Slow Radio - podcast cover

Slow Radio

BBC Radio 3www.bbc.co.uk

An antidote to today’s frenzied world. Step back, let go, immerse yourself: it’s time to go slow.

Listen to the sounds of birds, mountain climbing, monks chatting as you go about your day. A lo-fi celebration of pure sound.

Episodes

Sounds of the Earth - April

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Featuring recordings of spring birdsong in Bath, Leamington Spa, Gloucestershire, and the island of Mauritius, sent in by Radio 3 Breakfast listeners Colette Wilson, Anthea Asprey, Judy Bailey and John Fenner.

May 25, 202234 min

Slow Motion Sounds

Stockholm-based artist Milo Lavén reveals the hidden world within slowed-down sounds.

Apr 24, 202230 min

Sounds of the Earth - March

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from the Fens to the Scilly Isles via St Albans and Shaftesbury. Featuring recordings of birds, frogs and horses made by Radio 3 listeners Susie Nicholls, Tom Perrett, David Learner and Stuart Macer.

Apr 19, 202234 min

Coventry's Riley Square

City life and moments of calm – a sound portrait of Riley Square in Coventry, recorded with artists Georgiou & Tolley.

Mar 27, 202229 min

Sounds of the Earth - February

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from Kenya to New Zealand via Lancashire and the Cotswolds. Featuring recordings made by Radio3 Breakfast listeners Cathy Tattersfield and Josh Clarke, and BBC Natural History recordists Trevor Gosling and Nigel Tucker.

Mar 16, 202232 min

Sounds of the Earth - January

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. From midwinter on the English coast to the floodplains of Central Brazil via an Oxfordshire canal and a Somerset millpond, this month's mix focuses on birds. Includes listener recordings made by Michael Bawtree and Paul Miles, BBC Natural History Unit recordings from Tim Bevan and Paul Reddish, and several made by sound recordist Chris Watson.

Jan 30, 202231 min

Sounds of the Earth - December

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the Caribbean and back again via the rainforests of Queensland and the icy waters off Nova Scotia, Canada. Includes listener recordings made by William Collinson and Julio Davila and BBC Natural History Unit recordings from Trevor Gosling, Mike Potts and Grace Niska Atkins.

Dec 26, 202131 min

Venice Between the Bells

There are 107 bell towers in Venice. Wherever you go in the city the passage of time is measured by the echo of bells across rooftops. But the biggest bell of them all – the Marangona in St. Mark's Basilica – only stirs into sound twice a day: at midday and midnight. In this beautiful soundscape Radio 3’s Slow Radio takes you from the chime of Marangona at midday, along lapping canals and whispering alleyways, across piazzas and bridges, around this evocative city, until midnight, when the deep,...

Dec 20, 202130 min

Sounds of the Earth - November

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a Loch in the Scottish Highlands to the evergreen forests of Thailand via South Africa and a tiny Gloucestershire village. With field recordings by Hugh Manistree, Grace Niska Atkins, Christopher Hammond and Dave Reid.

Nov 29, 202126 min

Sounds of the Earth - October

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a wolf sanctuary in Portugal to a watery Danish peninsula. Plus, sounds from grazing time at Lake Naivasha, Kenya and evening sunlight at the South Downs National Park with rooks, pigeons and a nightingale.

Nov 05, 202126 min

Sounding Jarrow Slake

Jarrow Slake is an expanse of tidal mudflats at the mouth of the Tyne with fascinating social and natural histories. The Venerable Bede lived and worked here; timber from Scandinavia was brought to mature in its ponds. In 1972 the Port of Tyne authority filled these in to allow factory development. Now cars built at Sunderland are stored at Jarrow Slake prior to export. Part is a post-industrial site, where land meets water and sky. It is desolate and little visited, and so there is a rich varie...

Oct 31, 202130 min

Sounds of the Earth - September

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the ruins of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight to Cerne Abbas in Dorset, via a 15th Century church in Kings Norton and a leafy park in Oxfordshire. With field recordings by Mary Edwards and Scott Armbruster, John Mears, Robin Mills and Pete Kirkman.

Oct 11, 202128 min

Homeward

After a break of over a year owing to Covid 19 Restrictions, Calum and Claire MacAulay travel back to their native Skye and North Uist for a long awaited reunion with family.

Oct 03, 202130 min

The Dunwich Dynamo

Experience a night-time journey from central London to the Suffolk coast, on a bicycle.

Sep 28, 202129 min

Sounds of the Earth - August

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the Scottish border, to a remote island in the Cyclades, via Northumbrian moorlands and the Ribble Valley. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Heather Wright and Tom and Jan Perrett.

Sep 01, 202126 min

A Night on Lundy

An audio voyage to the remote island of Lundy, a haven for marine wildlife. 12 miles off the coast of North Devon, Lundy has long been a place of refuge. Once ruled by Barbary pirates and political plotters, the island's stormy history has blown over, leaving a peaceful haven, awash with wildlife, and home to just 20 people. Stepping ashore from the ferry, MS Oldenburg, we'll be castaways for the night, and our to guide us, is the island's nature warden, Dean Woodfin-Jones. Walking the blustery ...

Aug 29, 202132 min

Sounds of the Earth - July

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the parks of Madrid, to the southern tip of Exmoor National Park via the Malvern Hills. With field recordings by Kevin Tomkins, Julian Tanner, Tom Perrett and Ollie Marks.

Aug 06, 202124 min

Deep Blue to Pale Blue

Tie on to the rope of artist and climber Dan Shipsides to go sea cliff climbing at Fairhead on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland. For Dan climbing and art feed into one another in unexpected and complimentary ways - both are creative acts - appreciative of aesthetics and beauty. Also joining us on the climb will be Derry-born dancer Zoe Ramsey. She was introduced to the sport by Dan and was instantly hooked. While their climbing styles might be as different as the art they create both s...

Aug 01, 202130 min

The Funfair

Escape to the seaside and enjoy the sounds of a day at the fair. As the country comes out of long periods of enforced lockdown, it's good to be reminded of the fun things that bring people together, and escape to a happy place, with reminders of holidays, childhood, excitement and wonder. The Pleasure Beach at Great Yarmouth is a family-run business that has stood on the sea front for over a hundred years. It mixes the latest fairground ride technology with vintage favourites. This Slow Radio ex...

Jun 28, 202131 min

The Funfair

Escape to the seaside and enjoy the sounds of a day at the fair. As the country comes out of long periods of enforced lockdown, it's good to be reminded of the fun things that bring people together, and escape to a happy place, with reminders of holidays, childhood, excitement and wonder. The Pleasure Beach at Great Yarmouth is a family-run business that has stood on the sea front for over a hundred years. It mixes the latest fairground ride technology with vintage favourites. This Slow Radio ex...

Jun 27, 202131 min

Sounds of the Earth - June

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the Grumeti River in the Serengeti to a tiny frog pool in East Sussex, via London and Suffolk. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Maria Margaronis, Sharon Sanderson and Hward Seaton.

Jun 25, 202128 min

Sounds of the Earth - May

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a tiny Scottish Hamlet to the coastal paths of Devon, via Antwerp and Kenya. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Matthew Rose, Callum and Kate in Southwest Ross-shire and Jane and Tim from Plympton, Devon.

May 27, 202127 min

Sounds of the Earth - April

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from Snettisham in Norfolk to West Sussex, via church bells and cowbells of Sussex and Alpine villages. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Jan Henslow, Richard Reich, Tim Lomas, Canon Daniel Inman and Nicholas Adams.

Apr 30, 202125 min

Sounds of the Earth - March

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from near St Boswells in the Scottish Borders to Bristol via Costa Rica, Surrey and Manchester. With field recordings by Gill French, Chris Watson, Eddie Breeveld, Alan Ward and Tom Dowling.

Mar 22, 202122 min

Sounds of the Earth - February

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the eucalyptus forests of South Australia to the North Yorkshire Moors, via a Surrey garden at sunrise and an East London Park during lockdown. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Susan Toogood, Jackie Fearnley and Anthony Sellors.

Mar 02, 202124 min