Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
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Best BBC Radio 4 podcasts we could find (updated August 2020)
Best BBC Radio 4 podcasts we could find
Updated August 2020
Updated August 2020
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New research on how society works
A rich selection of documentaries aimed at relentlessly curious minds, introduced by Rhianna Dhillon.
Download the best satirical comedy from Radio 4, every Friday. Features The News Quiz, The Now Show and Dead Ringers.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas
Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists' eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince.
Brighten your week with the latest BBC Radio 4 comedy, introduced by Darren Harriott.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future.
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.
Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries sent by listeners.
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.
Insight, wit and analysis as BBC correspondents, journalists and writers take a closer look at the stories behind the headlines. Presented by Kate Adie and Pascale Harter.
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.
Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.
Reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news.
Award-winning current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad
Combative, provocative and engaging live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories. #moralmaze
Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.
A panel of horticultural experts answer gardening questions from a live audience. Recorded in a different location each week
Series focusing on foreign affairs issues
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
Series of thought-provoking talks in which the speakers air their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society
Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.
Investigating every aspect of the food we eat
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines
A frank look behind the scenes with broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover as guests from Radio, TV and podcasting share stories they probably shouldn’t. Released every Friday.
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and major breaking news from a global perspective
Led by James Naughtie, a group of readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
Insight, analysis and expert debate as key policy makers are challenged on the latest news stories. From BBC Radio 4's Today programme
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world
Presenters recommend their favourite podcasts and speak to the people who make them.
Nick Robinson talks about what’s really going on in British politics.
Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles
Jay Rayner hosts a culinary panel show packed full of tasty titbits that might change the way we think about food, cooking and eating. An expert panel answers audience questions.
Sophie Duker, Heidi Regan and Ned Sedgwick are here to guide you through the bewildering pursuit of adulthood.
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters
Nature documentaries to inspire your next outdoors adventure introduced by Harriet Noble.
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
This podcast features Open Book and A Good Read. Open Book talks to authors about their work. In A Good Read Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books.
The big political stories with lively discussion and expert comment and analysis. Presenter Carolyn Quinn is joined by politicians and journalists 10pm every Sunday on BBC Radio 4.
Expect a summer festival with a difference as some of the nation's favourite comics turn curators and host a virtual festival featuring their favourite performers from the worlds of comedy, literature and spoken word. They'll be in control of everything (even the weather) as we're taken along for the ride to not only hear some great performances bu…
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Woman's Hour
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Baby banks, Mercury prize nominee Georgia, Pat Hume, Author Luan Goldie
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The Duchess of Cambridge has spearheaded a campaign to persuade retailers to donate items to baby banks around the UK. New figures from the three big charities – Baby Basics, Little Village and AberNecessities have published figures which show the number of families with children under five who’ve needed their help has risen significantly since the…
It's a love song about growing old. Neil Young's Harvest Moon released in 1992 is a nod to the 1970s country rock loved by music blogger Alyson Young. It's also a grown up song about love says singer-songwriter Ricky Ross. How do you make the magic last and how do you keep love alive? People tell their stories about what the song means to them: jaz…
05 AUG 20By BBC Radio 4
Reggie Nelson believes in the importance for young people of finding a mentor and tells the extraordinary story of how he found his own.Presenter: Olly MannProducer: Sheila CookBy BBC Radio 4
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Best of Today
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'We had this influx of tens of casualties to our emergency room. Most of them were glass wounds and they were in shock'
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Rescue workers in Lebanon are searching for more than a hundred people who are missing after a huge explosion devastated the port area of the capital Beirut on Tuesday. The chief executive of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Dr Firass Abaid, told Martha Kearney about coping with the aftermath of the explosion. He said: "It was pretty chaotic, …
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'It’s wonderful to be reunited with something that was lost so many years ago and which I had given up on ever getting back'
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Fifty nine years ago today, Alice and Norman Thomson got married. But the symbol of that marriage - an engraved wedding ring - was stolen in a burglary thirty years ago. It was found by Debbie Davidson, who unearthed it when digging out a pot plant from her Edinburgh garden. Debbie sent a message to her old school friend, Martha Kearney, who turned…
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Wednesday's business with Katie Prescott
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12:41
UK car sales rose 11% in July. Is this a sign of recovery from earlier in the pandemic? Plus childcare in lockdown, and the markets, including Disney. (Photo: Getty Images)By BBC Radio 4
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
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Inside Health
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Bedside Covid Test; Longterm Covid Recovery
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Dr Mark Porter on a new bedside test that differentiates between Covid-19 and other infectious diseases including flu in under an hour. Mark meets Dr Tristan Clark who has already been using the test as part of a trial. And the world's largest study into 'Long Covid' recruiting 10.000 people from 50 different hospitals across the UK who've been hos…
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Front Row
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Little Birds writer Sophia Al-Maria, Simon Armitage, Summer reads, Tara Gbolade
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28:23
Qatari-American artist, writer, and filmmaker Sophia Al-Maria discusses her screenplay for the latest big release from Sky Atlantic. Inspired by Anaïs Nin’s collection of erotic stories, Little Birds is set in the famous 'international zone' of Tangier. New York heiress Lucy Savage (Juno Temple) is fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for …
September 1943, and German troops have just landed in gliders to rescue Benito Mussolini from the mountain resort where he was being held. “I knew my friend Adolf Hitler would not desert me,” he said later. But Mussolini died before the end of the war, shot and then strung up with his mistress in Milan. Who was this man, and is he still relevant to…
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Word of Mouth
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Othering through the centuries: Translation to acronyms
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Playwright Sabrina Mahfouz, sitting in for Michael Rosen, talks to producer Tobi Kyeremateng and classicist Professor Katherine Harloe about othering in language: describing people in ways that exclude them and make them seem lesser. Translations of the classics have been politicised in identity terms, for example adding in 'white skin' in where it…
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Woman's Hour
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How to help your child spot fake news online
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Empowering schoolchildren to identify propaganda and distorted facts onlineBy BBC Radio 4
04 AUG 20By BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
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How to help your child spot fake news online
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How can you help your children to identify fake news on the internet? With the explosion of different platforms it can be hard to keep tabs on what they are watching. Jane finds out from the editor of 'The Week Junior', Anna Bassi, and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, the founder of 'Lie Detectors', an award-winning news literacy project which empower…
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Best of Today
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'Looking for either Alice or Norman who got married 5.8.61. May be from Edinburgh or Inveresk'
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“Looking for either Alice or Norman who got married 5.8.61. May be from Edinburgh or Inveresk. I found a wedding ring in huge plant pot when repotting plant. I would like that the ring was returned to the owner.”This is the message that Martha Kearney spotted on Facebook from her former school friend, Debbie Davidson. Soon she was embroiled in the …
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From Our Own Correspondent Podcast
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From Our Home Correspondent 04/08/2020
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In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom reflecting contemporary life.When lockdown dramatically curtailed orders, those businesses providing perishable products suffered particularly badly. Artisan cheese-makers had been growing in rural Wales creating…
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Best of Today
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'If...this testing and tracing and isolation just is not done properly, then you get very bad surges occurring'
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Scientists are warning there could be a second wave of Coronavirus twice as bad as the first unless the government significantly improves its testing and tracing systems by the time schools reopen in September. Dr David Nabarro, the WHO's special envoy on Covid-19, told Mishal Husain: "This virus is capable of surging back really quickly and is act…
It’s amazing what we can learn from a pile of old bones. Having worked as a paediatric surgeon for several years (often doing the ward round on roller blades), Alice Roberts spent a decade teaching anatomy to medical students and studying human remains. A niche interest in the collar bone and how it has changed since we evolved from the common ance…
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Tuesday's business with Katie Prescott
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Are the security concerns about the Chinese-owned platform Tik Tok well founded or more geopolitical? Plus Hays Travel redundancies and the markets. (Photo: Getty Images)By BBC Radio 4
Simon had been sleeping in shop doorways in Manchester for three years when the coronavirus pandemic reached the UK. Suddenly, as the government released emergency funding to get people sleeping rough off the streets during lockdown, Simon found himself being offered an en suite room at the Holiday Inn. This is the story of the unprecedented operat…
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The World Tonight
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Tributes for Nobel Peace Prize winner, John Hume
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Looking back on the life of peace maker and former SDLP leader, John HumeBy BBC Radio 4
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Front Row
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Barbara Kingsolver as poet, Es Devlin's Lockdown Discovery, Sculptor Thomas J. Price, pianist Leon Fleisher remembered
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Barbara Kingsolver talks about her new book, How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) which is only her second collection of poetry. As well as offering practical advice (on knitting, getting divorced, doing nothing) the poems are about family, and making peace with life and death. Barbara also reflects on the redemptive power of art and poetry it…
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Six O'Clock News
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03/08/2020 Tributes to Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume
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The former SDLP leader - who helped end the Troubles - has died aged 83By BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
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Kids Against Plastic, Irish Tampon Ad, Zara McFarlane
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Listen to sisters Ella and Amy. They're behind Kids Against Plastic and talk to us about the world's reliance on plastic, especially single use plastic, and the way we just dump it. On Wednesday they're part of the online climate change forum called ‘Race Against Climate Change’.We go to Ireland to hear about a tampon TV ad which has caused a stir,…
03 AUG 20By BBC Radio 4
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'I often wake up in the night feeling as if someone is pulling the tubes from my daughter and tightening my handcuffs'
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Two parents are taking legal action after they were forcibly removed from their dying daughter’s bedside in hospital by police officers. Dr Rashid Abbasi told Mishal Husain that he and his wife Aliya have not recovered from the experience: “We are still living the nightmare. I often wake up in the night feeling as if someone is pulling the tubes fr…
The director of the Francis Crick Institute, Sir Paul Nurse, told Sarah Smith the Government should "treat the public as adults" in its communications over Covid-19. He also said: “I think we need greater openness in the decision-making. It sometimes seems somewhat shrouded in secrecy.” Sir Paul was speaking as the Government revealed that new 90-m…
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Best of Today
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Monday's business with Dharshini David
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HSBC’s profits have slumped 65%. What is going on with the bank? Plus, the latest from the Federation of Small Businesses, and returning to the office. (Photo: Getty Images)By BBC Radio 4
This week on Fortunately, Fi and Jane are joined by Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Krishnan checks in with Fi and Jane after an early morning hosting 5live Breakfast. He talks them through a morning news meeting, confesses why he wouldn't make a good doctor and is subject to a bit of Glover-Tracing. After chatting to Krishnan, Fi an…
Ellie Price and guests discuss the latest on CoronavirusBy BBC Radio 4
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Six O'Clock News
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02/08/2020 Government says reopening schools in England "a priority"
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Ministers insist it will be safe to return in September despite concerns from unionsBy BBC Radio 4
By BBC Radio 4
Slowly but surely, restaurants are emerging from the coronavirus lockdown, introducing us to a new world of dining out, with added hygiene and distancing measures. But some outlets aren’t able to open safely yet - some may never open again. And although small, independent outlets might seem like the most obvious victims of this crisis, no business …
Steve Backshall is an explorer, naturalist and broadcaster. His BAFTA-winning programmes bring viewers of every generation closer to nature – from the children's series Deadly 60, featuring close encounters with the most dangerous and venomous creatures on earth, to Blue Planet Live and Springwatch.His interest in the natural world began at a young…
Do we have enough data to know what’s happening on the continent? We talk to Dr Justin Maeda from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Ghanaian public health researcher Nana Kofi Quakyi about tracking Africa’s outbreak. Producer: Jo Casserly Picture: Volunteers wait to feed local people during the weekly feeding scheme at the Heritage Baptist …
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Six O'Clock News
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01/08/2020 Pubs 'may need to shut' to allow schools to reopen
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Two senior government scientific advisers warn difficult decisions will have to be taken, to prevent further coronavirus outbreaks.By BBC Radio 4
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Woman's Hour
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Recovering after domestic abuse, Black women in music, Bicycle saddles
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We discuss the process of recovery after domestic abuse, the way that these relationships can stay with you but also how you can build a new life after. How do those who have survived abuse find their behaviour affected? What do they wish that their friends and family had understood? And how can friends and family can help? With Sue Penna, co-found…
From now, the over 75s will have to start paying for their TV licences. We speak to the BBC’s Director, Policy Clare Sumner about what the BBC is doing about the 1m pensioners who will receive demands for payment but should be exempt.In his summer statement, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised a bonus for employers who hire apprentices over the nex…
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had nothing to do with politics until recently, and has now become the main opposition candidate for the presidential election in Belarus on the 9th of August. She became a candidate when her husband, a leading opposition leader, was suddenly jailed. Jean Mackenzie was able to meet her, and the other women taking on President…
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Saturday Live
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Danielle de Niese and Loyd Grossman
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Richard Coles and Bridgitte Tetteh are joined by Danielle de Niese who became the youngest ever winner of the Australian TV programme Young Talent Time at the age of 9. Her family relocated to Los Angeles, where Danielle made her professional operatic debut at the age of 15 with the Los Angeles Opera. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera at…
01 AUG 20By BBC Radio 4
Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show. Dr Annie Gray, Jordan Bourke, Rachel McCormack and Tim Anderson join from their kitchens to answer questions sent in by email and social media.This week, the panel shares ideas for the perfect summer Sunday lunch, discusses the history and many uses of the grater, and comes up with ideas for making use of h…
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The World Tonight
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Planned easing of coronavirus restrictions are postponed
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In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
"There's nothing wrong with ambition," writes Linda Colley, "but coming to terms with our inescapable geographical smallness would be helpful."She says historically there's been a tendency to kick against this awkward fact and an obsession with the idea of a global Britain. Linda argues that we should recognise the advantages of smallness - nourish…
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Front Row
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Sir Alan Parker remembered, Beyoncé's Black is King, Prodigal Son, Natasha Trethewey, Don Hahn
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Film director Alan Parker is remembered by Dick Clements and Ian La Frenais, who wrote The Commitments.Disney Producer Don Hahn (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) joins Samira Ahmed to discuss his new documentary about the legendary lyricist Howard Ashman, who wrote Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and part of Aladdin, before dying of Ai…
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Six O'Clock News
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31/07/2020 Lockdown easing delayed in England
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The re-opening of casinos and bowling alleys is postponed due to Covid-19 concernsBy BBC Radio 4
Kathy Clugston presents the horticultural panel show with gardening experts. Anne Swithinbank, James Wong and Matthew Wilson are on hand to answer questions sent in via email and social media.This week, the panel discusses adding colour to your flowerbed, taking care of an orchid and gardening gloves suitable for heavy duty work.Away from the quest…
