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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.

#23

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

#22

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

#21

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

#20

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

#19

The Suitcase

On their last tour, the award-winning folk band The Young'uns took with them an old suitcase, some blank luggage tags and marker pens, and asked audience members to fill the case with ideas for songs. Hundreds poured in with stories of hope, remembrance, love, grief and joy. In this programme, singer-songwriter Sean Cooney opens the case to find a myriad of voices all waiting...wanting to be heard. He follows three stories of love... from a couple who found each other in their 70s through their shared passion of Middlesbrough Football Club, to a story of love, loss and renewal on the banks of the Thames. He meets up with Angela to hear a tale of how some borrowed boots outside a disco led to several dates, a marriage and three children. Inspired by this wonderful story, Sean writes a song to surprise the man with the borrowed boots - Angela's now-husband. Presenter: Sean Cooney Producer: Elizabeth Foster ... Read more

06 Oct 2024

29 MINS

29:22

06 Oct 2024

#18

Lasting Lessons

Alongside their A-levels, five 17 year-olds volunteer for six months at a hospice in Surrey. These are young people who hope to work in healthcare one day and, for one reason or another, feel drawn to helping others. Their hopes and fears are similar to most people who've never been to a hospice, which includes their parents, and they have have no idea what they'll encounter. Above all, there are worries that it will be very sad, and too much for people of their age to handle. Pretty quickly, they get to know the nurses at the hospice, who have a great sense of humour and are not in the least bit despairing. The volunteers feel awkward at first, and scared of getting things wrong, but with the nurses' encouragement, they begin talking with patients, feeding them, moving them, brushing their teeth, and helping them to the toilet. Little by little, they get to know patients, gain confidence and maturity and start to form a new understanding of dying and death. With many thanks to the staff of the Princess Alice Hospice and to Lizzie Leigh in particular. Presented by Farida Abdelhamid Produced by Tim Moorhouse A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

29 Sep 2024

29 MINS

29:03

29 Sep 2024

#17

A Man Without Bees

Why are all the bees dying? Simon Mitambo, an expert from Kenya's so-called 'Land of Bees', travels from his own affected community to huge industrial farms in search of answers. It is a journey both planetary and personal: without bees, can Simon's world survive? Presenter: Simon Mitambo Producer: Lucy Taylor Field producer: Mel Myendo Researcher: Georgie Styles Exec Producer: Dan Ashby Sound design and mixing: Jarek Zaba A Smoke Trail Production for BBC Radio 4. ... Read more

22 Sep 2024

29 MINS

29:09

22 Sep 2024

#16

Hervé's Way: The Story of a One-legged Pilgrim

Hervé lost a leg in a motorbike accident. On the eve of the operation, he made a deal with God: “If I walk again, I'll go to Santiago.” He did walk again, but not on pilgrimage. Instead, he got caught up in his business affairs, had a burn out, tried to kill himself and spent several months in a psychiatric hospital before he decided to keep his side of the bargain. He set out, with crutches and a prosthetic leg, for Santiago de Compostela, a journey of 1,920 kilometres from his home in Brittany in north west France to the cathedral that contains the relics of Saint James at the tip of north west Spain. The experience utterly changed him. It was, he says, a resurrection. He is now embarking on a second pilgrimage which will cover almost twice the distance; from Rome to Santiago de Compostela. John Laurenson walks with him for a couple of days to hear his story and talk about life, God, pilgrimage, about Luther's criticism – that they are a waste of time - and the sacrifice they can represent for his family of a wife and four children. John also talks to him about how, in a part of the world where religious observance has become the affair of a small minority, going on pilgrimages in Europe has never been more popular with new routes opening all the time. This episode was first broadcast on BBC World Service on 24 May, 2024. Producer / Presenter: John Laurenson ... Read more

15 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:47

15 Sep 2024

#15

John Meagher: The Divil's Own

Did you ever have a recurring dream that you think might just be a memory? Or a nightmare so vivid that it could almost be real? John Meagher has. He’s been dreaming about a group of devil worshippers who may or may not have terrorised his home town of Newry, Northern Ireland since the early 90s. John takes us on a funny, fearful and surprising journey of discovery across Northern Ireland to uncover the truth behind the story of "The Whitehoods" of Newry and discovers that the "Satanic Panic" wasn't exclusive to his home town. But what was really going on? And why do so many towns in the North have a similar story? Can John find out the truth and lay these memories to rest? Is there any truth to be found at all in this land of saints, scholars and spoofers? For the sake of his sleeping patterns and his marriage, John is determined to find out. A Fabel production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

12 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:53

12 Sep 2024

#14

Reaching for Rossini

In an engaging programme full of beautiful music, Joanna Robertson eavesdrops on a cast of talented young opera singers from around the world, as they work on favourite arias to perfect the style of "bel canto" ("beautiful singing"). They have come to the bel canto summer school of the Georg Solti Accademia, in the small Italian seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia in Tuscany. The academy was founded in memory of the legendary conductor who had his summer residence here. We listen in on the world-class students as they hone their bel canto technique with leading vocal coaches, opera singers and conductors. "Bel canto" is now on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is both a style of singing and a repertoire. It requires vocal artists to produce a penetrating yet luxuriantly smooth, and very expressive sound - often with virtuosic and dazzling runs of notes. Bel canto singing can be heard above an orchestra, without the help of amplification. It sounds effortless, but takes years to learn. It can be used for any style of music, but the repertoire most closely associated with it are operas by the nineteenth century Italian composers Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Joanna joins the young singers and their teachers to find out more about bel canto and to hear how this sound is produced. Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Joanna Robertson Editor: Penny Murphy Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: Andy Fell Photo of Rebecca Gulinello by Jennifer Lorenzini With special thanks to Jonathan Papp, Artistic Director, and all at the Solti Accademia 2024 Young artists heard in this programme: Eva Rae Martinez - Soprano Rebecca Gulinello - Soprano Aebh Kelly - Soprano Clover Kayne - Mezzo Soprano Xavier Hetherington - Tenor Oliver Heuzenroeder - Baritone ... Read more

08 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:56

08 Sep 2024

#13

Brood X

Every seventeen years in the eastern United States, a roaring mass of millions of black-bodied, red-eyed, thumb-length insects erupt from the ground. For a few glorious weeks the periodical cicadas cover the trees and the air vibrates with their chorus of come-hither calls. Then they leave a billion eggs to hatch and burrow into the dirt, beginning the seventeen year cycle all over again. Sing. Fly. Mate. Die. This is Brood X or the Great Eastern Brood. It’s an event which, for the residents of a dozen or so US states, is the abiding memory of four, maybe five, summers of their lives. In a programme that’s both a natural and a cultural history of the Great Eastern Brood we re-visit four Brood X years....1970, 1987, 2004 and 2021…. to capture the stories of the summers when the cicadas came to town. Princeton University's Class of 1970 remember the cicadas’ appearance at their graduation ceremony, during a time of student unrest and protest against the Vietnam War; a bride looks back to the uninvited - but welcome - cicada guests attending her wedding; a musician recalls making al fresco music with Brood X; and an entomologist considers the extraordinary life cycle of an insect which is seems to possess both great patience and the ability to count to seventeen. Brood X cicadas spend 17 years underground, each insect alone, waiting and listening. In 2021, as Brood X stirred and the air began to thicken with the cicadas’ love songs, we all shared with them that sense of emerging from the isolation of lockdown and making a new beginning. Featuring: Elias Bonaros, Liz Dugan, Anisa George, Ray Gibbons, Peter Kuper, Gene Kritsky, Gregg Lange, David Rothenberg, Gil Schrage and Gaye Williams Producer: Jeremy Grange Cicada audio recorded by Cicada Mania and David Rothenberg Programme Image: Prof. Gene Kritsky ... Read more

05 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:46

05 Sep 2024

#12

Infinite Scroll

"And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you..." Late at night, the writer, audio artist and sleep-deprived parent of a newborn, Ross Sutherland, is staring into infinity... "Usually, my phone becomes my window into a bigger world. Not just bigger- endless. Unmeasurably vast. You can scroll social media feeds forever and never hit the bottom of the chasm. I know it's objectively bad for me but I can’t stop myself. I'm craving endlessness- I need space! Vast, endless interior space... to compensate for the smallness of my waking days." Sinking into the infinite scroll of his phone (a web design technique - created to encourage addiction as your webpage never ends...) he weaves a woozy, funny, adventurous audio essay through sonic experiments, illusions and mirror worlds that invite us to reckon with the infinite. Including archive from ReThinking with Adam Grant 'Aza Raskin on why technology – and democracy– are in an imagination crisis' (courtesy of TED). Original music composed by Jeremy Warmsley Written and produced by Ross Sutherland A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

01 Sep 2024

29 MINS

29:22

01 Sep 2024

#11

Sybil Phoenix, A Civil Life

The years after Sybil Phoenix's arrival in England from British Guiana in 1956 follow a not unfamiliar pattern - trying to find a home and secure a livelihood, learning how to manage the endemic racism in Britain and, above all things, building a community. Fostering countless children, setting up the famous Moonshot youth club in south-east London and dealing with the reaction from right-wing extremists bound together her personal and public lives. In 1972 she accepted - not without controversy - an MBE, the first black woman to do so. With her new status she set up a hostel for young women, the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust. Now aged 97, Sybil's story is shared by her son Woodrow and daughter Loraine, the activist Eric Huntley, who's known her for over 80 years, and through previously not heard recordings that touch on her troubled early life, the death of her daughter Marsha, the New Cross Fire and much else. Produced by Cherise Hamilton-Stephenson and Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

25 Aug 2024

29 MINS

29:21

25 Aug 2024

#10

Strandings

Peter Riley was 13 when he saw his first dead whale. It was a sperm whale. He spent most of the day with it on a Norfolk beach, and then watched on as someone carried away a trophy from its carcass. That night marked the beginning of Peter’s lifelong fascination with whales. Now, as an author and a Herman Melville scholar, Peter is seeking to understand the ancient and complex relationship between humans and whales. According to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, there are approximately 550-800 strandings of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the UK every year. Although no one is completely certain why this happens, we do know they've been doing it for thousands of years. For as long as there have been stranded whales, there have been humans drawing meaning from their arrival - a warning, a symbol of hope, endings or new beginnings. So what news might they be bringing us now? In our current state of unprecedented abundance and advancement, in our pandemic of isolation and individual “strandedness”, the whales seem to be calling us again. As Peter speaks with cetacean experts, chases down whale remains and witnesses a whale stranding himself, he discovers what these magical creatures might be revealing about who we are, what we've become and where we might be headed. A Sound & Bones production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

22 Aug 2024

29 MINS

29:04

22 Aug 2024

#9

The Ballad of Scout and the Alcohol Tag

In 2023, Scout Tzofiya Bolton entered a grocery store in the small town where she lived, carrying a toy gun. The only thing she knows about what happened next is what she's seen on CCTV footage - she pointed the toy gun at the person behind the counter and shouted to give her the money or she'd shoot. A few hours later, four police officers knocked at her door and took her away. She didn't return home for six months. Scout was released from prison wearing a 'sobriety tag' – a tool increasingly being used to help people control their problematic alcohol use. This is the story of Scout's relationship with alcohol, and with the tag that monitors her, told through Scout's dazzling poetry. Scout has a long history of psychosis combined with alcoholism. This was the first time she had been sent to prison. The lead-up was a prolonged psychotic episode, characterised by 'grandiose' behaviour. Scout believed she was a famous celebrity. She would wear ballgowns and walk up and down the high street. Everyone was looking at her – because, she believed, she was famous. In the grocery store, she believed she was making an action scene in a film. She'd called up friends to tell them it was going to be a great day's filming. Scout needed help. She found it in prison. For the first time ever, Scout had an extended conversation with a forensic psychiatrist who got to grips with her complex needs. Sobriety tags take a sweat sample every 30 minutes. The data is automatically sent to probation. There are currently around 3,000 people in England and Wales with sobriety tags as part of their probation conditions. Music and words: Scout Yzofiya Bolton Producers: Andrew Wilkie and Ellen Orchard Sound design: Micky Curling Executive Producer: Phil Maguire A PRA production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

18 Aug 2024

28 MINS

28:51

18 Aug 2024

#8

The Psychology of a Second Life

When broadcaster Jaz Singh revealed on BBC reality TV show The Traitors that his father had a secret second family, he received hundreds of messages from people who had lived through similar experiences. As Jaz movingly explores his own feelings, he meets others who have also discovered that their loved ones are leading double lives. A wife who, after years of being happily married, discovered on social media that her husband was married to another woman. A daughter whose father had an entirely separate family and children - but whose existence was only revealed after he died. Jaz tries to understand the psychology of these second lives, asking what drives people to weave such complicated webs of deception. How do they manage to deceive so entirely? And how can those who have been betrayed forgive and heal? Producer: Helen Clifton Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

11 Aug 2024

29 MINS

29:03

11 Aug 2024

#7

Becoming German

In recent years, thousands of Britons have become German citizens via a restoration programme for German-Jews and their descendants, whose nationality was stripped from them during the Nazi regime. This is not without controversy. Some see it is a clear righting of wrongs, but for others the idea of becoming German is abhorrent. For presenter Lois Pryce and her special guests, Matt Lucas and Ben Elton, it's personal. Had it not been for Britain's willingness to accept Jewish refugees in the 1930s, none of them would be here today. Lois and Ben share a direct relationship with German physicist Max Born, the Nobel prize-winning scientist and a founding father of quantum theory. He escaped Nazi Germany and fled to Britain in 1933. Descendants from this side of the family also include Olivia Newton-John as well as other luminaries in music, medicine and arts - all directly descended from German Jews seeking sanctuary. In this programme, Lois, Ben and Matt look at this new wave of German citizens, give voice to the strong feelings on both sides, and investigate their own family's refugee story, including receiving an official apology at the German embassy in London. By tackling the circular nature of the story, our hosts also examine the wider point that, in the 1930s, the UK benefited culturally and economically by welcoming this family and others from Germany. But now it is Germany that is restoring citizenship and welcoming refugees while the UK has become, according to some, a hostile environment. Will this shift in attitude ultimately damage the country’s economy as well as its reputation on the world stage? Presenter: Lois Pryce Contributors: Ben Elton, Matt Lucas Producer: Louise Orchard Sound Design: Rowan Bishop A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

04 Aug 2024

29 MINS

29:15

04 Aug 2024

#6

Shifting Soundscapes

“Sound is the barometer of the health of the planet.” It's almost 60 years since 11-year-old Martyn Stewart made his first recording near his house in Birmingham using a reel-to-reel machine borrowed from his older brother. From that day forward, he set out to capture all the natural sounds of the world, amassing nearly one hundred thousand recordings. Now, musician and sound artist Alice Boyd retraces his steps to three locations in Britain to document how these environmental soundscapes have changed, revealing vanishing ecosystems, amplified human noise and the return of endangered species. (Photograph courtesy of Tom Bright.) With archive from Martyn Stewart's library, The Listening Planet. Location recordings and original music by Alice Boyd. A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

29 MINS

29:37

29 Jul 2024

#5

The Beauty of Everyday Things

Poet Ian McMillan has a gift for the art of small pleasures; the joy of close observation; revelling in everyday things, places and encounters; describing and re-describing them endlessly. In the company of fellow poets Helen Mort, Steve Ely and Dave Green he takes us to ordinary places that fascinate him: a railway platform with a striking red bench, on a bus journey, to a village cafe, and a local museum of curiosities; where we discover they can be portals into different ways of thinking, of feeling, and of being, where anything can happen, where the ordinary can become the extraordinary if we simply open our eyes and our ears. Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Cecile Wright ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

29 MINS

29:21

29 Jul 2024

#4

How Much Can You Say?

"The north London heroin trade is almost folklore at this stage." For decades, calculated gang warfare involving Turkish, Turkish Cypriot, and Kurdish heroin dealers has played out on the streets of north London, in the midst of dry cleaners, empty market stalls, and oddly abundant carpet shops. In this intimate documentary, we hear the careful accounts of women and young people on the edges of that world. "It is a life-or-death situation to say the wrong thing." Featuring creative direction and original poetry from Tice Cin, an award-winning interdisciplinary artist from Tottenham and Enfield. "The best way to put it is if you look at the Turkish word ‘suskunluk’ ... It's the honour thing, you can't be bad-mouthing your own community." Presented by Tice Cin Produced by Jude Shapiro with Tice Cin Executive Producer: Jack Howson Mixed by Arlie Adlington - including music composed by Tice Cin with Oscar Deniz Kemanci A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4 (Programme Image by Peri Cimen & Tice Cin; © Neoprene Genie) ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

29 MINS

29:24

29 Jul 2024

#3

'Am I Home?' - Life in a Dementia Village

We lie to people with dementia. In fact, it's one of the only illnesses where lying is acceptable and extends into the entire care process. Since dementia gravely impacts a person's cognitive abilities, those diagnosed won't share the same reality as their carers. To bridge this reality gap and appease disoriented patients, carers distort the truth. Entire care home facilities seek to transform a patient's surroundings into fictional settings. In the heart of Warwick, England, lies an extraordinary experiment in dementia care - a care home transformed to look like a village. In “Am I Home? Life In A Dementia Village”, journalist Lara Bullens takes listeners on a profound journey into a community designed to redefine the boundaries of familiarity for those navigating the fog of dementia. At Woodside Care Village, dementia residents live a somewhat normal life. They are free to roam outside their households, visit the local shop and even get their hair done at Cutters Hair and Beauty salon. Here, the comforts of familiarity and the quiet despair of warped realities coexist, offering a window into the daily dance carers make to navigate the complexities of dementia care. But beneath the surface of these carefully curated environments, lies a complex web of ethical considerations. Listeners will hear how Lara grapples with the implicates of creating alternative realities for those whose grip on the real world is tenuous. Is it possible to build a world that comforts without deceiving, that cares in complete honesty? Weaving a narrative that is as personal as it is universal, Lara draws from the haunting memory of her mother's struggle with early onset fronto-temporal dementia. Her own struggles with lying bring to light the ethical labyrinth of dementia care, where therapeutic fibs become a poignant tool in bridging the chasm between the world as we know it and the world as it is perceived by someone with dementia. Through the intimate lens of Woodside Care Village, listeners are invited to reconsider what it means to provide care in the shadow of dementia - a condition that, in its cruellest irony, often leaves individuals feeling profoundly alone in a crowd of familiar faces. Written and Presented by Lara Bullens Produced by Lara Bullens and Olivia Humphreys Executive Producer: Steven Rajam An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4 ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

28 MINS

28:18

29 Jul 2024

#2

Fragments - The London Nail Bombings

It's 25 years since London suffered three vicious nail bomb attacks - holdalls filled with 4-inch nails and hand-made explosives planted in Brixton market, Brick Lane and in the bar of the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, intended to cause damage to those in the immediate vicinity and to the notion of a tolerant, diverse capital city. The attacks are recorded in photographs shared at the time by the press - of London streets strewn with damaged buildings and injured people, an x-ray of a toddler with a nail embedded in his skull, the wedding photograph of two victims (one killed, the other severely injured) and the police mugshot of the perpetrator, a far right terrorist who hoped to start a 'racial war in this country'. Fragments looks again at these images - some taken by Chris Taylor who happened to be on assignment in Soho's market photographing vegetables - to consider what it means for an instant to be captured and to endure in our memories and understanding of traumatic events. Including contributions from photographer Chris Taylor; Jonathan Cash, who survived the Soho attack, Emdad Talukder, who was injured in Brick Lane and business owner Leo Epstein. Music composed by Alan Hall, with Eleanor McDowall (chimes) and Alan Hall (trumpet) Producer: Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four (Photo credit: ChrisTaylorPhotography.com) ... Read more

29 Jul 2024

29 MINS

29:17

29 Jul 2024

#1

Welcome to Illuminated

A preview of what to expect from Illuminated, 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. New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings from 4 August, 2024. The clips are taken from the following documentaries: The Beauty of Everyday Things Shifting Soundscapes How Much Can You Say? Fragments - The London Nail Bomb ... Read more

13 Apr 2024

03 MINS

03:15

13 Apr 2024

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#23

The Sun Does Shine

#22

Reclusion

#21

Rebirth

#20

We Are Not Alone

#19

The Suitcase

#18

Lasting Lessons

#17

A Man Without Bees

#16

Hervé's Way: The Story of a One-legged Pilgrim

#15

John Meagher: The Divil's Own

#14

Reaching for Rossini

#13

Brood X

#12

Infinite Scroll

#11

Sybil Phoenix, A Civil Life

#10

Strandings

#9

The Ballad of Scout and the Alcohol Tag

#8

The Psychology of a Second Life

#7

Becoming German

#6

Shifting Soundscapes

#5

The Beauty of Everyday Things

#4

How Much Can You Say?

#3

'Am I Home?' - Life in a Dementia Village

#2

Fragments - The London Nail Bombings

#1

Welcome to Illuminated