#bbcarchiveon4 — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #bbcarchiveon4, aggregated by home.social.
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Writing Our Mothers
Archive on 4‘Mothers have such a weight of idealisation and expectation landed upon their bodies and their minds and what women writers can do is to take that apart and explore
its underbelly,’ says feminist writer Jacqueline Rose.Whether worshipped or vilified, treated as lifetime confidantes or rarely trusted, the mothers we meet when we write them are re-inventions. Some may be closer to the
truth than others. Many of them will have roots in the life experiences of the daughter-writer. Virginia Woolf, who lost her mother at the age of 13, said she was obsessed with writing her mother. Eventually she also argued that it was ‘the occupation of the woman writer to kill’ what she called ‘The Angel in the House’ – the perfect, self-sacrificing mother – who may well have been her own maternal influence.Drawing on interviews with Maya Angelou, we hear how for her to write her mother was to ‘write about a hurricane in its perfect power’. She describes how the influence of a mother who ‘abandoned’ her as a child forced her most urgent examinations of class, race and, importantly love. In another frank interview with Marguerite Duras from 1968, she describes writing as a search for connection with her raging and ‘mad’ mother. For Sylvia Plath, the process of writing about becoming a mother herself in the 1950s produced work of a psychic intensity rarely seen before.
What the archive ultimately reveals is that a mother, whether present or absent, loving or cruel, might be as formative an influence on a writer’s work, as in life. ‘When I read about motherhood, I want to be shaken loose from whatever limitations I have when I think about what that means,’ says the writer Siri Hustvedt.
With contributions from Susie Orbach, Jacqueline Rose, Kit de Waal and Siri Hustvedt, and narration from Amaka Okafor.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4Archive sources:
Desert Island Discs with Arundhati Roy (2017)
A Chance to Meet ... Edna O'Brien (1971)
Sylvia Plath, Peter Orr interview (1962)
Audre Lorde, Pacifica Radio Archives and Academy of American Poets www.poets.org
Maya Angelou, BBC News (1985)
Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990) and Face To Face (BBC, 1994)
Marguerite Duras, Worn Out With Desire To Write (1985)
Toni Morrison, Brief Encounters (BBC, 2001)
Jackie Kay, Book of the Week (The Waters Company for BBC R4, 2015)
Elena Ferrante, Lying Lives of Adults (BBC, 2020)
Available now57 minutes
#ArundhatiRoy #EdnaOBrien
#SylviaPlath #AudreLorde
#MayaAngelou #JeannetteWinterson
#MargueriteDuras #ToniMorrison
#JackieKay #ElenaFerrante -
Writing Our Mothers
Archive on 4‘Mothers have such a weight of idealisation and expectation landed upon their bodies and their minds and what women writers can do is to take that apart and explore
its underbelly,’ says feminist writer Jacqueline Rose.Whether worshipped or vilified, treated as lifetime confidantes or rarely trusted, the mothers we meet when we write them are re-inventions. Some may be closer to the
truth than others. Many of them will have roots in the life experiences of the daughter-writer. Virginia Woolf, who lost her mother at the age of 13, said she was obsessed with writing her mother. Eventually she also argued that it was ‘the occupation of the woman writer to kill’ what she called ‘The Angel in the House’ – the perfect, self-sacrificing mother – who may well have been her own maternal influence.Drawing on interviews with Maya Angelou, we hear how for her to write her mother was to ‘write about a hurricane in its perfect power’. She describes how the influence of a mother who ‘abandoned’ her as a child forced her most urgent examinations of class, race and, importantly love. In another frank interview with Marguerite Duras from 1968, she describes writing as a search for connection with her raging and ‘mad’ mother. For Sylvia Plath, the process of writing about becoming a mother herself in the 1950s produced work of a psychic intensity rarely seen before.
What the archive ultimately reveals is that a mother, whether present or absent, loving or cruel, might be as formative an influence on a writer’s work, as in life. ‘When I read about motherhood, I want to be shaken loose from whatever limitations I have when I think about what that means,’ says the writer Siri Hustvedt.
With contributions from Susie Orbach, Jacqueline Rose, Kit de Waal and Siri Hustvedt, and narration from Amaka Okafor.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4Archive sources:
Desert Island Discs with Arundhati Roy (2017)
A Chance to Meet ... Edna O'Brien (1971)
Sylvia Plath, Peter Orr interview (1962)
Audre Lorde, Pacifica Radio Archives and Academy of American Poets www.poets.org
Maya Angelou, BBC News (1985)
Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990) and Face To Face (BBC, 1994)
Marguerite Duras, Worn Out With Desire To Write (1985)
Toni Morrison, Brief Encounters (BBC, 2001)
Jackie Kay, Book of the Week (The Waters Company for BBC R4, 2015)
Elena Ferrante, Lying Lives of Adults (BBC, 2020)
Available now57 minutes
#ArundhatiRoy #EdnaOBrien
#SylviaPlath #AudreLorde
#MayaAngelou #JeannetteWinterson
#MargueriteDuras #ToniMorrison
#JackieKay #ElenaFerrante -
Writing Our Mothers
Archive on 4‘Mothers have such a weight of idealisation and expectation landed upon their bodies and their minds and what women writers can do is to take that apart and explore
its underbelly,’ says feminist writer Jacqueline Rose.Whether worshipped or vilified, treated as lifetime confidantes or rarely trusted, the mothers we meet when we write them are re-inventions. Some may be closer to the
truth than others. Many of them will have roots in the life experiences of the daughter-writer. Virginia Woolf, who lost her mother at the age of 13, said she was obsessed with writing her mother. Eventually she also argued that it was ‘the occupation of the woman writer to kill’ what she called ‘The Angel in the House’ – the perfect, self-sacrificing mother – who may well have been her own maternal influence.Drawing on interviews with Maya Angelou, we hear how for her to write her mother was to ‘write about a hurricane in its perfect power’. She describes how the influence of a mother who ‘abandoned’ her as a child forced her most urgent examinations of class, race and, importantly love. In another frank interview with Marguerite Duras from 1968, she describes writing as a search for connection with her raging and ‘mad’ mother. For Sylvia Plath, the process of writing about becoming a mother herself in the 1950s produced work of a psychic intensity rarely seen before.
What the archive ultimately reveals is that a mother, whether present or absent, loving or cruel, might be as formative an influence on a writer’s work, as in life. ‘When I read about motherhood, I want to be shaken loose from whatever limitations I have when I think about what that means,’ says the writer Siri Hustvedt.
With contributions from Susie Orbach, Jacqueline Rose, Kit de Waal and Siri Hustvedt, and narration from Amaka Okafor.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4Archive sources:
Desert Island Discs with Arundhati Roy (2017)
A Chance to Meet ... Edna O'Brien (1971)
Sylvia Plath, Peter Orr interview (1962)
Audre Lorde, Pacifica Radio Archives and Academy of American Poets www.poets.org
Maya Angelou, BBC News (1985)
Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990) and Face To Face (BBC, 1994)
Marguerite Duras, Worn Out With Desire To Write (1985)
Toni Morrison, Brief Encounters (BBC, 2001)
Jackie Kay, Book of the Week (The Waters Company for BBC R4, 2015)
Elena Ferrante, Lying Lives of Adults (BBC, 2020)
Available now57 minutes
#ArundhatiRoy #EdnaOBrien
#SylviaPlath #AudreLorde
#MayaAngelou #JeannetteWinterson
#MargueriteDuras #ToniMorrison
#JackieKay #ElenaFerrante -
Writing Our Mothers
Archive on 4‘Mothers have such a weight of idealisation and expectation landed upon their bodies and their minds and what women writers can do is to take that apart and explore
its underbelly,’ says feminist writer Jacqueline Rose.Whether worshipped or vilified, treated as lifetime confidantes or rarely trusted, the mothers we meet when we write them are re-inventions. Some may be closer to the
truth than others. Many of them will have roots in the life experiences of the daughter-writer. Virginia Woolf, who lost her mother at the age of 13, said she was obsessed with writing her mother. Eventually she also argued that it was ‘the occupation of the woman writer to kill’ what she called ‘The Angel in the House’ – the perfect, self-sacrificing mother – who may well have been her own maternal influence.Drawing on interviews with Maya Angelou, we hear how for her to write her mother was to ‘write about a hurricane in its perfect power’. She describes how the influence of a mother who ‘abandoned’ her as a child forced her most urgent examinations of class, race and, importantly love. In another frank interview with Marguerite Duras from 1968, she describes writing as a search for connection with her raging and ‘mad’ mother. For Sylvia Plath, the process of writing about becoming a mother herself in the 1950s produced work of a psychic intensity rarely seen before.
What the archive ultimately reveals is that a mother, whether present or absent, loving or cruel, might be as formative an influence on a writer’s work, as in life. ‘When I read about motherhood, I want to be shaken loose from whatever limitations I have when I think about what that means,’ says the writer Siri Hustvedt.
With contributions from Susie Orbach, Jacqueline Rose, Kit de Waal and Siri Hustvedt, and narration from Amaka Okafor.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4Archive sources:
Desert Island Discs with Arundhati Roy (2017)
A Chance to Meet ... Edna O'Brien (1971)
Sylvia Plath, Peter Orr interview (1962)
Audre Lorde, Pacifica Radio Archives and Academy of American Poets www.poets.org
Maya Angelou, BBC News (1985)
Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990) and Face To Face (BBC, 1994)
Marguerite Duras, Worn Out With Desire To Write (1985)
Toni Morrison, Brief Encounters (BBC, 2001)
Jackie Kay, Book of the Week (The Waters Company for BBC R4, 2015)
Elena Ferrante, Lying Lives of Adults (BBC, 2020)
Available now57 minutes
#ArundhatiRoy #EdnaOBrien
#SylviaPlath #AudreLorde
#MayaAngelou #JeannetteWinterson
#MargueriteDuras #ToniMorrison
#JackieKay #ElenaFerrante -
Writing Our Mothers
Archive on 4‘Mothers have such a weight of idealisation and expectation landed upon their bodies and their minds and what women writers can do is to take that apart and explore
its underbelly,’ says feminist writer Jacqueline Rose.Whether worshipped or vilified, treated as lifetime confidantes or rarely trusted, the mothers we meet when we write them are re-inventions. Some may be closer to the
truth than others. Many of them will have roots in the life experiences of the daughter-writer. Virginia Woolf, who lost her mother at the age of 13, said she was obsessed with writing her mother. Eventually she also argued that it was ‘the occupation of the woman writer to kill’ what she called ‘The Angel in the House’ – the perfect, self-sacrificing mother – who may well have been her own maternal influence.Drawing on interviews with Maya Angelou, we hear how for her to write her mother was to ‘write about a hurricane in its perfect power’. She describes how the influence of a mother who ‘abandoned’ her as a child forced her most urgent examinations of class, race and, importantly love. In another frank interview with Marguerite Duras from 1968, she describes writing as a search for connection with her raging and ‘mad’ mother. For Sylvia Plath, the process of writing about becoming a mother herself in the 1950s produced work of a psychic intensity rarely seen before.
What the archive ultimately reveals is that a mother, whether present or absent, loving or cruel, might be as formative an influence on a writer’s work, as in life. ‘When I read about motherhood, I want to be shaken loose from whatever limitations I have when I think about what that means,’ says the writer Siri Hustvedt.
With contributions from Susie Orbach, Jacqueline Rose, Kit de Waal and Siri Hustvedt, and narration from Amaka Okafor.
Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4Archive sources:
Desert Island Discs with Arundhati Roy (2017)
A Chance to Meet ... Edna O'Brien (1971)
Sylvia Plath, Peter Orr interview (1962)
Audre Lorde, Pacifica Radio Archives and Academy of American Poets www.poets.org
Maya Angelou, BBC News (1985)
Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990) and Face To Face (BBC, 1994)
Marguerite Duras, Worn Out With Desire To Write (1985)
Toni Morrison, Brief Encounters (BBC, 2001)
Jackie Kay, Book of the Week (The Waters Company for BBC R4, 2015)
Elena Ferrante, Lying Lives of Adults (BBC, 2020)
Available now57 minutes
#ArundhatiRoy #EdnaOBrien
#SylviaPlath #AudreLorde
#MayaAngelou #JeannetteWinterson
#MargueriteDuras #ToniMorrison
#JackieKay #ElenaFerrante -
Brendan Behan #BrendanBehan
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Archive on 4Irish novelist Megan Nolan presents an intimate study of the late playwright, singer and novelist, Brendan Behan. She reveals a poetic socialist, a fiercely anti-establishment artist concerned with class solidarity, outcasts, liberation, self-revelation and empathy. And she trashes the trivial, stereotyped memory of Behan, as Ireland’s most famous drunk.
She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.
His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror” and who even Bob Dylan couldn’t find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment”. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.
Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan’s family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.
Producer: Cat Gough
Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961
Show less
Available now57 minutes
On air
Today
22:00
BBC Radio 4 -
Brendan Behan #BrendanBehan
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Archive on 4Irish novelist Megan Nolan presents an intimate study of the late playwright, singer and novelist, Brendan Behan. She reveals a poetic socialist, a fiercely anti-establishment artist concerned with class solidarity, outcasts, liberation, self-revelation and empathy. And she trashes the trivial, stereotyped memory of Behan, as Ireland’s most famous drunk.
She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.
His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror” and who even Bob Dylan couldn’t find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment”. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.
Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan’s family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.
Producer: Cat Gough
Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961
Show less
Available now57 minutes
On air
Today
22:00
BBC Radio 4 -
Brendan Behan #BrendanBehan
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Archive on 4Irish novelist Megan Nolan presents an intimate study of the late playwright, singer and novelist, Brendan Behan. She reveals a poetic socialist, a fiercely anti-establishment artist concerned with class solidarity, outcasts, liberation, self-revelation and empathy. And she trashes the trivial, stereotyped memory of Behan, as Ireland’s most famous drunk.
She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.
His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror” and who even Bob Dylan couldn’t find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment”. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.
Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan’s family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.
Producer: Cat Gough
Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961
Show less
Available now57 minutes
On air
Today
22:00
BBC Radio 4 -
Brendan Behan #BrendanBehan
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Archive on 4Irish novelist Megan Nolan presents an intimate study of the late playwright, singer and novelist, Brendan Behan. She reveals a poetic socialist, a fiercely anti-establishment artist concerned with class solidarity, outcasts, liberation, self-revelation and empathy. And she trashes the trivial, stereotyped memory of Behan, as Ireland’s most famous drunk.
She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.
His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror” and who even Bob Dylan couldn’t find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment”. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.
Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan’s family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.
Producer: Cat Gough
Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961
Show less
Available now57 minutes
On air
Today
22:00
BBC Radio 4 -
Brendan Behan #BrendanBehan
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Archive on 4Irish novelist Megan Nolan presents an intimate study of the late playwright, singer and novelist, Brendan Behan. She reveals a poetic socialist, a fiercely anti-establishment artist concerned with class solidarity, outcasts, liberation, self-revelation and empathy. And she trashes the trivial, stereotyped memory of Behan, as Ireland’s most famous drunk.
She tells his story through the lens of his most prolific years, 1954 - 1958. It was a time of explosive creativity for Behan, which saw the release of three of his most remarkable works - his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, and his work of auto-fiction Borstal Boy. She hears about his determination in these years to recruit language rather than the militarised violence of his youth as a means to valorise life, dignity, humour and queer love, and to advance his vision for his country, forged in his working class roots.
His words paint a picture of a complex character. An intelligent, anti-establishment writer, an Irish beatnik whose talents “would make Jack Kerouac weep with terror” and who even Bob Dylan couldn’t find the courage to “touch the hem of his garment”. A man who met a tragic end, addicted to alcohol and wielding his fame and power in cruel ways.
Marking the 60th anniversary of his death, Megan hears from historians, writers and members of Behan’s family, as well as from the rich archive of the man himself.
Producer: Cat Gough
Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
With thanks to Iris Klein and Semiotexte for providing archival interview recordings with Brendan Behan made by journalist Sylvere Lotringer in Paris in 1961
Show less
Available now57 minutes
On air
Today
22:00
BBC Radio 4 -
(fascinating documentary about someone I've never heard of who spouted a load of bollocks which fascinated easily confused idiots (imho))
Alan Watts: The Brahman of Bromley
Archive on 4Jarvis Cocker wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when his bandmate suggested they listen to some old Buddhist lectures to while away the hours on their tour bus. But when the captivating voice of Alan Watts floated through the speakers, it transformed the way he saw the world.
Alan Watts is considered by many to have been a key translator of Eastern spiritual ideas in the 20th century. His books and lectures took the complex and often intangible concepts of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, and unpacked them for Western ears with startling clarity and wry humour.
Born in Chislehurst in 1915, Watts moved to America just before the Second World War, where he became a popular public intellectual, “philosophical entertainer” and a thought-leader for the Beat Generation and emergent hippy counterculture.
In the years since his death in 1973, Watts’ reputation has only grown - first in esoteric New Age circles, and now with the millions of viewers online who take comfort from his archive of recorded lectures on YouTube and social media.
With access to his extensive recorded archive, Jarvis Cocker examines Watts’ life, work and digital legacy - featuring interviews with Watts enthusiasts and family members, historians and experts, as well as artists and filmmakers inspired by his work.
Access to Alan Watts' audio lectures provided by Mark Watts at the Alan Watts Organization.
Written and produced by Tom Harrad.
Executive producer: Ant Adeane
Sound mix: Alex PortfelixA Small Blue production for BBC Radio 4
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4 -
(fascinating documentary about someone I've never heard of who spouted a load of bollocks which fascinated easily confused idiots (imho))
Alan Watts: The Brahman of Bromley
Archive on 4Jarvis Cocker wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when his bandmate suggested they listen to some old Buddhist lectures to while away the hours on their tour bus. But when the captivating voice of Alan Watts floated through the speakers, it transformed the way he saw the world.
Alan Watts is considered by many to have been a key translator of Eastern spiritual ideas in the 20th century. His books and lectures took the complex and often intangible concepts of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, and unpacked them for Western ears with startling clarity and wry humour.
Born in Chislehurst in 1915, Watts moved to America just before the Second World War, where he became a popular public intellectual, “philosophical entertainer” and a thought-leader for the Beat Generation and emergent hippy counterculture.
In the years since his death in 1973, Watts’ reputation has only grown - first in esoteric New Age circles, and now with the millions of viewers online who take comfort from his archive of recorded lectures on YouTube and social media.
With access to his extensive recorded archive, Jarvis Cocker examines Watts’ life, work and digital legacy - featuring interviews with Watts enthusiasts and family members, historians and experts, as well as artists and filmmakers inspired by his work.
Access to Alan Watts' audio lectures provided by Mark Watts at the Alan Watts Organization.
Written and produced by Tom Harrad.
Executive producer: Ant Adeane
Sound mix: Alex PortfelixA Small Blue production for BBC Radio 4
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4 -
(fascinating documentary about someone I've never heard of who spouted a load of bollocks which fascinated easily confused idiots (imho))
Alan Watts: The Brahman of Bromley
Archive on 4Jarvis Cocker wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when his bandmate suggested they listen to some old Buddhist lectures to while away the hours on their tour bus. But when the captivating voice of Alan Watts floated through the speakers, it transformed the way he saw the world.
Alan Watts is considered by many to have been a key translator of Eastern spiritual ideas in the 20th century. His books and lectures took the complex and often intangible concepts of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, and unpacked them for Western ears with startling clarity and wry humour.
Born in Chislehurst in 1915, Watts moved to America just before the Second World War, where he became a popular public intellectual, “philosophical entertainer” and a thought-leader for the Beat Generation and emergent hippy counterculture.
In the years since his death in 1973, Watts’ reputation has only grown - first in esoteric New Age circles, and now with the millions of viewers online who take comfort from his archive of recorded lectures on YouTube and social media.
With access to his extensive recorded archive, Jarvis Cocker examines Watts’ life, work and digital legacy - featuring interviews with Watts enthusiasts and family members, historians and experts, as well as artists and filmmakers inspired by his work.
Access to Alan Watts' audio lectures provided by Mark Watts at the Alan Watts Organization.
Written and produced by Tom Harrad.
Executive producer: Ant Adeane
Sound mix: Alex PortfelixA Small Blue production for BBC Radio 4
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4 -
(fascinating documentary about someone I've never heard of who spouted a load of bollocks which fascinated easily confused idiots (imho))
Alan Watts: The Brahman of Bromley
Archive on 4Jarvis Cocker wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when his bandmate suggested they listen to some old Buddhist lectures to while away the hours on their tour bus. But when the captivating voice of Alan Watts floated through the speakers, it transformed the way he saw the world.
Alan Watts is considered by many to have been a key translator of Eastern spiritual ideas in the 20th century. His books and lectures took the complex and often intangible concepts of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, and unpacked them for Western ears with startling clarity and wry humour.
Born in Chislehurst in 1915, Watts moved to America just before the Second World War, where he became a popular public intellectual, “philosophical entertainer” and a thought-leader for the Beat Generation and emergent hippy counterculture.
In the years since his death in 1973, Watts’ reputation has only grown - first in esoteric New Age circles, and now with the millions of viewers online who take comfort from his archive of recorded lectures on YouTube and social media.
With access to his extensive recorded archive, Jarvis Cocker examines Watts’ life, work and digital legacy - featuring interviews with Watts enthusiasts and family members, historians and experts, as well as artists and filmmakers inspired by his work.
Access to Alan Watts' audio lectures provided by Mark Watts at the Alan Watts Organization.
Written and produced by Tom Harrad.
Executive producer: Ant Adeane
Sound mix: Alex PortfelixA Small Blue production for BBC Radio 4
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4 -
(fascinating documentary about someone I've never heard of who spouted a load of bollocks which fascinated easily confused idiots (imho))
Alan Watts: The Brahman of Bromley
Archive on 4Jarvis Cocker wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when his bandmate suggested they listen to some old Buddhist lectures to while away the hours on their tour bus. But when the captivating voice of Alan Watts floated through the speakers, it transformed the way he saw the world.
Alan Watts is considered by many to have been a key translator of Eastern spiritual ideas in the 20th century. His books and lectures took the complex and often intangible concepts of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, and unpacked them for Western ears with startling clarity and wry humour.
Born in Chislehurst in 1915, Watts moved to America just before the Second World War, where he became a popular public intellectual, “philosophical entertainer” and a thought-leader for the Beat Generation and emergent hippy counterculture.
In the years since his death in 1973, Watts’ reputation has only grown - first in esoteric New Age circles, and now with the millions of viewers online who take comfort from his archive of recorded lectures on YouTube and social media.
With access to his extensive recorded archive, Jarvis Cocker examines Watts’ life, work and digital legacy - featuring interviews with Watts enthusiasts and family members, historians and experts, as well as artists and filmmakers inspired by his work.
Access to Alan Watts' audio lectures provided by Mark Watts at the Alan Watts Organization.
Written and produced by Tom Harrad.
Executive producer: Ant Adeane
Sound mix: Alex PortfelixA Small Blue production for BBC Radio 4
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4 -
Peter Singer
50 Years of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Archive on 4In 2026 the philosopher Peter Singer turns 80. He’s a most unusual contemporary philosopher: his ideas reach far beyond the academy, sparking widespread public debate and changing minds. His book Animal Liberation (1975) became the best-selling philosophy book of the 20th century, and is considered the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
Singer argued that the moral status of animals depends on their capacity for suffering, rather than any abstract considerations about whether they have ‘rights’. He coined the phrase ‘speciesism’, to highlight humans’ prejudice that their suffering matters more than the suffering of other species. He argued that if anything humans do to an animal causes it to suffer, it’s morally wrong.
Singer’s views have remained remarkably consistent since the mid 1970s. But a look into the archive suggests the world of animal rights activism has gone through several changes. In 1979 File On Four reported on the rise of an anti-vivisectionist movement named for Singer’s book: the Animal liberation Front. Their main concern back then was to raise awareness of scientific experimentation on animals. By 1983, the World At One was reporting on concerns that the Front was using increasingly violent tactics, but Delia Smith was also exposing viewers to the novelty of vegetarian food. Today the importance of animal suffering is recognised in law, and vegan options appear on many menus.
Throughout this change in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer has been on the front line of the media battle. But he's also provoked controversy, particularly with his views on euthanasia.
Philosopher Jonathan Egid explores the thought, legacy, and extensive media archive of Peter Singer.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Show less
Available now57 minutes
Last on
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4Peter Singer
2026-07-11 2000-2100
#50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBC50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBCArchiveOn4 #BBCRadio4
#PeterSinger -
Peter Singer
50 Years of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Archive on 4In 2026 the philosopher Peter Singer turns 80. He’s a most unusual contemporary philosopher: his ideas reach far beyond the academy, sparking widespread public debate and changing minds. His book Animal Liberation (1975) became the best-selling philosophy book of the 20th century, and is considered the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
Singer argued that the moral status of animals depends on their capacity for suffering, rather than any abstract considerations about whether they have ‘rights’. He coined the phrase ‘speciesism’, to highlight humans’ prejudice that their suffering matters more than the suffering of other species. He argued that if anything humans do to an animal causes it to suffer, it’s morally wrong.
Singer’s views have remained remarkably consistent since the mid 1970s. But a look into the archive suggests the world of animal rights activism has gone through several changes. In 1979 File On Four reported on the rise of an anti-vivisectionist movement named for Singer’s book: the Animal liberation Front. Their main concern back then was to raise awareness of scientific experimentation on animals. By 1983, the World At One was reporting on concerns that the Front was using increasingly violent tactics, but Delia Smith was also exposing viewers to the novelty of vegetarian food. Today the importance of animal suffering is recognised in law, and vegan options appear on many menus.
Throughout this change in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer has been on the front line of the media battle. But he's also provoked controversy, particularly with his views on euthanasia.
Philosopher Jonathan Egid explores the thought, legacy, and extensive media archive of Peter Singer.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Show less
Available now57 minutes
Last on
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4Peter Singer
2026-07-11 2000-2100
#50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBC50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBCArchiveOn4 #BBCRadio4
#PeterSinger -
Peter Singer
50 Years of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Archive on 4In 2026 the philosopher Peter Singer turns 80. He’s a most unusual contemporary philosopher: his ideas reach far beyond the academy, sparking widespread public debate and changing minds. His book Animal Liberation (1975) became the best-selling philosophy book of the 20th century, and is considered the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
Singer argued that the moral status of animals depends on their capacity for suffering, rather than any abstract considerations about whether they have ‘rights’. He coined the phrase ‘speciesism’, to highlight humans’ prejudice that their suffering matters more than the suffering of other species. He argued that if anything humans do to an animal causes it to suffer, it’s morally wrong.
Singer’s views have remained remarkably consistent since the mid 1970s. But a look into the archive suggests the world of animal rights activism has gone through several changes. In 1979 File On Four reported on the rise of an anti-vivisectionist movement named for Singer’s book: the Animal liberation Front. Their main concern back then was to raise awareness of scientific experimentation on animals. By 1983, the World At One was reporting on concerns that the Front was using increasingly violent tactics, but Delia Smith was also exposing viewers to the novelty of vegetarian food. Today the importance of animal suffering is recognised in law, and vegan options appear on many menus.
Throughout this change in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer has been on the front line of the media battle. But he's also provoked controversy, particularly with his views on euthanasia.
Philosopher Jonathan Egid explores the thought, legacy, and extensive media archive of Peter Singer.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Show less
Available now57 minutes
Last on
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4Peter Singer
2026-07-11 2000-2100
#50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBC50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBCArchiveOn4 #BBCRadio4
#PeterSinger -
Peter Singer
50 Years of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Archive on 4In 2026 the philosopher Peter Singer turns 80. He’s a most unusual contemporary philosopher: his ideas reach far beyond the academy, sparking widespread public debate and changing minds. His book Animal Liberation (1975) became the best-selling philosophy book of the 20th century, and is considered the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
Singer argued that the moral status of animals depends on their capacity for suffering, rather than any abstract considerations about whether they have ‘rights’. He coined the phrase ‘speciesism’, to highlight humans’ prejudice that their suffering matters more than the suffering of other species. He argued that if anything humans do to an animal causes it to suffer, it’s morally wrong.
Singer’s views have remained remarkably consistent since the mid 1970s. But a look into the archive suggests the world of animal rights activism has gone through several changes. In 1979 File On Four reported on the rise of an anti-vivisectionist movement named for Singer’s book: the Animal liberation Front. Their main concern back then was to raise awareness of scientific experimentation on animals. By 1983, the World At One was reporting on concerns that the Front was using increasingly violent tactics, but Delia Smith was also exposing viewers to the novelty of vegetarian food. Today the importance of animal suffering is recognised in law, and vegan options appear on many menus.
Throughout this change in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer has been on the front line of the media battle. But he's also provoked controversy, particularly with his views on euthanasia.
Philosopher Jonathan Egid explores the thought, legacy, and extensive media archive of Peter Singer.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Show less
Available now57 minutes
Last on
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4Peter Singer
2026-07-11 2000-2100
#50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBC50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBCArchiveOn4 #BBCRadio4
#PeterSinger -
Peter Singer
50 Years of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Archive on 4In 2026 the philosopher Peter Singer turns 80. He’s a most unusual contemporary philosopher: his ideas reach far beyond the academy, sparking widespread public debate and changing minds. His book Animal Liberation (1975) became the best-selling philosophy book of the 20th century, and is considered the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
Singer argued that the moral status of animals depends on their capacity for suffering, rather than any abstract considerations about whether they have ‘rights’. He coined the phrase ‘speciesism’, to highlight humans’ prejudice that their suffering matters more than the suffering of other species. He argued that if anything humans do to an animal causes it to suffer, it’s morally wrong.
Singer’s views have remained remarkably consistent since the mid 1970s. But a look into the archive suggests the world of animal rights activism has gone through several changes. In 1979 File On Four reported on the rise of an anti-vivisectionist movement named for Singer’s book: the Animal liberation Front. Their main concern back then was to raise awareness of scientific experimentation on animals. By 1983, the World At One was reporting on concerns that the Front was using increasingly violent tactics, but Delia Smith was also exposing viewers to the novelty of vegetarian food. Today the importance of animal suffering is recognised in law, and vegan options appear on many menus.
Throughout this change in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer has been on the front line of the media battle. But he's also provoked controversy, particularly with his views on euthanasia.
Philosopher Jonathan Egid explores the thought, legacy, and extensive media archive of Peter Singer.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Show less
Available now57 minutes
Last on
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4Peter Singer
2026-07-11 2000-2100
#50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBC50YearsOfPeterSingersAnimalLiberation
#BBCArchiveOn4 #BBCRadio4
#PeterSinger -
(interesting 👍 one for community and arts radio enthusiasts - listened to half of this while shopping on Saturday night)
Resonance FM: The Art of Listening
Archive on 4Comedian and writer Stewart Lee explores the founding ideas and extraordinary archive of Resonance FM, the UK’s greatest radio art station.
The summer of 1998 - a new guerrilla radio station, broadcast from an attic on London’s South Bank, with a tiny crew and an unsteady aerial, mixed improvised music, endless birdsong and angry pensioners demanding their rights with experimental comedy, polyglot children’s programming, circuit bending and the heady whiff of full broadcasting freedom.Nearly thirty years and several precarious office spaces later it is still broadcasting and now reaches the entire world – a beacon of brilliance and an ongoing work of radio art in its own right.
Resonance platforms the unplatformed. Broadcasts the unbroadcastable. An audio outgrowth of a radical creative underground, it also pioneered the idea of community radio in the UK as a space where outside voices could find a platform - from devotees of Congolese dance music to Calling All Pensioners, where a reformed bank robber yelled angrily about senior citizen rights. From the beginning it’s been committed to the idea of what its founders called ‘radical hospitality’ – that anyone with a good idea can have a spot. Resonance is an ongoing invitation.
Having fronted several shows for the station over the years, Stewart meets Resonance broadcasters past and present, its founders and current visionaries; its constituency of artists, musicians and comedians; its brilliant volunteers and engineers, and dives into the station’s extraordinary archive.
Presented by Stewart Lee
Produced by Simon HollisA Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4
57 minutes
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 42026-06-20 2000-2100
-
(interesting 👍 one for community and arts radio enthusiasts - listened to half of this while shopping on Saturday night)
Resonance FM: The Art of Listening
Archive on 4Comedian and writer Stewart Lee explores the founding ideas and extraordinary archive of Resonance FM, the UK’s greatest radio art station.
The summer of 1998 - a new guerrilla radio station, broadcast from an attic on London’s South Bank, with a tiny crew and an unsteady aerial, mixed improvised music, endless birdsong and angry pensioners demanding their rights with experimental comedy, polyglot children’s programming, circuit bending and the heady whiff of full broadcasting freedom.Nearly thirty years and several precarious office spaces later it is still broadcasting and now reaches the entire world – a beacon of brilliance and an ongoing work of radio art in its own right.
Resonance platforms the unplatformed. Broadcasts the unbroadcastable. An audio outgrowth of a radical creative underground, it also pioneered the idea of community radio in the UK as a space where outside voices could find a platform - from devotees of Congolese dance music to Calling All Pensioners, where a reformed bank robber yelled angrily about senior citizen rights. From the beginning it’s been committed to the idea of what its founders called ‘radical hospitality’ – that anyone with a good idea can have a spot. Resonance is an ongoing invitation.
Having fronted several shows for the station over the years, Stewart meets Resonance broadcasters past and present, its founders and current visionaries; its constituency of artists, musicians and comedians; its brilliant volunteers and engineers, and dives into the station’s extraordinary archive.
Presented by Stewart Lee
Produced by Simon HollisA Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4
57 minutes
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 42026-06-20 2000-2100
-
(interesting 👍 one for community and arts radio enthusiasts - listened to half of this while shopping on Saturday night)
Resonance FM: The Art of Listening
Archive on 4Comedian and writer Stewart Lee explores the founding ideas and extraordinary archive of Resonance FM, the UK’s greatest radio art station.
The summer of 1998 - a new guerrilla radio station, broadcast from an attic on London’s South Bank, with a tiny crew and an unsteady aerial, mixed improvised music, endless birdsong and angry pensioners demanding their rights with experimental comedy, polyglot children’s programming, circuit bending and the heady whiff of full broadcasting freedom.Nearly thirty years and several precarious office spaces later it is still broadcasting and now reaches the entire world – a beacon of brilliance and an ongoing work of radio art in its own right.
Resonance platforms the unplatformed. Broadcasts the unbroadcastable. An audio outgrowth of a radical creative underground, it also pioneered the idea of community radio in the UK as a space where outside voices could find a platform - from devotees of Congolese dance music to Calling All Pensioners, where a reformed bank robber yelled angrily about senior citizen rights. From the beginning it’s been committed to the idea of what its founders called ‘radical hospitality’ – that anyone with a good idea can have a spot. Resonance is an ongoing invitation.
Having fronted several shows for the station over the years, Stewart meets Resonance broadcasters past and present, its founders and current visionaries; its constituency of artists, musicians and comedians; its brilliant volunteers and engineers, and dives into the station’s extraordinary archive.
Presented by Stewart Lee
Produced by Simon HollisA Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4
57 minutes
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 42026-06-20 2000-2100
-
(interesting 👍 one for community and arts radio enthusiasts - listened to half of this while shopping on Saturday night)
Resonance FM: The Art of Listening
Archive on 4Comedian and writer Stewart Lee explores the founding ideas and extraordinary archive of Resonance FM, the UK’s greatest radio art station.
The summer of 1998 - a new guerrilla radio station, broadcast from an attic on London’s South Bank, with a tiny crew and an unsteady aerial, mixed improvised music, endless birdsong and angry pensioners demanding their rights with experimental comedy, polyglot children’s programming, circuit bending and the heady whiff of full broadcasting freedom.Nearly thirty years and several precarious office spaces later it is still broadcasting and now reaches the entire world – a beacon of brilliance and an ongoing work of radio art in its own right.
Resonance platforms the unplatformed. Broadcasts the unbroadcastable. An audio outgrowth of a radical creative underground, it also pioneered the idea of community radio in the UK as a space where outside voices could find a platform - from devotees of Congolese dance music to Calling All Pensioners, where a reformed bank robber yelled angrily about senior citizen rights. From the beginning it’s been committed to the idea of what its founders called ‘radical hospitality’ – that anyone with a good idea can have a spot. Resonance is an ongoing invitation.
Having fronted several shows for the station over the years, Stewart meets Resonance broadcasters past and present, its founders and current visionaries; its constituency of artists, musicians and comedians; its brilliant volunteers and engineers, and dives into the station’s extraordinary archive.
Presented by Stewart Lee
Produced by Simon HollisA Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4
57 minutes
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 42026-06-20 2000-2100
-
(interesting 👍 one for community and arts radio enthusiasts - listened to half of this while shopping on Saturday night)
Resonance FM: The Art of Listening
Archive on 4Comedian and writer Stewart Lee explores the founding ideas and extraordinary archive of Resonance FM, the UK’s greatest radio art station.
The summer of 1998 - a new guerrilla radio station, broadcast from an attic on London’s South Bank, with a tiny crew and an unsteady aerial, mixed improvised music, endless birdsong and angry pensioners demanding their rights with experimental comedy, polyglot children’s programming, circuit bending and the heady whiff of full broadcasting freedom.Nearly thirty years and several precarious office spaces later it is still broadcasting and now reaches the entire world – a beacon of brilliance and an ongoing work of radio art in its own right.
Resonance platforms the unplatformed. Broadcasts the unbroadcastable. An audio outgrowth of a radical creative underground, it also pioneered the idea of community radio in the UK as a space where outside voices could find a platform - from devotees of Congolese dance music to Calling All Pensioners, where a reformed bank robber yelled angrily about senior citizen rights. From the beginning it’s been committed to the idea of what its founders called ‘radical hospitality’ – that anyone with a good idea can have a spot. Resonance is an ongoing invitation.
Having fronted several shows for the station over the years, Stewart meets Resonance broadcasters past and present, its founders and current visionaries; its constituency of artists, musicians and comedians; its brilliant volunteers and engineers, and dives into the station’s extraordinary archive.
Presented by Stewart Lee
Produced by Simon HollisA Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4
57 minutes
Yesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 42026-06-20 2000-2100
-
Voices of the General Strike
Archive on 4Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.
On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.
For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.
For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.
The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.
In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.
Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.
Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.
Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook BritainShow less
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4More episodes
Previous
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Next
Not a Penny off the Pay, Not a Second on the Day -
Voices of the General Strike
Archive on 4Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.
On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.
For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.
For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.
The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.
In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.
Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.
Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.
Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook BritainShow less
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4More episodes
Previous
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Next
Not a Penny off the Pay, Not a Second on the Day -
Voices of the General Strike
Archive on 4Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.
On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.
For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.
For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.
The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.
In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.
Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.
Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.
Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook BritainShow less
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4More episodes
Previous
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Next
Not a Penny off the Pay, Not a Second on the Day -
Voices of the General Strike
Archive on 4Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.
On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.
For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.
For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.
The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.
In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.
Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.
Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.
Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook BritainShow less
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4More episodes
Previous
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Next
Not a Penny off the Pay, Not a Second on the Day -
Voices of the General Strike
Archive on 4Accompanied by the recorded memories of those who took part, historian David Runciman explores the General Strike of 1926: nine days that shook the nation.
On the 4th of May 1926, millions of workers downed tools and went on strike. They did so in sympathy with coal miners who'd been locked out of work by mine owners demanding longer working days for lower pay. In places, life almost ground to a halt — public transport stopped, docks were blockaded, gas and electricity threatened, food supplies halted, newspapers ceased publication.
For coal miners the strike was an attempt to halt the worsening of their already desperately poor pay and conditions. For the millions of workers who, trusting their union leaders, took the extraordinary step of sacrificing their own pay in support of others, it was a radical hope that collective action might improve a system that seemed weighted against them.
For Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald the strike was a misguided tactic on the road to socialism. For Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin it was a constitutional threat. He said so on the airwaves, in a speech partly rewritten for him by the BBC's General Manager John Reith, who felt that the national schism of the strike threatened the future of the BBC and that a closeness to government was the only way to ensure its survival. With newspapers mostly out of action, the BBC — soon to transform from a private company to a public corporation — gained a new primacy as a source of news.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill commandeered paper supplies to produce a daily propaganda newspaper, called the British Gazette. The TUC countered with their own more modest and often more level-headed publication, the British Worker.
The government instituted emergency measures and across the country volunteers were recruited to break the strike and maintain essential services.
In the background loomed the spectre of the Soviet Union and a fear — grounded in reality or not — of revolution.
Until, on the 12th of May 1926, the TUC called off the strike, having secured no concessions for the miners, who remained locked out of the pits until they agreed to the conditions of the mine owners six months later.
Before, during and after — and almost forgotten amid the drama and febrile politics — is the predicament of the coal miners.
Featuring:
David Hendy, cultural historian, author of The BBC: A People's History
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party who grew up in a mining family with memories of the Strike
Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, historian, co-author of Women and the Miners' Strike 1984-1985
David Torrance, historian, author of The Edge of Revolution: the General Strike that Shook BritainShow less
Available now57 minutes
Last onYesterday
20:00
BBC Radio 4More episodes
Previous
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Next
Not a Penny off the Pay, Not a Second on the Day -
-
-
-
-
-
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Archive on 4The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos.
The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union.
It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife.
It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun.
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.
Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell
Sound design and mix : James Beard
Editor: Justine LangVoice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov
The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer
-
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Archive on 4The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos.
The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union.
It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife.
It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun.
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.
Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell
Sound design and mix : James Beard
Editor: Justine LangVoice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov
The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer
-
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Archive on 4The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos.
The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union.
It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife.
It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun.
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.
Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell
Sound design and mix : James Beard
Editor: Justine LangVoice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov
The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer
-
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Archive on 4The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos.
The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union.
It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife.
It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun.
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.
Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell
Sound design and mix : James Beard
Editor: Justine LangVoice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov
The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer
-
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl
Archive on 4The story of a young couple getting married against the backdrop of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Serhiy first laid eyes on Iryna under the swirling lights of the best disco in town. He thought she was beautiful and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wouldn’t work up the courage to ask Iryna out until a few days later, but once they started dating, Club Edison 2 became a favourite haunt and they looked forward to the weekly discos.
The man behind the decks was DJ Alexander Demidov, a legend on the night life scene, known for his pioneering shows. Club Edison2 quickly became known as the best disco in Ukraine. It was 1986 and DJ Alexander had to have his playlist approved by the Soviet state. Often he would sneakily play banned foreign records that had been illegally smuggled in for a rapturous crowd hungry for anything from the West, from beyond the Iron Curtain, from outside the Soviet Union.
It was risky, but a risk worth taking for this was no ordinary crowd. This was a dance floor full of the brightest and best from across all 15 Republics that made up the Soviet Union. This was a disco for the people of Pripyat, an ‘atom-grad’, or nuclear city, built especially for the scientists and workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was one of the best places to live in the Soviet Union: good jobs, full shops, beautiful scenery and great nightlife.
It’s where Serhiy and Iryna planned their future together, in a city that seemed safe. They planned to get married on Saturday 26th April 1986. But the night before the wedding, they felt the ground shake and heard a booming sound. It came from the direction of the nuclear power plant. On the morning of the wedding, as Serhiy went to pick up his best man from the station, he found the streets full of soldiers wearing gas masks and washing the streets down. Rumours swirled that there had been an accident at the Nuclear reactor, but nothing official was said. They called the authorities who told them they must still hold their wedding. As engineers and firefighters battled an unfolding nuclear catastrophe, the city’s residents were told nothing. Iryna and Serhiy married, smiling for photographs, but stumbling during their much practiced waltz, as unease rippled through the room. By the end of the wedding reception, the celebration descended into chaos. Still in her wedding dress, Iryna ended up running barefoot through the streets as evacuation orders spread, leaving behind her home, her possessions, and the city where their love had begun.
The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna and DJ Alexander and what happens to them after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.
Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Neal Razzell
Sound design and mix : James Beard
Editor: Justine LangVoice over actors; Hanna Komar, Oleksandr Begma, Anatolii Panchenko, Gregory Zhygalov
The guests also feature in What Happened at Chernobyl, Directed by Paul Harris, Assistant Producer Ellie Jacobs, Director of Photography Jack Garland, Executive Producer Vara Szajkowski, Location producer Halyna Yakusko. It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer
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Desmond Morris #DesmondMorris
2026-04-18 2000-21000
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Desmond Morris #DesmondMorris
2026-04-18 2000-21000
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Desmond Morris #DesmondMorris
2026-04-18 2000-21000
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Desmond Morris #DesmondMorris
2026-04-18 2000-21000
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Desmond Morris #DesmondMorris
2026-04-18 2000-21000
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(sixty years of UK chikdcare provision from the years when "milk formula" was provided nationally by government to Covid-era tv programmes for isolated mummies 'n' bebbies)
Landscape For A Good Infant
Archive on 4If we crouch down to the level of the infant, what might we learn about the evolution of the welfare state and its role in the lives of babies, young children, and the people who care for them? How have our attitudes towards it changed from its inception to the present day?
Dr Emily Baughan, historian of modern childhood and mother of two infants, explores how our ideas about infancy, motherhood, and the role of the state have shifted over the last six decades.
Today, formula milk is one of the most shoplifted items in the UK. But if you were born before 1976, your formula milk would have been provided by the state. Known as “national milk”, it is just one example of how the state has shaped different generations’ experiences of infancy. We already understand how the national curriculum and school dinners have produced a distinctly British experience of childhood for older children - but what about the under‑fives?
Drawing on a wealth of BBC archive from the 1960s to today, alongside her own research and personal reflections, Emily takes on this baby’s‑eye view of the state, discovering how it has helped shape generations. She hears how a baby born in 1980 would have spent their first hours in a Perspex crib in a hospital nursery, while a baby born in 2000 would have been delivered straight onto their mother’s chest, rarely leaving her side. A baby in 1985 might have attended one of 300,000 free community playgroups; by 2025, they would be unlikely to find any non‑profit play provision outside a church. Are we, as adults, the product of what the state deems important for infants?
Featuring interviews with Miriam Stoppard, Professor Carolyn Steedman (author of Landscape for a Good Woman) and Stella Creasy MP.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard -
(sixty years of UK chikdcare provision from the years when "milk formula" was provided nationally by government to Covid-era tv programmes for isolated mummies 'n' bebbies)
Landscape For A Good Infant
Archive on 4If we crouch down to the level of the infant, what might we learn about the evolution of the welfare state and its role in the lives of babies, young children, and the people who care for them? How have our attitudes towards it changed from its inception to the present day?
Dr Emily Baughan, historian of modern childhood and mother of two infants, explores how our ideas about infancy, motherhood, and the role of the state have shifted over the last six decades.
Today, formula milk is one of the most shoplifted items in the UK. But if you were born before 1976, your formula milk would have been provided by the state. Known as “national milk”, it is just one example of how the state has shaped different generations’ experiences of infancy. We already understand how the national curriculum and school dinners have produced a distinctly British experience of childhood for older children - but what about the under‑fives?
Drawing on a wealth of BBC archive from the 1960s to today, alongside her own research and personal reflections, Emily takes on this baby’s‑eye view of the state, discovering how it has helped shape generations. She hears how a baby born in 1980 would have spent their first hours in a Perspex crib in a hospital nursery, while a baby born in 2000 would have been delivered straight onto their mother’s chest, rarely leaving her side. A baby in 1985 might have attended one of 300,000 free community playgroups; by 2025, they would be unlikely to find any non‑profit play provision outside a church. Are we, as adults, the product of what the state deems important for infants?
Featuring interviews with Miriam Stoppard, Professor Carolyn Steedman (author of Landscape for a Good Woman) and Stella Creasy MP.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard -
(sixty years of UK chikdcare provision from the years when "milk formula" was provided nationally by government to Covid-era tv programmes for isolated mummies 'n' bebbies)
Landscape For A Good Infant
Archive on 4If we crouch down to the level of the infant, what might we learn about the evolution of the welfare state and its role in the lives of babies, young children, and the people who care for them? How have our attitudes towards it changed from its inception to the present day?
Dr Emily Baughan, historian of modern childhood and mother of two infants, explores how our ideas about infancy, motherhood, and the role of the state have shifted over the last six decades.
Today, formula milk is one of the most shoplifted items in the UK. But if you were born before 1976, your formula milk would have been provided by the state. Known as “national milk”, it is just one example of how the state has shaped different generations’ experiences of infancy. We already understand how the national curriculum and school dinners have produced a distinctly British experience of childhood for older children - but what about the under‑fives?
Drawing on a wealth of BBC archive from the 1960s to today, alongside her own research and personal reflections, Emily takes on this baby’s‑eye view of the state, discovering how it has helped shape generations. She hears how a baby born in 1980 would have spent their first hours in a Perspex crib in a hospital nursery, while a baby born in 2000 would have been delivered straight onto their mother’s chest, rarely leaving her side. A baby in 1985 might have attended one of 300,000 free community playgroups; by 2025, they would be unlikely to find any non‑profit play provision outside a church. Are we, as adults, the product of what the state deems important for infants?
Featuring interviews with Miriam Stoppard, Professor Carolyn Steedman (author of Landscape for a Good Woman) and Stella Creasy MP.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard -
(sixty years of UK chikdcare provision from the years when "milk formula" was provided nationally by government to Covid-era tv programmes for isolated mummies 'n' bebbies)
Landscape For A Good Infant
Archive on 4If we crouch down to the level of the infant, what might we learn about the evolution of the welfare state and its role in the lives of babies, young children, and the people who care for them? How have our attitudes towards it changed from its inception to the present day?
Dr Emily Baughan, historian of modern childhood and mother of two infants, explores how our ideas about infancy, motherhood, and the role of the state have shifted over the last six decades.
Today, formula milk is one of the most shoplifted items in the UK. But if you were born before 1976, your formula milk would have been provided by the state. Known as “national milk”, it is just one example of how the state has shaped different generations’ experiences of infancy. We already understand how the national curriculum and school dinners have produced a distinctly British experience of childhood for older children - but what about the under‑fives?
Drawing on a wealth of BBC archive from the 1960s to today, alongside her own research and personal reflections, Emily takes on this baby’s‑eye view of the state, discovering how it has helped shape generations. She hears how a baby born in 1980 would have spent their first hours in a Perspex crib in a hospital nursery, while a baby born in 2000 would have been delivered straight onto their mother’s chest, rarely leaving her side. A baby in 1985 might have attended one of 300,000 free community playgroups; by 2025, they would be unlikely to find any non‑profit play provision outside a church. Are we, as adults, the product of what the state deems important for infants?
Featuring interviews with Miriam Stoppard, Professor Carolyn Steedman (author of Landscape for a Good Woman) and Stella Creasy MP.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard -
(sixty years of UK chikdcare provision from the years when "milk formula" was provided nationally by government to Covid-era tv programmes for isolated mummies 'n' bebbies)
Landscape For A Good Infant
Archive on 4If we crouch down to the level of the infant, what might we learn about the evolution of the welfare state and its role in the lives of babies, young children, and the people who care for them? How have our attitudes towards it changed from its inception to the present day?
Dr Emily Baughan, historian of modern childhood and mother of two infants, explores how our ideas about infancy, motherhood, and the role of the state have shifted over the last six decades.
Today, formula milk is one of the most shoplifted items in the UK. But if you were born before 1976, your formula milk would have been provided by the state. Known as “national milk”, it is just one example of how the state has shaped different generations’ experiences of infancy. We already understand how the national curriculum and school dinners have produced a distinctly British experience of childhood for older children - but what about the under‑fives?
Drawing on a wealth of BBC archive from the 1960s to today, alongside her own research and personal reflections, Emily takes on this baby’s‑eye view of the state, discovering how it has helped shape generations. She hears how a baby born in 1980 would have spent their first hours in a Perspex crib in a hospital nursery, while a baby born in 2000 would have been delivered straight onto their mother’s chest, rarely leaving her side. A baby in 1985 might have attended one of 300,000 free community playgroups; by 2025, they would be unlikely to find any non‑profit play provision outside a church. Are we, as adults, the product of what the state deems important for infants?
Featuring interviews with Miriam Stoppard, Professor Carolyn Steedman (author of Landscape for a Good Woman) and Stella Creasy MP.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard -
Archive on 4
2026-01-31 2000-2100
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
Archive on 4It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4 -
Archive on 4
2026-01-31 2000-2100
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
Archive on 4It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4 -
Archive on 4
2026-01-31 2000-2100
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
Archive on 4It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4 -
Archive on 4
2026-01-31 2000-2100
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
Archive on 4It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4 -
Archive on 4
2026-01-31 2000-2100
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
Archive on 4It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4