Radio 4 Podcasts

Kirsty Lang is in the chair as Northern Ireland play Wales in the cryptic quiz.By BBC Radio 4

Topical comedy quiz show, where Andy Zaltzman & a crack panel dive into this week's news.By BBC Radio 4

Earlier this year, the government announced their new plan to stamp out antisocial behaviour across England and Wales. Hot spot policing and what they call ‘immediate justice’ will be trialled in towns and cities in an attempt to curb the problem.What is it like to live in a community that experiences antisocial behaviour year-in, year-out? And wha…

Rufus Wainwright, hairdressing film Medusa Deluxe and the rise of the understudy.By BBC Radio 4

Prince Harry gave evidence in support of a privacy case against Mirror Group NewspapersBy BBC Radio 4

Four-time Grammy award nominated singer Candi Staton has moved between several musical genres during of the course of her celebrated career – from soul, R&B, gospel and disco. However, dance music has always been her main groove with iconic tracks such as the multi-platinum 'You Got the Love' and her classic anthem 'Young Hearts Run Free'. It has r…

From landslides and wildfires to floods and tornadoes, Bruce Malamud has spent his career travelling the world and studying natural hazards. Today, he is Wilson Chair of Hazard and Risk and Executive Director of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at Durham University - but as he tells Jim Al-Khalili, a lifelong passion for discovery has t…

When 8 year old Kim Gordon set off for China in 1965, it set in train a tale of passion, imagination and still unanswered questions. Kim’s parents were committed communists in the thick of Mao’s cultural revolution. Kim became a Red Guard, one of an army of children and teenagers marshalled in support of Mao and he had a ringside view of the vast r…

Boycotts are big at the moment. On a global scale, many countries are boycotting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. There are campaigns to boycott products produced in Turkey, Israel or China. Sporting boycotts are used by countries across the world to express their displeasure with their international rivals. And there are plenty of boycott…

Charles Byrne was an 18th-century “Irish giant” whose skeleton was stolen and put on display against his wishes. 240 years after his death, he is being remembered in a new electro acoustic opera rather than as a museum-piece curiosity. Dawn Kemp of the Hunterian Museum discusses removing the famous skeleton from their collection, and composer, musi…

But it's still not clear whether the long-expected counter-offensive has begunBy BBC Radio 4

Kirsty Lang is in the chair as Northern Ireland play Wales in the cryptic quiz.By BBC Radio 4

05 JUN 23By BBC Radio 4

The Sunday Times' Christina Lamb on the women involved in the war effort in Ukraine.We look at the trend of brides having their long hair cut into bobs before re-emerging with new hair at their wedding. Kyrelle Burton of Devon Wedding Hair, did her first mid-wedding chop for a bride last year.Molly Duane is the senior lawyer for the US-based Center…

Comedian and computer scientist Olga Koch returns for a second series of her comedy and STEM stand up show, joined by her sassy digital assistant ALGO (voiced by Tia Kofi). This episode, Olga and ALGO try to agree on what is, and isn’t, fun.Written by Olga Koch and Charlie DinkinFeaturing Tia KofiAdditional Material From Rajiv Karia, Cody Dahler an…

Ben Wright and guests discuss the Covid Inquiry and the PM's trip to WashingtonBy BBC Radio 4

The Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick, has claimed that the UK's asylum system is "riddled with abuse" and the country must reduce its reliance on hotels to house migrants.By BBC Radio 4

Mary Lawson joins James Naughtie and a group of readers to answer questions about her novel, Crow Lake. An international bestseller, it tells the story of four siblings, orphaned by a road accident who have to find a new way to live as a family. The story is narrated by Kate, looking back at that dramatic rupture in her childhood. As she tells her …

Professor Peter Hennessy is one of the UK’s leading contemporary historians. He has written acclaimed and important books about politics, the civil service, the intelligence agencies and the British constitution on which he is an expert. Peter was born in London in 1947 and read history at St John’s College, Cambridge. He started writing for the Ti…

Errollyn Wallen is one of Britain's most acclaimed and widely performed contemporary composers. Born in Belize and brought up in north London, she was first ever woman to win a Ivor Novello Award for a body of work, and the first ever black woman to have a composition played at the BBC Proms. Errollyn has written 22 operas, as well as orchestral, c…

World leaders have joined Narendra Modi in paying tribute to the 288 people who've died.By BBC Radio 4

A woman who was stalked by her husband and then placed into witness protection with a new identity to escape him, says she feels like she's the one being punished. She's complained to the police about the way her case was handled after being told she failed an assessment and was no longer being supported by them in her new life. She spoke to our re…

03 JUN 23By BBC Radio 4

Kate Adie introduces' stories from Turkey, South Africa, China, Germany and Sri Lanka.Recep Tayyep Erdogan now has a mandate to rule for another five years. After living in Istanbul for more than four years, Orla Guerin considers the roots of his success and what the future holds for Turkey.South Africa's electricity supply crisis has made 'load sh…

We live in a world where data is everywhere – informing if not governing our lives. But this wealth of data didn’t just turn up overnight. Tim Harford talks to academics Chris Wiggins and Matthew Jones, whose new book How Data Happened aims to explain how the world we know today has been shaped by not just technological developments but battles aro…

Silver-haired star Jeff Chandler takes his final bow on Suspense in "A Good Neighbor" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1957). Chandler stars as a thief who's trying to lay low after a heist, but a nosy neighbor may discover his secret. Plus we'll hear Chandler in his two signature radio roles. First he's the bashful biology teacher Mr. Boynton…

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode devote the final episode of the current series of Screenshot to the world’s most famous doll, ahead of the release of director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie. Ellen is joined by critic Christina Newland for a look at how movies like Legally Blonde, Clueless and The House Bunny brought 'Barbiecore' to the screen, decades …

Topical comedy quiz show, where Andy Zaltzman & a crack panel dive into this week's news.By BBC

Charlotte Nichols told the BBC of a rotten culture at WestminsterBy BBC Radio 4

02 JUN 23By BBC Radio 4

Matthew Bannister onJeremy Clarke, who chronicled his experiences of living a “low life” in the Spectator magazine for more than 20 years. We have a tribute from Eric Idle.The women’s rights campaigner Dr. Moira Woods, who set up the Irish Republic’s first dedicated sexual assault treatment unit.Iain Johnstone, the film critic and documentary maker…

In this tragicomic tale - specially commissioned for Radio 4 and read by the author - a student breaks up the tedium of her summer job in inventive, and increasingly unhinged, ways.Josie Long is an award-winning comedian, broadcaster and writer. She has recently published her first collection of short stories, Because I Don't Know What You Mean and…

Are rabbit droppings good for the garden? Why won’t my courgettes grow? What is the most bizarre plant you have ever grown?From tulips to hostas, the sprightly GQT squad are back to share all their green-fingered guidance from Chipping Campden. Prepped to share their solutions to a flurry of foliage dilemmas are garden designer Matthew Wilson, pest…

Journalists and podcast hosts Jon Ronson and Gabriel Gatehouse join Marianna for a special episode of Americast delving deep down the rabbit hole of conspiracies. The trio talk about why America is a breeding ground for conspiracies, how to spot them, and what happens if they’re true. We also look at whether conspiracies and misinformation might af…

Two female journalists in Iran are on trial for covering the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, the Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in custody last year sparking protests across the country and months of unrest and shocked the world. Mahsa was arrested and charged with not covering her hair properly and then reportedly so severely beaten she fell int…

In this special live episode, recorded at the Hay Festival, Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Gillian Kenny and comedian Seán Burke to learn about medieval Irish folklore.We’re focusing on the lore and stories from Gaelic Irish culture. Gaelic culture remained the dominant set of cultural and societal beliefs on the island of Ireland well into the 17th c…

25 years since the people of both Northern Ireland and the Republic voted to accept the Good Friday Agreement, another potential referendum looms on the distant horizon. That Agreement, though primarily to end the violence of the Troubles, allows for a future border poll that would determine whether Northern Ireland remained part of the United King…

Critics Katie Puckrik and Michael Carlson join Front Row to review the exhibition Punk: Rage and Revolution at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery and Soft Touch Arts.The American writer and director Tina Satter talks about her new film Reality, starring Sydney Sweeney. The script is based on the transcript of the FBI interrogation of the whistleblowe…

In a letter to the inquiry the Government said it had brought the case "with regret"By BBC Radio 4

According to recycling charity Wrap, an estimated three billion nappies are thrown away every year in the UK.Concerns over plastic waste and a want to save money have been driving a rise in the popularity of reusable nappies but, as listener Amy asks, are they really better for the planet, and your pocket? Me and the team speak to Wendy Richards, a…

Clare joins brothers Manni and Reuben Coe as they amble for a mile and a half to Hive beach at Burton Bradstock in Dorset. Reuben has Down’s Syndrome and enjoys short, slow walks something that Manni, a professional walking guide more used to long hikes at an active pace, has learned to enjoy. Manni lives between Spain and Dorset and, during Covid,…

Kate Adie presents dispatches from Serbia, Tunisia, India, France and Ukraine. There has been a wave of protests in Serbia against gun violence following two mass shootings last month that left 17 people dead. Serbia has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, but people flocked to hand in old weapons after the government announced a g…

"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew ParrisTony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001, packed so much into a long career. He renounced the peerage inherited from his father, served in the Labour governments of both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, led the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 and became pretty much the country’s pre-eminent rock s…

01 JUN 23By BBC Radio 4

A woman who was stalked by her husband and then placed into witness protection with a new identity to escape him, says she feels like she's the one being punished. She's complained to the police about the way her case was handled after being told she failed an assessment and was no longer being supported by them in her new life. She spoke to our re…

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the revelatory collection of Biblical texts, legal documents, community rules and literary writings. In 1946 a Bedouin shepherd boy was looking for a goat he’d lost in the hills above the Dead Sea. He threw a rock into a cave and heard a hollow sound. He’d hit a ceramic jar containing an ancient manuscript. This was …