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NEW on The History Podcast: Half-Life. Drawn to a family legend about his German-Jewish family's dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in 1936, the writer Joe Dunthorne accidentally discovers a far more disturbing history.
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Uncanny

BBC Radio 4

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From ghostly phantoms to UFOs, Danny Robins investigates real-life stories of paranormal encounters. So, are you Team Believer or Team Sceptic? Written and presented by Danny Robins Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King Music: Evelyn Sykes Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
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Arts & Ideas

BBC Radio 4

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Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
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In this new series, Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci investigate which political buzzwords are strong and stable and which are a crock of covfefe. Each week Helen and Armando will crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to decode the doublespeak. Why does everything now have to be 'turbo-charged'? What's the difference between a 'pledge' and a 'mission'? Why has my local MP been 'weaponised' and should I be worried? You'll be treated to a crash course in the dark arts of political la ...
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Americast

BBC News

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Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North Americ ...
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Take Four Books

BBC Radio 4

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Presenter James Crawford looks at an author's latest work and delves further into their creative process by learning about the three other texts that have shaped their writing.
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Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires and motivates them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future
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Quizzes

BBC Radio 4

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Intelligent and challenging quiz games on BBC Radio 4. Featuring Round Britain Quiz, Counterpoint and Brain of Britain with Quizmasters including Paul Gambaccini, Kirsty Lang and Russell Davies.
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Illuminated

BBC Radio 4

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Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds. Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects. This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transpo ...
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Screenshot

BBC Radio 4

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image revealing fascinating links and hidden gems from cinema and TV to streaming and beyond.
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The comedy podcast that takes history seriously. In each episode of You’re Dead to Me from BBC Radio 4, Greg Jenner is joined by a comedian and an expert historian to learn and laugh about the past. History isn’t just about dates and textbooks – it’s about extraordinary characters, amazing stories, and some very questionable fashion choices. How long did it take to build an Egyptian pyramid? What does the Bayeux Tapestry reveal about medieval life? Why did it take nearly half a millennium fo ...
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Andy Zaltzman is joined by Andrew Maxwell, Ian Smith, Alex Kealy and Times columnist, Cindy Yu. They cover a triumph or a surrender (depending on who you ask) as well as reflecting on where you're most likely to spot a billionaire in the wild and the death of the semi-colon. Written by Andy Zaltzman. With additional material by: Christina Riggs, La…
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At the age of 10 Dervla Murphy was given an atlas and a bicycle, and so began an adventurous life. Her account of a journey to India became a classic called Full Tilt but she also went to Cuba, Ethiopia and the Andes where our guest first met her in a doss house. Hilary Bradt is the founder of the Bradt Travel Guides and is picking Dervla Murphy as…
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Professor Frank Close looks at how the quest to understand radioactivity and the atomic nucleus was initially fired by scientific curiosity and then by more human motives. What began as collaboration between scientists in the pursuit of atomic energy was overwhelmed by politics and opened the way to the possibility of nuclear war. Frank Close’s Des…
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There are concerns from wildlife and farming groups that the upcoming Spending Review will see the budget for nature-friendly farming schemes being cut, with money targeted only at smaller farms. We hear from farmers about what that could mean. We visit a falcon breeding facilities which supplies birds to the Middle East for the sport of falcon rac…
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In this week’s case Alfie investigates an assault on an elderly man at a bus stop. But what could have provoked such a cowardly crime? Join former-cop turned stand-up comedian, Alfie Moore and his audience of sworn-in deputies as they ask if compassion is a thing of the past. It's a Fair Cop is the show where you, the audience, help deal with the c…
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Ukraine claims 40 bomber planes were left "burning" at four airbases in Russia. The raids were apparently called Operation Spiders Web and overseen personally by President Zelensky. Also: Home Office figures show nearly 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel yesterday -- the most in a single day so far this year. And a one-two victory for McLaren at th…
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Where do we begin to think about time without humans to count it? Chris Gasson spends every spare moment on his local beach, Seatown on the Jurassic coast of Dorset, looking out for fossils and stones that speak of a past and future too vast for us to easily imagine. On his walks, Chris has found countless time capsules - including a mammoth tooth,…
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Led by presenter James Naughtie, the writer Joanne Harris takes questions from a BBC Bookclub audience on her best-selling novel, Chocolat. Published in 1999, the book follows the character of Vianne Rocher, a chocolate-maker and sometime witch, who arrives in the village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes with her six-year-old daughter Anouk at the beginni…
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Tom Fletcher heads the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and has been at the forefront of recent efforts to deliver aid into Gaza. Last week, he was criticised for making inaccurate claims about the impact of the Israeli blockade. No stranger to tough jobs, he was previously a foreign policy advisor to three British Pr…
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People over the age of 60 hold nearly £3 trillion of wealth in the value of their homes, almost all of it mortgage free. That is more than half of all housing wealth in the UK. Under 35s by contrast control only £600 billion and half of that is mortgaged. These startling figures were published recently by the upmarket estate agent Savills which has…
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The broadcaster and writer Georgia Mann has been making and presenting arts programmes at the BBC since 2008. After studying English Literature at Cambridge University, she began her career as a local BBC radio reporter before entering the arts arena of broadcasting. She has presented the BBC Proms and has said that she’s “committed to getting clas…
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Kate Adie presents stories from the US, Canada, Mexico, Myanmar and the Netherlands An increasing number of Americans - especially young men - are converting to the Russian Orthodox Church, enticed by its embrace of unabashed masculinity and traditional family values. Lucy Ash met some recent converts in Texas. The diplomatic fallout between the US…
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The Environment Agency says the north west of England is in drought. One farmer tells us this year's crops are already ruined because of a lack of water. Two proposed reservoirs have been given 'nationally significant' status by the government to speed up the planning process. Decisions on the Lincolnshire Reservoir which is planned for an area nea…
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Picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine sceptic, as the Secretary for Public Health might not be the most ‘out there’ thing the Trump administration has done but it certainly raised some eyebrows. Since his appointment Kennedy has been on a mission to ‘Make America Healthy again’ and has set his sights on finding ‘the cure’ for Autism. Autis…
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Gerry Adams sued the BBC over a documentary and online article which included allegations that he ordered the murder of a former Sinn Féin official who'd admitted spying for British intelligence. The jury at the High Court in Dublin ruled that he was defamed. Also: The government sells its last stake in the bank formerly known as RBS, 17 years afte…
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Matthew Bannister on Alan Yentob, the BBC’s only Creative Director, who commissioned many successful TV programmes, was known as an impresario of talent and also presented Imagine. Richard Garwin, the American physicist who developed the Hydrogen bomb, but then devoted his life to nuclear disarmament. Dr. Joy Shaverien, the psychoanalyst who identi…
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How do I take care of a kokedama? How do you take care of a sedum living roof? Why won't my trollius flower? For the first time ever, GQT sets up shop at the heart of the iconic RHS Chelsea Flower Show, broadcasting from the charming bandstand. Kathy Clugston is joined by a panel of horticultural heavyweights, including Bunny Guinness, Matthew Wils…
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The first in a darkly comic new series about women and space, from the award-winning author Naomi Wood, written for BBC Radio 4, From disassociating astronauts to zero-gravity threesomes, explorations of nothingness to space lust and Pokemon hunts, this brilliantly original series with a feminist twist is a savagely funny take on the near future of…
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Why do we giggle, snort, and bust a gut laughing? Is it just humans being weird, does it serve some higher function or do other animals crack up too? And, okay, Dara is a comedian, but has he ever really made anyone laugh, like properly? With help from Professor Greg Bryant and Professor Sophie Scott, they dive into the science of LOLs, exploring h…
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Greg Jenner is joined in 19th-Century America by Dr Michell Chresfield and comedian Desiree Burch to learn all about abolitionist and suffragist Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery in a Dutch-speaking area of New England, Sojourner Truth fought to free herself and then others, becoming one of the best-known abolitionist activists in America. She eve…
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Plans for a new National Park in Galloway and Ayrshire have been dropped. The Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, has announced that following a consultation, the park doesn't have enough support locally, and so will not go ahead. In the Broads National Park in Norfolk, a rise in the number of deer is having an impact on habitats and f…
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In 1745 Charles and his army of Highlanders cross into England and conquer Carlisle, Manchester, and Derby with surprising speed. But can they march on London and reclaim the British throne for the Stuart dynasty? Jack Lowden presents the dramatic story of the rise and fall of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the 1745 Jacobite rebellion. Written by Colin …
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Israel has announced plans to recognise 22 new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Will it make a Palestinian state impossible? We hear from an Israeli settler and a Palestinian. A group of Labour MPs is pressing the UK government to officially recognise Palestine. We ask a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee why she thinks that could m…
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It’s been a chaotic day in the United States. This morning, we heard the news that a court in the US has blocked Donald Trump’s tariffs. Later this evening, we found out that Trump's tariff plan was temporarily reinstated while a court considers a White House appeal. In between that, we recorded an episode, exploring what all this could mean for th…
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Samira Ahmed and writers Dreda Mitchell and Mark Ravenhill review Imelda Staunton and her daughter, Bessie Carter, in Mrs Warren's Profession. They consider, too, theatre director Marianne Elliott's first foray into film, The Salt Path, based on a Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir of how she and her husband, after they have lost their house and farm…
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Prosecutors have announced the charges against the 53-year-old man who was arrested on Monday, after a car drove into crowds at Liverpool football club's victory parade. Paul Doyle is accused of dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Also: President Trump has described a legal block on his global tariffs as a judicial coup.…
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Severe power cuts hit Spain, Portugal and parts of France this week, cutting the lights and stopping flights, trains, and ATM machines in their tracks. The Spanish grid operator has said it’s ruled out a cyber-attack, but the reason behind what happened is still unclear. We speak to Keith Bell, Professor of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at …
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Rare earths and critical minerals are precious resources everyone seems to want but what are they and what are they used for? David Aaronovitch speaks to Ellie Saklatvala, head of Nonferrous Metal Pricing at Argus – a provider of market intelligence for the global commodity markets. GuestEllie Saklatvala Presenter: David AaronovitchProducer: Caroli…
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In a special recording at the Hay Festival, Michael Rosen talks to bilingual Welsh radio and television presenter Huw Stephens about the Welsh language. And then Huw gets Michael to try reading 'Dyn Ni yn Mynd i Hela Arth, also known as We're Going on a Bear Hunt.Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University.…
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Pete Townshend is the songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of The Who. The band first stormed the pop charts sixty years ago, with teenage anthems including I Can’t Explain, Substitute and My Generation. Broader songwriting ambitions led him to create the rock opera Tommy in 1969, and the concept album Quadrophenia four years later. Both projects w…
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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Korea's brief but significant period as an empire as it moved from the 500-year-old dynastic Joseon monarchy towards modernity. It was in October 1897 that King Gojong declared himself Emperor, seizing his chance when the once-dominant China lost to Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War. The king wanted to have the sa…
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This week, we have a very special guest, Jon Stewart! Jon joins Armando and Helen to discuss whether Trump is the political equivalent of Miles Davis, the quaintness of UK politics compared to the US, Jon does a flawless Margaret Thatcher impression and they answer the age old question... are escalators the most emascualting form of travel? Listen …
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Two proposed reservoirs have been given 'nationally significant' status by the government to speed up the planning process. Decisions on the Lincolnshire Reservoir which is planned for an area near Sleaford and the Fens Reservoir near March in Cambridgeshire will now be accelerated. Ministers say the law will also be changed so that in the future a…
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Russia’s foreign minister has briefed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a “peace memorandum” to end the war in Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov has suggested direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday, when he says the memorandum will be presented to Ukrainian negotiators. Meanwhile the German chancellor has pledged more military aid to…
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Paul Hartnoll of electronic music duo Orbital talks about the reissue of the band's Brown album which was originally released in 1993, with the addition of 23 extra tracks of rarities and previously unreleased material and about the intersection between dance music and politics. Frances Wilson, who has previously published acclaimed biographies of …
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Elon Musk says he’s 'disappointed' by Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax bill, marking a break from the US president who he helped to win re-election in 2024. Today Matt Chorley is joined by the full Americast ensemble to discuss whether the Trump-Musk bromance is now over. They also explore how middle class Americans view Trump’s ongoing row with…
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Germany is to help Ukraine develop new long-range missiles, capable of striking targets deep inside Russian territory. President Zelensky warns that Moscow is again gathering thousands of troops at its border. President Trump says he believes Vladimir Putin may be intentionally delaying negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine. Also: The government's…
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Live from the Hay Festival, Alison Steadman talks to Samira about her career, from Abigail's Party to Gavin and Stacey. Laura Bates and Gwyneth Lewis discuss Arthurian Legends and The Mabinogion. Hisham Matar champions the Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. And transatlantic husband and wife country duo Outpost Drive perform on stage. Presente…
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