Wednesday 22 December
Who Was Wenceslas, And Who Decided He Was Good?
1/1, 3.45-4.00pm
Good King Wenceslas is one of the most loved Christmas carols.
Mark Whitaker finds out why millions of English people
sing about the exploits of an early medieval Bohemian prince.
Wenceslas is credited with bringing Christianity to Bohemia in the early
10th century. To do so he had to struggle against pagan forces led by
his own mother.
Eventually assassinated by his brother, legends about his life were handed
down from generation to generation.
Then, in the mid-19th century, when Wenceslas became a hero for nascent
Czech nationalism, a long poem about his life was read by a controversial
young Anglican churchman, John Mason Neale.
He was close to the neo-Catholic Oxford Movement and the church hierarchy
barred him from serving as a vicar.
Berating the Anglican Church for its complacency, social snobbery and
for failing in its duty towards the poor, he set up an Anglican convent
in Kent whose nuns devoted themselves to nursing the poor in their own
homes. The order thrives to this day.
Neale wrote voluminously, especially hymns and religious stories that
could be appreciated by ordinary people.
A volume of carols he produced in 1853 included Wenceslas.
This programme explores the meaning of Wenceslas in the present day Czech
Republic and it uses extracts from Neale's writings to illustrate his
carol's political message in Victorian England.
Presenter and Producer/Mark Whitaker
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
Falling Up
1/1 9.00-9.30pm
Of all the hobbies being pursued in sheds and garages across Britain,
trying to overcome the most fundamental force in the universe is probably
the most ambitious.
Amateur inventors across the world are spending their free time and money
trying to build a working antigravity machine.
It may sound like science fiction, but the idea is not as far-fetched
as one might think.
These DIY physicists in their homemade labs are not the only ones interested.
The European Space Agency and its American equivalent, Nasa, have been
investigating antigravity.
British Aerospace have a programme looking at the possibilities.
Universities and research institutes across the globe have done experiments.
Harnessing gravity would bring revolutions in transport, power generation,
building and war.
Sue Nelson talks to both amateurs and professionals
to find out if people are on the verge of learning how to fall up.
Presenter/Sue Nelson, Producer/Andrew Tait
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
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