#bbcradio4 — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #bbcradio4, aggregated by home.social.
-
(yet another look at UK education)
Comps
Archive on 4Financial Times columnist turned teacher Lucy Kellaway takes a personal journey through the education revolution launched fifty years ago to replace grammars and secondary moderns with comprehensives. The ambition was noble: the same opportunities for every child. But the story of Comps suggests that when lofty ideals collide with reality, things don’t always turn out as planned.
Lucy visits two very different models of comp trying to reconcile the history and their local demands and priorities, and speaks to three of the most influential politicians responsible for shaping today's state secondary school system - Lords Baker, Blunkett and Gove. She also discovers the deep roots of the tensions and challenges facing today's comps in a journey through a rich archive that charts the evolution of the comprehensive system in the last fifty years.
Producer: Jonathan BrunertShow less
57 minutesOn air
Today
20:00
BBC Radio 4
More episodes -
Loose Ends
Liam Ó Maonlaí, Michael Fry, Emma Southon, Olivia McVeigh, Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin, Clare Sands
Loose Ends
Stuart Maconie finds himself "i lár an aonaigh" - at the heart of craic, ceol, and much more at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as Belfast hosts the festival celebrating Irish music and culture for the very first time.
The Fleadh comes second nature to frontman and lead singer of Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí, who was brought up in a household full of traditional Irish music and song. As the band prepares for their "Greatest Hits" tour later this year, Liam reflects on the poignant story behind their hit single "Don't Go", and the time he was left behind by the band's tour bus.
Olivia McVeigh mightn't be in a band, but alongside her fellow podcasters of The Girls Groupchat she's taking the show onstage, alongside Irish girl group legends B*witched and even to ABBA Voyage. She tells Stuart about how her diagnosis of alopecia changed her entire career trajectory, into a world of advocacy and empowering others with the condition.
Emma Southon may have had a very different career as historian if she hadn't hated history so much at school. She talks about her new book Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, which sets out to give readers a full picture of the reality of enslaved people in Ancient Rome.
And Michael Fry muses on how a period of pure boredom pushed him towards comedy, and why he thinks the medium of radio is ripe for laughs, ahead of his third series of Lunchtime with Michael Fry on BBC Radio Ulster.
Plus, musicians Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin and Clare Sands give us just a "blaiseadh beag" - a very small taste of the great music coming out of the Fleadh.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Anthony McKee
Technical Producer: Davy Neill
Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFaddenShow less
Download
Choose your file
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now42 minutes
Last onThu 13 Aug 2026
21:00
BBC Radio 4#BBCRadio4 #BBCLooseEnds #Fleadh
#StuartMaconie #EmmaSouthon -
Loose Ends
Liam Ó Maonlaí, Michael Fry, Emma Southon, Olivia McVeigh, Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin, Clare Sands
Loose Ends
Stuart Maconie finds himself "i lár an aonaigh" - at the heart of craic, ceol, and much more at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as Belfast hosts the festival celebrating Irish music and culture for the very first time.
The Fleadh comes second nature to frontman and lead singer of Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí, who was brought up in a household full of traditional Irish music and song. As the band prepares for their "Greatest Hits" tour later this year, Liam reflects on the poignant story behind their hit single "Don't Go", and the time he was left behind by the band's tour bus.
Olivia McVeigh mightn't be in a band, but alongside her fellow podcasters of The Girls Groupchat she's taking the show onstage, alongside Irish girl group legends B*witched and even to ABBA Voyage. She tells Stuart about how her diagnosis of alopecia changed her entire career trajectory, into a world of advocacy and empowering others with the condition.
Emma Southon may have had a very different career as historian if she hadn't hated history so much at school. She talks about her new book Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, which sets out to give readers a full picture of the reality of enslaved people in Ancient Rome.
And Michael Fry muses on how a period of pure boredom pushed him towards comedy, and why he thinks the medium of radio is ripe for laughs, ahead of his third series of Lunchtime with Michael Fry on BBC Radio Ulster.
Plus, musicians Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin and Clare Sands give us just a "blaiseadh beag" - a very small taste of the great music coming out of the Fleadh.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Anthony McKee
Technical Producer: Davy Neill
Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFaddenShow less
Download
Choose your file
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now42 minutes
Last onThu 13 Aug 2026
21:00
BBC Radio 4#BBCRadio4 #BBCLooseEnds #Fleadh
#StuartMaconie #EmmaSouthon -
Loose Ends
Liam Ó Maonlaí, Michael Fry, Emma Southon, Olivia McVeigh, Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin, Clare Sands
Loose Ends
Stuart Maconie finds himself "i lár an aonaigh" - at the heart of craic, ceol, and much more at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as Belfast hosts the festival celebrating Irish music and culture for the very first time.
The Fleadh comes second nature to frontman and lead singer of Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí, who was brought up in a household full of traditional Irish music and song. As the band prepares for their "Greatest Hits" tour later this year, Liam reflects on the poignant story behind their hit single "Don't Go", and the time he was left behind by the band's tour bus.
Olivia McVeigh mightn't be in a band, but alongside her fellow podcasters of The Girls Groupchat she's taking the show onstage, alongside Irish girl group legends B*witched and even to ABBA Voyage. She tells Stuart about how her diagnosis of alopecia changed her entire career trajectory, into a world of advocacy and empowering others with the condition.
Emma Southon may have had a very different career as historian if she hadn't hated history so much at school. She talks about her new book Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, which sets out to give readers a full picture of the reality of enslaved people in Ancient Rome.
And Michael Fry muses on how a period of pure boredom pushed him towards comedy, and why he thinks the medium of radio is ripe for laughs, ahead of his third series of Lunchtime with Michael Fry on BBC Radio Ulster.
Plus, musicians Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin and Clare Sands give us just a "blaiseadh beag" - a very small taste of the great music coming out of the Fleadh.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Anthony McKee
Technical Producer: Davy Neill
Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFaddenShow less
Download
Choose your file
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now42 minutes
Last onThu 13 Aug 2026
21:00
BBC Radio 4#BBCRadio4 #BBCLooseEnds #Fleadh
#StuartMaconie #EmmaSouthon -
Loose Ends
Liam Ó Maonlaí, Michael Fry, Emma Southon, Olivia McVeigh, Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin, Clare Sands
Loose Ends
Stuart Maconie finds himself "i lár an aonaigh" - at the heart of craic, ceol, and much more at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as Belfast hosts the festival celebrating Irish music and culture for the very first time.
The Fleadh comes second nature to frontman and lead singer of Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí, who was brought up in a household full of traditional Irish music and song. As the band prepares for their "Greatest Hits" tour later this year, Liam reflects on the poignant story behind their hit single "Don't Go", and the time he was left behind by the band's tour bus.
Olivia McVeigh mightn't be in a band, but alongside her fellow podcasters of The Girls Groupchat she's taking the show onstage, alongside Irish girl group legends B*witched and even to ABBA Voyage. She tells Stuart about how her diagnosis of alopecia changed her entire career trajectory, into a world of advocacy and empowering others with the condition.
Emma Southon may have had a very different career as historian if she hadn't hated history so much at school. She talks about her new book Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, which sets out to give readers a full picture of the reality of enslaved people in Ancient Rome.
And Michael Fry muses on how a period of pure boredom pushed him towards comedy, and why he thinks the medium of radio is ripe for laughs, ahead of his third series of Lunchtime with Michael Fry on BBC Radio Ulster.
Plus, musicians Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin and Clare Sands give us just a "blaiseadh beag" - a very small taste of the great music coming out of the Fleadh.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Anthony McKee
Technical Producer: Davy Neill
Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFaddenShow less
Download
Choose your file
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now42 minutes
Last onThu 13 Aug 2026
21:00
BBC Radio 4#BBCRadio4 #BBCLooseEnds #Fleadh
#StuartMaconie #EmmaSouthon -
Loose Ends
Liam Ó Maonlaí, Michael Fry, Emma Southon, Olivia McVeigh, Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin, Clare Sands
Loose Ends
Stuart Maconie finds himself "i lár an aonaigh" - at the heart of craic, ceol, and much more at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as Belfast hosts the festival celebrating Irish music and culture for the very first time.
The Fleadh comes second nature to frontman and lead singer of Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí, who was brought up in a household full of traditional Irish music and song. As the band prepares for their "Greatest Hits" tour later this year, Liam reflects on the poignant story behind their hit single "Don't Go", and the time he was left behind by the band's tour bus.
Olivia McVeigh mightn't be in a band, but alongside her fellow podcasters of The Girls Groupchat she's taking the show onstage, alongside Irish girl group legends B*witched and even to ABBA Voyage. She tells Stuart about how her diagnosis of alopecia changed her entire career trajectory, into a world of advocacy and empowering others with the condition.
Emma Southon may have had a very different career as historian if she hadn't hated history so much at school. She talks about her new book Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, which sets out to give readers a full picture of the reality of enslaved people in Ancient Rome.
And Michael Fry muses on how a period of pure boredom pushed him towards comedy, and why he thinks the medium of radio is ripe for laughs, ahead of his third series of Lunchtime with Michael Fry on BBC Radio Ulster.
Plus, musicians Dónal O'Connor, Neil Martin and Clare Sands give us just a "blaiseadh beag" - a very small taste of the great music coming out of the Fleadh.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Anthony McKee
Technical Producer: Davy Neill
Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFaddenShow less
Download
Choose your file
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now42 minutes
Last onThu 13 Aug 2026
21:00
BBC Radio 4#BBCRadio4 #BBCLooseEnds #Fleadh
#StuartMaconie #EmmaSouthon -
https://www.europesays.com/people/214180/ Burnham and Macron discuss small boats and bringing UK closer to Europe #AndyBurnham #BBCRadio4's #Burnham #DowningStreet #EmmanuelMacron #europe #French #macron #No10 #The"megaDinghies" #UK #Ukraine
-
Judging from the words of various Radio 4 announcers and newsreaders today, the following are all on loan from France to the UK:
• the Bayeux tapestry
• the Bayeau tapestry
• the Bayou tapestryFor me, this grates horribly. I find it painful and a bit embarrassing. Especially since discovering that the BBC Pronunciation Unit apparently still exists—it suggests they don't even know that the #pronunciation might need checking.
-
Judging from the words of various Radio 4 announcers and newsreaders today, the following are all on loan from France to the UK:
• the Bayeux tapestry
• the Bayeau tapestry
• the Bayou tapestryFor me, this grates horribly. I find it painful and a bit embarrassing. Especially since discovering that the BBC Pronunciation Unit apparently still exists—it suggests they don't even know that the #pronunciation might need checking.
-
Judging from the words of various Radio 4 announcers and newsreaders today, the following are all on loan from France to the UK:
• the Bayeux tapestry
• the Bayeau tapestry
• the Bayou tapestryFor me, this grates horribly. I find it painful and a bit embarrassing. Especially since discovering that the BBC Pronunciation Unit apparently still exists—it suggests they don't even know that the #pronunciation might need checking.
-
Judging from the words of various Radio 4 announcers and newsreaders today, the following are all on loan from France to the UK:
• the Bayeux tapestry
• the Bayeau tapestry
• the Bayou tapestryFor me, this grates horribly. I find it painful and a bit embarrassing. Especially since discovering that the BBC Pronunciation Unit apparently still exists—it suggests they don't even know that the #pronunciation might need checking.
-
Chef celebrates inclusion in top food critic’s book https://www.diningandcooking.com/chefs/5596/ #BBCRadio4's #BBCSounds #Chef #cool" #DumplingKing #JayRayner #JayRayner's #McIntyre #McIntyre's #Rayner #RobMcIntyre #TheKitchenCabinet
-
Chef celebrates inclusion in top food critic’s book https://www.diningandcooking.com/chefs/5596/ #BBCRadio4's #BBCSounds #Chef #cool" #DumplingKing #JayRayner #JayRayner's #McIntyre #McIntyre's #Rayner #RobMcIntyre #TheKitchenCabinet
-
Chef celebrates inclusion in top food critic’s book https://www.diningandcooking.com/chefs/5596/ #BBCRadio4's #BBCSounds #Chef #cool" #DumplingKing #JayRayner #JayRayner's #McIntyre #McIntyre's #Rayner #RobMcIntyre #TheKitchenCabinet
-
Eugene V Debs
Reginald D Hunter selects Eugene V Debs
Great LivesEugene Victor Debs, born 1855 in Indiana USA, was a railway worker, a trade unionist and a five time candidate for the presidency. He was imprisoned during the First World War for sedition. He'd urged resistance to the draft; President Woodrow Wilson called him a traitor to the nation, but Debs still ran for the presidency in 1920. His sentence was commuted the following year.
Reginald D Hunter is an American stand-up comedian based in the UK. His many credits include Have I Got News For You and Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South. Last year at Edinburgh his show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers briefly became headline news. In studio with Reginald and presenter Matthew Parris is Professor Clive Webb, author of Vietdamned.
The producer for BBC Studios in Bristol is Miles Warde.
#BBCRadio4 #BBCGreatLives
#EugeneVDebs
#ReginaldDHunter
#MatthewParris -
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 -
Now listening: Crossing Continents - Getting Gaza back online
How amid the tents and the rubble Gaza is developing once again as an unlikely tech hub.
-
How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain
1. Building men of Empire
Boarding schools have long been synonymous with leadership, privilege and tradition. Woven into the fabric of British society, these institutions have played a significant role in shaping the nation's leaders - from Empire builders to politicians.
In the first of three programmes, Nicky Campbell unravels the complex history of boarding schools, from their humble origins as day schools for the poor to their transformation into elite institutions that have defined power and influence.
But does early separation from family and loved ones come at a cost? And what impact has Britain's most enduring educational tradition had on the rest of British society?
Available now
42 minutesLast on
Yesterday
19:15
BBC Radio 42026-07-11 1915-2000
#BBCRadio4 #BBCHowBoardingSchoolsShapedBritain
#HowBoardingSchoolsShapedBritain
#NickyCampbell -
Interesting episode of More or Less this week, particularly factchecking the greenwash around the “carbon capture” from restoring whale populations (which we should do because it is good to do regardless, not for bullshit financial/monetised benefits).
-
Last Word (BBCRadio4 Obit Show)
Roy Hattersley
Daphne Hamilton-Fairley
Roger Cook
Sterling BetancourtLast Word
Lord Roy Hattersley, the former Deputy Leader of the Labour party. He was born and brought up in Sheffield. In his book A Yorkshire Boyhood, he confessed to being passionate about three things: Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, Yorkshire County Cricket and socialist politics. His friend and colleague, Lord Kinnock, pays tribute.
Daphne Hamilton-Fairley, spoke out for tolerance after her husband was killed by an IRA bomb. He had inspired her to become a speech therapist and after his death she set up one of the first specialist schools for dyslexia and other special educational needs. She named it Fairley House, after her husband. Her daughter Diana Hamilton-Fairley shares her memories.
Roger Cook was the intrepid investigative journalist who pioneered the technique known as “doorstepping” - challenging those he suspected of wrongdoing face to face with the camera or tape recorder running. First on Radio 4’s consumer affairs programme Checkpoint and then on ITV’s The Cook Report he took on criminals and fraudsters on behalf of listeners and viewers. Matthew talks to his colleague Tim Tate.
Sterling Betancourt was a pioneer of steel pan music from Trinidad and Tobago. He was one of the first to bring the instrument to Britain in the 1950s and went on to play a big role in the early days of the Notting Hill Carnival. Sterling’s wife Beatrice Elokbi tells his story.
Presenter: Matthew Bannister
Producer: Ribika Moktan
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Andrea Kennedydownloadable to keep in mp3 format
#BBCTheLastWord #BBCLastWord #BBCRadio4
#RoyHattersley
#DaphneHamiltonFairley
#RogerCook
#SterlingBetancourt(Steelpan is West Indian #Gamelan 👍)
-
Longtime BBC panellist admits ‘I don’t know how long I’ve got to live’ in last appearance on gardening show https://www.allforgardening.com/1770887/longtime-bbc-panellist-admits-i-dont-know-how-long-ive-got-to-live-in-last-appearance-on-gardening-show/ #BbcRadio4 #garden #GardenersQuestionTime #gardening #MatthewBiggs #PalliativeCare #SergeHillProject
-
(a bit of pro-FreeMason propaganda just before noon -- guilds, mystery plays, freemasons)
Arts & Mysteries
A History of Mystery by Cal Flyn
Episode 2 of 5Cal Flyn explores the profound power of mystery and the provocation of the unknown.
Today the award-winning writer uncovers the links between the unknown and the medieval guilds that developed to protect artisanal secrets.
Written and read by Cal Flyn
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4Show less
30 days left to listen14 minutes
Today
11:45
BBC Radio 4(... she wants to be a brother ...)
#BBCRadio4 #BookOfTheWeek #BBCBookOfTheWeek #BBCRadio4BookOfTheWeek
#BBCR4BookOfTheWeek
#R4BookOfTheWeek
#Freemasons #Freemasonry #CalFlyn #BBCCalFlyn #FreemasonBrotherCalFlyn -
How Boarding Schools Shaped Britain
3 episodes each 45 minutes long
presented by Nicky Campbell