Illuminated podcast

Illuminated

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.

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.

 

#41

Night Bus

Ian Burke was not someone who grew up riding buses. His school was in walking distance, hi... more

Yesterday

28 MINS

28:38

Yesterday


#40

The Endemic Truth

Estimates from NSPCC suggest around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. ... more

02 Mar 2025

29 MINS

29:24

02 Mar 2025


#39

Thirty Eulogies

The story of how a heterosexual, Indian immigrant to England, ignorant of the gay scene, e... more

23 Feb 2025

29 MINS

29:03

23 Feb 2025


#38

Bellboy

The 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis forced North Devon farmers into a traumatic 6 month lockdow... more

09 Feb 2025

28 MINS

28:23

09 Feb 2025


#37

Scattering

Over 80% of people in Britain choose to be cremated rather than buried after death and the... more

02 Feb 2025

29 MINS

29:06

02 Feb 2025


#36

The Memory Catcher

Memory is fragile. We are driven to capture it. But is this possible when the memories of ... 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 ... 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 threa... 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 2... 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 co... 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... 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... 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 e... 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…somethi... 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 w... 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 t... 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 h... 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, ... 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 so... 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. B... 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 un... more

13 Oct 2024

28 MINS

28:49

13 Oct 2024