What stopped Stoppard?
Two programmes this week presented two radically different world views, or rather ways of life. Aditya Chakrabortty’s series for Radio…
The joy of the Proms
Summer nights, hot and humid, mean just one thing — it’s Proms season again. Sore feet, sweaty armpits, queuing outside…
Stitches in time
When Martha Ann Ricks was 76 she travelled from her home in Liberia to London to meet Queen Victoria. The…
Listen with mother
This week’s column is dedicated to my mother who loved her radio and encouraged us to be listeners. Without her,…
Making history
‘History is not the past,’ says the writer Hilary Mantel in the first of her Reith Lectures on Radio 4…
Diary stories
By chance on Saturday morning, I tuned into Radio 4 and heard Professor Clare Brant talking on Saturday Live about…
Comic relief
In such times as these, enough to try a man’s soul, a dose of John Finnemore is advisable. His brand…
Crime and punishment
‘Hell is better than what I personally witnessed,’ says Ben Ferencz, who was one of the American troops sent in…
Moment of truth
Two extremes of the listening experience were available on Monday on Radio 4. The day began conventionally enough with Start…
Teenage kicks
Imagine living in a country where the average age is under 16 (in the UK it’s currently 40 and increasing)…
Discovery channels
Bashing the BBC often becomes a popular blood sport in times of political instability, and especially if the left is…
A square dance in Heaven
It’s 500 years since Martin Luther pinned his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, sparking…
The real deal
How about this for an inspiring response to what could have been a personal tragedy. Chi-chi Nwanoku was in the…
Tales of the unexpected
It’s the oddest place to find a profound meditation on the death of Christ, but there it is on Radio…
Ed’s diner
In a world where politicians can turn into newspaper editors and former newspaper editors can seize the most coveted job…
Going underground
When Wireless Nights hit the Radio 4 airwaves in the spring of 2012, I was not at all sure about…
A matter of life and death
It was the crime story that showed us just how much China has changed since its years of social, political…
Keeping the faith
Perhaps surprisingly, in these secular times, Radio 4 keeps up its annual (and very Reithian) tradition of holding a series…
Keeping the faith
Perhaps surprisingly, in these secular times, Radio 4 keeps up its annual (and very Reithian) tradition of holding a series…
Keeping the faith
Perhaps surprisingly, in these secular times, Radio 4 keeps up its annual (and very Reithian) tradition of holding a series…
All in the mind
At the third UK International Radio Drama Festival held last week in Herne Bay, entitled ‘And Let Us Listen to…
All in the mind
At the third UK International Radio Drama Festival held last week in Herne Bay, entitled ‘And Let Us Listen to…
All in the mind
At the third UK International Radio Drama Festival held last week in Herne Bay, entitled ‘And Let Us Listen to…
Olden but golden
This weekend Brian Matthew will present his last-ever Sounds of the 60s show on Radio 2. Now 88, he’s been…
Olden but golden
This weekend Brian Matthew will present his last-ever Sounds of the 60s show on Radio 2. Now 88, he’s been…
