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: 15/01/2009

15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Shipping Forecast, 15/01/2009Close 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: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - News Briefing, 15/01/2009Close menu

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Prayer for the Day, 15/01/2009

Daily prayer and reflection with Denis Rice.

Farming Today

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Farming Today: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 15/01/2009

News and issues in rural Britain with Charlotte Smith.

With Charlotte Smith. Producer Chris Impey

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: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 15/01/2009

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

With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day; Yesterday in Parliament.

Presented by John Humphrys and Sarah Montague.

Chief exec of HMV Simon Fox says the company had their 'biggest ever Christmas' despite the recession.

Chief economist at ECU Group Neil Mackinnon discusses the difficulty in setting interest rates for 16 countries.

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev says Hamas is being blamed for orchestrating the Gaza crisis.

Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers and Baroness Valentine, of business group London First, discuss if the third runway at Heathrow should go ahead.

Dale Vince, founder of wind farm operator Ecotricity, says UFOs have not been ruled out of an inquiry into a damaged wind turbine.

Health minister Lord Darzi says there should be 19 checks on a patient before a surgical incision is made.

Thought for the day with the Rev Angela Tilby.

Former policy holder Anne Berry and pensions advisor Ros Altmann discuss government plans to compensate savers who lost money in Equitable Life.

Richard Lambert of the CBI and economist Ben Broadbent discuss how to stop unemployment rising.

Baroness Vadera has been criticised as 'living in a parallel universe' after she claimed to be seeing a few 'green shoots' of recovery in the economy. Nick Robinson looks at her career.

Rebecca Jones and Mark Kermode discuss the nominations for the BAFTA Film Awards.

Author Deborah Moggach discusses the difficulties she faced in caring for her mother during her dementia.

Peter Sutherland, former chief of the WTO, discusses a campaign for the euro to be adopted.

Mike Thomson discusses developments in Eastern Congo.

Journalist Matthew Parris discusses memorable gaffes made by politicians.

Beijing correspondent James Reynolds and author Mark Leonard discuss China's ability to survive as economic growth slows.

With John Humphrys and Sarah Montague. 
6.25, 7.25, 8.25 Sports News. 
6.45 Yesterday in Parliament 
With Sean Curran and David Wilby. 
7.48 Thought for the Day With the Rev Angela Tilby. 
8.31 L Wonly Yesterday in Parliament

In Our Time

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

In Our Time: Thoreau and the American Idyll

Thoreau and the American Idyll

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Thoreau and the American Idyll

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the American 19th century writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century American writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau.  Anti-slavery activist and passionate environmentalist, Thoreau was above all a champion of self-reliance and individualism. He was also a champion of the simple life, a lover of nature and an enemy of the modern who lived alone in a log cabin in the woods away from society. In his seminal work, Walden, published in 1854, he wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Thoreau has become emblematic of one version of American values and his work has been an inspiration to politicians and writers alike, from Martin Luther King to Gandhi, Yeats and Tolstoy. Yet in many ways Thoreau remains a mystery, a man of contradictions who advocated self-sufficiency but was happy to let his mother do his washing and cook his meals.With Kathleen Burk, Professor of American History at University College London; Tim Morris, Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Dundee; Stephen Fender, Honorary Professor in English Literature at University College London.

Melvyn Bragg and guests investigate the history of ideas.
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: The Rest is Noise - Listening to the 20th Century

Book of the Week: The Rest is Noise - Listening to the 20th Century: Episode 4

Episode 4

The Rest is Noise - Listening to the 20th Century

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Rest is Noise - Listening to the 20th Century, Episode 4

The psychological realism of Peter Grimes and Britten's relationship with Peter Pears.

Julian Rhind Tutt reads from music critic Alex Ross's history of 20th-century music. The psychological realism of Peter Grimes and Britten's relationship with Peter Pears.

Julian Rhind Tutt reads music critic Alex Ross's history of 20th century classical music

Julian Rhind Tutt reads from music critic Alex Ross's history of 20th century classical music

Book of the Week: The Rest Is Noise

4/5. Benjamin Britten and the psychological realism of Peter Grimes. By Alex Ross. For details see Monday Repeated at 12.30am

Daily Service

Led by Becky Harris. There's a Spirit in the Air (Lauds, arr Thorne). Ephesians 2, vvHO. King of Glory (Walford Davies ). All for Jesus! (Stainer).

Woman's Hour

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

Woman's Hour: Edna O'Brien on Byron; Women in Obama's government

Edna O'Brien on Byron; Women in Obama's government

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Edna O'Brien on Byron; Women in Obama's government

Author Edna O'Brien on Lord Byron. Plus, the women in the Obama administration.

Author Edna O'Brien on Lord Byron. Plus the women in the Obama administration, and inventor Emily Cummins on why more women don't go into technical professions.

Presented by Jenni Murray. 
10.45 Dear Mr Spectator 4/5. 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: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, 15/01/2009

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.

From Our Own Correspondent: 15 January

New series 1/9. A lively collection of dispatches from the BBC's foreign correspondents. Presented by Kate Adie. Producer Tony Grant

Triple Espresso, Marinetti and the Futurists

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Triple Espresso, Marinetti and the Futurists

The story of the Futurist movement and its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.

4 Extra Debut. Art critic Richard Cork explores the history of the Futurist movement, started by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909. From January 2009.

Art critic Richard Cork tells the story of the Futurist movement and its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Featuring recordings of Marinetti himself and the music of composer and fellow Futurist Luigi Russolo.

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.

Richard Cork tells the story of how futurism exploded onto the art world a century ago. futurism was the first movement in the history of art to be engineered and managed like a business. It had a close relationship with the world of advertising and, like a business, it promoted its product to a wide audience. Coles examines how the movement suffered a severe blow during the First World War when several of its leading figures were killed, and how this led to its founding member, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, joining forces with Mussolini. Producer Kate Bland

You and Yours

You and Yours: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 15/01/2009

With Winifred Robinson. Who is behind Gazprom and what are its intentions?

Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson. Gazprom has a sixth of the world's gas reserves. Who is behind it and what are its intentions?

Presented by Winifred Robinson.

If the government gives the go-ahead to Heathrow airport's expansion, the village of Sipson will be demolished. We hear from local people about the impact this would have on their lives.

Southern Cross Healthcare is ordered to pay 80,000 pounds after an 82-year-old woman fell from a first floor window at one of its homes.

Reporting from the last day for bids for outfits owned by the failed Yorkshire stage supplier Homburgs, with each one up for grabs to members of the public.

Gazprom has a sixth of the world's gas reserves. Who is behind it and what are its intentions?

Police in West Lothian branded a pilot project banning weekend off licence sales to the under-21s a success. Now the Scottish government would like to extend the ban to all Scottish off licences at all times.

Plans for a third runway at London's Heathrow airport include a high speed rail line linking Heathrow with London and Birmingham. But would having a new high speed rail service mean that more passengers will choose rail travel over air?

Weather

Weather: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Weather, 15/01/2009Close menu

World at One

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

World at One: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 15/01/2009

National and international news with Martha Kearney.

The World at One

Costing the Earth

Fresh ideas from the sharpest minds working toward a cleaner, greener planet

Costing the Earth: Black Monday, Green Tuesday?

12/01/2009

Black Monday, Green Tuesday?

BBC Radio 4 - Costing the Earth, Black Monday, Green Tuesday?

Tom Heap considers how the recession is likely to affect attitudes towards the environment

Tom Heap considers how the recession is likely to affect attitudes towards the environment. Is an economic slowdown a step in the right direction towards a greener planet?

Tom Heap considers how the recession is likely to affect attitudes towards the environment. If the current financial and environmental problems are rooted in our taste for consumption, surely an economic slowdown is a painful but necessary step in the right direction towards a greener planet?  Fewer cars on the roads, fewer flights in the air and an enforced prudence when it comes to personal spending will mean less energy use and less waste. But as the government advocates spending our way out of recession, some environmentalists fear that there will be a rush to develop a more environmentally-damaging infrastructure in order to keep the economy buoyant. Others say that we are on the threshold of a new green world where workers in traditionally polluting industries such as car manufacturing will be able to switch to new green jobs.

Tom Heap looks at how the recession is likely to affect attitudes towards the environment. Rptd from Monday at 9pm

The Archers

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

The Archers: 14/01/2009

14/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers, 14/01/2009

Ruth and David find the time at last to go out for their anniversary meal. They both enjoy it and look forward to the coming years on the farm together. 

Jazzer is despondent because he's getting nowhere with the lovely Hannah. He cries on Kenton's shoulder, and Kenton encourages him to keep trying. Jazzer decides he will. 

Ryan is thrilled to have been successful with his job application, and he thanks Alistair for the reference he gave. It made all the difference. Alistair is pleased and feels vindicated, after his dilemma about whether to write it or not. 

After the Gamblers Anonymous meeting, they bump into Kenton in the street. Alistair introduces him to Ryan, and Kenton has a feeling he's met Ryan somewhere before. Ryan doesn't remember him though. When Ryan's gone, Kenton asks if he's the young man Alistair has been helping. Alistair admits that it is - but things are going well. He lets slip that he wrote the reference, and Kenton is taken aback. What does Alistair actually know about Ryan? Alistair says he knows as much as he needs to. Why can't Kenton just trust his judgement? 

Episode written by Simon Frith.

Drama on 4

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Afternoon Drama

Drama on 4: Torch No. 1

Torch No. 1

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Torch No. 1

Exploring the mind of the young Czech student who set fire to himself in Prague in 1969.

By David Pownall. Monologue exploring the mind and motives of the young Czech student, Jan Palach, who set fire to himself in the centre of Prague 40 years ago.

By David Pownall. 

Monologue exploring the mind and motives of the young Czech student, Jan Palach, who set fire to himself in the centre of Prague 40 years ago.

Jan Palach ...... Karl Davies

Directed by Martin Jenkins.

Afternoon Play: Torch No 1

Although he was neither a terrorist nor a fanatic, Jan Palach set fire to himself in the centre of Prague 40 years ago. 
In this thought-provoking play, starring Karl Davies  David Pownall explores Palach's state of mind and asks why he should opt to take SUCh a step. Director Martin Jenkins

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: 10/01/2009

10/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, 10/01/2009

Countryside magazine. Helen Mark visits the Black Mountains to find out how the credit crunch is affecting people living in one of the most sparsely populated areas of the UK.

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: RP Fighting Blindness

11/01/2009

RP Fighting Blindness

BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 Appeal, RP Fighting BlindnessSearch BBC

Jeremy Vine appeals on behalf of RP Fighting Blindness.

Jeremy Vine appeals on behalf of RP Fighting Blindness. 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: The Other Garden and Collected Stories by Francis Wyndham

Afternoon Reading: The Other Garden and Collected Stories by Francis Wyndham: Episode 3: Matchlight

Episode 3

Episode 3: Matchlight

The Other Garden and Collected Stories by Francis Wyndham

Matchlight

BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Reading, The Other Garden and Collected Stories by Francis Wyndham, MatchlightSearch BBC

After a dull night at the cinema, a woman is approached by someone on the way home.

After a dull night at the cinema, a woman is approached by someone on the way home. Short stories recalling England in the '40s, read by Amanda Root.

Francis Wyndam's three stories of desire and yearning during the dark days of the second world war are matchless in tone and nuance. They centre on the young and old, on those upstairs and downstairs, on those in town and country...

3. Matchlight

After a dull night at the cinema, she is mysteriously
approached by someone on the way home...

Reader Amanda Root.
Producer Duncan Minshull.

Stories by short fiction writer Francis Wyndham, recalling England in the 1940s

The Other Garden and CollectedStories by Francis Wyndham

3/3 Matchlight. After a dull night at the cinema a woman is approached by someone on the way home. Read by Amanda Root. For details see Tuesday

The Flight from Tehran: British-Iranians 30 Years On

The Flight from Tehran: British-Iranians 30 Years On: Episode 4: Sister, Guard Your Veil

Episode 4: Sister, Guard Your Veil

Sister, Guard Your Veil

BBC Radio 4 - The Flight from Tehran: British-Iranians 30 Years On, Sister, Guard Your Veil

How women's lives changed under the new regime and why some women felt they had to leave.

David hears how women's lives changed dramatically under the Ayatollah's regime and why some women felt they had to leave.

Exiles from the Iranian revolution talk to British-Iranian writer David Mattin about leaving their homeland and family behind to make a new life in Britain. 

David hears how women's lives changed dramatically under the Ayatollah's regime and why, with modifications to family law and enforced adoption of the hijab in public, some women felt they had to leave. That included a bookish young girl who had been educated abroad and found herself on trial when she applied for a job at the university.

Exiles from the Iranian Revolution talk to British-Iranian writer David Mattin

Exiles from the Iranian Revolution talk to British-Iranian writer David Mattin about leaving their homeland and family behind to make a new life in Britain

4/5 Sister, Guard Your Veil. David Mattin expiores the struggle for women's rights in the years after the revolution in 1979. 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: Jay McInerney, crime writing from Scandinavia

Jay McInerney, crime writing from Scandinavia

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Jay McInerney, crime writing from Scandinavia

Mariella Frostrup talks to the American novelist Jay McInerney about his new novel.

Mariella Frostrup presents the books magazine. She talks to the American novelist Jay McInerney, the author of Bright Lights, Big City, about his new novel The Good Life.

Mariella Frostrup presents the books magazine. She talks to the American novelist Jay McInerney, the author of Bright Lights, Big City, about his new novel The Good Life. Plus a look at a new wave of crime writing from Scandinavia.

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: Medical Micro Machines - The Superorganism

Medical Micro Machines - The Superorganism

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, Medical Micro Machines - The Superorganism

Quentin Cooper investigates the nature of superorganisms.

Quentin Cooper investigates the nature of superorganisms such as ant and termite colonies and asks if human society could be heading the same way.

Medical Micro Machines
In the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, a motley crew of medics and glamorous assistants jumped aboard the submarine Proteus before being miniaturised and sent off into the body of Jan Benes.

Their mission was to remove a potentially fatal blood clot from his brain, and the idea of treating people with mini machines has been in our collective psyche ever since. Despite being unable to shrink either people or submarines, researchers are successfully combining biology with mechanics and electronics.

Professor Tony Turner from Cranfield University joins Quentin Cooper to discuss the world of biosensors – where special molecules read the make up of our bodily fluids and pass the information to electronic devices. But to keep all these devices running, we need more power.

So project leader Martin McHugh and researchers from Southampton University have developed a battery that’s powered by the heart. Both guests discuss this new frontier in medicine – including where it’s going, safety issues, and the public response to fusing man and machine. 


The Superorganism
Ants are remarkable examples of miniaturisation. In computer terms, they pack a surprising processing power into a small space. But as animals go, they are still quite simple, relying on instinctive, repetitive behaviours.

But an ant colony is very different and can display complex behaviour and what looks like planning and even creativity far beyond the knowledge and capacity of any individual ant. According to biologists E.O.Wilson and Bert Hölldobler, writing in a new book, an ant colony is an example of a ‘superorganism’.

Altruistic cooperation, complex communication and division of labour all contribute to the biological organisation that transforms a colony of individuals into a superorganism. Research into the superorganism provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a few. Ants, termites, bees all make the transformation to superorganism.Could human society be going the same way?

Quentin is joined by Bert Hölldobler from Arizona State University and Charlotte Sleigh from the University of Kent, author of ‘Ant’ and ‘Six Legs Better’ and an expert on the history of the study of these fascinating creatures.

Material World: Medical Micro Machines

The Material World

Superorganism. As individuals, ants, termites or bees are reliant on instinctive and repetitive behaviour. But when organised into a colony, ants are capable of complex behaviour such as planning and even creativity. An ant colony or a beehive becomes a "superorganism". Quentin Cooper investigates the altruistic nature complex communication and division of labour that goes towards the transition from individual to superorganism. Ants and bees have made the transformation to superorganism. Could human society be going the Same way? Producer Pamela Rutherford
See also Monday-Friday at 1.45pm on BBC Radio7

Afternoon news and current affairs programme

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

PM: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - PM, 15/01/2009

Coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.

Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.

Six O'Clock News

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4

Six O'Clock News: 15/01/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Six O'Clock News, 15/01/2009

National and international news from BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Shipping Forecast

15/01/2009

Genres

Formats

Brand

Weather

15/01/2009

Genres

Formats

Brand

Open Country

Open Country

10/01/2009

Genres

Brand

Weather

15/01/2009

Genres

Formats

Brand

Shipping Forecast

16/01/2009

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4

Appears in

About this data

About this data