsequent two years, dozens of MPs joined them; it appeared as if the fledgling party might, as Roy Jenkins put it, break the mould.

Was the SDP a Labour saving device, because it gave Labour a severe shock, without which it would never have modernised sufficiently to win office again? And did the SDP's ideas eventually triumph, not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in the counsels of New Labour and even inside Conservative Party headquarters? Was the triumph of the SDP exemplified by the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010? - the present Government includes former SDP-ers, and not just among the Liberal Democrats.

In January 1981 four former cabinet ministers announced that they were about to leave the Labour Party. Over the subsequent two years, dozens of MPs joined them; it appeared as if the fledgling party might, as Roy Jenkins put it, break the mould. But the electoral breakthrough never happened, partnership with the Liberals ended in acrimony, and in a final humiliation, the SDP polled fewer votes than the representative of the Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election. It was a failure.

Or was it? In 'Breaking the Mould', Shaun Ley draws on sound archive and fresh contributions with key players to consider whether the SDP has had a bigger impact than is generally recognised. Was the SDP a Labour saving device, because it gave Labour a severe shock, without which it would never have modernised sufficiently to win office again? And did the SDP's ideas eventually triumph, not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in the counsels of New Labour and even inside Conservative Party headquarters? Was the triumph of the SDP exemplified by the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010? - the present Government includes former SDP-ers, and not just among the Liberal Democrats.

Rory Bremner considers the rhetorical evolution of George W Bush, from gaffe-prone candidate to grandiose war president.

He considers whether Bush grew to become an effective orator and who was responsible for writing the words he spoke and examines some of his key speeches and phrases.

Featuring contributions from political commentators and former Bush speechwriters.

Rory Bremner considers the rhetorical evolution of George W Bush, from gaffe-prone candidate to grandiose war president. He considers whether Bush grew to become an effective orator and who was responsible for writing the words he spoke and examines some of his key speeches and phrases. Featuring contributions from political commentators and former Bush speechwriters.

Producers, script writers, authors, editors have all had the rule thrown at them. These scenes may be fantastically written, funny, evocative - but they don't belong. They obscure the plot, blind us from the truth.

It's a rule of writing passed around like an illegal cigarette. You must murder your darlings. Kill Your Darlings. With contributions from Larry King, PJ O'Rourke, KURT COBAIN, journalists JON SAVAGE and Cal Fussman - what if you could bring those darlings back to life?

The saying Murder your Darlings has been attributed to Fitzgerald, Nabokov, STEPHEN KING and Hemingway. But the real author comes from Cornwall. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. Better known under the pseudonym Q, he is the forgotten figure of 20th century literature.

In 1914 he delivered a series of twelve lectures on writing at Cambridge University, and one in particular on style:

'Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it - wholeheartedly - and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.'

But who was Q?

How do you tell a story? What is it that takes prominence - the character or the plot? Producers ask themselves whether to retain the idiosyncrasies of how people talk - the pauses and silences - or whether to cut them out because they need to lose three minutes? It's often the smallest details that help us see these characters.

Producer: Barney Rowntree

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.

‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – wholeheartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.

What if the best anecdotes and stories had a programme to themselves?

?Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it ? wholeheartedly ? and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.

Producers, script writers, authors, editors have all had the rule thrown at them. These scenes may be fantastically written, funny, evocative - but they don’t belong. They obscure the plot, blind us from the truth.

It's a rule of writing passed around like an illegal cigarette. You must murder your darlings. Kill Your Darlings. With contributions from Larry King, PJ O’Rourke, Kurt Cobain, journalists Jon Savage and Cal Fussman - what if you could bring those darlings back to life?

‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – wholeheartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.’

How do you tell a story? What is it that takes prominence - the character or the plot? Producers ask themselves whether to retain the idiosyncrasies of how people talk - the pauses and silences - or whether to cut them out because they need to lose three minutes? It’s often the smallest details that help us see these characters.

‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – wholeheartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.

‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it - wholeheartedly - and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.

Fifty years on, through archive material and interviews with first-hand witnesses, Afua Hirsch explores the Nigerian-Biafran conflict and its legacy as one of the first wars beamed nightly into British living rooms.

It's the story of a new style of British reportage - visceral, humanitarian, and heavily collaborating with NGOs. And, after Empire, perhaps a new sense of Britishness too as a shocked public helped send the largest ever civilian airlift to Biafra to deliver aid.

We hear from Nigerians recalling their childhood memories of famine and their teenage experiences of battle. We hear from British journalists still shocked at what they found in the Biafran enclave. And we hear from the aid workers reacting to those reports, flying to places they had never heard of to try to help.

It would be a type of coverage - the foregrounding of human stories, of wide-eyed hungry black babies, and the relegation of politics - with a deep imprint on how we came to know Africa, from Biafra through Ethiopia and Live Aid to the present day. But has it proved deeply harmful to our understanding of what is actually happening on the continent?

The impact of the Biafran war in Nigeria is much discussed - here we ask how it shaped the way Britain sees the world.

Producer: Sami Kent

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

Afua Hirsch explores the Nigerian-Biafran War, its famine, and their legacy in Britain.

If one word ruptured the early optimism felt in Britain for its ex-colonies, it was Biafra. Pictures of black children with distended bellies, headlines like Land of No Hope, footage of aid workers struggling on the ground - such coverage may have since become banal but, in June 1968 in the new era of TVs and tabloid splashes, it was unprecedented.

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

How did Britain's Jews make their long journey from left to right over the last century? Jo Coburn, presenter of BBC TWO's 'Daily Politics', tells this remarkable story by weaving archive and interviews together with the story of her own family.

She speaks with, among others, The Rt. Hon. EDWINA CURRIE, former Conservative minister; Lord Levy, Middle East envoy for TONY BLAIR when prime minister; The Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver Letwin, M.P., senior adviser to David Cameron; Jon Lansman, founder of Momentum, the grass-roots movement that supports Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader; Rabbi Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Reform Synagogue; Melanie Phillips, columnist on 'The Times' and Ruth Smeeth, Labour M.P. for Stoke-on-Trent, North.

Producer: Simon Coates.

Jo Coburn explores the changing political affiliations of British Jews and their salience.

How did Britain's Jews make their long journey from left to right over the last century? Jo Coburn, presenter of BBC TWO's Daily Politics, tells this remarkable story by weaving archive and interviews together with the story of her own family.

She speaks with, among others, The Rt. Hon. EDWINA CURRIE, former Conservative minister; Lord Levy, Middle East envoy for TONY BLAIR when prime minister; The Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver Letwin, M.P., senior adviser to David Cameron; Jon Lansman, founder of Momentum, the grass-roots movement that supports Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader; Rabbi Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Reform Synagogue; Melanie Phillips, columnist on The Times and Ruth Smeeth, Labour M.P. for Stoke-on-Trent, North.

BONNIE GREER is a London-based playwright and author who turned her own appearance on ‘Question Time' with Nick Griffin into a libretto of opera. She has sat on the boards for the British Museum, Royal Opera House, Serpentine Gallery and the Bronte Society.

This programme saw her trek throughout different locations in America to talk to those instrumental in the Civil Rights struggle as expressed through audio broadcast media.

Producers: Jennie Walmsley and Maria Balinska

BONNIE GREER explores how black broadcasters put radio at the heart of the race debate.

BONNIE GREER reports on the fascinating story of how black, pioneering broadcasters broke radio's racial taboos, putting radio at the heart of the national debate on race and laying the groundwork for the civil rights' movement. From 2000.

BONNIE GREER is a London-based playwright and author. Bonnie turned her own appearance on Question Time with Nick Griffin into a libretto of opera - and has indeed sat on the boards for the British Museum, the Royal Opera House, the Serpentine Gallery, even the Bronte Society.



This programme saw her trek throughout different locations in America to talk to those instrumental in the Civil Rights struggle as expressed through audio broadcast media.

Bonnie Greer is a London-based playwright and author who turned her own appearance on ‘Question Time' with Nick Griffin into a libretto of opera. She has sat on the boards for the British Museum, Royal Opera House, Serpentine Gallery and the Bronte Society.

Bonnie Greer is a London-based playwright and author who turned her own appearance on ‘Question Time' with Nick Griffin into a libretto of opera. She has sat on the boards for the British Museum, Royal Opera House, Serpentine Gallery and the Bronte Society.

This programme saw her trek throughout different locations in America to talk to those instrumental in the Civil Rights struggle as expressed through audio broadcast media.

Producers: Jennie Walmsley and Maria Balinska

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2000.

Bonnie Greer explores how black broadcasters put radio at the heart of the race debate.

Illegitimacy once meant you were a 'bastard'.

MP Caroline Flint wants to know what the word 'illegitimate' means now.

Caroline has always been open about her unmarried Mum having her when she was 17 and that she had her first son before she got married. Caroline describes her own family's story as a Catherine Cookson novel. There are suspicions that her widowed great-grandmother had an illegitimate child. Her grandmother's older sister had an illegitimate child during the First World War with an American soldier who was brought up as though his mother was his sister.

She explores the archives to find out if the stigma has died out with social historian Jane Robinson and discusses the issue with best-selling crime author Martina Cole and MP Jess Phillips.

Martina, who is also an ambassador for the single parent families' charity Gingerbread, became a single parent by choice when she was 18 and then again 20 years later. Jess conceived her son when she was 22 and had been with her boyfriend for barely a month.

Is the biggest deal today not whether a child is illegitimate but whether she bears her father's surname?

Has the cloak of illegitimacy really fallen because daddy is willing to say publicly: she's mine?

Producer: Lissa Cook

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

Has the stigma of illegitimacy died out? Former MP Caroline Flint finds out.

Has the stigma of illegitimacy died out? Caroline Flint MP finds out.

Illegitimacy once meant you were a 'bastard'. The MP Caroline Flint wants to know what the word 'illegitimate' means now.

Caroline has always been open about her unmarried Mum having her when she was 17 years old and that she had her first son before she got married. Caroline describes her own family's story as a Catherine Cookson novel. There are suspicions that her widowed great-grandmother had an illegitimate child. Her grandmother's older sister had an illegitimate child during WW1 with an American soldier who was brought up as though his mother was his sister.

She explores the archives to find out if the stigma has died out with social historian Jane Robinson and discusses the issue with best-selling crime author MARTINA COLE and fellow MP JESS PHILLIPS. Martina, who is also an ambassador for the single parent families' charity Gingerbread, became a single parent by choice when she was 18 and then again 20 years later. Jess conceived her son when she was 22 and had been with her boyfriend for barely a month.

Is the biggest deal today not whether a child is illegitimate but whether she bears her father's surname? Has the cloak of illegitimacy really fallen because daddy is willing to say publicly: she's mine?



Is the biggest deal today not whether a child is illegitimate but whether she bears her father's surname? Has the cloak of illegitimacy really fallen because daddy is willing to say publicly: she's mine?

She explores the archives to find out if the stigma has died out with social historian Jane Robinson and discusses the issue with best-selling crime author MARTINA COLE and MP JESS PHILLIPS. Martina, who is also an ambassador for the single parent families' charity Gingerbread, became a single parent by choice when she was 18 and then again 20 years later. Jess conceived her son when she was 22 and had been with her boyfriend for barely a month.

The Birmingham accent is still mocked and hated, and so many of the city's achievements remain underplayed. Brummies have always been the bridesmaids and never the bride.

But to prove the city's worthiness to take control of the country, Darren offers comedic insight into Brum's rich history and its movers and shakers - from the experimentalists of the Lunar Society such as Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton and James Watt (who changed the world but inadvertently kick-started Climate Change) to Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Hancock, Lenny Henry, Jasper Carrot, Julie Walters, Joe Lycett, Stewart Lee, Shazia Mirza, Benjamin Zephaniah, Kit De Waal and Steven Knight.

Through archive and fresh commentary, Darren explores the lasting legacy of Birmingham's culture from Tolkien and Heavy Metal (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin) to Duran Duran, Steel Pulse, UB40, Bhangra, Balti's, The Streets and Peaky Blinders.

To help an understanding of the city today, Darren takes a tour. He walks the streets of Birmingham, talking with social historian Professor Carl Chinn, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Steel Pulse founder Basil Gabbidon, and writer Kit De Waal about how this huge city in the middle of England is always evolving and re-inventing itself. Surely it's ready to step up and take control!

Producer: Helen Lennard

A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4

As the Commonwealth Games arrive, is it time for the UK's Second City to become its First?

But to prove the city’s worthiness to take control of the country, Darren offers comedic insight into Brum's rich history and its movers and shakers - from the experimentalists of the Lunar Society such as Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton and James Watt (who changed the world but inadvertently kick-started Climate Change) to Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Hancock, Lenny Henry, Jasper Carrot, Julie Walters, Joe Lycett, Stewart Lee, Shazia Mirza, Benjamin Zephaniah, Kit De Waal and Steven Knight.

Through archive and fresh commentary, Darren explores the lasting legacy of Birmingham’s culture from Tolkien and Heavy Metal (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin) to Duran Duran, Steel Pulse, UB40, Bhangra, Balti’s, The Streets and Peaky Blinders.

To help an understanding of the city today, Darren takes a tour. He walks the streets of Birmingham, talking with social historian Professor Carl Chinn, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Steel Pulse founder Basil Gabbidon, and writer Kit De Waal about how this huge city in the middle of England is always evolving and re-inventing itself. Surely it’s ready to step up and take control!

Few people in the UK have ever managed to help philosophers reach a wider audience than Bryan Magee, whose BBC interviews with leading philosophers were primetime in the 1970s and 80s. For Magee, far from being a fusty academic discipline with no real world relevance, philosophy was an existential matter of immediate importance.

Magee's was a life rich with ideas and impact, including nine years as an MP. His legacy and reputation has, however, largely been forgotten today. This edition of Archive On 4 will examine the life and legacy of a man who helped philosophy onto British TV and radio. And, importantly, it will ask what place popular philosophy and public intellectualism occupies in today's culture, in an age of fragmented, divisive, and discombobulating media discourse.

Presenter Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, receives expert analysis and remembrance from a range of contributors:

- Simon Callow, a fan and then friend of Magee's.

- Henry Hardy, Magee's executor.

- Barry Lam, the host of Hi-Phi Nation, a popular podcast about philosophy.

- MM McCabe, a professor who's getting philosophy into prisons.

- Mark Nayler, who is working on a biography of Magee.

- Lord David Owen, a colleague of Magee's in politics.

- Peter Singer, a philosopher who famously was interviewed by Magee.

We hear Magee in his own words too. Archive material is drawn extensively from his BBC output, including Conversations With Philosophers, Men Of Ideas, and The Great Philosophers, featuring philosophical debates with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Sir Karl Popper, and Iris Murdoch.

With thanks to Hay Festival for additional archive material.

Producers: Jude Shapiro

Executive Producer: Jack Howson

Mix Engineer: Mike Woolley

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4

Angie Hobbs remembers Bryan Magee, who brought philosophy onto TV and radio in the 1970s.

Philosophy is often thought of as being abstract, difficult and, well, ‘dead'. Few people in the UK have ever managed to help philosophers reach a wider audience than Bryan Magee, whose BBC interviews with leading philosophers were primetime in the 1970s and 80s. For Magee, far from being a fusty academic discipline with no ‘real world' relevance, philosophy was an existential matter of immediate importance.

Magee's was a life rich with ideas and impact, including nine years as an MP. His legacy and reputation has, however, largely been forgotten today. This edition of Archive On 4 will examine the life and legacy of the man who brought philosophy to British TV and radio. And, importantly, it will ask what place popular philosophy and public intellectualism occupies in today's culture, in an age of fragment, divisive, and discombobulating media discourse.

We will hear Magee in his own words too. Archive material is drawn extensively from his BBC output, including ‘Conversations With Philosophers', ‘Men Of Ideas', and ‘The Great Philosophers', featuring philosophical debates with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Sir Karl Popper, and Iris Murdoch.

Exec Producer: Jack Howson

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4.

Philosophy is often thought of as being abstract, difficult and, well, ?dead'.

Philosophy is often thought of as being abstract, difficult and, well, ‘dead’.

Magee’s was a life rich with ideas and impact, including nine years as an MP. His legacy and reputation has, however, largely been forgotten today. This edition of Archive On 4 will examine the life and legacy of a man who helped philosophy onto British TV and radio. And, importantly, it will ask what place popular philosophy and public intellectualism occupies in today’s culture, in an age of fragmented, divisive, and discombobulating media discourse.

- Simon Callow, a fan and then friend of Magee’s.

- Henry Hardy, Magee’s executor.

- MM McCabe, a professor who’s getting philosophy into prisons.

- Lord David Owen, a colleague of Magee’s in politics.

Philosophy is often thought of as being abstract, difficult and, well, ‘dead'. Few people in the UK have ever managed to help philosophers reach a wider audience than Bryan Magee, whose BBC interviews with leading philosophers were primetime in the 1970s and 80s. For Magee, far from being a fusty academic discipline with no ‘real world' relevance, philosophy was an existential matter of immediate importance.

We will hear Magee in his own words too. Archive material is drawn extensively from his BBC output, including ‘Conversations With Philosophers', ‘Men Of Ideas', and ‘The Great Philosophers', featuring philosophical debates with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Sir Karl Popper, and Iris Murdoch.

From the United States, where 'build the wall' has become a symbol of the Trump presidency, to Norway, India and South Africa, dozens of walls have gone up since 1989, with many more being built, planned or imagined. In this programme, Katy tells the modern history of border walls to ask why they are being built, and why now, when new virtual technologies increasingly offer alternatives to concrete barriers.

Katy will examine the complicated history of the Berlin Wall, and what it meant during the Cold War. She'll examine border walls and border communities in Northern Ireland, the United States, South Africa and Israel, exploring what happens when walls are built - for good and ill - and whether it's possible to take them down again. She'll look at the difference between walls to keep people in, and keep them out, and whether the walls are really about safety, or certainty, or just about 'us' and 'them'.

Producer: Giles Edwards

Assistant Producer: Patrick Cowling

30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, Katy Long examines the history of border walls.

Even for those that don't know William Burroughs, he's easy to find. He's in the lyrics to Iggy Pop's Lust For Life and on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. The bands Steely Dan and The Soft Machine take their names from his books. He even coined the term 'heavy metal'.

Drug addict, homosexual crusader, gun nut, beat writer, the Godfather of Punk, countercultural icon - Burroughs was many things. Marking the author's centenary, rock legend Iggy Pop presents a unique hour on the quintessential American iconoclast.

William Seward Burroughs II was born to an upper middle-class St. Louis family in February 1914. In 1940s New York, with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, he started the Beat Movement. His addiction to heroin would motivate a turbulent journey that came to a tragic climax in Mexico City, where he shot and killed his wife during a drunken 'William Tell' routine. The tragedy threw Burroughs into 'a lifelong struggle, in which I have had no choice except to write my way out'.

Whizzing from Mexico to South America to Tangier to Paris to London, then finally back to the States, Burroughs forged an influential body of work. With Junkie, Queer, Naked Lunch, the 'Cut-Up Trilogy', the 'Red Night Trilogy', paintings, audio recordings and films, Burroughs became the only name worth checking in the counterculture.

Iggy Pop reflects on Burroughs' extraordinary life with close friends and artists that felt his influence. Contributors include James Grauerholz, Will Self, Victor Bockris, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Genesis P-Orridge and John Waters.

Producer: Colin McNulty

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Iggy Pop explores the life of William S Burroughs, America's most iconoclastic writer.

Even for those that don't know William Burroughs, he's easy to find. He's in the lyrics to Iggy Pop's Lust For Life and on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. The bands Steely Dan and The Soft Machine take their names from his books. He even coined the term heavy metal.

William Seward Burroughs II was born to an upper middle-class St. Louis family in February 1914. In 1940s New York, with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, he started the Beat Movement. His addiction to heroin would motivate a turbulent journey that came to a tragic climax in Mexico City, where he shot and killed his wife during a drunken William Tell routine. The tragedy threw Burroughs into a lifelong struggle, in which I have had no choice except to write my way out.

Whizzing from Mexico to South America to Tangier to Paris to London, then finally back to the States, Burroughs forged an influential body of work. With Junkie, Queer, Naked Lunch, the Cut-Up Trilogy, the Red Night Trilogy, paintings, audio recordings and films, Burroughs became the only name worth checking in the counterculture.

Between 1969 and 1973, in the years before the US supreme court opened up access to abortion across the country, a group of women in Chicago built an underground service.

The University of Chicago student Heather Booth had been asked for help in 1965, when a friend's sister with an unwanted pregnancy was distraught and nearly suicidal. Her friend wanted to know if there was anywhere to turn in a state where abortion was illegal and where there was little guarantee for a woman's health or safety if she did manage to secure one.

In response, Booth found a connection to the civil rights leader and surgeon TRM. Howard, who performed the procedure. Word spread quickly that she was someone who could help women access safe abortions.

Operating under the pseudonym Jane, Heather Booth began to receive calls from other women. As the years went on and the number of calls increased, she looked for others to help carry on her work - and Jane: The Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation began in earnest.

At first, the women sought out doctors for the procedure but, eventually, they found someone who trained them to carry out the abortions themselves. It's estimated that the women performed over 11,000 abortions during this time.

In this documentary, we hear archive from the time, exploring the climate in the years running up to Roe v Wade, alongside an interview with a detective tasked with investigating Jane (originally recorded for the Radio Diaries podcast The Story of Jane), voices from the city and new interviews with Jane members.

Presented by LAURA BARTON

Produced by Eleanor McDowall

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

A look back at Chicago's underground feminist abortion service.

The University of Chicago student Heather Booth had found herself asked for help in 1965, a friend's sister with an unwanted pregnancy was distraught and nearly suicidal - her friend wanted to know if Booth knew anywhere she could turn in a state where abortion was illegal and there was little guarantee for a woman's health or safety if she did manage to secure one. Booth found a connection to the civil rights leader and surgeon T.R.M. Howard who performed the procedure and word quickly spread that she was someone who could help women access abortions safely.

Operating under the pseudonym 'Jane' she began to receive calls from other women in her Chicago dorm room. As the years went on and the numbers of women calling increased, Booth sought out others to carry on her work - and Jane: The Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation began in earnest. At first the women sought out doctors who would perform the procedure before they eventually found someone who would train them to perform the procedure themselves. It's estimated that the women performed over 11,000 abortions during this time.

In this documentary we hear archive from the time, exploring the climate in the years running up to Roe v Wade, alongside interviews with police tasked with investigating Jane, voices from the city and new interviews with Jane members.

Pregnant? Don't want to be? Call Jane at 643-3844

Between 1969 and 1973, in the years before the Roe v Wade ruling first opened up access to abortion across the country, a group of women in Chicago built an underground service.

In this documentary, we hear archive from the time, exploring the climate in the years running up to the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, alongside an interview with a detective tasked with investigating Jane (originally recorded for the Radio Diaries podcast The Story of Jane), voices from the city and new interviews with Jane members.

This documentary was updated in January 2023, after first airing on 18th January 2020.

While some embraced the discipline, camaraderie and opportunities that National Service offered, others endured misery. Most never left the country, but some fought in Korea or the Malayan jungle, or found themselves in Kenya, Suez or Cyprus.

As well as memories of parade grounds and patriotism, brief moments of terror and long months of tedium, Richard considers the absurdities of army life and post-war ideas of class and masculinity.

And in an era when war with the Soviet Union seemed likely, Richard unpicks the politics of National Service from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, asking why post-war Britain needed its young conscripts and whether conscription changed Britain.

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4

Sixty years after the call-up ended, Richard Vinen looks back at National Service.

Campbell's acting credits included Fawlty Towers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Brookside, Law and Order and In Sickness and In Health, as well as performing one-man shows.

He also directed theatrical events, including the nine-hour Illuminatus trilogy, a 22-hour production of The Warp and Macbeth in pidgin English.

His daughter, Daisy, gives IAN MCMILlan a tour of Ken's home in Essex, where he didn't have a bedroom and had a parrot run in every room.

He also talks to Campbell's manager Colin Watkeys, theatre director Richard Eyre, fan and collaborator IAN POTTER and fellow actors JULIA MCKENZIE and JIM BROADBENT

Campbell's acting credits included Fawlty Towers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Brookside, Law and Order and In Sickness and In Health, as well as performing one-man shows. He also directed theatrical events, including the nine-hour Illuminatus trilogy, a 22-hour production of The Warp and Macbeth in pidgin English.

His daughter, Daisy, gives Ian McMillan a tour of Ken's home in Essex, where he didn't have a bedroom and had a parrot run in every room. He also talks to Campbell's manager Colin Watkeys, theatre director Richard Eyre, fan and collaborator Ian Potter and fellow actors Julia McKenzie and Jim Broadbent.

'IAN MCMILlan explores the world of the actor and director KEN CAMPBELL, who died in 2008.'

Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out for months, in a self-styled 'press city'. Lengthy communiqu退s issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

After 57 days in captivity, media and public sympathy for the captive heiress turned to shock as she declared herself a member of the SLA, denounced her family and was pictured wielding a gun as the gang robbed a bank in San Francisco. Eighteen months later Patty was arrested and convicted.

Forty years on, Benjamin Ramm explores how this story was driven by exhaustive daily media coverage. He asks to what extent it changed the way news was reported and anticipated many of today's debates about the ethics and appetites of rolling news.

Interviewees include Linda Deutsch, renowned court reporter; John Lester, a news anchor who became the Hearst family spokesman; Bill Deiz, who reported the LA shootout using new camera technology; Ken Levine, a radio DJ who received an SLA communiqu退 and a visit from the FBI; Al Preciado, who led the SWAT team at the shootout; and former member of the SLA, Mike Bortin.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.

On 17 May 1974, in the district of Compton in Los Angeles, American network television broadcast live the longest gunfight in the nation's history, in a scene worthy of the studios of nearby Hollywood.

It marked the beginning of the end for the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a leftist guerrilla group that sprang to fame three months earlier after kidnapping heiress Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of the newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst.

This saga - described as probably the mystery story of the 20th Century - is one of the most bizarre episodes of recent American history. Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out in a self-styled 'press city'. Communiqu退s issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

After 57 days in captivity, sympathy for the captive heiress turned to shock as she declared herself a member of the SLA, denounced her family and was pictured wielding a gun as the gang robbed a bank in San Francisco. 18 months later Patty was arrested, and convicted in what the press called 'The Trial of the Century'.

Four decades on, Benjamin Ramm explores how this sensational story was driven by exhaustive daily media coverage. He asks to what extent it changed the way news was reported and anticipated many of today's debates about the ethics and appetites of rolling news.

Interviewees include Linda Deutsch, renowned court reporter; John Lester, a news anchor who became the Hearst family spokesman; Bill Deiz, who reported the LA shootout using new camera technology; and former member of the SLA, Mike Bortin.

Produced by Rebecca Maxted.

How the kidnapping of a newspaper heiress captivated and transformed the American media.

A Sparklab Production for BBC Radio 4.

This saga - described as 'probably the mystery story of the 20th Century' - is one of the most bizarre episodes of recent American history. Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out in a self-styled 'press city'. Communiqu退s issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

This saga - described as 'probably the mystery story of the 20th Century' - is one of the most bizarre episodes of recent American history. Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out in a self-styled 'press city'. Communiqu?s issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

This saga - described as 'probably the mystery story of the 20th Century' - is one of the most bizarre episodes of recent American history. Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out in a self-styled 'press city'. Communiqués issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out for months, in a self-styled 'press city'. Lengthy communiqués issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

Interviewees include Linda Deutsch, renowned court reporter; John Lester, a news anchor who became the Hearst family spokesman; Bill Deiz, who reported the LA shootout using new camera technology; Ken Levine, a radio DJ who received an SLA communiqué and a visit from the FBI; Al Preciado, who led the SWAT team at the shootout; and former member of the SLA, Mike Bortin.

This saga - described as probably the mystery story of the 20th Century - is one of the most bizarre episodes of recent American history. Within hours of Patty's kidnapping the media arrived outside the Hearst mansion, where they would camp out in a self-styled 'press city'. Communiqués issued by the SLA on cassette tapes, often spoken by Patty herself, were broadcast in full. The family posted a sign that read 'Please don't feed reporters'.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted.

A Sparklab Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2014.

Benjamin Ramm explores how the kidnapping of a newspaper heiress captivated and transformed the American media. From March 2014.

Physicist and broadcaster BRIAN COX presents a tribute to his science hero, Carl Sagan.

Physicist and broadcaster BRIAN COX presents a tribute to his science hero, Carl Sagan, the man who many people describe as the greatest populariser of science of all time.

His landmark television series Cosmos was seen by more than 600 million people worldwide and inspired a generation of young scientists to regard the universe with wonder and awe.

Physicist and broadcaster BRIAN COX presents a tribute to his science hero, Carl Sagan, the man who many people describe as the greatest populariser of science of all time. His landmark television series Cosmos was seen by more than 600 million people worldwide and inspired a generation of young scientists to regard the universe with wonder and awe.

Physicist and broadcaster Brian Cox presents a tribute to his science hero, Carl Sagan.

Physicist and broadcaster Brian Cox presents a tribute to his science hero, Carl Sagan.

CAROLYN QUINN asks what the Carry On series of films tells us about British society.

Producer: Isabel Sargent.

KIRSTY YOUNG tells the story of the long-running radio programme.

Producer: Isabel Sargent.

Kirsty Young tells the story of the long-running radio programme.

Featuring some memorable archive moments 'From Our Own Correspondent'.

With contributions from:

Tony Lawrence

Robert Elphick

Fergal Keane

John Simpson

Bridget Kendal

Broadcast to mark 100 years since the birth of journalist, Charles Wheeler on 26th March 1923.

Producer: Tony Grant

Charles Wheeler presents some of the most memorable extracts from BBC journalists

Cerys believed the recordings lost or destroyed. In fact, over a hundred hours of interviews were bequeathed to the National Library of Wales by her uncle's widow and some of them are broadcast here for the first time.

This personal journey into the archive is both a celebration of the life of Dylan Thomas and a glimpse into the life of her uncle - 'an eccentric, radical journalist and film-maker'. Here Cerys goes Under Milk Wood - into the communities in which Dylan Thomas lived.

We hear Dylan's mother, Florence, describe how the eight-year-old Dylan would write poems about the kitchen sink. Dylan's school friend Charles Fisher recalls how he 'collected words like rare butterflies'. Dylan's daughter, Aeronwy , reflects on his daily rituals and drinking habits. One of his closest friends Bert Trick, a Marxist grocer from Swansea, describes Dylan's profane sense of humour. And we hear from theatre director Philip Burton and poet Robert Lowell about meetings with Dylan towards the end of his life.

Listening to these tapes I started to understand the strange contradictions at the heart of Dylan Thomas. The boozer with the self-discipline to write verse, the child with a visionary voice, the buffoon who took life so seriously,' says Cerys.

Some of Cerys's favourite Dylan Thomas poems and writings are set to music in the programme. Jeff Towns, Terry Jones, Andrew Lycett, Gwen Watkins and David Thomas also contribute.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Cerys Matthews unlocks her uncle's rare recordings of Dylan Thomas's friends and family.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 – the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart – and died in 1980 on the same day as JOHN LENNON. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.

He is probably best known for his series of eight radio ballads made with Ewan MacColl and PEGGY SEEGER. These programmes became a high point in radio production but they eventually became expensive luxuries that could no longer be afforded. He was 'sacked' or 'left' the BBC in 1972.

Now in Parker's centenary year, Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, SEAN STREET, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was 'a real creative genius... his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people'. Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material - creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

Parker's life was also a journey from poverty to Cambridge University, from a Conservative Christian to a Socialist, from a Submarine Commander to a Radio Producer. But throughout his career, two things remained constant - his dedication, often working for days without sleep, and most importantly his desire to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in their own words.

Producer: Andy Cartwright

A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

SEAN STREET celebrates the centenary of one of the most innovative radio producers.

He is probably best known for his series of eight radio ballads made with Ewan MacColl and PEGGY SEEGER. These programmes became a high point in radio production but they eventually became expensive luxuries that could no longer be afforded. He was sacked or left the BBC in 1972.

Now in Parker's centenary year, Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, SEAN STREET, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was a real creative genius... his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people. Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material - creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2019.

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 - the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart - and died in 1980 on the same day as John Lennon. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.

Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, Sean Street, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was 'a real creative genius - ¦ his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people'.

A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2019.

Now in Parker's centenary year, Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, SEAN STREET, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was 'a real creative genius - ¦ his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people'. Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material - creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

Now in Parker's centenary year, Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, SEAN STREET, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was a real creative genius - ¦ his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people. Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material - creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

Bournemouth University's Emeritus Professor of Radio, Sean Street, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was 'a real creative genius - his razor blade was like a sculptor's chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people'.

Sean Street delves into the archive of one of the most innovative and controversial BBC radio producers, reviewing Charles Parker’s work from the Radio Ballads to his sacking in 1972.

Bournemouth University’s Emeritus Professor of Radio, Sean Street, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was 'a real creative genius... his razor blade was like a sculptor’s chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people'.

Parker’s life was also a journey from poverty to Cambridge University, from a Conservative Christian to a Socialist, from a Submarine Commander to a Radio Producer. But throughout his career, two things remained constant - his dedication, often working for days without sleep, and most importantly his desire to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in their own words.

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 – the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart – and died in 1980 on the same day as John Lennon. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.

Sean Street explores the legacy of the creator of the 'radio ballads', innovative BBC producer, Charles Parker. From 2019.

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 - ` the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart - ` and died in 1980 on the same day as JOHN LENNON. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.

Presenter: Sarah Montague

Producer: Sandra Kanthal

Editor: Clare Fordham

Sarah Montague looks at the events and experiences shaping the life of King Charles III.

Charles Philip Arthur George is the sixty-fourth sovereign in a family line stretching back over a thousand years. Few people have been so prepared for a job they’ve waited most of a lifetime to attain. Sarah Montague looks back at the events and experiences shaping the life of the man who will be crowned King Charles the Third.

From chlorine, phosgene and the mustard gases, to tabun, sarin, soman, VX and the novichok agents used to target former Soviet agent Sergei Skipal in England, Andrea weaves archive with interviews with key figures in the ongoing campaign to control and ban the use of such weapons and he asks how science educators can prepare young chemists for the moral hazard posed by this particular class of weapon.

Producer: Fiona Hill

The weapons of war born in the laboratory.

For more than a hundred years chemical weapons have terrorised, maimed and killed soldiers and civilians alike. As a chemist, the part his profession has played in the development of these weapons has long concerned Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London. In this programme he examines the motivation of chemists like Dr Fritz Haber, who first encouraged the German military to deploy chlorine gas in World War One for the sake of “The Fatherland?? and of Dr Gerhard Schrader, who, in his hunt for an effective pesticide, accidentally discovered a new class of lethal nerve agents for Nazi Germany.

For more than a hundred years chemical weapons have terrorised, maimed and killed soldiers and civilians alike. As a chemist, the part his profession has played in the development of these weapons has long concerned Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London. In this programme he examines the motivation of chemists like Dr Fritz Haber, who first encouraged the German military to deploy chlorine gas in World War One for the sake of ?The Fatherland? and of Dr Gerhard Schrader, who, in his hunt for an effective pesticide, accidentally discovered a new class of lethal nerve agents for Nazi Germany.

For more than a hundred years chemical weapons have terrorised, maimed and killed soldiers and civilians alike. As a chemist, the part his profession has played in the development of these weapons has long concerned Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London. In this programme he examines the motivation of chemists like Dr Fritz Haber, who first encouraged the German military to deploy chlorine gas in World War One for the sake of “The Fatherland ? and of Dr Gerhard Schrader, who, in his hunt for an effective pesticide, accidentally discovered a new class of lethal nerve agents for Nazi Germany.

Chemist Andrea Sella considers the role that his profession has played in the development and production of chemical weapons.

For more than a hundred years chemical weapons have terrorised, maimed and killed soldiers and civilians alike. As a chemist, the part his profession has played in the development of these weapons has long concerned Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London. In this programme he examines the motivation of chemists like Dr Fritz Haber, who first encouraged the German military to deploy chlorine gas in World War One for the sake of `The Fatherland` and of Dr Gerhard Schrader, who, in his hunt for an effective pesticide, accidentally discovered a new class of lethal nerve agents for Nazi Germany.

Contributors: Professor Vivienne Shue, Dr Jennifer Altehenger, Dr Olivia Cheung, author Lijia Zhang, Dr Rowena He, and New York Times correspondent Christopher Buckley.

Presenter: Celia Hatton

Producer: Alex Last

Editor: Hugh Levinson

How Communist Party slogans reveal the turbulent story of modern China.

Clement Attlee once claimed that Churchill led Britain to victory in the Second World War through his words. But what influenced these words and their delivery?

The answer lies in a wooden cabinet containing not only Churchill's private collection of gramophone records, but also rare recordings of his unknown speeches.

In this Archive on 4, historian Andrew Roberts joins archivists, historians, musicians, even Churchill's own family, to discover how these rapidly disintegrating discs - some of them over a hundred years old - offer new clues about his oratorical style. Their survival depends on the fast action of the Cambridge archivists in a race against time to digitise them, before they quite literally turn to dust.

The work has turned up some surprising revelations - including a glimpse into Churchill's very own desert island discs. The apparently unmusical Churchill turns out to be someone who treasures songs of satire, humour and intense patriotism. We discover recordings of black swans enjoyed by a nature loving Churchill we rarely see, and then there are those fascinating newly discovered recordings of Churchill's own voice - including the first known recording of him, from the early 20th century.

From these records, Andrew Roberts gleans valuable insights into that famous titan of British oratory - how it was not just his words, but his unique musical delivery that came to reflect and even embody the hopes of a nation.

Producer: Kati Whitaker.

A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.

The answer lies in a newly discovered wooden cabinet containing not only Churchill's private collection of gramophone records, but also rare recordings of his unknown speeches.

Already, the work in progress has turned up some surprising revelations - including a glimpse into Churchill's very own desert island discs. The apparently unmusical Churchill turns out to be someone who treasures songs of satire, humour and intense patriotism. We discover recordings of black swans enjoyed by a nature loving Churchill we rarely see, and then there are those fascinating newly discovered recordings of Churchill's own voice - including the first known recording of him, from the early 20th century.



A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.

As well as the launch of BBC Radio 1 to 4, 1967 also saw the arrival of the BBC's first batch of local radio stations: Radio Leicester on 8th November, Radio Sheffield on 15th November and Radio Merseyside on 22nd November.

Made to mark the 40th anniversary in 2007 - LIBBY PURVES takes an affectionate look back at the first chaotic days of local programming - from unruly guests and erratic phone-ins to technological mishaps - and explores how the ideals of the early pioneers survived into the 21st Century.

Starting in the 1920s, Libby charts the history of the stations which were to bring us the likes of KATE ADIE, Tony Adamson, MICHAEL BUERK, PAUL HEINEY and Des Lynham.

From its early beginnings, and after much deliberation and research, the BBC began to build a network of local radio stations across England. The project was driven mainly by the energy of Frank Gillard, then BBC Radio's Managing Director.

The other five stations in the original batch of eight BBC local stations were: Radio Nottingham (31st January 1968); Radio Brighton (14th February 1968); Radio Stoke-on-Trent (14th March 1968); Radio Leeds (24th June 1968) and Radio Durham (3rd July 1968).

Producer: Paula McGinley



First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.

Made to mark the 40th anniversary in 2007 - Libby Purves takes an affectionate look back at the first chaotic days of local programming - from unruly guests and erratic phone-ins to technological mishaps - and explores how the ideals of the early pioneers survived into the 21st Century.

Starting in the 1920s, Libby charts the history of the stations which were to bring us the likes of Kate Adie, Tony Adamson, Michael Buerk, Paul Heiney and Des Lynham.

From its early beginnings, and after much deliberation and research, the BBC began to build a network of local radio stations across England. The project was driven mainly by the energy of Frank Gillard, then BBC Radio's Managing Director.

The other five stations in the original batch of eight BBC local stations were: Radio Nottingham (31st January 1968); Radio Brighton (14th February 1968); Radio Stoke-on-Trent (14th March 1968); Radio Leeds (24th June 1968) and Radio Durham (3rd July 1968).

Producer: Paula McGinley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.

The start of BBC local radio with stations in Leicester, Sheffield and Merseyside.

Fifty years after it happened, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS looks back at the story of the Devaluation crisis of 1967.

It was one of the iconic phrases that will always be associated with HAROLD WILSON's premiership: in a TV broadcast, a day after his government had decided to reduce the value of the pound sterling by just over 14 percent against the dollar, Wilson assured the nation that, nevertheless, 'the pound in your pocket' was still worth the same.

As a young journalist, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS covered the story - her father, Sir Alec Cairncross, was a senior Treasury official closely involved in the discussions before and the consequences following the November 18th move. He wrote in his diary 'at 10.35, I saw the TV screen show a £1 note with DEVALUED printed across it...

With:

PETER JAY

William Davis

William Keegan

DAVID WALKER

Robin Butler

Professors Robert Neild

Kathleen Burk

Featuring readings from Alec Cairncross's diary of the period.

Producer: Simon Elmes

FRANCES CAIRNCROSS tells the inside story of the devaluation crisis of 1967.

50 years on, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS tells the inside story of the devaluation crisis of 1967.

Fifty years on, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS tells the story of the Devaluation crisis of 1967, which she covered as a young journalist.

It was one of the iconic phrases that will always be associated with HAROLD WILSON's premiership: in a TV broadcast, a day after his government had decided to reduce the value of the pound sterling by just over 14 percent against the dollar, Wilson assured the nation that, nevertheless, 'the pound in your pocket' was still worth the same. Despite adding that imports would indeed cost more, and that prices would rise, the phrase stuck and has remained indelibly linked to Wilson's era ever since.

And yet, the plunge in value that sterling incurred following last year's Brexit vote was no smaller and yet caused far less panic and confusion. How come?

As a young journalist, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS covered the story - well, after all, she had a family connection: her father, Sir Alec Cairncross, was a senior Treasury official closely involved in the discussions before and the consequences following the November 18th move. 'Der Tag,' writes Alec in his diary. 'At 9.30 the statement became public and at 10.35 I saw the TV screen show a £1 note with DEVALUED printed across it

In this programme to mark half a century since the biggest economic crisis of its time, with the help of rich contemporary audio archives, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS talks to those who were closely involved in the fraught run-up to the move that cost Chancellor James Callaghan his job as Chancellor.

With PETER JAY, William Davis, William Keegan, DAVID WALKER, Robin Butler and Professors Robert Neild and Kathleen Burk, and featuring readings from Alec Cairncross's diary of the period.

Producer: Simon Elmes.

As a young journalist, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS covered the story - well, after all, she had a family connection: her father, Sir Alec Cairncross, was a senior Treasury official closely involved in the discussions before and the consequences following the November 18th move. 'Der Tag,' writes Alec in his diary. 'At 9.30 the statement became public and at 10.35 I saw the TV screen show a £1 note with DEVALUED printed across it...

It was one of the iconic phrases that will always be associated with HAROLD WILSON's premiership: in a TV broadcast, a day after his government had decided to reduce the value of the pound sterling by just over 14 percent against the dollar, Wilson assured the nation that, nevertheless, the pound in your pocket was still worth the same. Despite adding that imports would indeed cost more, and that prices would rise, the phrase stuck and has remained indelibly linked to Wilson's era ever since.

As a young journalist, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS covered the story - well, after all, she had a family connection: her father, Sir Alec Cairncross, was a senior Treasury official closely involved in the discussions before and the consequences following the November 18th move. Der Tag, writes Alec in his diary. At 9.30 the statement became public and at 10.35 I saw the TV screen show a £1 note with DEVALUED printed across it...

Producer: Simon Elmes.

Fifty years after the events, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS looked back at the story of the Devaluation crisis of 1967.

It was one of the iconic phrases that will always be associated with HAROLD WILSON's premiership: in a TV broadcast, a day after his government had decided to reduce the value of the pound sterling by just over 14 percent against the dollar, Wilson assured the nation that, nevertheless, the pound in your pocket was still worth the same.

As a young journalist, FRANCES CAIRNCROSS covered the story - her father, Sir Alec Cairncross, was a senior Treasury official closely involved in the discussions before and the consequences following the November 18th move. He wrote in his diary at 10.35, I saw the TV screen show a £1 note with DEVALUED printed across it...

We are living in an age of the edit.

From the jump-cuts of Eisenstein and Hitchcock, to the fractured narratives of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, from the cut-and-paste sounds of musique concrete and hip-hop, to the sensibility of social media (to say nothing of the radio feature itself), it's the edit - the cut, the splice; montage and juxtaposition - that has ushered us into the present. To some, it's the stuff of life itself: chimps, for example, share 99% of our DNA; what matters is the sequencing, the edit.

There's a year zero to this story of the edit. From the moment we get up in the morning until we close our eyes at night, the visual reality we perceive is a continuous stream of apparently linked images. That's the way we experienced the world for millennia. Then suddenly, just over a century ago, human beings were confronted with something else: edited film.

But this isn't an exercise in cinema history. It's about our present culture. A culture in which the invisible mediating hand of the editor is ever-present. A culture of the 'creative commons' in which we can pull anything out of context and re-edit it (a gif, an internet meme, a mash-up, a parody of a political speech) and make the edit itself become an art form. Cutting, splicing, sampling -- it's all part of the way the world functions now. This is just the beginning.

With Vicki Bennett aka People Like Us, Margie Borschke, Walter Murch and Will Self.

Producer: Martin Williams

Filmmaker Mike Figgis explores the age of the edit.

Producer: Martin Williams.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.



Producer: Martin Williams.

Film-maker Mike Figgis explores the story of edited film, audio and culture, and how the simple process of cutting and splicing has changed the way people view the world.

Film-maker Mike Figgis explores the age of the edit.

Film-maker Mike Figgis explores how the process of cutting and splicing in film has changed the way we view the world. From 2017.

Actor Tom Conti explores the story of Italian internment in Britain during the Second World War.

On June 10th 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. Overnight, as a result, the thousands of Italians living in Britain were declared enemies, considered a potential threat. Winston Churchill ordered the authorities to 'collar the lot' of so-called 'enemy aliens' and over four thousand Italians were rounded up and imprisoned.

Most were shopkeepers, hairdressers, ice cream sellers and respectable citizens at the heart of their communities. Many had been in Britain all their lives.

We hear from some of the very few still alive, who were taken from families, jobs and homes to makeshift camps across the UK.

Tom Conti's own father was an Italian who had made a life in Scotland. He was married to a Scottish woman and ran a successful business in ladies' hairdressing. The day after Italy declared war he was taken from his home, and interned on the Isle of Man. Tom visits the island to discover which camp his father was kept in, and what conditions were like for the many thousands of men who were kept behind barbed wire during the war.

Alfonso Conti narrowly avoided being put on board the cruise liner the Arandora Star, which had been requisitioned for war duties and was bound for Newfoundland carrying internees. It was hit by a torpedo just off the Irish coast and sank within twenty minutes.

With archive interviews and testimony from the last Italian survivor, Tom will tell the story of the ship's tragic sinking, in which nearly 500 Italian civilians lost their lives, and lift the lid on this overlooked episode in British history.

Produced by Jo Wheeler

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Producer: Jo Wheeler

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.

On June 10th 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. Overnight, as a result, the thousands of Italians living in Britain were declared enemies, considered a potential threat. Winston Churchill ordered the authorities to 'collar the lot' of so-called 'enemy aliens' and over 4,000 Italians were rounded up and imprisoned.

Tom Conti's own father was an Italian who had made a life in Scotland, but was interned on the Isle of Man. Tom visits the island to discover which camp his father was kept in, and what conditions were like for all those kept behind barbed wire.

Alfonso Conti narrowly avoided being put on board the cruise liner the Arandora Star, which was requisitioned for war duties and was bound for Newfoundland carrying internees. It was hit by a torpedo just off Ireland and sank within 20 minutes.

With archive interviews and testimony from the last Italian survivor, Tom tells the story of the ship's tragic sinking, in which nearly 500 Italian civilians lost their lives, and lift the lid on this overlooked episode in British history.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2013.

It is 175 years since the word 'commuter' was used for the first time. (The word does not in fact describe a traveller, it describes a transaction: regular travellers on the railroad into Manhattan were given the opportunity to 'commute' their individual tickets into a season pass. Ever since, commuters have been both travellers and revenue stream.)

Today our great cities inhale and exhale millions of commuters, who start their journey in the darkness of winter mornings in the suburbs, resurface blearily in the heart of the city and return to long tucked-in children in darkness.

It wasn't meant to be like this. Matthew Sweet looks at our imagined world of fantasy journeys and asks if driverless cars, monorails, or high speed transport systems might deliver them in the future.

Producer Mark Rickards.

It's over 175 years since the word 'commuter' was used for the first time.

Today - our great cities inhale and exhale millions of commuters, who start their journey in the darkness of winter mornings in the suburbs, resurface blearily in the heart of the city and return to long tucked-in children in darkness.

Producer: Mark Rickards

It's over 175 years since the word 'commuter' was used for the first time. (The word does not in fact describe a traveller, it describes a transaction: regular travellers on the railroad into Manhattan were given the opportunity to 'commute' their individual tickets into a season pass. Ever since, commuters have been both travellers and revenue stream.)

It wasn't meant to be like this. MATTHEW SWEET looks at our imagined world of fantasy journeys and asks if driverless cars, monorails or high-speed transport systems might deliver them in the future.



Producer Mark Rickards.

It wasn't meant to be like this. MATTHEW SWEET looks at our imagined world of fantasy journeys and asks if driverless cars, monorails, or high speed transport systems might deliver them in the future.

It is 175 years since the word commuter was used for the first time. (The word does not in fact describe a traveller, it describes a transaction: regular travellers on the railroad into Manhattan were given the opportunity to commute their individual tickets into a season pass. Ever since, commuters have been both travellers and revenue stream.)

It's over 175 years since the word commuter was used for the first time. (The word does not in fact describe a traveller, it describes a transaction: regular travellers on the railroad into Manhattan were given the opportunity to commute their individual tickets into a season pass. Ever since, commuters have been both travellers and revenue stream.)

It’s over 175 years since the word 'commuter' was used for the first time.

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason examines the changing accents of politics and politics of accents, with help from politicians, language experts and an impersonator.

The programme examines the ways that stereotypes and prejudices can be loaded onto accents, how the voting public responds to different voices, and what politicians can do and have done about it all.

With the help of the archive, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and former Conservative minister Edwina Currie reflect on the political soundtrack of their lifetimes. How have their voices, those of their contemporaries and the sound of the national political conversation changed?

How is it possible and when it is sensible to change your accent? Chris is joined by Steve Nallon, who impersonated Lady Thatcher on Spitting Image, to listen back to her as a new backbencher and later as Prime Minister.

And what about the sound of political reporting? The archive allows the former Today Programme presenter Jack Di Manio to give Chris (a son of the Yorkshire dales) a lesson in speaking 'properly'.

So are we really becoming more open minded about this aspect of political communication? The programme hears from two MPs who say they still struggle to be understood in the Commons today.

Producer: Joey D'Urso.

BBC Political Editor, Chris Mason, examines the changing accents of politics and politics of accents, with help from politicians, language experts and an impersonator.

With the help of the archive, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and former Conservative minister Edwina Currie reflect on the political soundtrack of their lifetimes. How have their voices, those of their contemporaries and the sound of the national political conversation changed?

Chris is joined by Steve Nallon, who impersonated Margaret Thatcher on ITV's Spitting Image, to listen back to her as a new backbencher and later as Prime Minister.

The archive allows the former Today Programme presenter Jack Di Manio to give Chris - a son of the Yorkshire dales - a lesson in speaking 'properly'.

So are we really becoming more open-minded about this aspect of political communication? Chris hears from two MPs who say they still struggle to be understood in the Commons today.



Producer: Joey D'Urso.

BBC Political Correspondent, Chris Mason, examines the changing accents of politics and politics of accents, with help from politicians, language experts and an impersonator.

How is it possible and when it is sensible to change your accent? Chris is joined by Steve Nallon, who impersonated MARGARET THATCHER on Spitting Image, to listen back to her as a new backbencher and later as Prime Minister.

And what about the sound of political reporting? The archive allows the former Today Programme presenter Jack Di Manio to give Chris - a son of the Yorkshire dales - a lesson in speaking 'properly'.

1974 saw two elections in eight months. The first was so indecisive it produced a minority government. Like today, politics was going through a long, painful change. Neither major party had a commanding leader or a dominant political argument.

And then all this was brought to a head by the worst economic crisis since the War.

Steve talks to veterans about what followed, as many feared democracy itself hung in the balance.

Conservative MP-to-be Douglas Hurd was at Prime Minister Edward Heath's side as his struggling Government was driven to call an early election, only to lose power.

His party colleague, Norman Tebbit, already an MP, was biding his time before declaring his contempt for what he saw as Heath's discredited compromises.

Dennis Skinner was a junior Labour MP, close to the miners' union - in sharp contrast to his party colleague, Shirley Williams. In 1974, she became Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection - to spearhead the minority government's push against inflation.

Meanwhile, as today, smaller parties were on the rise.

David Steel had to race back to London to make sure his leader, Jeremy Thorpe, didn't take the Liberals into coalition with the Tories.

And Gordon Wilson was one of several new SNP MPs who arrived at Westminster - feeling, he tells Steve, like commandoes in hostile territory.

They explore the lessons of all this for today, as Britain faces a return, for the first time since 1974, to an era of deep electoral uncertainty.

PRODUCER: PHIL TINLINE.

Steve Richards on the political fears and shocks of 1974, and their lessons for today.

Forty years on, columnist and author Nesrine Malik examines how Said's ideas - and the responses to them - stack up. Through his blistering public lectures and interviews, we hear not only Said's irrepressible erudition and his humour but the prescience of Said's ideas today - ones that speak to questions of identity and coexistence.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.” When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a “clash of civilisations” between ‘The West' and ‘Islam' through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

With contributions from Timothy Brennan, the author of the biography Places of Mind, a Life of Edward Said; D D Guttenplan, the editor of The Nation Magazine; Rizwana Hamid, the Director of the Muslim Council of Britain's Centre for Media Monitoring; and Asad Haider, on of the founding editors of Viewpoint magazine and the author of Mistaken Identity.

Producer: Katherine Godfrey

Assistant Producer: Dahaba Ali-Hussen

Mixing Editor: Sami El-Enany

Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

Exploring the legacy of Edward Said's Covering Islam, published forty years ago.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.?? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a “clash of civilisations?? between ‘The West' and ‘Islam' through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a ?clash of civilisations? between ?The West? and ?Islam? through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.?? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Forty years on, columnist and author Nesrine Malik examines how Said's ideas - and the responses to them - stack up. Through his blistering public lectures and interviews, we hear not only Said?s irrepressible erudition and his humour but the prescience of Said?s ideas today - ones that speak to questions of identity and coexistence.

Covering Islam emerged from Said?s observations of the western media?s coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said?s scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a ?clash of civilisations? between ?The West? and ?Islam? through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said?s ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a ?clash of civilisations? between ?The West' and ?Islam' through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Forty years on, columnist and author Nesrine Malik examines how Said's ideas - and the responses to them - stack up. Through his blistering public lectures and interviews, we hear not only Said’s irrepressible erudition and his humour but the prescience of Said’s ideas today - ones that speak to questions of identity and coexistence.

Covering Islam emerged from Said’s observations of the western media’s coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.” When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said’s scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a “clash of civilisations” between ‘The West’ and ‘Islam’ through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said’s ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Covering Islam emerged from Said’s observations of the western media’s coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.” When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans. ? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a “clash of civilisations ? between ‘The West' and ‘Islam' through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.` When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Nesrine Malik explores how Said's scholarship and public intellectualism sought to dismantle the idea of a `clash of civilisations` between ‘The West' and ‘Islam' through the 80s and 90s to his death in 2003 - and how these tropes have played out and twisted since. Nesrine also considers what Said's ideas might offer us now, and how he might have dealt with social media and its dissemination of his ideas.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans. ? When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Covering Islam emerged from Said's observations of the western media's coverage of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Reflecting later, Said said the media's 'arsenal of images' created an impression of 'the utmost negative sort of evil emanation...as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.` When he came to update Covering Islam 17 years later, after the Gulf War, Said believed the situation to be even worse.

Fifteen years earlier, on July 5th 1948, the National Health Service had been launched, taking control of nearly 480 000 hospital beds in England and Wales, with 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants as well as GPs, dentists and other health professionals. Minister of Health Aneurin Bevan described it as 'the biggest single experiment in social service that the world has ever seen undertaken'.

The QEII - the first all-purpose, district general NHS hospital - opened with some 100 beds to meet the needs of a rapidly increasing population, many from London who had relocated to the new Garden City.

In the summer of 2015, the old hospital was closed down as part of a centralisation of health services by East and North Herts NHS Trust, with in-patients services moved out to the Lister Hospital at Stevenage and outpatients services moved into the new QEII hospital on the same site.

Cradle to Grave captures the sounds of the old QEII hospital during its last days and gathers the memories of hospital staff and patients, past and present. Other contributors include Dr Geoffrey Rivett who, as well as starting his career as a hospital doctor in the new health services, has written a definitive history of the NHS.

Produced by Sara Parker

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

The history of the NHS told through one hospital - the QEII in Welwyn Garden City.

Fifteen years earlier, on July 5th 1948, the National Health Service had been launched, taking control of nearly 480 000 hospital beds in England and Wales, with 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants as well as GPs, dentists and other health professionals. Minister of Health Aneurin Bevan described it as the biggest single experiment in social service that the world has ever seen undertaken.

In the early hours of August 8th 1963, the Royal Mail train from Glasgow to London was held up in the Buckinghamshire countryside by a gang of London thieves. After assaulting the train driver, the criminals stole over two and a half million pounds, something in the region of £40 million in today's money.

The twists and turns of the case, and its main characters, ensured that the robbery stayed in the public eye for the decades that followed.

There was the discovery of an abandoned hideout, the high-profile captures, escapes from maximum security prisons, bundles of cash left in phone boxes, and extradition battles that went on for years.

Gang members Bruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards and Ronnie Biggs became celebrities.

Novelist Jake Arnott takes a deeper look at the gang behind the headlines, and considers how the legacy of this crime has become a curse for the criminals.

In his last recorded interview before his death, Bruce Reynolds describes his early life of crime and what it took to plan the audacious raid.

From his care home in North London, Ronnie Biggs spells out how he randomly got involved in the heist and kept the story running for years as a fugitive in Brazil.

Also taking part are criminologist Laurie Taylor, former head of Scotland Yard John O'Connor, Bruce's son Nick Reynolds, BBC reporter Reg Abbiss, Daily Express reporter Colin MacKenzie and former Buckinghamshire policeman John Woolley.

Producer: Colin McNulty

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

However, on the Great Train Robbery's 50th anniversary, novelist JAKE ARNOTT takes a deeper look at the gang behind the headlines, and considers how the legacy of this crime has become a curse for the criminals.

In his last recorded interview before his death this February, Bruce Reynolds describes his early life of crime and what it took to plan the audacious raid.



A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Rachel's journey takes her through the highs and lows of the composer's life, as well as on detours via cover versions, rip-offs and spoofs.

But what's the secret of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and why has it triumphed where so much other music has fallen flat? Does the answer lie in those first four notes?

Produced by Glyn Tansley

Rachel Parris leads us on an irreverent tour of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

To mark Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, Rachel Parris leads us on an irreverent tour of his 5th Symphony starting with four notes almost anybody in the world will recognise: da da da daaa!

Rachel’s journey takes her through the highs and lows of the composer’s life, as well as on detours via cover versions, rip-offs and spoofs.

But what’s the secret of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and why has it triumphed where so much other music has fallen flat? Does the answer lie in those first four notes?

Producer: Glyn Tansley

Rachel Parris explores the highs and lows of Beethoven's life, including his familiar 5th Symphony: da da da daaa! From 2020.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of the film, television, stage and radio career that made Sir Alec the most successful British character actor of the 20th century was his apparent talent for anonymity. Laurence Olivier, ALEC GUINNESS' mentor and co-star, famously described him as 'a dark horse' in a leading article in Time Magazine.

A remarkably good mimic, Sir Alec preferred, it seemed, to define himself by the roles he played. Was he really the scholarly, unworldly artist he appeared to be? He was a diarist, raconteur, and polished Hollywood operator, who turned self-deprecation into an art-form, took pride in not being recognised and disliked showmanship.

Alistair McGowan examines the many contradictions in the life of this enigmatic man through archive of interviews with the actor himself and those who knew him well.

Producer: FRANK STIRLING

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Alistair McGowan investigates the enigma of a private man who became a global star.

Alistair McGowan reveals the private side of a purportedly 'retiring' artist - a man who forged one of the most stunningly successful theatrical and cinematic careers of the last century with intelligence, guile and a deep understanding of the creation of image.

By his own count, David Bowie inhabited seven different personas throughout his career and, while each one of those creations channelled wildly different musical influences that were often difficult to identify, Bowie was always able to articulate with great conviction which musical universe he was inhabiting at each turn – even if he often contradicted himself.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar”, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

Producer: Des Shaw

A Ten Alps production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar”, he claimed in 2002, while summarizing his many changes in style.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar??, he claimed in 2002, while summarizing his many changes in style.

By his own count, David Bowie inhabited seven different personas throughout his career and, while each one of those creations channelled wildly different musical influences that were often difficult to identify, Bowie was always able to articulate with great conviction which musical universe he was inhabiting at each turn - even if he often contradicted himself.

I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar, he claimed in 2002, while summarizing his many changes in style.

A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4.

With previously unheard interviews, studio out takes and a collection of musings from throughout the years, the story of DAVID BOWIE's extraordinary life and career told in his own words.

I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar', he claimed in 2002, while summarizing his many changes in style.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar??, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

By his own count, David Bowie inhabited seven different personas throughout his career and, while each one of those creations channelled wildly different musical influences that were often difficult to identify, Bowie was always able to articulate with great conviction which musical universe he was inhabiting at each turn – even if he often contradicted himself.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar ?, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

Bowie's extraordinary life and unparalleled career told in his own words.

`I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar`, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar ?, he claimed in 2002, while summarizing his many changes in style.

By his own count, David Bowie inhabited seven different personas throughout his career and, while each one of those creations channelled wildly different musical influences that were often difficult to identify, Bowie was always able to articulate with great conviction which musical universe he was inhabiting at each turn ? even if he often contradicted himself.

?I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar?, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

Producer: Des Shaw

A Ten Alps production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.

Bowie's extraordinary life and unparalleled career told in his own words.

By his own count, David Bowie inhabited seven different personas throughout his career and, while each one of those creations channelled wildly different musical influences that were often difficult to identify, Bowie was always able to articulate with great conviction which musical universe he was inhabiting at each turn – even if he often contradicted himself.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar??, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

“I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar”, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

“I usually don’t agree with what I say very much. I’m an awful liar”, he claimed in 2002, while summarising his many changes in style.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Führer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbor, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolfs' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.

But the backstory of these and other broadcasts from the AJC is as compelling as the star names chosen to speak for the people of America. Formed in 1906, the American Jewish Committee was a response to the plight of Eastern European Jewry then suffering a wave of pogroms. Avowedly 'unpolitical', in so far as it eschewed the major movements then gripping the Jewish world (Socialism, Zionism and Communism) it sought to defend Jewish life both in the U.S. and the heartlands of Eastern Europe and to engage in inter faith dialogue at home. At its heart was advocacy of a loyal American Jewish citizenry and a desire to overcome prejudice.

By the late 1930s the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programmes aimed at fighting bigotry on the home front and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising antisemitism, domestically and abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, made just months after its destruction, are just a few of the archival gems of the A.J.C. spanning two decades of attempts to counter prejudice and imbue ordinary Americans with the spirit of tolerance.

Producer: Mark Burman.

Christopher Cook explores how the power of radio was used to define America's war effort.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Fuhrer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbour, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolf's' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.

By the late 1930's the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programs aimed at fighting bigotry on the homefront and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising anti-semitism, domestically & abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, made just months after its destruction, are just a few of the archival gems of the A.J.C. spanning two decades of attempts to counter prejudice and imbue ordinary American's with the spirit of tolerance.

By the late 1930's the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programs aimed at fighting bigotry on the homefront and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising anti-semitism, domestically and abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Fuhrer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbor, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolf's' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.



Producer: Mark Burman.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the WarsawArchive On 4

Decimal Day - What's That In Old Money?

20110205

20110207

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and PETER DAY delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was HAROLD WILSON's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister TONY BENN recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists PETER JAY and WILL HUTTON discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir PATRICK MOORE - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in old money?

Producers: SIMON JACOBS and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

PETER DAY considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.

Forty years ago, Britain 'went decimal'. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to 'new money' on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and PETER DAY delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was HAROLD WILSON's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister TONY BENN recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists PETER JAY and WILL HUTTON discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visitArchive On 4

Dial-a-poem

20130629

Poet BRIAN PATTEN explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risque poetry.

BRIAN PATTEN, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqu退 poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Dial-a-Poem changed the public face of poetry for generations.

Producer: Llinos Jones

A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4.

Poet BRIAN PATTEN looks back at 1960s counterculture through Dial-a-Poem.

Poet BRIAN PATTEN explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risqu退 poetry.

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir PATRICK MOORE - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Christopher Cook examines a unique set of recordings from the vaults of the American Jewish Committee that strove to define America's war aims and values.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Fuhrer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbor, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolf's' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.

But the backstory of these and other broadcasts from the AJC is as compelling as the star names chosen to speak for the people of America. Formed in 1906, the American Jewish Committee was a response to the plight of Eastern European Jewry then suffering a wave of pogroms. Avowedly 'unpolitical', in so far as it eschewed the major movements then gripping the Jewish world (Socialism, Zionism and Communism) it sought to defend Jewish life both in the U.S. and the heartlands of Eastern Europe and to engage in inter faith dialogue at home. At its heart was advocacy of a loyal American Jewish citizenry and a desire to overcome prejudice.

By the late 1930's the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programs aimed at fighting bigotry on the homefront and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising anti-semitism, domestically and abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, made just months after its destruction, are just a few of the archival gems of the A.J.C. spanning two decades of attempts to counter prejudice and imbue ordinary American's with the spirit of tolerance.

Producer: Mark Burman.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Fuhrer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbour, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolf's' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the WarsawArchive On 4

Decimal Day - What's That In Old Money?

20110205

20110207

Forty years ago, Britain 'went decimal'. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to 'new money' on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Producers: Simon Jacobs and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Peter Day considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visitArchive On 4

By the late 1930's the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programs aimed at fighting bigotry on the homefront and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising anti-semitism, domestically & abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.



Producer: Mark Burman.

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and PETER DAY delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was HAROLD WILSON's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister TONY BENN recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists PETER JAY and WILL HUTTON discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir PATRICK MOORE - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in old money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visitArchive On 4

Dial-a-poem

20130629

Poet BRIAN PATTEN explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risque poetry.

BRIAN PATTEN, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqu退 poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Dial-a-Poem changed the public face of poetry for generations.

Producer: Llinos Jones

A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4.

Poet BRIAN PATTEN looks back at 1960s counterculture through Dial-a-Poem.

Poet BRIAN PATTEN explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risqu退 poetry.

BRIAN PATTEN, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqué poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Poet BRIAN PATTEN explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risqué poetry.

For 6 weeks, in 1942, the airwaves of NBC hummed with the voices of Hollywood stars such as James Cagney, Raymond Massey and Helen Hayes addressing the Führer in the guise of ordinary citizens. Ever since the trauma of Pearl Harbor, thousands of letters had poured into radio networks and newspaper offices expressing support, anger and defiance at the new war America was now fighting. These letters earned themselves the sobriquet of 'Dear Adolfs' and Pulitzer prize winning writer Stephen Vincent Benet drew on their inspiration for six fictional missives to Hitler.

By the late 1930s the A.J.C. took to the airwaves to use the power of radio. Producing thousands of radio messages and programmes aimed at fighting bigotry on the home front and promoting democratic values for a diverse number of programmes. This was a time of rising antisemitism, domestically and abroad with the German American Bund holding mass rallies in Madison Square Gardens and the siren voice of radio demagogue Father Coughlin railing against 'internal enemies'.

Series like Dear Adolf and a gripping dramatization of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, made just months after its destruction, are just a few of the archival gems of the A.J.C. spanning two decades of attempts to counter prejudice and imbue ordinary Americans with the spirit of tolerance.

Forty years ago, Britain 'went decimal'. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to 'new money' on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Producers: Simon Jacobs and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in old money?

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in old money?

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Producers: Simon Jacobs and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Peter Day considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Producers: Simon Jacobs and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Peter Day considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.

Forty years ago, Britain went decimal. Two thousand years of everyday currency history was overthrown overnight as the country woke up to new money on February 15th 1971 and said goodbye to coins such as the crown, the florin and the shilling.

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the Save our Sixpence campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and rounding up, as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether thinking in tens is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in old money?

Archive on 4: Embarrassment - we all suffer from it, many of us work hard to avoid it and some of us love to talk about it. Why do we get embarrassed? What exactly is it? It's different to shame and humiliation but at the time feels just as bad. We like to laugh about it which is why so much of comedy is based upon it. Darwin thought it's what makes us human, Keats believed it was essential to love. Author and Journalist LYNNE TRUSS prepares to cringe through the archive of blunders, blushes and bashfulness and hopes it is not too embarrassing.

Journalist LYNNE TRUSS prepares to cringe as she investigates embarrassment.

'Archive on 4: Embarrassment - we all suffer from it, many of us work hard to avoid it and some of us love to talk about it. Why do we get embarrassed? What exactly is it? It's different to shame and humiliation but at the time feels just as bad. We like to laugh about it which is why so much of comedy is based upon it. Darwin thought it's what makes us human, Keats believed it was essential to love. Author and Journalist LYNNE TRUSS prepares to cringe through the archive of blunders, blushes and bashfulness and hopes it is not too embarrassing.'

Few economic events have affected the entire country so immediately and Peter Day delves into the archives to examine how the country prepared for and responded to D Day. It was Harold Wilson's Labour government that began the process of decimalisation in the 1960s after many years of discussion. Then cabinet minister Tony Benn recalls how changing Britain's money fitted in with the modernising ideology of the time, while former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Dick Taverne remembers the passion of the 'Save our Sixpence' campaign.

Economists Peter Jay and Will Hutton discuss whether decimalisation contributed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s alongside archive stories of price rises and 'rounding up', as earnest commentators worried about how 'the housewife' would cope. Did we lose something, culturally and intellectually, when we embraced new money?

Oxford Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy considers whether 'thinking in tens' is really the best way to go about things. And Peter visits The Kings' Head pub in North London where the landlord's tills charged in pounds, shillings and pence for some three decades after D-Day. He also talks to Sir Patrick Moore - patron of the Metric Martyrs campaign - about his love of imperial measures.

Britain may have been successful in decimalising its currency in 1971 but why was the movement towards full metrication - begun at the same time - never completed? Finally Peter asks, if you're old enough to remember, is it still possible to think in 'old money'?

Producers: Simon Jacobs and Phil Smith

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Peter Day considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.

Over the years, this island adventure story has been interpreted in a huge variety of ways: by critics as the first ever novel in English; by political theorists as an allegory of colonialism; by economists as a story of primitive accumulation; by anthropologists as a classic statement of nature and civilisation; and by educationalists as a story of learning by doing. 

The book has also inspired countless creative works, from Gulliver's Travels, Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island to Lost In Space, Cast Away and The Martian. Not forgetting several reality TV shows and the ever popular Desert Island Discs. 

Three hundred years on from Robinson Crusoe's publication, cultural historian Christopher Frayling sets sail through the BBC archive to explore the creation and legacy of this controversial text.

Interviewees:

Charles Boyle, author of Good Morning, Mr Crusoe

Judith Hawley, Professor of 18th-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London

Andrew Lambert, Professor of Naval History at King's College London

Olivette Otele, Professor of History at Bath Spa University

Andrew Pollard, writer, director and pantomime dame

Brian Sibley, author and broadcaster

Producer: Jane Long

Over 300 years on from Robinson Crusoe's publication, cultural historian Christopher Frayling sets sail through the BBC archive to explore the creation and legacy of this controversial text.

With art historian Jennifer Van Horn, curator Elizabeth Way and letters from Charles McIver to GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Presenter: Gus Casely-Hayford

Executive Producer: Rosie Collyer

Assistant Producer: Nadia Mehdi

Researcher: Zeyana Yussuf

Production Coordinator: Francesca Taylor

Sound Design: Rob Speight

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Gus Casely-Hayford explores the triumphs of black Americans in fashion from slavery to now

Gus Casely-Hayford unpicks the hidden histories behind what we wear.

Andrew Lambert, Professor of Naval History at King?s College London

The book has also inspired countless creative works, from Gulliver’s Travels, Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island to Lost In Space, Cast Away and The Martian. Not forgetting several reality TV shows and the ever popular Desert Island Discs. 

A dawn of two suns - the world's first atomic bomb explosion tested in the New Mexico desert on July 16 1945 - inaugurated the atomic age, forever defining the global struggle for supremacy. At the time, the so called 'Father of the atomic bomb', Robert Oppenheimer, famously quoted Hindu scriptures with the apocalyptic words Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

This programme examines the little known story of British involvement in the top secret Manhattan Project to make an atomic bomb and how Britain, once the lead in nuclear weapons, was eventually marginalised.

It is a story of a British/US rivalry which ended in Britain being squeezed out of the project. But it is also the story of Churchill's failure to secure a position on the global high table of nuclear powers, a failure many regard as a betrayal.

While Britain may have regretted the loss of their atomic leadership, this programme also examines the views that one of the reasons for Britain's isolation - American fears about the security risk of British participation - was well justified. After all Klaus Fuchs, a member of the British delegation, was arguably the most significant of the wartime atomic spies.

But, speaking to the widow of an until recently unknown American atomic spy, the programme also uncovers evidence that the so-called 'best kept secret', the Manhattan Project, was far more deeply penetrated than we have previously realised.

Produced by Kati Whitaker

A Kati Whitaker production for BBC Radio 4.

How Britain developed the world's first atomic bomb only to lose it to the Americans when the U.S. reneged on an Anglo-American agreement to share atomic research.

A dawn of two suns - the world's first atomic bomb explosion tested in the New Mexico desert on July 16 1945 - inaugurated the atomic age, forever defining the global struggle for supremacy. At the time, the so called 'Father of the atomic bomb', Robert Oppenheimer, famously quoted Hindu scriptures with the apocalyptic words 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'.

How Britain developed the world's first atomic bomb only to lose it to the Americans.

Brian Patten, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqu退 poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Dial-a-Poem changed the public face of poetry for generations.

Producer: Llinos Jones

A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4.

Poet Brian Patten explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risqu退 poetry.

Poet Brian Patten explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risque poetry.



A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4.

Brian Patten, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqu? poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Brian Patten, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqué poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.

Poet Brian Patten explores the 1960s counter-culture through its radically risqué poetry.

Marking the 20th anniversary of her untimely death, Archive on 4 presents a unique and moving portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales - her life documented in reverse chronology.

Diana, Princess of Wales was arguably the most famous - and most photographed - woman in the world. Her life has been exhaustively discussed and disassembled in the media both before and since her untimely death on 31st August 1997. As the anniversary of that tragic event approaches, is there anything truly new for us to learn about her remarkable, turbulent, and short life - and how the way we reacted to it changed our society?

Drawing from hundreds of hours of footage, Archive on 4 presents a unique, unmediated portrait of the Princess - starting with the sombre events of her funeral and taking the listener on a journey backwards through her life and times: from the remarkable public outpouring of grief that followed her passing; the almost unbearable press intrusion into her private world in her last months; her new life as a single woman; her divorce, her married life and the public jubilation surrounding the Royal Wedding of 1981; right back to the announcement of the 19 year-old Diana's engagement to Prince Charles.

Unpresented and unmediated, the programme offers a unique audio montage of the events of, and reaction to, one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th century. Featuring contributions from the archives from Piers Morgan, Andrew Neill, Jennie Bond, Richard Kay - as well as several of Diana's closest friends, and members of the British public.

Produced by Steven Rajam and James Roberts for BBC Radio 4

Contributors:

Arthur Edwards

Barbara Daly

Bea Campbell

David Emanuel

David Starkey

Denis Lawson

Eammon McCabe

Earl Spencer

Elizabeth Emanuel

Glenn Harvey

James Naughtie

James Reynolds

James Whitaker

Jeremy Paxman

John Humphrys

Ken Lennox

Martin Bashir

Michael Shea

Patrick Jephson

Penny Juror

Rosie Boycott

Tim Graham

Tom Cruise

Tony McGrath

Archive:

All Things Considered, BBC Radio Wales

Archive on 4 - A History of the Stiff Upper Lip, BBC Radio 4

A Royal Recovery, BBC Radio 4

BBC News Special - Diana: 10 Years On, BBC News 24

Capturing the Royals: The Story of Royal Photography, BBC2

Decisive Moments: A Rough Road, BBC2

Diana: The People's Princess, BBC1

Great Britons: Diana, BBC2

Heart of the Matter, BBC1

Fifty Years with the Firm: Prog 5: Doom and Gloom, BBC Radio 4

Mediumwave, BBC Radio 4

Memories of Diana, BBC1

Modern Times: The Shrine, BBC4

Newsnight, BBC1

Panorama, BBC1

Proms, BBC1

The Princess's People: A View from the Crowd, BBC2

The Reunion: The Wedding of Charles and Diana, BBC Radio 4

The Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed: Remembering Diana, BBC Radio 4

Top of the Pops, BBC1

Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4.

Fifty Years with the Firm: Prog 5: Doom & Gloom, BBC Radio 4

The Reunion: The Wedding of Charles & Diana, BBC Radio 4



Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4.

Unpresented and unmediated, the programme offers a unique audio montage of the events of, and reaction to, one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th century. Featuring contributions from the archives from Piers Morgan, Andrew Neill, Jennie Bond, Richard Kay - as well as several of Diana's closest friends, and members of the British public.

~Archive On 4 - A History of the Stiff Upper Lip, BBC Radio 4

Inheriting a steadfast belief in citizenship and social responsibility, Dickie or Dick (as he was known by his friends) threw his phenomenal energy and determination into making films like Gandhi and Cry Freedom, the latter telling the story of the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko and the journalist Donald Woods. He didn't set out to make box office hits, yet Gandhi played for weeks at the Odeon Leicester Square and won eight Oscars including best actor for Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, David Puttnam, William Goldberg and the late John Mills all join in celebrating Attenborough's skill as a director of actors, his stamina and his huge commitment to the British film industry. A year on from his death, Susan Marling (who met and recorded with Attenborough before he died) asks what his legacy has been.

Producer: Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.

Susan Marling celebrates Richard Attenborough's legacy a year on from his death.

Produced by Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

In a career that encompassed acting, producing and directing, Richard Attenborough was a mainstay of the British film industry.

Born 100 years ago on the 9th August 1923, Lord Richard Attenborough died aged 90 on 24th August 2014.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.

Born on the 9th August 1923, he died on 24th August 2014, aged 90. Susan Marling (who met and recorded with Attenborough before he died) asks what his legacy has been.

Inheriting a steadfast belief in citizenship and social responsibility, Dickie or Dick (as he was known by his friends) threw his phenomenal energy and determination into making films like Gandhi and Cry Freedom, the latter telling the story of the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko and the journalist Donald Woods. He didn’t set out to make box office hits, yet Gandhi played for weeks at the Odeon Leicester Square and won eight Oscars including best actor for Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, David Puttnam, William Goldberg and the late John Mills all join in celebrating Attenborough’s skill as a director of actors, his stamina and his huge commitment to the British film industry.

For decades psychologists working for the CIA have drawn up psychological profiles of foreign leaders.

Using expertise developed watching the Nazis, the programme presented American Presidents with detailed profiles of their opponents, complete with proposed weak points and personal foibles.

In 1961, prior to a planned summit meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the CIA profiled the Russian leader, declaring him 'an uninhibited ham actor who...has a truly unusual ability to project the force of his own powerful personality.

The report - which today reads like generalisation of a peculiarly obvious kind - so impressed Kennedy that he became 'addicted' to reading analyses of foreign leaders, particularly if they contained details of sexual peccadilloes. The Russians became keen on psychological reports too, commissioning one on Kennedy which questioned whether his liberalism was anything more than skin deep.

Extraordinarily, the CIA unit profiling foreign leaders survived the Cold War, offering such gems as...

'Fidel Castro is not 'crazy,' but he is so highly neurotic and unstable a personality as to be quite vulnerable to certain kinds of psychological pressure. The outstanding neurotic elements in his personality are his hunger for power and his need for the recognition and adulation of the masses...'

'While Saddam Hussein is not psychotic, he has a strong paranoid orientation...'

Psychoanalyst Daniel Pick explores these extraordinary files, and speaks to psychiatrists about the validity of 'distance readings' and foreign policy experts and historians about how they may have influenced the direction of American foreign policy.

And what exactly are the psychiatrists currently saying about today's world leaders?

In 1961, prior to a planned summit meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the CIA profiled the Russian leader, declaring him 'an uninhibited ham actor who ...has a truly unusual ability to project the force of his own powerful personality.

In 1961, prior to a planned summit meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the CIA profiled the Russian leader, declaring him an uninhibited ham actor who...has a truly unusual ability to project the force of his own powerful personality.

The report - which today reads like generalisation of a peculiarly obvious kind - so impressed Kennedy that he became addicted to reading analyses of foreign leaders, particularly if they contained details of sexual peccadilloes. The Russians became keen on psychological reports too, commissioning one on Kennedy which questioned whether his liberalism was anything more than skin deep.

FIDEL CASTRO is not crazy, but he is so highly neurotic and unstable a personality as to be quite vulnerable to certain kinds of psychological pressure. The outstanding neurotic elements in his personality are his hunger for power and his need for the recognition and adulation of the masses...

While SADDAM HUSSEIN is not psychotic, he has a strong paranoid orientation...

Psychoanalyst Daniel Pick explores these extraordinary files, and speaks to psychiatrists about the validity of distance readings and foreign policy experts and historians about how they may have influenced the direction of American foreign policy.

And what exactly are the psychiatrists currently saying about today's world leaders?

'For decades, the CIA profiled the minds of foreign leaders. Daniel Pick investigates.'

Fifty years ago this year, Westminster Abbey played host to a remarkable occasion, a memorial service for a mere journalist and broadcaster. The Abbey was packed. Hundreds of members of the public stood outside in the cold and wet to pay their respects to someone they saw as a trusted friend, Richard Dimbleby.

In this programme, Jonathan Dimbleby dips into the extensive treasure-chest of his father's work, dating back to the 1930s, when Dimbleby Sr boldly wrote to the BBC to propose the idea of such a thing as a 'radio reporter' and promptly got the job he'd envisaged. Right from the start, he displayed a remarkable natural flair for bringing reports alive through his choice of language, facility for painting vivid pictures and ability to improvise under pressure.

Richard Dimbleby was the BBC's first-ever out-and-about radio reporter, cutting his teeth by reporting live from a telephone box on the burning down of Crystal Palace. He was the Corporation's first war correspondent and air correspondent during the Second World War, remembered for flying with bombers, reporting the horrors of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and sitting in Hitler's chair. Dimbleby pioneered the art of broadcast commentary on major national events, describing the Coronation of Elizabeth II and the funerals of WINSTON CHURCHILL and JOHN F KENNEDY. When the Telstar satellite enabled live trans-Atlantic television, there was Dimbleby to host a debut programme. And who was in Red Square to host the first live tv broadcast from Moscow?

Dimbleby was the first to perfect the art of anchoring General Election results broadcasts and was a major factor in turning a faltering Panorama programme into essential viewing for millions in the depths of the Cold War. As a radio personality, he graced Down Your Way as presenter and Twenty Questions as panellist.

Assisting Jonathan Dimbleby in assessing his father's talents are three leading figures in post-war broadcasting - Sir PAUL FOX, Sir Jeremy Isaacs and Michael Peacock.

Produced by Andrew Green

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Mike unlocks the secrets of the song, peeling back layers of history, meaning and emotion. He hears about the love and hate that Ewan had for Salford -and what Ewan thought of famous covers of Dirty Old Town by The Dubliners and The Pogues. He learns about the song's 'missing verse' , and hears Peggy perform it live and exclusively, in an emotional finale overlooking the docks that MacColl sang about.

Presenter Mike Sweeney

Producer: Catherine Murray

Exec Producer: Richard McIlroy

Studio Manager: Michael Smith

Prod Co-ord: Lydia Depledge-Miller, Mica Nepomuceno and Pete Liggins

Dirty Old Town: Arrangement by Kate St John

The BBC Philharmonic was conducted by Mark Heron

Vocals: Peggy Seeger

Guitar: Neill MacColl

Orchestral Recording and Mix Engineer: John Cole

Guitar: Calum MacColl at WITW

Thanks to the Lomax Digital Archive for use of ‘When I was Single' by the Manchester Ramblers; Pam Bishop of Charles Parker Archive for the clip of Ewan MacColl in the Critics Group, Mary Orr for use of clips from Parsley, Sage and Politics.

Thanks to Hamish and his mum for permission to use lyrics from Landscape with Chimneys.

Special thanks to Josie Cahill, Partnerships Manager at BBC North and Kate Doyle, Director of We Invented the Weekend Festival.

Mike Sweeney unlocks the secrets of Ewan MacColl's timeless classic Dirty Old Town.

Dirty Old Town at 75. Mike Sweeney unlocks the secrets of Ewan MacColl's classic song, and Ewan's widow, folk legend Peggy Seeger, records a new version with the BBC Philharmonic.

For this programme, Samira Ahmed has spent months studying the private diaries and letters of Mary Whitehouse, now deposited in the Bodleian Library, to better understand the work and legacy of the decency campaigner whose name became a byword for prudery and censorship.

The diaries and those who knew Mary Whitehouse reveal a more complex picture - a sophisticated operator taking on the establishment, playing the media at their own game, and challenging the snobbery and sexism of the men who ran the TV and theatre industry. She was, and remains, a controversial figure but her decades-long battle against the normalisation of pornography and child exploitation is more relevant than ever.

Unknown to Mary Whitehouse at the time, one of her closest allies and advisors was later accused of being a violent abuser of children.

To better understand Mary Whitehouse, Samira speaks to Mary's granddaughter Fiona Whitehouse, Nicole Gilroy and Francesca Alves at the Bodleian Library, critics Michael Billington and Nicholas de Jongh, and actor and director Samuel West.

Readings by Lisa Bowerman

Producers: Simon and Thomas Guerrier

Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Samira Ahmed assesses the life and legacy of decency campaigner Mary Whitehouse.

It’s 40 years since Mary Whitehouse took the National Theatre to court for what she called gross indecency. She never saw the play, The Romans in Britain, but felt compelled to act against its director as part of her holy mission against obscenity.

To better understand Mary Whitehouse, Samira speaks to Mary’s granddaughter Fiona Whitehouse, Nicole Gilroy and Francesca Alves at the Bodleian Library, critics Michael Billington and Nicholas de Jongh, and actor and director Samuel West.

He shines a light on many ingrained racist stereotypes, reflects on yellowface and whitewashing - all at a unique moment. With a backdrop of an alarming rise in violence and threat in the shadow of Covid-19, East and South East Asian artists, writers and others in the media are mobilising like never before to fix the longstanding issues and address a persistent form of racism that gets largely overlooked.

Talking with academics Diana Yeh, Xun Zhou and Lu Gram, actors and writers Daniel York Loh and Chloe Mi Lin Ewart, master illusionist Jim Steinmeyer and musician Emma-Lee Moss (also known as Emmy the Great), Phil encounters magic crystal lanterns, starships and ouija boards. He takes a yellowface ride from Fu Manchu, to James Mason in a dodgy moustache with an even dodgier accent, through to 21st century Hollywood.

Phil also discovers the dark power of stereotypes, from the screen to the playground to the street and in the bedroom.

Presenter: Phil Wang

Producer: Richard Ward

Executive Producers: Max O'Brien and Sean Glynn

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Phil Wang investigates the representation of East and South East Asians in western media.

New documentary from BBC Radio 4.

Comedian Phil Wang takes a personal look at the representation of East and South East Asians in the West - on stage, screen and beyond.

He shines a light on many ingrained racist stereotypes, reflects on yellowface and whitewashing - all at a unique moment. With a backdrop of an alarming rise in violence and threat in the shadow of Covid-19, East and South East Asian artists, writers and others in the media are mobilising like never before to fix the longstanding issues and address a persistent form of racism that gets largely overlooked.

Talking with academics Diana Yeh, Xun Zhou and Lu Gram, actors and writers DANIEL YORK Loh and Chloe Mi Lin Ewart, master illusionist Jim Steinmeyer and musician Emma-Lee Moss (also known as Emmy the Great), Phil encounters magic crystal lanterns, starships and ouija boards. He takes a yellowface ride from Fu Manchu, to James Mason in a dodgy moustache with an even dodgier accent, through to 21st century Hollywood.

Phil also discovers the dark power of stereotypes, from the screen to the playground to the street and in the bedroom.

Presenter: Phil Wang

Producer: Richard Ward

Executive Producers: Max O'Brien and Sean Glynn

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Phil Wang investigates the representation of East and South East Asians in western media.

Talking with academics Diana Yeh, Xun Zhou and Lu Gram, actors and writers Daniel York Loh and Chloe Mi Lin Ewart, master illusionist Jim Steinmeyer and musician Emma-Lee Moss (also known as Emmy the Great), Phil encounters magic crystal lanterns, starships and ouija boards. He takes a yellowface ride from Fu Manchu and Suzy Wong, to James Mason with a dodgy moustache and an even dodgier accent, through to 21st century Hollywood.

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2020.

Comedian Phil Wang investigates stereotypes in the representation of East and South East Asians in western media. From 2020.

Using archive which conveys the powerful emotions of the time, including the music that expressed social and political passions, as well as news and interviews with those who played a significant part in divisive events or tried to bring warring sides together on common ground, Divided Nation examines social and political changes which have fed the sense of division in Britain.

Recent data suggests that one in five Leave voters and one in three Remain voters would not welcome a member of the other camp marrying into the family. This parallels data in the US showing that Republican and Democrat voters are less socially open to their opposite numbers than in the past.

Today's Brexit divide is often explained as reflecting deeper cultural differences, as well as different economic realities. Does this account for the description of unprecedented division? With the help of more contemporary archive, historians and sociologists, we will look for possible reasons for this feeling that we have never been more divided.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert

Timandra Harkness asks if the nation is more divided now than it has been for fifty years

Rosie Boycott, herself a veteran of the feminist battles of the 1960s, revisits the personal stories and surprising debates of the 1950s, 60s and 70s documenting and reflecting on the profound social change unleashed by the new divorce legislation.

Producer: Daniel Tetlow.

40 years after the Divorce Act came into force, what was the impact on British society?

'40 years after the Divorce Act came into force, what was the impact on British society?'

40 years ago, a legal change ushered in one of the most profound and rapid changes in British society.

The Divorce Act of 1969 came into force in 1971, introducing the concept of no-fault divorces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland followed with its own reform not long after.

The results were dramatic.

The rate of divorce - which had been around 30,000 a year in the 1960s, rocketed in the first year of the new act to over 110,000.

It continued to rise, hitting a high of over 160,000 couples in the mid-80s, before dropping back down as more couples cohabit rather than marry.

Still, four out of ten marriages are estimated to end in divorce, and the UK has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.

Rosie Boycott, herself a veteran of the feminist battles of the 1960s, revisits the personal stories and surprising debates of the 1950s, 60s and 70s documenting and reflecting on the profound social change unleashed by the new divorce legislation.

Producer: Daniel Tetlow.

40 years ago, a legal change ushered in one of the most profound and rapid changes in British society. The Divorce Act of 1969 came into force in 1971, introducing the concept of no-fault divorces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland followed with its own reform not long after. The results were dramatic. The rate of divorce - which had been around 30,000 a year in the 1960s, rocketed in the first year of the new act to over 110,000. It continued to rise, hitting a high of over 160,000 couples in the mid-80s, before dropping back down as more couples cohabit rather than marry. Still, four out of ten marriages are estimated to end in divorce, and the UK has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.

'40 years after the Divorce Act came into force, what was the impact on British society?'

Just 60 years ago, the initials DNA were unknown to the public. A handful of scientists were in a race to discover the structure of this complex molecule which possibly held the secret of life. Today, DNA is a crucial part of our knowledge about health, identity and our whole world.

In April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published their conclusion that the structure of DNA was a double helix. In this programme Robert Winston traces the ways in which DNA has entered our lives, including a new interview with the 85 year old James Watson, who reflects on the consequences of his pioneering work with Crick.

The programme begins with archive of Watson and Crick as they talk about their attempts in Cambridge to solve the structure, while their rivals in London, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, competed and contributed to the groundbreaking discovery.

Understanding the genetic code of the structure led to the Human Genome project, completed in 2003, which aimed to identify all genes in human DNA. Its application for medical conditions, identifying gene mutations that could lead to disease and disability, has continued to raise questions of ethics as to how this intimate knowledge of people's genes might be used.

A further leap forward in the application of DNA was discovered by Alec Jeffreys in 1984, when he realised that each person's DNA fingerprint was unique. Whether it's in solving crimes or paternity issues, working towards a cure for cancer or heart disease, or finding Richard III in a car park, the revolution that was heralded 60 years ago has galloped into our lives.

Robert Winston assesses where we are and looks ahead to what DNA might lead to in the future.

Producer: Richard Bannerman

A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.

Barrister and former TV presenter and Government minister Anna Soubry looks back at how the discovery changed crime investigations, with DNA evidence leading to many guilty pleas and verdicts which would otherwise have been much more difficult to prove.

Anna hears from people involved in various cases over the years, as well as experts about how DNA fingerprinting changed both crime investigations and trials. She looks at how the technique was also used to prove various miscarriages of justice.

But did society's fascination with DNA fingerprinting lead to an over mythologising of its use as a magic bullet to solving crimes? And what about its early failings? Sample sizes and contamination have created doubts in some investigations. Has the role of DNA in the mind of juries ultimately undermined their ability to look at broader evidence and to see it as only part of the jigsaw to solving a case?

Anna trawls through the archives as well as meeting people who both champion the way the breakthrough has improved investigations, but caution against over reliance.

Among those contributing to the programme are: Baroness Helena Kennedy KC; forensic science expert, Professor Jim Fraser; Dr Sue Pope, who has been an expert witness in many legal cases; Michael Crompton, writer of ITV series Code of a Killer about the Colin Pitchfork murder, the first case to use DNA fingerprinting; and Professor of Forensic Genetics, Peter Gill who worked on the Amanda Knox case and recently gave evidence in a high profile Norwegian case that ended as a proven miscarriage of justice that relied upon DNA evidence.

Anna gives her own personal take on how DNA fingerprinting has impacted on her legal career and asks if there are any lessons still to be learnt about the existence of DNA fingerprinting and how it's handled and perceived.

Producer: Ashley Byrne

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

Barrister and former Minister Anna Soubry looks back at 40 years of DNA fingerprinting.

It's 40 years since the discovery of DNA fingerprinting by Sir Alec Jeffreys at his lab in Leicester. Anna Soubry examines how it revolutionised crime investigations.

And while we may have lost those early programmes, Shaun hears how home recordings ensured all the audio survived.

What happened to the 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s?

Shaun Ley investigates why the tapes were wiped and how dedicated fans hunted down copies of other episodes in film collections from Cyrpus to New Zealand.

While we may have lost those early programmes, Shaun hears how some home recordings ensured all audio survived.

Producer: Chris Ledgard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.

SHAUN LEY investigates what happened to 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s.

Shaun Ley investigates what happened to 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s, why the tapes were wiped and how dedicated fans hunted down copies of other episodes in film collections from Cyprus to New Zealand. And while we may have lost those early programmes, Shaun hears how home recordings ensured all the audio survived.

Featuring archive footage, interviews and new conversations with showrunner Steven Moffat, script editor Andrew Cartmel, former companions including Anneke Wills, Katy Manning and Janet Fielding, and the voice of the Daleks Nicholas Briggs along with Dalek Operator Barnaby Edwards. Also, there's analysis from several academics who have published books on the subject.

Sue examines how progressive the show has been, questioning if our favourite time traveller has kept with the times.

A Voiceworks production for BBC Radio 4

Sue Perkins explores how Doctor Who has reflected our social history on and off screen.

Sue Perkins explores how Doctor Who has reflected our social history on and off screen - from advances in technology to politics, violence, gender and sexuality.

But looking back, Dom's not really sure whether he really was a goth, because he doesn't really know what being a goth meant or even what it was all about. So could he really be part of a sub-culture he couldn't actually define? What does goth stand for, what are the membership rules and was he ever really part of that club?

To get some answers to his questions he trawls through the BBC archive, hearing what Siouxsie thought of Robert Smith's lipstick, and from Gary Numan on who he think was to blame for panstick.

He talks to gothdom experts like Wayne Hussey, John Robb and Lol Tolhurst about what exactly goth is. Kirk Brandon discusses why he's the only person he talks to who claims to be a goth and why Dom thinks he's the only who's not.

Jo Whiley tells Dom about the pitfalls of being a blonde goth and he talks to Marcus Brigstocke about how this bunch of introverted extroverts came to his rescue.

And Dom steps back into his youth when he goes to the goth weekend in Whitby. .

Written and presented by Dom Joly

Contributors; Lol Tolhurst, Kirk Brandon, Wayne Hussey, Jo Whiley, Marcus Brigstocke

Archive material from:

A Brief History of Goth, BBC 6Music 2017

Rock Family Trees, BBC 2 1998

London Plus, BBC1 2014

The G Word, Radio 2 2009

The People's Songs: Love Cats A Particularly British Style, Radio 2 2017

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith

Production Coordinator: Ellie Dobing

Executive Producer: Julian Mayers

A Yada-Yada production for BBC Radio 4

Dom Joly used to be a goth - or did he? He journeys through the archive to find out.

Dom used to be a goth - or did he? And what is a goth actually? He searches for answers in the archives and talks to other recovering goths. With Lol Tolhurst and Wayne Hussey.

The project took the name of William the Conqueror's Domesday book and was completed in time for the 900th anniversary of its namesake,

The anniversary prompted BBC TV producer Peter Armstrong to propose an equally ambitious project.

Using money left over from the successful country wide roll-out of the BBC Micro computer to schools, he hit upon the idea of compiling something similar to the Domesday Book.

He wanted to collect pictures and text, gathered by children everywhere, in a digital format, and ultimately deliver a computer resource for every library and school.

The country was divided into 3x4 mile squares, and for two years community groups from schools, Scout and Guide troops, Women's Institutes and Tourist Information Centres, were corralled into diligently gathering information about local life in the 1980s.

After a huge press launch over a million people took part in the survey, and their stories were astonishingly diverse.

14,000 schools took up the challenge and approached the project in many different ways.

From the small Scottish school who undertook a full census of the wildlife on their island, to the (newly) ex-miners' children who wrote poetry about their hopes for a non-coal powered future.

The stories and photographs were eventually loaded onto the Domesday machine and the technology was demonstrated to at the highest level, from the Queen, to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and to President Mitterand.

However, when the final machine - a slightly Heath-Robinson combination of a BBC Master, a tracker-ball pointer (this was pre-mouse) and a large 12 inch video disc player (this was pre-CD Rom) - was unveiled in November 1986, it was frustratingly expensive.

At almost £5,000, the machines were outside the price range of nearly all libraries and schools.

So most of the people involved in gathering the data and snapping the photos never even saw the fruits of their labour.

As time went by, the BBC scrapped its interest in interactivity, and the project decayed.

All the data so painstakingly collected was locked up in obsolete technology - a good example of the Digital Dark ages of the 1980s.

By 2002 the hidden Domesday data started to gain cult status and was a treasure trove for digital archaeologists, many of whom have laboriously excavated the data from the disintegrating discs.

Now, 25 years after the original project, that digital archaeology is resurrecting a history of Britain never seen before and data from the 1986 Domesday project is now being made available via the internet at www.BBC.co.uk/domesday.

Michael Wood unlocks the secrets of the 1986 BBC Domesday project.

The country was divided into 3x4 mile squares, and for two years community groups from schools, Scout & Guide troops, Women's Institutes and Tourist Information Centres, were corralled into diligently gathering information about local life in the 1980s.

Historian Michael Wood surveys the rise, fall, and rehabilitation of the most ambitious digital survey, ever carried out. The project took the name of William the Conqueror's Domesday book and was completed in time for the 900th anniversary of its namesake,

The anniversary prompted BBC TV producer Peter Armstrong to propose an equally ambitious project. Using money left over from the successful country wide roll-out of the BBC Micro computer to schools, he hit upon the idea of compiling something similar to the Domesday Book. He wanted to collect pictures and text, gathered by children everywhere, in a digital format, and ultimately deliver a computer resource for every library and school.

The country was divided into 3x4 mile squares, and for two years community groups from schools, Scout and Guide troops, Women's Institutes and Tourist Information Centres, were corralled into diligently gathering information about local life in the 1980s. After a huge press launch over a million people took part in the survey, and their stories were astonishingly diverse. 14,000 schools took up the challenge and approached the project in many different ways. From the small Scottish school who undertook a full census of the wildlife on their island, to the (newly) ex-miners' children who wrote poetry about their hopes for a non-coal powered future.

However, when the final machine - a slightly Heath-Robinson combination of a BBC Master, a tracker-ball pointer (this was pre-mouse) and a large 12 inch video disc player (this was pre-CD Rom) - was unveiled in November 1986, it was frustratingly expensive. At almost £5,000, the machines were outside the price range of nearly all libraries and schools. So most of the people involved in gathering the data and snapping the photos never even saw the fruits of their labour.

As time went by, the BBC scrapped its interest in interactivity, and the project decayed. All the data so painstakingly collected was locked up in obsolete technology - a good example of the Digital Dark ages of the 1980s.

By 2002 the hidden Domesday data started to gain cult status and was a treasure trove for digital archaeologists, many of whom have laboriously excavated the data from the disintegrating discs. Now, 25 years after the original project, that digital archaeology is resurrecting a history of Britain never seen before and data from the 1986 Domesday project is now being made available via the internet at www.BBC.co.uk/domesday.

The country was divided into 3x4 mile squares, and for two years community groups from schools, Scout & Guide troops, Women's Institutes and Tourist Information Centres, were corralled into diligently gathering information about local life in the 1980s. After a huge press launch over a million people took part in the survey, and their stories were astonishingly diverse. 14,000 schools took up the challenge and approached the project in many different ways. From the small Scottish school who undertook a full census of the wildlife on their island, to the (newly) ex-miners' children who wrote poetry about their hopes for a non-coal powered future.

The country was divided into 3x4 km blocks, and for two years community groups from schools, Scout & Guide troops, Women's Institutes and Tourist Information Centres, were corralled into diligently gathering information about local life in the 1980s. After a huge press launch over a million people took part in the survey, and their stories were astonishingly diverse. 14,000 schools took up the challenge and approached the project in many different ways. From the small Scottish school who undertook a full census of the wildlife on their island, to the (newly) ex-miners' children who wrote poetry about their hopes for a non-coal powered future.

However, when the final machine - a slightly Heath-Robinson combination of a BBC Master, a tracker-ball pointer (this was pre-mouse) and a large 12 inch video disc player (this was pre-CD Rom) - was unveiled in November 1986, it was frustratingly expensive. At almost £5,000, the machines were outside the price range of nearly all libraries and schools. So most of the people involved in gathering the data and snapping the photos never even saw the fruits of their labour.

John Lloyd unearths the private papers of his friend and colleague Douglas Adams, and discovers more about the agonies he went through to write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, forty years ago.

The papers, donated to St John's College, Cambridge University, include note books, ramblings, rants about how hard it is to write, unfinished scenes and passages never included in Douglas Adams' books.

John Lloyd co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and Douglas Adams had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to 'give me the boot' and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

Other contributors to the programmes include the original producer and now novelist Simon Brett; original cast members Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Mark Wing-Davey; and Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

John also discusses how unpublished writings by Douglas Adams have just been used in a new series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, about to be transmitted on Radio 4.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Alan Dein fastens his seat-belt and takes a breakneck tour through the history of the Public Information Film, from its post war origins to its digital present.

For 65 years the Central Office of Information sought to influence the nation's behaviour with thousands of Public Information Films. Trawling through an abundant sea of archive, Alan finds the campaigns that arose in each decade and the themes that were repeated, until some attained cult value.

From road safety to child safety, using the telephone to embracing nuclear power, the dangers of drugs to the dangers of the internet, Public Information Films have been used to warn and educate young and old about the perils of life in an ever changing modern Britain.

The legendary Charley Says and Green Cross Man films have also made a comeback in the last few years to warn of 21st century hazards.

When it closed in 2012, the Central Office of Information left its vast film archive to the British Film Institute where it is undergoing the transformation from celluloid to digital at the BFI's Conservation Centre.

Most of the films heard on this programme can be viewed in the BFI Player by clicking on this link: http://player.bfi.org.uk/collections/public-information-films/

Producer Neil McCarthy.

The papers, donated to St John's College, Cambridge University, include note books, ramblings, rants about how hard it is to write, unfinished scenes and passages never included in Douglas Adams' books.

John Lloyd co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and Douglas Adams had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to 'give me the boot' and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

Other contributors to the programmes include the original producer and now novelist Simon Brett; original cast members Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Mark Wing-Davey; and Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

John also discusses how unpublished writings by Douglas Adams have just been used in a new series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, about to be transmitted on Radio 4.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.

John Lloyd uncovers the private papers of the late Douglas Adams.

John Lloyd unearths the private papers of his friend and colleague Douglas Adams, and discovers more about the agonies he went through to write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, forty years ago.

John Lloyd co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on BBC Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and Douglas Adams had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to 'give me the boot' and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

Other contributors include the original producer and now novelist Simon Brett; original cast members Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Mark Wing-Davey; and Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

John also discusses how unpublished writings by Douglas Adams were used in a further series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2018.

John Lloyd co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and Douglas Adams had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to give me the boot and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

John Lloyd co-wrote the first series of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which started on Radio 4 in 1978. He reveals that he and Douglas Adams had been commissioned to write the first novel together, following the success of the radio series, but Douglas decided to give me the boot and went on to write the books on his own. The novels have sold something in the region of 14 million copies.

A Bite Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Just 7 of thin vinyl connects generations, continents, lovers and the lost.

From 1935 until the coming of the cassette, anyone, anywhere in the world, from Australia to Argentina, could walk into an auto-recording booth, from the Empire State to Brighton Pier, a Cunard Liner to the NAAFI and make their own short gramophone record.

From the anonymous to the likes of Tennessee Williams, the Beats and GRACIE FIELDS, join Alain Dein on a journey through the grooves of time and memory.

Producer: Mark Burman

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.

ALAN DEIN explores how people recorded their own voices on gramophone records before the age of audio cassette. From April 2002.

Just 7' of thin vinyl connects generations, continents, lovers and the lost.

From 1935 until the coming of the cassette, anyone, anywhere in the world, from Australia to Argentina, could walk into an auto-recording booth, from the Empire State to Brighton Pier, a Cunard Liner to the NAAFI and make their own short gramophone record.

From the anonymous to the likes of Tennessee Williams, the Beats and Gracie Fields, join Alain Dein on a journey through the grooves of time and memory.

Producer: Mark Burman

Alan Dein explores how people recorded their own voices on gramophone records.

Alan Dein explores how people recorded their own voices on gramophone records before the age of audio cassette. From April 2002.

Just 7 of thin vinyl connects generations, continents, lovers and the lost.

Born in Iran in 1919, brought up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and a settler in post-war London, Doris Lessing was the eternal outsider. She became one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century and in 1962, The Golden Notebook brought her international attention. The protagonist of The Golden Notebook, Anna Wulf writes in four different coloured notebooks, in different voices: ‘a black notebook, which is to do with Anna Wulf the writer; a red notebook, concerned with politics; a yellow notebook, in which I make stories out of my experience; and a blue notebook which tries to be a diary.

The writer Lara Feigel's life was changed when she read The Golden Notebook in her mid-30s. Now on the 10th anniversary of Lessing's death in November 2013, Lara is looking back at her extraordinary life through the prism of The Golden Notebook, fragmenting her life into coloured notebooks as Anna fragments her own life in the novel.

Using the BBC's archive and new interviews with her friends and readers across the generations, Lara is attempting to reanimate the complexity of Doris Lessing's life and the long-lasting impact of her ground-breaking novel.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Dr Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Junior Research Fellow in African and Comparative Literature, St Anne's College, Oxford

Professor Anthony Chennells, Arrupe College, Zimbabwe

Maggie Gee, writer

Deborah Levy, writer

Melissa Benn, writer

Cherie Blair CBE, KC

Nikita Lalwani, writer

Stephen Bush, journalist

Rebecca Liu, editor

Lisa Appignanesi, writer

Dr Nonia Williams, Lecturer, University of East Anglia

King's College London MA Students: Doriana Dyakova; Anwesh Banerjee; Raashiqah Nagoor, Inka Unwin

Lauren Oyler, writer

Dr Susie Orbach, psychoanalyst and writer

Nicholas Pearson, publisher

Presenter: Lara Feigel, academic, writer and author of 'Free Woman, Life, Liberation and Doris Lessing

Reader: Zannah Hodson

Producers: Melissa FitzGerald and Sarah O'Reilly

A Zinc Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Lara Feigel explores the life of Doris Lessing through the lens of The Golden Notebook.

Lara Feigel explores the life of writer Doris Lessing on the tenth anniversary of her death through the lens of her most pioneering work, The Golden Notebook.

On awarding the writer Doris Lessing the Nobel Prize in literature in 2007, the academy described her as ‘that epicist of the female experience’. Lessing herself greeted the news of the award, ambushed by journalists and photographers outside her London home, with the words: 'Oh Christ!'. She was 88 years old, she’d written over 50 books and she refused to be grateful.

Born in Iran in 1919, brought up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and a settler in post-war London, Doris Lessing was the eternal outsider. She became one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century and in 1962, The Golden Notebook brought her international attention. The protagonist of The Golden Notebook, Anna Wulf writes in four different coloured notebooks, in different voices: ‘a black notebook, which is to do with Anna Wulf the writer; a red notebook, concerned with politics; a yellow notebook, in which I make stories out of my experience; and a blue notebook which tries to be a diary.’

The writer Lara Feigel’s life was changed when she read The Golden Notebook in her mid-30s. Now on the 10th anniversary of Lessing’s death in November 2013, Lara is looking back at her extraordinary life through the prism of The Golden Notebook, fragmenting her life into coloured notebooks as Anna fragments her own life in the novel.

Using the BBC’s archive and new interviews with her friends and readers across the generations, Lara is attempting to reanimate the complexity of Doris Lessing’s life and the long-lasting impact of her ground-breaking novel.

Dr Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Junior Research Fellow in African and Comparative Literature, St Anne’s College, Oxford

King’s College London MA Students: Doriana Dyakova; Anwesh Banerjee; Raashiqah Nagoor, Inka Unwin

Producers: Melissa FitzGerald and Sarah O’Reilly

Down Your Way was one of Britain's longest-running radio series. It started in 1946 when BBC producer Leslie Perowne hit on the idea of spinning out a popular music programme on the BBC Home Service with short interviews with members of the public. The idea was an instant success, and Down Your Way became a staple of the BBC's radio schedules for decades. At the height of its success in the 1950s - when television had yet to make a significant impact - it was attracting 10 million listeners a week. It finished its run in 1992.

Cultural historian, Professor Jeffrey Richards argues that Down Your Way portrayed a 'heritage Britain', intent on preserving the past, which provided listeners with a reassurance that - despite all appearances to the contrary - nothing would ever really change in their green and pleasant land.

Producer: Libby Cross

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.

Henry Kissinger is the most celebrated figure in US foreign policy, despite having left office over thirty-five years ago.

His much-vaunted 'opening to China' with President Nixon in 1972, his d退tente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

But Kissinger's reputation has a darker side. Some critics still find inexcusable the Americans' bombing of Cambodia and involvement in Chile's 1973 military coup. They also deplore what they see as his indifference to human rights.

In this programme, Mark Malloch Brown, a former Foreign Office minister and top official at the United Nations, presents a personal perspective on Dr. K.

As a young man in the 1960s and 1970s, Mark was repelled by what he saw as Kissinger's ruthless realpolitik and apparent downplaying of the plight of peoples from IndoChina to Latin America.

However, over the course of his own long career, Mark's view of Dr K has changed. The collapse of communism, the rise of China and the problems left unresolved by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have led Mark to view Kissinger's insights into foreign policy - and how to achieve stability and security - more sympathetically.

As Kissinger's 90th birthday nears, Mark asks: what are the lessons of Dr K's thinking and practice for our own times?

Also taking part are the historian, Margaret MacMillan; the colleague and critic of Henry Kissinger, Morton Halperin; the long-standing Kissinger aide, Winston Lord; and the author of the award-winning critique of America's bombing of Cambodia, William Shawcross.

Producer Simon Coates.

His much-vaunted opening to China with President Nixon in 1972, his d退tente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

His much-vaunted opening to China with President Nixon in 1972, his d退tente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

Producer Simon Coates.

His much-vaunted 'opening to China' with President Nixon in 1972, his d?tente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

His much-vaunted 'opening to China' with President Nixon in 1972, his détente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

His much-vaunted opening to China with President Nixon in 1972, his détente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

His much-vaunted opening to China with President Nixon in 1972, his détente policy with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and his shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East, all saw Dr. Kissinger guiding American interests and seeking durable power balances. Ever since then, each US president has sought out Kissinger's sage advice.

During that period, the BBC has commissioned more drama than any other organisation, leading one former head of the corporation's drama department to describe it as 'the National Theatre of the Air'.

In this edition of Archive On 4, Michael selects dramas from across the century that reflect the many features of the genre that help distinguish it from other narrative forms, noting just how many of our greatest writers have been attracted to try their hands at radio drama.

He begins his selection with the first ever surviving drama script written specifically for radio, A Comedy of Danger, set in the pitch black of a coal mine. To help them appreciate this whole new way of enjoying a play, listeners were encouraged to turn out their lights during the broadcast.

Guests include Caroline Raphael, Susan Roberts, Professor Tim Crook and Ayeesha Menon.

Produced by Geoff Bird

Executive Producer: Eloise Whitmore

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4

Michael Symmons Roberts celebrates a century of BBC Radio Drama.

Best known for his prize winning poetry, Michael Symmons Roberts has also written numerous radio dramas over the years, and is a passionate advocate for this form that has been one of the great cornerstones of British radio for a hundred years. During that period the BBC has commissioned more drama than any other organisation, leading one former head of the corporation's drama department to describe it as ‘the National Theatre of the Air.

In this edition of ‘Archive On Four' Michael selects dramas from across the century that reflect the many features of the genre that help distinguish it from other narrative forms, noting just how many of our greatest writers have been attracted to try their hands across the decades.

He begins his selection with the first ever drama written specifically for radio, ‘A Comedy of Danger', set in the pitch black of a coal mine. To help them appreciate this whole new way of enjoying a play, listeners were encouraged to turn out their lights during the broadcast.

Exec Producer - Eloise Whitmore

During that period, the BBC has commissioned more drama than any other organisation, leading one former head of the corporation’s drama department to describe it as 'the National Theatre of the Air'.

Best known for his prize winning poetry, Michael Symmons Roberts has also written numerous radio dramas over the years, and is a passionate advocate for this form that has been one of the great cornerstones of British radio for a hundred years. During that period the BBC has commissioned more drama than any other organisation, leading one former head of the corporation's drama department to describe it as ‘the National Theatre of the Air.

In this edition of ‘Archive On Four' Michael selects dramas from across the century that reflect the many features of the genre that help distinguish it from other narrative forms, noting just how many of our greatest writers have been attracted to try their hands across the decades.

He begins his selection with the first ever drama written specifically for radio, ‘A Comedy of Danger', set in the pitch black of a coal mine. To help them appreciate this whole new way of enjoying a play, listeners were encouraged to turn out their lights during the broadcast.

During that period the BBC has commissioned more drama than any other organisation, leading one former head of the corporation's drama department to describe it as 'the National Theatre of the Air.

Drawing on some of the greatest examples from the last century, Michael Symmons Roberts celebrates the collaborative art of radio drama - 'the National Theatre of the Air'.

The dramatists have delved into the troubled relationship between Blair and Brown, the events leading up to the Iraq war and its aftermath, the junking of old Labour values, the personalities, the sex scandals, and of course, spin.

They have characterised New Labour and its leading players in comedy, satire, drama, docu-drama and bio-pics.

Some Labour politicians even think they have seen a Blair-like figure materialise in Dr Who.

Whilst some dramatists base their work on detailed factual research, others lean heavily on their imagination.

But all hope to convey an essential truth about New Labour and its leading players, and indeed sometimes to plug a gap left by conventional journalists.

In this programme Professor Steven Fielding examines these dramas and their impact.

He asks what contribution the dramas have made to the way we see New Labour.

Do they confuse the viewer about what really happened and what is made up? What is it like for politicians to see themselves portrayed? Do they reveal a deeper truth? How far have they been genuinely revelatory?

The interviewees are former Downing Street spin doctors Alastair Campbell and Lance Price, writers and directors David Hare (Absence of War and other New Labour plays), Alistair Beaton (A Very Social Secretary and The Trial of Tony Blair), Neil McKay (Mo), Peter Kosminsky (The Project and The Government Inspector) and Stephen Frears (The Deal and The Queen), and current and former Labour MPs Clare Short, Adam Ingram, Andrew Mackinlay and Stephen Pound.

The producer is Jane Ashley

Steven Fielding is Director of the Centre for British Politics at the University of Nottingham.

Professor Steven Fielding looks at how New Labour has been dramatised on stage and screen.

They have characterised New Labour and its leading players in comedy, satire, drama, docu-drama and bio-pics. Some Labour politicians even think they have seen a Blair-like figure materialise in Dr Who.

Whilst some dramatists base their work on detailed factual research, others lean heavily on their imagination. But all hope to convey an essential truth about New Labour and its leading players, and indeed sometimes to plug a gap left by conventional journalists.

In this programme Professor Steven Fielding examines these dramas and their impact. He asks what contribution the dramas have made to the way we see New Labour. Do they confuse the viewer about what really happened and what is made up? What is it like for politicians to see themselves portrayed? Do they reveal a deeper truth? How far have they been genuinely revelatory?

It's lasted barely 11 decades, yet the era of the driver and the car is slowly coasting to a close. Fewer young people are learning to drive while the technology behind autonomous vehicles is set to come of age.

Peter traces his enthusiasm for driving back to his disreputable teenage years in Belfast. He starts this Archive on 4 with Mr Toad of the Wind in the Willows who, in 1908 (the year of the model T Ford), promised his friends he'd never drive again - only to break his promise almost instantly. The Toad story is prophetic. For many, cars are compulsive.

Using choice archive, Peter looks at the diverse role of driver - from Barbara Cartland's posh Chauffeur to the hapless guests featured on Road Rage School. And he tracks the car as style icon, with special reference to the lovable Morris Minor, the stylish Mini and the all-things-to-all-drivers Ford Cortina, whose pre-launch codename was the Archbishop.

Peter Curran identifies one car as prophetic. The VW Beetle - part of a plan by Adolf Hitler to allow all workers the freedom associated with motoring - starred in its own 1968 movie, the Love Bug. Herbie was the first-ever driverless car, though he was propelled by magic and belief, not artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile Alexei Sayle thinks future generations will marvel at the idea that their ancestors were allowed to drive cars 'in the same way chemists were allowed to put opium in cough syrup.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

A look back at the culture of cars as the driverless era approaches.

Meanwhile ALEXEI SAYLE thinks future generations will marvel at the idea that their ancestors were allowed to drive cars in the same way chemists were allowed to put opium in cough syrup.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

Developed by Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist in the 1930s, lobotomy, an operation in which healthy brain tissue was destroyed to treat mental illness, was adopted by doctors around the world to treat the most seriously ill psychiatric patients.

The most prolific lobotomist in the UK was Sir Wylie McKissock who carried out an estimated 3,000 lobotomies. He was a larger than life figure, lionised by the newspapers of the day, who was based in London but was happy to give up his weekends to travel around the UK carrying out lobotomies wherever there was a need.

But for every patient who was returned to family and friends cured of depression, anxiety and delusions there were scores who were left docile, incontinent, child-like and affectless.

Combining archive from the 1940s to 2010 with new interviews with neurosurgeons, medical historians and Howard Dully, who was given a lobotomy when he was just 12 years old, this programme explores the rise and decline of a procedure which once captivated doctors, the media and the public.

Claire Prentice looks at the history of a notorious medical procedure - lobotomy.

It's more than a decade since the Mexican State Railway System operated its last continuous passenger service across the country.

Sound recordist Chris Watson spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel this route.

In this sound portrait, based on his original recordings, we recreate the journey of the 'ghost train'; evoking memories of a recent past, capturing the atmosphere, rhythms and sounds of human life and wildlife along the tracks of one of Mexico's greatest engineering projects.

Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis.

From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon.

The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years.

From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds.

Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, John Wayne.

Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas.

The dangers of working here are legendary.

The ghost train travels on..

a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city.

In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals.

Cattle are even driven along them.

But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop.

Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death.

The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.

The recordings used in this programme were originally made by Chris Watson whilst in Mexico with a film crew for the BBC Television programme, Great Railways Journeys: Mexico.

Sadly, since these recordings were made, the artist Phil Kelly has died (August 2010).

Narrator Chris Watson

Producer Sarah Blunt.

An acoustic journey by train across Mexico is recreated using archive recordings.

It's more than a decade since the Mexican State Railway System operated its last continuous passenger service across the country. Sound recordist Chris Watson spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel this route. In this sound portrait, based on his original recordings, we recreate the journey of the 'ghost train'; evoking memories of a recent past, capturing the atmosphere, rhythms and sounds of human life and wildlife along the tracks of one of Mexico's greatest engineering projects.

Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis. From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years. From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds. Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, John Wayne. Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas. The dangers of working here are legendary. The ghost train travels on.. a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city. In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals. Cattle are even driven along them. But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop. Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death. The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.

The recordings used in this programme were originally made by Chris Watson whilst in Mexico with a film crew for the BBC Television programme, Great Railways Journeys: Mexico. Sadly, since these recordings were made, the artist Phil Kelly has died (August 2010).

Our journey begins on the west coast at Los Mochis. From here the track rises to an altitude of around 2,500 metres (over 8,000 ft) travelling through truly spectacular scenery as it sweeps through the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara people, descendants of the Aztecs, still live a simple life in these canyons, as they have done for thousands of years. From here, we descend into Chihuahua City, and pause in the goods yard of the station, eavesdropping on an industrial symphony of metallic sounds. Further south, near the city of Durango, we swap railway coach for stage coach and travel to La Joya, the ranch once owned by the actor, John Wayne. Then it's back on the train, and onwards to the silver mines of Zacatecas. The dangers of working here are legendary. The ghost train travels on .. a gentle breeze sighs through the pine forest along the track side, and then, further south, the sounds of the Mariachi bands greet the train as it travels through Mexico city. In the vast landscape of shanty towns, the tracks are used as commuter routes by the locals. Cattle are even driven along them. But such practices can be fatal; in these suburbs, the trains don't stop. Then there's a diversion to El Tajin; here the descendants of the Mayans spin from tall poles and play games where the winner faces a sacrificial death. The end of the journey approaches; the ghost train thunders on towards the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico and our destination, Veracruz, where ship hooters in the harbour compete with the deafening screech of the train horn.

In 2024 Rachel has a stake in the answer: she's co-presenting the BBC election night coverage on Radio 4 and 5 Live. So in this programme she looks back at the archives from great General Election nights past, speaks to politicians and presenters about what makes these nights so special, and records behind the scenes during recent programmes. She'll give a sense of what happens when the cameras aren't looking, the microphones are off, and the spin hasn't yet been spun, and offer the insider story of the unique place which election nights hold in British politics.

Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Giles Edwards.

Rachel Burden asks what makes general election nights so incredibly exciting.

Brilliant stories told using archive material from the BBC and beyond.

PAUL MORLEY tells a parallel story of Elvis and America, from the vantage point of the King's finest hour in 1968.

'I've got to do this sooner or later,' Elvis says sheepishly, 'so I may as well do it now.'

And so the 1968 Comeback Special begins: his quiff defying gravity and his leather jumpsuit chafing, as he bursts into an elemental rendition of Heartbreak Hotel. It had been one of his first singles thirteen years before, initially recorded when he was still a teenager living in the Jim Crow South at the beginning of rock and roll.

Much had happened in the meantime: JFK, the Beatles, the hippies and Detroit soul. And Elvis had become a different person, depressed, addicted and increasingly irrelevant.

So by 1968, after his stint in the army, the uninspired films and the years of absence from the stage, the Comeback Special was an opportunity to resuscitate Elvis's career, to claw back his status as a powerful, credible force.

And it did, fleetingly. He was fabulous, and his discography is never better showcased than on that day.

But it also marked the point at which it became clear that the King was fragile.

He was 33, a new father, and he would never be this good again.

PAUL MORLEY believes the 1968 Comeback Special shows us Elvis at his best. But also that it offers a vantage point from which to look backwards, forwards and outwards to a changing America - remembering where the hillbilly kid had come from and poignantly aware of where he would end up.

Featuring historian Mary Frances Berry, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, writer Luc Sante and theatre artist Greg Wohead.

Producer: Martin Williams.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.

He was thirty-three, a new father, and he would never be this good again.

I've got to do this sooner or later, Elvis says sheepishly, so I may as well do it now.

And so the 1968 Comeback Special begins: his quiff defying gravity and his leather jumpsuit chafing, as he bursts into an elemental rendition of Heartbreak Hotel. It had been one of his first singles 13 years before, initially recorded when he was still a teenager living in the Jim Crow South at the beginning of rock and roll.

PAUL MORLEY believes the '68 Comeback Special shows us Elvis at his best. But also that it offers a vantage point from which to look backwards, forwards and outwards to a changing America - remembering where the hillbilly kid had come from and poignantly aware of where he would end up.

Featuring:

Historian, Mary Frances Berry

Film-maker, Eugene Jarecki

Writer, Luc Sante

Theatre artist, Greg Wohead.

Much had happened in the meantime: JFK, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the counterculture, psychedelia and Motown. And Elvis had slipped ever more into depression, addiction and a creeping sense of his own irrelevance.

So by 1968, after the army, the uninspired films and the years of not performing on stage, the Comeback Special was an opportunity to resuscitate Elvis's career, to claw back his status as a powerful, credible force.

Featuring historian Mary Frances Berry, Elvis tribute artist Tommy Holland, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, writer Luc Sante and theatre artist Greg Wohead.

It's different to shame and humiliation but at the time feels just as bad. We like to laugh about it which is why so much of comedy is based upon it.

Darwin thought it's what makes us human, Keats believed it was essential to love.

Author and Journalist Lynne Truss prepares to cringe through the archive of blunders, blushes and bashfulness and hopes it is not too embarrassing.

Journalist Lynne Truss prepares to cringe as she investigates embarrassment.

Archive on 4: Embarrassment - we all suffer from it, many of us work hard to avoid it and some of us love to talk about it. Why do we get embarrassed? What exactly is it? It's different to shame and humiliation but at the time feels just as bad. We like to laugh about it which is why so much of comedy is based upon it. Darwin thought it's what makes us human, Keats believed it was essential to love. Author and Journalist Lynne Truss prepares to cringe through the archive of blunders, blushes and bashfulness and hopes it is not too embarrassing.

'Archive on 4: Embarrassment - we all suffer from it, many of us work hard to avoid it and some of us love to talk about it. Why do we get embarrassed? What exactly is it? It's different to shame and humiliation but at the time feels just as bad. We like to laugh about it which is why so much of comedy is based upon it. Darwin thought it's what makes us human, Keats believed it was essential to love. Author and Journalist LYNNE TRUSS prepares to cringe through the archive of blunders, blushes and bashfulness and hopes it is not too embarrassing.'

In these goal obsessed, triple-dip recession conscious days, the merest hint of idleness can send politicians and headline writers into a state of near apoplexy. Front-benchers from all political parties seem to be tripping over themselves in a bid to establish the supremacy of their moral devotion to the 'hard working families' and upstanding citizens of 'alarm clock Britain'.

Oliver Burkeman steps back from the fray to unravel the complications of idleness and even discover some of its merits. As a non-idler who confesses to that feeling of smugness at having achieved tasks before breakfast time, Oliver nonetheless questions whether our target driven culture can ever bring any sense of contentment or happiness. The crux of the conflict seems to be that although idleness may be the dream, we spend most of our lives actively rejecting it.

And so we admire, despise and envy the idler, all at once. Oliver consults a diverse range of characters from the archive to untangle some of the complications. These include Bagpuss, Rab C Nesbitt, Tony Hancock, Waynetta Slob and Ronald Reagan, who all help Oliver examine idleness and its relation to childhood, creativity, boredom, social class and subversion.

There are also wonderful insights from 'real people'. There's the testimony of a schoolboy from 1960s Birmingham, dreaming of the island life. Unbothered by the noise of everyday life (including The Queen chasing him for rates) he is able to compose opera by seeking inspiration from nature. A gloriously grand Colonel's wife flagrantly tells of her life of luxury, being fed and watered by her husband with bath time Brandy and Ginger Ales, iced coffees, only occasionally talking to the children through the intercom if she is particularly bored. Then there's the fisherman who believes that idleness and death go hand in hand and that the introduction of the Welfare State could only turn him into a sluggard. And there's the moving testimony of a former miner, who began work in the pits during his school holidays in 1925, and then paradoxically found the greatest moments of happiness and freedom during the months of idleness brought about by the General Strike.

Oliver also meets with the founder of The Idler magazine, Tom Hodgkinson, for a whistle stop history of idleness and the philosophical debate, to discover how the work ethic became so inculcated. Tom argues that at least part of the reason for this is because, by their very nature, pro-idlers are bound to be less zealous in spreading the idleness word.

There's also an appealing aside, when Oliver observes that in the right person, idleness and that special insouciance that can go with it, is simply 'cool'.

With fantastic music, enquiry, and laughter, join Oliver Burkeman, Embracing Idleness.

Producer: Sarah Langan.

Oliver Burkeman uses the archive to explore the controversial subject of idleness.

Some encounters with Queen Elizabeth are official, like the weekly prime-ministerial meetings or the regular audiences she holds with the Privy Council and her military chiefs-of-staff. Others are more ad-hoc, with camera-wielding crowds on royal walkabouts or visits overseas. But all are met with nerves: bouquets are dropped, coffee spilled, welcoming parties caught off-guard. ROBERT LACEY's collection of tales from around the world features all of these, and the inside story of how the Queen has dealt with over-assertive premiers, talkative Americans and how Her Majesty proof-read an article about her clothes, and even corrected the journalist's spelling.

A Jubilee collection of stories from the archive and new-minted tales of royal encounters from the Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, former First Sea Lord, Admiral Alan West and others.

Producer: Simon Elmes

ROBERT LACEY with tales of meetings - official and unexpected - with the monarch.

Meticulous preparation, perfected protocol, polished routines ? all feature in a Platinum Jubilee portfolio, presented by the distinguished royal biographer and historian, Robert Lacey, of stories about the day her subjects met the Queen.

Some encounters with Queen Elizabeth are official, like the weekly prime-ministerial meetings or the regular audiences she holds with the Privy Council and her military chiefs-of-staff. Others are more ad-hoc, with camera-wielding crowds on royal walkabouts or visits overseas. But all are met with nerves: bouquets are dropped, coffee spilled, welcoming parties caught off-guard. Robert Lacey’s collection of tales from around the world features all of these, and the inside story of how the Queen has dealt with over-assertive premiers, talkative Americans and how Her Majesty proof-read an article about her clothes, and even corrected the journalist’s spelling.

Meticulous preparation, perfected protocol, polished routines – all feature in a Platinum Jubilee portfolio, presented by the distinguished royal biographer and historian, ROBERT LACEY, of stories about the day her subjects met the Queen.

Meticulous preparation, perfected protocol, polished routines - all feature in a Platinum Jubilee portfolio, presented by the distinguished royal biographer and historian, Robert Lacey, of stories about the day her subjects met the Queen.

This programme uses archive from the North West Sound Archives, including interviews with Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson, Stanley Matthews and Brian Clough.

It will also look at the role that devolution has had on the English psyche, reflected at international matches with the Union Jack flag in decline, being replaced by the St George's Cross.

In Brazil 1950 England thought themselves invincible, only to find themselves humiliated by a USA team made up of part-timers.

England's football world was shaken, just as the country was coming to terms with a shift in its post-war political position in the world.

The role of the managers will be examined in this programme, starting with Walter Winterbottom, who wasn't allowed to select his own team.

His successor changed that and insisted on having complete control over who played.

That manager was Alf Ramsey and with him we see England finally achieve their goal, World Cup winners in 1966.

Ramsey was the first manager to clash with the media, a familiar pattern that would subsequently repeat itself.

The high of 1966 was followed by disappointments: the dark years of the 1970s when the team failed to qualify for the next two World Cups, and the country struggled with economic problems at home, as well as increasing violence at football matches.The 1990 World Cup in Italy saw a game in the process of transformation.

On the eve of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, England Expects will reflect on 60 years of the nation's participation in the greatest sporting event in the world.

Producer: Carol Purcell.

David Goldblatt relives 60 years of hope and hurt in England's World Cup history.

This programme uses archive from the North West Sound Archives, including interviews with Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson, Stanley Matthews and Brian Clough. It will also look at the role that devolution has had on the English psyche, reflected at international matches with the Union Jack flag in decline, being replaced by the St George's Cross.

In Brazil 1950 England thought themselves invincible, only to find themselves humiliated by a USA team made up of part-timers. England's football world was shaken, just as the country was coming to terms with a shift in its post-war political position in the world.

The role of the managers will be examined in this programme, starting with Walter Winterbottom, who wasn't allowed to select his own team. His successor changed that and insisted on having complete control over who played. That manager was Alf Ramsey and with him we see England finally achieve their goal, World Cup winners in 1966. Ramsey was the first manager to clash with the media, a familiar pattern that would subsequently repeat itself.

'Journalist Grace Dent presents her own field guide to failure, told through some of our most cherished and ear-popping examples of infamous fails. Featuring contributions from writer Jon Ronson, philosopher Andy Martin and Stephen Pile, author of The Book Of Heroic Failures.'

Journalist GRACE DENT presents her own field guide to failure, told through some of our most cherished and ear-popping examples of infamous fails. Featuring contributions from writer JON RONSON, philosopher ANDY MARTIN and Stephen Pile, author of 'The Book Of Heroic Failures'.

'Journalist GRACE DENT presents her own field guide to failure, told through some of our most cherished and ear-popping examples of infamous fails. Featuring contributions from writer JON RONSON, philosopher ANDY MARTIN and Stephen Pile, author of 'The Book Of Heroic Failures'.'

It used to be called 'The English Speaking World,' comprising Canada, New Zealand, Australia, America and a collection of smaller nations. As Britain looks around for allies and trading partners post the EU is the Anglosphere set for a comeback?

Is there a genuine cultural and political bond between Australians, Canadians, Americans and Brits, and a handful of Commonwealth nations, or are we looking at a complex world through glasses fogged with Empire nostalgia? Has Digital Culture created a world in which the English language is once again the dominant conduit of intellectual ideas and cultural exchange? Or in a world of China and Indian power is the Anglosphere a nostalgia kick for old white men? JONATHAN POWELL speaks to political and diplomatic figures to explore the power of the Anglosphere in a multi centred world.

Post-Brexit, could the 'English-speaking world' work together? JONATHAN POWELL presents.

It used to be called The English Speaking World, comprising Canada, New Zealand, Australia, America and a collection of smaller nations. As Britain looks around for allies and trading partners post the EU is the Anglosphere set for a comeback?

Is there a genuine cultural and political bond between Australians, Canadians, Americans and Brits, and a handful of Commonwealth nations, or are we looking at a complex world through glasses fogged with Empire nostalgia? Has Digital Culture created a world in which the English language is once again the dominant conduit of intellectual ideas and cultural exchange? Or in a world of China and Indian power is the Anglosphere a nostalgia kick for old white men? JONATHAN POWELL speaks to political and diplomatic figures to explore the power of the Anglosphere in a multi centred world.

Herman's experience of the 9/11 attacks shaped the man he is today and he now he wants to share what happened to him with his eldest daughter, Mary. Mary has never spoken to her dad about what he experienced during and after 9/11. For this Archive on Four, Herman has agreed to let us share his interview with Mary for the first time.

From the moment the first plane hit, Herman, despite being told to remain at his desk, bolted to the emergency exit and started the long journey down from the 73rd floor. On his journey down, he had to use his survival instincts to guide himself out the building to safety.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ‘Unsung Heroes’. As well as featuring Herman’s legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero. Charles Hargrove who co-ordinated ham radio operators in their search and rescue role after 9/11, also features.

Producer Kate Bissell

Presenter Stephen Evans

Herman Belderok recounts his escape from the 73rd floor of Tower 1 on 9/11.

In 2003 Stephen Evans, the BBC’s former North American correspondent and a survivor of the Twin Tower attack presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about radio ham operators who assisted with communication after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Whilst making this programme Stephen interviewed a ham radio operator called Herman Belderok. During the interview Belderok recounted the dramatic, emotional and detailed account of his escape from the 71st floor of Tower One, including the first plane hitting above him, the second plane hitting, then both towers falling.

From the moment the first plane hit Herman, bolted to the emergency exit and started the long journey down from the 71st floor. On his journey down he had to use his survival instincts to guide himself out the building to safety.

In 2003 STEPHEN EVANS, the BBC's former North American correspondent and a survivor of the Twin Tower attack presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about radio ham operators who assisted with communication after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Whilst making this programme Stephen interviewed a ham radio operator called Herman Belderok. During the interview, Belderok recounted the dramatic, emotional and detailed account of his escape from the 73rd floor of Tower One, including the first plane hitting above him, the second plane hitting, then both towers falling.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ?Unsung Heroes?. As well as featuring Herman's legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero. Charles Hargrove who co-ordinated ham radio operators in their search and rescue role after 9/11, also features.

In 2003 STEPHEN EVANS, the BBC's former North American correspondent and a survivor of the Twin Tower attack presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about radio ham operators who assisted with communication after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Whilst making this programme Stephen interviewed a ham radio operator called Herman Belderok. During the interview Belderok recounted the dramatic, emotional and detailed account of his escape from the 71st floor of Tower One, including the first plane hitting above him, the second plane hitting, then both towers falling.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ?Unsung Heroes'. As well as featuring Herman's legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ‘Unsung Heroes'. As well as featuring Herman's legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero.

In 2003 STEPHEN EVANS, the BBC?s former North American correspondent and a survivor of the Twin Tower attack presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about radio ham operators who assisted with communication after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Whilst making this programme Stephen interviewed a ham radio operator called Herman Belderok. During the interview, Belderok recounted the dramatic, emotional and detailed account of his escape from the 73rd floor of Tower One, including the first plane hitting above him, the second plane hitting, then both towers falling.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ?Unsung Heroes?. As well as featuring Herman?s legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero. Charles Hargrove who co-ordinated ham radio operators in their search and rescue role after 9/11, also features.

In 2003 STEPHEN EVANS, the BBC?s former North American correspondent and a survivor of the Twin Tower attack presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about radio ham operators who assisted with communication after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Whilst making this programme Stephen interviewed a ham radio operator called Herman Belderok. During the interview Belderok recounted the dramatic, emotional and detailed account of his escape from the 71st floor of Tower One, including the first plane hitting above him, the second plane hitting, then both towers falling.

Stephen interviewed several other ham radio operators for ‘Unsung Heroes'. As well as featuring Herman's legacy since 9/11 we also re interview paramedic Scott Buell, who worked at Ground Zero and who lost his best friend when the towers collapsed and ham radio operator Mike Bartmon who worked with the Red Cross at Ground Zero. Charles Hargrove who co-ordinated ham radio operators in their search and rescue role after 9/11, also features.

This ?movement?, for want of a better term, continues to intrigue, puzzle, delight, and exasperate the public to whom it is offered. But what is it? Does it change society? Is it good? How do we assess it? Or are we hampered by an outdated and hard-to-shake-off idea of what an artist is, and how and where they present their work to us?

Looking back over the last 50 years and more, art historian Dr James Fox investigates the historical antecedents of this year's Turner Prize shortlist. Drawing on the BBC archive and contemporary interviews, he disentangles some of the many threads of art practice that have been visible in the public domain; and talks to curators, practitioners, participants and arts professionals about the work they have presented. What makes it good? How do we compare it with a great master painting? Do we have the necessary critical and analytical vocabulary to make sense of this work?

James's journey, both historical and geographical, takes him from Fife in Scotland to the south coast of England. On the way he visits Milton Keynes, the largest and most ambitious of Britain's post-war new towns, where public and community art were seen as critically important elements of the nascent identity of a brave new settlement. James considers the work of important organisations such as the Artist's Placement Group in the 1960's and 70's, and the activity of Project Artworks, whose nomination for this year's Turner Prize is a tribute to 20 years of work that identifies a crossing point between art, care, and social activism.

This story, which might seem peripheral to the mainstream, is in fact one that looks deep into the qualities of the society that we might seek to live in. James Fox is our guide through a complex creative maze.

Producers: Lyndon Jones and Bella Kerr for BBC Wales.

James Fox tells an untold story of community and socially-engaged art in post-war Britain.

Concrete cows. First World War soldiers waiting at twenty-first century train stations. A concrete cast of a house. These are just some of the manifestations of public and community art that have captured the attention of the British public over the last 50 years. These are three well-known examples among thousands, of the efforts of artists to change the fabric of the environments in which we live, work and play. This year, the Turner prize shortlist consists of five artists' collectives from around the UK: groups whose work does not principally belong in galleries; work that does not seek, as its principal focus, to present an admiring public with artefacts of beauty in hallowed halls of culture.

This ?movement', for want of a better term, continues to intrigue, puzzle, delight, and exasperate the public to whom it is offered. But what is it? Does it change society? Is it good? How do we assess it? Or are we hampered by an outdated and hard-to-shake-off idea of what an artist is, and how and where they present their work to us?

Looking back over the last 50 years and more, art historian Dr James Fox investigates the historical antecedents of this year?s Turner Prize shortlist. Drawing on the BBC archive and contemporary interviews, he disentangles some of the many threads of art practice that have been visible in the public domain; and talks to curators, practitioners, participants and arts professionals about the work they have presented. What makes it good? How do we compare it with a great master painting? Do we have the necessary critical and analytical vocabulary to make sense of this work?

James?s journey, both historical and geographical, takes him from Fife in Scotland to the south coast of England. On the way he visits Milton Keynes, the largest and most ambitious of Britain?s post-war new towns, where public and community art were seen as critically important elements of the nascent identity of a brave new settlement. James considers the work of important organisations such as the Artist?s Placement Group in the 1960?s and 70?s, and the activity of Project Artworks, whose nomination for this year?s Turner Prize is a tribute to 20 years of work that identifies a crossing point between art, care, and social activism.

This ‘movement', for want of a better term, continues to intrigue, puzzle, delight, and exasperate the public to whom it is offered. But what is it? Does it change society? Is it good? How do we assess it? Or are we hampered by an outdated and hard-to-shake-off idea of what an artist is, and how and where they present their work to us?

Concrete cows. First World War soldiers waiting at twenty-first century train stations. A concrete cast of a house. These are just some of the manifestations of public and community art that have captured the attention of the British public over the last 50 years. These are three well-known examples among thousands, of the efforts of artists to change the fabric of the environments in which we live, work and play. This year, the Turner prize shortlist consists of five artists’ collectives from around the UK: groups whose work does not principally belong in galleries; work that does not seek, as its principal focus, to present an admiring public with artefacts of beauty in hallowed halls of culture.

This ‘movement’, for want of a better term, continues to intrigue, puzzle, delight, and exasperate the public to whom it is offered. But what is it? Does it change society? Is it good? How do we assess it? Or are we hampered by an outdated and hard-to-shake-off idea of what an artist is, and how and where they present their work to us?

Looking back over the last 50 years and more, art historian Dr James Fox investigates the historical antecedents of this year’s Turner Prize shortlist. Drawing on the BBC archive and contemporary interviews, he disentangles some of the many threads of art practice that have been visible in the public domain; and talks to curators, practitioners, participants and arts professionals about the work they have presented. What makes it good? How do we compare it with a great master painting? Do we have the necessary critical and analytical vocabulary to make sense of this work?

James’s journey, both historical and geographical, takes him from Fife in Scotland to the south coast of England. On the way he visits Milton Keynes, the largest and most ambitious of Britain’s post-war new towns, where public and community art were seen as critically important elements of the nascent identity of a brave new settlement. James considers the work of important organisations such as the Artist’s Placement Group in the 1960’s and 70’s, and the activity of Project Artworks, whose nomination for this year’s Turner Prize is a tribute to 20 years of work that identifies a crossing point between art, care, and social activism.

It's the second biggest website on the internet after Google and is watched by people across the world for over a billion hours a day.

But what effect is it having on us as individuals, and on our society?

Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker charts the video sharing website's rise from an idea in a computer engineering student's bedroom to a platform with a reach far greater than the BBC and all other television networks put together.

Chris meets one of the internet's original vloggers, talks to an early YouTube celebrity and finds out what it's like to become famous on YouTube in 2020.

He also explores the dark side of the website. In the past 18 months, YouTube has been accused of driving political extremism and giving credence to conspiracy theories and fake news.

How did one simple design decision taken by higher ups at the company help fuel those accusations?

Chris talks to an ex-YouTube insider who helped build the algorithm that lies at the centre of that decision.

We hear from an American teenager who says watching videos on the website was the reason he became a far-right radical. And we talk to an academic whose research helped uncover a shocking and terrible secret that forced YouTube to reckon with its fiercest critics.

Producer: Joe Sykes

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in February 2020.

Chris Stokel-Walker assesses how YouTube has shaped and changed the society we live in.

Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker investigates how the video sharing website has changed the society we live in. From 2020.

YouTube is a cultural behemoth. It's the second biggest website on the internet after Google and is watched by people across the world for over a billion hours a day. But what effect is it having on us as individuals, and on our society?

Chris meets one of the internet's original vloggers, talks to an early YouTube celebrity and finds out what it's like to become famous on YouTube in 2020. He also explores the dark side of the website. In the past 18 months, YouTube has been accused of driving political extremism and giving credence to conspiracy theories and fake news.

How did one simple design decision taken by higher ups at the company help fuel those accusations? Chris talks to an ex-YouTube insider who helped build the algorithm that lies at the centre of that decision.

Producer: by Joe Sykes

A Somethin' Else production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2020.

Produced by Joe Sykes

Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker charts the video sharing website's rise from an idea in a computer engineering student’s bedroom to a platform with a reach far greater than the BBC and all other television networks put together.

Chris meets one of the internet’s original vloggers, talks to an early YouTube celebrity and finds out what it’s like to become famous on YouTube in 2020.

[LISTEN NOW]

It's been thirty years since the playwright Dennis Potter sat down with Melvyn Bragg to record one of the most memorable interviews of the last century. Potter, weeks away from dying of cancer, shared his unforgettable reflections on seeing the world anew in this last phase of his life. His comments on the ‘nowness of everything' and the ‘blossomest blossom' on the pear tree outside his window were a revelation to the many thousands of viewers who were touched and changed by this landmark interview.

Oral historian Sarah O'Reilly delves into the rich archive of notable ‘last interviews' that followed in Potter's wake, including Clive James, Diana Athill, Jenny Diski, Steve Hewlett, Simon Boas and Nicholas Dimbleby who are just a few of the public figures who recorded powerful and moving conversations at the end of their lives, dramatic performances that live on in the public imagination. Often carefully deliberated and prepared, these encounters set out to record and make sense of their speakers' experiences of navigating illness and dying, creating road maps towards ‘The End' which embrace and celebrate life.

Looking at the growth and proliferation of the ‘last interview', the very public act of dying, over time, Sarah asks: what motivates people to speak about this intimate aspect of their lives, and what are the messages they want to leave behind? What does it feel like to interrogate the dying, is there a toll on those who take part, and why do we want to hear these dispatches from the edge of mortality?

With Damian Barr, Mary Beard, Melvyn Bragg, Rachel Cooke, Jonathan Dimbleby, Nick Robinson and Kathryn Mannix.

Presenter: Sarah O'Reilly

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Zinc Audio for Radio 4

Sarah O'Reilly delves into the rich archive of notable 'last interviews'.

Sarah O'Reilly delves into the rich archive of notable ‘last interviews' that followed in Dennis Potter's wake.

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It marked the start of a UK tour where 'Osmondmania' peaked. The press used the word 'hysteria' and David Dimbleby hosted a TV debate on whether The Osmonds were bad for the UK's youth.

Donny Osmond says 'That hysteria and adulation will never happen again, ever, I don't think for any artist. Even Harry Styles, Justin Bieber. Yes, it's crazy but it's a different kind of hysteria. Social media has changed everything. There's no mystique. That hysteria of 'I can't get it, but I want it' will never happen again because you can get it now'. Is Donny right? As teens have changed, has the nature of fandom changed too?

Tracing the history of teen idols, Josephine McDermott opens her own teenage diary for the first time and considers how her adulation for Take That compares to what went before for The Beatles and the Bay City Rollers, and what comes after with Harry Styles and social media influencers.

Contributors include psychologists Dr Linda Papadopoulos, and Dr Rebecca Tukachinsky Forster from Chapman University in the United States.

Presenter and producer: Josephine McDermott

Technical producer and sound design: Nicky Edwards

Editor: Tom Bigwood

Teenage devotion through the decades

Donny Osmond says the type of fan hysteria The Osmonds experienced could never happen now. Josephine McDermott traces the history of teen fans to see if he's right.

The grandeur of Churchill's state funeral saw a procession through the City of London, plus the coffin's final voyage down the River Thames to the Royal Festival Hall and on to Waterloo Station. From there the coffin was taken by train to its final resting place at Bladon Parish Church, Oxfordshire.

With excerpts from the original BBC commentary by Richard Dimbleby and Raymond Baxter, the programme recollects the thoughts and feelings of the wartime generation. With interviews with those were in the crowd or part of the procession. Features: Winston S Churchill, Nicholas Soames, Lord Deedes, Lady Soames, and Peter Dimmock.

Nicholas Witchell remembers the grandeur and impact of WINSTON CHURCHILL's state funeral.

Nicholas Witchell remembers the grandeur and impact of WINSTON CHURCHILL's state funeral on 30 January 1965. From January 2005.

On the eve of Father's Day, Mark Thomas examines how the image of dad has been made and re-made over the decades.

This is a personal journey into the BBC archives and beyond. Mark's own Dad was tough. Mark says he's a softee as a father. Do we need more definition of what it is to be dad?

While motherhood is traditionally twinned with apple pie, one strong image of fatherhood is a man dressed in a batman suit protesting his rights of access to his children. There's no single dominant image, though. We have gay dads, soft dads, disciplinarian dads, workaholic dads, stay-at-home dads and absentee dads. This is rich and rewarding territory, and the archive comes both from the public and private sphere. We hear experts and writers on fatherhood, famous dads like David Beckham and Sir Bob Geldof, and civilian dads' tales too.

Seismic events and cultural awakenings have shaped and re-shaped the figure of the father and yet today we still question who he really is. Why?

Mark also talks to fatherhood experts and those who have been watching the changing role of the father with a passionate interest over the decades - MP David Lammy, Adrienne Burgess from the Fatherhood Institute and Professor Charlie Lewis.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.



A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2017.

Producer: Sarah Cuddon

But could the US really live up to such lofty ideals? Do those four freedoms remain relevant as a goal for the international community? Or do they need to be reimagined for our own century?

With help from contributors such as FDR's grandson, James Roosevelt, as well as former UN Human Rights Commissioner, Zeid Ra'Ad Al Hussein, Cambridge Professor of International History David Reynolds examines the genesis of the speech, its immediate impact, and its far-reaching consequences.

Presenter: David Reynolds

Producer: Claire Bowes and Sandra Kanthal

Editor: Clare Fordham

Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Professor David Reynolds on what Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech means today.

In January 1941, American President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered an epic speech about the Four Freedoms that he believed to be vital for the post-war world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These words became the basis for a global understanding of “human rights?? and they also shed light on how the United States viewed itself and its global role at the dawn of the so-called 'American Century.

In this wide-ranging documentary, Cambridge Professor of International History David Reynolds examines the genesis of the speech, its immediate impact, and its far-reaching consequences.

What do Roosevelt's 'Four Freedoms' mean today?

In January 1941, American President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered an epic speech about the Four Freedoms that he believed to be vital for the post-war world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These words became the basis for a global understanding of ?human rights? and they also shed light on how the United States viewed itself and its global role at the dawn of the so-called 'American Century.

In January 1941, American President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered an epic speech about the Four Freedoms that he believed to be vital for the post-war world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These words became the basis for a global understanding of “human rights ? and they also shed light on how the United States viewed itself and its global role at the dawn of the so-called 'American Century.

In January 1941, American President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered an epic speech about the Four Freedoms that he believed to be vital for the post-war world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These words became the basis for a global understanding of `human rights` and they also shed light on how the United States viewed itself and its global role at the dawn of the so-called 'American Century.

Recorded on location in Manhattan, screen siren Kathleen Turner celebrates the enduring mystique of the femme fatale.

Turner, who famously played the husky-voiced femme fatale Matty walker in the steamy thriller Body Heat, traces the history of the Femme Fatale in cinema and in film noir where she was so often a central character.

Film noir always come to the fore during moments of deep cultural anxiety. And the character of the femme fatale shines a revealing light on the role of women in society and the relationship between the sexes.

It was towards the end of the Second World War that noir first emerged as a style of filmmaking. These were gritty thrillers that exposed the dark underbelly of the American Dream. In films such as Double Indemnity, Out Of The Past and The Postman Always Rings Twice, the femme fatale was the intelligent but heartless seductress who entrapped the male protagonist, for her own murderous and financial gain.

In the late 70s and early 80s, America experienced another moment of deep cynicism following the Vietnam war and filmmakers returned to film noir, with Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker as the ultimate neo noir femme fatale character in Body Heat. These films, not content with the racy innuendo of 1940s noir, shocked and thrilled audiences with explicit sex scenes. But through her typical tough dame talk, Matty Walker also draws attention to the underestimation of women by men.

With contributions from Eddie Muller (President of the Film Noir Foundation), Professor Ellis Cashmore and Nick James (Editor of the BFI's Sight and Sound magazine), Kathleen introduces standout performances from LAUREN BACALL, Barbara Stanwyck, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner.

The film noir femme fatale was a wonderfully meaty role for an up-and-coming Hollywood actress, such as British star Peggy Cummins. Now 91, she reflects on her role as the femme fatale in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy about an ambitious fairground sharp-shooter who goes on a bank robbing spree with her trigger-happy husband.

Julie Grossman (author of Rethinking The Femme Fatale in Film Noir) argues that we make blithe and easy reference to femmes fatales without considering their social and psychological context. Many 1940s femmes fatales in film noir were deeply interesting characters who felt trapped, bored or led deeply unfulfilling lives.

Kathleen argues that, despite great advances in gender equality since the 1940s, the femme fatale will always be relevant 'because men will always be terrified of women.

Producer: Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.

Kathleen argues that, despite great advances in gender equality since the 1940s, the femme fatale will always be relevant because men will always be terrified of women.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

A Just Radio production, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.

From New York, screen siren Kathleen Turner celebrates the enduring mystique of the film noir femme fatale. From 2017.

[LISTEN NOW]

Gay rights were slow to be granted. From the 1954 Wolfenden Report through to the 1968 Stonewall Riots in the US and the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK in 1967, change has been incremental. In 1972, the Gay Liberation Front staged the world's first ever Gay Pride march in London.

Interviewees include people who took part in that first demonstration. We also hear from Stonewall, the Queer Museum, and those who helped create Black Pride, as well as Gay's The Word bookshop, which was used as a meeting place by those who organised Pride in its early years.

The 1980s saw Margaret Thatcher's Section 28 law and the AIDS crisis with Pride growing in size.

In the 1990s, Pride came of age as LGBT equality groups began to mobilise against the injustices of the 1967 Act. Yet the event also entered a new commercial phase with the pink pound dominating.

In the 2000, campaigners began to see restrictive laws repealed - equal age of consent and a lifting of the ban on gay people in the armed services, civil partnerships and ultimately marriage.

The programme ends by asking where we are now and what the future holds.

Is there still a need for Pride? And, if so, what are the issues it should be pushing? Should it perhaps return to its original non-commercial protesting roots? And what does Pride mean to people today?

Presenter: Damian Barr

Producer: Howard Shannon

Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Damian Barr examines how Pride has helped bring about change for the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s 50 years since first ever Gay Pride march in July 1972. The event in London went on to inspire marches not only across all four nations of the UK - albeit decades later - but around the world. Damian Barr examines the impact of Pride on society over the past half century.

Gay rights were slow to be granted. From the 1954 Wolfenden Report through to the 1968 Stonewall Riots in the US and the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK in 1967, change has been incremental. In 1972, the Gay Liberation Front staged the world’s first ever Gay Pride march in London.

Interviewees include people who took part in that first demonstration. We also hear from Stonewall, the Queer Museum, and those who helped create Black Pride, as well as Gay’s The Word bookshop, which was used as a meeting place by those who organised Pride in its early years.

The 1980s saw Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 law and the AIDS crisis with Pride growing in size.

From sooty caverns with no electricity or running water, to sleek utopias of marble and technology, and everything in between - kitchens have come a long way in the last century. But questions of who uses them, how much space they should take up, and where to store the latest gadget continue to plague us.

With contributions from kitchen designers Johnny Grey and Amanda Hughes, as well as architectural historians Lloyd Alter and Professor Barbara Penner, we discover that the advent of the fitted kitchen was in the crucible of war and disease.

Through the marketing of the 1930s and 1950s, the kitchen became a site of scientific precision for the British housewife. Then the cooks and sitcoms of the 60s and 70s made it more about personal expression - Fanny Cradock cooked on TV from her own home, Delia whipped up a curry, and The Good Life showed another version of middle-class aspiration.

Today, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Nadiya Hussain offer busy people speedy and tasty meals, effortlessly thrown together in a beautiful, open-plan kitchen that dominates family life. Never mind if you want to shut the door on the mess and noise of cooking - or washing up -

So why does the kitchen of the future never arrive and what can 100 years of archive teach us about how we cook and live today?

Also featuring Dr Kevin Geddes, expert on TV cooks, and Lulu Grimes of BBC Good Food. With thanks to Rukmini Iyer, chef and cookbook author.

Presented by Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan and Ruby Tandoh

Produced by Leonie Thomas

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Rattling the archive drawers of 100 years of British kitchens.

Ruby Tandoh and Deborah Sugg Ryan are on the hunt for the ideal kitchen, with suggestions from the last 100 years of kitchen design.

Brian Wilson looks at the life of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Churchill's man in the East.

'Brian Wilson looks at the life of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Churchill's man in the East.'

In 1929 five leading European conductors - Toscanini, Klemperer, Furtwangler, Erich Kleiber and Bruno Walter - met at the Berlin Festival at the height of the Weimar Republic, shortly before Hitler took power.

Robert Giddings explores the confrontation between creativity and Fascism through the decisions made by these five musical giants.

In 1929 five leading European conductors - Toscanini, Klemperer, Furtwangler, Erich Kleiber and Bruno Walter - met at the Berlin Festival at the height of the Weimar Republic, shortly before Hitler took power. Robert Giddings explores the confrontation between creativity and Fascism through the decisions made by these five musical giants.

What went wrong in flat 113 at Grenfell Tower? Katie Razzall pieces together the evidence

How did a little sliver of plastic take over the world? Journalist Max Flint explores the arrival of the credit card into British life and the huge role it plays today.

The credit card was launched by Barclays in the UK in 1966.

The Barclaycard was marketed at first as a 'shopping card', rather than a credit card, to thwart the British public's resistance to getting into debt.

Barclaycard's first on-screen ad was called Travelling Light; it was targeted at women and featured the famous Barclaycard Bikini Girl who, oblivious to the shocked looks of passers-by, is seen making her way down a busy shopping street buying clothes and records, wearing nothing but a lilac-coloured bikini and carrying her Barclaycard in the bikini bottom.

The advert finished with the line, 'Barclaycard: all a girl needs when she goes shopping.

Barclaycard executives admit that the name of the first face of Barclaycard has now been lost in the mists of time.

The Bikini Girl and subsequent marketing has now given rise to the biggest cause of personal bankruptcies in the UK.

That first card is now accompanied by some 1,700 other credit cards in Britain alone, and we have the unenviable record as the world's most intensive credit card country, with 67 million cards for 59 million people.

With the launch of the first card began a technological battle between fraudsters and card companies, and the war is yet to be won.

The American credit companies invaded us in the mid-90's and goaded Britain into unheard-of levels of debt.

The thrill of the till has created a spending spree which is untempered by all the warnings from the archive news clips in this programme, taken from over the last 40 or so years, all of which tell us all what we already know - that this can't continue.

The credit card was launched by Barclays in the UK in 1966. The Barclaycard was marketed at first as a 'shopping card', rather than a credit card, to thwart the British public's resistance to getting into debt. Barclaycard's first on-screen ad was called Travelling Light; it was targeted at women and featured the famous Barclaycard Bikini Girl who, oblivious to the shocked looks of passers-by, is seen making her way down a busy shopping street buying clothes and records, wearing nothing but a lilac-coloured bikini and carrying her Barclaycard in the bikini bottom. The advert finished with the line, 'Barclaycard: all a girl needs when she goes shopping.

Barclaycard executives admit that the name of the first face of Barclaycard has now been lost in the mists of time. The Bikini Girl and subsequent marketing has now given rise to the biggest cause of personal bankruptcies in the UK. That first card is now accompanied by some 1,700 other credit cards in Britain alone, and we have the unenviable record as the world's most intensive credit card country, with 67 million cards for 59 million people. With the launch of the first card began a technological battle between fraudsters and card companies, and the war is yet to be won.

The American credit companies invaded us in the mid-90's and goaded Britain into unheard-of levels of debt. The thrill of the till has created a spending spree which is untempered by all the warnings from the archive news clips in this programme, taken from over the last 40 or so years, all of which tell us all what we already know - that this can't continue.

David also talks to contemporary artists including Ryan Adams who have come to embrace the bootleggers, and hears from bootleggers of the 1960s and 70s who pitted their wits against security guards, the Feds and the record companies to get their unofficial releases out to the public.

A Bite Yer Legs production for BBC Radio 4.

Writer and broadcaster DAVID HEPWORTH charts the story of bootleg recordings.

Synopsis

May 4th 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the Kent State massacre in Ohio. On the day the shootings occurred, Michael Goldfarb was in his second year at another university just down the road. By the end of the week he was being tear gassed in front of the White House.

For him, that event and the days and weeks that followed remain a turning point not just in his life but also in the history of political activism in the US. By creating the conditions that would inevitably lead to the shootings at Kent (and at Jackson State, a historically black college in Mississippi, ten days later) a message was sent by government - you can protest this far and no further. We will kill you.

He believes that, over the decades, this has affected expressions of activism - it has constrained, particularly in the Democratic Party, its more radical wing.

Now, as the US faces arguably its most consequential election since the Kent State shootings - with the country even more divided today than back then - is the Democratic party still feeling the effect of Kent? Since the Million Woman March, what sustained political movement has arisen? Which activists have risked jail or death to build a popular movement to turn the country around?

As the Democrats go through their primaries to select a presidential candidate, Michael Goldfarb explores through archive and personal memory what America was like at the time of that terrible weekend 50 years ago - and what it is like today.

Today, the site of the shooting is a National Historical Landmark and Kent State's current administrators are making a huge effort to mark the anniversary. The programme illuminates the continuities of history - Kent State does not exist in the past perfect tense. It is still shaping lives. It is, to appropriate Faulkner, not even the past.

A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4

Today, CAROL ANN DUFFY is the first-ever Poet Laureate, GILLIAN CLARKE is the National Poet of Wales, LIZ LOCHHEAD is the Makar or National Poet of Scotland, and Eavan Boland is a highly distinguished scholar-poet who divides her year between Stanford and Dublin.

In the light of these developments - not to mention the constitutional changes and wild economic fluctuations of the last 21 years - PEGGY REYNOLDS speaks with each of them again, asking them to reflect on their creative and professional journeys and on the state of women's poetry - and poetry in general - today.

Finally, she asks them to cast forward and predict what they might say if there were a similar programme in 21 years time. Their replies surprise her.

Producer BEATY RUBENS.

In 1992, four relatively unknown poets spoke with PEGGY REYNOLDS for BBC Radio 4 about the impact of gender and nationality on their poetry and on their sense of themselves as poets.

Poets CAROL ANN DUFFY, LIZ LOCHHEAD, GILLIAN CLARKE and Eavan Boland update a 1992 debate.

In 1992, four relatively unknown poets spoke with PEGGY REYNOLDS for BBC Radio 4 about the impact of gender and nationality on their poetry and on their sense of themselves as poets. Then, in 2014, they spoke with Peggy again.

In the intervening 21 years, CAROL ANN DUFFY had become the first-ever woman Poet Laureate, GILLIAN CLARKE the National Poet of Wales, LIZ LOCHHEAD the Makar or National Poet of Scotland, and, until her recent death, Eavan Boland was a highly distinguished scholar-poet dividing her year between Stanford in the USA and Dublin.

In the light of these developments - not to mention the constitutional changes and wild economic fluctuations of the last 21 years and more - when Peggy spoke with each of them in 2014, she asked them both to listen back to their previous contributions and to reflect on their creative and professional journeys and on the state of women's poetry - and poetry in general, both here and across the globe.

To mark the death of Eavan Boland, this broadcast offers another opportunity to hear four great poets in a changed and fast-changing world.



Producer BEATY RUBENS.

CAROL ANN DUFFY, LIZ LOCHHEAD, GILLIAN CLARKE and Eavan Boland on gender and poetry.

Frankenstein is one of a handful of works whose title has passed into the language of everyday life and has been adapted countless times for cinema, radio, television and theatre - with each new generation discovering the unique power of the original.

In the overwhelmingly Christian society of 1818, the notion of man creating life was both unthinkable and blasphemous. Two centuries later, the moral dilemmas of the original story continue to challenge and perplex us. After Dr CHRISTIAAN BARNARD performed the first heart transplant in 1967, he proclaimed I am the new Frankenstein'. Since then we have truly entered an age of genetically and surgically modified nature - from cloned sheep to disease-resistant crop strains. Inevitably these developments are met with newspaper headlines that scream Frankenstein!

CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING uses his expert knowledge to lead us through the rich and unsettling history of the Frankenstein myth, amidst a host of chilling archive recordings and insightful contributions from filmmakers, writers and scientists. He explores how and why, 200 years after it was born, Mary Shelley's nightmare creation is still very much alive and kicking.

Interviewees:

KIM NEWMAN, critic and horror writer

John Landis, film director

Sara Karloff, daughter of BORIS KARLOFF who played The Creature in the 1931 film

MADELINE SMITH, Hammer Studios actress

Miranda Seymour, biographer of Mary Shelley

Professor Sharon Ruston, science and literature expert

Stephen Hebron, Curator of Special Projects, Bodleian Library

Producer: Jane Long

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING explores the rich and unsettling history of the Frankenstein myth.

January 2018 is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein - Mary Shelley's extraordinary, ground-breaking novel about the creation of a living being who becomes a monster. Cultural historian and writer CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING considers how the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creature has become a creation myth for our age.

In the overwhelmingly Christian society of 1818, the notion of man creating life was both unthinkable and blasphemous. Two centuries later, the moral dilemmas of the original story continue to challenge and perplex us. After Dr CHRISTIAAN BARNARD performed the first heart transplant in 1967, he proclaimed 'I am the new Frankenstein'. Since then we have truly entered an age of genetically and surgically modified nature - from cloned sheep to disease-resistant crop strains. Inevitably these developments are met with newspaper headlines that scream Frankenstein!



A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4.

Face to Face was Burnett's idea and it was simple. Each week, a public figure would join the presenter John Freeman for a half hour interview.

Fifty years on the programmes still shine, remarkable for their relentless camera close-ups and Freeman's forensic questioning, bringing celebrities to television screens as never before.

In Freeman's World, Sue MacGregor and Hugh Burnett look back on the series, beginning with its interrogation of TONY HANCOCK - There's something troubling you about the world and I should like to know what it is. Critics rounded on Freeman for the tough line he took. In fact, the two men became firm friends.

Perhaps the most enduring Face to Face image is GILBERT HARDING in distress as he's asked about seeing someone die (Freeman didn't know Harding's mother had just passed away). But Harding didn't cry, reveals Hugh Burnett. He was sweating under the lights. Moreover, Burnett says, he knew he was in for a public beating.

Face to Face made John Freeman a celebrity, to his distaste. But his face was almost never seen, only the back of his head. And interviewing was just part of a life in which he has been soldier, MP, magazine editor, TV executive and high-ranking diplomat.

Freeman's World also features BERTRAND RUSSELL, Carl Jung, Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir STIRLING MOSS. And then there's EVELYN WAUGH, aloof and ill at ease in the studio. Asked by John Freeman why he's agreed to appear on Face to Face, Waugh replies Poverty. We've both been hired to talk in this deliriously happy way.

Producer: Chris Ledgard.

Sue MacGregor examines the work of John Freeman on the pioneering TV series Face to Face.

Freeman's World also features Bertrand Russell, Carl Jung, Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir Stirling Moss. And then there's Evelyn Waugh, aloof and ill at ease in the studio. Asked by John Freeman why he's agreeArchive On 4

20110219

20130105

Tighter, tighter!'.

In Freeman's World, Sue MacGregor and Hugh Burnett look back on the series, beginning with its interrogation of Tony Hancock - 'There's something troubling you about the world and I should like to know what it is'.

Moreover, Burnett says, he knew he was in for 'a public beating.

Asked by John Freeman why he's agreed to appear on Face to Face, Waugh replies 'Poverty.

Tighter, tighter!'. This, the television producer Hugh Burnett tells Sue MacGregor, was a typical instruction to cameramen on the BBC series Face to Face which ran from 1959 to 1962.

In Freeman's World, Sue MacGregor and Hugh Burnett look back on the series, beginning with its interrogation of Tony Hancock - 'There's something troubling you about the world and I should like to know what it is'. Critics rounded on Freeman for the tough line he took. In fact, the two men became firm friends.

Perhaps the most enduring Face to Face image is Gilbert Harding in distress as he's asked about seeing someone die (Freeman didn't know Harding's mother had just passed away). But Harding didn't cry, reveals Hugh Burnett. He was sweating under the lights. Moreover, Burnett says, he knew he was in for 'a public beating.

Freeman's World also features Bertrand Russell, Carl Jung, Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir Stirling Moss. And then there's Evelyn Waugh, aloof and ill at ease in the studio. Asked by John Freeman why he's agreed to appear on Face to Face, Waugh replies 'Poverty. We've both been hired to talk in this deliriously happy way.

Face to Face was Burnett's idea and it was simple. Each week, a public figure would join the presenter John Freeman for a half hour interview.

Fifty years on the programmes still shine, remarkable for their relentless camera close-ups and Freeman's forensic questioning, bringing celebrities to television screens as never before.

In Freeman's World, Sue MacGregor and Hugh Burnett look back on the series, beginning with its interrogation of TONY HANCOCK - 'There's something troubling you about the world and I should like to know what it is'. Critics rounded on Freeman for the tough line he took. In fact, the two men became firm friends.

Perhaps the most enduring Face to Face image is GILBERT HARDING in distress as he's asked about seeing someone die (Freeman didn't know Harding's mother had just passed away). But Harding didn't cry, reveals Hugh Burnett. He was sweating under the lights. Moreover, Burnett says, he knew he was in for 'a public beating.

Face to Face made John Freeman a celebrity, to his distaste. But his face was almost never seen, only the back of his head. And interviewing was just part of a life in which he has been soldier, MP, magazine editor, TV executive and high-ranking diplomat.

Freeman's World also features BERTRAND RUSSELL, Carl Jung, Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir STIRLING MOSS. And then there's EVELYN WAUGH, aloof and ill at ease in the studio. Asked by John Freeman why he's agreed to appear on Face to Face, Waugh replies 'Poverty. We've both been hired to talk in this deliriously happy way.

Producer: CHRIS LEDGARD.

Sue MacGregor examines the work of John Freeman on the pioneering TV series Face to Face.

Lisa Appignanesi explores the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

'SIGMUND FREUD and Carl Jung's names may be linked in the public imagination but the two men were friends and collaborators for only a few short years. In 1912 they had a final, catastrophic split and never worked together again. Lisa Appignanesi tells the story of the titanic struggle which shaped our map of the unconscious. Did the bisected science fail to fulfil its promise and how much can be laid at the door of the primal argument between its dominant father and rebellious son?'

By contrast, Winnicott believed that It is when a mother trusts her judgement that she is at her best. In his work he took the radical step of talking to mothers directly through the radio.

Winnicott explained a baby's development in vivid, non-clinical language; he avoided exciting guilt or anxiety in 'the ordinary devoted mother' without access to help or therapy. He broadcast anonymously but received sacks of letters. When his talks were published, they sold over 50,000 copies, and influenced Dr Spock.

Winnicott invented a new language in which to talk about babies and with the help of the BBC he created a new way to talk to parents about parenting. His broadcasts touched on many subjects: stepparents, saying no, feeling guilty, the development of a child's sense of right and wrong, why babies cry, weaning, the baby as a person, and what we mean by a normal child.

His brilliance was to build up mothers by breaking down the idea of motherhood. By unburdening women of inherited notions of perfection he helped them to become better mothers. He argued that failing was in fact a necessary part of parenting, and through the failure of the parent the child realises the limits of its own power and the reality of an imperfect world. And he questioned the assumption that professionals always new better and broke taboos about parenting.

With a proliferation of parenting manuals and TV shows today, Winnicott's message seems to have been lost. Many parents and in particular mothers still feel guilty about not living up to an ideal for their children. Anne Karpf is argues that today mothers need Winnicott more than they ever did.

Anne Karpf on psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, among the first to broadcast to new mothers.

By contrast, Winnicott believed that 'It is when a mother trusts her judgement that she is at her best.' In his work he took the radical step of talking to mothers directly through the radio.

Famous for her own love of word play, LYNNE TRUSS decodes a bountiful archive of clues, answers, interviews and puzzles to celebrate the centenary of this resilient mind teaser. The first crossword appeared in the New York Times in 1913, devised by a Liverpudlian called Arthur Wynne. He was the first of many setters whose cryptic clues and clever answers encapsulate the cultural and social agenda of their age. MI5 interrogated the Telegraph's first setter in 1944 when his crossword solutions suggested he knew too much about military operations. Lynne learns that code breakers selection for Bletchley Park was based on their prowess for cracking crosswords.

In an internet age of gaming and quick access to information, LYNNE TRUSS learns why scientists argue that the hardy crossword keeps the mind agile and listens to the sounds of the setter and crossword solver at work, pondering the trickiest clue.

Paul Hill was one of the Guildford Four, who were subsequently found to have been wrongly convicted of IRA pub bombings in 1974. After a lengthy campaign, their convictions were quashed and they were released in 1989.

Martin McNamara presents this collection of passionate, evocative, angry and poignant letters written by Paul Hill to members of his family, especially his mother, sister and uncle. His words give a real sense of an ordinary young man caught in a terrible miscarriage of justice, trying to reassure his mother, growing up at a distance from the world and his loved ones. They eloquently chart the nightmare of being jailed for something he did not do.

After his release Paul Hill donated hundreds of the letters he sent to his family to the Archive of the Irish in Britain at the London Metropolitan University.

At the original trial, where the convictions were based solely on confessions, the judge regretted that he could not impose the death penalty. From his cell, Paul Hill watched the world change: the birth of his child, the Thatcher years, punk, the miners' strike, the death of John Lennon, Glasnost.

The programme includes interviews with Hill himself from his adopted home in the USA, and with Joshua Rozenberg, who was the BBC legal correspondent during the period of Hills incarceration and release.

Reader...Jonjo O'Neill

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

Martin McNamara presents Paul Hill's letters from jail, read by Jonjo O'Neill.

Mark draws on his own interviews with Updike - including the one made in October 2008 which proved to he his last - appearances on programmes including Desert Island Discs and the writer's readings of his own stories and memoirs.

Updike talks about writing, sex, death, God, golf, American presidents from Kennedy to Obama, 9/11 and changes in literary culture.

Mark Lawson traces the career of late US novelist and poet John Updike

Mark draws on his own interviews with Updike - including the one made in October 2008 which proved to he his last - appearances on programmes including Desert Island Discs and the writer's readings of his own stories and memoirs. Updike talks about writing, sex, death, God, golf, American presidents from Kennedy to Obama, 9/11 and changes in literary culture.

Mark Lawson traces the career of late US novelist and poet John Updike.

Mark draws on his own interviews with Updike - including the one made in October 2008 which proved to he his last - and appearances on programmes including With Great Pleasure and Arena, and the writer's readings of his own stories and memoirs. Updike talks about writing, sex, death, God, golf and American presidents from Hoover to Obama.

Including tributes from his son David and editors from his publishers Knopf and the New Yorker magazine speaking at an event from the New York Public Library.

Mark draws on his own interviews with Updike - including the one made in October 2008 which proved to he his last - appearances on programmes including Desert Island Discs and the writer's readings of his own stories and memoirs. Updike talks about writing, sex, death, God, golf, American presidents from Kennedy to Obama, 9/11 and changes in literary culture.

Mark Lawson traces the career of late US novelist and poet John Updike.

The programme also delves into David's earlier career covering North and East Africa and the early years of the Vietnam War. But it's the understanding of the culture and the politics of Italy that David has made his lifetime's work.

In this very personal reminiscence he explores again the events of his time in the country. He talks to old friends and new arrivals about Italian life and attitudes at a crucial point in the country's story, and he offers his own telling insights into the stories behind the stories, and the importance of gaining and sustaining the trust of those on whom he reports.

There's a particularly telling view of the Vatican and its workings from a man who was largely responsible for the Pope providing Radio Four with a unique 'Thought for the Day'.

There's also a chance to hear the lighter side of David's Roman adventure including a truffle hunt with an eccentric female aristocrat and a conversation with a man who has both a Stradivarius and a Guaneri violin to choose from when he performs.

But it's the extra insights, the tour of Silvio Berlusconi's private tomb and the private conversations with the late Pope John Paul II that make David Willey such a unique and treasured figure in the BBC News story.

Producer: Tom Alban.

The BBC's veteran Rome correspondent David Willey looks back at his 50-year career.

Here Lauren Laverne takes an elegant and thoughtful look at the origins of the selfie and its cultural context. She talks to art historian Andrew Graham Dixon, philosopher Simon Blackburn (commenting on shampoo whose promise is that we are 'worth it'), beauty editor Sali Hughes and fashion designer Henry Holland, together with psychologist OLIVER JAMES and author and journalist Hadley Freeman.

It seems that selfies have their roots in our shifting attitudes to celebrity and to the self. In an ever more democratic landscape of media and communications they are about our increasing desire to star in the show of our own lives.

They are also forging a revolution in industries such as fashion and beauty and, some argue, putting the power back in the hands of the people. The show includes archive from the earliest Amateur Hour on US radio through the self-help campaigns of the 80s and the Kardashian-fuelled selfie phenomenon of the present.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

The current craze for taking selfies has attracted vast tracts of criticism - mostly from the pre-selfie generation. These posted self portraits are often seen as narcissistic, superficial, infuriating and possibly dangerous for vulnerable young people.

Lauren Laverne takes an elegant and thoughtful look at the origins of the selfie and its cultural context. She talks to art historian Andrew Graham Dixon, philosopher Simon Blackburn, beauty editor Sali Hughes and fashion designer Henry Holland, together with psychologist OLIVER JAMES and author and journalist Hadley Freeman.

It seems that selfies have their roots in our shifting attitudes to celebrity and to the self. In an ever more democratic landscape of media and communications they are about our increasing desire to star in the show of our own lives. They are also forging a revolution in industries such as fashion and beauty and, some argue, putting the power back in the hands of the people.

The programme includes archive from the earliest Amateur Hour on US radio, through the self-help campaigns of the 80s, and on to the Kardashian-fuelled selfie phenomenon of the present.

Produced by SUSAN MARLING and Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.

Lauren Laverne on the origins and effects of the obsession with selfies.

But who was Nixon the man? What was he really like? Do all those allegations and solid facts alluding to his dirty tricks - the wire-tapping, the break-ins, the pay-offs, the Commie slurs, the Machiavellian manoeuvrings - add up to a thoroughly dishonest and dislikeable man?

Many of the Nixon insiders, some of whom were jailed and several of whom were sacked by their boss after the Watergate scandal, were not critical of Nixon - and others, such as Bob Haldeman, while not admitting to a love of Nixon, still claimed to respect him after the event.

Many observers and colleagues point to Nixon's awkwardness and aloofness, citing that he came across in this way because he was a diffident man who was not a natural politician. His speeches were often mawkishly sentimental and manipulative, simplistic in their appeal to an American down-home conservatism and a hatred of Communism. Yet he won two elections - the second a landslide despite the parlous state of a country being riven in two because of the Vietnam war.

In this programme, the man who got close to Nixon when in 1977 he taped nearly 29 hours of interviews with Nixon, Sir David Frost, searches through the BBC archives and the White House tapes to try to discover just what kind of man Richard Nixon was.

Producer: Neil Rosser

A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.

But who was Nixon the man? What was he really like? Do all those allegations and solid facts alluding to his dirty tricks - the wire-tapping, the break-ins, the pay-offs, the 'Commie' slurs, the Machiavellian manoeuvrings - add up to a thoroughly dishonest and dislikeable man?

David Frost turns to the archives to get beneath the skin of Richard Nixon.

But who was Nixon the man? What was he really like? Do all those allegations and solid facts alluding to his dirty tricks - the wire-tapping, the break-ins, the pay-offs, the Commie slurs, the Machiavellian manoeuvrings - add up to a thoroughly dishonest and dislikeable man?

Raised in poverty during the Second World War, the one-time foundry worker and a citizen of the Soviet Union became the first human to fly above the Earth in the vastness of space.

In doing so he became an instrument in The Cold War – an ideological battle between the superpowers: East versus West, communism versus democracy.

Dr Kevin Fong tells the story of how 27 year old Yuri Gagarin came to launch a new chapter in the history of exploration and follows the cosmonaut's one hour flight around the Earth.

The Soviet Union's triumph in 1961 was the event that galvanised the United States to win the Space Race: to send the first people on the Moon by the end of the decade. Yuri's own ambitions to voyage to the Moon were frustrated by his political masters, a faltering Soviet lunar space program and two tragic accidents.

As well as presenting archive recordings, Kevin talks to space historians and writers:

Tom Ellis, historian at the London School of Economics

Stephen Walker, author of ‘Beyond

Slava Gerovitch, author of Soviet Space Mythologies' and ‘Voices of the Soviet Space Program

Andrew Jenks, author of 'The Cosmonaut who couldn't stop smiling

Cathleen Lewis, curator at the National Air and Space Museum

Actor Stewart Campbell is the voice of Yuri Gagarin. Tony Turner is Soviet space program founder Sergei Korolev. Nicholas Murchie is General Nicolai Kaminin, head of cosmonaut training.

Technical production is by Giles Aspen and Jackie Margerum.

Co-writer and producer: Andrew Luck-Baker of the BBC Radio Science Unit.

(Picture: Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Photo credit: Imagno/Getty Images.)

The story of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to fly into space

In doing so he became an instrument in The Cold War ? an ideological battle between the superpowers: East versus West, communism versus democracy.

Stephen Walker, author of ?Beyond

Slava Gerovitch, author of Soviet Space Mythologies' and ?Voices of the Soviet Space Program

Dr Kevin Fong tells the story of how 27 year old Yuri Gagarin came to launch a new chapter in the history of exploration and follows the cosmonaut’s one hour flight around the Earth.

The Soviet Union's triumph in 1961 was the event that galvanised the United States to win the Space Race: to send the first people on the Moon by the end of the decade. Yuri’s own ambitions to voyage to the Moon were frustrated by his political masters, a faltering Soviet lunar space program and two tragic accidents.

Stephen Walker, author of ‘Beyond’

Slava Gerovitch, author of Soviet Space Mythologies’ and ‘Voices of the Soviet Space Program’

Andrew Jenks, author of 'The Cosmonaut who couldn’t stop smiling’

In doing so he became an instrument in The Cold War – an ideological battle between the superpowers: East versus West, communism versus democracy.

Stephen Walker, author of ‘Beyond

Slava Gerovitch, author of Soviet Space Mythologies' and ‘Voices of the Soviet Space Program

In doing so he became an instrument in The Cold War - an ideological battle between the superpowers: East versus West, communism versus democracy.

In doing so, he became an instrument in The Cold War – an ideological battle between the superpowers: East versus West, communism versus democracy.

Dr Kevin Fong tells the story of how 27-year-old Yuri Gagarin came to launch a new chapter in the history of exploration and follows the cosmonaut's one-hour flight around the Earth.

Slava Gerovitch, author of 'Soviet Space Mythologies' and ‘Voices of the Soviet Space Program

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.

Kevin Fong tells the story of Yuri Gagarin's historic 1961 Earth orbit.

Kevin Fong tells the story of Yuri Gagarin's historic Earth orbit. Why did the Soviet Union not win the space race? From 2011.

* Tom Ellis, historian at the London School of Economics

* Stephen Walker, author of ‘Beyond

* Slava Gerovitch, author of Soviet Space Mythologies' and ‘Voices of the Soviet Space Program

* Andrew Jenks, author of 'The Cosmonaut who couldn't stop smiling

* Cathleen Lewis, curator at the National Air and Space Museum

Technical production by Giles Aspen and Jackie Margerum.

We've all been there, haven't we? Things we set out to do, jobs half-done, exciting plans started with such promise, but are now left languishing in perpetual stasis. Is it all failure and frustration or might unfinished projects in fact offer an antidote to our completist society? Through surveying lesser known but brilliantly intriguing unfinished artworks, albums, plays, films, buildings and books, as well as his own side-lined projects, Gareth finds [INSERT WHAT GARETH FINDS HERE].

Featuring contributions from serial unfinisher and comedian Angela Barnes, expert journalist of the mind Kristin Wong, writer and performer Jae Broderick, ‘Smile' obsessive and comedian Jason Hazeley, art gallery owner Chris Kendall and audio producer/reboot specialist Barnaby Eaton-Jones. A three-act philosophical foray into the world of the unfini

Written and presented by Gareth Gwynn

Produced by James Bonney and Jess Gunasekara

Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

Sound: Mike Woolley

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

Comedy writer Gareth Gwynn explores our shared fascination with all things unfinished.

From the Sagrada Familia to The Beach Boys' Smile album, we can't get enough of unfinished creative projects. Comedy writer Gareth Gwynn explores the allure of the undone.

Satirist Gareth Gwynn does. Blurring fact and fiction, using genuine archive from the last 50 years, he tells the story of world-changing events that could have happened.

Written and presented by Gareth Gwynn

Produced by Victoria Lloyd

A BBC Studios Production

Gareth Gwynn presents the first Archive on 4 that looks sideways rather than backwards.

This programme was first broadcast in January 2019.

Gareth Gwynn looks at key moments in history which never happened - from Russia landing the first manned spacecraft on the moon to Neil Kinnock becoming prime minister in 1992.

Games now influence who we are, what we think and how we act. Keza speaks to collectors, competitive gamers, psychologists, games designers and, mostly importantly, gamers young and old to find out what impact games have had on us. We hear about the deep relationships that millions cherish with Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong, and illustrate the entanglement of life and gaming that is increasingly impossible to sever.

Presenter: Keza MacDonald

Producer: Gary Milne

From Pong to Pokemon, what have video games ever done for us? Keza MacDonald finds out.

For 18 years, Blake served as a trusted and senior MI6 officer.

But secretly, in 1952, he became a double agent, betraying MI6 operations and personnel to the KGB.

Over the course of nine years, at a critical period of the Cold War, he destroyed most of MI6's activities in Eastern Europe.

I don't know what I handed over', he admitted, 'because it was so much'.

b00ly0nx

A remarkable interview with the notorious double agent, who recently passed away. George Blake became a senior MI6 officer - even though he had converted to the Communist cause while held as a prisoner in North Korea. He photographed vast numbers of classified documents, and by his own estimates betrayed around 500 agents working for the Western powers. In the late 1980s, the journalist Tom Bower secured the first interview with Blake, in which he freely confessed to betraying his colleagues and described in detail his sensational escape from Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London, and his journey to exile in Moscow.

This radio version was first broadcast in 2009.

A remarkable interview with the notorious double agent, first broadcast in 2009

For 18 years, Blake served as a trusted and senior MI6 officer. But secretly, in 1952, he became a double agent, betraying MI6 operations and personnel to the KGB. Over the course of nine years, at a critical period of the Cold War, he destroyed most of MI6's activities in Eastern Europe. 'I don't know what I handed over', he admitted, 'because it was so much'.

Tom Bower introduces his documentary about double agent George Blake.

This radio version was first broadcast in 2009.

A remarkable interview with the notorious double agent, first broadcast in 2009

Tom Bower introduces his documentary about double agent George Blake.

Former Panorama reporter Tom Bower introduces the documentary he made in the late 1980s about double agent George Blake.

For 18 years, Blake served as a trusted and senior MI6 officer.

But secretly, in 1952, he became a double agent, betraying MI6 operations and personnel to the KGB.

Over the course of nine years, at a critical period of the Cold War, he destroyed most of MI6's activities in Eastern Europe.

I don't know what I handed over', he admitted, 'because it was so much'.

b00ly0nx

For 18 years, Blake served as a trusted and senior MI6 officer. But secretly, in 1952, he became a double agent, betraying MI6 operations and personnel to the KGB. Over the course of nine years, at a critical period of the Cold War, he destroyed most of MI6's activities in Eastern Europe. 'I don't know what I handed over', he admitted, 'because it was so much'.

Justin met him only once, when he was six months old, but despite not knowing him Peter was omnipresent when he was growing up.

Whether reporting from Berlin when the wall was built, or presenting the BBC's first colour news programme, he dominated the news.

Using the archive to piece together his career, from the 1950s tabloid journalism through to his comedy cameos in the 1980s, Justin tells the story of his father's on-screen life, and that of his secret son whose career was happening in parallel.

Getting To Know My Father takes the listener back to 1960s Fleet Street, '70s newsrooms, and the halcyon days of the alpha-male journalist and the hard-living culture that eventually interfered with Woods' career, as Justin's colleague, John Humphreys reveals:

How can I put this politely? Peter was very very different from you, Justin.

He was colourful.

You never quite knew how he was going to behave.

And it did depend a little bit, I'm afraid, on how recently he'd had an encounter with the bottle'.

Meeting other people who knew Peter back in his prime: comedian Michael Palin; broadcaster Angela Rippon; and former Fleet Street editor Brian Hitchen, Justin finds out what kind of man his father was:

He was very streetwise, and very cunning.

During the Suez crisis he conned the commanding officer of the parachute regiment that he could do a jump- he'd never done one before'.

Brian Hitchen, Daily Mirror colleague.

Building a picture of his father Justin contemplates on the man he never knew, and who never tried to contact him.

Will Peter reveal himself through the archive and will Justin like the person that is uncovered?

Producer: Gemma Newby

A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.

Justin Webb goes through the archive to get to know Peter Woods; the father he never knew.

Justin met him only once, when he was six months old, but despite not knowing him Peter was omnipresent when he was growing up. Whether reporting from Berlin when the wall was built, or presenting the BBC's first colour news programme, he dominated the news. Using the archive to piece together his career, from the 1950s tabloid journalism through to his comedy cameos in the 1980s, Justin tells the story of his father's on-screen life, and that of his secret son whose career was happening in parallel.

How can I put this politely? Peter was very very different from you, Justin. He was colourful. You never quite knew how he was going to behave. And it did depend a little bit, I'm afraid, on how recently he'd had an encounter with the bottle'.

He was very streetwise, and very cunning. During the Suez crisis he conned the commanding officer of the parachute regiment that he could do a jump- he'd never done one before'. Brian Hitchen, Daily Mirror colleague.

Building a picture of his father Justin contemplates on the man he never knew, and who never tried to contact him. Will Peter reveal himself through the archive and will Justin like the person that is uncovered?

How can I put this politely? Peter was very very different from you, Justin. He was colourful. You never quite knew how he was going to behave. And it did depend a little bit, I'm afraid, on how recently he'd had an encounter with the bottle.

He was very streetwise, and very cunning. During the Suez crisis he conned the commanding officer of the parachute regiment that he could do a jump- he'd never done one before. Brian Hitchen, Daily Mirror colleague.

Justin met him only once, when he was six months old, but despite not knowing him Peter was omnipresent when he was growing up. Whether reporting from Berlin when the wall was built, or presenting the BBC's first colour news programme, he dominated the news. Using the archive to piece together his career, from the 1950s tabloid journalism through to his comedy cameos in the 1980s, Justin tells the story of his father's on-screen life, and that of his secret son whose career was happening in parallel.

Getting To Know My Father takes the listener back to 1960s Fleet Street, '70s newsrooms, and the halcyon days of the alpha-male journalist and the hard-living culture that eventually interfered with Woods' career, as Justin's colleague, John Humphreys reveals:

How can I put this politely? Peter was very very different from you, Justin. He was colourful. You never quite knew how he was going to behave. And it did depend a little bit, I'm afraid, on how recently he'd had an encounter with the bottle'.

Meeting other people who knew Peter back in his prime: comedian Michael Palin; broadcaster Angela Rippon; and former Fleet Street editor Brian Hitchen, Justin finds out what kind of man his father was:

He was very streetwise, and very cunning. During the Suez crisis he conned the commanding officer of the parachute regiment that he could do a jump- he'd never done one before'. Brian Hitchen, Daily Mirror colleague.

Building a picture of his father Justin contemplates on the man he never knew, and who never tried to contact him. Will Peter reveal himself through the archive and will Justin like the person that is uncovered?

Producer: Gemma Newby

A Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.

Justin Webb goes through the archive to get to know Peter Woods; the father he never knew.

For Halloween, Ian Peacock puts together a soundtrack of the supernatural, from 'genuine' apparitions-taped at seances and haunted houses - to the noises of spectres invented for funfairs and theatre productions.

Producers: Robyn Read and Ian Peacock.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1999.

Ian Peacock puts together a soundtrack of the supernatural. From 1999.

Many claim ghostly sightings, but how about bumps in the night? Ian Peacock explores a world of supernatural sounds. From 1999.

For Halloween, IAN PEACOCK puts together a soundtrack of the supernatural, from genuine apparitions-taped at seances and haunted houses - to the noises of spectres invented for funfairs and theatre productions.

[LISTEN NOW]

Gillian's love affair with the medium started when she was a child growing up in pre-war Liverpool. The first real characters to make an impact on her were those legendary Second World War voices like Lord Haw-Haw, Nazi propagandist William Joyce, Mrs Mopp, from TOMMY HANDLEY's madcap wartime show ITMA, and Band Waggon star ARTHUR ASKEY.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, initially for the Guardian but for four decades at the Daily Telegraph, GILLIAN REYNOLDS has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block - from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as 'Scud FM') which inspired Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations that have been making recent headlines for audio.

Gillian spices her show with brand new interviews with a handful of her contemporaries, heroes and friends. Sue MacGregor (of The Reunion, Today, Woman's Hour and The World at One), Dame Jenny Abramsky (who retired as BBC Director of Radio in 2008), Nick Pollard (Gillian's colleague at commercial Radio City, and later a senior figure at ITN and Sky News) and Jimmy Gordon (who founded Clyde FM) join Gillian to capture the seismic changes in radio during her lifetime and its unquenchable, irresistible appeal even in the clamorous age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Producer: Simon Elmes

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

GILLIAN REYNOLDS CBE unearths the voices that have echoed through her life as critic and broadcaster on commercial and BBC radio.

A professional writer about radio for over 50 years, Gillian's love affair with the medium started when she was a child growing up in pre-war Liverpool. First their to leave their impact, were legendary Second World War voices like Lord Haw-Haw, Nazi propagandist William Joyce, Mrs Mopp, from TOMMY HANDLEY's madcap wartime show ITMA, and Band Waggon star ARTHUR ASKEY.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

Gillian spices her show with new interviews with a handful of her contemporaries, heroes and friends. Sue MacGregor, Dame Jenny Abramsky, Nick Pollard and Jimmy Gordon help to capture the seismic changes in radio during Gillian's lifetime and its unquenchable, irresistible appeal even in the clamorous age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2016.

Critic and broadcaster GILLIAN REYNOLDS celebrates 50 years' professional radio listening.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, initially for the Guardian but for four decades at the Daily Telegraph, GILLIAN REYNOLDS has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations that have been making recent headlines for audio.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, initially for the Guardian but for four decades at the Daily Telegraph, GILLIAN REYNOLDS has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations that have been making recent headlines for audio.

A professional writer about radio for over 50 years, Gillian's love affair with the medium started when she was a child growing up in pre-war Liverpool. First their to leave their impact, were legendary Second World War voices like Lord Haw-Haw, Nazi propagandist William Joyce, Mrs Mopp, from Tommy Handley's madcap wartime show ITMA, and Band Waggon star Arthur Askey.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block ? from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ?Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

Gillian spices her show with new interviews with a handful of her contemporaries, heroes and friends. Sue MacGregor, Dame Jenny Abramsky, Nick Pollard and Jimmy Gordon help to capture the seismic changes in radio during Gillian's lifetime and its unquenchable, irresistible appeal even in the clamorous age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Producer: Simon Elmes

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2016.

Critic and broadcaster Gillian Reynolds celebrates 50 years' professional radio listening.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

A professional writer about radio for over 50 years, Gillian's love affair with the medium started when she was a child growing up in pre-war Liverpool. First their to leave their impact, were legendary Second World War voices like Lord Haw-Haw, Nazi propagandist William Joyce, Mrs Mopp, from Tommy Handley’s madcap wartime show ITMA, and Band Waggon star Arthur Askey.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what’s new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM’) which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

Gillian spices her show with new interviews with a handful of her contemporaries, heroes and friends. Sue MacGregor, Dame Jenny Abramsky, Nick Pollard and Jimmy Gordon help to capture the seismic changes in radio during Gillian’s lifetime and its unquenchable, irresistible appeal even in the clamorous age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block – from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

But in a lifetime of listening and reviewing, via the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gillian has always kept pace with what's new on the broadcasting block - from the advent of commercial radio in the 1970s, the BBC Gulf War station cobbled together at short notice (popularly known as ‘Scud FM') which inspired BBC Radio 5Live, or the latest American podcast sensations making recent headlines for audio.

Journalist and author Ella Whelan asks if contemporary feminism has lost its way. Is it in fact... dead?

Maybe feminism used to be a dirty word, but now it's on the lips of politicians, actors or almost any public figure male or female as a must-have badge of credibility. Ella doesn't use the label feminist to describe herself, but she still believes passionately that women's freedom in all its potential has yet to be achieved.

In Girl Power RIP, she looks back over the battles women have fought for greater equality and pinpoints where she feels it went wrong. Weaving through the big wins and debates for women over the past 50 years - from abortion rights, contraception and equal pay to anti-porn, No More Page 3 and #metoo - she looks at where we are now and questions whether the current discussion around women's rights and women's freedom is helpful or even healthy.

Speaking with feminist journalist Julie Bindel, women's activists Sophie Walker and Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, and academics Joanna Williams and Zoe Strimpel, Ella asks if feminism is still relevant or whether the fight for women's liberation has ended up spawning a culture of victimhood that's damaging women.

Producer: Philippa Geering

Executive Producers: Max O'Brien and Sean Glynn

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Maybe feminism used to be a dirty word, but now it’s on the lips of politicians, actors or almost any public figure male or female as a must-have badge of credibility. Ella doesn't use the label feminist to describe herself, but she still believes passionately that women’s freedom in all its potential has yet to be achieved.

In Girl Power RIP, she looks back over the battles women have fought for greater equality and pinpoints where she feels it went wrong. Weaving through the big wins and debates for women over the past 50 years - from abortion rights, contraception and equal pay to anti-porn, No More Page 3 and #metoo - she looks at where we are now and questions whether the current discussion around women’s rights and women’s freedom is helpful or even healthy.

Speaking with feminist journalist Julie Bindel, women’s activists Sophie Walker and Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, and academics Joanna Williams and Zoe Strimpel, Ella asks if feminism is still relevant or whether the fight for women's liberation has ended up spawning a culture of victimhood that's damaging women.

Growing up in Belfast, the writer Glenn Patterson assumed that everything that moved him musically came from afar. To begin with, it was England and Glam Rock, but gradually strange sounds began to infiltrate from even further afield. A school friend introduced him to Patti Smith. Patti Smith introduced him to 'Gloria'. It was a convoluted route by which the song finally reached him - only a couple of miles from where it was written.

At a gig in the USA in 1988, Bruce Springsteen shouted lets take it back to where it all started as he launched into a version of Gloria. It's a song that's been covered by everyone from Simple Minds to Ricky Lee Jones to The Doors.

Glenn talks to Mickey Bradley, bass player with the Undertones, who remembers Gloria being one of the first songs the band learned to play. The simple three chord structure makes it deceptively straightforward - although Glenn's attempt to learn it might disprove that theory - but the song has always held a strange magic for him. Even now, he says, he would fight his corner to say it's one of the best songs Van Morrison has ever written.

Mickey and his fellow Undertones were learning to play Gloria while listening to Nuggets, an album of garage rock highlights put together by Patti Smith's guitarist, Lenny Kaye. His relationship with Gloria starts with the Patti Smith band and both he and Patti talk about why they picked this song to re-work.

And Glenn unearths a rare recording of the famously taciturn Van Morrison discussing the song, with a young Rolling Stone journalist, Cameron Crowe.

Produced by Rachel Hooper

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four.

GLENN PATTERSON traces the cultural journey of VAN MORRISON's much-covered song Gloria.

At a gig in the USA in 1988, Bruce Springsteen shouted 'lets take it back to where it all started' as he launched into a version of Gloria. It's a song that's been covered by everyone from Simple Minds to Ricky Lee Jones to The Doors.

At a gig in the USA in 1988, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN shouted lets take it back to where it all started as he launched into a version of Gloria. It's a song that's been covered by everyone from Simple Minds to Ricky Lee Jones to The Doors.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four.

You knelt a boy,' John Betjeman wrote upon the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, 'you rose a man.' Not his finest work, perhaps – and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

Take the Free Wales Army for example. Fresh from manoeuvres in Pembrokeshire and bomb training in Snowdonia, they threatened an armed rising in response to Charles's presence in Wales. Part of this insurrection included a plan to dump tonnes of manure on Charles's procession from a helicopter. The leading members of the Free Wales Army were arrested on public order and explosives charges and put on trial to coincide with the investiture ceremony.

Or take Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC). They might have been more of a threat. MAC had already blown up four public buildings that year, attempted to blow up a monument to Charles in Holyhead and sent a letter bomb to a police officer. The group planned another four bombs on the day of the investiture ceremony. Two members of MAC were killed the day before when the gelignite they were carrying exploded. And a ten-year-old boy lost a leg when one of the bombs planted on Prince Charles's route exploded late.

The threats of violence were real and they cast a dark shadow over the Imperial pomp. A glance at the running order of Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials – paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

These events are dim in the collective memory of the UK, but they're important – they cleared a way for the sentiment that would lead to devolution – and they inform a politics that is still very much alive and still being played out.

Featuring: Laura Clancy, Gethin ap Gruffydd, Elfed Wyn Jones, Mab Jones, Dominic Sandbrook, Wyn Thomas, Tim Williams.

Producer: Martin Williams

The explosive story of Prince Charles' investiture - a pivotal moment in British politics.

You knelt a boy, John Betjeman wrote upon the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, you rose a man. Not his finest work, perhaps – and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

Historian Martin Johnes revisits the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in July 1969 - exploring the stories we tell about it and the stories we tell about ourselves.

'You knelt a boy,' JOHN BETJEMAN wrote upon the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, 'you rose a man.'

Or take Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC). They might have been more of a threat. MAC had already blown up four public buildings that year, attempted to blow up a monument to Charles in Holyhead and sent a letter bomb to a police officer. The group planned another four bombs on the day of the investiture ceremony. Two members of MAC were killed the day before when the gelignite they were carrying exploded. And a 10-year-old boy lost a leg when one of the bombs planted on Prince Charles's route exploded late.

A glance at the running order of BBC Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials – paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Not his finest work, perhaps ? and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

A glance at the running order of BBC Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials ? paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

These events are dim in the collective memory of the UK, but they're important ? they cleared a way for the sentiment that would lead to devolution ? and they inform a politics that is still very much alive and still being played out.

Not his finest work, perhaps – and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

A glance at the running order of BBC Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials – paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

These events are dim in the collective memory of the UK, but they're important – they cleared a way for the sentiment that would lead to devolution – and they inform a politics that is still very much alive and still being played out.

You knelt a boy,' JOHN BETJEMAN wrote upon the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, 'you rose a man.' Not his finest work, perhaps – and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

The threats of violence were real and they cast a dark shadow over the Imperial pomp. A glance at the running order of Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials – paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

You knelt a boy, JOHN BETJEMAN wrote upon the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, you rose a man. Not his finest work, perhaps – and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

Not his finest work, perhaps - and it's certainly a sentiment that many in Wales would have found difficult to stomach.

A glance at the running order of BBC Radio 4's World at One on the day of the ceremony tells its own story: bombs, guns, arrests, showtrials - paramilitary terrorism on British soil, before the rise of the Provos.

These events are dim in the collective memory of the UK, but they're important - they cleared a way for the sentiment that would lead to devolution - and they inform a politics that is still very much alive and still being played out.

A decade on, Joel reflects back on his experiences and hears from other members of the clergy who share their stories of faith, hope and love.

Presented by Rev Dr Joel Love

Produced by Nicola Humphries

Rev Joel Love explores the relationship between the Anglican Church and LGBTQ+ Christians

In fact, his first surprise is the discovery that people are far more likely to recall the general experience of going to the cinema than the individual films they saw.

He draws on BBC archive as well as recordings from the University of Lancaster which have never been broadcast before, and also new interviews to find out how people's experience of this most popular form of entertainment has changed over the decades.

The Silent Era, it turns out, was not all that silent, with plenty of chatting and tea-drinking going on, not to mention children reading out the titles to their illiterate parents and grandparents.

Barry then moves on to hear how overwhelmed many viewers were by the sheer luxury of the cinemas built in the inter-war years and how these pleasure palaces offered a few hours of escape from lives which were harsh or sometimes simply dull.

He himself recalls going to the pictures in the 1950s, which was the golden age of Saturday morning cinema for children.

In the 1960s, with the advent of television, Barry finds out about the ultimately failed attempts to introduce novelties such as Cinerama and The Smellies to cinema and hears confessions about just what went on in the back row!

With contributions from film expert Annette Kuhn and architectural historian Richard Gray, this first part of BARRY NORMAN's memoir of Going to the Flicks is a heady mix of nostalgia and surprise.

Producer : BEATY RUBENS.

BARRY NORMAN on the changing experience of cinema going over the last century.

Barry Norman on the changing experience of British cinema going over the last century.

Barry Norman is one of Britain's best loved film broadcasters, but for this series he is not so much interested in the films as in exploring how the experience of going to the cinema in Britain has changed over the last one hundred years. In fact, his first surprise is the discovery that people are far more likely to recall the general experience of going to the cinema than the individual films they saw.

The Silent Era, it turns out, was not all that silent, with plenty of chatting and tea-drinking going on, not to mention children reading out the titles to their illiterate parents and grandparents. Barry then moves on to hear how overwhelmed many viewers were by the sheer luxury of the cinemas built in the inter-war years and how these pleasure palaces offered a few hours of escape from lives which were harsh or sometimes simply dull. He himself recalls going to the pictures in the 1950s, which was the golden age of Saturday morning cinema for children. In the 1960s, with the advent of television, Barry finds out about the ultimately failed attempts to introduce novelties such as Cinerama and The Smellies to cinema and hears confessions about just what went on in the back row!

BARRY NORMAN is one of the best-loved critics of film in Britain but for this series he explores not the pictures on the screen but the changing experience of participating in one of the most popular cultural activity of all - simply going to the cinema.

He starts in the 1970s, when film was at a particularly low ebb and ticket sales had fallen to an all-time low.

In conversation with Sir DAVID PUTTNAM, he recalls his own pessimism about the future of cinema at the time.

Moving onto the 1980s, Barry explores the impact of an American import - the Multiplex - on Britain.

He then moves onto the challenge of videos and DVDs in the 1990s and is ultimately surprised to find how positive the picture now looks as British cinemas embrace 3D and other innovations and attendance figures continue to rise.

Featuring archive never broadcast before, this series attempts for the first time ever to survey the changing experience of cinema-going in Britain over the last century.

Producer: BEATY RUBENS.

Charting the rise from the 1970s low ebb to today's exciting innovations.

He starts in the 1970s, when film was at a particularly low ebb and ticket sales had fallen to an all-time low. In conversation with Sir David Puttnam, he recalls his own pessimism about the future of cinema at the time. Moving onto the 1980s, Barry explores the impact of an American import - the Multiplex - on Britain. He then moves onto the challenge of videos and DVDs in the 1990s and is ultimately surprised to find how positive the picture now looks as British cinemas embrace 3D and other innovations and attendance figures continue to rise.

Charting the rise from the 1970s low ebb in cinema-going to today's exciting innovations.

Research from the UCL Urban Laboratory indicates that, since 2006, the number of venues in London has fallen from 125 to 53 - with some still at risk of closure. Conversely, there's been a 144% increase in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people, with one in five experiencing a hate crime this year.

Performance artist and writer Travis Alabanza asks if the venues have served the purpose they were originally built for or if now, more than ever, LGBTQ+ people need these spaces. Speaking to Professor Ben Campkin from UCL, Travis finds out why individual venues are closing and the impact of their loss.

Travis hears personal accounts of how these venues shapes individuals, and visits one of London's oldest LGBTQ+ venues, The Black Cap, which closed in 2015. Campaigners have since held weekly vigils there, but developers want to turn the upper part into luxury apartments and say a new pub will have an 'LGBT flavour'. Travis also visits a venue being threatened with closure, The Eden Bar in Birmingham, as well as other LGBTQ+ spaces beyond nightlife; Gay's The Word bookshop, and The Outside Project.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains the impact of these venues in the 70s and 80s compared to today, and London's Night Czar Amy Lam退 discusses how London is working to protect venues.

Finally, Travis speaks with Phyll Opoku- Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, to consider whether these venues truly serve the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community.

Produced by Anishka Sharma and Sasha Edye-Lindner

Researcher: Eleanor Ross

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

LLGC Oral History clips and First Out Oral History clips courtesy of UCL Urban Laboratory.

Photo credit: Tiu Makkonen

Travis Alabanza investigates the impact of the closure of LGBTQ+ venues in the UK.

Producer: Sasha Edye-Lindner

Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma

Travis hears personal accounts of how these venues shapes individuals, and visits one of London's oldest LGBTQ+ venues, The Black Cap, which closed in 2015. Campaigners have since held weekly vigils there, but developers want to turn the upper part into luxury apartments and say a new pub will have an LGBT flavour. Travis also visits a venue being threatened with closure, The Eden Bar in Birmingham, as well as other LGBTQ+ spaces beyond nightlife; Gay's The Word bookshop, and The Outside Project.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains the impact of these venues in the 70s and 80s compared to today, and London's Night Czar Amy Lam? discusses how London is working to protect venues.

Travis hears personal accounts of how these venues shapes individuals, and visits one of London’s oldest LGBTQ+ venues, The Black Cap, which closed in 2015. Campaigners have since held weekly vigils there, but developers want to turn the upper part into luxury apartments and say a new pub will have an 'LGBT flavour'. Travis also visits a venue being threatened with closure, The Eden Bar in Birmingham, as well as other LGBTQ+ spaces beyond nightlife; Gay's The Word bookshop, and The Outside Project.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains the impact of these venues in the 70s and 80s compared to today, and London’s Night Czar Amy Lam退 discusses how London is working to protect venues.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains the impact of these venues in the 70s and 80s compared to today, and London's Night Czar Amy Lamé discusses how London is working to protect venues.

Using previously un-broadcast extracts from archive interviews with cast and crew, conducted by the veteran Hollywood correspondent Barbra Paskin, Diane looks at how the book and film came about, the reaction it received across America, and its lasting legacy.

It's been called racist, discriminatory, retrograde, and offensive - but, as we discover, the importance of Gone With The Wind lies in part in the conversation it provokes about an ugly and often overlooked chapter in American history.

We hear how issues around race dominated the film's premiere in Atlanta and even spilled over on Oscar night. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award but she was racially segregated from her co-stars at the ceremony - made to sit at a separate table at the back of the room.

Gone with the Wind had a $3.7m budget - unheard of at the time. It grossed over $390m globally at the box office and it was filmed and presented on a scale not seen in modern productions. There were a massive 554 speaking roles and a supporting cast of 2,400 people.

This programme includes archive of Evelyn Keyes who played Scarlett's sister Suellen, Ann Rutherford who played Careen, the film's make up artist Frank Westmore, script clerk Lydia Schiller and Editor Hal Kern. We also hear from Barbra Paskin who conducted the original interviews, and from Professor Helen Taylor, author of the book Scarlett's Women: Gone with the Wind and Its Female Fans.

Produced by Ashley Byrne

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.

Diane Roberts examines the impact and legacy of the film classic, 75 years on.

Can luck be said to exist as some force in our lives and if so, what is its nature? How have people thought about luck in the past and what's changed today? Can you bring good luck upon yourself - there's a school of thought these days that thinks you can without appealing to the divine or supernatural.

Professor Spiegelhalter, the Winton professor for the public understanding of risk at Cambridge University looks at notions of luck in gambling, traces the origins of how we think about fate and fortune, the religious and psychological view of luck and how the emergence of theory of probability changed our view of it.

He is convinced by the philosopher Angie Hobbs that there is one form of luck it is rational to believe in and by psychologist Richard Wiseman that there is a secular solution to bringing about good fortune in your life.

Produced in Salford by Kevin Mousley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.:

The certainty of chance. Professor David Spiegelhalter investigates Luck.

Whether we believe in luck or not, we do use the word- a lot! More as a figure of speech than an article of faith perhaps but some do pray for luck, others fantasise about it - and bad luck or misfortune is a staple of comedy

In Good Luck Professor Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University looks at notions of luck in gambling, traces the origins of how we think about fate and fortune, the religious and psychological view of luck and how the emergence of theory of probability changed our view of it.

Good Luck Professor Spiegelhalter, is presented by DAVID SPIEGELHALTER and produced in Salford by Kevin Mousley.

Whether we believe in luck or not, we do use the word- a lot ! More as a figure of speech than an article of faith perhaps but some do pray for luck, others fantasize about it - and bad luck or misfortune is a staple of comedy.



Good Luck Professor Spiegelhalter, is presented by DAVID SPIEGELHALTER and produced in Salford by Kevin Mousley.

As Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum all struggle to win the US Republican Party's Presidential nomination, each is doing their best to convince the Party's membership that he is the man to rein in 'Big Government'.

But, as JONATHAN FREEDLAND explores, this hostility has its roots at the very beginning of the United States.

In this programme, he traces how Americans' suspicion of centralised power began with the 1770s rebellion against British rule - and how it became the basis of the way America is governed, through the 'separation of powers'.

Jonathan unearths a rich seam of archive which shows how this has coloured American politics over recent decades, even as the size of government has grown.

He explores how it fuelled opposition to the New Deal, Civil Rights and the War in Vietnam.

And he asks how American Presidents have found ways to push against the constraints of the Constitution and drive their policies through.

Historian Professor Desmond King argues that from Franklin Roosevelt to RONALD REAGAN and beyond, Presidents have repeatedly declared 'War' on everything from the Depression to drugs, poverty to inflation.

This was always a canny bid to play on American patriotism and the President's role as Commander-in-Chief - to make social reform sound as urgent and necessary as fighting a foreign foe.

But has this strategy now run out of firepower? And if so, is America's relationship with the very idea of central government now more vexed than ever?

Producer: Phil Tinline.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND traces the history of American hostility to 'Big Government'.

It's a century since Marcel Duchamp submitted his artwork called Fountain to an exhibition staged by the Society of Independent Artists in New York. Fountain was a urinal -- not a painting of a urinal or a sculpture, just a urinal, bought from a Manhattan hardware store and signed R.Mutt.

The Society of Independent Artists rejected Duchamp's provocation and the original object was lost.

Nowadays Duchamp's urinal is canonised as the fountainhead of conceptual art and the high water (closet) mark of the avant garde. Replicas of the Fountain grace museums around the world - emblems of the avant-garde spirit of experimentation and confrontation.

Somewhere in the intervening years though, something changed - contemporary art lost its ability to shock and critique. We're still hopelessly drawn to the idea of art that's 'cutting edge', 'ground-breaking', 'revolutionary'. But is that possible at this point -- haven't we seen it all before?

Maybe the death knell was sounded when the Saatchi Gallery opened on the South Bank? Or with the advent of protest and radical chic in the 1960s? Maybe it was when the CIA funded the abstract expressionists? Or when the post-war art market began to reign supreme? Or when the Museum of Modern Art opened its doors in 1927?

Or maybe it was all a matter of style the very moment Duchamp's Fountain was conceived?

Featuring Brian Eno, Kenneth Goldsmith, Nnenna Okore, Cornelia Parker, and Sarah Thornton.

Producer: Martin Williams.

Grayson Perry goes in search of the moment the avant-garde died.



Producer: Martin Williams.

He also explores what they reveal about intelligence and security.

By drawing on official papers and what were once top secret intelligence documents, and by interviewing former diplomats and former officers in MI5 and MI6, he compares and contrasts fiction with real espionage.

Much of the appeal lies in their apparent authenticity.

But how much do James Bond or George Smiley resemble real spies? And is fact sometimes stranger than fiction?

Peter Hennessy shows that spy books in the early 1900s made a big impact, influencing Britain's first secret service bureau, the forerunner of MI5 and MI6. He traces the development of spy fiction from its early days to the more nuanced spy stories of Somerset Maugham in 'Ashenden' and of Eric Ambler's 1930s' novels.

Their more subtle approach is echoed by Graham Greene and John le Carre, whereas Ian Fleming's hero, James Bond, is part spy, part assassin.

Cold War novels reflect the deep fear of nuclear war and of betrayal by double-agents ('moles'), but can modern spy fiction achieve the same degree of intrigue and suspense?

Producer: Rob Shepherd

Peter Hennessy, an expert on state secrecy, asks how close spy novels come to reality.

Peter Hennessy, the leading expert on state secrecy, asks how close the great British spy novels come to reality and explores what they reveal about the top secret world of intelligence and security - MI5, MI6 and Whitehall. By drawing on official papers and what were once top secret intelligence documents, and by interviewing former diplomats and former officers in MI5 and MI6, he compares and contrasts the great spy novels with the real world of espionage.

Much of the appeal of great spy novels lies in their apparent authenticity and some leading spy writers draw on their experience of secret intelligence work. But how much do their fictional characters, such as James Bond or George Smiley, resemble real spies? And is fact sometimes stranger than fiction?

Peter Hennessy shows that spy books in the early 1900s reflected British anxieties about a German invasion and made a big impact, contributing to the founding of Britain's first secret service bureau, the forerunner of MI5 and MI6. He traces the development of spy fiction from its early days to the more nuanced spy stories of Somerset Maugham in 'Ashenden' and of Eric Ambler's 1930s' novels. Their more subtle approach is echoed by Graham Greene and John le Carre, whereas Ian Fleming's hero, James Bond, is part spy, part assassin. Cold War novels reflect the deep fear of nuclear war and of betrayal by double-agents ('moles'), but can modern spy fiction achieve the same degree of intrigue and suspense?

Peter Hennessy compares the views and works of spy writers with evidence of official intelligence work and the experiences of former diplomats and intelligence officers, as he assesses great spy books - fact or fiction.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.

Peter Hennessy, the expert on state secrecy, asks how close spy novels come to reality.

Peter Hennessy, the leading expert on state secrecy, asks how close the great British spy novels come to reality and explores what they reveal about intelligence and security. By drawing on official papers and what were once top secret intelligence documents, and by interviewing former diplomats and former officers in MI5 and MI6, he compares and contrasts fiction with real espionage.

Much of the appeal lies in their apparent authenticity. But how much do James Bond or George Smiley resemble real spies? And is fact sometimes stranger than fiction?

Peter Hennessy shows that spy books in the early 1900s made a big impact, influencing Britain's first secret service bureau, the forerunner of MI5 and MI6. He traces the development of spy fiction from its early days to the more nuanced spy stories of Somerset Maugham in 'Ashenden' and of Eric Ambler's 1930s' novels. Their more subtle approach is echoed by Graham Greene and John le Carre, whereas Ian Fleming's hero, James Bond, is part spy, part assassin. Cold War novels reflect the deep fear of nuclear war and of betrayal by double-agents ('moles'), but can modern spy fiction achieve the same degree of intrigue and suspense?

Maria looks back through the defining chapters of the country's history beginning her journey in Thessaloniki-once a vibrant Ottoman city city of Jews, Muslims and Christians at the moment of its conquest by the young Greek state a century ago. She then travels through lands populated by refugees from the Asia Minor disaster in 1922 and on into villages burned by German occupation forces in the 1940s, arriving in the Athens of the colonels' junta of 1967-74. Along the way she explores both public and private memories of Greece's turbulent recent history.

The recent financial crisis has made Greeks once again deeply divided about Europe, enlisting history on both sides of the argument. Is Greece still the guarantor of human rights, freedom and progress, or has it become a new repressive force, suspending democracy to safeguard its own and Europe' s interests? Consciously or unconsciously, history is informing that debate.

Producer: Mark Burman.

Writer Maria Margaronis asks if the spectre of Greece's past haunts its current nightmares

Maria Margaronis asks if the spectre of Greece's unstable past is haunting its current nightmares. Culturally at Europe's heart, geographically at its edge, Greece has always been pulled and pushed by the contradictory needs of the big powers.

Maria looks back through the turbulent 20th Century that saw Greece suffer multiple national schisms. Beginning with the 1922 crisis of defeat against Turkey and the subsequent mass refugee influx that swelled Greece's population by around a fifth. War brought Nazi occupation that would last from 1941 to 1944 and led to compromise, collaboration and resistance that brought terrible reprisals, the virtual extermination of Greece's ancient Jewish communities & destruction for many villages. Those years would lead directly to the enduring trauma of Civil War. The central event for Margaronis that divided and still divides Greek society and memory. It saw Greek's fighting their former British allies in the streets of Athens in December 1944 and led to atrocities on both Left and Right and finally wholesale repression and exile of the Left after their defeat. Silence and then dictatorship and Junta from 1967 to 1974 would continue to divide society. The return of democracy and the rise of the PASOC party led to a different sort of memory, the unquestioning heroization of the wartime resistance and the celebration of Left wing memory that obscured painful questions of what Greeks had done to Greeks. Entry into Europe was potentially both a celebration of progress and a safe haven for Greek identity.

The recent financial crisis has made Greeks once again deeply divided about both Europe and their own history. The divisions remain and consciously or unconsciously, history is informing that debate.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare.

Harold Evans in pursuit of the truth

As he turns 90, and at a time of unprecedented change and scrutiny of the media, Razia Iqbal interviews and listens again to the archive from a newspaper man whose name has become a byword for serious investigative journalism. From his flat in New York, she speaks to Sir HAROLD EVANS about giving voice to the voiceless, risking going to prison and changing British law in his lifelong pursuit of the truth.

Newspaper man HAROLD EVANS reveals his lifelong pursuit of the truth.

AKA HAROLD EVANS



Producer: Sarah Shebbeare.

As he turns 90, and at a time of unprecedented change and scrutiny of the media, Razia Iqbal interviews and listens again to the archive from a newspaper man whose name has become a byword for serious investigative journalism. From his flat in New York, she speaks to Sir Harold Evans about giving voice to the voiceless, risking going to prison and changing British law in his lifelong pursuit of the truth.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare.

AKA HAROLD EVANS

In February 2018, BBC journalist Razia Iqbal travelled to New York to interview a newspaper man whose name was a byword for serious investigative journalism. From his flat in New York, Razia Iqbal spoke to Sir HAROLD EVANS about giving voice to the voiceless, risking going to prison and changing British law in his lifelong pursuit of the truth.



Producer: Sarah Shebbeare.

HAROLD EVANS in pursuit of the truth

Alan Dein hears how London's East End Bangladeshi community forged new alliances to oppose racism in the 1970s and 80s.

The East End had been a centre of racial struggle and opposition since the 1930s, when Oswald Mosely's Blackshirts had paraded through the then largely Jewish streets around Brick Lane.

By the 1970s a new wave of predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants faced racism again from the National Front and its sympathisers.

As provocation and attacks increased, this community made new alliances with local anti-fascist activists, culminating in large-scale movements such as Rock Against Racism.

Once again Brick Lane and the streets beyond became a battleground.

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The East End had been a centre of racial struggle and opposition since the 1930s, when Oswald Mosely's Blackshirts had paraded through the then largely Jewish streets around Brick Lane. By the 1970s a new wave of predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants faced racism again from the National Front and its sympathisers.

As provocation and attacks increased, this community made new alliances with local anti-fascist activists, culminating in large-scale movements such as Rock Against Racism. Once again Brick Lane and the streets beyond became a battleground.

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On what would have been his 80th birthday, fans from music, literature and academia weigh up all of the other things that should be celebrated about Jimi, but so often aren't:

Leon Hendrix remembers his big brother as a spiritual force.

Professor Paul Gilroy analyses Jimi's commitment to peace.

Kronos Quartet violinist DAVID HARRINGTON discusses Jimi the composer.

The Happy Mondays vocalist Rowetta appreciates Jimi the singer.

Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib unpicks Jimi's approach to wordplay.

And author and academic Sarita Cannon evaluates Jimi as a mixed heritage icon.

Meanwhile, 1960s archive interviews from Hendrix give us a fresh perspective on the man himself.

Narrator: Cerys Matthews

Producer: Redzi Bernard

Executive Producer: Jack Howson

Sound Mix: Olga Reed

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4

When you think of Jimi, you think guitar. But there are so many other layers to consider.

On what would have been his 80th birthday, fans from music, literature and academia weigh up all of the other things that should be celebrated about Jimi, but so often aren't:

Leon Hendrix remembers his big brother as a spiritual force.

Professor Paul Gilroy analyses Jimi's commitment to peace.

Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington discusses Jimi the composer.

The Happy Mondays vocalist Rowetta appreciates Jimi the singer.

Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib unpicks Jimi's approach to wordplay.

And author and academic Sarita Cannon evaluates Jimi as a mixed heritage icon.

Meanwhile, 1960s archive interviews from Hendrix give us a fresh perspective on the man himself.

Narrator: Cerys Matthews

Producer: Redzi Bernard

Executive Producer: Jack Howson

Sound Mix: Olga Reed

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4

When you think of Jimi, you think guitar. But there are so many other layers to consider.

When you think of Jimi Hendrix, you think of the guitar. Since the 1960s he’s consistently topped polls of the greatest guitarist of all time. But there are so many other remarkable layers to this man and musician.

On what would have been his 80th birthday, fans from music, literature and academia weigh up all of the other things that should be celebrated about Jimi, but so often aren’t:

Professor Paul Gilroy analyses Jimi’s commitment to peace.

Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib unpicks Jimi’s approach to wordplay.

Script writers from every generation have embraced parents, and the misadventures of mums and dads have kept TV and Radio in business for decades. In the early days, putting parents on TV and Radio was all about showing us how it 'should' be done, but in recent years writers have reflected back to us what we're really like!

And as family set ups have evolved from mum and dad, to mum and mum, dad and dad or mums or dad, Radio and TV writers have travelled that route too. Parents have provided them with a seemingly endless source of material which in turn has provided us with ideas as to how to parent better or simply reassured us that we're not the only ones doing it badly.

From 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em' to 'Motherland', sit back, relax and enjoy a journey of parenting mayhem and memories that will unite us all!

Presented by Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe

Produced by Nicola Humphries

Featuring TV Writer and Critic Michael Hogan, Jennifer Traig, author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting, and Dr Charlotte Faircloth, Lecturer in Sociology of Gender at UCL.

Parenting comedy couple Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe share their parenting archive clips.

Script writers from every generation have embraced parents, and the misadventures of mums and dads have kept TV and Radio in business for decades. In the early days, putting parents on TV and Radio was all about showing us how it 'should' be done, but in recent years writers have reflected back to us what we’re really like!

And as family set ups have evolved from mum and dad, to mum and mum, dad and dad or mums or dad, Radio and TV writers have travelled that route too. Parents have provided them with a seemingly endless source of material which in turn has provided us with ideas as to how to parent better or simply reassured us that we’re not the only ones doing it badly.

At home, surrounded by their own parenting paraphernalia, comedy couple Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe leap into the fictional and factual world of parenting to discover what lessons we can learn or lose from our TV and Radio counterparts.

In the early days, it was all about showing us how it 'should' be done, but in recent years writers have reflected back to us what we're really like! But as family set ups have evolved from mum and dad, to mum and mum, dad and dad or mums or dad, the writers have followed suit.

Parents have provided them with a seemingly endless source of material which in turn has provided us with ideas on better parenting or simply reassured us that we're not the only ones doing it badly.

Featuring:

* TV writer and critic, Michael Hogan

* Jennifer Traig, author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting

* Dr Charlotte Faircloth, Lecturer in Sociology of Gender at UCL.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

Parenting comedy couple Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe explore the world of parenting on TV and Radio. From 2019.

It's 40 years since the world was introduced to the original 'gate' via the televised Senate Watergate Hearings. In this Archive on 4, journalist Eamonn O'Neill investigates the Watergate legacy. The film All the President's Men, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, inspired an entire generation of journalists. 'Deep Throat,' 'inside sources' and 'follow the money' became buzzwords for a supposedly golden age of journalism.

But was it really hard-bitten reporting that brought down the leader of the free world? Or is that it a convenient myth, aided by Hollywood, indulgently lifting the expectations of journalists?

40 years later in Britain, the golden age seems to be long gone, thanks to the excesses of 'Hackgate.' It was Watergate in reverse, a scandal that brought down journalists, leaving politicians largely intact.

Eamonn examines the nature of modern investigative journalism, through archive from Watergate and other political scandals since. He talks to Washington Post journalists, including Bob Woodward, about their heroic status. He meets the new breed of 'heroic' investigative journalists, including Heather Brooke, who helped expose the MPs expenses scandal, and Nick Davies, who exposed the phone hacking scandal for The Guardian.

Eamonn also looks at fate of the investigative press in a post-Leveson environment, searching for the line between hero and hack.

Producer: Colin McNulty

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.

Journalist Eamonn O'Neill examines his profession through the legacy of Watergate.

It's 40 years since the world was introduced to the original gate via the televised Senate Watergate Hearings. In this Archive on 4, journalist Eamonn O'Neill investigates the Watergate legacy. The film All the President's Men, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, inspired an entire generation of journalists. Deep Throat, inside sources and follow the money became buzzwords for a supposedly golden age of journalism.

40 years later in Britain, the golden age seems to be long gone, thanks to the excesses of Hackgate. It was Watergate in reverse, a scandal that brought down journalists, leaving politicians largely intact.

Eamonn examines the nature of modern investigative journalism, through archive from Watergate and other political scandals since. He talks to Washington Post journalists, including Bob Woodward, about their heroic status. He meets the new breed of heroic investigative journalists, including Heather Brooke, who helped expose the MPs expenses scandal, and Nick Davies, who exposed the phone hacking scandal for The Guardian.

Comedian Patrick Kielty and Producer Ruth Sanderson - both Northern Irish - recall their experiences of 1994, an extraordinary year which would change the whole Island of Ireland forever.

Patrick was starting his TV comedy career in Northern Ireland, tackling the troubles, politics and identity head on in a ground breaking show. The first IRA ceasefire was announced that year and created a sense of hope and optimism that things might just change.

South of the border, the Republic of Ireland experienced the 'Celtic Tiger', a phrase first coined in 1994. A state which had struggled economically since its independence was gaining in confidence and entering a new era of its own history. 1994 marked its change from being a pastoral cliché to becoming a vibrant, modern society.

1994 also saw the first great waves of scandal to hit Catholicism in Ireland as victims of sexual abuse began to come forward in large numbers, irreparably altering the nation's relationship with the church.

Culturally in 1994, Irish bands like U2 were creating a soundtrack for the world, but it was the interval act of that year's Eurovision song contest - Riverdance - which would arguably have the greatest impact on how Irish culture was thought of, and exported, around the globe.

Presented by Patrick Kielty

Producer: Ruth Sanderson

A Bespoken Media production for BBC Radio 4

Comedian Patrick Kielty looks back on 1994 - a year that would change Ireland forever.

Three decades on, comedian Patrick Kielty and producer Ruth Sanderson recall personal experiences of 1994 - an extraordinary year that would change the whole of Ireland forever.

[LISTEN NOW]

In the first two centuries of its existence, only one US President was impeached. Now for the third time in 45 years, the House of Representatives is preparing articles of impeachment against a sitting US president.

In this Archive on 4, Michael Goldfarb explains the mechanics of impeachment and how it became a weaponised tool of partisan politics.

Using archive from the Nixon and Clinton impeachment processes, as well as interviews with participants in those events, the programme explains the British origins of impeachment for High Crimes and Misdemeanours.

A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4

Michael Goldfarb looks back at how impeachment became a tool of US partisan politics.

America's Constitution provides for the removal of a President if he commits high crimes and misdemeanours in office. The process is called impeachment.

Eric Hobsbawm is interviewed by Simon Schama to discuss his work and his extraordinary life.

Professor Eric Hobsbawm is one of our most eminent historians. His four-volume history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, starting with 'The Age of Revolution' and ending with 'The Age of Extremes', is considered a masterpiece, an accessible classic which is still read by students today.

Hobsbawm was born in Alexandria in 1917, months before the Russian Revolution. He grew up in Vienna and Berlin, before moving to England, where he studied history at Cambridge. At 94 years old, he is President of Birkbeck College, and is still writing. His most recent book, published in 2011 is 'How to Change the World', in the light of the global financial crisis, it is a timely collection of essays reassessing Marx and Marxism.

Simon Schama meets Eric at his home in Hampstead to discuss his turbulent childhood, orphaned at 14, he moves to Berlin to stay with relatives who are too concerned with scratching a living in the collapsing Weimar Republic to notice that the teenage Eric is hiding a Communist Party printing press in his bedroom.

In 1933 he moved to England, a country he found incredibly boring after the excitement of Berlin, however, it is the English education system that makes him a historian, when he wins a scholarship to Cambridge, later founding Communist Party Historians Group, and the journal Past and Present, which influenced a whole generation, including a young Simon Schama.

Eric Hobsbawm is an unrepentant Marxist, whilst acknowledging the failure of twentieth century Communism, he has not given up on Marxist ideals. As he tells Simon Schama, he would like to be remembered as 'somebody who not only who kept the flag flying, but who showed that by waving it you can actually achieve something, if only good and readable books'.

Their discussion is illustrated with BBC archive clips from Eric's previous tv and radio appearances

Producer: Jessica Treen.

Historian Prof Eric Hobsbawm is interviewed by Simon Schama about his work and life.

In the years after the First World War, the southern English countryside was held up as the symbolic heart of the nation.

And yet at the same time, that other great embodiment of Englishness - the owner-occupied house - was becoming the ever more achievable dream of a growing population. And so hundreds of thousands of new homes were built, at great speed, every year. Often these appeared along the sides of the many new arterial roads that snaked out into the fields beyond the towns. Anne listens to the anguished regret of writers like EM Forster and John Betjeman at the vanishing of their childhood pastures. She listens to a stinging polemic against the new 'ribbon developments'. And she finds out which writer was so incensed at suburban sprawl that she burned cardboard models of suburbs in her back garden at dusk.

But she also hears interviews with those who had managed to flee the slums of the cities and who were enraptured by the cleanliness and fresh air of their new homes on new estates. One ex-EastEnder is agog simply at the fact that she has running water upstairs. The destruction of the Second World War spurred a post-war drive to clear the slums, ease city overcrowding amid the bombsites and create a fresh life for a population who had borne the brunt of the fighting.

In this new, planning-friendly world, as Anne hears, Prime Minister Winston Churchill found himself broadcasting to the nation on the virtues of the new emergency pre-fabricated houses - complete with excellent baths. He expresses impatience with those who would plan every acre to ensure the landscape was not spoiled, and stresses that land will be made available for new houses. And all this less than three months before D-Day.

But she also listens to the rough reception that greeted the Town and Country Planning Minister who ventured to Stevenage two years later to extol the virtues of the coming new town. To rousing cheers, one local demands to know why the Minister doesn't ask the freeholders in the Commons to give up their holdings - before they come for ours?

This opposition to new building on ancient fields came to a new crisis in the 1980s when the boom in the south east led to extraordinary tensions between Environment Secretary Nicholas Ridley. He backed plans to build new settlements in the Home Counties - but faced furious locals who protested outside his Cotswolds home and burned him in effigy in a field.

As Anne explores, this is not a left-right division. Just as those on the right are split between champions of dynamic development and the conservers of the countryside, those on the left must choose between better housing for working people and the needs of the environment. And with the Coalition Government now introducing fresh plans to encourage development, she asks the Minister for Decentralisation and Cities, Greg Clark, how he is setting about trying to resolve the intractable struggle between our homes and our fields.

With John Carey, Greg Clark, Juliet Gardiner, Tristram Hunt, Roger Scruton, Christine Whitehead

Producer: Phil Tinline.

Which is a better use of our land? A beautiful green field, or a human home? We have long tied ourselves in knots trying to answer this question. Anne McElvoy ploughs the BBC archive to unearth the tangled roots of one this country's great, eternal inner conflicts.

Anne listens to a stinging mid-century polemic against new 'ribbon developments'. And she finds out which writer was so incensed at suburban sprawl that she burned cardboard models of suburbs in her garden.

But she also hears interviews with those who had managed to flee the slums and who were enraptured by the fresh air on new estates. One ex-EastEnder is agog simply at the fact that she has running water upstairs.

In this new, planning-friendly world, Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation on the virtues of the new emergency pre-fabricated houses - complete with excellent baths. He expresses impatience with those who would plan every acre to ensure the landscape was not spoiled.

But she also hears the rough reception that greeted the Minister who ventured to Stevenage to extol the virtues of the coming new town.

This opposition to new building on ancient fields came to a new crisis in the 1980s when the boom in the south east led to extraordinary tensions. Environment Secretary Nicholas Ridley backed plans to build new settlements in the Home Counties. Protestors burned him in effigy in a Hampshire field.

And with the Coalition Government now introducing fresh plans to encourage development while empowering local communities, Anne asks Planning Minister Greg Clark how he is trying to resolve the struggle between houses and fields.

Anne McElvoy explores the eternal struggle: Is a green field better than a human home?

And with the Coalition Government trying to encourage development while empowering local communities, Anne asks Planning Minister Nicholas Boles how he is trying to resolve the struggle between houses and fields.

With Nicholas Boles, JOHN CAREY, JULIET GARDINER, TRISTRAM HUNT, Roger Scruton, Christine Whitehead

And with the Coalition Government trying to encourage development while empowering local communities, Anne asks Planning MiniArchive On 4

How Britain Went To War

20140726

Peter Hennessy, the leading historian of Whitehall, examines Britain's secret war planning and preparations before 1914, explores the difficulties over the plans within government, and asks what difference the plans made when war came.

Drawing on official papers, sound archive, and interviews with historians, Hennessy takes us inside Whitehall during the years before 1914. He discusses what was in the minds of Asquith, his ministers and their officials and top soldiers and sailors, as they prepared for a possible conflict and as they finally took Britain into a major war in August 1914.

He explores the tensions between senior military and naval officers, between the Admiralty and the War Office, and within the Cabinet, where ministers resisted state planning, and he shows how the resulting debates and divisions shaped the war plans and influenced their effectiveness.

But as he also shows, these years also saw the creation of Britain's first Secret Service Bureau (forerunner of MI5 and MI6) and the first ever 'War Book', a detailed set of instructions for government departments to follow during the transition from peace to war - a vital element of Whitehall planning that has continued ever since.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.

In this new, planning-friendly world, as Anne hears, Prime Minister WINSTON CHURCHILL found himself broadcasting to the nation on the virtues of the new emergency pre-fabricated houses - complete with 'excellent baths'. He expresses impatience with those who would 'plan every acre' to ensure the landscape was not spoiled, and stresses that land will be made available for new houses. And all this less than three months before D-Day.

But she also listens to the rough reception that greeted the Town and Country Planning Minister who ventured to Stevenage two years later to extol the virtues of the coming new town. To rousing cheers, one local demands to know why the Minister doesn't ask the freeholders in the Commons to give up their holdings - 'before they come for ours?

In this new, planning-friendly world, Prime Minister WINSTON CHURCHILL broadcast to the nation on the virtues of the new emergency pre-fabricated houses - complete with 'excellent baths'. He expresses impatience with those who would 'plan every acre' to ensure the landscape was not spoiled.

What a year 2021 has been ? from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague ? none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke ? that's what I hope to find out.

With archive contributions from three US presidents, plus IAN HISLOP and Adam MacQueen from Private Eye, Armando Iannuci (creator of The Death of Stalin), SUSAN MORRISON of the New Yorker, and Robert Siegal editor of The Onion in 2001 - the first US publication to break the laughter ban with the headline, US Vows To Defeat Whoever It Is We Are At War With. A copy of that magazine is now in the Library of Congress.

Also includes archive from David Letterman, Have I Got News for You and the News Quiz from September 2001.

JOE QUEENAN is an emmy award winning US broadcaster. His previous contributions to Archive on Four include A Brief History of Blame and a A Brief History of Failure.

The producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is MILES WARDE

How soon is too soon to start making jokes?

Twenty years ago - in the mind-numbing aftermath of the terrorist attacks on America - the immediate, mind-numbing response of the media was to ban laughter. All laughter, including jokes, chuckles and guffaws. This is the story of what happened next. With contributions from Private Eye to The Onion, via David Letterman, the News Quiz and Have I Got News for You. As well as 9/11 and the death of Bin Laden, Joe Queenan explores the pandemic and the US retreat from Afghanistan.

'What a year 2021 has been ? from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague ? none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke?'

With contributions from three US presidents, plus Ian Hislop and Adam MacQueen from Private Eye, Armando Iannuci (creator of The Death of Stalin), Susan Morrison of the New Yorker, and Robert Siegal editor of The Onion in 2001 - the first US publication to break the laughter ban with the headline, US Vows To Defeat Whoever It Is We Are At War With. A copy of that magazine is now in the Library of Congress.

Also includes archive from David Letterman, Linda Grant, Michael Rosen, Rich Hall on Have I Got News for You, plus the News Quiz from September 2001.

Joe Queenan is an Emmy Award-winning US broadcaster. His previous contributions to Archive on Four include Brief Histories on Blame, Shame and Failure.

The producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde.

What a year 2021 has been ? from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague ? none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke ? that?s what I hope to find out.

'What a year 2021 has been – from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague – none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke?'

'What a year 2021 has been – from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague – none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke – that’s what I hope to find out.'

What a year 2021 has been - from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague - none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke - that's what I hope to find out.

'What a year 2021 has been - from the storming of the capitol in Washington to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, this has not been a good time in the US. Probably not so great in the UK either. Throw in some riots, add in the climate crisis and the plague - none of this is worth the slightest lame joke. But is it worth a good joke?'

Drawing on official papers, sound archive, and interviews with historians, Hennessy takes us inside Whitehall during the years before 1914. He discusses what was in the minds of Asquith, his ministers and their officials and top soldiers and sailors, as they prepared for a possible conflict and as they finally took Britain into a major war in August 1914.

He explores the tensions between senior military and naval officers, between the Admiralty and the War Office, and within the Cabinet, where ministers resisted state planning, and he shows how the resulting debates and divisions shaped the war plans and influenced their effectiveness.

But as he also shows, these years also saw the creation of Britain's first Secret Service Bureau (forerunner of MI5 and MI6) and the first ever 'War Book', a detailed set of instructions for government departments to follow during the transition from peace to war - a vital element of Whitehall planning that has continued ever since.

Producer: Rob Shepherd

Peter Hennessy examines Britain's secret war planning and preparations before August 1914.

Producer: ROB SHEPHERD.

I broke a story of babies dying after heart surgery in Bristol which became the subject of the largest public inquiry in British history. I gave evidence and argued that doctors could not be trusted to regulate themselves in secret, and we needed absolute transparency of data, so patients could see, choose and access the treatments they deserved. Only this could improve the NHS. In 2001, the Inquiry made 198 recommendations to ensure the NHS would embed quality, safety and transparency at its heart.

My campaigning and aggressive exposure helped spawn an army of regulators, lawyers and aggressively informed patients demanding excellent care in a collapsing service. Instead of fixing the NHS, I appear to have made it worse. The NHS now has 133,000 vacancies, over seven million waiting for treatment and too many doctors are retiring early or jumping ship to Australia. There is a mental health crisis among staff who suffer the moral injuries of being unable to deliver a decent standard of care, yet are punished if they speak out.

Using archive from the BBC, Private Eye, newspapers, my seven books, I take a mea culpa trip around the NHS to try to better understand the mess it's in.

Includes interviews with:

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP

Bafta winning writer and former doctor, Adam Kay

Dame Clare Gerada, President of the Royal Society of GPs

Heart surgeon and author, Henry Marsh

Producer: David Morley

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4

Dr Phil Hammond asks if his satire and journalism have undermined the NHS.

Brain surgeon and author, Henry Marsh

Dr Phil Hammond says, Doctoring used to be like Downing Street. Posh unaccountable alcoholics working silly hours, cocking up, covering up and laughing it off in the mess. Above all, it was fun. Then I broke ranks and ruined it. For 37 years I worked in the NHS and exposed its darkest secrets, through Private Eye, on stage and on screen - for example, BBC2's Trust Me, I'm a Doctor.

For 37 years Dr Phil Hammond worked in the NHS and exposed its darkest secrets, through Private Eye, on stage and on screen. But now he's having a crisis. What damage did he do?

We can trace the Marxist influence on conservative doctrine as far back as the 19th century when, reacting to the revolution of 1848, French political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville first made the case for turning the proletariat into a class of small property owners so as to give them a stake in society and prevent revolutions. A nation of property owners remains a central conservative ideal nowadays.

Meanwhile, the contemporary right is defined by a fiscal credo devised by economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, as a direct response to the ideological threat they saw in state socialism.

On a personal level, many leading conservatives - including Tim Stanley himself - became conservatives as if in response to their own early embrace of Marxist doctrines.

And while the right wing ideologies devised by Hayek, Friedman, and Thatcher seemed to have triumphed in the 1990s and early 2000s, the rise of a new brand of right-wing populism suggests that the right-wing doctrines of neo-liberalism in fact needed their socialist enemy to survive.

A Kati Whitaker production for BBC Radio 4.

Tim Stanley argues that the Right's debt to Marx is nearly as great as the Left's.

If Dickens' A Christmas Carol invented the Victorian Christmas of family, good works and good cheer, Hollywood has created its modern counterpoint - Santa Claus, elaborate presents, hummable tunes, consumer satisfaction and family tensions and reconciliations. 

From Holiday Inn and Miracle On 34th Street to It's A Wonderful Life and White Christmas, Christmas movies are designed to create a warm glow in the audience. They have helped turn Christmas into a global event, spread across cultures and religions, and rebranded for the age of mass consumption.

In the process, the meaning of Christmas has become comprehensively Americanised - complete with the ubiquitous iconography of Santa Claus, red-nosed reindeer, red costumes trimmed with white and shopping to the sound of piped seasonal muzak. A cultural critic said recently that Santa Claus is to American material faith what Jesus Christ is to the spiritual.

Christopher Frayling dives into the BBC archive to discover how this happened and why - with the help of filmmakers, advertisers and historians, as well as comedians, commentators and religious figures.

Interviewees:

Joe Dante, film director

Judith Flanders, historian and author

Sir John Hegarty, advertising executive

Karen Krizanovich, broadcaster and writer

Kim Newman, critic and horror writer

Producer: Jane Long

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4

Christopher Frayling explores how Hollywood helped to create the modern global Christmas.

What is clear 50 years after it was fought is that it was a conflict that really did change the world. In this Archive on 4, Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the war that began on 6th October 1973 and ended less than three weeks later, yet somehow the combatants and the rest of the world still live with the aftermath.

The consequences of the war were immediate. Arab oil producers united for the first time and raised the price of oil precipitously. The resulting inflation in the developed world would end the post-World War 2 economic boom virtually overnight. In the Anglosphere, this inflation would ebb and flow for the rest of the decade and only come to an end with the election of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan who broke its back by neutering unions with their 'cost of living plus' contracts.

In Israel, within months, five of the right-wing nationalist political parties united into a new political party called Likud, which means consolidation. In 1977, the Likud would be elected to government. It has been in power, either alone or in coalition, for most of the half-century since the war and its expansionist ideology-building settlements in 'Samaria', the West Bank Palestinian land captured in 1967, would come to redefine Israel.

In Egypt, Anwar Sadat, negotiated the return of the Sinai that more than 5,000 Egyptians died trying to recapture. His signature on the Camp David Accords was his death sentence. He was assassinated three years later. Among those imprisoned and tortured for their role in the assassination plot was Ayman al-Zawahiri, who would found al-Qaeda and recruit Osama bin Laden to the cause.

A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4

A look back at the 1973 war that lasted only 19 days but changed the world forever.

The consequences of the war were immediate. Arab oil producers united for the first time and raised the price of oil precipitously. The resulting inflation in the developed world would end the post World War 2 economic boom virtually overnight. In the Anglosphere, this inflation would ebb and flow for the rest of the decade and only come to an end with the election of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan who broke its back by neutering unions with their 'cost of living plus' contracts.

In Israel, within months, five of the right-wing nationalist political parties united into a new political party called Likud, which means consolidation. In 1977, the Likud would be elected to government. It has been in power, either alone or in coalition, for most of the half century since the war and its expansionist ideology-building settlements in 'Samaria', the West Bank Palestinian land captured in 1967, would come to redefine Israel.

In Egypt, Anwar Sadat, negotiated the return of the Sinai that more than 5000 Egyptians died trying to recapture. His signature on the Camp David Accords was his death sentence. He was assassinated three years later. Among those imprisoned and tortured for their role in the assassination plot was Ayman al Zawihiri, who would found al-Qaeda and recruit Osama bin-Laden to the cause.

In October 1998 Gordon Bell went paperless. This is Gordon Bell, of Microsoft, who has been described as the Frank Lloyd Wright of computers. He has archived everything he has written and now records the minutiae of his life digitally as part of a project called MyLifeBits, an experiment designed to assist and maybe even supersede memory. But now that we can record so much of our lives are we missing out on the living of them?

The wealth, range and affordability of devices to record your own life - from the 'basic' camera phone, hand-held internet connection, and even biological and genetic sequencing, has expanded exponentially over recent years.

Take a look at the next event you are enjoying - viewing the Mona Lisa, watching David Byrne at the Royal Festival Hall, enjoying a friend's birthday cake candles being blown out - and count how many people are watching and how many are recording the moment.

But what is all this for? Why are we doing it? And is an archive an archive if it is not structured, indexed, given meaning? Talking to passionate archvist Robert Fripp, from King Crimson, dispassionate archivist Geoff Dyer, and Sue Aldworth, an artists whose whole house is her arhive, presenter and self-archivist Toby Amies argues that the virtual moment has now become a vital part of the moment, not a dilution of it and that by being part of this new explosion of archiving we are playing our part in a shift of consciousness. He believes that the virtual is becoming as important, or as real, as the real and that this is part of the slow move into a future where technology and humans intersect in a different way.

He examines the explosion in the archiving of human existence, wondering whether we are in the age of the super diary or at a launching point for the transference of our consciousness into the digital universe, for good.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.

But what is all this for? Why are we doing it? And is an archive an archive if it is not structured, indexed, given meaning? Talking to passionate archivist Robert Fripp, from King Crimson, dispassionate archivist Geoff Dyer, and Sue Aldworth, an artists whose whole house is her archive, presenter and self-archivist Toby Amies argues that the virtual moment has now become a vital part of the moment, not a dilution of it and that by being part of this new explosion of archiving we are playing our part in a shift of consciousness. He believes that the virtual is becoming as important, or as real, as the real and that this is part of the slow move into a future where technology and humans intersect in a different way.

In October 1998 Gordon Bell went paperless. This is Gordon Bell, of Microsoft, who has been described as 'the Frank Lloyd Wright of computers'. He has archived everything he has written and now records the minutiae of his life digitally as part of a project called MyLifeBits, an experiment designed to assist and maybe even supersede memory. But now that we can record so much of our lives are we missing out on the living of them?

Relentless self-archivist Toby Amies argues that the virtual moment has now become a vital part of the moment, not a dilution of it and that by being part of this new explosion of archiving we are playing our part in a shift of consciousness. He believes that the virtual is becoming as important, or as real, as the real and that this is part of the slow move into a future where technology and humans intersect in a different way.

Drawing a line from Pepys to Facebook, from Proust to Twitter, he examines the explosion in the archiving of human existence, wondering whether we are in the age of the super diary or at a launching point for the transference of our consciousness into the digital universe, for good.

In October 1998 Gordon Bell went paperless. This is Gordon Bell, of Microsoft, who has been described as the Frank Lloyd Wright of computers. He has archived everything he has written and now records the minutiae of his life digitally as part of a project called MyLifeBits, an experiment designed to assist and maybe even supersede memory. But now that we can record so much of our lives are we missing out on the living of them?

The wealth, range and affordability of devices to record your own life - from the 'basic' camera phone, hand-held internet connection, and even biological and genetic sequencing, has expanded exponentially over recent years.

Take a look at the next event you are enjoying - viewing the Mona Lisa, watching DAVID BYRNE at the Royal Festival Hall, enjoying a friend's birthday cake candles being blown out - and count how many people are watching and how many are recording the moment.

But what is all this for? Why are we doing it? And is an archive an archive if it is not structured, indexed, given meaning? Talking to passionate archvist Robert Fripp, from King Crimson, dispassionate archivist GEOFF DYER, and Sue Aldworth, an artists whose whole house is her arhive, presenter and self-archivist TOBY AMIES argues that the virtual moment has now become a vital part of the moment, not a dilution of it and that by being part of this new explosion of archiving we are playing our part in a shift of consciousness. He believes that the virtual is becoming as important, or as real, as the real and that this is part of the slow move into a future where technology and humans intersect in a different way.

He examines the explosion in the archiving of human existence, wondering whether we are in the age of the super diary or at a launching point for the transference of our consciousness into the digital universe, for good.

Producer: SARA JANE HALL.

Technology makes keeping a record of our lives easy. TOBY AMIES asks what is it all for?

Interviewees include Iain Duncan Smith. Boris Johnson, Peter Hain, Shirley Williams, Louise Mensch, Hazel Blears, Kenneth Clarke, Edwina Currie, Alan Johnson, Miranda Green, Melissa Lane

Producers:

Catherine Donegan

Jane Ashley.

Using ancient and modern inspiration Anne McElvoy asks how to be or not to be a politician

What makes an ex-convict renounce a life of crime? With staggering levels of re-offending, this is a vital question for our criminal justice system. One little-known radio programme has been providing some answers, through some powerful and intimate personal stories. 'Outside In' is a collaboration between the BBC and National Prison Radio, presented by former prisoners. It focusses on the stories of ex-criminals who have turned their lives around. Sitting in the studio and talking to fellow ex-cons, they reveal themselves in a way that is rarely heard elsewhere. They talk about the turning points when they decided to resist returning to their old ways, sometimes after several drearily repetitive spells inside. Often the real change is developing a sense of self-worth. For a lifetime they have been told they are worth nothing. To go straight, they have to believe they are worth something.

Outside In presenter Hilary introduces some of the most powerful moments from the programme. He talks to Andrew Wilkie from National Prison Radio who explains why hearing these stories in cells across the country is helping to change minds. And we hear from some of the talented former prisoners who have performed on the programme - singing and rapping with a fierce conviction.

Producer: Shabnam Grewal.

What makes an ex-convict renounce a life of crime? With staggering levels of re-offending, this is a vital question for our criminal justice system. One little-known radio programme has been providing some answers, through some powerful and intimate personal stories. Outside In is a collaboration between the BBC and National Prison Radio, presented by former prisoners. It focuses on the stories of ex-criminals who have turned their lives around. Sitting in the studio and talking to fellow ex-cons, they reveal themselves in a way that is rarely heard elsewhere. They talk about the turning points when they decided to resist returning to their old ways, sometimes after several drearily repetitive spells inside. Often the real change is developing a sense of self-worth. For a lifetime they have been told they are worth nothing. To go straight, they have to believe they are worth something.

Outside In presenter Hilary Ineomo-Marcus introduces some of the most powerful moments from the programme. He talks to Andrew Wilkie from National Prison Radio who explains why hearing these stories in cells across the country is helping to change minds. And we hear from some of the talented former prisoners who have performed on the programme - singing and rapping with a fierce conviction.

What makes an ex-convict renounce a life of crime? With staggering levels of re-offending, this is a vital question for our criminal justice system. One little-known radio programme has been providing some answers, through some powerful and intimate personal stories. Outside In is a collaboration between the BBC and National Prison Radio, presented by former prisoners. It focusses on the stories of ex-criminals who have turned their lives around. Sitting in the studio and talking to fellow ex-cons, they reveal themselves in a way that is rarely heard elsewhere. They talk about the turning points when they decided to resist returning to their old ways, sometimes after several drearily repetitive spells inside. Often the real change is developing a sense of self-worth. For a lifetime they have been told they are worth nothing. To go straight, they have to believe they are worth something.

Producer: Shabnam Grewal.

What makes an ex-convict renounce a life of crime? With staggering levels of re-offending, this is a vital question for our criminal justice system. One little-known radio programme has been providing some answers, through some powerful and intimate personal stories. 'Outside In' is a collaboration between the BBC and National Prison Radio, presented by former prisoners. It focuses on the stories of ex-criminals who have turned their lives around. Sitting in the studio and talking to fellow ex-cons, they reveal themselves in a way that is rarely heard elsewhere. They talk about the turning points when they decided to resist returning to their old ways, sometimes after several drearily repetitive spells inside. Often the real change is developing a sense of self-worth. For a lifetime they have been told they are worth nothing. To go straight, they have to believe they are worth something.

What makes an ex-convict renounce a life of crime? With staggering levels of re-offending, this is a vital question for our criminal justice system. One little-known radio programme has been providing some answers, through some powerful and intimate personal stories. 'Outside In' is a collaboration between the BBC and National Prison Radio, presented by former prisoners. It focusses on the stories of ex-criminals who have turned their lives around. Sitting in the studio and talking to fellow ex-cons, they reveal themselves in a way that is rarely heard elsewhere. They talk about the turning points when they decided to resist returning to their old ways, sometimes after several drearily repetitive spells inside. Often the real change is developing a sense of self-worth. For a lifetime they have been told they are worth nothing. To go straight, they have to believe they are worth something.

Outside In presenter Hilary introduces some of the most powerful moments from the programme. He talks to Andrew Wilkie from National Prison Radio who explains why hearing these stories in cells across the country is helping to change minds. And we hear from some of the talented former prisoners who have performed on the programme - singing and rapping with a fierce conviction.

Producer: Shabnam Grewal.

Alan Dein enters the strange world of instructional records where you can teach yourself just about anything - from yodelling to training your budgie to talk.

It all started in 1901 when Polish 退migr退 Jacques Roston harnessed the new technology of sound recording to teach foreign languages, signing up such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and JRR Tolkien to lend their support.

By the 50s and 60s you could buy LPs on how to do just about anything - from keep fit to playing a musical instrument, relaxation and passing your driving test.

Perhaps the most surprising are those which help you to train your pet budgerigar to talk - with help from Sparkie, Britain's favourite budgie, who supposedly had a vocabulary of over 500 words.

With help from Sparkie, Alan Dein tells the story of instructional records and, along the way, reveals a few of the secrets of how to make an Archive on 4.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein enters the strange world of instructional records.



Producer: Laurence Grissell.

It all started in 1901 when Polish ?migr? Jacques Roston harnessed the new technology of sound recording to teach foreign languages, signing up such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and JRR Tolkien to lend their support.

It all started in 1901 when Polish émigré Jacques Roston harnessed the new technology of sound recording to teach foreign languages, signing up such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and JRR Tolkien to lend their support.

Ever wondered how to make an Archive on 4? Here's your chance to find out!

ALAN DEIN enters the strange world of instructional records where you can teach yourself just about anything - from yodelling to training your budgie to talk.

It all started in 1901 when Polish 退migr退 Jacques Roston harnessed the new technology of sound recording to teach foreign languages, signing up such luminaries as GEORGE BERNARD SHAW and JRR Tolkien to lend their support.

By the 50s and 60s you could buy LPs on how to do just about anything - from keep fit to playing a musical instrument, relaxation and passing your driving test.

Perhaps the most surprising are those which help you to train your pet budgerigar to talk - with help from Sparkie, Britain's favourite budgie, who supposedly had a vocabulary of over 500 words.

With help from Sparkie, ALAN DEIN tells the story of instructional records and, along the way, reveals a few of the secrets of how to make an Archive on 4.

Producer: LAURENCE GRISSELL.

It all started in 1901 when Polish émigré Jacques Roston harnessed the new technology of sound recording to teach foreign languages, signing up such luminaries as GEORGE BERNARD SHAW and JRR Tolkien to lend their support.

Interviewees include Kenneth Baker, Iain Duncan Smith, Gabby Bertin, Andrew Mitchell, Iain Dale,

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan

Michael Crick looks back at success and failure in Tory leadership contests in the past

The atrocities of the conflict have been well-covered.

So historian, Dan Snow looks at how and why our perceptions of the conflict have changed over time, and how that's affected the way we commemorate the event.

With powerful accounts of veterans, from the iconic 1964 BBC series The Great War and the Imperial War Museum's sound archive, as well as moving early commemorations at the Cenotaph.

With:

Dan Todman

Lucy Noakes

Helen McCartney

Jean Seaton

Peter Hart - who interviewed many veterans on behalf of the IWM.

Producers: Megan Jones and Glyn Tansley

Dan Snow looks back at how the First World War has been commemorated over the past century

Dan Snow explores how and why our perceptions of the First World War have changed over time. From 2018.

Since 2014 the world has been reflecting on the centenary of the First World War. The atrocities of the conflict have been well-covered but how has our interpretation changed over time?

With powerful accounts of veterans, from the iconic 1964 BBC series The Great War and the Imperial War Museum's sound archive, as well as moving early commemorations at the Cenotaph, historian DAN SNOW looks at how and why our perceptions of the conflict have changed over time, and how that's affected the way we commemorate the event.

Joined by Dan Todman, Lucy Noakes, Helen McCartney and JEAN SEATON, as well as Peter Hart, who interviewed many veterans on behalf of the IWM, we'll look at why Remembrance still seems to matter to people today and, as the centenary draws to a close, how it might change going forward.

Brilliant stories told using archive material from the BBC and beyond.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

So historian DAN SNOW looks at how and why our perceptions of the conflict have changed over time, and how that's affected the way we commemorate the event.

Why does Remembrance still seem to matter to people today?

How might it change going forward?

With powerful accounts of veterans, from the iconic 1964 BBC series The Great War and the Imperial War Museum’s sound archive, as well as moving early commemorations at the Cenotaph, historian Dan Snow looks at how and why our perceptions of the conflict have changed over time, and how that’s affected the way we commemorate the event.

Joined by Dan Todman, Lucy Noakes, Helen McCartney and Jean Seaton, as well as Peter Hart, who interviewed many veterans on behalf of the IWM, we’ll look at why Remembrance still seems to matter to people today and, as the centenary draws to a close, how it might change going forward.

So historian Dan Snow looks at how and why our perceptions of the conflict have changed over time, and how that’s affected the way we commemorate the event.

With powerful accounts of veterans, from the iconic 1964 BBC series The Great War and the Imperial War Museum’s sound archive, as well as moving early commemorations at the Cenotaph.

[LISTEN NOW]

From Falstaff at The Boar's Head to John Self at The Shakespeare in Martin Amis's Money, English literature and the pub are intertwined. It started in a pub - Chaucer's pilgrims setting out from The Tabard in Southwark - and has been waiting to be chucked out ever since. Robert Hanks presents an elegy for pubs in literature and an exploration of what the smoking ban, the gastro pub and the five quid pint are going to do to writing.

From Falstaff at The Boar's Head to John Self at The Shakespeare in Martin Amis's Money, English literature and the pub are intertwined. It started in a pub - Chaucer's pilgrims setting out from The Tabard in Southwark - and has been waiting to be chucked out ever since. Robert Hanks presents an elegy for pubs in literature and an exploration of what the smoking ban, the gastro pub and the five quid pint are going to do to writing.

In Yiddish, Polish, German, Spanish and English, mostly Jewish young men, women and orphan children were asked to tell their personal stories of survival and loss in the world of Nazi concentration and death camps.

Boder also gathered from them the songs of the ghettos.These recordings are arguably the first ever oral histories and the only contemporary interviews with people who had survived the worst but whose immediate fate was unkown.

alan dein listens to those still making sense of their terrible experiences.

The voices and immediate memories of Nazi concentration camp survivors, recorded in 1946.

In 1946, psychologist Dr David Boder travelled across the American zones of war-torn Europe to record 120 interviews that remain unique. In Yiddish, Polish, German, Spanish and English, mostly Jewish young men, women and orphan children were asked to tell their personal stories of survival and loss in the world of Nazi concentration and death camps.

Boder also gathered from them the songs of the ghettos.These recordings are arguably the first ever oral histories and the only contemporary interviews with people who had survived the worst but whose immediate fate was unkown. Alan Dein listens to those still making sense of their terrible experiences.

'The voices and immediate memories of Nazi concentration camp survivors, recorded in 1946.'

The music we like, the games we play - it all seems to revolve around the pleasure of repetition. After all, familiarity provides comfort.

Our jobs are loops. Our social lives are loops. Are we into infinity because we are not infinite? The loop, unlike us, never dies.

We shouldn't be afraid of saying something more than once - the deepest 'aha's' spring from an encounter and then a return. A build and a release.

Yet repeating oneself is embarrassing. We call out the robotic language of diplomats, politicians and liars. Even history itself seems to endlessly loop back around, forcing each new generation to make the same mistakes as the last.

Ross Sutherland looks at the behavioural grooves that we return to, the concepts of pattern, memory and d退j

“It's the archetypal Billy Bragg song, which I'm really pleased of because obviously a lot of people, when they think of me, think of political song writing,” he says. “But I like to think A New England is more reflective of who I really am. It kind of has the implications of politics in it and saying, I don't wanna change the world. But really it's about the struggle for relationships and making sense of the world.”

In 1983, when he released A New England, Billy was angry and he was loud. He was operating within a youth culture, straining against ageing ideas of adulthood, charged by radical politics, vibrant subcultures and existential angst. Now he's older and maybe wiser, Billy is interested in how young people think today - where do they put their anger, their hopes? How do they experience the freedom and fear that comes with emerging into adulthood?

Billy speaks to Developmental Psychologist Jeffrey Arnett from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, who pioneered the theory of Emerging Adulthood - a new life stage that has emerged since 1983, capturing those aged 18 to 30. Dame Rachel Whiteread remembers her experience as a young artist in the 1980s, and Billy joins anthropologist, photographer and writer Ted Polhemus on the Kings Road to reminisce about the central role played by subculture in the 1980s. He also talks to a group of young people, living out their early 20s in the 2020s. What do they think about the society they live in? And are they looking for a new England?

Produced by Maia Miller-Lewis

Executive Producer Jo Rowntree

Associate Editor Anne Harbin

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Photographs by Jacob Blickenstaff, Paul Slattery, and Nicki Rogerson.

Billy Bragg marks 40 years since the release of his seminal song, A New England.

Billy Bragg marks 40 years since the release of his seminal song A New England and weighs up what it was like to come of age in 1983 versus 2023.

In 1983, when he released A New England, Billy was angry and he was loud. He was operating within a youth culture, straining against ageing ideas of adulthood, charged by radical politics, vibrant subcultures and existential angst. Now he’s older and maybe wiser, Billy is interested in how young people think today - where do they put their anger, their hopes? How do they experience the freedom and fear that comes with emerging into adulthood?

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when Bruce Forsyth's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of comp耀re of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Mocombe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Bruce Forsyth and Paul Jackson on the London Palladium, which opened on Boxing Day 1910.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when Bruce Forsyth's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of compère of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in Bruce Forsyth's heart: No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Mocombe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in Bruce Forsyth's heart: No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special . . . as intimate as a family's front room.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in BRUCE FORSYTH's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when BRUCE FORSYTH's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of compere of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'.

From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Morcambe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

BRUCE FORSYTH and PAUL JACKSON visit the London Palladium which opened on Boxing Day 1910.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when BRUCE FORSYTH's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of compere of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes PAUL JACKSON on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Morcambe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Morcambe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.



Producer: Paul Kobrak.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes PAUL JACKSON on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Morcambe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

'The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in BRUCE FORSYTH's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.'

as intimate as a family's front room.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when BRUCE FORSYTH's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of compere of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'.

Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes PAUL JACKSON on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in.

If you made the Palladium, you had it made.

From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Morcambe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

BRUCE FORSYTH and PAUL JACKSON visit the London Palladium which opened on Boxing Day 1910.

Bruce Forsyth and Paul Jackson on the London Palladium, which opened on Boxing Day 1910.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in Bruce Forsyth's heart: No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when Bruce Forsyth's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of comp耀re of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Mocombe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like FRANK SINATRA and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Morcambe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

It was one night at the Palladium back in 1958 when Bruce Forsyth's career changed forever - a celebrated appearance with the late comedian Dickie Henderson led to Bruce being offered the highly sought after job of compere of the weekly TV variety show, 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. Together, the show and its new presenter, turned out to be a sensation - the highlight of the week for Britain's viewing millions and the topic of conversation in factories, offices, schools and shop floors on Monday mornings.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V and George VI, to Pinky and Perky and Morcambe and Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Morcambe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

On the eve of the Theatre's 100th birthday - the Palladium first opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1919 - Bruce takes Paul Jackson on a tour of the theatre that every star of their day aspired to performing in. If you made the Palladium, you had it made. From Ella Sheilds and Dan Leno to the golden era of American stars like Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye who had the crowds queuing round the block; from George V & George VI, to Pinky & Perky and Mocombe & Wise, the London Palladium has played host to them all.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in BRUCE FORSYTH's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special.

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in Bruce Forsyth's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.



Producer: Paul Kobrak.

'The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in BRUCE FORSYTH's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special... as intimate as a family's front room.'

The London Palladium has always occupied a unique place in BRUCE FORSYTH's heart: 'No theatre on this earth has ever superseded the Palladium in my affections; it's just so special . . . as intimate as a family's front room.

Does the daily experience of the embattled commuter define the British national character almost better than anything else? Consider the need for endurance and stoicism, the acceptance of the ritual of the queue and the ability to completely blank out one's neighbours?

As part of the London season this is the starting point for writer and broadcaster Ian Marchant as he eavesdrops upon the experiences of generations of hapless commuters.

Acknowledging the first commuter line which was built in the 1830s, this feature documentary bears testimony to the cumulative toll exacted by that daily dose of suspended animation, tepid coffees and half-completed crosswords.

Ian reflects on the way in which mobiles and laptops have transformed our experience of public and private space.

Addressing the daily round of anxious clock-watching, dashed hopes, and frequently failed expectations, Ian shares his theories on the existence of a new time zone to describe the experience of wasted hours: British Nothing Time.

BNT, he convincingly demonstrates, is intricately woven through the best years of our lives

He will look at how generations have dealt with the need for diversion looking at the heydayof the crossword, its recent eclipse by Sudoku, the tonnage of newspapers glanced at and discarded, and the onward march of gadgets, from transistor radios to iPods.

With these changes have come a renegotiation of what is private and public, as people loudly regale a whole carriage with the intimacies of their supposedly private lives.

He'll also find out about the relationships that have formed and foundered on the train, and about the train as a creative space - an astonishing number of first novels were not only drafted but also completed on the 07.48 and the 17.55.

And, as we'll hear, the commute is no innocent activity: its existence has fuelled the disappearance of the clear lines between town and country.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

As part of the London season this is the starting point for writer and broadcaster Ian Marchant as he eavesdrops upon the experiences of generations of hapless commuters. Acknowledging the first commuter line which was built in the 1830s, this feature documentary bears testimony to the cumulative toll exacted by that daily dose of suspended animation, tepid coffees and half-completed crosswords. Ian reflects on the way in which mobiles and laptops have transformed our experience of public and private space. Addressing the daily round of anxious clock-watching, dashed hopes, and frequently failed expectations, Ian shares his theories on the existence of a new time zone to describe the experience of wasted hours: British Nothing Time. BNT, he convincingly demonstrates, is intricately woven through the best years of our lives

He will look at how generations have dealt with the need for diversion looking at the heydayof the crossword, its recent eclipse by Sudoku, the tonnage of newspapers glanced at and discarded, and the onward march of gadgets, from transistor radios to iPods. With these changes have come a renegotiation of what is private and public, as people loudly regale a whole carriage with the intimacies of their supposedly private lives. He'll also find out about the relationships that have formed and foundered on the train, and about the train as a creative space - an astonishing number of first novels were not only drafted but also completed on the 07.48 and the 17.55.

'For Radio 4's London Season, writer Ian Marchant explores the daily rail commute.'

Jokes have the ability to divide an audience like nothing else. What one person finds funny, another can find grossly offensive – but should personal taste set the boundaries of what can and can't be said?

Ed follows this idea from the 'filthy', innuendo-laden music hall comedians who were banned by the BBC in the 1930s and 40s to the YouTube comedians of today. He asks whether, if censorship is necessary, who takes the role of moral arbiter? Did MARY WHITEHOUSE have the right to get Monty Python's Life of Brian banned in cities across the UK? Did the UK government have the right to ban LENNY BRUCE from the country? Should the media have brought nationwide attention to CHRIS MORRIS' Brass Eye? And is there a need to reappraise a comedian's career because of their trangressive behaviour?

Ed talks to leading figures in the world of comedy including ROGER LAW, JANE BUSSMANN, GRAHAM LINEHAN, Doug Stanhope, GINA YASHERE, Tiff Stevenson, TERRY GILLIAM and GLENN WOOL. There's archive too on shows like Brass Eye, The Establishment, Beyond the Fringe, BENNY HILL, Monty Python and many more.

Produced by Richard Power

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4

ED BYRNE traces the history of offensive comedy while exploring the idea of censorship.

Ed follows this idea from the filthy, innuendo-laden music hall comedians who were banned by the BBC in the 1930s and 40s to the YouTube comedians of today. He asks whether, if censorship is necessary, who takes the role of moral arbiter? Did MARY WHITEHOUSE have the right to get Monty Python's Life of Brian banned in cities across the UK? Did the UK government have the right to ban LENNY BRUCE from the country? Should the media have brought nationwide attention to CHRIS MORRIS' Brass Eye? And is there a need to reappraise a comedian's career because of their trangressive behaviour?

Jokes have the ability to divide an audience like nothing else. What one person finds funny, another can find grossly offensive ? but should personal taste set the boundaries of what can and can't be said?

Jokes have the ability to divide an audience like nothing else. What one person finds funny, another can find grossly offensive – but should personal taste set the boundaries of what can and can’t be said?

Jokes have the ability to divide an audience like nothing else. What one person finds funny, another can find grossly offensive – but should personal taste set the boundaries of what can and can't be said?

Jokes have the ability to divide an audience like nothing else. What one person finds funny, another can find grossly offensive - but should personal taste set the boundaries of what can and can't be said?

In this Archive on 4, the writer Dolly Alderton turns the tables on Terry to find out how this unlikely host, who describes herself as shy, insecure and self-conscious, mastered the art of the radio interview. These interviews rarely happen face to face. Instead, they are conducted remotely, with Terry in Philadelphia and her guests in recording studios all over the world. Like a priest in a confession box, she is entrusted with their innermost thoughts and feelings.

Dolly picks out some of the most funny, poignant and revealing radio interviews of all time from the Fresh Air archive, including Terry's unforgettable conversations with Maurice Sendak, Elton John, Lizzo and James Baldwin. Terry also reflects on some of her prickliest on-air encounters, with stars like Gene Simmons and Hillary Clinton.

With thanks to Danny Miller and the Fresh Air archive.

Produced by Paul Smith

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Dolly Alderton turns the tables on the master of the radio interview, Terry Gross.

Terry Gross’s remarkable conversations have become a daily fixture for millions of Americans. Since 1975, the presenter of Fresh Air, one of National Public Radio’s most popular shows, has interviewed thousands of public figures - including musicians, Hollywood actors, Nobel Prize-winning authors and US Presidents.

Dolly picks out some of the most funny, poignant and revealing radio interviews of all time from the Fresh Air archive, including Terry’s unforgettable conversations with Maurice Sendak, Elton John, Lizzo and James Baldwin. Terry also reflects on some of her prickliest on-air encounters, with stars like Gene Simmons and Hillary Clinton.

Producer: Paul Smith

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2021.

4 Extra Debut Dolly Alderton turns the tables on Terry Gross, master of the radio interview and host of NPR's Fresh Air. From 2021.

The St Paul's Riot in Bristol in 1980 helped trigger subsequent serious unrest in Brixton and Toxteth. The riot was caused by a complex combination of racial tension, economic difficulty, class antagonism, and unwitting mistakes in local policing. Archive on Four recreates this overlooked moment in British history using the testimony of those who took part on all sides.

The St Paul's Riots in Bristol in 1980 remembered by those who took part.

Imagine a world without polling and audience research - who did the early BBC think it was talking to?

Imagine too those early broadcasters, standing in front of microphones, clearing their throats before they spoke to... well, who? The unknown, unseen audience. If they were a little unsure of themselves, it would be little surprise, since they had only the vaguest sense of who was listening - or if anyone was at all. And if they couldn't see the whites of their listeners' eyes, how would they know, as MP Lady Astor laments in 1937, whether they were dozin' off?

Matthew Sweet unearths some of the earliest archive recordings in existence and uncovers a complicated relationship between the BBC and its vast, invisible audience. From football by numbers to tap dancing on the radio; from tips on how to plant your dahlias to the aspirational fantasies of overwrought housewives.

The new medium was excitingly and scarily new and it threw up all sorts of unexpected questions. How should people listen at home? (Try turning out the lights, so that your eye is not caught by familiar objects in the room said the BBC.) What should listeners be called? (Radiauds suggested a correspondent to the Radio Times.) And how could an organisation made up almost entirely of middle class people in dinner jackets speak authentically to a flat cap-wearing, working class audience?

Matthew looks back at the first editions of the Radio Times, rifles through the private memos of BBC staff and talks to people who remember listening to the radio as children in the 1930s. What he finds contradicts the stereotype of the austere, Reithian BBC.

Produced by Hannah Marshall

Executive Producer: Elizabeth Burke

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

Imagine too those early broadcasters, standing in front of microphones, clearing their throats before they spoke to... well, who? The unknown, unseen audience. If they were a little unsure of themselves, it would be little surprise, since they had only the vaguest sense of who was listening - or if anyone was at all. And if they couldn't see the whites of their listeners' eyes, how would they know, as MP Lady Astor laments in 1937, whether they were 'dozin' off'?

The new medium was excitingly and scarily new and it threw up all sorts of unexpected questions. How should people listen at home? ('Try turning out the lights, so that your eye is not caught by familiar objects in the room' said the BBC.) What should 'listeners' be called? ('Radiauds' suggested a correspondent to the Radio Times.) And how could an organisation made up almost entirely of middle class people in dinner jackets speak authentically to a flat cap-wearing, working class audience?

Thankfully President Nixon was never called upon to deliver the speech entitled 'In event of moon disaster' and fate prevented John F.Kennedy from delivering a speech on trade policy in Dallas in November 1963.

In this Archive Hour former speech writer and Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein listens to the world's greatest speeches that never saw the light of day, from WINSTON CHURCHILL to David Miliband.

Through the many voices of impressionist JON CULSHAW, Radio 4 will bring forgotten speeches to life, exploring the context and the ramifications had circumstances not intervened.

Producer Caitlin Smith.

Daniel Finkelstein listens to the world's greatest unmade speeches, aided by Jon Culshaw.

From politics to TV drama, sporting clich?s to toe-curling corporate jargon, Steve Punt drills down into the archive to discover why so many of us have been singing from the same hymn sheet.

As he traces clich? origin stories and listens to the sound of some new ones being hatched, Steve is joined by storytelling expert John Yorke, parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant and author of a whole book about footballing clich?s, Adam Hurrey. Navigating a linguistic minefield where conventions must be separated from tropes, platitudes from pontification, Steve runs it up the flagpole to ask if it's time to stop rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, attempt some blue-sky thinking and rehabilitate the humble clich?.

It could, he says ?be a game-changer.?

Producer: Conor Garrett

Steve Punt asks if it's time to rehabilitate the humble cliche

Whether it's author Martin Amis declaring war on overused stock phrases or annual surveys of the well-worn expressions we love to hate - at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is, people have very strong feelings about clich退s.

From politics to TV drama, sporting clich退s to toe-curling corporate jargon, Steve Punt drills down into the archive to discover why so many of us have been singing from the same hymn sheet.

As he traces clich退 origin stories and listens to the sound of some new ones being hatched, Steve is joined by storytelling expert John Yorke, parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant and author of a whole book about footballing clich退s, Adam Hurrey. Navigating a linguistic minefield where conventions must be separated from tropes, platitudes from pontification, Steve runs it up the flagpole to ask if it's time to stop rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, attempt some blue-sky thinking and rehabilitate the humble clich退.

It could, he says “be a game-changer.”

Whether it’s author Martin Amis declaring war on overused stock phrases or annual surveys of the well-worn expressions we love to hate - at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is, people have very strong feelings about clich退s.

As he traces clich退 origin stories and listens to the sound of some new ones being hatched, Steve is joined by storytelling expert John Yorke, parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant and author of a whole book about footballing clich退s, Adam Hurrey. Navigating a linguistic minefield where conventions must be separated from tropes, platitudes from pontification, Steve runs it up the flagpole to ask if it’s time to stop rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, attempt some blue-sky thinking and rehabilitate the humble clich退.

It could, he says “be a game-changer.??

Whether it's author MARTIN AMIS declaring war on overused stock phrases or annual surveys of the well-worn expressions we love to hate - at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is, people have very strong feelings about clichés.

From politics to TV drama, sporting clichés to toe-curling corporate jargon, STEVE PUNT drills down into the archive to discover why so many of us have been singing from the same hymn sheet.

As he traces cliché origin stories and listens to the sound of some new ones being hatched, Steve is joined by storytelling expert John Yorke, parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant and author of a whole book about footballing clichés, Adam Hurrey. Navigating a linguistic minefield where conventions must be separated from tropes, platitudes from pontification, Steve runs it up the flagpole to ask if it's time to stop rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, attempt some blue-sky thinking and rehabilitate the humble cliché.

It could, he says “be a game-changer. ?

It could, he says `be a game-changer.`

STEPHEN FRY recalls how, in the build-up to the year 2000, the world prepared itself to face a terrifying scare - The Millennium Bug.

Who or what was to blame for such an expensive and unnecessary panic? With the help of the BBC Archive, Stephen travels back to the dawn of the digital age to argue that a major cause was our attitude to the technology and the people we held responsible for it.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

More theatrical than a straight-forward, two-dimentional lie, it can be called, it can be doubled, and often times remains mysterious - we never actually find out whether indeed a particular bluff was just that.

It permeates our everyday conversation, with nods of the head and affirmative grunts suggesting that yes indeed we have read Proust, and are of course conversant with Scandinavian philosophy; it proves a vital weapon on the sports field and the poker table; and in international relations and military strategy remains an invaluable resource.

Paul takes to the poker table himself, and speaks to experts from a variety of fields, including Jonathan Agnew and Bridget Kendal, to delve deeper into the psychology and application of the bluff.

Along the way he frequently has need to suggest a degree of knowledge in subjects that in fact remain largely a mystery to him.

Producer: Geoff Bird

Poet Paul Farley shows his hand in a celebration of bluffing, from poker to geo-politics.

There is, argues poet Paul Farley, something very particular about the bluff that sets it apart from other members of the deception family. More theatrical than a straight-forward, two-dimentional lie, it can be called, it can be doubled, and often times remains mysterious - we never actually find out whether indeed a particular bluff was just that.

Paul takes to the poker table himself, and speaks to experts from a variety of fields, including Jonathan Agnew and Bridget Kendal, to delve deeper into the psychology and application of the bluff. Along the way he frequently has need to suggest a degree of knowledge in subjects that in fact remain largely a mystery to him.

There is, argues poet Paul Farley, something very particular about the bluff that sets it apart from other members of the deception family. More theatrical than a straight-forward, two-dimensional lie, it can be called, it can be doubled, and often times remains mysterious - we never actually find out whether indeed a particular bluff was just that. It permeates our everyday conversation, with nods of the head and affirmative grunts suggesting that yes indeed we have read Proust, and are of course conversant with Scandinavian philosophy; it proves a vital weapon on the sports field and the poker table; and in international relations and military strategy remains an invaluable resource. Paul takes to the poker table himself, and speaks to experts from a variety of fields, including Jonathan Agnew and Bridget Kendal, to delve deeper into the psychology and application of the bluff. Along the way he frequently has need to suggest a degree of knowledge in subjects that in fact remain largely a mystery to him.

'There is, argues poet PAUL FARLEY, something very particular about the bluff that sets it apart from other members of the deception family. More theatrical than a straight-forward, two-dimensional lie, it can be called, it can be doubled, and often times remains mysterious - we never actually find out whether indeed a particular bluff was just that. It permeates our everyday conversation, with nods of the head and affirmative grunts suggesting that yes indeed we have read Proust, and are of course conversant with Scandinavian philosophy; it proves a vital weapon on the sports field and the poker table; and in international relations and military strategy remains an invaluable resource. Paul takes to the poker table himself, and speaks to experts from a variety of fields, including Jonathan Agnew and Bridget Kendal, to delve deeper into the psychology and application of the bluff. Along the way he frequently has need to suggest a degree of knowledge in subjects that in fact remain largely a mystery to him.'

Poet Paul Muldoon recalls a fellow Belfast wordsmith who innovated radio production, loved rugby and drank hard. From January 2007.

And yet, the ripples of that episode are still being felt today all over the world as a resurgent anti-vaccine movement continues to drive down inoculation rates, particularly in developed Western societies, where measles rates have rocketed particularly in Europe and the United States.

But the Wakefield scandal hasn't just fostered the current ant-vax movement but has played a key role in helping to undermine trust in a host of scientific disciplines from public health research to climate science and GM technology.

Through the archive, science journalist Adam Rutherford explores the continuing legacy of the anti-vaccine movement on the anniversary of one of its most notorious episodes, and explore its impact on health, on research and on culture both at home and abroad.

Adam Rutherford explores the 20-year legacy of a paper linking the MMR vaccine and autism.

Twenty years ago, in February 1998, one of the most serious public health scandals of the 20th century was born, when researcher, Andrew Wakefield and his co-authors published a paper in the medical journal The Lancet suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. As we know, in the years that followed, Wakefield's paper was completely discredited as an elaborate fraud and retracted. Attempts by many other researchers to replicate his findings have all failed and investigations unearthed commercial links and conflicts of interests underpinning his original work. Wakefield himself was struck off the medical register.

Through the archive, science journalist Adam Rutherford explores the continuing legacy of the anti-vaccine movement on the anniversary of one of its most notorious episodes, and explore its impact on health, on research and on culture both at home and abroad.

The archive of Richard Burton is a rich treasure. The performances are by common consent amongst the most compelling of any age, given in a voice that many have felt to be an aural equivalent of heaven. Hamlet, Under Milk Wood, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Equus stand out, and then there are the blockbusters: Wild Geese, Where Eagles Dare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Night of the Iguana and The Robe. Add to that the poetry readings - Dylan Thomas of course but also Shakespeare and the English Classics. It is a feast for the ears.

Yet it is a remarkable testament to the man and to his life that, just as magnetic as the body of work, is another collection. Through several periods of his life, most notably from the mid-1960s to the early '70s (his 'superstar years') he kept a diary, sometimes handwritten, mostly typed out and assembled in thick notebooks. The diaries provide a unique view of the world in which he moved, among actors and directors, writers and poets, millionaires and royalty. They also give an insight into his approach to acting, his insecurities, his drinking and his volatile relationship with Elizabeth Taylor at a time when they were the most famous couple in the world.

Twenty-five years ago, shortly after Burton's death, Melvyn Bragg was given access to the diaries to write his definitive biography of Burton, Rich. Now, to mark the publication of the complete diaries, Bragg presents an Archive on 4 which examines Burton's life through broadcast interviews and the previously inaccessible lens of his diaries. Bragg returns to Burton to reassesses the man in the light of his own experience and in the light of the private and confessional thoughts that Burton wrote, alone, throughout his life.

Burton was the gifted son of a Welsh miner. He met a remarkable teacher and made the journey to Oxford and on to superstardom - but he was seldom really happy. He was a hellraiser who often behaved appallingly and was accused of squandering an extraordinary talent on drinking and bad movies. If that was all he was then he'd be just a footnote in 20th century culture. But Burton was also a man of wonderful erudition, passion, insight and self- knowledge. He fought his way through life through force of will, love, and voracious reading. It is this side of the man that makes him such a remarkable presence. It is also a side of him captured in a rich vein of BBC archive and interviews.

The diaries show him on top of the world, in love, in despair, and fighting the alcoholism that had killed his father and he knew was killing him. This programme puts the flesh and the voice back into our collective understanding of one of the great cultural figures of the 20th century.

RICHARD BURTON was the Welsh miner's son who became a superstar of stage and screen. MELVYN BRAGG reassesses Burton through the private diaries that he kept for much of his life.

Producer Smita Patel

Editor Emma Rippon.

Chris Bowlby reveals a rich history of public inquiries from rail crashes to treachery.



Editor Emma Rippon.

The word 'archive' conjures up images of dusty shelves and gradual, patient accumulation of historical material. But what if an archive could be created in a matter of hours - an instant history?

Oral history projects abound across the country but, at the University of Hertfordshire, the exercise has been dramatically condensed to create so-called instant histories on subjects including supporters of Stevenage Football Club and memories of British migrants to the Antipodes.

The instant history concept has been developed at the university by the likes of Professor Owen Davies, Dr Anne Murphy and Visiting Research Fellow Andrew Green, who presents this Archive on 4.

Across a single weekend at the end of October, the members of the university's oral history team tackled a project on retirement in 2016. They spread out far and wide to interview people from many walks of life who have either just retired or are about to cease full-time employment. Interviews took place as far afield as Llandudno, Scunthorpe, Ipswich and Cheltenham with interviewees from nursing, the steel industry, firefighting, City finance, carpentry and international engineering, teaching and supermarket management.

A first-class cricketer talked about what it means to retire in his thirties. The founder of an addiction treatment centre spoke movingly of the scale of the crisis she addressed in her career.

This programme features choice extracts from the newly created archive. Andrew Green explains the processes involved in enabling a stranger to tell their story, and examines the potential conflict between academic history and the subjective narration of personal stories, opinions and feelings in an oral history.

Produced by Andrew Green

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

The word archive conjures up images of dusty shelves and gradual, patient accumulation of historical material. But what if an archive could be created in a matter of hours - an instant history?

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

The word archive conjures up images of dusty shelves and gradual, patient accumulation of historical material. But what if an archive could be created in a matter of hours - an instant history?

Across a single weekend at the end of October, the members of the university’s oral history team tackled a project on retirement in 2016. They spread out far and wide to interview people from many walks of life who have either just retired or are about to cease full-time employment. Interviews took place as far afield as Llandudno, Scunthorpe, Ipswich and Cheltenham with interviewees from nursing, the steel industry, firefighting, City finance, carpentry and international engineering, teaching and supermarket management.

The US army has sent military history detachments into every battle since the Second World War. Now, on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Archive on 4 has been given unprecedented access to the recordings for the early months of the Iraq war. The interviews reveal fascinating new insights into the conflict, based on contemporaneous views from the front-line, unaffected by hindsight.

A former leading strategist for the British military and Rear Admiral, Parry himself analysed and produced the official lessons for the British armed forces immediately after the war. In this programme he explains how the US Army uses these combat histories to derive lessons from conflicts.

He also tracks how its Center for Military History ensures that the lessons are applied and, with these oral histories, evolve into military doctrine. With access to everyone from the commanding general of coalition land forces to the logisticians and transport corps supporting the campaign, this programme presents a gripping picture of a modern army at war.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Chris Parry uses the US Army's oral history archive to tell the history of the Iraq war.

In the heyday of the printed music media between the mid-60s and early noughties, the music interview was many things - combative, intimate, confessional, unhinged, flirtatious, sometimes violent - but it was rarely dull. Still, it seems that long-gilded age of rock journalism is now over.

The days of extraordinary access, when a reporter might spend a week with a band on its tour bus or private plane, hanging out in their dressing rooms and hotel suites, are at an end. The music papers are gone. In 2018, NME - the last inky survivor - went online only.

Stuart Maconie looks back at the lost world - those revealing encounters between journalist and musician.

Featuring classic recorded archive interviews with:

Jimi Hendrix

Kurt Cobain

Bob Marley

Michael Jackson

Plus contributions from journalists Caitlin Moran, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones and Dawn Slough.

Producer: Jonathan Mayo

A TBI production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2018.

Featuring classic recorded archive interviews with Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson – plus contributions from journalists Caitlin Moran, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones and Dawn Slough.

In the heyday of the printed music media between the mid-sixties and the early noughties, the music interview was many things - combative, intimate, confessional, unhinged, flirtatious, sometimes violent - but it was rarely dull. Still, it seems that long-gilded age of rock journalism is now over.

The days of extraordinary access, when a reporter might spend a week with a band on its tour bus or private plane, hanging out in their dressing rooms and hotel suites, are at an end. The music papers are gone. Earlier this year NME - the last inky survivor - went online only.

STUART MACONIE looks back at the lost world - those revealing encounters between journalist and musician. The programme features classic recorded archive interviews with JIMI HENDRIX, KURT COBAIN, BOB MARLEY and Michael Jackson - as well as contributions from journalists CAITLIN MORAN, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones, Dawn Slough and others.

Presenter: STUART MACONIE

A TBI production for BBC Radio 4.



A TBI production for BBC Radio 4.

Featuring classic recorded archive interviews with JIMI HENDRIX, KURT COBAIN, BOB MARLEY and Michael Jackson ? plus contributions from journalists CAITLIN MORAN, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones and Dawn Slough.

Featuring classic recorded archive interviews with Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson – plus contributions from journalists Caitlin Moran, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones and Dawn Slough.

Featuring classic recorded archive interviews with JIMI HENDRIX, KURT COBAIN, BOB MARLEY and Michael Jackson - plus contributions from journalists CAITLIN MORAN, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones and Dawn Slough.

She uses drama, talks and documentary from the BBC audio archive to illustrate its appeal, from reality TV programmes to Desert Island Discs and the Shipping Forecast, and also cites the many instances of island settings in classic literature, including Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, PETER PAN and Lord of the Flies.

Including contributions from literary critic Dame Gillian Beer, historian Robert Colls, a group of people who tried to set up an island utopia in the 1960s and the very last man to leave the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides.

GWYNETH LEWIS explores the idea of the island, and its appeal to the British imagination.

Poet Gwyneth Lewis explores the idea of the island and island life, and the ways in which it continues to capture the British imagination. She uses drama, talks and documentary from the BBC audio archive to illustrate its appeal, from reality TV programmes to Desert Island Discs and the Shipping Forecast, and also cites the many instances of island settings in classic literature, including Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies.



Including contributions from literary critic Dame Gillian Beer, historian Robert Colls, a group of people who tried to set up an island utopia in the 1960s and the very last man to leave the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides.

'GWYNETH LEWIS explores the idea of the island, and its appeal to the British imagination.'

Phil Tinline explores what the turmoil of the 1970s tells us about British politics today.

In 2008, the Crash delivered a severe challenge to the economic liberalism that had long dominated our politics. Ever since, British politicians have been searching for a new big idea that can shape the next few decades, as economic and social liberalism has shaped our lives up to today.

And now, a range of commentators are telling us that the general election has brought all this to crisis point.

So - how can we make sense of all this? To get a glimpse of what the future may hold, we need to look back to the past.

Because this isn't the first time a dominant set of ideas has broken down. The Keynesian 'consensus' ruled from the Second World War, based around full employment - until after thirty years, it broke down amid 1970s strikes and stagflation and Thatcherism took over.

And before that, an earlier version of global liberal economics dominated - until the Wall Street Crash and the Depression laid the ground for the postwar welfare state.

So in this programme, documentary-maker Phil Tinline tells the dramatic story of the breakdown of the post-war approach, through the epic fights of the Seventies - and uses it to try to work out where we're up to today.

He talks to historians and politicians about the way the 1970s became a battle for power between government and trade unions, which ended in Mrs Thatcher's victory. And he hears from thinkers - variously labelled 'Blue Labour', 'Red Tory' and 'post-liberal' - who have been arguing ever since the Crash that the new battle for power is against both centralised government and big corporations.

Over the last few years, leading figures in both big parties have tried to use these ideas to take on concentrations of power and break through to a new orthodoxy. But, like those politicians who challenged the power of the trade unions in the 1970s, they have repeatedly come up against the power of the status quo and the taboos that underpinned it.

So - does the election, and the struggle over the meaning of Brexit, mean that these ideas might now find their moment? Or does the story of the 1970s actually suggest that we might be simply heading back to something more like the big-government model of the post-war years?

Speakers include: Phillip Blond, Rowenna Davis, Maurice Glasman, David Goodhart, Dominic Sandbrook, David Skelton, Peter Snowdon.

Producer/ Presenter: Phil Tinline.



Producer/ Presenter: Phil Tinline.

She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.

His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror ? and who even Bob Dylan couldn't find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment ?. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.

Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan's family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.

Producer: Cat Gough

Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961

Novelist Megan Nolan goes in search of one of Ireland's first true beatniks, Brendan Behan

Megan Nolan marks the 60th anniversary of the death of playwright, novelist and political prisoner Brendan Behan.

What could be more British than the Christmas tradition of going out with the family to see a pantomime? Yet panto dates back to ancient Rome, via the 16th century Italian travelling street theatre known as the Commedia dell'arte.

The familiar trappings of modern British panto originated with the Victorians - the principal boy, the dame, popular tunes with new lyrics, double entendres, and those well-worn catchphrases - 'It's behind you!' and 'Oh yes it is!'.

Since then, pantomime has been rebooted in line with other forms of popular entertainment, from working class music hall to middle class variety; radio to film and television. Today, celebrities from both sides of the Atlantic queue up to appear on British stages at Christmas. The panto season has stretched to last from the start of December to the end of January, and become essential to the UK's theatre economy.

With the help of pantomime historians, actors, writers and directors, Christopher Frayling explores how the form has remained so very popular for almost as long as Shakespeare's plays. He examines its role in our more enlightened, politically correct times and hears how companies are striving to stage pantomimes in 2020.

Interviewees:

Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner - writers and actors, Potted Panto

Professor Katherine Newey - Chair in Theatre History, University of Exeter

Neal Foster - actor and manager, Horrible Histories' Car Park Panto

Simon Sladen - Senior Curator, V&A and pantomime expert

Susie McKenna - pantomime actor, writer and director

Producer: Jane Long

Sound: Jon Calver

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4

Cultural historian Christopher Frayling explores the rich and surprising history of panto.

The familiar trappings of modern British panto originated with the Victorians - the principal boy, the dame, popular tunes with new lyrics, double entendres, and those well-worn catchphrases - 'It's behind you!' and 'Oh yes it is!’.

Since then, pantomime has been rebooted in line with other forms of popular entertainment, from working class music hall to middle class variety; radio to film and television. Today, celebrities from both sides of the Atlantic queue up to appear on British stages at Christmas. The panto season has stretched to last from the start of December to the end of January, and become essential to the UK’s theatre economy.

Neal Foster - actor and manager, Horrible Histories’ Car Park Panto

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2020.

Cultural historian and writer Christopher Frayling explores the rich and surprising history of British pantomime. From 2020.

He also examines its role in our more enlightened, politically correct times and hears how companies are striving to stage pantomimes in 2020.

* Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner - writers and actors, Potted Panto

* Professor Katherine Newey - Chair in Theatre History, University of Exeter

* Neal Foster - actor and manager, Horrible Histories' Car Park Panto

* Simon Sladen - Senior Curator, V&A and pantomime expert

* Susie McKenna - pantomime actor, writer and director

A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2020.

Speaking to directors, writers, psychologists and anthropologists, Kate explores why people are drawn to particular endings, and how an unspoken contract between artist and audience depends on the nature and quality of how a work ends.

It feels as if we're living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts – as could be happening today.

Acclaimed novelist Kate Weinberg discovers why endings matter so much to us.

It feels as if we're living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts – as could be happening today.

It feels as if we're living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts - as could be happening today.

Speaking to directors, writers, psychologists and anthropologists, Kate explores why people are drawn to particular endings, and how an unspoken contract between artist and audience depends on the nature and quality of how a work ends.

It feels as if we're living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts ? as could be happening today.

Acclaimed novelist Kate Weinberg discovers why endings matter so much to us.

It feels as if we're living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts – as could be happening today.

It feels as if we’re living through a period when thoughts of a catastrophic end to our world are all around us. Kate interrogates a rich archive of writers, thinkers, comedians, film-makers and critics to find out if our current fears are different from those in previous times, and why our understanding of time itself may now need to change. She explores how all stories rely on our notions of time, and what happens to endings when our concept of time shifts – as could be happening today.

But the more he watched, the more patterns began to emerge, with the popular skits and dances of TikTok echoing the earliest days of silent film. Robbie believes it was the narrow vertical frame of the smartphone screen that made for such sharp creativity and compelling viewing, much like the boxy constraints of early film shaped the work of the first filmmakers.

These screen shapes and sizes have been stretched and squeezed into a range of different standards since the inception of film in the late 1800s, shaping our understanding of the images we watch.

From the Victorian viral hits to the trending TikToks of the present day,the evolution of the closeup, the jostling technologies of widescreen cinema and television and the rise of film streaming, as the pictures got smaller, cosying into our smartphone screens, Robbie argues they've found new and enthralling ways to make us look at them.

With film critic Hanna Flint, BFI silent film curator Bryony Dixon, BFI Head of Technical Services Dominic Simmons, filmmaker and TikTokker Madelaine Turner, journalist and author Chris Stokel-Walker, film historian Dr Sheldon Hall, Professor Tim Smith, cognitive psychologist at Birkbeck University and filmmaker Charlie Shackleton.

Presenter: Robbie Collin

Producer: Pippa Smith

Researcher: Emily Gargan

Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey

Music, Sound Design and Mix: Nicholas Alexander

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4.

Including analysis of clips from the following films:

The Grand Budapest Hotel / Fox Searchlight Pictures / TSG Entertainment / Wes Anderson

Gilda / Columbia Pictures / Charles Vidor

A Star is Born (1937) / United Artists / Selznick International Pictures / William A. Wellman

Man Drinking a Glass of Beer / George Albert Smith

The Miller and the Sweep / George Albert Smith

The Passion of Joan of Arc / Soci退t退 G退n退rale des Films / Carl Dreyer

The Bridge on the River Kwai / Columbia Pictures / Horizon Pictures / David Lean

How to Marry A Millionaire / 20th Century Fox / Jean Negulesco

Ben Hur / Loew's Inc. / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / William Wyler

The Sound of Music / 20th Century Fox / Argyle Enterprises / Robert Wise

Star Wars: A New Hope / 20th Century Fox / Lucasfilm LTd. / George Lucas

The Door in the Wall / British Film Institute / Glenn H. Alvey Jr.

The Hateful Eight / The Weinstein Company / Shiny Penny and FilmColony / Quentin Tarantino

Cache / Les films du losange / Wega Films / Michael Hanneke

World War Z / Paramount Pictures / Skydance Productions / Marc Forster

Out of Africa / Universal Pictures / Mirage Enterprises / Sydney Pollack

Back to the Future / Universal Pictures / Amblin Entertainment / Robert Zemeckis

Prometheus / 20th Century Fox / Scott Free Productions / RIDLEY SCOTT

The Dark Knight / Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures / Christopher Nolan

Searching / Sony Pictures / Bazelevs Company / Aneesh Chagnaty

Host / Vertigo Releasing / Shadowhouse Films / Rob Savage

Ring / Toho / Ringu/Rasen Production Committee / Hideo Nakata

The Lighthouse / Focus Features / A24 / Robert Eggers

Sunset Boulevard / Paramount Pictures / Billy Wilder

Robbie Collin explores the transformation of how we see film, from early cinema to TikTok.

The Passion of Joan of Arc / Soci?t? G?n?rale des Films / Carl Dreyer

From the Victorian viral hits to the trending TikToks of the present day,the evolution of the closeup, the jostling technologies of widescreen cinema and television and the rise of film streaming, as the pictures got smaller, cosying into our smartphone screens, Robbie argues they’ve found new and enthralling ways to make us look at them.

Ben Hur / Loew’s Inc. / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / William Wyler

The Passion of Joan of Arc / Société Générale des Films / Carl Dreyer

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes', were the opening words spoken on BBC Radio 1's Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.

Championed by everyone from the Beatles to Billy Connolly, Ivor Cutler was a poet, humourist and absurdist whose appearances on BBC radio and TV span over 5 decades. As well as producing a vast body of records, books and plays, Ivor was a notable eccentric, often seen cycling around London in plus fours, handing out homemade stickers and badges to strangers.

To mark what would have been Ivor's 90th birthday in 2013, BBC Radio 4 held a 'party', to celebrate his life and BBC archive in particular, with a full house, with performers, fans, collaborators and even his long-term partner, Phyllis King, introducing their favourite poems, songs and memories of Ivor. Weirdness from the archives, pleasure for fans, and a singular introduction to those encountering him for the very first time.

Highlights include Bramwell and King re-enacting a morse code performance of 'The Little Black Buzzer'.

Presenter David Bramwell is a writer and musician. He is the founder of the 'Catalyst Club'; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. Ivor Cutler is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980's.

Ivor died aged 83 in 2006.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall

A celebration of the 90th anniversary of poet, humourist and absurdist Ivor Cutler.

The deceptively quiet wordsmith was born in 1923 near the Rangers ground at Ibrox Park.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes', were the opening words spoken on the Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.

Championed by everyone from the Beatles to Billy Connolly, Ivor Cutler was a poet, humourist and absurdist whose appearances on BBC radio and television span over 5 decades. As well as producing a vast body of records, books and plays, Ivor was a notable eccentric, often seen cycling around London in plus fours, handing out homemade stickers and badges to strangers.

To mark what would have been Ivor's 90th birthday, BBC Radio 4 held a 'party', to celebrate his life and BBC archive in particular. Except a full house, with performers, fans, collaborators and even his long-term partner, Phyllis King, introducing their favourite poems, songs and memories of Ivor. Weirdness from the archives, pleasure for fans, and a singular introduction to those encountering him for the very first time.

Presenter: David Bramwell is a writer, musician and, recently, presenter of Sony Award winning 'The Haunted Moustache'. He is the founder of the 'Catalyst Club'; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. Ivor Cutler is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980's.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.

To complement the 6 Music Festival in Glasgow, another chance to hear a programme first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013 celebrating what would have been Ivor Cutler's 90th birthday. The deceptively quiet wordsmith was born in 1923 near the Rangers ground at Ibrox Park.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes, were the opening words spoken on the Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.

Highlights include Bramwell and King re-enacting a morse code performance of The Little Black Buzzer.

Presenter: David Bramwell is a writer, musician and, recently, presenter of Sony Award winning The Haunted Moustache. He is the founder of the Catalyst Club; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. Ivor Cutler is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980's.

A celebration of the ninetieth anniversary of poet, humourist and absurdist Ivor Cutler.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes' - Ivor Cutler imagined at 90

Championed by everyone from the Beatles to Billy Connolly, Ivor Cutler was a poet, humorist and absurdist whose appearances on BBC radio and television span over 5 decades. As well as producing a vast body of records, books and plays, Ivor was a notable eccentric, often seen cycling around London in plus fours, handing out homemade stickers and badges to strangers.

To mark what would have been Ivor's 90th birthday, BBC Radio 4 holds a 'party', to celebrate his life and BBC archive in particular. Except a full house, with performers, fans, collaborators and even his long-term partner, Phyllis King, introducing their favourite poems, songs and memories of Ivor. Weirdness from the archives, pleasure for fans, and a singular introduction to those encountering him for the very first time.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes, were the opening words spoken on the ANDY KERSHAW Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called IVOR CUTLER.

Highlights include Bramwell and King re-enacting a morse code performance of The Little Black Buzzer.

Presenter: David Bramwell is a writer, musician and, recently, presenter of Sony Award winning The Haunted Moustache. He is the founder of the Catalyst Club; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. IVOR CUTLER is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980's.

Producer: SARA JANE HALL.

Produced by SARA JANE HALL.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes', were the opening words spoken on the Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle-voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.

To mark what would have been Ivor's 90th birthday, BBC Radio 4 held a ‘party', to celebrate his life and BBC archive in particular. Expect a full house, with performers, fans, collaborators and even his long-term partner, Phyllis King, introducing their favourite poems, songs and memories of Ivor. Weirdness from the archives, pleasure for fans, and a singular introduction to those encountering him for the very first time.

As part of the Way With Words season a programme celebrating the life of Ivor Cutler.

I have a harmonium and it's going to explode in two minutes, were the opening words spoken on BBC Radio 1's Andy Kershaw Show in 1980 by a gentle voiced Scotsman called Ivor Cutler.

Presenter David Bramwell is a writer and musician. He is the founder of the Catalyst Club; a place for enthusiasts to speak on any subject close to their heart. Ivor Cutler is a subject close to his, having kept correspondence with him in the 1980's.

James Burke revisits his coverage of the moon landings in 1969 in front of a live audience

James Burke, the key voice for the BBC coverage of the moon landings in 1969, revisits the momentous event in front of a live audience.

She joked that on her death the headlines would read ?Sex-change author dies?. A year after her passing, writer HORATIO CLARE assesses her remarkable legacy and explores some of the myths she built up about herself and her life.

Horatio talks to MICHAEL PALIN, travel writer Sara Wheeler, and Jan's biographer Paul Clements, and visits Jan's home in North Wales to meet her son Twm Morys. Hearing interviews she recorded throughout her long life, he attempts to find out who Jan Morris really was.

MICHAEL PALIN talks about the Jan Morris he met-witty, generous and inspirational, but also a challenging interviewee who used a variety of techniques to deflect difficult questions about her private life. ?I can?t remember what I said but it was something fawningly admiring about her work and all she?d done, and she said ?oh my life has been one whole self-centred exercise in self-satisfaction?. A wonderful ringing phrase designed to divert you from asking anything or delving too deep!?. Paul Clements tells the programme she

Horatio Clare examines how the pioneering writer Jan Morris authored her own life, from her nationality to her sexual identity, trying to get behind the myths and masks she created.

Jan Morris wrote more than fifty books but also constructed her life to a degree rarely seen in one individual. She created a glittering career, invented a writing style, chose her nationality and most famously, transitioned. Horatio talks to Michael Palin, travel writer Sara Wheeler, and Jan's biographer Paul Clements, and visits Jan's home in North Wales to meet her son Twm Morys. Hearing interviews she recorded throughout her long life, he attempts to find out who Jan Morris really was.

James - as she was then - Morris knew from a very young age both that he was in the wrong body and that he wanted to be a writer. Through a combination of self-confidence, determination and what Jan herself describes as her ?insufferable ambition', she achieved what she set out to, becoming one of the most successful journalists of her generation and then a world-famous author of books about places like Venice, Oxford, Trieste and Manhattan, which re-invented travel writing.

At the same time as these professional and literary achievements, however, Jan was also undergoing a deep crisis of personal identity. In one of her books, Conundrum, she described how the conviction she'd had as a child that she was in the wrong body had never left her, but by her thirties she was in despair and had even considered killing herself. Conundrum describes how she succeeded in making the transition from man to woman in 1972. She said the sex change brought her the happiness she'd always sought. She also claimed that her decision had made little impact on the happiness of her four children, but that claim is put to the test in the programme.

Michael Palin talks about the Jan Morris he met - witty, generous and inspirational, but also a challenging interviewee who used a variety of techniques to deflect difficult questions about her private life. Paul Clements suggests she 'played hide and seek with the facts'. Archive on Four considers how much she constructed and presented her whole life, with determination, guile and skill.

Produced by Gareth Jones for BBC Wales

Horatio Clare explores the life, legacy and mythmaking of Jan Morris.

MICHAEL PALIN talks about the Jan Morris he met-witty, generous and inspirational, but also a challenging interviewee who used a variety of techniques to deflect difficult questions about her private life. ?I can?t remember what I said but it was something fawningly admiring about her work and all she?d done, and she said ?oh my life has been one whole self-centred exercise in self-satisfaction?. A wonderful ringing phrase designed to divert you from asking anything or delving too deep!?. Paul Clements tells the programme she ?

James - as she was then - Morris knew from a very young age both that he was in the wrong body and that he wanted to be a writer. Through a combination of self-confidence, determination and what Jan herself describes as her ‘insufferable ambition', she achieved what she set out to, becoming one of the most successful journalists of her generation and then a world-famous author of books about places like Venice, Oxford, Trieste and Manhattan, which re-invented travel writing.

She joked that on her death the headlines would read ‘Sex-change author dies’. A year after her passing, writer Horatio Clare assesses her remarkable legacy and explores some of the myths she built up about herself and her life.

Michael Palin talks about the Jan Morris he met-witty, generous and inspirational, but also a challenging interviewee who used a variety of techniques to deflect difficult questions about her private life. “I can’t remember what I said but it was something fawningly admiring about her work and all she’d done, and she said ‘oh my life has been one whole self-centred exercise in self-satisfaction’. A wonderful ringing phrase designed to divert you from asking anything or delving too deep!”. Paul Clements tells the programme she ‘...played hide and seek with the facts’.

Morris re-invented travel-writing from the 1960s onwards, taking the genre away from dusty, factual travelogue into new realms of dazzling prose and imaginative personal response, all done with wit and humour. Jan said she ‘authored’ the cities she visited. Archive on Four considers how much she also constructed and presented her whole life, with determination, guile and skill.

James - as she was then- Morris knew from a very young age both that he was in the wrong body and that he wanted to be a writer. Through a combination of self-confidence, determination and what Jan herself describes as her ‘insufferable ambition’, she achieved what she set out to, becoming one of the most successful journalists of her generation and then a world-famous author of books about places like Venice, Oxford, Trieste and Manhattan. By the 1970s she was being

called ‘the most travelled person in the world, while Alistair Cooke dubbed her ‘The Flaubert of the jet age’. She can also claim to have created a distinctive writing style and with her history of the British Empire, even a literary genre. The ‘Pax Britannica Trilogy’ combined rigorous historical research with her own contemporary and sometimes imaginative responses to the former imperial outposts she was visiting or living in at the time.

At the same time as these professional and literary achievements, however, Jan was also undergoing a deep crisis of personal identity. In one of her books, Conundrum, she described how the conviction she’d had as a child that she was in the wrong body had never left her, but by her thirties she was in despair about the possibility of doing anything about it and had even considered killing herself. Conundrum describes how, with planning and courage, she overcame these difficulties and succeeded in making the transition from man to woman. She said the sex change brought her the happiness she’d always sought. She also claimed that her decision had

made little impact on the happiness of her four children, but that claim is put to the test in the programme. Her son Twm says ‘I don't remember the transition. I was only seven. Maybe that's some psychological block, I have no idea, but I really don't care because it doesn't disturb me in any way, it fascinates me still.’

At the same time as her transition, Jan Morris also decided to move to Wales and from that time onwards, although describing herself as Anglo-Welsh, professed herself to be more comfortable with her Welsh side and became what she described as a ‘Welsh Nationalist Republican’. It was another move in a life of self-construction. Almost all she wanted to say about her life was written down in her books, even those about far-off places. But she resisted saying more publicly.

As her biographer Paul Clements says: “This mask...was often there, and what was lurking underneath is anybody’s guess.’

James - as she was then - Morris knew from a very young age both that he was in the wrong body and that he wanted to be a writer. Through a combination of self-confidence, determination and what Jan herself describes as her ‘insufferable ambition’, she achieved what she set out to, becoming one of the most successful journalists of her generation and then a world-famous author of books about places like Venice, Oxford, Trieste and Manhattan, which re-invented travel writing.

At the same time as these professional and literary achievements, however, Jan was also undergoing a deep crisis of personal identity. In one of her books, Conundrum, she described how the conviction she’d had as a child that she was in the wrong body had never left her, but by her thirties she was in despair and had even considered killing herself. Conundrum describes how she succeeded in making the transition from man to woman in 1972. She said the sex change brought her the happiness she’d always sought. She also claimed that her decision had made little impact on the happiness of her four children, but that claim is put to the test in the programme.

She joked that on her death the headlines would read ‘Sex-change author dies'. A year after her passing, writer HORATIO CLARE assesses her remarkable legacy and explores some of the myths she built up about herself and her life.

MICHAEL PALIN talks about the Jan Morris he met-witty, generous and inspirational, but also a challenging interviewee who used a variety of techniques to deflect difficult questions about her private life. `I can't remember what I said but it was something fawningly admiring about her work and all she'd done, and she said ‘oh my life has been one whole self-centred exercise in self-satisfaction'. A wonderful ringing phrase designed to divert you from asking anything or delving too deep!`. Paul Clements tells the programme she

Jay muses on recent rumours surrounding a certain Prime Minister and a pigs head. Does the pig-image make it all the more taboo? This is the extraordinary and, at times, shocking tale of our relationship with the allegedly filthy animal.

The archive groans and grunts with pig - much of it anthropomorphic, some fact and some fiction.

Remember the Tamworth Two who escaped a Wiltshire abattoir in 1998 and went on the run? They were renamed Butch and Sundance and their intelligence was celebrated by the world's press. Rescued by a popular tabloid, they escaped the slaughterhouse. JAY RAYNER, on the other hand, has dutifully been to see pigs killed and dealt with the carcasses.

Animal lovers beware - this portrait of our fellow omnivores is controversial. Jay is a non-observant Jew who loves pork - he cooks it, eats it, reviews it, reveres it.

Jay also considers pig as man's best friend, delighting in the poetry of DYLAN THOMAS and in another pig fancier, WINSTON CHURCHILL. The upper classes have always loved their pigs.

In the hands of GEORGE ORWELL however, the intelligence of the pig makes for some dark meat. And Jay hears from comedian Aatif Nawaz who explains why his mother can't even say the word 'p*g.

Plenty here about the pigs' fitness for cannibalizing human spare parts too. Our porcine friends share some startling similarities to humans, including the size and pumping capacities of their hearts.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

Plenty here about the pigs' fitness for cannibalising human spare parts too. Our porcine friends share some startling similarities to humans, including the size and pumping capacities of their hearts.

JAY RAYNER, self-confessed greedy pig, gets serious about porkers.

Vanocur was White House correspondent for NBC News in the 1960s, and O'Donnell was no ordinary raconteur.

He spent years at the heart of the Kennedy administration as JFK's Special Assistant and was best friend to Bobby Kennedy from Harvard until Bobby's tragic death.

He was also the father of Helen O'Donnell, who in this Archive on Four takes the listener on a journey through these tapes, which have never before been broadcast.

They are full of insight into the Kennedy story, and for Helen, full of insight into the father she lost when just a teenager.

Producer: Isobel Williams

A Bite Yer Legs production for BBC Radio 4.

JFK aide Kenneth O'Donnell's daughter Helen presents her father's interview tapes.

Vanocur was White House correspondent for NBC News in the 1960s, and O'Donnell was no ordinary raconteur. He spent years at the heart of the Kennedy administration as JFK's Special Assistant and was best friend to Bobby Kennedy from Harvard until Bobby's tragic death.

He was also the father of Helen O'Donnell, who in this Archive on Four takes the listener on a journey through these tapes, which have never before been broadcast. They are full of insight into the Kennedy story, and for Helen, full of insight into the father she lost when just a teenager.

Vanocur was White House correspondent for NBC News in the 1960s, and O'Donnell was no ordinary raconteur. He spent years at the heart of the Kennedy administration as JFK's Special Assistant and was best friend to Bobby Kennedy from Harvard until Bobby's tragic death.

He was also the father of Helen O'Donnell, who in this Archive on Four takes the listener on a journey through these tapes, which have never before been broadcast. They are full of insight into the Kennedy story, and for Helen, full of insight into the father she lost when just a teenager.

Producer: Isobel Williams

A Bite Yer Legs production for BBC Radio 4.

JFK aide Kenneth O'Donnell's daughter Helen presents her father's interview tapes.

Making a pilgrimage to Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris where Morrison was buried shortly after his untimely death in July 1971, Jim describes the enormous impact Morrison has had on his life, from the very first time he heard The Doors' Riders on the Storm on his father's car radio as an 11-year-old, and the immediate fascination with all aspects of Morrison's poetry and The Doors' music that continues undimmed more than 50 years later.

Deeply affected by the intoxicating and menacing atmosphere of The Doors' music, the teenage Jim Kerr set out on a mission to find out as much as he could about the enigmatic Californian counter-cultural icons and soon discovered a small group of like minded Glaswegians, including his school friend Charlie Burchill, all of whom were fascinated by the dark drama of Morrison and his band.

The more they leaned about The Doors and their influences, the more Jim and Charlie were determined to follow The Doors' blueprint and form their own band to see how far their artistic visions could take them.

When Jim first visited Morrison's grave in 1979, he viewed the rock legend as a young man, who had lived a dynamic, exotic life. Now, returning as a 65-year-old, Jim has a different perspective on what he views as a young man's legacy, which he examines through the prism of his own poetry and music, featuring previously unheard Morrison poetry, studio out takes and archive interviews with the self-proclaimed Lizard King.

A Lonesome Pine production for BBC Radio 4

Jim Kerr from Simple Minds describes the impact and influence of The Doors' Jim Morrison.

Jim Kerr, co-founder and lead singer of Scottish band Simple Minds, describes the impact that poet/singer Jim Morrison from The Doors has had on his personal and professional life.

When Sir Richard Eyre was head of the National Theatre he wrote to Joan Littlewood asking if he could put on a production of her masterpiece, Oh What a Lovely War. He got a postcard in reply. Something to this effect: Dear Richard...I don't know what you're doing in that building...you should blow it up.

To her core, Joan Littlewood was an anti-establishment figure. This programme illustrates her determination to create a theatre for everybody, touring villages and towns in Northern England for nearly a decade and then - when the company settled in East London - sending letters to the local trade unions to advertise the theatre to working people.

Did she succeed in attracting the audiences she wanted? Sir Richard Eyre gives his take on this question, along with Professor Nadine Holdsworth and critic MICHAEL BILLINGTON.

The programme pieces together a selection of the best archive from Joan's career. The actors she trained - VICTOR SPINETTI, AVIS BUNNAGE, Brian Murphy - explain why working for Joan was different to working with other directors. MURRAY MELVIN, still going strong and curating the archive at Stratford East, introduces us to the Theatre Royal where Joan directed her company for over 20 years.

Here at the Theatre Royal, Joan created the shows which made her name - Brendan Behan's The Hostage, Shalegh Delaney's A Taste of Honey, Frank Norman's Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, and of course Oh What a Lovely War. The programme gives a taste of these shows and how they succeeded in being controversial, innovative, and entertaining at the same time.

Produced by Isabel Sutton

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Richard Eyre pays tribute to maverick left-wing theatre director Joan Littlewood.

Such a woman might easily have been burned as a witch. KENNETH TYNAN

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Such a woman might easily have been burned as a witch. Kenneth Tynan

The fight took on massive international, social and cultural significance and millions of people around the globe listened to the contest on their radios, making it the largest radio event in history.

Schmeling had shocked the world two years earlier when he defeated Louis and became the toast of Germany, with Hitler and Goebbels among his fans. A rematch was inevitable. For the first time, most of white America was behind a black fighter and Jews in the US and Europe, all too aware of the Nazi threat, were also cheering Louis.

With the world on the brink of war, it was projected as a contest between different social and racial ideals, a showdown between democracy and totalitarianism.

President Roosevelt told Louis, 'Joe we need muscles like yours to defeat Germany.

Producer: Jonathan Mayo

A TBI production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2015.

The story of the fight that gripped the world in 1938 between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling.

BONNIE GREER tells the story of one of the most famous sporting contests of all time - a boxing match in June 1938 between the American Joe Louis and the German Max Schmeling. The fight took on massive international, social and cultural significance and millions of people around the globe listened to the contest on their radios, making it the largest radio event in history.

Presenter: BONNIE GREER

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

It is not an exercise in nostalgia about a man universally considered to be the greatest cricket commentator and 'the voice of an English summer' it is an exploration of Arlott as a political figure both inside and outside the world of cricket.

John Arlott's politics can best be summed up as those of a radical liberal, and he twice stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party. But he would have found obedience to the party whip difficult, and he rarely adopted a party political stance during the many years that he appeared on the panel of the BBC Home Service's Any Questions. He appeared with such people as Richard Man, MICHAEL FOOT and a young Margaret Thatcher; and he attacked the political orthodoxies of both left and right. He always championed the 'common man' against the power or money or privilege.

His political bravery was most obvious within the deeply conservative world of English cricket. He challenged its leaders prejudices on both race and class. He was responsible for bringing Basil D'Oliveira to England, and we broadcast - for the first time - the correspondence between the two men in 1960. He refused to commentate when white South African teams came, and he was centrally involved in the Stop The Tour campaign in 1970. We interview Peter Hain about Arlott's influence. He also supported the Professional Cricketers Association - the players' trade union - and said that being elected its first President was the greatest honour ever shown him.

The programme uses archive from the BBC and beyond. Written and presented by MARK WHITAKER.

Producer: MARK WHITAKER

A Square Dog Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

John Arlott was more than a great cricket commentator: he was a powerful political figure.

MARK WHITAKER investigates the life of the cricket commentator and political campaigner.

Barbirolli had Italian and French blood in his veins but he was a proud cockney who became a champion of English music.

When he died in 1970, Britain lost a figure who seemed part of our musical life.

Barbirolli is remembered affectionately for his work with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester with whom he forged a unique bond from 1942 onwards and brought new vigour and worldwide renown to the oldest professional orchestra in Britain.

James chairs a discussion between Sir Mark Elder, current music director of the Halle, David Lloyd-Jones, conductor and founder of Opera North, and writer Andrew Farach-Colton.

James Naughtie remembers English conductor Sir John Barbirolli.

Barbirolli had Italian and French blood in his veins but he was a proud cockney who became a champion of English music. When he died in 1970, Britain lost a figure who seemed part of our musical life.

Throughout his sixty-year career, JOHN CAGE was a composer whose radical aesthetic outlook and unashamed iconoclasm challenged audiences, critics and fellow composers alike. Cage's most infamous achievement is undoubtedly 4'33, a piece which calls for its performer to remain silent on stage for the prescribed time, but - as the archive interviews and performances reveal - Cage was continually rethinking what the word music could mean and forever defending his work in the face of confused crowds, hostile critics and - amazingly - an angry community of Buddhist monks!

Gavin talks to Jean PAUL JONES of Led Zeppelin, who takes inspiration from Cage's ideas of letting sounds be themselves, as well as BRIAN ENO, a composer fascinated by the notions of process-based music that he traces back to Cage. Dancer Carolyn Brown recalls the legendary Happenings of the 1950s, where painting, music and dance collided, and STEWART LEE offers his take on Cage's command of timing, comic or otherwise.

For GAVIN BRYARS, a 1966 performance in London by JOHN CAGE and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was a life-changing moment, inspiring him to pursue a career as a composer. For a new generation who could never have such proximity to the man and his ideas, the archive of interviews and performances that remain offer a window into the world of a true icon.

Producer: Phil Smith

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.

Composer GAVIN BRYARS explores the ideas, personas and reception of his mentor JOHN CAGE

Composer Gavin Bryars explores the ideas, personas and reception of his mentor John Cage.

Throughout his sixty-year career, John Cage was a composer whose radical aesthetic outlook and unashamed iconoclasm challenged audiences, critics and fellow composers alike. Cage's most infamous achievement is undoubtedly 4'33', a piece which calls for its performer to remain silent on stage for the prescribed time, but - as the archive interviews and performances reveal - Cage was continually rethinking what the word 'music' could mean and forever defending his work in the face of confused crowds, hostile critics and - amazingly - an angry community of Buddhist monks!

Gavin talks to Jean Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, who takes inspiration from Cage's ideas of letting 'sounds be themselves', as well as Brian Eno, a composer fascinated by the notions of process-based music that he traces back to Cage. Dancer Carolyn Brown recalls the legendary Happenings of the 1950s, where painting, music and dance collided, and Stewart Lee offers his take on Cage's command of timing, comic or otherwise.

'Composer Gavin Bryars explores the ideas, personas and reception of his mentor John Cage.'

JOHN CAGE was one of the Twentieth Century's most controversial and exciting musicians. On the centenary of his birth, English composer and protégé GAVIN BRYARS explores Cage's archive appearances to examine what lay behind the American's artistic personality and to consider how the reception of his work and ideas has changed.

John Cage was one of the Twentieth Century's most controversial and exciting musicians. On the centenary of his birth, English composer and prot?g? Gavin Bryars explores Cage's archive appearances to examine what lay behind the American's artistic personality and to consider how the reception of his work and ideas has changed.

Long before public figures mastered the art of the sanitised sound bite to protect their privacy, Lennon always spoke openly and honestly about his art and his personal life, whether talking about his earliest childhood memories, the highs and lows of The Beatles or his solo career. Lennon loved radio because he found it more relaxing than coping with the confrontation of a television film crew, so his radio sessions were often very revealing and entertaining.

Collated from conversations recorded between 1962 and 1980, it's an opportunity to hear, in John's own words, the honesty and passion that fuelled his genius.

Produced by Des Shaw

A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4.

John Lennon: Verbatim marks the iconic Beatle's 75th birthday on October 9th with a soundscape incorporating rarely heard archive interviews, poetry readings, studio outtakes and alternative recordings of some of his most acclaimed compositions. It's a personal insight into the creative genius of one of the 20th centuries most diverse artistes.

John Lennon: Verbatim marks the iconic Beatle's 75th birthday on October 9th with a sound scape incorporating rarely heard archive interviews, poetry readings, studio outtakes and alternative recordings of some of his most acclaimed compositions. It's a personal insight into the creative genius of one of the 20th centuries most diverse artistes.

John Lennon's extraordinary life and career told in his own words.

John Lennon: Verbatim marks the iconic Beatle’s 75th birthday on October 9th with a sound scape incorporating rarely heard archive interviews, poetry readings, studio outtakes and alternative recordings of some of his most acclaimed compositions. It's a personal insight into the creative genius of one of the 20th centuries most diverse artistes.

Collated from conversations recorded between 1962 and 1980, it's an opportunity to hear, in John’s own words, the honesty and passion that fuelled his genius.

With rarely heard archive interviews, poetry readings and studio outtakes, the story of John Lennon's extraordinary life and career is told in his own words.

Producer Marya Burgess.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.

Sir John Tavener became a popular composer of classical music. Sir Nicholas Kenyon explores how he achieAs BBC World Service [radio Wales]

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Producer MARYA BURGESS.

Producer Marya Burgess.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.

For thousands of years, bald men have been the subject of ridicule. As a result they've felt ashamed and have resorted to desperate measures to hide their condition. During the decades when hair style was a cultural battleground between youth and the establishment, the balding man was at the bottom of the heap. No prime minister since Clement Attlee has been bald. But increasingly, bald men are coming out of the closet and shaving their heads - and some women too. Research shows that bald men are perceived as less attractive but more dominant. Now that we are more relaxed about hair style, and more willing to tolerate tonsorial diversity, are bald men finally able to shed the stigma? And could the comb-over finally make a come back? Ian Marchant, who has shaved his head since the early 1980s, investigates.

Producer: JOLYON JENKINS.

Ian Marchant investigates hair loss and why so many men (and some women) care so much.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.



Producer: JOLYON JENKINS.

Producer Marya Burgess.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.

Broadcaster and director Sir JONATHAN MILLER, one of the greatest minds of his generation, believed the most important cognitive function humans possess is memory. Without it, you can?t learn or know who or where you are. Without a functioning memory, you wouldn't be able to recognise, recall or retrieve a thing. In fact, without it, you simply wouldn't exist.

Tragically, Jonathan died of Alzheimer's in 2019 before he got to make the one series he?d always wanted to present on the workings of human memory.

In this programme, William Miller embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father's life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory ? what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star ALAN BENNETT. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer's, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

Writer and television producer William Miller is the author of the bestselling memoir about growing up with his father, Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Other Grown Ups.

Producers: Eve Streeter and Richard Denton

A Greenpoint/Raconteur/116 Production for BBC Radio 4

Broadcaster and director Sir Jonathan Miller, one of the greatest minds of his generation, believed the most important cognitive function humans possess is memory. Without it, you can't learn or know who or where you are. Without a functioning memory, you wouldn't be able to recognise, recall or retrieve a thing. In fact, without it, you simply wouldn't exist.

Tragically, Jonathan died of Alzheimer's in 2019 before he got to make the one series he'd always wanted to present on the workings of human memory.

Photo credit: Judith Aronson

William Miller goes in search of answers to his father's death from Alzheimer's.

William Miller's moving portrait of his father, whose extraordinary and unique memory would eventually be stolen by the thing he feared most – Alzheimer's.

In this programme, William Miller embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father's life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory – what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star Alan Bennett. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer's, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

William Miller?s moving portrait of his father, whose extraordinary and unique memory would eventually be stolen by the thing he feared most ? Alzheimer?s.

Tragically, Jonathan died of Alzheimer?s in 2019 before he got to make the one series he?d always wanted to present on the workings of human memory.

In this programme, William Miller embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father?s life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory ? what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star ALAN BENNETT. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer?s, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

William Miller’s moving portrait of his father, whose extraordinary and unique memory would eventually be stolen by the thing he feared most – Alzheimer’s.

Broadcaster and director Sir Jonathan Miller, one of the greatest minds of his generation, believed the most important cognitive function humans possess is memory. Without it, you can’t learn or know who or where you are. Without a functioning memory, you wouldn't be able to recognise, recall or retrieve a thing. In fact, without it, you simply wouldn't exist.

Tragically, Jonathan died of Alzheimer’s in 2019 before he got to make the one series he’d always wanted to present on the workings of human memory.

In this programme, William Miller embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father’s life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory – what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star Alan Bennett. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer’s, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

His son William Miller, embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father's life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory – what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star Alan Bennett. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer's, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

A Greenpoint/Raconteur/116 Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2021

William Miller goes in search of answers to his famous father's death from Alzheimer's.

William Miller's portrait of his brilliant father Jonathan, who had to face a condition he understood and dreaded – Alzheimer's.

William Miller's moving portrait of his father, whose extraordinary and unique memory would eventually be stolen by the thing he feared most - Alzheimer's.

In this programme, William Miller embarks on a journey to uncover the story of his father's life as told through his extensive archive, and pieces together the documentary Jonathan was going to make with his producer, Richard Denton, that would have explored memory - what it is, where it is and how our memories define us. He talks to family and friends who share their own memories of Jonathan, including his Beyond the Fringe co-star ALAN BENNETT. And he seeks to learn more about Alzheimer's, the disease that killed his grandmother and father and still haunts his family today.

Even the songs of hers I've heard a thousand times can still give me the weird feeling that she knows me personally,' she says.

Ann considers what it is about her music that speaks to people in this way. And how does this emotional connectedness square with an artist who has constantly shape-shifted, who is full of contradictions? She's a master lyricist who dislikes most poetry. Her words challenged who women were supposed to be, who they could be, and yet she bristled against feminism. And when she's had such a powerful effect on so many listeners, why has she only had one top 20 hit?

Through excerpts from live BBC recordings from the late 1960s and 70s, and the conversations Joni Mitchell recorded in the same period with broadcaster Malka Marom, we travel across a decade of her music.

From the familiar territory of songs like Woodstock, we reach the wilder, exploratory sounds of her late 70s work, via some of her most critically acclaimed albums from earlier that decade - Blue, Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira.

Writers and critics Linda Grant, Sean O'Hagan, Jessica Hopper and Barney Hoskyns reflect on the rapid evolution of Joni Mitchell's musical and lyrical approach, alongside the memories of some of those who've been closest to her -: songwriter and former lover Graham Nash, bassist and ex-husband Larry Klein, and longstanding friend Malka Marom.

With thanks to Malka Marom and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library at the University of Toronto, for sharing clips Joni Mitchell's conversation with Malka Marom.

Producer: Chris Elcombe

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2018.

In the month of JONI MITCHELL's 75th birthday, Ann Powers considers what it is about her music that speaks to people in this way. And how does this emotional connectedness square with an artist who has constantly shape-shifted, who is full of contradictions? She's a master lyricist who dislikes most poetry. Her words challenged who women were supposed to be, who they could be, and yet she bristled against feminism. And when she's had such a powerful effect on so many listeners, why has she only had one top 20 hit?

Through excerpts from live BBC recordings from the late 1960s and 70s, and the conversations JONI MITCHELL recorded in the same period with broadcaster Malka Marom, we travel across a decade of her music. From the familiar territory of songs like Woodstock, we reach the wilder, exploratory sounds of her late 70s work, via some of her most critically acclaimed albums from earlier that decade - Blue, Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira.

Brilliant stories told using archive material from the BBC and beyond.

Even the songs of hers I've heard a thousand times can still give me the weird feeling that she knows me personally, she says.

Writers and critics LINDA GRANT, Sean O'Hagan, Jessica Hopper and Barney Hoskyns reflect on the rapid evolution of JONI MITCHELL's musical and lyrical approach, alongside the memories of some of those who've been closest to her: songwriter and former lover Graham Nash, bassist and ex-husband Larry Klein, and longstanding friend Malka Marom.

With thanks to Malka Marom and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library at the University of Toronto, for sharing clips of JONI MITCHELL's conversation with Malka Marom.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

Music writer and broadcaster Ann Powers explores JONI MITCHELL’s impact on her fans and on songwriting.

Even the songs of hers I’ve heard a thousand times can still give me the weird feeling that she knows me personally,' she says.

In the month of JONI MITCHELL’s 75th birthday, Ann Powers considers what it is about her music that speaks to people in this way. And how does this emotional connectedness square with an artist who has constantly shape-shifted, who is full of contradictions? She’s a master lyricist who dislikes most poetry. Her words challenged who women were supposed to be, who they could be, and yet she bristled against feminism. And when she’s had such a powerful effect on so many listeners, why has she only had one top 20 hit?

Writers and critics LINDA GRANT, Sean O’Hagan, Jessica Hopper and Barney Hoskyns reflect on the rapid evolution of JONI MITCHELL’s musical and lyrical approach, alongside the memories of some of those who’ve been closest to her -: songwriter and former lover Graham Nash, bassist and ex-husband Larry Klein, and longstanding friend Malka Marom.

With thanks to Malka Marom and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library at the University of Toronto, for sharing clips JONI MITCHELL’s conversation with Malka Marom.

Ann considers what it is about her music that speaks to people in this way. And how does this emotional connectedness square with an artist who has constantly shape-shifted, who is full of contradictions? She’s a master lyricist who dislikes most poetry. Her words challenged who women were supposed to be, who they could be, and yet she bristled against feminism. And when she’s had such a powerful effect on so many listeners, why has she only had one top 20 hit?

Over a singular career that has spanned many different cultural eras, Joni Mitchell has explored in public, to an almost unprecedented degree, exactly what it means to be female and free, in full acknowledgement of all its injustice and joy.

And there are two major physically and emotionally charged life changing events that defined Joni's artistic development and deeply influenced her creative output - a severe bout of polio as a child and an unwanted pregnancy as a teenager, which forced Joni to support her and her baby as a destitute single mother. Fearing her inability to cope, Joni gave the baby up for adoption.

The lessons learned from dealing with these traumas have shaped every personal and professional decision Joni has ever made, recalling them as transformative, character-building episodes that caused her to develop self-reliance and a slow, almost meditative way of being in the world.

With the same determination Joni used to prove to doctors that she would walk again, she set about proving that a woman could make it in the patriarchal world of folk music and very quickly blazed a trail as a fiercely independent spirt through one of the most exciting and influential periods in modern music, producing a catalogue of deeply influential albums.

As her success grew, so did her strength and, as we'll hear, Joni remains defiant and determined. She suffered a brain aneurism in 2015 and, summoning the same spirit that enabled her to survive polio and walk again as a child, Joni has been slowly re-building her life and recently played her first live concert in over 25 years.

A Zinc Media production for BBC Radio 4

Joni Mitchell's influential life and career, told in her own words.

To mark Joni Mitchell's 80th birthday, the legendary singer-songwriter's life and deeply influential career is described in her own words.

Weaving together newly restored archive recordings and eye-witness accounts, we separate the woman from the myth, examine her exceptional talent, exploitation and troubled relationship with Hollywood.

Judy Garland was one of the 20th century's greatest entertainers. A living legend. But in late December 1968, embattled and in poor health, she arrived in London for a five week run at the Talk of The Town in Leicester Square, for £2,500 a week. London was her place of sanctuary, she had performed spectacular comeback concerts in the city in 1951, 1957, 1960 and 1964.

When Ren退e Zellweger was preparing to play Judy in a new biopic, directed by Rupert Goold, little-heard archive concert recordings and first hand accounts were key to understanding the singer's state of mind during those final performances. Judy Garland died of an accidental overdose in her Chelsea home six months later, aged 47.

Rosalyn Wilder was the young production assistant tasked with getting Judy on stage each night at the Talk of The Town. Looking back now, Rosalyn describes the stress of that responsibility, but she is also deeply sympathetic - it was clear Judy's personal life had spiralled out of control. Michael Hirst, the venue's general manager, also remembers Garland's 5 week engagement for its unpredictability.

For jazz pianist Dave Lee, now 93, his experiences working with Judy couldn't be more different. Starting in 1960, he worked with her over a six year period. The Judy Garland he encountered was bouncy, happy and fun - but with an incredible talent for picking the wrong men.

We also hear from Judy director Rupert Goold, New York composer Johnny Meyer who gave Garland shelter in the summer of 1968, film critic David Benedict, and audio engineer John Haley who has restored many rare Judy Garland recordings.

Producers: Victoria Ferran and Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2019.

The spectacular story of Judy Garland's last concerts in London.

Ren退e Zellweger introduces an exploration of Judy Garland's last concerts in 1969 at London's Talk of The Town. From 2019.

Produced by Victoria Ferran and Susan Marling

Ren?e Zellweger introduces a programme exploring Judy Garland's last concerts at London's the Talk of The Town in 1969 - the subject of a new feature film.

When Ren?e Zellweger was preparing to play Judy in a new biopic, directed by Rupert Goold, little-heard archive concert recordings and first hand accounts were key to understanding the singer's state of mind during those final performances. Judy Garland died of an accidental overdose in her Chelsea home six months later, aged 47.

Renée Zellweger introduces a programme exploring Judy Garland's last concerts at London's the Talk of The Town in 1969 - the subject of a new feature film.

When Renée Zellweger was preparing to play Judy in a new biopic, directed by Rupert Goold, little-heard archive concert recordings and first hand accounts were key to understanding the singer's state of mind during those final performances. Judy Garland died of an accidental overdose in her Chelsea home six months later, aged 47.

Renée Zellweger introduces an exploration of Judy Garland's last concerts in 1969 at London's Talk of The Town. From 2019.

Huxley was a member of the BBC's Brains Trust and a founder of UNESCO.

He also invented the Childrens Zoo at London Zoo.

He wrote accessible books on evolution.

But how did being a media figure, committed to the public understanding, square with the world of academic science? And where does Huxley's influence lie to this day? Without Huxley no Brian Cox?

Through the life of Julian Huxley Jim Al-Khalili explores the idea of the public scientist

Through the life and work of Julian Huxley Jim Al-Khalili explores the idea of the public scientist. Huxley was a member of the BBC's Brains Trust and a founder of UNESCO. He also invented the Childrens Zoo at London Zoo. He wrote accessible books on evolution. But how did being a media figure, committed to the public understanding, square with the world of academic science? And where does Huxley's influence lie to this day? Without Huxley no Brian Cox?

Through the life and work of Julian Huxley, Jim Al-Khalili explores the idea of the public scientist. Huxley was a member of the BBC's Brains Trust and a founder of UNESCO. He also invented the Children's Zoo at London Zoo. He wrote accessible books on evolution. But how did being a media figure, committed to the public understanding, square with the world of academic science? And where does Huxley's influence lie to this day? Without Huxley no Brian Cox?

Producer Tim Dee.

Jim Al-Khalili explores the idea of the public scientist via the life of Julian Huxley.

Producer: Tim Dee

Through the life and work of UNESCO founder Julian Huxley, Jim Al-Khalili explores the idea of the public scientist. From 2011.

[LISTEN NOW]

In 1978, a 19 year old KATE BUSH became the youngest woman to have a self written number one in the UK with Wuthering Heights. In 2022, now 64, she made musical history again - this time as the oldest female chart topper too, with 1985's Running up that Hill shooting to the top of the charts after capturing the hearts and ears of Generations Z when it was used in Netflix's Stranger Things.

In that series, the song comes to the rescue of leading girl Max - but in this edition of Archive on 4, Ann Powers reveals how KATE BUSH's music has been saving and inspiring people for five decades.

Ann charts Kate's remarkable creative odyssey, her incredible ability to distil epic fantastical stories and romances into four-minute pop songs, and her invented new synth sounds.

Punctuated by the songs, including beautiful demo recordings and early BBC Radio and TV appearances, we also hear from the latest generation of singers inspired by KATE BUSH, including jazz sensation C退cile McLorin Salvant

Presented by Ann Powers

Produced by Clem Hitchcock

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

NPR music journalist Ann Powers pays tribute to the inspirational talent of KATE BUSH.

Punctuated by the songs, including beautiful demo recordings and early BBC Radio and TV appearances, we also hear from the latest generation of singers inspired by Kate Bush, including jazz sensation C?cile McLorin Salvant

To celebrate Kate Bush's sudden and enormous popularity with a whole new generation as well as the 40th anniversary of her revolutionary album The Dreaming, (which Kate called her 'I’ve gone mad' album) Ann Powers, NPR music critic and lifelong Kate Bush fan, tells the story of the rise of the ultimate outsider who inspired a generation of creatives - from writer Jeanette Winterson to Netflix Directors the Duffer Brothers, and Ann herself.

In 1978, a 19 year old Kate Bush became the youngest woman to have a self written number one in the UK with Wuthering Heights. In 2022, now 64, she made musical history again - this time as the oldest female chart topper too, with 1985’s Running up that Hill shooting to the top of the charts after capturing the hearts and ears of Generations Z when it was used in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Ann charts Kate’s remarkable creative odyssey, her incredible ability to distil epic fantastical stories and romances into four-minute pop songs, and her invented new synth sounds.

Punctuated by the songs, including beautiful demo recordings and early BBC Radio and TV appearances, we also hear from the latest generation of singers inspired by KATE BUSH, including jazz sensation Cécile McLorin Salvant

In late 1938, the British government agreed to grant asylum to children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, as long as they came alone and would not be a burden on public funds. 10,000 arrived, most of them Jewish, and the BBC was there to record their stories. A team went to Dovercourt Camp in Kent and recorded the innocent, hopeful voices of the newly arrived children for 'Children in Flight' a remarkable radio documentary. 'We are all waiting to go to homes in England where we can stay till our parents will leave Germany,' a girl called Kathe told the BBC team. 'All the children hurry to see if there is a letter from home which tell them of their families,' Irene said.

In 1999, historian David Cesarani went in search of these children for a Radio 4 documentary, to find out how they had adapted to life in Britain, and to the eventual realisation of the terrible fate of most of their parents. Few had understood what their departure from home really meant. 'I thought it was a temporary thing, it was a temporary parting,' Eva Urbach told Dr. Cesarani. 'We did not realise the seriousness.' With a new wave of refugees dominating the news, the story of the Kindertransport has again become a vital part of the national discussion. Radio 4 is repeating the 1999 broadcast to provide the human story of this tale of survival and heartbreak.

Producer: Hugh Levinson.

How 10,000 unaccompanied children, mostly Jewish, escaped from Nazi Europe to Britain.

In late 1938, the British government agreed to grant asylum to children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, as long as they came alone and would not be a burden on public funds. 10,000 arrived, most of them Jewish, and the BBC was there to record their stories. A team went to Dovercourt Camp in Kent and recorded the innocent, hopeful voices of the newly arrived children for Children in Flight a remarkable radio documentary. We are all waiting to go to homes in England where we can stay till our parents will leave Germany, a girl called Kathe told the BBC team. All the children hurry to see if there is a letter from home which tell them of their families, Irene said.

In 1999, historian David Cesarani went in search of these children for a Radio 4 documentary, to find out how they had adapted to life in Britain, and to the eventual realisation of the terrible fate of most of their parents. Few had understood what their departure from home really meant. I thought it was a temporary thing, it was a temporary parting, Eva Urbach told Dr. Cesarani. We did not realise the seriousness. With a new wave of refugees dominating the news, the story of the Kindertransport has again become a vital part of the national discussion. Radio 4 is repeating the 1999 broadcast to provide the human story of this tale of survival and heartbreak.

In conversation at his home with James Naughtie, he reflects on a life which took him from a childhood in Nazi Germany to the Oval Office.

A powerful and controversial figure, he talks about some of the leaders he has known - De Gaulle and Nixon, Xi and Putin.

He also recalls the times he has lived through, and the way his own ideas about international affairs have developed.

Producer: Giles Edwards

Henry Kissinger, adviser to US presidents for 6 decades, reflects on his life and career.

In his 100th year Henry Kissinger, diplomat, adviser to US presidents and ever-present influence in international affairs, discusses his life and career.

A powerful and controversial figure, he talks about some of the leaders he has known - De Gaulle and Nixon, Xi and Putin - the times he has lived through, and the way his own ideas about international affairs have developed.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2022.

In his 100th year Henry Kissinger, diplomat, adviser to US presidents and ever-present influence in international affairs, discusses his life and career. In conversation at his home with JAMES NAUGHTIE, he reflects on a life which took him from a childhood in Nazi Germany to the Oval Office. A powerful and controversial figure, he talks about some of the leaders he has known - De Gaulle and Nixon, Xi and Putin - the times he has lived through, and the way his own ideas about international affairs have developed.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Henry Kissinger, adviser to US presidents for six decades, reflects on his life and career. With James Naughtie.

To mark the occasion, composer Sarah Angliss meets some of the world's foremost sound designers to consider the enduring power and ubiquity of the sound effect.

She's accompanied by musician and esoteric researcher Daniel R Wilson and renowned foley artist Ruth Sullivan. In rural Sussex, Sarah tracks down musique concr耀te experimenter and Pink Floyd collaborator Ron Geesin to hear what happens when sound effects take centre stage. From his studio in California, Star Wars sfx legend Ben Burtt shows Sarah how to make the real sounds of places which have never existed. And in Bristol, natural history sound editor Kate Hopkins reveals the secrets of bringing silent footage of jungles, oceans and savannahs to life.

200 years after De Quincey's essay, sound effects are refusing to stay on the stage and screen. Philosopher Ophelia Deroy describes the very real impact of sound effects in our everyday lives - from product design to the basics of how perceive the world around us.

Whether we notice them or not, sound effects have created the modern world - so listen up and hear what it's made of.

Presenter: Sarah Angliss

Producer: Michael Umney

Executive Producer: Lance Dann

Writer: Ed Baxter

De Quincey: Anton Lesser

Mixed by: Mike Woolley

A Resonance production for BBC Radio 4

Crash! bang! wallop! Composer Sarah Angliss celebrates the power of sound effects.

It's 200 years since Thomas De Quincey wrote On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, the first serious consideration of the strange and powerful psychological impact of sound effects - sounds which aren't language or music but still carry a level of meaning which seem to elevate them above our everyday sound world.

She's accompanied by musician and esoteric researcher Daniel R Wilson and renowned foley artist Ruth Sullivan. In rural Sussex, Sarah tracks down musique concr?te experimenter and Pink Floyd collaborator Ron Geesin to hear what happens when sound effects take centre stage. From his studio in California, Star Wars sfx legend Ben Burtt shows Sarah how to make the real sounds of places which have never existed. And in Bristol, natural history sound editor Kate Hopkins reveals the secrets of bringing silent footage of jungles, oceans and savannahs to life.

From noises off to the sounds of tomorrow, composer Sarah Angliss and some of the world's greatest effects artists celebrate 200 years of the awesome power of sound effects.

It’s 200 years since Thomas De Quincey wrote On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, the first serious consideration of the strange and powerful psychological impact of sound effects - sounds which aren’t language or music but still carry a level of meaning which seem to elevate them above our everyday sound world.

To mark the occasion, composer Sarah Angliss meets some of the world’s foremost sound designers to consider the enduring power and ubiquity of the sound effect.

200 years after De Quincey’s essay, sound effects are refusing to stay on the stage and screen. Philosopher Ophelia Deroy describes the very real impact of sound effects in our everyday lives - from product design to the basics of how perceive the world around us.

Whether we notice them or not, sound effects have created the modern world - so listen up and hear what it’s made of.

Born in Manhattan to Greek immigrant parents on 2nd December 1923, Maria was put on the stage to sing at the age of 5. She said that she hated it. Her mother took her to live in occupied Greece and Maria was enrolled at the local music conservatoire to begin her vocal training at the age of just 13.

She was trained in the old bel canto technique which Callas described as being like wearing a strait jacket. She worked tirelessly and her exceptional voice, combined with her superb dramatic talents, led to her soon being hailed as La Divina ('the Divine one').

Success on the opera stage led to fame and Callas was soon a superstar. Making headline news wherever she went, she became a style icon with a huge following. But the Press also picked up on stories of her being temperamental with a tendency to be extremely difficult to work with. Every move she made was scrutinised and brutally chewed over by newspaper men.

In 1957, while still married, Callas was introduced to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. They were invited to a cruise on his yacht – along with Winston Churchill. By the end of the cruise, Callas had fallen for Onassis. She divorced her husband and began a tempestuous affair with the world's wealthiest man. Around this time, she stopped singing regularly. After nine years, and allegedly with no warning to Callas, Onassis married Jackie Kennedy. Callas attempted to make a singing comeback, but her voice was too long neglected. She retreated to her flat in Paris where she lived a largely reclusive life. She died in 1977 aged just 53.

Archive voices include: Maria Callas, Lord Harewood, Edward Downes, Simon Callow, Alan Sievewright, Carlo Maria Giulini, Dame Joan Sutherland, Rev Richard Coles, David Holmes.

Music featured:

O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini

Un bel d쀀, vedremo from Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Casta Diva from Norma by Bellini

In separato carcera from Anna Bolena by Donizetti

Ecco l'orrido campo ove s'accoppia from Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi

Producer: Rosie Boulton

A Must Try Softer Production

Singer Lesley Garrett marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary Maria Callas.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas, singer Lesley Garrett and forensic psychiatrist Dr John Crichton look for fresh clues about the legendary soprano.

In 1957, while still married, Callas was introduced to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. They were invited to a cruise on his yacht – along with Winston Churchill. By the end of the cruise, Callas had fallen for Onassis. She divorced her husband and began a tempestuous affair with the world’s wealthiest man. Around this time, she stopped singing regularly. After nine years, and allegedly with no warning to Callas, Onassis married Jackie Kennedy. Callas attempted to make a singing comeback, but her voice was too long neglected. She retreated to her flat in Paris where she lived a largely reclusive life. She died in 1977 aged just 53.

At first bewildered, in order to mark time and help him keep his wits sharp, he sets about creating an audio journal, centred on an exploration of the various novels, poems and films that feature a last man (and it is almost always a man) character.

These stem back to the Romantics, and include Byron's poem Darkness and Mary Shelley's overlooked gem The Last Man, which raises some of the key questions that arise not just in later narratives but also in Paul's own experience - what happens to time when you're the last person standing, should you live in the town or the countryside, is it possible to really be happy or simply enjoy a view, a meal or a song when there's nobody left to enjoy them with?

With thanks to Fiona Corston and Simon Bainbridge

Produced by Geoff Bird

Executive Producer - Eloise Whitmore

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4

In the near future, Paul Farley finds that he is the last person on the planet.

Allan Little examines the film and Lawrence's own account of his desert campaign on which it was based, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He considers how they may be read in the light of the modern Middle East.

With archive of those who knew and served with Lawrence, recollections of his brother and his biographer, contributions from Arab scholars and Lawrence's own words, Allan Little makes a case for Lawrence as a man of great foresight - both as the 'father of guerrilla warfare' and as a strategist who championed the Arab cause.

The programme includes recordings from Jordan, where a team of archaeologists from Bristol University is currently excavating the remains of The Great Arab Revolt and Lawrence's part in it.

Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Allan Little considers the legacy of Lawrence of Arabia.

It's 50 years since Vice President RICHARD NIXON and Senator JOHN F KENNEDY made history with the first ever presidential TV debate.

The idea was quickly adopted around the world.

But how much do voters really learn from these encounters, and do they ever make the difference between winning ald losing?

The BBC's political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti unearths some memorable moments from the archives and talks to politicians, television producers, academics and journalists about the heated negotiations, meticulous preparation and sometimes painful gaffes which have had millions glued to their sets at election time.

She also asks what Britain's party leaders can learn, as they prepare to face each other on TV for the first time.

It's 50 years since Vice President RICHARD NIXON and Senator JOHN F KENNEDY made history with the first ever presidential TV debate. The idea was quickly adopted around the world. But how much do voters really learn from these encounters, and do they ever make the difference between winning ald losing?

The BBC's political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti unearths some memorable moments from the archives and talks to politicians, television producers, academics and journalists about the heated negotiations, meticulous preparation and sometimes painful gaffes which have had millions glued to their sets at election time. She also asks what Britain's party leaders can learn.

The BBC's political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti unearths some memorable moments from the archives and talks to politicians, television producers, academics and journalists about the heated negotiations, meticulous preparation and sometimes painful gaffes which have had millions glued to their sets at election time. She also asks what Britain's party leaders can learn, as they prepare to face each other on TV for the first time.

Lehman Brothers was a huge and historic financial institution -- the fourth largest investment bank in the United States -- and its bankruptcy on 15th September 2008, following the Fed's decision not to bail it out with taxpayers' money, became the tipping point in a financial crisis which encompassed the entire world and still impacts on our lives today.

The irresponsible behaviour - can we call it gambling? - which led to the collapse (the sub-prime lending, the CDOs and short selling) had been going on for years, implicitly celebrated by a society that evidently valued a powerful financial sector very highly. The consequences were unseen by most, including classical economists, but foreseen by a few.

But for the purposes of this programme, the collapse of Lehman Bros is not an ending - it's just the beginning.

Built entirely out of archive, this programme starts on that day in mid-September 2008, when the real-world effects of the financial crisis could still only be speculated upon, and spools backwards in time, in search of roots and connections, implications and antecedents. Not definitive direct causes - they are more simple and more complicated, more varied, than this modest Saturday evening entertainment can accommodate - but rather seeking some semblance of clarity by stepping again in the footprints that led us here.



Built entirely out of archive, this programme starts on that day in mid-September 2008, when the real-world effects of the financial crisis could still only be speculated upon, and spools backwards in time, in search of roots and connections, implications and antecedents. Not definitive direct causes - they are more simple and more complicated, more varied, than this modest Saturday evening entertainment can accommodate - but rather seeking some semblance of clarity by stepping again in the footprints that led us here.

Fifty years since Lenny Bruce died, Mark Steel explores his legacy in the 21st century, drawing on personal tape recordings from a newly established Lenny Bruce archive at Brandeis University, as well as classic clips from some of his ground-breaking comedy and social commentary routines. With contributions from Lenny's daughter, Kitty Bruce, and from those who knew and wrote about him, including author Laurence Schiller.

Dubbed a 'sick' or 'dirty' comedian, Lenny Bruce burned a pioneering trajectory through the late Fifties and early Sixties America, breaking social taboos on what it was acceptable to say.

In later years he was pursued through the courts and convicted of obscenity, ending up bankrupt before being found dead of an overdose.

Subsequently, Lenny Bruce was the subject of books and films during the 1970s and 1980s and a campaign to have him posthumously pardoned was successful in 2003.

But today it seems, the words and ideas that made him notorious in Sixties America may not have lost their power to offend and Lenny Bruce might struggle to be heard on some American campuses - campaigners are using his example to highlight the dangers to free speech.

Presenter: Mark Steel

Producer: Philip Reevell

A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.

'Fifty years since Lenny Bruce died, Mark Steel explores his legacy in the 21st century.'

Richard Pryor is often hailed as the greatest stand up comedian of all time. For Lenny Henry, it was Pryor's fearless act in the mid 70s and 80s that inspired him as a young comic. And he remains Lenny's comedy hero to this day.

But the Richard Pryor that Lenny knows and loves had a very different act when he first started out in 1960s New York. A self-confessed Bill Cosby clone, charming audiences with his 'white bread' humour.

It's the stuff of legend how Pryor's biting social satires, salty language, and character-driven routines like The Wino and The Junkie came about after he threw away a lucrative job in Las Vegas and vowed to reinvent himself. But, for Lenny, the key to Pryor's artistic transformation lies in his short stay in Berkeley, California. When he arrived in February 1971, revolution was in the air. A hub for American counterculture, there were pitched battles in the streets between activists and the police. Berkeley was also home to the Black Panthers and a burgeoning black arts movement.

Pryor made friends with a local radio producer who invited him on to the local station KPFA, gave him a recorder so he could brainstorm new material, and taped several of his performances around town. With these little-heard tapes, Lenny pieces Pryor's life together during his self-imposed exile. Pryor immersed himself in black history and culture, hanging out with intellectuals like Ishmael Reed and Cecil Brown. For the first time, Pryor was taken seriously as an artist and we get a fascinating glimpse him recording free verse poetry. We also hear Pryor experimenting with edgier material at local clubs. For example, we hear blistering attacks on police brutality and his response to the 1971 Attica prison rebellion - which sound remarkably modern even today.

Contributors include: N

ovelist and poet, Ishmael Reed

Former poet laureate of California, Al Young

Richard's widow and keeper of his archives, Jennifer Pryor

Comedian and director, David Steinberg

Actress and comedian, Liz Torres

Author of Becoming Richard Pryor, Scott Saul

Producer: Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Lenny Henry explores a transformative moment in the career of late comedian Richard Pryor.



A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

In the company of Willy Russell, Gillian Reynolds, Michael Angelis and Roger McGough, Paul explores a rich archive of Scouse voices, charting some of the recent mutations in the accent.

Producer: Emma Harding

Paul Farley cooks a pot of Scouse as he explores the complex flavours of the Scouse accent

Writer PAUL FARLEY cooks a pot of Scouse for a party of eminent Liverpudlians to explore the complex flavours and disputed origins of the Scouse accent. In the company of WILLY RUSSELL, GILLIAN REYNOLDS, MICHAEL ANGELIS and Roger McGough, Paul explores a rich archive of Scouse voices, charting some of the recent mutations in the accent.

Produced by EMMA HARDING.

Cinema is very good at explaining Existentialism and capturing its various moods and feelings; but its deeper than that. The language of existentialism with its heroes, choices and crises sounds suspiciously like the language of screenwriting. They are, after all, both ways of trying to create meaning and narrative out of nothing. The blank page that confronts a screenwriter confronts all of us as we decide how to live. As Jean Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir and Albert Camus would tell us - the blank page is us; the film of our lives is waiting to be made.

Films included in the programme:

The Music Box (1932) directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach

Groundhog Day (1993) directed by Harold Ramis; produced by Harold Ramis and ?Trevor Albert

Play it Again Sam (1972) directed by Herbert Poss; produced by Arthur P Jacobs.

Love and Death (1975) directed by Woody Allen; produced by Charles H Joffe

Bridget Jones Diary (2001) directed by Sharon Maguire; Produced by Tim Bevan, Jonathan Cavendish and Eric Fellner.

Taxi Driver (1976) directed by Martin Scorsese; produced By Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips.

Casablanca (1943) directed by Michael Curtiz; produced by Hal B. Wallis

The Rebel (1961) directed by Robert Day; produced by W.A Whittaker

The Truman Show (1998) directed by Peter Weir; produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, Adam Schroeder.

Produced by James Cook and Mair Bosworth.

Matthew Sweet looks at why mainstream cinema and existentialism seem so fond of each other

Films included in the program:

Play it Again Sam ((19792) directed by Herbert Poss; produced by Arthur P Jacobs.

The Truman Show (1998) directed by Peter Wier; produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, Adam Schroeder.

Cinema is very good at explaining Existentialism and capturing its various moods and feelings; but its deeper than that. The language of existentialism with its heroes, choices, and crises sounds suspiciously like the language of screenwriting. They are, after all, both ways of trying to create meaning and narrative out of nothing. The blank page that confronts a screenwriter trying to create authentic characters confronts all of us as we decide how to live. As JEAN PAUL SARTRE, SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR and ALBERT CAMUS would tell us - the blank page is us; the film of our lives is waiting to be made.

From Woody Allen to the Truman Show via Groundhog Day and Taxi Driver.

Groundhog Day (1993) directed by Harold Ramis; produced by Harold Ramis and ‎Trevor Albert

Fifty years on, Lines of Duty tells the incredible story using the whistleblower's own unpublished account, brought to life by actor Toby Jones, alongside interviews with many of those involved.

Presented by railway historian and broadcaster Tim Dunn, this remarkable tale lifts the lid on the world of Government secrets, espionage and an undercover fightback by a group of railway enthusiasts.

Presented by Tim Dunn

Produced by Phil Higginson

Original music by Brollyman

With contributions from Chris Dawson, Ian Yearsley, Chris Bushell, Leslie Huckfield, Colin Hope, Diane Drummond and Lord Faulkner of Worcester.

A Yellow Barrels / Terrier Production for BBC Radio 4

Tim Dunn and Toby Jones tell the story of the whistleblower who saved Britain's railways.

The extraordinary untold story of a very British hero. A man called Reg, who risked his life and liberty to save Britain’s railways. The secret document he leaked became known as Britain’s Pentagon Papers - and what started out as an attempt to expose the truth soon became a fight for the freedom of the press.

Fifty years on, Lines of Duty tells the incredible story using the whistleblower’s own unpublished account, brought to life by actor Toby Jones, alongside interviews with many of those involved.

The 1942 black and white propaganda film Listen to Britain, directed by Humphrey Jennings, summed up our nation in just twenty memorable minutes of sounds and pictures. Inspired by watching and discussing this masterpiece, writers Julie Burchill and Dominic Grace set out to discover what Britishness means now.

They visit some of the places featured in the film , from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom to Trafalgar Square, and they report from Hastings, Newport and Bradford on pride, steel, lies, pubs, drag, flags and poncification.

Produced by Peter Everett

A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.



A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover gets stuck in to generations of mothers in the radio archive - Ambridge's Jennifer Aldridge and her shockingly illegitimate baby, Kim Cotton the first official surrogate mother, Nicola Horlick the billionaire hedge fund supermum, and Lesley Brown the UK's first test tube mum. Fi also consults motherhood experts like Penelope Leach, Dr Miriam Stoppard and Gina Ford.

This personal journey into the BBC archives critically tracks the changing concept and practice of motherhood over the last five decades. We hear how tone and advice have changed over the years and how - eventually - mothers learned to laugh at themselves and not be brow-beaten.

The divine source, the domestic goddess, the earth mother, the do-it-all superwoman, the yummy, slummy, chummy and dummy mummy. And the mother of all mother images - the beautiful, servile, immaculate Virgin Mary. They've all got a lot to answer for. Each new generation brings with it a new version of the Mother. And, over the decades, even the stark biological facts have changed with surrogacy and IVF. We've seen the rise and acceptance of single motherhood and gay motherhood. Perhaps the single, overriding maternal emotion - guilt - is the one thing that each defining epoch never solves.

The advent of Mumsnet in 2000 brought with it the benefit of a kind of plurality. You could share without being identified or judged. Or could you?

With contributions from Dr Miriam Stoppard, Gillian Reynolds, Irma Kurtz and Justine Roberts.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.



A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

This personal journey into the BBC archives critically tracks the changing concept and practice of motherhood over the last five decades. We hear how tone and advice have changed over the years and how - eventually - mothers learned to laugh at themselves and not be brow-beaten.

The divine source, the domestic goddess, the earth mother, the do-it-all superwoman, the yummy, slummy, chummy and dummy mummy. And the mother of all mother images - the beautiful, servile, immaculate Virgin Mary. They've all got a lot to answer for. Each new generation brings with it a new version of the Mother. And, over the decades, even the stark biological facts have changed with surrogacy and IVF. We've seen the rise and acceptance of single motherhood and gay motherhood. Perhaps the single, overriding maternal emotion - guilt - is the one thing that each defining epoch never solves.

The advent of Mumsnet in 2000 brought with it the benefit of a kind of plurality. You could share without being identified or judged. Or could you?

With contributions from Dr Miriam Stoppard, Gillian Reynolds, Irma Kurtz and Justine Roberts.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover peels the labels off motherhood, from sacred mother to slummy mummy.

Gary Yonge and JONATHAN FREEDLAND reflect on the impact of two landmark TV series.

Reflections on the extraordinary impact that two landmark TV series had on Britain forty years ago.

Black journalist GARY YOUNGE and his Jewish colleague JONATHAN FREEDLAND had two very different upbringings. Gary grew up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and Jonathan in suburban North London. But a strange coincidence binds them.

At the age of 10, long before they would become colleagues and friends at The Guardian, their mothers sat them down and gave them a lesson in racism. But it didn't come from a book or documentary. It was the late 1970's and, in each case, the lesson came from a blockbuster TV mini-series. Jonathan sat and watched Roots. Gary was put in front of Holocaust - with the instruction that, 'this is your story too'.

This was a time when the National Front struck fear into both their homes.

Now, forty years on, they recall the impact these landmark series had on them at the time, and what TV depictions of black and Jewish people looked like before those two programmes aired - populated with stereotypes from Love thy Neighbour and The Rag Trade to the Black and White Minstrel Show and Never Mind the Fabric, Feel the Width.

Joined by LENNY HENRY, MAUREEN LIPMAN, MICHAEL GRADE and the original Kunta Kinte, actor LeVar Burton, Gary and Jonathan discover how TV taught them - and Britain - about history.

Producer: Sarah Peters

An Open Audio and Tuning Fork production for BBC Radio 4.

GARY YOUNGE and JONATHAN FREEDLAND reflect on the impact of two landmark TV series.

At the age of 10, long before they would become colleagues and friends at The Guardian, their mothers sat them down and gave them a lesson in racism. But it didn't come from a book or documentary. It was the late 1970's and, in each case, the lesson came from a blockbuster TV mini-series. Jonathan sat and watched Roots. Gary was put in front of Holocaust - with the instruction that, this is your story too.

An Open Audio and Tuning Fork production for BBC Radio 4.

Weight loss diets have been around for centuries, one of the first being An Essay of Health and Long Life from doctor George Chenye. In his 1724 pamphlet, he gave advice that seems so obvious today, which was to exercise regularly and avoid luxury foods. But one of the first popular diets was from William Banting, who in 1863 wrote Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, where he advised the limiting of carbohydrates in order to lose weight. Still in print in the 21st century, it's hard to imagine that Banting's diet, which prescribes a 'glass or two of good claret' to accompany your dinner, supper, and a night-cap if required, would pass muster with any registered nutritionists today.

During the First and Second World Wars the whole country was put on a diet as rationing was implemented. A period of food parity across the country saw us generally become a healthier nation, but what impact did de-rationing have? How did people react once they could eat what they wanted again? Fern unearths archive of jolly policemen holding back crowds of schoolchildren, preventing them from mobbing a sweetshop, and a housewife thrilled at the prospect of once again being able to cater for last-minute company.

Fern hears how dieting started to become big business in the 1960s, as native New Yorker Jean Nidetch's Weight Watchers left her humble kitchen in Queens to make it across the Atlantic and around the world. And as the number of microwaves and freezers in kitchens increased in the 1970s and 80s, we saw the advent of the ready meal and an increasing number of fast food restaurants. Fern also reflects on how food has become more processed over the years - and how that may have impacted weight.

But as food and shopping tastes changed, so did diets. Rosemary Conley's Hip & Thigh Diet, a best-seller in the 1980s, advised slimmers to eat more low-fat foods and exercise their way to weight-loss. Rosemary tells us that, although the science wasn't right by today's standards, her diet was a success.

More recently, the Atkins' diet would go on to become one of the most famous and popular diets around the world. Originally published by Dr Robert Atkins in 1972, the low-carb diet became huge at the turn of the century with almost one in ten Americans claiming to participate in it.

As diets became more ingrained in British society so too did humour around the topic, with weight loss becoming storylines in hit sitcoms like Birds of a Feather and Absolutely Fabulous. And who could forget the slimming club leader from Hell, the iconic Majorie Dawes from Little Britain? But with people's health and lives on the lines, is dieting too serious to be a laughing matter?

Fern gives her own reflections on weight loss and diets as she meets a variety of experts, historians and one-time slimmers along the way.

Produced by Kurt Brookes

Executive Producer: Ashley Byrne

A Made In Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

Fern Britton charts the history of diets undertaken by British slimmers over the decades.

With new diets and slimming plans coming and going on a regular basis, broadcaster and novelist Fern Britton takes us on a journey charting the history of diets taken up by people in the UK.

Weight loss diets have been around for centuries. In 1863, William Banting wrote Letter on Corpulence, addressed to the Public, where he advised the limiting of carbohydrates in order to lose weight. Still in print in the 21st century, it's hard to imagine that Banting's diet, which prescribes a 'glass or two of good claret' to accompany your dinner, supper, and a night-cap if required, would pass muster with any registered nutritionists today.

During the First and Second World Wars, the whole country was put on a diet as rationing came in. A period of food parity across the country saw us generally become a healthier nation, but what impact did rationing have? How did people react once they could eat what they wanted again?

Fern hears how dieting started to become big business in the 1960s, as native New Yorker Jean Nidetch's Weight Watchers left her humble kitchen in Queens to make it across the Atlantic and around the world. And as the number of microwaves and freezers in kitchens increased in the 1970s and 80s, we saw the advent of the ready meal and an increasing number of fast food restaurants. Fern reflects on how food has become more processed over the years - and how that may have impacted weight.

But as food and shopping tastes changed, so did diets. Fern hears how the emphasis altered with many turning into diet with exercise plans in the 80s and early 90s, including the Jane Fonda workout.

An array of guests talk about their experience of diets and dieting including former MP and Celebrity Fit Club survivor Ann Widdecombe, EastEnders and Goodness Gracious Me star Nina Wadia, TV cook Rustie Lee, and fitness instructor 'Green Goddess' Diana Moran. Rosemary Clooney CBE talks about her world famous low fat diet while psychologist Susie Orbach recalls her ground breaking book Fat is a Feminist Issue. There are also contributions from dietician and nutritionist Priya Tew and Professor of Diet and Population Health at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, Professor Susan Jebb OBE.

Finally, Professor Daniel Davis from Imperial College London talks about why personalised diets could be the future.

Actor: Jonathan Kydd

In the 1930s, Colonel Josiah Wedgwood sent a questionnaire to a wide selection of politicians ranging from the greatest Minister of State to the lowliest backbencher, putting questions no one had the temerity to ask before - including how much they earned, their religious views, their trade or profession and what they most disliked about Parliament. The answers offered a snapshot of their times, class and personalities.

This portrait of political life has lain in the Archives of the History of Parliament Trust for 80 years. Now the Trust is repeating the exercise in a set revealing of audio interviews with veteran politicians who've spent their lives in Westminster. This programme compares and contrasts the two accounts.

The current generation remembers the War, the new Welfare State and Britain's declining global role. They worked through an era of industrial strife, economic uncertainty, social change, Thatcherism, Northern Ireland and mass media. Their careers saw a shift in how we regard politicians - from deference to suspicion.

What beliefs made them enter politics - and do they still retain them now? How did they deal with party, constituency, ministerial office? How did experiences of life outside Westminster - personal and professional - affect them and has something been lost in the gradual professionalisation of politics?

Matthew Parris looks at what has changed and what has remained constant about politics, and examines how individuals felt they could make a difference.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Mike Greenwood

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Two remarkable archives, 80 years apart, throw light on what makes a politician tick.



A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Using the programme's archive, Alan Dein looks at what's changed – and unchanging – about Britain's social and physical landscape, from the lonely, depopulating island of Canna in Scotland, to the Cornish village that was about to be sold, lock, stock and barrel.

The first ever Lives featured two very different sets of people: on one hand was Brian, ex-miner from Barnsley turned ratcatcher; on the other, a group of wealthy Londoners who'd met Brian on a Countryside Alliance march. They would go ratting together, they promised each other. And so they did; but what emerged were revelations that had nothing to do with long-tailed rodents.

From the wealthy suburb of Clapham, just a few months before the financial crash, to the Hackney riots of 2011, Lives in a Landscape has observed changes on the streets of the capital. It's tracked the controversial installation of wind turbines in a Welsh beauty spot, the passionate pigeon-racers of inner-city Edinburgh and the fortunes of a Zimbabwean refugee musician trying to rebuild his formerly starry career in downtown Belfast. Other enthusiastic performers include the teenage schoolboy band Socio from Grimsby who face an uncertain future as the close friends prepare for their grown-up lives, and the Bath pub-crooner whose livelihood is threatened by heart disease...

Alan Dein sets out to explore ten years of change as charted by one hundred editions of Lives in a Landscape.

Producer: Simon Elmes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Alan Dein tells the story of ten years of Radio 4's observational documentary series.

Using the programme's archive, Alan Dein looks at what's changed - and unchanging - about Britain's social and physical landscape, from the lonely, depopulating island of Canna in Scotland, to the Cornish village that was about to be sold, lock, stock and barrel.

Producer: Simon Elmes.

Using the programme's archive, Alan Dein looks at what's changed ? and unchanging ? about Britain's social and physical landscape, from the lonely, depopulating island of Canna in Scotland, to the Cornish village that was about to be sold, lock, stock and barrel.

Using the programme's archive, Alan Dein looks at what's changed – and unchanging – about Britain's social and physical landscape, from the lonely, depopulating island of Canna in Scotland, to the Cornish village that was about to be sold, lock, stock and barrel.

Through new conversations with those involved, Nick Robinson explores the thinking behind the gamble and the reasons it didn’t work, while BBC journalists including Nick, Laura Kuenssberg and Rima Ahmed reveal the stories behind the key interviews during the time.

Nick takes the listener through the major turning points of Truss’s seven weeks in power such as the sidelining of key economic institutions, the Bank of England’s dramatic intervention into the UK’s pensions industry and the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as he made his way back from a meeting with the IMF, a decision that ultimately spelled the end for the Prime Minister.

Producer: Jack Fenwick

Assistant Producer: Stephanie Mitcalf

Nick Robinson discovers the inside story of the UK's shortest ever premiership.

Through new conversations with those involved, Nick Robinson explores the thinking behind the gamble and the reasons it didn't work, while BBC journalists including Nick, Laura Kuenssberg and Rima Ahmed reveal the stories behind the key interviews during the time.

Nick takes the listener through the major turning points of Truss's seven weeks in power such as the sidelining of key economic institutions, the Bank of England's dramatic intervention into the UK's pensions industry and the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as he made his way back from a meeting with the IMF, a decision that ultimately spelled the end for the Prime Minister.

Nick takes the listener through the major turning points of Truss's seven weeks in power such as the Bank of England's dramatic intervention into the UK's pensions industry, the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as he made his way back from a meeting with the IMF and a chaotic Commons vote that left MPs aghast and spelled the end for the Prime Minister.

NICK ROBINSON discovers the inside story of the UK's shortest-ever premiership.

Drawing on sound archive of David Lloyd George and key contemporary witnesses, Peter Hennessy tells how Lloyd George revolutionised Britain's government when he became prime minister a century ago. In the darkest days of World War I, Lloyd George transformed an amateurish approach to government and galvanized a war weary country by radically reforming the Cabinet, bringing outsiders ('men of push and go') into Whitehall and creating new departments.

As a radical politician, Lloyd George always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency. He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of World War II. 'I had for some time come to the conclusion, that to entrust the direction of the war to a Sanhedrin of some twenty ministers, chosen largely for party reasons, and all engaged in the administration of departments which demanded their whole attention, was worse than worthless.' Lloyd George also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

Yet Lloyd George was also a precursor of presidential-style politics. He brought his own advisers and press secretary into Number 10, and his mistress became one of the private secretaries (the first woman to hold this post). Although his presidential tendencies later contributed to his downfall, his revolution in government had laid the foundations for victory in 1918 and remains his legacy in Whitehall. Among those taking part in the programme are biographers Ffion Hague, Kenneth Morgan and Roy Hattersley, and historian, Hew Strachan.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.

Drawing on sound archive of DAVID LLOYD GEORGE and key contemporary witnesses, PETER HENNESSY tells how LLOYD GEORGE revolutionised Britain's government when he became prime minister a century ago. In the darkest days of World War I, LLOYD GEORGE transformed an amateurish approach to government and galvanised a war weary country by radically reforming the Cabinet, bringing outsiders ('men of push and go') into Whitehall and creating new departments.

As a radical politician, LLOYD GEORGE always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency. He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of World War II. ‘I had for some time come to the conclusion, that to entrust the direction of the war to a Sanhedrin of some twenty ministers, chosen largely for party reasons, and all engaged in the administration of departments which demanded their whole attention, was worse than worthless.' LLOYD GEORGE also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

PETER HENNESSY tells how LLOYD GEORGE galvanised Britain as war leader a century ago.

As a radical politician, LLOYD GEORGE always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency. He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of World War II. ?I had for some time come to the conclusion, that to entrust the direction of the war to a Sanhedrin of some twenty ministers, chosen largely for party reasons, and all engaged in the administration of departments which demanded their whole attention, was worse than worthless.? LLOYD GEORGE also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

Drawing on sound archive and key contemporary witnesses, PETER HENNESSY tells how DAVID LLOYD GEORGE revolutionised Britain's government when he became prime minister over a century ago.

In the darkest days of the First World War, LLOYD GEORGE transformed an amateurish approach to government and galvanised a war weary country by radically reforming the Cabinet, bringing outsiders ('men of push and go') into Whitehall and creating new departments.

As a radical politician, he always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency.

He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of the Second World War. LLOYD GEORGE also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

Among those taking part are biographers Ffion Hague, Kenneth Morgan and ROY HATTERSLEY, and historian, Hew Strachan.

As a radical politician, Lloyd George always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency. He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of World War II. ‘I had for some time come to the conclusion, that to entrust the direction of the war to a Sanhedrin of some twenty ministers, chosen largely for party reasons, and all engaged in the administration of departments which demanded their whole attention, was worse than worthless.’ Lloyd George also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

As a radical politician, Lloyd George always saw government as a force for progress, and as war leader he ruthlessly replaced unprofessional informality with business-like efficiency. He began by setting up a five-man War Cabinet, a reform that he recommended again on the BBC in the early days of World War II. ‘I had for some time come to the conclusion, that to entrust the direction of the war to a Sanhedrin of some twenty ministers, chosen largely for party reasons, and all engaged in the administration of departments which demanded their whole attention, was worse than worthless.' Lloyd George also created a Cabinet Secretariat (now the Cabinet Office), ensuring that a minute was taken of Cabinet meetings and that ministers' decisions were implemented.

Matthew Sweet explores a century of surrealism.

In 1924 Andre Breton published the Manifesto of Surrealism, giving shape to a set of ideas that had a profound effect on cultural and artistic life. Despite the manifesto, Surrealism was less a cast-iron ideology than an evolving set of principles. In short, it aimed to loosen the shackles of rationality and to liberate minds. It drew on our dream lives, our unconscious selves and our nightmare visions. Not simply in the service of shock: surrealism sought to upend settled assumptions and change the world.

We might think first of the visual arts – of vivid and puzzling paintings – but Breton was first of all concerned with writing. And Surrealists went on to use any and all methods to dislocate conventional reason: poems, texts, photographs, collages, film. But in our digital age can the juxtapositions of surrealism carry any urgency? Has its emancipatory potential seeped away with familiarity and the easy ability to cut and paste? Can surrealism still be subversive? And, as we tell the stories and discuss the ideas, can we infuse this programme with an authentic surrealist spirit?

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In this Archive on Four, Ed Howker looks at how the then futuristic themes of 'Logan's Run' have manifested themselves in the reality of 21st century society. Large swathes of the capitalist world seem to have adopted the novel's plot as policy, such as in Silicon Valley, for example, where hardly anyone is over the age of 30. At the same time there is a huge discrepancy in wealth and resources held by the young and old, often held up as the source of conflict in 'generational unfairness'.

Ed Howker looks at the state of the young and the old and asks if implementing a 'Sleepshop', where the 21-year-olds of 'Logan's Run' fade out in a narcotic haze for the benefit of those younger, seems such a bad idea after all.

Producer Mark Rickards

Ed Howker looks at the world depicted in the science fiction novel Logan's Run.

Producer Mark Rickards.

It was all thanks to his experience as a teenager growing up in suburban Surrey, listening to albums like The Secret Policeman's Ball and Not The Nine O'clock News' Hedgehog Sandwich.

David explores the story of comedy albums, from the early George Martin-produced Peter Sellers records to the big-selling stand up albums that kickstarted the careers of Billy Connolly and Richard Pryor,

The it's on to adolescent favourites like Monty Python and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's unfiltered excesses as Derek and Clive.

Now that comedy albums have largely disappeared, replaced by the streamed comedy special, David looks in detail at some of the iconic comedy records of the last 60 years, the influence they had on today's generations of performers, and the way their too-rude-for-radio content changed what became acceptable in comedy.

Presenter: David Walliams

A Trevor Dann Company production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2020.

David Walliams remembers the comedy albums which inspired him to write and perform.

DAVID WALLIAMS was inspired to pursue a career in comedy from his experience as a teenager growing up in suburban Surrey, listening to albums like The Secret Policeman's Ball and Not The Nine O'clock News' Hedgehog Sandwich.

In this programme, he explores the story of comedy albums, from the early George Martin-produced PETER SELLERS records to the big-selling stand up albums that kickstarted the careers of BILLY CONNOLLY and RICHARD PRYOR, and on to adolescent favourites like Monty Python and PETER COOK and DUDLEY MOORE's unfiltered excesses as Derek and Clive.

It was all thanks to his experience as a teenager growing up in suburban Surrey, listening to albums like The Secret Policeman's Ball and Not The Nine O’clock News' Hedgehog Sandwich.

Gabby interviews Jessica Ennis Hill and Nicola Adams on sharing the country's joy and the triumphs of their own experiences, revisiting and providing fresh insights into some of the most memorable moments of London 2012, as athletes from Team GB won a shed-load of medals. Sir Chris Hoy returns to the finishing line in the velodrome where he won his sixth gold.

The programme offers fascinating observations on the physical and political build up to the Games - the unlikely alliances of extraordinary characters, political rivals, visionary planners and exotic architects that enabled the Games bid to go ahead and the Park to get built. All this as London mayors and prime ministers came and went, with all the investment made in the shadow of the great 2008 financial crisis.

Gabby also looks at the legacy of the Games - has grassroots sport been boosted, or have those legacy hopes been disappointed?

Finally, the programme explores what enabled Britain, thought by some to be famously bad at delivering big national projects, to make such a huge success of London 2012.

Presenter: Gabby Logan

Writer: Dave Hill