BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Shipping Forecast

The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping

Shipping Forecast: 26/06/2008

26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Shipping Forecast, 26/06/2008Close menu

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

News Briefing

News Briefing: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - News Briefing, 26/06/2008Close menu

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Prayer for the Day, 26/06/2008

Daily prayer and reflection with Mike Ford.

Farming Today

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Farming Today: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 26/06/2008

News and issues in rural Britain with Anna Hill.

Presented by Anna Hill. Producer Alasdair Cross

Today

Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day

Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including religious reflections from Thought for the Day at 0748

Today: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 26/06/2008

Including Yesterday in Parliament; Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

With James Naughtie and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.

Presented by James Naughtie and John Humphrys.

Including:

Equal pay legislation has been in place since 1970. How successful has it been and how much further can the law go in closing the gap? Home Editor Mark Easton investigates.

The removal of anonymity from sperm and egg donors has provoked a crisis in fertility treatment. Tom Feilden reports.

In the US, both Ford and General Motors have cut the production of the pick-up truck. Kevin Connolly reflects on the past and the future of an American icon.
 
Thought for the Day with Rev Angela Tilby, vicar of St Benet's Church in Cambridge.
 
Nelson Mandela has finally spoken out against what is happening in Zimbabwe. Will his intervention push his successor Thabo Mbeki into a tougher stance against Robert Mugabe's regime? Peter Biles reports from Johannesburg.

On August 7 1974, Philippe Petit stepped out onto an illegally constructed high wire strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. He describes his 45-minute tightrope walk.

A debate at the Wellcome Collection in London tonight considers the involvement of doctors in advice about lifestyle. GPs Mike Fitzpatrick and Dr Howard Stoate discuss the issue.

With Sarah Montague and James Naughtie. 
6.25, 7.25, 8.25 Sports News 
6.45 Yesterday in Parliament 
With Sean Curran and Robert Orchard. 
7.48 Thought for the Day With the Rev Angela Tilby. 
8.31  Yesterday in Parliament

In Our Time

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

In Our Time: The Arab Conquests

The Arab Conquests

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Arab Conquests

Melvyn Bragg examines the Arab conquests which helped communicate Islam to the world.

Melvyn Bragg discusses the Arab conquests which transformed the Middle East, Persia, North Africa and Southern Europe by helping to spread the new religion of Islam.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Arab conquests - an extraordinary period in the 7th and 8th centuries when the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula conquered the Middle East, Persia, North Africa and Southern Europe and spread the ideas of the Islamic religion. In 632 the prophet Muhammad died and left behind the nascent religion of Islam among a few tribes in the Arabian Desert. They were relatively small in number, they were divided among themselves and they were surrounded by vast and powerful empires. Yet within 100 years Arab armies controlled territory from Northern Spain to Southern Iran and Islamic ideas had begun to profoundly refashion the societies they touched. It is one of the most extraordinary and significant events in world history that began the slow and profound transformation of Greek and Persian societies into Islamic ones. But how did the Arab armies achieve such extensive victories, how did they govern the people they conquered and what was the relationship between the achievements of the Arabs and the religious beliefs they carried with them?With Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge and Robert Hoyland, Professor in Arabic and Middle East Studies at the University of St Andrews

The Arab Conquests. Melvyn Bragg and Quests Hugh Kennedy and Amira Bennison discuss the extraordinary spread of Islam across the Middle East, Persia and North Africa and into southern Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries AD.
Shortened repeat at 9.30pm

Book of the Week

Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

Book of the Week: Casanova

Book of the Week: Casanova: Episode 4

Episode 4

Casanova

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Casanova, Episode 4

Casanova arrives in London, where he falls for the city's most infamous courtesan.

Casanova finds himself rubbing shoulders with London society. He unexpectedly falls for the city's most infamous courtesan.

Casanova arrives in London, a city in the midst of a craze for Venetian masquerades. Using all his wit and charm, he finds himself rubbing shoulders with high society. But when he unexpectedly falls for the city's most infamous courtesan, her endless refusals drive him to distraction. He finds himself with lead weights in his pockets, contemplating the murky waters of the Thames.

Benedict Cumberbatch reads from Ian Kelly's biography of the world's most famous lover

Benedict Cumberbatch reads from Ian Kelly's fascinating biography of the world's most famous lover and libertine

4/5. Casanova's intrigues in London lead him to a soaking in the Thames. By Ian Kelly , read by Benedict Cumberbatch. For details see Monday Repeated at 12.30am

Daily Service

Led by Bishop Nigel McCulloch. We Sing the Glorious Conguest (King's Lynn). Acts 9, vvlO-20. How Lovely Are the Messengers (Mendelssohn). From Heaven You Came 
(The Servant King, arr Leddington Wright ). Director of music Neil Taylor.

Woman's Hour

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

Woman's Hour: Susan Sontag remembered; Parental child abductions

Susan Sontag remembered; Parental child abductions

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Susan Sontag remembered; Parental child abductions

Susan Sontag's son David Reiff on the final months of his mother's life. With Jenni Murray

Susan Sontag's son David Reiff on the final months of his mother's life. Plus the enduring unpopularity of the Duchess of Windsor, and the rise in parental child abductions.

With Jenni Murray. 
10.45 The Way We Live Right Now 9/15 The Woman's Hour drama. 
For details see drama repeat at 7.45pm

From Our Own Correspondent

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents and writers.

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers telling stories from around the world.

From Our Own Correspondent: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, 26/06/2008

Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.

BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.

A lively collection of dispatches from the BBC's foreign correspondents, who report on stories in their regions. Presented by Kate Adie. Producer Tony Grant 
RT DIRECT: From Our Own Correspondent is available for E15.99 (RRP £16.99) inc p&p. Call [number removed] (calls from landlines cost no more than 8p per minute)

Pop in Translation

15/12/2007

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Pop in Translation

Mark Radcliffe learns how 1960s singers boosted their sales abroad.

'She Loves You' in German? 'Space Oddity' in Italian? Mark Radcliffe learns how 1960s singers boosted sales abroad with foreign-language versions of their hits. From December 2007.

From 'She Loves You' in German, to 'Space Oddity' in Italian - it wasn't unusual in the 1960s to find pop artists from the Beatles to David Bowie, attempting to boost their sales with foreign language versions of their British hits. 

Mark Radcliffe looks at one of pop music's quirkier episodes.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

From She Loves You in German to Space Oddity in Italian, it wasn't unusual in the 1960s to find pop artists attempting to boost their sales with foreign-language versions of their hits. Presented by Mark Radcliffe with contributions from many of those who took part in the recordings, this programme looks at one of pop's more quirky episodes. Producer Robert Noakes

You and Yours

You and Yours: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 26/06/2008

Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson and Carolyn Atkinson.

Presented by Winifred Robinson and Carolyn Atkinson.

Including:

The government has published its ideas on how to make sure that the UK generates 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. With Juliet Davenport, Chief Executive and founder of Good Energy, and Virginia Graham, Chief Executive of the Real Assurance Scheme.

If fuel prices are increasing because of the rising wholesale cost of oil and gas, why are prices from suppliers charging green energy tariffs also soaring, when the energy is meant to come from renewable sources such as wind farms?

Why would Tesco apply for planning permission for a major new store using the name of another much smaller company already established in that local community? With Rynd Smith, Director of Policy at Royal Town Planning Institute.

This month marks the 50th birthday of the parking meter. Comedian Steve Punt thinks this is an anniversary worth celebrating.

The BBC has uncovered evidence of poor standards by two large private homecare companies. Critics accuse them of putting profits before people's welfare.

Consumer and public interest reports, with Carolyn Atkinson and Winifred Robinson.

Weather

Weather: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Weather, 26/06/2008Close menu

World at One

Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.

World at One: 26/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 26/06/2008

National and international news with Martha Kearney.

The World at One

Open Country

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

Open Country: 21/06/2008

21/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, 21/06/2008

A visit to the North Kent coast to examine the battle the coast has fought with the sea.

The countryside magazine visits the North Kent coast to examine the battle the coast has fought with the sea over the centuries.

A look at coastal erosion in Kent. Repeated from Saturday at 6.07am

The Archers

An intense and gripping week of events unfolds in Ambridge. Listen to all the drama here.

The Archers: 25/06/2008

25/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers, 25/06/2008

Adam has a meeting with Matt about the digester. He's keen to press ahead without Brookfield, but Adam isn't so sure. He feels anxious about committee meetings with him, Matt and Annabelle. 

The archaeological dig in the Millennium Wood continues - they find a buckle under the body. Jennifer is fascinated by it all and spends a lot of time there with the archaeologist. 

At the dig, Eddie teases Joe about Mildred - the Canadian lady from the Home Farm holiday cottages. She was born and brought up in Borsetshire, and Eddie makes sure she and Joe meet each other. Joe isn't convinced he wants to be bothered with her, but by the time they've had a chat, he finds himself offering to take her out, round the village and the county - and Mildred thinks that would make her very happy indeed. 

Episode written by Tim Stimpson.

Drama on 4

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Afternoon Play

Drama on 4: Life of Penguins

Life of Penguins

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Life of Penguins

By Katie Hims. Merle's sister Beth has been abducted by aliens - not for the first time.

By Katie Hims. Merle is a penguin keeper at London Zoo. When her sister Beth fails to make a date, she realises that she has been abducted by aliens - not for the first time.

By Katie Hims.

Merle is a penguin keeper at London Zoo. When her sister Beth fails to make a date at the cinema, she goes searching for her. She soon realises that Beth has been abducted by aliens - not for the first time.

Merle ...... Abigail Davies
Linus ...... Matthew Wilson
Gina ...... Serena Bobowski
Frank ...... Dominic Hawksley
Beth ...... Madeleine Bowyer  
Ania ...... Ania Tomaszewska
Chris ...... Chris Nelson

Directed by Boz Temple-Morris

A Boz Temple Morris production for BBC Radio 4.

Afternoon Play: Life of Penguins

Merle Jones goes in search of her sister. who has gone missing. Is it possible that she could have been abducted by aliens and has been experiencing abductions ever since she was a child? By Katie Hims.
Music by Howard Jacques ; Producer Boz Temple-Morris

Check Up

Medical discussion phone-in programme with weekly guest experts

Medical discussion programme in which listeners phone-in and ask a weekly guest about their particular area of knowledge

Check Up: Weight and Diet

Weight and Diet

BBC Radio 4 - Check Up, Weight and Diet

Barbara Myers puts listeners' questions about weight and diet to GP Dr Ann Robinson.

Barbara Myers presents the health phone-in and puts listeners' questions about weight and diet to GP Dr Ann Robinson.

In this edition of Check Up, Barbara Myers puts callers' questions about weight and diet to GP Ann Robinson.

There are plenty of stories in the media about the obesity timebomb which is threatening to go off in Britain.

But while many of us know that we need to lose weight, doing something about it is a different matter.

The best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories, and take more exercise. 

It's important to be realistic about the amount of weight you're likely to lose - a pound a week is a realistic target. Joining a slimming group or finding a friend to exercise with can help keep you motivated.

For people who need more help, especially those who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over, may be prescribed drugs to help with weight loss.

The two drugs most widely prescribed are Orlistat, which stops you absorbing fats so that they come out in your stool, and Reductil, which reduces cravings.

A controversial new drug, Rimonabant, was also just approved for NHS use in England and Wales in 2008. 

Rimonabant has proved to be effective in helping people lose up to 10% of their body weight, but has been linked to an increased risk of depression and suicide. Doctors have been advised not to prescribe it to people with a history of depression, and not before other obesity drugs have been tried.

Surgery, such as gastric banding or gastric bypass surgery, has been in the news a great deal recently.

Doctors will only suggest surgery when all other methods of weight loss have been fully exhausted, and the patient must receive counselling and be free of psychological issues.

Bariatric surgery is rarely available on the NHS, and can cost several thousand pounds privately.

3/6 Barbara Myers puts listeners questions and worries concerning headaches and miaraines to a specialist. Producer Paula McGrath 
PHONE: [number removed] (calls from landlines cost no more than 8p per minute) Lines open from 1.30pm or email via www.bbc.co.uk/radio4.

Radio 4 Appeal

Highlighting a charity and appealing for donations. The presenters donate their time.

A weekly programme highlighting the work of a charity and appealing for donations. The presenters give their time without payment.

Radio 4 Appeal: 22/06/2008

22/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 Appeal, 22/06/2008Search BBC

Rageh Omaar appeals for The Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa.

Rageh Omaar appeals on behalf of The Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa. Donations: Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144.

Afternoon Reading

Short stories or abridged books, often from new writers

Afternoon Reading: Classical Assassins

Afternoon Reading: Classical Assassins: Episode 4: Butterworth and Me

Episode 4: Butterworth and Me

Classical Assassins

Butterworth and Me

BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Reading, Classical Assassins, Butterworth and MeSearch BBC

A young woman has a difficult letter to write to Butterworth, fighting in France in 1916.

Monologues by Jonathan Lennie, based on facts and conjecture, about deaths of great composers. A woman has a difficult letter to write to Butterworth, fighting in France in 1916.

Five monologues from the bit-players in musical history who have been implicated in the deaths of great composers.

A young woman has a difficult letter to write to george Butterworth, fighting in France in 1916.

Read by Rebeka Germain 
Produced by Sara Davies.

Monologues by Jonathan Lennie, based on facts and conjecture, about deaths of composers

Short monologues by Jonathan Lennie, based on historical facts and conjecture, about deaths of great composers

4/5 Butterworth and Me. It's 1916 and  vouna woman has a difficult letter to write to young composer George Butterworth , who is fighting in France. By Jonathan Lennie. 
Read by Rebeka Germain. For details see Monday

Cosmic Quest

Cosmic Quest: Episode 24: The Dark Side of the Cosmos

Episode 24

Episode 24: The Dark Side of the Cosmos

The Dark Side of the Cosmos

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Cosmic Quest, The Dark Side of the Cosmos

Heather Couper looks at the search for dark matter. What we see is only a fraction of it.

Heather Couper looks at the search for dark matter. What we can see is only a fraction of the matter in the cosmos. From June 2008.

Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy.

In 1933, Fritz Zwicky realised that a huge cluster of galaxies is being held together by something more powerful than the gravitational pull of the visible matter. In the 1960s, Vera Rubin was coming to the same conclusion from studying the rotation of stars within individual galaxies. The conclusion was inescapable; all the visible stars and gas comprise a mere fraction of the total matter in the universe. Dark matter exists, although nobody knows what it is. 

The question remains unanswered, though now there are many theories. It is hoped that elaborate experiments in particle accelerators may cast some light on the subject.

Readers are Timothy West, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.

Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy

Astronomer Heather Couper charts the history of our growing understanding of the universe and progress of astronomy.

Cosmic Quest: The Dark Side of the Cosmos

24/30. The Dark Side of the Cosmos 
Heather Couper looks at the search for dark matter in the cosmos. For details see Monday

Open Book

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books, talking to authors and publishers and unearthing lost classics

Open Book: Dave Pelzer, Les Miserables, and Items Found in Books

Dave Pelzer, Les Miserables, and Items Found in Books

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Dave Pelzer, Les Miserables, and Items Found in Books

Mariella Frostrup meets the American writer Dave Pelzer, author of A Child Called It.

Mariella Frostrup meets the American writer Dave Pelzer, whose best-selling books include A Child Called It. Novelist Adam Thirlwell discusses Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.

Dave Pelzer
Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It revolutionised the art of memoir when it was published in 1995, with its horrific tale of the abuse Pelzer suffered at the hands of his mother. Having launched a new literary genre, commonly called ‘mis lit’, Dave Pelzer has gone on to work as a counsellor and have a family of his own. Mariella asks him how his past has affected his life, and how he feels about the rash of similar books that have been published since.


The Reading Clinic
Which books can parents give to their teenagers to wean them off children’s authors and on to adult fiction? Anne McElvoy, executive editor of the Evening Standard, answers this listener’s query.


Les Miserables
At 1200 pages, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is one of the longest novels in the European canon. Novelist Adam Thirlwell has written an introduction to a new translation of the book, and he tells Mariella why it is worth embarking upon this classic adventure tale set in nineteenth-century Paris.


Items Found In Books
Richard Davies of Abe Books joins Mariella to describe some of the more exotic items that have been found in second-hand books.

Mariella Frostrup meets the American "misery memoir" writer Dave Pelzer. 
And the novelist Adam Thirlwell discusses one of his favourite books, Victor Hugo 's LesMiserables.  
Repeated from Sunday at 4pm

Material World

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines. Each week, scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects

Material World: Parasite Adaptation - Fire Safety Engineering

Parasite Adaptation - Fire Safety Engineering

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, Parasite Adaptation - Fire Safety Engineering

Quentin Cooper explores the latest research into the sexual habits of the malaria parasite

Quentin Cooper explores the latest research into the unusual sexual habits of the malaria parasite, which could reveal new ways of tackling the disease.

Parasite Adaptation
Everything has parasites - even parasites have parasites. So what has made living at the expense of others such a successful way of life? In this week’s Material World, Quentin Cooper examines the complex behavioural adaptations that have made parasitic infections like Malaria, which kills 2.5 million people each year, so difficult to combat. Understanding parasite behaviour may lead to new ways to reduce their activity. He’s joined by Dr. Sarah Reece, School of Biosciences, University of Edinburgh and Professor Mike Boots, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield.


Fire Safety Engineering
Some key events in the last 10 years, including the World Trade Center collapse in 2001, have changed our scientific understanding of how materials like steel behave when heated by fire. Quentin Cooper looks at the new world of fire structural engineering. It’s a revolutionary new approach to fire safety. It investigates how buildings frames act as a whole during fires, and treats fire just like any load the building might have to bear at the architectural stage. Quentin is joined by Dr. Barabara Lane, Associate Director, Arup Design and winner of the 2008 Royal Academy of Engineering's Silver Medal for her research on fire safety engineering, and Dr. Luke Bisby, The BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, University of Edinburgh.

Material World: Parasite Adaptation

The Material World

Quentin Cooper looks at the latest research into the unusual reproductive behaviour of the malaria parasite, which can choose between the number of male and female offspring it has while living in its host. Scientists hope this new information might reveal ways of preventing the disease.

1968: Day-by-Day

The committee set up to investigate ways of improving the Civil Service make their recommendations in the Fulton report. For details see Saturday

1968 Day by Day

A look back at the events making the news 40 years ago

1968: Day by Day

1968 Day by Day: 26th June 1968

26th June 1968

BBC Radio 4 - 1968 Day by Day, 26th June 1968

John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago. Civil service reforms are announced.

Afternoon news and current affairs programme

Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines

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Shipping Forecast

26/06/2008

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Weather

26/06/2008

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1968: Day-by-Day

1968 Day by Day

26th June 1968

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Weather

26/06/2008

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Shipping Forecast

26/06/2008

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