by 7 people |
This Lens is a celebration of, and guide to, the best of Radio 4 - arguably the best radio station in the world. Certainly the one I'd choose if I could only listen to one station for the best of my life. And, since the BBC are incredibly generous with their content you can listen to, or download, much of that incredible content wherever you are. This lens will be your shortcut to the best of it.
And here's the page linking to their current mp3 downloads.
And here's the page linking to their current mp3 downloads.
favourites
some of my personal favourite series and programmes
- Land Of My Fathers
- 15 minutes of passion - celebrating the Welsh national anthem. Best National Anthem. Ever.
- They're coming to take me away ha ha
- John Sessions and an exploration of the relationship between mental illness and comedy.
- Chain Reaction
- The Chain Reaction series is genius. The guest from one week is the host the next - and picks the guest. Makes for some really original interviewing.
- Say What You Think
- The beginings of another fascinating series - about the science of learning languages.
- The Archers
- If you don't know about The Archers, there's no point me telling you.
- The Long View
- Fantastic series. Using history to shine a light on contemporary events. Starts with the 19th century information highway.
- The Viking Way
- David Aaronovitch's fascinating three-parter about the Vikings - what did they do once they'd done pillaging? What is pillaging anyway?
- worked out
- Ian McMillan revists the forgotten coalfields of Britain.
- The Old Bill
- Typically brilliant and quirky Radio 4 fodder - a series of programmes based on what old accounting documents can tell us.
- Mapping The Town
- The history of six British towns explained and explored via maps and archaeology.
- The Joy of Gibberish
- Fantastic Stephen Fry programme about nonsense - featuring everyone from Frank Sinatra to Stanley Unwin.
- The History of Blacksmithing
- Where else would you find a multiprograme series on the History Of Blacksmithing?
- That Mitchell and Webb Sound
- It's been a while since Radio 4 had a genuinely funny comedy - but here it is. They seem to be making it harder to link directly to the audio nowadays so they link above goes to the programme home page. You might need to go to Listen Again and scroll down to That Mitchell and Webb sound.
- shoot from the hip
- A little documentary feature on the Lomo camera
- Imagining Albion: The Great British Future
- A four part history of British science fiction.
- White Nights
- A five programme series of reflections on summer nights. Genius.
In Our Time
the history of ideas
The site describes it simply, like this: "Melvyn Bragg and three guests describe the history of ideas." But this only hints at the genius of this programme - incredibly diverse topics, real expertise and Melvyn there to make sure they keep at least somewhat accessible to the general listener. And the BBC have made it available as a podcast. Bless 'em.
- In Our Time home
- The home page for the programme
- In Our Time archive
- There's days worth of happy listening in here.
- Politeness - the great 18th century craze
- One of my favourites. Click through and listen.
- Electrickery - the origins of electricity
- "How did electricity develop in the 18th and 19th centuries? Why was it so politically contentious and how was it understood during the age in which it changed the world forever?"
- Tea - an empire in a tea cup
- "What drove the extraordinary take up of tea in the UK? What role did it play in the global economy of the Empire and at what point did it stop becoming an exotic foreign luxury and start to define the essence of Englishness?"
- Stoicism - the search for inner calm
- "What was stoicism? How did its ideas of inner retreat come to influence the most powerful and public men of the classical era? And does it still have a legacy for us today?"
- Angels - how they got their wings
- "What part have angels played in western religion? How did they get their halos and their wings? And what are they really? Gods or men?"
- In Our Time newsletter
- Sign up for Melvyn Bragg's newsletter.
Thinking Allowed
the latest social science research
Lawrie Taylor invites all kinds of social scientists to discuss all kinds of social science - a fascinating compendium of human life and thought
- Thinking Allowed
- The home page - always worth clicking on the Editor's Picks.
- White backlash/Artificial flavours
- A typical collision of subjects - ethnographic research in Greenwich and taste and authenticity
- Zimbabwe churches/Authenticity In Politics
- Highly recommend the politics bit - features my mate Andy Ruddock
Radio 4 Science
scientists on the radio
Unmatched science broadcasting - in scope and quality. These are some of the best bits.
- Science
- The science homepage - access to a huge range of programmes
- The Rules Of Life
- This eight-part series "explores the pressures that bear down on an animal from the moment of conception right through to death, as they strive to pass their genes on to the next generation."
- Five numbers
- A splendidly sideways look at five of the most important numbers in mathematics. With Simon Singh.
- Creative Genius
- The science of creativity. This is creative science broadcasting. Ha!
- Self-made things
- The science of heredity with Jonathan Miller. He's fearfully clever.
- A Brief History Of The End Of Everything
- "A series exploring how our ideas about the end of the universe have been shaped by religion, belief, and the contemporary state of scientific thinking and observation." Not many jokes.
Radio 4 News
- Today
- Today's the flagship news programme. I always find it too grumpy but lots of people like it.
- The Week In Westminster
- This is unmissable. News with time to breathe. Once a week. Tells you all you need to know about British government.
- The World This Weekend
- Equally essential listening. Good round-up of what you need to know with coherent analysis of something big and important.
- Broadcasting House
- "News Lite" but in a good way - meaning it's accessible and entertaining without being stupid. Though it's occasionally annoying.
- Radio 4 Newspod
- A new and brilliant thing. A downloadable 30 minute mp3 highlight reel of each days Radio 4 news.
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