Radio

How did the internet become so horrific?

17 February 2024 9:00 am

Plus: the joy of hearing lawyers argue

I’m not convinced Thomas Heatherwick is the best person to be discussing boring buildings

28 October 2023 9:00 am

Architects are often snobby about – and no doubt jealous of – the designer Thomas Heatherwick, who isn’t an actual…

A Radio 3 doc that contains some of the best insults I’ve ever heard

28 October 2023 9:00 am

A recent Sunday Feature on Radio 3 contained some of the best insults I have ever heard. Contributors to the…

What happened to the supermodels of the 1990s?

14 October 2023 9:00 am

‘What advice would you give to your younger self?’ has become a popular question in interviews in recent years. It’s…

The rise of vampirism in Silicon Valley

2 September 2023 9:00 am

The Immortals, which begins on Radio 4 this week, is not for the faint-hearted. While it professes to be about…

The stuff of nightmares: Retrievals podcast reviewed

22 July 2023 9:00 am

It is the stuff of nightmares, or a queasily dystopian film plot. A woman is undergoing a surgical procedure in…

The problem with podcasts

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Can anything serious come from podcasts, asks Sam Kriss

Perfect radio for a nation of grumblers: Radio 4’s Room 101 with Paul Merton reviewed

10 June 2023 9:00 am

Welcome back to Room 101, which has returned to the radio – after nearly 30 years on TV – and…

Looking for a male role model? Check out the silverback gorilla

27 May 2023 9:00 am

One so often hears about famous people who are horrible when they think no one important is looking – barking…

Prayer for the Day is the best thing to wake up to

13 May 2023 9:00 am

As the owner of a radio alarm clock, I could theoretically start listening to the Today programme before I’m even…

The genius of More or Less

8 October 2022 9:00 am

In a week of slim audio pickings, I spent time reacquainting myself with some of the BBC classics and can…

BBC radio has excelled itself over the past week

17 September 2022 9:00 am

Listening to BBC Radios 3 and 4 over the past week has been like meeting an old friend who, after…

Why we must defend Radio 3 from threatened cuts

27 August 2022 9:00 am

Who doesn’t love Eurovision? All that razzmatazz. The ghastly frocks and gloopy pop songs, the false bonhomie and bare-faced bias…

Why is the post-colonial guilt only applied to Western classical traditions? Radio 3's World of Classical reviewed

6 August 2022 9:00 am

The blurb accompanying the Radio 3 series World of Classical, inviting us to ‘join the dots between classical music traditions…

Hearing Percy Bysshe Shelley read aloud was a revelation

16 July 2022 9:00 am

Last week I heard the actor Julian Sands give a virtuoso performance of work by Percy Bysshe Shelley to mark…

No genre of storytelling is more formulaic or more exhausted than true crime

25 June 2022 9:00 am

Nothing new under the sun. Or at least it feels that way these days, doesn’t it? The movies are TV…

Boldly and brilliantly unoriginal: Kermode and Mayo’s Take reviewed

21 May 2022 9:00 am

Last April Fools’ Day, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo wound up their award-winning film review show on BBC Radio 5…

Changing channels: the new war for political broadcasting

21 May 2022 9:00 am

The television will be revolutionised

Enjoyably plummy and male: Battleground – The Falklands War podcast reviewed

14 May 2022 9:00 am

The Battlegroundpodcast on the wars of the 20th century, said presenter Saul David happily, ‘will have lots of bombs and…

Don’t read Ulysses; listen to it

9 April 2022 9:00 am

Don’t read James Joyce’s Ulysses, says John Phipps. Listen to it

Why we drink

26 March 2022 9:00 am

‘I like to have a martini,/ Two at the very most./ After three I’m under the table,/ After four I’m…

New Marr is very much the same as the old Marr: LBC's Tonight With Andrew Marr reviewed

12 March 2022 9:00 am

Andrew Marr got his voice back this week. That may come as a bit of a surprise to everybody who’s…

If you like First Dates, you'll love This is Dating

26 February 2022 9:00 am

The tagline of This is Dating, a new podcast from across the pond, is ‘Come for the cringe, stay for…