News
Programme following a year in the life of Rory Stewart - an MP with an unusual profile. Read more
now playing
MP for Penrith and the Border
Programme following a year in the life of Rory Stewart - an MP with an unusual profile.
From the Self to the Selfie
Lauren Laverne on the origins and effects of the obsession with selfies.
Kindertransport
How 10,000 unaccompanied children, mostly Jewish, escaped from Nazi Europe to Britain.
John Lennon: Verbatim
John Lennon's extraordinary life and career told in his own words.
Bernstein, My Mentor
Acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop re her mentor, the great Leonard Bernstein.
Attention Must Be Paid - Arthur Miller's Centenary
Christopher Bigsby traces the life and work of Arthur Miller, mostly in Miller's own words
The Future of the BBC: A History
Steve Hewlett explores the troubled past behind today's debates on the future of the BBC.
The Time Machine
Comedian Doc Brown activates the flux capacitor back to the world of 21 January 1981.
07/11/2015
Fifty years after abolition, John Tusa reviews the history of the death penalty debate.
A Sympathetic Eye
Simon Farquhar examines how Man Alive reflected changing TV and social values in the 1960s
Lives in a Landscape
Alan Dein tells the story of ten years of Radio 4's observational documentary series.
Racial Equality Enshrined
Ritula Shah explores Britain's first Race Relations Act, fifty years on.
When Britain Had the Right Stuff
Richard Hollingham uncovers the forgotten history of Britons in space.
The Selling of Sinatra
Jazz singer Kurt Elling doffs his trilby as he explores the life of Frank Sinatra.
Jay Rayner Pigs Out
Jay Rayner, self-confessed greedy pig, gets serious about porkers.
The Stranger in the Mirror
Does the history of our ideas about autism reveal more about ourselves than about autism?
Utopias
Michael Symmons Roberts examines the book behind one of our most influential ideas: Utopia
David Bowie: Verbatim (2016)
Bowie’s extraordinary life and unparalleled career told in his own words.
Decimal Day - What's That in Old Money?
Peter Day considers the events and impact of Britain's currency going decimal in 1971.
In the Bluff
Poet Paul Farley shows his hand in a celebration of bluffing, from poker to geo-politics.
SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK
Naomi Alderman presents a history of interactive fiction in which YOU are the Listener!
A Brief History of Disobedience
Joe Queenan offers a Brief History of Disobedience, follow up to Blame, Anger and Shame.
The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: Anarchy Must Be Organised
Neil Innes looks at the collision of art, humour, music and anarchy in the Bonzo Dog Band.
How to Go Straight
Ex-convicts tell intimate stories of how they renounced lives of crime.
The Art of the Lyricist
Clarke Peters explores the art of the musical theatre lyricist.
Optimism - Our Enemy
Proud pessimist Bryan Appleyard investigates the contemporary cult of optimism.
The Unabomber
How a reclusive maths prodigy terrorised America - and how the media amplified his cause.
Working Class Heroes and Poverty Porn
How the portrayal of the working class and poor in film and TV has changed over 70 years.
Rising Voices
Fergal Keane explores the cultural landscape of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Tennant Looks Back At Osborne
David Tennant explores the back story to Osborne's revolutionary play Look Back in Anger.
Return to Subtopia
Gillian Darley explores "Subtopia", the blurring of space between town and country
