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The home of the best science programmes from BBC Radio 4 introduced by Dr. Alex Lathbridge.
New research on how society works
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas
Download the best satirical comedy from Radio 4, every Friday. Features The News Quiz, The Now Show and Dead Ringers.
Seriously is home to the world’s best audio documentaries and podcast recommendations, and host Vanessa Kisuule brings you two fascinating new episodes every week.
Mayday: When James Le Mesurier fell to his death he left behind a tangle of truths and lies.
Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Brighten your week with the latest BBC Radio 4 comedy, introduced by Darren Harriott.
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future.
Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.
Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
Insight, wit and analysis as BBC correspondents, journalists and writers take a closer look at the stories behind the headlines. Presented by Kate Adie and Pascale Harter.
Scientific principles, theory, and the role of key figures in the advancement of science.
The history podcast for people who don't like history... and those who do. Greg Jenner brings together the best names in comedy and history to learn and laugh about the past.
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.
Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.
Series exploring the place and nature of faith in today's world
Fresh ideas from the sharpest minds working toward a cleaner, greener planet
Series focusing on foreign affairs issues
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and major breaking news from a global perspective
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.
Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world
Celebrating the music that special guests cherish and would like to bestow to future generations.
Discussion of religious movements and the theories and individuals behind them.
Combative, provocative and engaging live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories. #moralmaze
A panel of horticultural experts answer gardening questions from a live audience. Recorded in a different location each week
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
Reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news.
Investigating every aspect of the food we eat
Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists' eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince.
A frank look behind the scenes with broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover as guests from Radio, TV and podcasting share stories they probably shouldn't. Released every Friday.
Intelligent and challenging quiz games on BBC Radio 4. Featuring Round Britain Quiz, Counterpoint and Brain of Britain with Quiz Masters including Paul Gambaccini.
Presenters recommend their favourite podcasts and speak to the people who make them.
Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside
Led by James Naughtie, a group of readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels
An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines
This podcast features Open Book and A Good Read. Open Book talks to authors about their work. In A Good Read Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books.
Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.
Popular culture, poetry, music and visual arts and the roles they play in our society.
The big political stories with lively discussion and expert comment and analysis. Presenter Carolyn Quinn is joined by politicians and journalists 10pm every Sunday on BBC Radio 4.
Andy Zaltzman squares up to the week's headlines with panellists Hugo Rifkind, Susie McCabe, Daliso Chaponda and Lucy Porter.Panellists lobby for points as they answer questions on the Greensill affair and the theft of a giant rabbit.Written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Alice Fraser, Simon Alcock, Tasha Dhanraj and Jenan Younis.Pr…
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.By BBC Radio 4
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Six O'Clock News
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21/04/2021 More criticism over lobbying of ministers
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Labour renews attack over the personal lobbying of ministers during the pandemicBy BBC Radio 4
The UK has dramatically reduced the amount of waste which goes into landfill over the last 25 years, but there are are still decades worth of rubbish underground, buried by generations gone by. Until the 1970s there were almost no rules about what could be put into landfill and very few records were kept before the 1980s, so no-one really knows wha…
Life imprisonment - Why is it that such sentences were almost unheard of a generation ago and what is their impact on prisoners, as well as society? Ben Crewe, Deputy Director of the Prison Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, talks to Laurie Taylor about the largest ever sociological study of long term imprisonment conducted in Europe. …
Have you been tempted by a quick cash win, a jackpot prize or the challenge of finding a winning betting strategy? There are many forms of gambling available online and in person to engage and entertain us but when does a gambling hobby become a personal and financial problem? On Wednesday's Money Box Live Charmaine Cozier and guests explore the en…
On 12 April 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became an explorer like none other before him, going faster and further than any human in history, into what had always been the impenetrable and infinite unknown.Raised in poverty during the Second World War, the one-time foundry worker and a citizen of the Soviet Union became the first human to fly above t…
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Woman's Hour
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Sexist abuse of MPs, Town Crier Brenda Willison, Vanessa Frake on The Governor, Second Chances
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Vanessa Frake worked in the prison service for 27 years. For 16 of those years she was the head of security and operations at the notorious male prison Wormwood Scrubs. Her career saw her cross paths with some of Britain's most notorious criminals. She was the main officer responsible for serial killer Rose West whilst she awaited trial, she was ma…
21 APR 21By BBC Radio 4
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.By BBC Radio 4
Kenny Lynch was born in Stepney, East London in 1938. He toured with the Beatles, wrote best-selling songs, was a champion boxer in the army, and a regular face on British TV. He was also - at the start of his career - one of the very few black and British singers in the UK, but he's not really remembered as a pioneer. Out to change that is his nom…
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Six O'Clock News
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20/04/2021 PM prepared to take 'whatever action necessary' over European Super League
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The government said it would consider changing the law to stop the new football league.By BBC Radio 4
Dr Elisabeth Carter talks to Michael about the language used by fraudsters who fake romantic relationships online for monetary gainProducer Sally HeavenFurther information and help.Action Fraud provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime.Phone: 0300 123 2040 www.actionfraud.police.ukVictim…
20 APR 21By BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
1
Dogs of Lockdown; Teachers assaulted by pupils; Family reconciliation; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
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With the surge in people getting dogs during lockdown, Emily Dean, broadcaster and host of ‘Walking The Dog with Emily Dean’ joins Anita to discuss her shih-tzu called Raymond, the trend for ‘pandemic puppies’ and the unique relationship between women and their dogs.Newspaper reports from the weekend suggest that Prince Charles, Harry, William and …
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The Life Scientific
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Professor Martin Sweeting, inventor of microsatellites
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When Martin Sweeting was a student, he thought it would be fun to try to build a satellite using electronic components found in some of the earliest personal computers. An amateur radio ham and space enthusiast, he wanted to create a communications satellite that could be used to talk to people on the other side of the world. It was a team effort, …
This is the first in a four-part series looking at the energy revolutions that drove human history. In this programme Justin Rowlatt goes right back to the origin of our species two million years ago to explore how the mastery of fire by early humans transformed our metabolism, helping us to evolve our uniquely energy-hungry brains.The physical evi…
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The World Tonight
1
Breakaway European Super League shocks football world
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In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.By BBC Radio 4
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Six O'Clock News
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19/04/202 Plans for a breakaway European super league condemned
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The government says it is examining every option to prevent the new league happeningBy BBC Radio 4
The rollout of the UK’s vaccination programme has been the envy of much of the world but there is concern about the reluctance of people from black and minority ethnic communities to take the vaccine. Ernie Rea asks why this is the case. He also takes a look at the religious reasons contributing to vaccine hesitancy and asks some of the wider ethic…
Tom Sutcliffe chairs the quiz with teams from the South of England and North of England.By BBC Radio 4
19 APR 21By BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
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Pauline Black of The Selecter, Julia Gillard on girls' education, Mothers at risk of losing their children.
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The original rude girl and ‘Queen of Ska’ Pauline Black was working as a radiographer when she came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the 2 Tone ska revival band The Selecter. Pauline joins Anita to talk about being the only girl on tour alongside The Specials and Madness, expressing herself as a young black woman through music,…
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The Food Programme
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Lab-grown meat: How long before it's on a menu near you?
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The first lab-grown beef burger was cooked and eaten in London in 2013. Since then more than 15 types of meat have been re-created by food scientists - including lamb, duck, lobster and even kangaroo. Last year, Singapore became the first country in the world to approve the sale of a cultured chicken nugget - so how far away are we in the UK from s…
Episode 1 - BirthFollowing on from her hugely successful, award-winning previous series – ‘Minds The Gap’ and ‘Utopia’, Bridget now turns her attention to Mortality, covering ‘Birth’, ‘Life’, ‘Death’ and ‘The Afterlife’.Like many of us forced to work from home during lockdown, Bridget has recorded this series herself in her house, and in her local …
Carolyn Quinn and guests discuss the latest on the lobbying controversyBy BBC Radio 4
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Six O'Clock News
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18/04/2021 Moscow has issued an angry response to the expulsion of 18 diplomats from the Czech Republic.
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Moscow has given a defiant response in the growing row over an explosion at an arms depot in the Czech RepublicBy BBC Radio 4
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Books and Authors
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Chris Power; Online Dating in Fiction; Postcard from Delhi
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Elizabeth Day talks to Chris Power, writer of the short story collection Mothers, about his debut novel A Lonely Man. Robert Prowe is a struggling writer living in Berlin with his wife and two young daughters. One night he meets Patrick, a stranger with a story to tell, who is a ghostwriter for a Russian oligarch who is now being followed. Robert f…
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Desert Island Discs
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Classic Desert Island Discs - Kathleen Turner
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Sue Lawley interviews the actor Kathleen Turner in a programme first broadcast in 2000.By BBC Radio 4
Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland - who's facing calls to resign over the policing of a republican funeral during the pandemic, sparking violent disorder and protests.Simon Byrne, who's 57, is a policeman through and through. He joined the Metropolitan police as a teenager, straight out of school. Rising through the ranks, h…
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Six O'Clock News
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17/04/2021 Royal Family attend Duke of Edinburgh's funeral
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Royal Family attend Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in an intimate service at Windsor CastleBy BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
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Weekend Woman's Hour: Dame Maureen Lipman; Women feeling the Cold; Singer Imelda May.
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Actor and writer Dame Maureen Lipman recently lost Guido Castro, her partner of more than thirteen years, having already been widowed in 2004 when her husband Jack Rosenthal died after 30 years of marriage. She tells us how you come to terms with such a loss after so long.Why do some people live in vans? Is it to save money to put down a deposit on…
The Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group has called on the Government to take urgent action to address the exploitation of some contractors, in a new report. MPs are also demanding a government-backed independent review into how the contracting market operates, to ensure contractors are paid and taxed fairly for the work they do. Paul talks to…
Sea Song by Robert Wyatt and Swimming with the Snake by Tim SmithBy BBC Radio 4
The White House has announced a deadline for US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and the government in Kabul looks isolated. The Taliban are in control of large parts of the country, running a parallel administration. Secunder Kermani visited a Taliban-controlled zone in Balkh province to hear how Talib commanders and fighters have reacted to the…
17 APR 21By BBC Radio 4
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More or Less: Behind the Stats
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How many swimming pools full of vaccine do we need?
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If we brought together all the Covid 19 vaccine needed for the whole world, how much space would it fill up? An Olympic size swimming pool? We do some back of the envelope sums. Plus - we look at the increased risk of clots from pregnancy. Last week we looked at the increased risk of getting a clot from taking the combined contraceptive pill and co…
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
Michael Morpurgo reflects on meeting the Duke of Edinburgh when he was 16 and the indirect effect that meeting had in shaping his views later in life. 'He realised', writes Michael, 'that investing in our young people is the most important investment we can make as a society' .He says the Duke's passion for helping young people will be needed more …
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Six O'Clock News
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16/04/2021 Head of Britain's military disappointed at US decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan
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The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, has expressed disappointment at President Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.By BBC Radio 4
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Gardeners' Question Time
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GQT at Home: Perfect Holes and Motivating Goals
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Peter Gibbs hosts the horticultural Q&A with experts James Wong, Matthew Wilson and Christine Walkden who answer questions sent in by email and from the virtual audience.This week, the panel tackles questions on pruning trees, a suffering asparagus fern and a curious case of frog spawn in a tree. Away from the questions, historian Advolly Richmond …
16 APR 21By BBC Radio 4
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Fortunately... with Fi and Jane
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107. The Weezy Bum Bum Show, with Ian Wright
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By BBC Radio 4
Imelda May is an Irish singer/songwriter discovered by Jools Holland when she supported him on tour and subsequently appeared on Later ... with Jools Holland in 2008. She was the queen of rockabilly, with a Fifties-style frock, trademark quiff – and a voice compared to legendary blues singers such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. The quiff is l…
Greg Jenner is joined by historian Prof Sarah Churchwell and comedian Kemah Bob in 1920s USA to hear about the implementation and after effects of Prohibition. From bootleggers to speakeasies, we learn the origins of the Prohibition Laws and discover why a movement designed to encourage temperance backfired.Produced by Cornelius MendezScript by Gre…
In the decade leading up to the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Shah's wife, Farah Pahlavi spent much of her time encouraging the building of museums and institutions intended to celebrate the art and craft of the country. But alongside buildings housing priceless carpets and glassware, she was also keen to use the country's oil wealth to bring exa…
Amanda Litherland and Greg Cochrane recommend reading podcasts, plus Rosie Wilby talks about adapting The Breakup Monologues from a podcast into a book.Recommended podcasts this week:Broccoli Book ClubRadio 4's Book ClubMean Book ClubFootball Book ClubBestsellersYou're BookedWhat Should I Read NextRadio 4's Open BookIn Writing With Hattie CrissellI…
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The World Tonight
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US imposes raft of new sanctions on Russia
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In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
