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Illuminated

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BBC Radio 4

Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds. Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects. This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transported by the art and inventiveness of the very best programme makers. Just press the switch. New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you don't miss an episode.

#36

The Memory Catcher

Memory is fragile. We are driven to capture it. But is this possible when the memories of the person we love have fragmented? Julian’s mother has no memory. Both her long and short term memory were destroyed by different viruses. His mother still has an emotional memory of Julian. She recognises him - his personality, his manner. But she doesn’t know how old he is, what he does for a living, or that he has a partner. And she doesn’t realise that she can’t remember. So their relationship is stuck in a loop, consisting of repeated conversations and activities. But Julian’s found a way to connect with his mother. He is a photographer and he is constantly trying to capture his mother’s image. His sister thinks he’s trying to catch glimpses of their mum as she would have been had she not got ill. Julian isn’t so sure. For him, taking photographs of his mum is simply a way for them to pass time together - to connect. Chatting in her care home, going to the café for tea and cake, listening to music in the car, celebrating a birthday - the lens of Julian’s camera brings us into the relationship between a mother and a son, divided by a loss but bound together by love. The Memory Catcher takes us on a journey into their relationship but also our relationship with memory. Who are we when we cannot make memories, even as simple as who has just said hello? When memory is faulty, fading, or lost altogether, what can be captured by another? Recorded by artist and writer Julian Lass Produced by Maia Miller-Lewis and Jo Rowntree Composer Maia Miller-Lewis With thanks to Kirsten and Monika and the wonderful staff at Monika’s care home. A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

26 Jan 2025

28 MINS

28:45

26 Jan 2025

#35

Anger and Us

Siblings Sam and Bon Stone are angry. Sam directs her anger inwards while Bon’s anger can be explosive. Through sharing parts of their lives with each other for the first time, they explore how we process anger and whether we can change it. With contributions from Noel Oganyan of Forrest Flowers (recorded at the New Cross Inn, London in November 2024) and Ronnie Turner, founder of The Anger Clinic. Original music by Jennifer Walton Produced by Sam Stone A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

19 Jan 2025

29 MINS

29:12

19 Jan 2025

#34

In Pieces

For some, burnout feels like an unravelling - a slow, creeping dissolution where the threads of your life and identity loosen and fray until you are completely undone. For others, it’s a breaking point - a sharp, sudden, collapse where everything shatters all at once. It doesn’t just kill physical vitality it also guts the entire internal mechanism of us. Like lifting the hood off a car and finding no engine. There’s nothing, a void, which feels very shameful and fragile to those who have defined themselves by performance and always had the ability to bounce back. Driven by extensive rumination both burnout and shame thrive in silence. Stories are often how we create shape from the mess, they turn shame into something softer; something shared. They are how we make sense of the world, and often how we survive it. Giving us the power to hold what feels unholdable and ultimately creating a space where someone else can say, “me too”. And sometimes what is required isn’t the courage to keep it all together, but to surrender and come apart. Recovery is messy, non-linear but also deeply creative. This is where the feature maker Hana Walker-Brown finds herself in this tender and intimate programme, sifting through the fragments, the scattered pieces of a life upended, considering how to start putting it back together. With contributions from Luca and Theo Walker-Brown, Hana’s swimming companions Zoë and Gabby, Dr Sophie Mort, Dr Aaron Balick, Andrew Tobert and Services Director for Calm Wendy Robinson. With thanks to Kenwood Ladies Pond and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) Featuring the use of "Prayer" by PJ Harvey Produced and presented by Hana Walker-Brown Sound design and original music by Hana Walker-Brown Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma Mix and Mastering: Peregrine Andrews A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

12 Jan 2025

29 MINS

29:24

12 Jan 2025

#33

One Hundred Ways of Listening

Distracted, privatised, enchanted - do you ever think about how you listen? For the last 20 years, sound anthropologist Dr Tom Rice has been collecting different ways of listening from the world’s leading sound experts. He’s gathered more than 100 – some of these may be quite familiar, others will definitely surprise you. We are at a critical moment when it comes to listening. The world is increasingly busy with sound, and it’s placing more and more demands on our ears. There’s an awareness that our culture and economic circumstances influence our perception, concern about growing pressures on our attention, and anxiety about our relationship to the environment. With the pace at which technology is developing, can we even be sure of what it is we’re listening to? We need to be skilful and agile listeners. By recognising the vast scope and extraordinary complexity of listening, we can develop our awareness and sharpen our perception, helping us to survive and even thrive in the complex sound world of the 21st century. Contributors: Bernd Brabec, University of Innsbruck; Ruth Herbert, University of Kent and City University; Dylan Robinson, University of British Columbia. Special thanks to: Michel Chion – semantic listening; Martin Daughtry – palimpsestic listening; Michael Gallagher, Jonathan Prior, Martin Needham and Rachel Holmes – embodied listening, expanded listening; Stefan Helmreich – soundstate; David Huron – ecstatic listening; James M. Kopf – anal listening; Pierre Schaeffer – acousmatic listening; Murray Schafer, David Toop – clairaudience; Kai Tuuri – critical listening. Written by Tom Rice and Ben Lewis Produced by Eve Streeter and Tom Rice Sound design by David Thomas Music by Max Walter A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

05 Jan 2025

28 MINS

28:34

05 Jan 2025

#32

My Night With Tracy - How the Darwin Cyclone Made a Man of Mike Thomson

What drives us? What makes us who we are? For one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, the multi-award-winning Mike Thomson, it was a near-death experience in Australia’s worst natural disaster this century. Having been kicked out of school at 17 for refusing to cut his hair, Mike opts to go travelling. With an older family friend, Mick Kendall, he journeys overland from Ivybridge in Devon to Australia’s 'top end' via Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Burma and Indonesia. Mike arrives in Darwin in December 1974. However, the search for fun and adventure with Mick and their new friend, Daryl Johnson, turns to terror when an “evil wind” known as Cyclone Tracy strikes on Christmas Eve and flattens the city in one night. For days Mike’s parents think their youngest child is "presumed dead" His name is on a list of causalities when in fact Mike was being well looked after as a refugee and evacuated to a farm in Western Australia. Why the confusion? Who is this ‘other’ Thomson? Now, 50 years on, Mike returns to Darwin to answer these questions and search for the two friends who helped him through the ordeal that shaped him. For more stories like this, search for Illuminated on BBC Sounds. It was produced by Ed Prendeville for BBC Audio Wales and Jane Ray for Cat Flap Media. Sound design is by John Wakefield, original music by Ben Goodman. This edition of ILLUMINATED was written and presented by Mike Thomson. With thanks to Rod Louey-Gung on behalf of the Northern Territories Museum for use of their archive. ... Read more

30 Dec 2024

29 MINS

29:31

30 Dec 2024

#31

The Shipping Forecast: A Haven

It's the most intimate moment of the Radio 4 schedule: The late-night Shipping Forecast, a prelude to the close-down of the station, read every night at 00:48. But who is really listening along, and why? Guided by Radio 4 Announcer Al Ryan, we'll cross the world to meet the people who find comfort in this unique broadcast for a variety of reasons. Produced by Luke Doran ... Read more

28 Dec 2024

28 MINS

28:48

28 Dec 2024

#30

Ceefax Strikes Back... with Count Binface

Ceefax has just reached its 50th birthday, and to celebrate this unique golden anniversary, the BBC's once-mighty teletext news service is receiving the greatest gift of all - the gift of life, courtesy of the greatest novelty politician in the omniverse, Count Binface. For eight years, Binface has pledged in his election manifestos to bring back Ceefax and now, at last, the BBC is granting his wish. With just one small hitch - it's on the radio. Still, you've got to start somewhere. Featuring the stellar talents of Rory Bremner, Emma Clarke and Jon Harvey, get ready for an aural event like no other, with the unlikely return to the airwaves of the much-missed Ceefax. Or should that be Hearfax? Starring: Rory Bremner, Emma Clarke, Leah Marks and Jon Harvey And introducing Ceefax, 4-Tel and The Oracle Script Writers: Jon Harvey and Matthew Crosby Sound Design: Tony Churnside Producer: Jon Harvey Illustration: Dan Farrimond Executive Producer: Eloise Whitmore A Naked production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

25 Dec 2024

29 MINS

29:05

25 Dec 2024

#29

The Horse at the Door

Every year's end, as the days shorten and the nights grow darker, you might be fortunate enough to hear a distinctive knock at your door. Upon opening it, you'll be met with a group of Guisers - men in disguise - here to perform their mystery play, part of the ancient Mumming tradition. There's the Enterer In, Saint George, The Prince of Paradise, The King, The Old Woman, The Quack Doctor, Beelzebub, Little Johnny Jack with his wife on his back, Little Devilly Doubt, The Groom, and The Horse. And it's the vision of The Horse At The Door that has stayed with Isy since childhood. Isy hasn’t seen the Guisers for over 30 years, but that horse and the clack of its jaw frightened her so much, she thinks of it often. In The Horse At The Door, Isy will see if she can come face to face with her fears and see whether that black painted skull still holds the same magic and power. She will speak to local pub owners and residents about The Guisers habit of bursting in, to the folklorist Richard Bradley about the Derbyshire traditions of mumming and guising, to the psychotherapist Jane Watson about why we enjoy being scared, and to The Winster Guisers themselves about the traditions they are keeping alive – and the children they are scaring. Can Isy finally look that horse in its red bulging eyes? The Horse At The Door is written and presented by Isy Suttie The Music is by Jane Watkins and Isy Suttie The Sound Design is by Jane Watkins It is produced by Laura Grimshaw It’s a Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4. With thanks to The Winster Guisers, Richard Bradley, Jane Watson, Colette Dewhurst at The Barley Mow, The Miners Standard and - especially - The Old Horse. ... Read more

22 Dec 2024

29 MINS

29:17

22 Dec 2024

#28

Stockport: Britain's Karaoke Town

The best stories have a certain WTF factor.. a weird little fact that draws you in…something you can’t ignore because it’s so contrary to what you previously thought. So it was for Geoff Lloyd when he heard that the story that Karaoke was invented in Stockport, by a charismatic shopkeeper called Roy Brooke who claimed the Japanese adopted his discovery and marketed it around the world. Geoff’s a massive Karaoke fan and remembers his halcyon days in the 90s, judging karaoke competitions in the town with his friend Caroline Aherne, so he sets off on a quest to get to the bottom of this tale; a quest that sees him chat to Stockport hitmakers Blossoms, comedy writing legend Craig Cash and a Japanese academic said to have backed up Roy's crazy claim. On the way he discovers a town so in love with Karaoke that it's home to the country's only dedicated league, a secretive world jampacked with big voices and human drama. 12 pub teams meet every Monday for chance to be champions of the New Stockport Fun Karaoke League. But have some of the teams starting taking it too seriously and forgotten about the fun? Will Geoff track down Roy Brooke and hear his side of the story and find out why Karaoke has taken root so strongly in Stockport? Presenter: Geoff Lloyd Producer: Catherine Murray Additional recording by George Herd Production Co-ordination: Mica Nepomuceno Studio mix: Nat Stokes Executive Producer: Richard McIlroy Featuring Blossoms, Craig Cash, Professor Hiroshi Ogawa, and Matt Alt, author of Pure Invention: How Japanese Culture Conquered the World. Special thanks to the Blossoms Bees and The Barnhouse teams and all the members of the New Stockport Karaoke Fun League ... Read more

17 Dec 2024

29 MINS

29:23

17 Dec 2024

#27

Voices from the Bog

For 2000 years beneath layer upon layer of peat, the remains of two bodies - a man and a woman - lay buried in the earth. Within 12 months of each other, they were discovered on Lindow Moss, the cut-over peat bog in Cheshire. It's now 40 years since the remains of Lindow Man were found, the best-preserved bog body ever discovered in the UK. A year before that, the skull of Lindow Woman was found, with major ramifications for a modern-day mystery. We still don’t know who these people were or in the case of Lindow Man, why he met his violent death. Was it ritual sacrifice to the gods, private scores settled or a public execution? Their spirits remain in the place of their burial - a small corner of Cheshire filled with myth, mystery and history. Together with one of the original peat cutters at that time, the first journalist on the site, a professor of pre-history, a conservator and material from archive, we tell the story of this remarkable archaeological discovery. And a slight twist - listening in on proceedings are Lindow Man and Lindow Woman. What might they make of the celebrations around the anniversary of the bodies in the bog? Contributors: Melanie Giles Professor in European Prehistory, University of Manchester; Stephen Dooley, former peat cutter; Rachel Pugh, writer and journalist; Velson Horie, conservation consultant and the late Rick Turner (archive) former County Archaeologist, Cheshire. Lindow Man is played by Fisayo Akinawe and Lindow Woman by Eve Shotton. Produced and written by Geoff Bird Executive Producer: Mel Harris Sound Engineer: Eloise Whitmore Music composed & performed by Laetitia Stott & mixed and mastered by Geoff Southall A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

01 Dec 2024

29 MINS

29:12

01 Dec 2024

#26

Dark Crossing

Mike is a carpenter, a boat builder, and a keen amateur sailor. Now, in his 60s he feels the time has come for a big adventure, so he signs on as crew for a transatlantic sailing voyage. But when the skipper turns to tyranny and his only ally on board loses touch with reality, Mike is faced with his own demons. There's no storm, no shipwreck, no sea monster - only three men trapped together, each battling for their own sanity. With only the endless sea surrounding them, Mike soon realises he is the only one who can pull the crew and himself out of a very dangerous place. Will he surrender to the dark line that runs through all of us? Produced by Guy Natanel Executive Producers: Shannon Delwiche and Chris Jones Original Music by Pat Moran A Sound and Bones production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

24 Nov 2024

29 MINS

29:12

24 Nov 2024

#25

The Last of the Blind Piano Tuners

Composer Aidan Tulloch is fascinated by the physical process of making music – but fears he knows very little. He gains a unique insight from some of the most precise and gifted technicians in the country – members of the Association of Blind Piano Tuners. Aidan traces their journey into this field, goes along to their annual curry lunch, and finds out why the highly skilled craft of piano tuning was once a popular career for blind and partially sighted people: now their numbers are dwindling. They also reflect on how we listen to and perceive sound and music, and the joy it brings. Presenter: Aidan Tulloch Producers: Maryam Maruf and Emily Webb Editor: John Goudie Mix: Giles Aspen (Photo: Piano tuner Martin Locke tuning a piano. Credit: Maryam Maruf) ... Read more

18 Nov 2024

29 MINS

29:26

18 Nov 2024

#24

The Sun Does Shine

The story of Anthony Ray Hinton who spent years on death row for crimes he didn't commit, with a soundtrack composed by Harvey Brough and performed by Vox Holloway Community Choir. In June 1988, Mr Hinton was convicted of two murders, in one of the most shockingly cynical miscarriages of justice in US history. He spent the next 28 years on death row, before all charges were dropped and he was finally released in April 2015. The Sun Does Shine is the title of his memoir, in which he tells how he found life and freedom on death row. His story reflects the compassion, faith and heroic courage of a remarkable man. In prison he befriended Henry Hays, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, who was convicted and eventually executed for a racist murder. The unlikely friendship of Hinton and Hays lies at the heart of this story. The Sun Does Shine features an extended interview with Hinton, in which he talks about how he survived years of imprisonment, facing the constant threat of execution, and how the multiple appeals launched by his lawyer Bryan Stevenson ultimately led to his release. His words are accompanied by an oratorio composed by Harvey Brough, based on Hinton's memoir and performed by the Vox Holloway Community Choir. Vox Holloway’s work on The Sun Does Shine was supported by Arts Council England Since leaving prison, Anthony Ray Hinton has worked tirelessly, alongside Bryan Stevenson, campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty and for reforms to the criminal justice and prison systems in America PRESENTER: Christina Gill PRODUCERS: Abigail Morris and Sam Liebmann with Osman Teezo Kargbo COMPOSER: Harvey Brough EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrew Wilkie and Tricia Zipfel A Vox Holloway / Prison Radio Association production ... Read more

10 Nov 2024

28 MINS

28:55

10 Nov 2024

#23

Reclusion

Are we ever really alone nowadays, what with the extraordinary velocity of contemporary social circulation, whether this be the madness of the crowds, or the relentless churn of social media? Does anyone really experience reclusion? A conscious choice to withdraw from the social realm. What would it be like? For decades, Will Self lived his life as a very public figure. An acerbic satirist and giant man of letters he was constantly on the move, driven by his insatiable curiosity about the world. “I once flew to Scotland, climbed Ben Lomond, and flew back to London the same day”. In a series of powerful soliloquies, Self reveals how he’s gradually withdrawn from the social realm. He began by abandoning acquaintances and remoter colleagues, then started cutting off friends, close colleagues, and eventually family. “It’s been over a year since I’ve read a newspaper report, looked at a news website, or heard more than a three-minute news bulletin. Most days I see only my wife and youngest child who I live with.” In this powerful piece of radio, Will Self reaches down to the very bottom of how the self is socially constructed – and then dismantles that scaffolding from around it, to see what’s still standing. A half-hour that will leave the listener feeling as if they’ve been staring at their reflection for so long in a mirror, that this image appears totally uncanny to them. Presenter: Will Self Producer: Emily Williams A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

27 Oct 2024

27 MINS

27:37

27 Oct 2024

#22

Rebirth

When Clive Hammond was 31, he had a cardiac arrest. His heart stopped for eight minutes. But he can't remember any of it. What happens when the heart stops - and then what happens next? Clive sets out to piece together what happened to him. He speaks to his wife Victoria about what went on while he was unconscious, and the impact it had on their lives. He compares notes with fellow cardiac arrest survivor Meg Fozzard about what it's like to have a cardiac arrest as a young person. Former head of first responders at London Ambulance Chris Hartley-Sharpe tells him what goes on in the body during a cardiac arrest, and how they can affect medical professionals afterwards. And he hears the incredible story of Steve Morris, who started carrying a defibrillator in his car after having a cardiac arrest - and then used it to help save someone else's life. Presenter: Clive Hammond Producer: Lucy Burns Editor: Clare Fordham Technical production: Richard Hannaford ... Read more

20 Oct 2024

29 MINS

29:10

20 Oct 2024

#21

We Are Not Alone

In 1980, Prestonwood Mall in Dallas contacted the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) with a unique request. It was the opening weekend of The Empire Strikes Back, and the mall’s marketing team wanted an additional attraction. Sensing an opportunity, John P Timmerman, the owner of a family air-conditioning business in Ohio and a dedicated volunteer at CUFOS, packed his car with an eye-catching collection of UFO photographs and embarked on a cross-country journey for the weekend. What began as a simple photography exhibit turned into a 12year research expedition across the malls of America. In front of plexiglass panels, between the skylights and shiny floors, Timmerman interviewed curious shoppers with stories to tell. What he captured on his small tape recorder was the “raw material of ufology” - candid, first-hand accounts of strange lights, silver discs, and close encounters. Between 1980 and 1992, Timmerman recorded 1,179 witness reports across 120 tapes that cover every aspect of the UFO phenomena. The collection is considered one of the largest ever put together by a single investigator. John P Timmerman spent years travelling far from his quiet family life in the Midwest searching for insights into our place in the universe. What he found, among the hum of escalators and muzak, was connection - or ‘contact’ - with thousands of ordinary people, all searching for the same thing. Produced, Edited & Sound Designed by Oliver Sanders Archive Digitisation & Co-Production by James Timmerman Executive Producer: Lucia Scazzocchio Special thanks to Dr Mark Rodeghier, Dr Michael Swords, Dr Michael West, The Center For UFO Studies, The Timmerman Family, Dominic De Vere, Francesca Thakorlal, Ben Plumb, Hannah Kemp-Welch. A Social Broadcasts production for BBCRadio 4 ... Read more

13 Oct 2024

28 MINS

28:49

13 Oct 2024

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#36

The Memory Catcher

#35

Anger and Us

#34

In Pieces

#33

One Hundred Ways of Listening

#32

My Night With Tracy - How the Darwin Cyclone Made a Man of Mike Thomson

#31

The Shipping Forecast: A Haven

#30

Ceefax Strikes Back... with Count Binface

#29

The Horse at the Door

#28

Stockport: Britain's Karaoke Town

#27

Voices from the Bog

#26

Dark Crossing

#25

The Last of the Blind Piano Tuners

#24

The Sun Does Shine

#23

Reclusion

#22

Rebirth

#21

We Are Not Alone