Programme Detaiils

On Night Waves Susan Hitch travels to Devon to talk to poet Alice Oswald about her new collection, the follow up to her book length poem inspired by the River Dart which won her the T.S. Eliot Prize. She explains why our approach to nature must be anti-sentimental, anti-nostalgic and exact.

The BBC's political editor Andrew Marr reviews the new political satire from one of the creators of The Day Today , Armando Iannucci - is this Yes, Minister  for the New Labour era? Susan also discusses whether the surprise success documentary from America, What the Bleep Do We Know?  which uses quantum theory to examine consciousness. Does it help or frustrates the public thirst for accessible science?

And as the National Theatre of Scotland officially starts work Susan talks to its director and dramaturg - what is a national theatre for, and given that it isn't a building based institution how will it define itself?

Night Waves live at 9.30pm here on BBC Radio 3


Presenter: Susan Hitch
Producer: Kirsty Pope



Additional Information
1) The Thick of It  starts this Thursday at 10.30pm on BBC4. A second series has already been commissioned and all 6 will be on BBC2 in the autumn.
2) What the Bleep Do We Know?  is in cinemas certificate 12A from May 20
3) The National Theatre of Scotland  will be announcing its programme this autumn. David Greig's The American Pilot  is at the RSC's The Other Place in Stratford.
4) Alice Oswald's Woods etc  is published by Faber and Faber
5) The WilliamTurner  exhibition opened this week at Gallery Oldham and runs until June 25.