Five podcasts for the weekend: 11 November 2011

From @JohnWilson14 on twitter: Lou Reed on the Front Row daily podcast

The preamble

I've picked out a selection of the currently available Radio 4 BBC podcasts. This week I've included the Ouch! podcast which isn't broadcast on Radio 4 (it isn't broadcast anywhere but is available to download). The other big news is that The Moral Maze is now available as a podcast.

You can listen online or download to keep, or put onto your phone or MP3 player. There are many more available on the Radio 4 podcast page.

Some podcasts are available for only seven days (eg Comedy of the Week; Friday Night Comedy) but others do have a huge archive you can download at any time (eg Desert Island Discs; In Our Time). If you haven't used podcasts from the BBC before there's some podcast help here.

The selection

1. The Moral Maze: St Paul's Protest

This week the debate centres on the moral issues behind the Occupy London protest camp. Chaired by Michael Buerk with Melanie Phillips, Matthew Taylor, Claire Fox and Clifford Longley.

Download here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moralmaze

Programme info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016x23q

2. Front Row: The charming Nile Rodgers and the grumpy Lou Reed

The Front Row daily podcast with, as presenter John Wilson puts it, "two very different interviews with legendary musicians the charming and funky Nile Rodgers, and later grumpy old Lou Reed". He's not wrong on either count.

Download (go to Wed, 9 Nov 11): https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/frontrow

Programme info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016x23n

3. Ouch! Disability Talk Show: Ricky Gervais and language

When is it ok to say 'crip' or the M word that Ricky Gervais used recently, Paralympic sitting volleyballers have their prosthetics taken away, and Bianca Nicholas, singer with cystic fibrosis enchants us all. With Mat Fraser and Liz Carr.

Download and more info here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ouch

4. Bookclub: The Wasp Factory - James Naughtie with Iain Banks

Iain Banks meets James Naughtie and readers at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh to talk about his debut novel The Wasp Factory, first published in 1984.

Download here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/openbook

Programme info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016w0nf

5. Cook The Perfect Christmas Cake

From the weekly Woman's Hour segment it's Cook The Perfect Christmas Cake with the country's best young baker - 26 year old Edd Kimber from Thackley, West Yorkshire, the winner of the Great British Bake off 2010. This one's a little different - lighter in texture and colour. Series also features soda bread, fish pie and chicken noodle soup.

More info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/womans-hour/

Download here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/cookperfect

Paul Murphy is the editor of the Radio 4 blog