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Illuminated

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Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds.Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects. This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transported by the art and inventiveness of the very best programme makers. Just press the switch.New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you don't miss an episode.

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Epilepsy and the Electric Spirit
25 oct 2026, 19:15 · 28 min
A moment in the cinema, watching a horror film, made Daniel Kraemer look at his condition - epilepsy - in a new way.Why has epilepsy consistently been painted by society as being a supernatural power? When you hear from the people who have seizures - across the huge range of types of the condition - a fascinating yet uncomfortable answer emerges.Presenter and Producer: Daniel Kraemer Executive Producer: Giles Edwards
The Mysterious Case of Annie Elizabeth
18 oct 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
Lois Pryce has a mystery growing in her garden.On the banks of the River Thames stands an enormous old apple tree, producing fruit unlike any she has seen before. For years, Lois has wondered what it is. So she sends off a handful of clues - apples, leaves and a twig - to the experts at the National Fruit Collection.The answer comes back - Annie Elizabeth.It sounds more like a person than an apple. So who was Annie Elizabeth, and why did someone give her name to a tree?Lois sets off on the trail, entering the eccentric world of Britain’s apple detectives. Her search leads from thousands of trees in the orchards of Kent to a house in Leicestershire with a remarkable survivor in its garden. Along the way there are Victorian records to decipher, an unlikely marriage, a missing baptism, a child who seems to vanish from the records - and one tantalising name that keeps leading Lois deeper into the past.Eventually, armed with a map and one last lead, Lois finds herself on her hands and knees in an overgrown churchyard, tearing ivy from a gravestone that has been hidden for decades.What emerges is a Victorian family mystery of love, respectability, scandal, grief and an extraordinary living connection between a little girl born more than 160 years ago and the apple tree still growing in Lois’s garden today.Blending present-day detective work with specially created Victorian drama, The Mysterious Case of Annie Elizabeth asks how a name can survive long after almost everything else has been forgotten.Writer & Presenter: Lois Pryce Producer: Louise Orchard Sound Design: Rowan Bishop Original Music: James AplinA 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4
Grandchildren of the ’56 Revolution
9 oct 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 cemented the Cold War, confirming the USSR’s dominance over Eastern Europe and the limitations of NATO. Many thousands were killed. As we approach the 70th anniversary, Nathalie Olah, whose own grandfather was one of 200,000 people to flee Hungary as the working-class uprising was violently suppressed by Soviet tanks, visits Budapest in search of its traces.The Parliament building is still marked with bullet holes. On the facade of the Magyar Radio building, once occupied by students, she finds a sculpture commemorating four of those killed. After decades of suppression, the uprising is now highly symbolic and used in recent years to serve different political agendas.Nathalie speaks with younger people touched in different ways by ’56. Kornélia Deres is a poet whose family stood on different sides of the conflict, and whose work is informed by intergenerational trauma. Noémi Varga is a filmmaker who observes the memory culture of ’56 and its uses in public discourse. Elemer Balazs is a musician who performed Liszt's Funérailles (composed after the crushing of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution) at the inauguration of the new Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, ushering in what many wish to believe is a new era of hope.Presented by Nathalie Olah Produced by Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
Third Man Syndrome
4 oct 2026, 18:15 · 29 min
In 1916, struggling across the mountains of South Georgia after the loss of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton sensed that his party of three had become four. T.S. Eliot carried the idea into The Waste Land with "Who is the third who walks always beside you?", also a reference to the biblical tale of the Road to Emmaus where a mysterious unseen companion accompanies two disciples. The Third Man has shadowed explorers ever since - the belief, at the far edge of exhaustion, fear or grief, that someone unseen has come to walk alongside.Poet Kathleen Jamie has written a new narrative poem in which that presence speaks, and sets it among people who have met it: Stephen Venables, descending alone from the summit of Everest; Peter Hillary, on the long haul to the South Pole; and Chamonix mountain guide Jean-Franck Charlet who remembers a glacier he had to cross alone, roped to an unknown companion.In a deer hide in the Scottish hills, mountaineer Sandy Allan recalls the white rabbit in a red waistcoat that kept him company on Nanga Parbat, and Liz Duff, the first Scottish woman on Everest, describes the day in 1985 when she and two others watched a figure carry a load along Everest's North-East Ridge. The climbers at the next camp saw no one arrive.Is it the mind protecting itself, or something else? Between the voices, the wind and the ice, Kathleen Jamie listens for who is there.With thanks to Globule Radio Chamonix for recording Jean-Franck.Presenter: Kathleen Jamie Producer: Victoria Ferran A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
Faithless
27 sept 2026, 18:15 · 29 min
For much of their lives, Micki, Esther, Nicola and Colin were devoted members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Nigerian Deeper Life Bible Church and Mormonism, respectively. Each recounts the moments when certainty began to unravel. In raw and honest detail, their stories explore the difficult line between deep religious devotion and unhealthy control. Along the way, for each of them, the balance tipped. Eventually, the effort of holding on became harder than letting go. With thanks to Faith to Faithless, a Humanists UK service guided by people with lived experience of leaving controlling religious environments. Original music by Steve Urquhart. (Photograph: Nicola Brophy) Produced by May Robson A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
Izabela in Peru
20 sept 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
Young Polish field-recordist Izabela Dłużyk travels to the Amazonian rainforest of Peru. Izabela, blind from birth, is a self-taught recordist with a wonderful ears for sound and limitless passion for the natural world. She is ‘rather shy and modest’ by her own account, but indefatigable in her adventurous pursuit of lovely recordings, leaving her recorders running night and day. She knows around 300 creature sounds by heart and in Peru she meets Red Howler Monkeys, Scarlet Macaws, Cobalt winged parakeets and many others. But what do these names and animals mean to someone who 'cannot imagine' colour or any other visual mapping? Izabela in Peru leads sighted listeners to a deeper understanding of blindness, especially the innate blindness that has shaped her inner world. Join Izabela as she climbs fearlessly up a 40 metre scaffolding rig to record above the tree canopy. 'I cannot understand height emotionally or intellectually,' Izabela says 'I cannot touch it with my hands or feet...what is 40 metres?'Izabela first delighted BBC audiences with ‘Izabela in the Forest’ in 2023 when she guided us around the ancient forest of Białowieża in her native Poland. Producer Monica Whitlock Mix by Peter Ringrose
The Power of the Bayeux Tapestry
1 sept 2026, 9:12 · 28 min
Radio 4 is marking the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in Britain with a day of programmes on the Norman Conquest and its lasting legacy today. George Parker, political editor of the Financial Times, was first captivated by the tapestry as a young boy when he was taken to see it on a family holiday to Normandy. He went on to discover why the tapestry is first and foremost a deeply political object. Tracing an extraordinary history over nearly 1000 years, George singles out the moments which show the power of a 70-metre-long piece of embroidered cloth with its stories of war, ambition and betrayal. Why do some see it as an 11th century war ‘dossier’, justifying the Norman conquest of Britain and the building of a new nation?Why did Napoleon have it brought to the Louvre as he plotted a new invasion across the Channel? Why were the Nazis obsessed with the fine details of the tapestry - and how were they thrillingly stopped in their quest to claim it at the climax of the Second World War? And how has a piece quintessentially associated with Anglo-French conflict come to symbolise the reverse – a new ‘entente amicale’ in the post-Brexit era? George talks to historical experts and key players from politics and diplomacy. Guests include former prime minister Theresa May, George Osborne, Chris Bryant, French culture minister Catherine Pégard, Philippe Bélaval, Peter Ricketts, Professor Shirley Ann Brown and Dr Dave Musgrove. With thanks to the City of Sheffield Festival Band. Producer: Leela Padmanabhan Sound Design: Hal Haines
Bouncing off the Walls: A Prison Soundscape
30 ago 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
Footsteps on a metal walkway. The jangle of keys and the resonant clang of thick steel doors slamming. The clamour of voices raised in conversation, or argument, or laughter… their echoes ricocheting off brick and concrete. TVs and radios, all tuned to different stations, fighting it out with each other, overlapping and blurring into a muddle of sound. Prison is a swirling soundscape. A cacophony of disparate elements bouncing off the walls, assaulting your ears - and your mind. And each sound has a meaning, a resonance, both to prisoners and prison officers. Nowadays Ric Renton is a playwright and screenwriter. But two decades ago that soundscape was part of his life... day and night. In his late teens he served time, first in a Young Offenders’ Institution and later in HMP Durham. And in the 20 years since he left, he’s often thought back to the sound of those places. In this Illuminated he considers the significance of sound in prison - its impact on prisoners in an environment where they can’t escape it, the rhythms of its rise and fall across the day, and the way sound gives you clues about the prevailing mood... whether everybody’s relaxed or whether there’s tension in the air.Ex-prisoners Valentine, Will, Yasmine and Nassri reflect on the barrage of noise they encountered in prison and the impossibility of escaping from it. Valentine recalls sounds echoing and bouncing off the walls. And wrapped up in the cacophony was pain and trauma - and truth too. It seemed to patrol the prison corridors, even in the relative quiet of the night when inmates were banged up in their cells. Ric Renton remembers, at HMP Durham in the depths of the night, the warders’ shout when they discovered that a prisoner had taken their own life: the sudden, chilling cry of “One off!”And former prison officer Alex South recalls how she and her colleagues could read the mood of the wing just by listening. If the shouting had diminished and everything was quieter, if people were murmuring and watchful, then there was probably trouble brewing.The programme is soundtracked by recordings made on location in prison - the sounds as prison officers kit up at the beginning of their shift, the cacophony which explodes onto the wing at morning unlocking, the alarms, the gates, the keys, the prison officers’ radios, the procession and accumulation of sounds which mark the passing of another day inside. Noise, bodies and minds - bouncing off the walls.With thanks to the Prison Radio Association, Synergy Theatre Company and HMP Berwyn for their assistance in the making of this programme.Presenter: Ric Renton Producer: Jeremy Grange Executive Producer: Olivia HumphreysAn Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
Ringing the Bullring
23 ago 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
You might know Birmingham's Bullring as one of the UK's premiere shopping destinations, or somewhere to pass through on your way to visit Birmingham's famous Christmas Market. But at the heart of the Bullring is a special church – one of only three churches in the world to have 16 bells. And bells have been rung on this site for almost 500 years.The bellringers of Birmingham are arguably the best in the world at change ringing. They are preparing to compete at the annual National 12-Bell Striking Contest at York Minster - and they are the team to beat. Will they add to their formidable winning record, or will the York team have enough home advantage to beat them?Special thanks to all those taking part: the Bellringers of St Matins in the Bullring and the Birmingham 12-Bell Striking Contest Team - Alistair Cherry, Mike Wilby, Mark Eccleston, Stephanie Warboys, Jimmy Yeoman, Oliver Bates Bellringing commentator and presenter Matthew Tosh Judges of the National 12-Bell Striking Contest - Jo Holden and Jennie Earis Canon Presenter James Milne of York Minster.Sound recordist; Mike Rucinski Sound engineer Nigel Appleton Producer: Rosie Boulton A Must Try Softer production for BBC Radio 4
The Grand North Atlantic Home Video Archive
16 ago 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
Growing up in rural Derry, author Séamas O’Reilly and his siblings never needed to go to Blockbuster. Instead, they were enraptured by their father’s archive of hundreds of films recorded off the television. With their snippets of old-timey adverts and local telly, the tapes contain a tantalising glimpse of Northern Ireland in the late 1980s, as well as an array of truly memorable double bills. Where else could you find Pride and Prejudice back-to-back with Commando? Or Strictly Ballroom straight into Highlander?An indifferent filmgoer, Séamas’s dad was an unlikely cinephile. Arguably, it was the cataloguing that mattered more, meticulously ordering the entries, both alphabetically and chronologically, for his children to browse. It’s only recently, however, that Séamas has begun to understand what lay behind this bewilderingly specific collection.In this edition of Illuminated, Séamas tries to unravel the mystery of his father’s Grand North Atlantic Home Video Archive, all while trying to understand why so many of us, when faced with tragedy, have a compulsion to record.Producer: Ant Adeane Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma A Small Blue production for Radio 4
James Hutton and The Restless Earth
9 ago 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
Award winning Scottish folksinger, songwriter and storyteller, Karine Polwart celebrates the 300th anniversary of James Hutton’s birth, the Scottish scientist and philosopher known as the father of geology. With specially performed music and song, she explores one of Hutton’s most radical and challenging concepts - deep time. Hutton was the first to hypothesise that the formation of the Earth had taken unfathomably long stretches of time, far, far longer than the eight thousand or so years that studies of the bible had suggested. And that radical theory would be confirmed by a discovery Hutton made when he and his two companions stepped ashore from a boat trip to Siccar Point on the east coast of Scotland in June 1788. What he saw was sandstone eroded away to reveal sharp vertical shards of the rock greywacke laid down some 60 million years earlier -what geologist today would call an unconformity.Recreating that journey for the programme Karine is joined by geologist Dr Angus Miller and David Farrier, writer and Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Edinburgh. Angus explains just how influential Hutton’s theory became through the writing of his companion on the trip - John Playfair"The mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time; and while we listened with earnestness and admiration to the philosopher who was now unfolding to us the order and series of these wonderful events, we became sensible to how much farther reason may sometimes go than imagination can venture to follow."The truth that Hutton revealed was indeed far stranger than fiction, not only upending the received wisdom about the age of the Earth but would have far reaching consequences, giving successors like Charles Darwin a timescale that would allow the incremental changes of natural selection to take place. For David Farrier Hutton’s discoveries opened up not only the deep past but the prospect of the deep future. His book Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils, looks at the marks we are leaving on the planet and how these might appear in the fossil record in the deep future. Karine weaves these ideas together in the music threaded through the programme blending the events of Hutton’s visit with these challenging ideas about our responsibility to those far off generations to come.The idea of seeing intimate, human connections to the geology of the planet is taken up by the artist Illana Halperin. Her work explores where human time and geological time scales intersect most notably in how she shares a birthday with the Icelandic volcano Eldfell that she visits on every major milestone as they age together.The programme builds to a crescendo of all these ideas overlaid and blended into a powerful message of how we’ve become a planetary force capable of great feats for both good and ill.Written, composed and performed by Karine Polwart Sound design and additional music by Pippa Murphy Piano: Dave Milligan Producer: Peter McManus
Precious Stones
2 ago 2026, 18:15 · 28 min
"Some losses feel seismic. The ground shifts, familiar landscapes tilt, and nothing is the same. Dad’s death changed our world. But it also left us with a distinctly geological conundrum. What on earth are we going to do with his rock collection?" Three years after the death of Jenny Hill’s father, the family are still coming to terms not only with their grief - but a cumbersome inheritance. Arthur Hill, a much‑loved and somewhat eccentric chemistry teacher, spent a lifetime collecting rocks, minerals, fossils and gemstones. Hundreds of specimens now fill the corners and cupboards of the family’s small semi‑detached house in Jersey.This edition of 'Illuminated' is a journey through stone, memory, and the traces we leave behind. Jenny - a former BBC foreign correspondent - returns home to explore the collection, wondering what these objects might reveal about the man who gathered, labelled, and studied them - but who never quite persuaded his family to share his passion. Presenter: Jenny Hill Producer & Sound Designer: Phoebe McIndoe Executive Producer: Jack Howson A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4
Unreliable Narrator
26 jul 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
How do you tell the story of your life when you have no memory of the events that shaped you? At 15, Stephen McAll was a promising musician with a head full of songs. He was booked into a studio to record an album.Then, one night walking home from his girlfriend’s house in East Kilbride, he was attacked and beaten. The assault left him with serious head injuries and diagnoses of psychosis, excruciating cluster headaches, and PTSD.It also erased almost all of his memories. He says he could recognise faces and names of loved ones, but had lost every experience, event, or occasion in his life up to that point. He couldn't lay down new memories or hold onto information. He could read words on a page, but could not retain their meaning. His psychosis, which went undiagnosed for years, led to walls and ceilings moving and wobbling in a way that felt like being on psychedelic drugs. Rather than seeking medical help, Stephen sank into a wilderness of heavy drinking and drug-taking.Years later, at his lowest ebb, he found himself drawn to a bookshelf, to a collection by Scottish poet Norman MacCaig. An inscription told him the book had been a gift from a much-loved English teacher. He started reading, and found himself transported. He says this was the moment that 'hope returned'.Now in his early 40s, Stephen McAll is a successful music artist, and founder of critically acclaimed folk band Constant Follower. This episode of Illuminated charts Stephen's decades-long journey from devastating injury and memory loss, back to hope and happiness.There is one caveat: it may not be completely true. Stephen has had to piece together memories from stories he has been told, things he has surmised, and tiny slivers of memory that have returned over time.He is the unreliable narrator of his own story.Producers: Katie Revell and Dave Howard Sound design: Jonathan Webb Executive producer: Dave Howard Music: Stephen McAll Excerpt of 'The Root of It' by Norman MacCaig, taken from album The Way I Say It, copyright Claddagh Records Excerpt of 'Tourist and Landlord' by Norman MacCaig, from a film made for the Scottish Poetry Library called 'Norman MacCaig reads 2 Poems' Thanks to Shaun MilneA Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
A Most Magickal Encounter
19 jul 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
Writer Tim Dee is trying to make a most extraordinary Zoom Call that will transport him across the centuries to have a most magical encounter with a scholarly looking guy with a white beard who is his namesake. Dr John Dee was astronomer and astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I. He was a wizardly necromancer with a Europe wide reputation who ended up desperately trying to converse with angels to unlock the secrets of the universe.As attempts at making a connection go ahead, Tim also goes on a quest in search of Dr Dee. He talks with biblical scholar, former Archbishop of Canterbury and poet Rowan Williams to understand more about the importance of Angels in Dee’s time. On the site of Dr Dee’s house by the Thames at Mortlake, he meets Ann Dingsdale, a real flesh and blood relative of the Renaissance genius. Ann is his ten times great granddaughter. At the British Library, Tim looks over Dee’s legible and miraculously preserved Angel Diaries with the poet Camille Ralphs. Such is her fascination, Camille has written a sequence of poems in Dee’s voice and reads extracts from them. The Royal College of Physicians has several unique volumes from Dr Dee’s library, which was the largest of its time in the whole of Europe. With Tim to peruse these, and to understand the connections between Science and Magic in the Elizabethan age, is Renaissance expert Charles Nicholl. All this plus Dee’s voice heard at intervals coming through the ether, and a heavenly soundtrack that includes Aretha Franklin, The Who, Nina Simone, Dr John, Jimi Hendrix and The Clash.Presenter: Tim Dee Producer: Alastair Laurence Executive Producer: David Prest Sound Design: Jake Wittlin A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Dear Gilbert, Dear Gordon
12 jul 2026, 16:45 · 29 min
When museum curator Mark Hignett began buying WWII-era letters online, he believed he was piecing together the life of an ordinary soldier. At first glance, the letters looked like typical correspondence: full of yearning, daily details, and hopes for peace. But what emerged wasn’t just a wartime chronicle - it was a love story. As he kept on reading, he slowly realised they were letters from one male soldier to another. At a time when homosexuality was criminalised in Britain and gay soldiers risked court martial, Gilbert and Gordon exchanged intimate, heartfelt correspondence, which are read for this programme by Olly Alexander. Their letters spoke of longing, joy, fear, and hope. In one, Gordon writes simply: “There is nothing more that I desire in life but to have you with me constantly.” In another, he reflects on how the world would see them: “The rest of the world have no conception of what our love is – they do not know that it is love.” It’s a reminder that while the law branded them criminals, they understood their bond as something deeply human, and deeply right.That dream, however, sat alongside deep fear. In one letter, Gordon pleaded with Gilbert to destroy their correspondence: "Please darling, do this for me in deadly seriousness" - terrified of the consequences if their relationship were discovered. And yet, in another, he imagined a world that would understand: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all our letters could be published in a more enlightened time?”In this episode of Illuminated, curator Mark Hignett and producer Ilona Toller assess the content of the letters, which are read by Olly Alexander.Producer: Ilona Toller Editor: David PrestA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Later Life Letter
5 jul 2026, 18:15 · 29 min
This is a love letter to a special kind of letter, a 'later life letter' - a letter that can 'speak across the years', telling an adopted child where they come from, and helping them understand who they might be now.In this documentary, poet Luke Wright opens his 'later life letter' and shares what it reveals, and why he keeps it in his bedside drawer. It's one of the most meaningful documents anyone can read. It tells a child about their birth family and their history, when there may be no-one who remembers or knows these details. Luke's letter is handwritten, and has come to mean so much more to him than an official document.When Luke received his later life letter as a teenager, he didn’t pay it too much attention. But now, married to a social worker and seeing the care she takes with these letters, he re-examines it, writing poetry about the letter itself, the life he might have had, and appreciating the care a social worker took in 1982 to tell the story of his surprise birth and his earliest weeks on earth. He wants to understand how it was written, to imagine the social worker who wrote it in her own hand - and to say thank you to her in person if he can.Presented by Luke Wright - his new collection is 'Later Life Letter' (Fleet) Produced by Faith Lawrence Mix by Sharon Hughes (Shush)
July Morning
28 jun 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
We're at the Black Sea coast on the last night of June. Everything is building up to the sunrise. This is Bulgaria’s ‘July Morning’ observance - somewhere between a counter-cultural musical festival, and a secular pilgrimage marking the start of July. It revolves around reaching the coast in time to meet July’s first sunrise. This celebration has an unlikely origin story - a 1971 song, also called July Morning, by English rock band Uriah Heep. Starting in Sofia, we make the road trip across Bulgaria to Kamen Bryag, one of Bulgaria's easternmost points, where the sun rises earliest over the horizon. Audio producer Carys Wall travels with friend Kami and Bulgarian musician and veteran July Morning attendee Milenita. Uriah Heep still have a significant following in the Balkans, and the band’s late singer John Lawton performed at the celebration several times. In the 80s, during the social and cultural restrictions of state-socialist Bulgaria, Uriah Heep and July Morning gained massive underground appeal, as a protest anthem. The festival grew from that – with fire, rock music, and Metal-inspired fashion. Many attendees are long-time rockers who remember these protest origins. For others – revellers in their teens and 20s – Bulgaria’s July Morning celebration is a coming-of-age, a social event to mark the start of summer, and a chance to listen to really loud music. Whichever way you look at it, it is a celebration of freedom. As the sun peaks over the sea, the song blares from speakers. There I was on a July morning Looking for love With the strength of a new day dawning And the beautiful sun And at the sound of the first bird singing I was leaving for home With the storm and the night behind me And the road of my own With the day, came the resolution With thanks to Kmetal Tsonko Tsonev, Alex Boreva, Katie Revell, Andrea Morán and Cicely Fell. Producer: Carys Wall Executive producer: Dave Howard Sound designer: Jonathan Webb A Bespoken Media Scotland Production
If We Can Walk Together
21 jun 2026, 18:45 · 28 min
What does it take to choose peace when you have every reason not to?Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian who grew up under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem. He was first shot at when he was seven years old, and in 1991, when he was ten, his older brother Tayseer died after being arrested and beaten while in Israeli military custody.Maoz Inon is an Israeli who grew up in a community just 200 metres from the Gaza border. On 7 October 2023, his parents and many of his childhood friends died in the Hamas attacks.Everything about their histories suggests Aziz and Maoz could never become friends. Yet, despite experiencing profound personal loss on opposite sides of one of the world’s most enduring conflicts, they have turned away from hatred and towards each other in a shared mission of peacemaking. A single text message to a stranger in a moment of empathy, sparked a friendship that would overcome seemingly insurmountable differences.If We Can Walk Together follows their remarkable stories, from pivotal childhood experiences to moments of political awakening, and their shared decision to rise above fear and revenge. Moving, inspiring and radically hopeful, their story offers a rare perspective on a conflict often portrayed as intractable. In bearing witness to what human connection can overcome, it invites us to imagine a future shaped not by division, but by our capacity to walk together.This programme is part of BBC Radio 4's Common Ground season, examining the challenges of social cohesion and how to address them.Producer: Guy Natanel Executive Producers: Shannon Delwiche and Chris Jones Composer: Pat Moran Sound Mixer: John Scott Sound Engineer: Rob Fanner A Sound and Bones production for BBC Radio 4
A Body of Water
14 jun 2026, 18:45 · 28 min
Water has always been a threshold - a space between worlds where transformation unfolds. But what if the lakes, rivers, and seas we surrender ourselves to are not merely passive bodies, but keepers of our grief, our burdens, and our memory?Feature maker Hana Walker-Brown explores what pulls so many of us to the water at moments of rupture or change. Tracing the unseen currents that bind us to each other and to the natural world, Hana considers water not simply as an element, but as the ultimate solvent; a place where we go to dissolve, to surrender to the wild drift of it all, to allow ourselves to be held without condition.Part personal meditation, part collective reflection, A Body Of Water blends intimate testimony, poetic narration and cinematic sound design that echoes the rhythm of the ocean. With contributions from world champion freediver Helena Bourdillon, author and psychologist Dr Sharon Blackie, author and boat builder Wyl Menmuir and author Robert MacFarlane. Special thanks to Abigail Gonda, Bean Downes, Joey Hulin, Christophe Donot and Will Salt. This piece was developed during an artist residency at Hektor in Lanzarote. Presented, produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown Mixed by Peregrine Andrews The executive producer is Peggy SuttonA Reduced Listening Production for BBC Radio 4
The House in the Hole
7 jun 2026, 18:45 · 28 min
On a hot summer’s day in 1991, a violent crime took place that shook Consett, a town in the North East of England. When threatened with the legal demolition of a property he owned, a former steelworker called Albert Dryden went on a murderous rampage, killing the council’s chief planning officer and seriously wounding a policeman and a journalist. Furthermore, the brutal crime was filmed and broadcast on national news.But what made the crime even more perplexing was its controversial aftermath. While the majority of people condemned Dryden’s actions, a vocal minority came to see him as something of a folk hero. This wasn’t the usual morbid fascination that can sometimes gather around certain violent criminals; it was admiration. Crowds cheered outside his court hearings and “Free Albert Dryden” posters were not an uncommon sight around town – even songs were written about him.How can a cold-blooded killer ever gain public support? Writer Joe Zadeh takes a close look at details surrounding this incident in an attempt to examine these rare yet recurring moments in history, when moral values turn upside down and everyday citizens find themselves excusing the most horrific crimes.Written and presented by Joe Zadeh Producer: Hunter Charlton Mixing Engineer: Alex Portfelix Composer: Jess Howard Executive Producer: Ant AdeanePhotograph: Albert Dryden taken by Michael PeckettAn Ember production for BBC Radio 4.
Voices from the Beach
31 may 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
The young British poet Saili Katebe was born in landlocked Zambia, and grew up with an imagined beach in his mind. Palm trees would grow in the golden sands. The sun would shine all day, and naturally there’d be romance. Moving to the UK as a teenager, Saili visited a real beach for the first time. He was underwhelmed by the hazy sun and soft ice cream, and the sea at low tide was so far away he could hardly see it, let alone swim in its weedy shallows. Over the years though, Saili has come to appreciate the quiet charms of the beaches around him as places rich in stories. In Voices from the Beach he listens to lives shaped by the beach in unexpected ways. There’s the ice cream seller, who once fled her own landlocked country. Now her Mr Whippy Van now brings joy along the south coast. ‘It’s an honour to keep the tradition alive,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t live without the sea now.’ Then there’s the fisherman ‘born on the beach’ who tried to move away but couldn’t get his bearings without the sea. Voices from the Beach features chance encounters and casual conversations with many other people out on the beaches at Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Dover, Lyme Regis, Brighton and Weston Super Mare. Music Jon Nicholls Produced by Jon Nicholls with Monica Whitlock Photograph: Troon beach by Monica WhitlockA Storyscape production for BBC Radio 4
My Sister’s Daughter
24 may 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
When Laura's sister could no longer care for her daughter, Laura had a few hours to decide. If she said yes, she would become a parent again overnight, no training, no paid leave, no warning. If she said no, the little girl would go into care.She said yes. Most families do.My Sister's Daughter weaves Laura's story, told through the small, exhausting, tender details of a life rearranged, with the voice of Jo, now in her forties, looking back at her own childhood in kinship care. When Jo's mother died, a quiet constellation of adults closed around her: a stepfather, grandparents, aunts. Nobody called it kinship care, it didn’t have a name then. They just stepped in, and stayed.Together, Laura and Jo illuminate a world that is largely invisible, not because it is rare, but because it is so deeply woven into how families survive. There are over 130,000 children in kinship care in England and Wales right now. Most are there because someone said yes in a moment of crisis, with no time to think and very little support to follow.This is a programme about what that decision really means for the children who receive it, and for the adults who give it. It’s also about what it leaves behind, for the people who care, and for the children who grow up inside it.Produced and presented by Jo Meek Executive Producer - Eloise Whitmore A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
Tarot and the Art of Creativity
17 may 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
“Each one of us, we’re a constant radio station communicating and receiving. It’s just that we’re not taught how to read, how to interpret the energies and intuitions we pick up. The tarot card is a really important component in this… " Ben OkriTarot cards are rich in visual symbolism and the stories they tell help people make sense of the ups and downs of human experience. They’ve been around for hundreds of years - from simple card games to fortune-telling, divination tools, the occult and intuitive storytelling. In this episode of Illuminated, we join four artists at their private readings to hear how tarot is part of their creative practice. The Queen of Wands: Comedian and writer Jessica Knappett drives to Harrogate to meet Carla Greenwood who has news of an ominous block in her work. Madame Sosostris: Writer Ben Okri has borrowed ‘the wisest women in Europe’ as a character for his latest novel. Where did she come from?Five of Coins: Musician, writer and actress Lola Kirke is about to go on stage in Manchester. Jen Cownie asks her if the Five of Coins card tells a story about feeling like an outsider. Pentacles: Poet and generative intelligence designer Adam Martin is embarking on a new project. Is he on the right path?With Ben Okri, Jessica Knappett, Adam Martin, Lola Kirke, Jen Cownie, Carla Greenwood and Diane Whiteley.Editor.............................. Ross Burman Producer......................... Alexandra Quinn Executive Producer......... Kris DyerA Rakkit production for BBC Radio 4
Strong Women
3 may 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
World champion Strongwomen Lucy Underdown, Rebecca Roberts and Donna Moore redefine what it means to be strong. They reveal what we can all learn from these record-breaking athletes, while also challenging what it really means to be powerful woman. Contributors: Rebecca Roberts, Lucy Underdown and Donna MooreProduced by Justine PotterExecutive Producer: Geoff Bird A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4
Me, Myself and the MRI
26 abr 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
MRI machines are a miracle of modern medicine. A long white tube that can scan inside our bodies, detecting all manner of illnesses. Getting into one though can leave many people anxious. Something called 'scanxiety'. When it's his turn to lie down and be rolled inside, presenter Ciaran Tracey must confront his claustrophobia and submit to the machine that can see what's inside his body. His scan becomes a journey through quantum physics, electromagnetism and - most surprisingly - a space age machine that can talk back. This MRI is a little different - even a little sarcastic. Not least when it comes to telling him whats actually going on inside his own body.Writer & Presenter: Ciaran Tracey MRI Voice: Hattie Hayridge Sound Production: Barney Rowntree Executive Producer: Innes BowenMRI sample sounds by Pond 5With thanks to the Christie NHS Foundation Trust (Samuel Curley, Steven Jackson, Victoria Donahue, Amelia Cargo); University Of Manchester Preclinical & Clinical Imaging (Denise Ogden); and Daniel Sodickson (NYU, Function Health).A Big City Nights production for BBC Radio 4
Andy Mycock: Named, Unashamed
19 abr 2026, 16:45 · 29 min
Andy Mycock has one of the world’s worst surnames. Despite being a renowned political scientist, his life has been punctuated by friends and strangers making fun of his name. Daily acts like meeting new people or being called in to see the doctor can be both hilarious and fraught. His surname has impacted on his professional life, meeting a partner, and forming meaningful relationships. But there are positives too - it’s almost impossible to forget Dr Mycock. As Andy learns to turn a lifetime of difficult first reactions into an opportunity to connect, he discovers he has a superpower and maybe a community too. Join him as he goes on a personal journey to find peace with Mycock.Presenter: Andy Mycock Producer: Olivia Swift Executive Producer: Geoff Bird Mixing Engineer: Steve Brooke Location recording: Mike Dunbar and Simon Buckley A Reform Radio production for BBC Radio 4
Journey through a cow
12 abr 2026, 16:45 · 28 min
A farmer, a cheesemaker, a philosopher and a scientist take us on a guided tour through a cow. Told in five acts, this programme weaves together the voices of our four guides - artist-philosopher Samar Nasrullah Khan, cheesemaker Peter Dixon, farmer Nikki Yoxall and Professor of Animal Science and Microbiology Sharon Huws. They take us on a journey from deep in the soil, through a plant, into a cow’s mouth, through her four stomach compartments – home to vast civilisations of bacteria, protozoa and fungi – and, of course, out the other end. Finally, the cow is milked and her dung is devoured by microorganisms, who turn it back into soil – starting the cycle again. Part documentary, part creative interpretation, the programme uses field recordings to immerse us in the multi-species communities we encounter along the way. These mingle with the voice of the cow herself, and those of our human guides, who explain and reflect on the interactions and transformations occurring at each stage. Humans and cattle have co-evolved. Over thousands of years, we have harnessed, exploited and relied on their ability to transform protein-poor plants into milk and dung, providing nourishment for people and soil. But still, what actually goes on inside a cow – and between a cow and its environment – to make these transformations possible remains a source of wonder. Featuring Nikki Yoxall, Samar Nasrullah Khan, Professor Sharon Huws and Peter Dixon Producer and narrator: Katie Revell Executive producer: Carys Wall Sound design, music and mix: Ev Buckley Additional recordings by Gastric Mill A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
Harrier Angels
27 mar 2026, 13:38 · 28 min
John Betjeman wrote that it was 'worth cycling forty miles in a head wind to visit St Wendreda's church in March, Cambridgeshire, because of the 118 angels in the roof. The wings of the C16th oak carvings are inspired by hen and marsh harriers. Once common locally - they are returning now. Nature writer Robert Macfarlane looks at the carvings, drawing connections between angels and harriers, what they say about of our feelings for the birds and angels.Robert climbs to the ringing chamber to get close to the harrier angels with Ruth Clay, vicar of St Wendreda's, Edward Wilson-Lee, author of The Grammar of Angels, and Ajay Tegala, ranger at Wicken Fen. They discuss their meaning, in the C16th when they were carved, and today. The persecution and survival of the angel carvings corresponds to that of the birds. At Easter this is a resonant story.During the Reformation iconoclasts destroyed 'idolatrous' church decorations, including carvings. Michael Rimmer, author of The Angel Roofs of East Anglia, tells of their destruction. At the same time the Tudor Vermin Acts led to a frenzy of killing of birds of prey such as harriers.When Henry VIII's agents came to March to destroy the carvings, the people of March plied them with drink and food. They left with the church silver, but the harrier angels stayed intact. In William Barsley’s workshop the wood carver speaks about the art of the carvers who were known as 'imaginators'. Robert visits Wickham Fen with Ajay Tegala, where hen and marsh harriers are in recovery, to observe them in angelic flight.And musician Martin Simpson has made a special recording of his song Skydancers, about harriers, their predicament, recovery, and our role in this.Presenter: Robert Macfarlane Producer: Julian May
Outpatient
22 mar 2026, 17:45 · 28 min
In 2018, the writer and actor Harriet Madeley found out that she was going to die. At least, that’s what she heard when a doctor diagnosed her with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a progressive disease for which there is no medical treatment, no cure, poor understanding and a long list of frightening Google stats.. None of her loved-ones knew how to respond to this bombshell. Her best friend kept crying. Her parents preferred not to talk about it. And her fiancée? She took it upon herself to cure the thing.In the midst of a confrontation with looming death, Harriet’s closest relationship began disintegrating. Harriet's response? To write a comedy about it.This is the story of how Harriet used her creativity to come to terms with a life-changing diagnosis, and how it helped her to rebuild her relationships and decide how to face the future.The play featured (slightly) fictionalised versions of the people closest to her. The script was a monologue, in which her own flaws and those of her loved-ones are magnified for the paying audience.But how will those loved-ones respond? Will they be horrified? Or will the play force a meaningful conversation at last? Harriet is still alive and kicking, facing a finite future. But then again, aren’t we all?Writer: Harriet Madeley Producer: Andrew Wilkie Sound Design: Micky Curling and Bella Kear Voices of theatre team: Madelaine Moore, Mark Knightley, Jessica Clark With heartfelt thanks to Abi Mowbray Photo: Karla GowlettA PRA production for BBC Radio 4
Swimming with Jimmy
15 mar 2026, 17:45 · 28 min
‘Do nothing’. So exhorts Jimmy as he overhauls the strokes, kicks and breathing of his adult swim learners at Cardiff International Pool. They plunge, roll, extend. As they learn to let go and glide, they’re overcome with a sense of joy, freedom and bodily ease.For journalist Selma Chalabi, Jimmy’s classes have been a lifeline. She joined the class to improve her swimming technique, but what she found was something so much more profound. Jimmy’s unique and philosophical style of teaching taught her not only how to move at one with the water, but also how to live her life - when to move and when to rest and how to breathe.It’s in the pool that Selma meets a community of learners - all ages, shapes and cultures - who are doing so much more than learning to swim. There’s Maggs, who is determined to face her worst fear and overcome a deep childhood trauma, and working mum Doris, whose moment of peace is when she submerges into the water. As for Darius, he has transformed from absolute beginner to potential competitor. This is a world you might find in any leisure centre around the country. A place so familiar to us, and yet in its depths and shallows, in its pools of chlorine and azure light, are stories of courage, determination, bliss and finding new meaning in the water. Producer and presenter: Selma Chalabi Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas Sound Designer: Mike Woolley Sound engineers: Meic Parry and Katie HillWith deepest gratitude to Jimmy, his students, and the staff at Cardiff International Pool.An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
The Alpenpost: A Girl's Guide to Fighting Hitler and Stalin
8 mar 2026, 19:15 · 31 min
Historian Maurice Casey reveals the story of an anti-Nazi resistance network and the family at its heart, told through a newspaper crafted by two young girls. In the dusty corners of a Galician villa on Spain’s northern coast, Casey uncovered a forgotten archive of revolution, resistance and love. Among the documents was something extraordinary. The Alpenpost - a newspaper lovingly hand-crafted by Elisa and Alida Leonhard, two girls raised on Europe’s 1930s refugee routes. Created every fortnight from late 1935 until 1940, The Alpenpost charted the activities of the two Leonhard girls and their mother Emmy, a veteran of the repressed world of Weimar German communism. With a mixture of cartoons, light stories and precocious political analyses, the girls charted their unusual upbringing as the children of an anti-fascist father and an exiled revolutionary mother.Each issue was posted to the girls’ ‘papa’ Edo Fimmen, separated from his family, constantly travelling to maintain a network of activists and informants. Fimmen led the powerful International Transport-Workers’ Federation in continual resistance to fascism. Reading The Alpenpost, Edo could chart his daughters’ flight through 1930s Europe. Both a love letter to a father seperated from his family by dangerous work and a remarkable document of a childhood lived in flight from totalitarianism.This is a tale of survival against the odds - not only the survival of a family that lived under grave political threats, but an archive that survived a journey across countries and generations.Contributions from Pedro Ewald, Dieter Nelles, Rene Dumont, Bob Reinalda Voices of The Alpenpost: Hannah Nehb, Juno Nehb, Neva Nehb with Arjan SchipperProducer: Mark Burman A Storyscape production for BBC Radio 4
Cannon Fodder
1 mar 2026, 17:45 · 29 min
Alan Hall and his siblings have a shared story from their childhoods - their mum, Jackie, describes walking through a Liverpool park with her mum, their grandma, Hettie. It must be the 1940s. Hettie is a single mum. She'd fallen pregnant, according to family mythology, while working as a domestic servant in Scotland. Jackie has had spells in foster care. "Don't stare," Hettie says. "Those men over there, they're your uncles." Years later, after Jackie's death, Alan finds an envelope labelled, 'Mum's Pics'. Inside, there are photographs of two men in military uniforms, one with 'Fred' written on the back, the other, of a soldier in a kilt, 'Brother Bill'. These are Hettie's brothers - or rather, two of them. She was the youngest of nine and the only daughter. Of the other boys, Jackie had told her children, three had been killed in the Great War. A third photograph, of the Foster family gravestone, provides their names - Harry, Sidney and Thomas, "their duty nobly done".Cannon Fodder traces memory, myth and meaning within one family touched by the catastrophe of World War One. With contributions from historian Jeremy Banning, Lynelle Howson of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retired Salvation Army officers Lt-Cols. David and Doriel Phillips, Ruth Anders of St Anne's Church, Aigburth in Liverpool and Hettie's grandchildren - Cathy, Laureen, Alan and Robin.With music by Robin's daughter, Leila Hall (voice), and Alan Hall (cornet). Produced by Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
The Extractor
22 feb 2026, 17:45 · 29 min
Hilik Magnus is Israel’s foremost search and rescue specialist. He has performed missions, public and private, for over 30 years across six continents. He has worked under the radar during disasters such as 2004’s tsunami and 2008’s Mumbai attacks. He has worked with everyone, from grieving families to cartels and the Taliban, all for the simple purpose of returning people to where they belong. Now, he opens up about this secretive world, and talks frankly about his origins and values.The start, in the 1990s, was simple. His operating base was an abandoned train carriage in the southern desert of Israel with three telephones and a dial-up connection. Hilik did not know what awaited him. All he knew was that he felt a ‘shlichut’ – ‘higher purpose’ in Hebrew – to help save lives, to return the unburied to their grieving families. Yet the business grew and now employs 80 people in a hi-tech hub in Tel Aviv. There is GPS, GSM, fibre-optic, and over 2,500 calls for help every year. In the midst of this change, Hilik is finding it hard to connect the now and then. For him, the purity of the work was in shepherding lost souls, alive or dead, to their rightful place. Strange, mystical encounters at 6,000m above sea-level, exposing national corruption in Bolivia - not board meetings and touchscreens. He hates the city and all it implies. Yet the world moves on, and the work means everything to him. When he lets himself stop, his 76 years catch up with him, leading to days laid up in bed. Producer: Jeremy Neumark Jones Assistant Producer, Additional Research: Robert Neumark Jones Original Music by Theo Whitworth Executive Producer: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
A Lemur’s Song
15 feb 2026, 17:45 · 28 min
The Indri lemur, also known as the singing lemur, can be found only in Madagascar’s rainforests. Famous for their eerie, melodic calls, they are one of the few primates that sing and, as it turns out, they have a surprising relationship to rhythm - one that’s very similar to our own. After hearing news of these unlikely rhythmic capabilities, Georgie Styles ventures into one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems on Earth to capture the haunting songs of this critically endangered species, as they echo through the treetops. But as she goes deeper into this tale of survival and song, she discovers a hidden female history. So what can the Indri lemur tell us about the origins of music?Providing us with the first-ever evidence of complex vocal abilities that exceed those of any other mammal, besides humans, the Indri reveals clues to our own evolutionary journey and offers us a rarely told perspective.With contributions from primatologist and conservationist, Dr Sylviane Volampeno, primatologist Dr Chiara De Gregorio, researcher Irene Marchesi and a team of Madagascan research guides, A Lemur’s Song connects nature’s melodies to the evolution of music. Through the captivating sounds of Madagascar’s rainforests, the Indris songs and the creative responses of an original score by music artist and saxophonist Laura Misch, Georgie reflects on what sounds can tell us about our world and what we are at risk of losing.A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4
Functioning
8 feb 2026, 17:45 · 28 min
If you ask many women in recovery from alcoholism what the term ‘functioning alcoholic’ means to them, they will laugh. In truth, a large percentage of women who end up in treatment had been, to the outside world, ‘functioning’. Holding down jobs, raising children, paying their rent or mortgage. However, internally, ‘functioning’ is about the last word they would use to describe their mental and emotional landscape as alcohol increasingly tightened its grip on their lives.Here, two women share in raw and brutally honest detail their descent into alcohol dependency, which took place incrementally, behind closed doors, and, for the most part, under the radar as they continued to appear to live regular, ‘functional’ lives.Functioning offers a rare insight into the experience of leading a completely dual existence - the secrecy, the agility and the alchemy required in maintaining a ‘functioning’ exterior, while your interior is coming apart; and a lesson in how much can go undetected when you are not what the world assumes of an alcoholic.Sound design by Action Pyramid Produced by Jodie Taylor A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
Bolton: The Happiest Town on Earth?
1 feb 2026, 17:45 · 29 min
In the 1930s a group of researchers descended on the northern mill town of Bolton to observe the natives. They christened their chosen case-study 'Worktown'. It was a ground breaking study of working class culture - and one thing they wanted to know was what makes people happy.The people of Bolton were asked a simple questions "What is happiness to you and yours?" The letters written in response reveal a snapshot of the innermost thoughts and feelings of ordinary people, living ordinary lives almost a century ago. Katharine Longworth returns to Bolton to discover whether this town still holds the secret to happiness. Exploring the town centre, markets, pasty shops and pubs; she asks the same question, bringing the original letters to life as modern day Boltonians reflect on the insights of their predecessors. We knock on the doors of those who live in the same spot as the original correspondents, linking them to the past through the words of the letters, and hearing their own reflections on happiness. Have things changed? Is it more difficult to be happier today? And is Bolton the happiest town on earth?Original letter written by: J.E. Nelson G. Taylor J. Warburton Joseph Roberts A. Thornley F. Fielding L. Bollington E. HorrocksProducer: Katharine Longworth Sound Design: Michael Smith Actors: Paul Brennan, Jasmine Hyde and Mike RogersWith thanks to Professor Jerome Carson and Dr Sandie McHugh at The University of Greater Manchester.
The Metaphor Consultant
18 ene 2026, 17:45 · 28 min
Time is a journey - the future ahead of us, the past behind. Our burdens are a weight that we carry, our problems are a puzzle that we solve.Metaphor is at the heart of how we understand our existence. In a period of huge change and global uncertainty, are we outgrowing the metaphors we have lived by?The poet Jack Underwood is offering his services as a metaphor consultant, for a very reasonable fee.Featuring conversations with poet and psychoanalyst Nuar Alsadir; Dr Stephen Flusberg, the Director of the Framing, Reasoning And Metaphor (FRAME) Lab at Vassar College; computer scientist Melanie Mitchell; the philosopher Dr Julia Ng; and the linguist and author of Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff.Location recording by Mitra Kaboli, Kristina Loring, Gustavo Martinez and Donelle Wedderburn.Produced by Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
Into the Owambe
11 ene 2026, 17:45 · 29 min
For decades, Nigerian hall parties have been the hub for communities in the UK, it was the place where they could bring a little bit of home and be transported through music, food and fashion. Full of extravagance, warmth and culture, the word Owambe, both noun and adjective, directly translates to ‘everything is there’. Now, first generation British Nigerians continue this tradition, their way. Presenter Bisi Akins takes us on a journey through an Owambe, exploring what that “everything” really means. We dive into the key elements of a successful Nigerian hall party, immersed in the sounds, smells, music, and traditions that bring an Owambe to life. We’ll hear from those who lived it, loved it, and how the next generation are keeping the tradition alive. Bring your big beats, bold outfits, and dancing shoes – Into the Owambe for BBC Radio 4. A Hill 5.14 production for BBC Radio 4
Bass Notes
28 dic 2025, 17:45 · 28 min
Bass guitarist and record producer Jah Wobble has had a lifetime’s immersion at the low end of the musical spectrum. Over four decades, his hypnotic bass riffs have powered music from punk to reggae, fusion to world music.He relates his first experiences as a teenager attending blues dances where Jamaican sound systems played cuts of reggae dub where the bass felt like a force like gravity, and seeing Bob Marley and the Wailers where he was captivated by the playing of bassist Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, and on to his own involvement with Public Image Limited, where he brought a dub sensibility into their post-punk music. He discusses his long years as a solo artist, and collaborations with musical legends from Can’s Holger Czukay to Sinead O’Connor, and Primal Scream to Pharoah Sanders. During these years, Jah Wobble has also been interested in the Science of Bass. So, he meets up with Dr Duncan Edwards of Salford University, to ask him about the special, physical properties of Bass Notes. How do they reach our brains and, once there, what psychological, emotional effects can they have on us? To understand this, he submits to an experiment where his head is wired up, and the Wobble brain waves measured. After years lost in drink and drugs Jah Wobble turned to Buddhism and became fascinated by alternative explanations of his bass playing that this could give him. He interviews eminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Jampa Thaye, to find further enlightenment. And in a south London Prayer room, he listens to the extraordinary low-pitched chanting of exiled Tibetan monks, where one mantra has the awesome power of a bass note.Presenter: Jah Wobble Producer: Alastair Laurence Sound Design: Jake Wittlin A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
A Very British Christmas
21 dic 2025, 17:45 · 29 min
What does Christmas Day mean to you? This raw, kaleidoscopic audio portrait, made up entirely from voice notes recordings, tracks the emotional contours of the day as it unfolds. Through midnight churchgoing and moments of quiet reflection to frenetic gift-giving, culinary chaos and karaoke, the programme evokes and questions our own multifarious experiences of what Christmas Day ‘means’. Variously boozy, silly, sad, excited, warm, lonely, deeply spiritual and endearingly humanistic – the contributions chart a cross section of modern Britain, encompassing heartfelt-stories, accidental field recordings, impromptu songs and audio diary entries. With special thanks to all those who recorded their Christmas Day for us in 2024. Original music and sound design by James Bonney. Producer: James Bonney Mix: Mike Woolley Executive Producer: Olivia Humphreys An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

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