Radio
Just writing about this radio programme makes me feel nauseous
If you’re in the least bit squeamish you’d better stop reading now. What follows is not for those who blanch…
The history of India in 50 personalities
The idea of using objects — salt, cod, nutmeg, silk — to turn history lessons into something popular and accessible…
What happened to the children who survived the Holocaust?
‘I call Zelma Cacik who may be living in London,’ says the announcer, in the clipped RP accent of the…
Don’t believe Orson Welles, says his biographer Simon Callow — especially when he calls himself a failure
Orson Welles would have been 100 this month. When he died in 1985, aged 70, the wonder was that he…
This radio programme almost made me like Piers Morgan
An extraordinary black-and-white photograph of a young black boy taken on the Isle of Wight by Julia Margaret Cameron in…
Britain has the lowest percentage of women engineers in Europe. Why?
‘It’s hard to know how to tell this story,’ she said as she began. ‘Because it’s so loaded. It’s so…
‘Ratings aren’t a pressure for me,’ says the new controller of Radio Three
The new controller of Radio Three, Alan Davey, was on Feedback this week (Radio Four) talking to listeners about his…
Why Bette Davis loathed theatre
It was called Frankly Speaking and by golly it was. The great screen actress Bette Davis was being interviewed by…
Did Radio 4 have to deal with the Germanwings disaster as it did?
‘You can hear pretty clearly the sound of one of the helicopters and you can see it in the darkness,’…
Does the future of radio really lie in podcasts?
To a debate on the future of radio at the BBC where it turns out not to be a discussion…
Radio is the best way to mug up on the classics
If ever I found myself at a pretentious literary party obliged to play David Lodge’s ‘Humiliation’ game and to confess…
What it’s really like to live in India today - stressful
After a month cooped up in a Scottish castle, no internet, no TV, and no radio, watching hectic snowflakes billowing…
All radio drama should be as good as this Conrad adaptation
The aching hum of crickets. The susurrus of reeds. The lapping of waves. The unmistakable noise of a sound technician…
How long is it since anniversaries stopped being measured in years?
‘You must promise to be with us for our silver wedding D.V. which will be in four years,’ wrote Queen…
‘Robust’, busted
‘Heart of Oak are our ships, Jolly Tars are our men,’ shouted my husband unconvincingly. He has taken to doing…
Why Putin is even less of a human than Stalin was
LBC likes to tell us it’s ‘Leading Britain’s Conversation’, though in the case of weekday pre-lunch presenter James O’Brien you’ll…
The amazing story of the blind photographer
Perhaps the news that Radio 5 live will be the only BBC station (under the new broadcasting rights agreements) to…
Why BBC Arabic is booming
Last weekend BBC Arabic celebrated 77 years since John Reith (as he then was) launched the first foreign-language service of…
Radio 4’s War and Peace: almost as good as the book
To have listened to Radio 4’s marathon ten-hour adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace as it was being broadcast on…
My four great loves were unrequited (though I had a chance with Ginger Rogers)
I had a short chat with BBC radio concerning the actor Jack Nicholson, whom I knew slightly during the Seventies…
Was Beethoven influenced by yoga?
How many digital radios have you bought over the years? How many are still working? Of the four I used…
When did we become a nation of police informers?
There’s a danger that in what follows your columnist may seem to be recommending an attitude. Please don’t think that.…
Without childhood traumas, how did Alan Bennett ever become a writer?
‘So — take heart,’ said Alan Bennett, sending us out from his play, Cocktail Sticks, on a cheery note. The…
Why Serial is the future of radio
The fuss may now be over, the last episode of Serial revealed. But if the global success of WBEZ Chicago’s…
Children’s radio was once at the core of the BBC - now it’s all but disappeared
It was a bit of a surprise to hear Jarvis Cocker, the embodiment of cool and former frontman of Pulp,…
