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Latest Radio 4 Newsletter

Friday 27 - Friday 4 December 2009 Hello fellow listeners, The winners of the BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards were announced this morning in a special programme recorded in the Broadcasting House Radio Theatre. Read about the awards and the results. We’re delighted to announce four new podcasts, including Desert Island Discs and the chance to hear every shortlist story from the National Short Story Awards: Desert Island Discs Food Programme BBC National Short Story Awards A Week of You and Yours We’re also delighted to hear that the Large Hadron Collider has been switched on again, read about it here and catch up with the background to the story and listen again to programmes on our Big Bang website. For a comprehensive list of all our programmes, see our schedule pages. Don't forget that items and guests can and do change in the live topical programmes, and that some links in this newsletter will be live later today, or later in the week.
	Friday 27 November A Point of View, 8.50-9.00pm, repeated Sunday 8.50-9.00am Clive James reflects on the way his attitude to a sport is determined by how well its players stick to the rules.
	Saturday 28 November In Search of Beauty, 10.30-11.00am Erin O'Connor explores the idea of beauty: where it comes from and how our life-experience is affected by how we look. Money Box, 12.00-12.30pm, repeated Sunday 9.00-9.30pm Paul Lewis presents. Likely items: what options there may be for the millions of disgruntled bank customers after this week’s Supreme Court ruling on overdraft charges; VAT is due to go back up to 17.5% on January 1 st - Paul Lewis finds out how this will affect people making payments in instalments; economist John Kay explains how ordinary people are the ones paying big City salaries; and the team investigates Ryanair booking fees – and gives advice on how to avoid them. Saturday Play: A Family Affair, 2.30-4.00pm By Michael Dobbs. On 22nd November 1990, following dissension in the Conservative ranks and an equivocal leadership ballot, Margaret Thatcher decided to offer her resignation as prime minister. Here are her last traumatic days in power, seen from the intimate perspective of husband Denis and her family.  Loose Ends, 6.15-7.00pm Clive Anderson’s guests are Dara O’Briain, Ruth Wilson, and Adrian Noble. Stephen K Amos talks to Benjamin Woolley. Comedy from Robin Ince. Music from Brett Anderson and from Beth Jeans Houghton. From Fact to Fiction: The Herald in the Sky, 7.00-7.15pm, repeated Sunday 5.40-6.00pm By Glyn Maxwell. Two nurses tend to a man who has been in a coma for over 20 years. With Claire Rushbrook, Nigel Hastings and Lydia Wilson. Archive on 4: Lord Clark – Seeing through the Tweed, 8.00-9.00pm, repeated Monday 3.00-3.45pm Richard Weight argues that Civilisation was for Kenneth Clark the culmination of a life devoted to the democratic appreciation of art by mass audiences, that he was a radical innovator with an intuitive feel for how society was changing in the 20th century.
	Sunday 29 November Radio 4 Appeal, 7.55am, repeated 9.26pm, and Thursday 3.27pm Johnny Ball appeals on behalf of Computer Aid International. Desert Island Discs, 11.15-noon, repeated Friday 9.00-9.45am Kirsty Young’s guest is Morrissey. Classic Serial: The Complete Smiley: Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, 3.00-4.00pm, repeated Saturday 9.00-10.00pm New series. George Smiley, wrestling with retirement and disillusionment, is summoned to a secret meeting at the Cabinet Office: evidence has emerged that the Circus has been infiltrated at the highest level by a Russian agent. Soon Smiley embarks on a dark journey into a past filled with love, duplicity, and betrayal. Adventures in Poetry, 4.30-5.00pm, repeated Saturday 11.30pm-midnight Peggy Reynolds explores why Philip Larkin was disappointed by his “An Arundel Tomb” poem. “Muddle to the end,” he complained, but it’s now one of his best loved and most quoted poems. Read “An Arundel Tomb” here and find out more about Philip Larkin on the BBC Poetry Season website. Americana, 7.15-7.45pm Matt Frei talks to Garrison Keillor, who shares tips on Thanksgiving reading, holiday stories and all things American; David Plouffe, President Barak Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, talks about Thanksgiving 2007 on the election trail and whether he'd consider running a Sarah Palin 2012 campaign; broadcast journalist and special correspondent for National Public Radio Susan Stamberg gives Matt her recipe for cranberry relish and some advice about how to outsource the bulk of the Thanksgiving feast preparations; Greg Budney, curator of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, takes Matt on an audio tour of America’s most famous birds, including the turkey, the Bald Eagle and the red-tailed hawk.
	Monday 30 November Start the Week, 9.00-9.30am, repeated 9.30-10.00pm Andrew Marr’s guests are Audrey Kurth Cronin, Eugene Rogan, Sarah Wood, and Sir Hugh Orde. The Hair of the Dog and Other Scientific Surprises, 9.45-10.00am, repeated 12.30-12.45am By Karl Sabbagh. Science is full of surprises and sometimes seemingly trivial queries can lead to a deeper understanding of how it works. Read by Toby Longworth. Woman's Hour, 10.00-10.45am Interview with Camille O’Sullivan, who also sings in the studio; discussion about men and depression; interview with members of the London Rollergirls team. You and Yours, 12.00-1.00pm eBay ruling on selling brands; Ordnance Survey business; the demise of local train services; Housing Panel; continuing care – PCT payment update; Pinewood Studios housing development; a review of swine flu products; piano tuners in London. Afternoon Play: Grey Expectations, 2.15-3.00pm Written and directed by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. In the third in the trilogy, Graham Slater learns what happened to all the billions the international bankers lost during the credit crunch. The BBC National Short Story Award, 3.30-4.00pm, Mon-Fri The shortlist is announced on Front Row on Friday 27 November. The Infinite Monkey Cage, 4.30-5.00pm New series. Brian Cox and Robin Ince. In the first programme guests include ex-cosmologist Dara O'Briain and Dr Alice Roberts, plus Brian interviews Minister for Science Lord Drayson. Front Row, 7.15-7.45pm Mark Lawson interviews one of the contenders for the BBC National Short Story Award, and you can hear their story tomorrow afternoon; a review of The Box, a new film from the director of the cult hit Donnie Darko; and Antonia Fraser discusses the newly opened Mediaeval and Renaissance galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Book at Bedtime: Riceyman Steps, 10.45-11.00pm New series. 1/10. By Arnold Bennett, read by Robert Powell. It is a year since the end of the World War I, and Londoners are struggling to return to normal life. But on Riceyman Steps, a secondhand bookseller is already contemplating a significant change to his circumstances.
	Tuesday 1 December Woman's Hour, 10.00-10.45am Discussion about women in Parliament on the 90th anniversary since Nancy Astor took her seat in the House, includes Woman’s Hour archive interview with her and Mary Stocks; interview with Tamzin Outhwaite; interview with Annie Lennox on World Aids Day; discussion about attitudes to death. Tempus Fugit, 11.00-11.30am Ian Peacock gets to the heart of the elasticity of time, wondering how and why time seems to rush as we get older. A Jewel in the Comedy Crown, 11.30am-noon Jason Manford pays tribute to Jimmy Jewel, one of the most enduring show business entertainers of the 20th century: stand-up comedian, double-act stooge, TV sitcom star, serious character actor, Jewel reinvented himself every few years as tastes and outlets for work changed. Call You and Yours, 12.00-1.00pm Local authority finances. Tales from the Stave, 1.30-2.00 New series. Frances Fyfield goes to Berlin for a rare look at a masterwork in Bach's own hand, the B-Minor Mass. Front Row, 7.15-7.45pm John Wilson reports on how visual artists are attempting to address climate change; an interview with Florence and the Machine, one of the year's most successful new acts; plus John talks to another of the contenders for the BBC National Short Story Award.
	Wednesday 2 December Woman's Hour, 10.00-10.45am Discussion about post-natal depression and suicide; discussion about mixed-race couples as Small Island begins a two-part adaptation on BBC One on 6 December; discussion about Ukrainian union leader Clara Lemlich. In Living Memory, 11.00-11.30am New series. Jolyon Jenkins investigates the 1975 Moorgate Tube accident, in which 43 people died. You and Yours, 12.00-1.00pm Foster children and those in care receive extra help to get jobs; pharmacies to offer more care and medical advice; ginger prices rise; flooding: Carlisle; M&S opening food stores in hospitals. Afternoon Play: A Dangerous Thing, 2.15-3.00pm By John Sessions. The friendship between Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. With Timothy Spall, John Sessions, and Amanda Root. Money Box Live, 3.00-3.30pm Paul Lewis and his guests Jean French, Carers UK; Lucy McLynn, Bates Wells & Braithwaite; and Derek Sinclair, Contact a Family, take your calls on carers’ rights and finance. You can email the programme from now. Front Row, 7.15-7.45pm John Wilson meets conductor Antonio Pappano, the musical director of the Royal Opera House; he reports on the Japanese film which proved a surprise winner at this year's Academy Awards; and we hear from another shortlisted writer for the BBC National Short Story Award.
	Thursday 3 December In Our Time, 9.00-9.30am, repeated 9.30-10.00pm Melvyn Bragg and his guests Tim Barrett, Naomi Standen, and Frances Wood talk about the Silk Road. Woman's Hour, 10.00-10.45am Phone-in with Delia Smith, who will give advice on Christmas cooking and planning ahead. The House That Jazz Built, 11.30am-midnight Paul Merton celebrates 50 years of Ronnie Scott's jazz club. Recorded on location, includes interviews with Salena Jones, Ian Shaw, Jay Phelps and James Pearson, together with music and archive from the club’s 50-year history. You and Yours, 12.00-1.00pm Interview with Paul Golby, CEO, EON; interview with Tony Conway, United Utilities; Olive Kamm wonders if wikipedia’s days are numbered; district heating schemes; flooding: Hull. Front Row, 7.15-7.45pm Kirsty Lang reports on a film based on J M Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel; a first-night review of a new production of the musical Sweet Charity; and our final interview with a contender for the BBC National Short Story Award.
	Friday 4 December Woman's Hour, 10.00-10.45am People with disabilities having children; lost skills; female version of Viagra. You and Yours, 12.00-1.00pm Mitten Crab on the menu; party planners and the recession; consumer groups’ buying power; closure of music halls; Olympic shooting venue; flooding: Cornwall; in praise of the cheque; update on eBay piracy. Front Row, 7.15-7.45pm Kirsty Lang meets Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka, along with the young writer he's now mentoring; and the American composer George Crumb reflects on his long career, and his ground-breaking music, including a vast work which demands four conductors.  If you want more, you can meet and chat to your fellow listeners on the Radio 4 messageboards. That's all for this week. Have a great week. Ellie and the Radio 4 interactive team. Read this newsletter on our website.
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