The remarkable story of how plastic became such a major player in the worlds of industry, medicine and design (among many others) before becoming persona-non-grata thanks to its intimate involvement in our current ecological plight is Shakespearean in its scale and one of the great tales of the last century. Laura Barton sets out to create a biography of this most multi-faceted and fluid titan of the manufacturing world, using the fabulously rich archive from TV, radio, advertising and film - as...
Oct 29, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's 75 years since the judgement at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Nineteen high ranking Nazis were found guilty of war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and conspiracy to commit those crimes. Twelve of them were condemned to death. The trial, which lasted almost a year, made history and the principles of international criminal law first established there are still fundamental to international justice today. The writer and lawyer, Philippe Sands examines t...
Oct 26, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the small hours of the night, we are up in our thousands watching a wheel spin on our phones - a roulette wheel. It may be virtual, yet for many of us it has a power beyond the real. Gambling has been spun inside down and inside out by the internet age, never more so than under lockdown. With the Gambling Act currently under review, Amy Acre brings the experience of betting alive through poetry, music and oral histories, tracing the social history of gambling over three generations. Image of ...
Oct 05, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast In July this year South Africa’s former President, Jacob Zuma, was jailed for contempt of court. The 79-year-old is now facing trial for corruption. But Zuma insists he is a victim of a vast, international conspiracy to poison him and silence him. And when his arrest triggers an orchestrated campaign of violence, fears grow that Zuma’s conspiracy theories and populist rhetoric could threaten the democracy he once fought to build. 'Poison' is the story of one man's toxic obsession and the battle ...
Sep 27, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast When South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, falls ill from what he suspects to be poison, he flies to Moscow for treatment. But why the need to go abroad? The implication is that Zuma believes Western spy agencies are trying to kill him. But is he now using the Russians, or are they using him for their own strategic purposes? 'Poison' is the story of one man's toxic obsession and the battle for South Africa's future. Presenter: Andrew Harding Producer: Vauldi Carelse Sound mix: James Beard Series...
Sep 27, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Home after years in exile during the liberation struggle, South Africa’s future President Jacob Zuma is quickly engulfed in corruption scandals. But when one of his wives is accused of trying to poison his tea, Zuma suspects that a foreign government may be plotting to kill him. 'Poison' is the story of one man's toxic obsession and the battle for South Africa's future. Presenter: Andrew Harding Producer: Vauldi Carelse Sound mix: James Beard Series editor: Bridget Harney
Sep 27, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma is convinced he’s been the target of repeated poisoning attempts. But why? In this episode we dive into the murkiest corners of the long struggle against racial apartheid to uncover Cold War paranoia, toxic underpants, and the origins of Zuma’s fixation with poison. 'Poison' is the story of one man's toxic obsession and the battle for South Africa's future. Presenter: Andrew Harding Producer: Vauldi Carelse Sound mix: James Beard Series editor: Bridget ...
Sep 27, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma believes he has been poisoned, repeatedly. He claims to be the victim of a long, sophisticated, and unfinished plot to assassinate him. But who would want to kill a man still celebrated for his role as a fighter in the struggle against apartheid? Could it be linked to the allegations of massive corruption against him? Or is there a broader conspiracy at work – an international plot to silence a man who claims to be speaking up for South Africa’s neglected poor...
Sep 27, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ten years ago, in 2011, David Aaronovitch felt like he was losing his grip on reality. He'd been placed in a coma, after a surgery gone wrong. Now he was awake and in Intensive Care. Every time he closed his eyes the inside of his eyelids would display a kaleidoscope of red, black and yellow violent cartoon images. Faces appeared before him like odd animation of computer game avatars. That was just the beginning. For the next four days and night David experienced what he describes as a "waking n...
Sep 24, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do we send a warning a hundred millennia into the future? Poet Paul Farley considers how we might warn people three thousand generations from now about the radioactive waste we’ve left in geological disposal facilities deep underground. As he does so he explores the essence of communication and storytelling and the elements of our language, art and culture which are truly universal. In countries across the world, including the UK, USA, France and Finland, the hunt is on for underground sites...
Sep 14, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a society, we send close to 100,000 people to prison each year. But what happens to people while they’re behind bars? Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their role is to help people in prison look at the harm they’ve caused to other people, understand why it happened and figure out how to make changes to prevent further offending after they’ve been released. In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone who’s ended up i...
Sep 03, 2021•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why are women not used as the dramatic engines in drama more? asks double Oscar-winning, recent Tony, Bafta and Emmy Award-winning actress Glenda Jackson. Despite improvements, the statistics concur with her theory. With great contributions from actress Adjoa Andoh, director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia, The Iron Lady), actress Harriet Walter, writer Sally Wainwright and director Richard Eyre. Presented by Glenda Jackson Produced by Pauline Harris
Aug 31, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is almost 40 years since Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys discovered genetic fingerprints in his University of Leicester laboratory. Now DNA is an integral part of criminal investigations worldwide, providing vital evidence to secure convictions and exonerate the innocent. But the extraordinary breakthroughs in genetic science since then means a suite of new DNA tools is now available to police and law enforcement, as well as private citizens doing a spot of freelance crime fighting. How are these...
Aug 20, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brexit has been a reality for seven months – long enough for fears and speculation to give way to actual experience of individual business people. How is British business faring outside the EU? Do they feel liberated, unchained from the rules of the European Union, or ensnared in a new tangle of unfamiliar red tape? How important are new trade deals in their calculations? This programme is not a definitive verdict. But amid all the wealth of commentary and speculation it is a snapshot of the exp...
Aug 17, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Breaking, also known as break-dancing, borne in New York City in the 1970s, is set to make its debut at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Four-time breaking world champion, BoxWon (Benyaamin Barnes McGee), traces how breaking went from Bronx block parties to NYC’s downtown art scene, to the world. Speaking to legends of breaking, such as Rock Steady Crew's Ken Swift and B-Boy Glyde from Dynamic Rockers, BoxWon reveals how punk impresario, Malcolm McLaren, helped breaking become a worldwide cra...
Aug 10, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Women may be caricatured as babbling chatterboxes, but in public, women speak a lot less. Be it in conferences or committee meetings, television or parliamentary debates, women do not get a proportionate amount of air space as men. Mary Ann takes us on a global journey to find out why women aren't speaking up and if they are being disproportionally side-lined, excluded from the world's debates. She explores the role history and social conditioning plays: the ancient Babylonians thought if a woma...
Aug 06, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th anniversary, Celia Hatton looks at how party slogans reveal the turbulent history of modern China. Throughout its existence, the party has used key slogans to communicate policy and mobilise the country's vast population. These messages reflect not just the ambitions of party leaders but also have a profound impact on the lives of millions. Using the BBC archive Celia examines the story behind eight key Communist Party slogans, from their early...
Jul 27, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast "I couldn't stand back anymore and just watch people die." In September 2020, drug policy activist Peter Krykant decided he'd had enough. The former heroin addict, turned frontline campaigner, bought a minivan and kitted it out with sanitisers and needles, a supply of naloxone- the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose- and a defibrillator. He parked it in Glasgow's city centre and opened its doors to homeless drug users who are most at risk of overdose. The van is operating as a drug co...
Jul 23, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Meet Velma: a cat with attitude. (Possibly...) And her owner, comedian Suzi Ruffell, who adores her pet - but thinks she's been getting a tad tetchy since they started spending more time together during the past year's various lockdowns. Is Suzi just projecting her own feelings onto an unsuspecting animal, or are those pointed stares a sign that Velma's passing frosty judgement on her owner's life choices? Together, they embark on a journey of discovery to find out more about cat behaviour and ...
Jul 09, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Struggling to find words might be one of the first things we notice when someone develops dementia, while more advanced speech loss can make it really challenging to communicate with loved ones. And understanding what’s behind these changes may help us overcome communication barriers when caring for someone living with the condition. When Ebrahim developed Alzheimer’s Disease, for example, he’d been living in the UK for many years. Gradually his fluent English faded and he reverted to his mother...
Jul 06, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast A year after rough sleepers were given emergency accommodation during the first coronavirus lockdown, has the unprecedented operation had a lasting impact? In March 2020, Simon’s life was transformed, from sleeping in shop doorways in Manchester to an en suite room at the Holiday Inn. He was one of thousands of homeless people across the country offered somewhere to stay as the Covid-19 pandemic reached the UK. The highs and lows of Simon’s experience were captured in Radio 4’s The Homeless Hote...
Jun 22, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Frank and fearless teenagers from Company Three youth theatre spent 2020 making a time capsule of their lives in lockdown, from the day their schools shut down to the present. Re-cording on their phones, they created lively, intimate scenes from family life, reflecting on what it means to come of age without the usual rites of passage like exams and school leaving parties. They have lost much - but, as the year went on, they found sides to themselves that took them by surprise, and a new appreci...
Jun 18, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Music can make us feel happy and sad. It can compel us to move in time with it, or sing along to a melody. It taps into some integral sense of musicality that binds us together. But music is regimented, organised. That same 'sense' that lets us lean into Beethoven makes a bad note or a missed beat instantly recognisable. But does that same thing happen in the minds of animals? Can a monkey feel moved by Mozart? Will a bird bop to a beat? Do animals share our 'Sense of Music'? Charles Darwin hims...
Jun 11, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast One year on from the toppling of the Colston Statue in Bristol, Descendants asks... how close is each of us to the legacy of Britain's role in slavery? And who does that mean our lives are connected to? Yrsa Daley-Ward narrates seven episodes telling the stories of people whose lives today are all connected through this history. The story begins with Jen Reid – whose image first captured attention of the national and international press after a replacement statue of her appeared on the plinth wh...
Jun 01, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast It was 1994, and legendary techno duo Slam were booked to play an event in Disneyland Paris. “We had a couple of days to kill, and a friend got in touch to say he knew these two young French musicians who wanted to give us music they’d made.” The “young French musicians” Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo were still in their teens at that point, and Daft Punk was under a year old. Stuart McMillan distinctly remembers hearing their 4-track demo for the first time; “We were blown awa...
May 25, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast One night in 2012, Anthony Grainger went out and never came home. He was shot dead by Greater Manchester Police in an operation beset with errors and blunders. Why is his family still fighting for accountability?
May 21, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Passing is a term that originally referred to light skinned African Americans who decided to live their lives as white people. The civil rights activist Walter White claimed in 1947 that every year in America, 12-thousand black people disappeared this way. He knew from first-hand experience. The black president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had blonde hair and blue eyes which meant he was able to investigate lynching in the Deep South, while passing in plain s...
May 18, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The number of people accessing mental health services in the UK has reached record levels since the start of the pandemic. Many are seeking help for the first time, for others delays in treatment have made life in lockdown much harder. The Royal College of Psychiatrists claims the number of adults experiencing some form of depression has doubled since March 2020. They say NHS services are struggling to cope with demand, meaning some people are having to wait weeks for referrals. Life on hold fol...
May 14, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast News of people being killed in knife attacks recurs with tragic regularity, but the reports rarely touch on the impact on the victim’s family and friends. In this programme Sarah O'Connell sets out to understand these ripple effects — some perhaps expected, others likely not — as she explores the case of Russell “Barty” Brown, who was stabbed to death in Bethnal Green, east London, in September 2016. As she speaks to Barty's friends and family, to the medic who treated him and a witness to this ...
May 04, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast It was the biggest bank robbery in British and Irish history. Days before Christmas 2004, gangs of armed men take over the homes of two Northern Bank officials in Belfast and County Down. With family members held hostage, the officials are instructed to remove cash from the vaults of Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast city-centre and load it into the back of a van - not once, but twice - before the van disappears into the night, along with more than £26.5 million in new and used notes. With t...
Apr 27, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
