The Archive
Seriously interesting documentaries from Radio 4.
![]()
Butterfly Mind
Can a shaman cure writer's block? Playwright David Greig tries to find out.
![]()
The Vigil
People talk frankly about the challenging experience of sitting with a dying parent.
![]()
Searching for Tobias
Eight years after she met him in Mississippi, Chloe Hadjimatheou searches for Tobias.
![]()
Archive on 4 Goes Live!
David Bramwell sets out to prove that anyone can be a good public speaker.
![]()
Keepsake for My Lover
Step inside the voice booth to find out what is the value of talking at all.
![]()
Asquith's Fight for Equality
Oona King reveals how West Indian Asquith Xavier fought a colour bar at Euston station.
![]()
A Cello in the Desert
Nina Plapp takes her cello Cuthbert to Rajasthan in search of the roots of gypsy music.
![]()
A Natural History of the Banker
Andrew Ross Sorkin traces the reputation of UK and USA bankers through history.
![]()
Thelma & Michael: Love in the Cutting Room
Cinema's great love story - UK director Michael Powell and US editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
![]()
Gunning For Education
Ian Peddie studies new Texan laws allowing concealed handguns into classrooms.
![]()
Green Cities from Bricks and Mortar
Historian Dan Cruickshank asks if new garden cities are the answer to our housing crisis.
![]()
Song of the Singer Sewing Machine
The Singer sewing machine has whirred its way through history as Maria Margaronis unravels
![]()
The Black Panthers
The rise and fall of the Black Panther Party and its legacy for American black insurgency.
![]()
The Intimate Art of Tattoo
Laurence Llewelyn Bowen explores the exponential rise in tattooing across the UK.
![]()
21 Shades of Noir: Lee Child on John D MacDonald
The Jack Reacher author Lee Child investigates the unusual life of author John D Macdonald
![]()
Body Count Rising
Doon Mackichan asks if we need a moratorium on glossy TV dramas with female victims.
![]()
The Case for Doing Nothing
Stephen Barber calls on politicians to resist the urge to act and instead do nothing.
![]()
A Casual Clearance
Clare Jenkins explores the emotional challenges faced clearing out her parents' home.
![]()
The Intimate Art of Tattoo
Laurence Llewelyn Bowen explores the exponential rise in tattooing across the UK.
![]()
Arthur Russell: Vanished into Music
Olivia Laing presents an imaginative portrait of the musician Arthur Russell.
![]()
Radio Dada
Alexei Sayle on the cultural impact of the Dada movement, 100 years since it was founded.
![]()
Curvalicious
What is wrong with being black and curvy? Bridgitte Tetteh investigates.
![]()
UNESCO: 70 Years of Peacekeeping
Charlotte Higgins explores the work of the UN's peacekeeping agency.
![]()
The Villain in 6 Chapters
Toby Jones celebrates the mercurial world of the villain.
![]()
Ian Sansom and the Little People
Leprechauns, sprites, imps and elves - Ian Sansom is searching for the diminutive other.
![]()
Shrinking Population: How Japan Fell Out of Love with Love
Tulip Mazumdar finds young people in Japan rejecting intimacy and a population in decline.
![]()
Still Loving Thy Neighbour?
Mark Hodkinson revisits the sitcom Love Thy Neighbour, 40 years after it was last shown
![]()
James Wong's Alternative Country Garden
Garden designer James Wong asks if British gardening is stuck in the past.
![]()
Up Close and Personal
Clarke Peters follows the croon and practitioners of the art including Rudy Vallee.
![]()
The Waterside Ape
Sir David Attenborough examines new evidence on a controversial theory of human origins.
![]()
The Web Sheikh and the Muslim Mums
Five Muslim mums come together to discuss the hate messages their children are exposed to.
![]()
The Muhammadan Bean: The Secret History of Islam and Coffee
Abdul-Rehman Malik explores the longstanding relationship between Islam and coffee.
![]()
Graffiti: Paint and Protest
Aside from the physical landscape, what does graffiti and street art actually change?
![]()
The Online Identity Crisis
Anjana Ahuja believes we should take control of our online identity before it is too late.
![]()
The King of Dreams
Alice Roberts goes in search of the man who taught us how to control our own dreams.
![]()
Don't Be Rude on the Road
Alan Dein takes a breakneck tour through the history of the public information film.
![]()
Antony Gormley: Missing Continents at the British Museum
The artist asks why collections from Oceania, the Americas and Africa are hidden from view
![]()
Yusra: Swim for Your Life
The courageous journey of refugee Yusra Mardini, from war-torn Syria to the Rio Olympics.
![]()
Funny Money
Former Lehman Brothers banker Henry Dodds explores our relationship with money.
![]()
A Journey Through English
The changing accents on the UK's longest rail journey, the 0820 from Aberdeen to Penzance.
![]()
Sushi Marriages
How do Sunni-Shia couples handle the deepening gulf between their two sects of Islam?
![]()
A River of Steel
An immersive river journey through the city of Sheffield and its industrial past.
![]()
Things Called Jazz That Are Not Jazz
An apple, a car, even a super yacht... Why are so many things called Jazz?
![]()
Jane Garvey's Bottom Gear
Jane Garvey reflects on women and cars with presenter Suzi Perry and driver Susie Wolff.
![]()
Star Trek - The Undiscovered Future
Kevin Fong boldly goes in search of Star Trek's 50-year-old vision of the future.
![]()
Online Criminals Stole My Confidence
Simon Read explores the psychological impact on people who fall victim to fraudsters.
![]()
L'origine de L'Origine du monde
Viv Groskop explores Gustave Courbet's notorious and explicit painting.
![]()
Alvin Hall Goes Back to School
Financial guru Alvin Hall returns to his Florida hometown.
![]()
The Truth about Children Who Lie
Psychotherapist Philippa Perry investigates when and why children lie.
![]()
In Defence of the Mid-Life Crisis
Stephen Smith takes a wry look at the mid-life crisis.
![]()
Hersey's Hiroshima
Seventy years ago, an article about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima rocked the world.
![]()
In the Criminologist's Chair
David Wilson talks to former bank robber Noel 'Razor' Smith about his life in crime.
![]()
Personalised Medicine: Dose by Design
Vivienne Parry asks if the NHS can deliver the benefits of genomic medicine for all.
![]()
Grunwick Changed Me
Maya Amin-Smith explores the legacy of the Grunwick dispute, four decades after it began.
![]()
Songs for the Dead
Marie-Louise Muir explores the tradition of keening for the dead in Ireland.
![]()
A Sea Shanty for Charles Causley
Film-maker and writer Jane Darke puts out to sea with the Cornish poet Charles Causley.
![]()
Could the Birmingham Six Happen Again?
What did the Birmingham Six case alter - could such miscarriages of justice happen today?
![]()
The Whale Menopause
Animal wisdom, mothers and sons. What do killer whales tell us about the human menopause?
![]()
Frightened of Each Other's Shadows
Nihal Arthanayake presents a portrait of contemporary Britain in an epoch of terror.
![]()
Swapping Psalms for Pop Songs
Mark Vernon explores the phenomenon of the Sunday Assembly.
![]()
Stalking under Scrutiny
A look at the support provided for victims of stalking and ways to stop stalkers.
![]()
The Curse of Open Plan
Sound expert Julian Treasure explores how open plan design affects us.
![]()
As the Curtain Falls
Marie-Louise Muir explores 25 years of Signature Theatre company with founder Jim Houghton
![]()
After the Riots
Film-maker Isis Thompson considers the impact of the 2011 riots five years on.
![]()
An Obsessive Type: The Tale of the Doves Typeface
Can a long-lost design classic be rediscovered at the bottom of the Thames?
![]()
Tolkien: The Lost Recordings
Joss Ackland narrates a search through BBC archives for unheard gems from JRR Tolkien.
![]()
Clap Clap: A Brief History of Applause
Simon Callow explores one of the earliest forms of human interaction.
![]()
Power of the Whips: The Silent Enforcers
Giles Dilnot uncovers what the most mysterious figures in parliament really do.
![]()
The Norma Percy Tapes
An archive of the most powerful people, shaping the monumental events of modern history.
![]()
Adrian Mitchell: To Whom It May Concern
Michael Rosen visits the house of the late poet, Adrian Mitchell.
![]()
Viz: An Unfeasibly Large Success
Profane rubbish or bold rebellion? How did Viz become an acclaimed, best-selling magazine?
![]()
Black Flight and the New Suburbia
Hugh Muir charts the movement of ethnic minorities from cities to the English countryside.
![]()
India's Classical Music Marathon
Aditya Chakrabortty reports on the fate of India's all-night classical music concert.
![]()
Roald Dahl: A Gremlin in the Works
Cartoonist Gerald Scarfe tells the story of one of the greatest movies never made.
![]()
You May Now Turn Over Your Papers
Mary Beard tells the intriguing story of the history of exams.
![]()
I Work for the Government, and Let's Leave It at That
Julia Langdon uncovers how women spooks have been recruited over the years.
![]()
Roald Dahl: In His Own Words
Roald Dahl tells his own story in his own words with the help of his granddaughter Sophie.
![]()
Who Are You Again?
Mary Ann Sieghart is not rude, she just cannot identify people by their faces.
![]()
They Call Us Viet Kieu
Anna Nguyen journeys to Vietnam rediscover the war-torn country her parents fled in 1975.
![]()
One Day in Entebbe
The extraordinary hostage rescue story that changed the Middle East.
![]()
Greece: Warehouse of Souls
Maria Margaronis explores worlds of hope and chaos for refugees and islanders in Greece.
![]()
David Hockney - Back in LA
David Hockney embarks on an ambitious new portrait series from his Californian studio.
![]()
A Bleeding Shame
Jane Garvey examines the topic of menstruation and asks if attitudes are finally changing.
![]()
Gillian Reynolds - Audiophile
Critic and broadcaster Gillian Reynolds celebrates 50 years' professional radio listening.
![]()
The Plastic Revolution: 50 Years of the Credit Card
The story of how easy credit changed British society forever.
![]()
The Secret History of Yoga
Mukti Jain Campion explores the surprising origins of modern yoga practice.
![]()
Manto: Uncovering Pakistan
Sarfraz Manzoor tells the story of Pakistani writer Sa'adat Manto and assesses his legacy.
![]()
In Wales the Ball is Round
Elis James's polemical appraisal of football's role in constructing modern Welsh identity
![]()
The Bomb That Made Manchester?
Michael Symmons Roberts examines the myth that the 1996 bomb heralded Manchester's rebirth
![]()
The Tale of Jimmy Scott
The story of Jimmy Scott, one of the 20th Century's most overlooked vocalists.
![]()
St Helena - Joining the Rest of Us
Two-part documentary looking at the second most remote community in the world.
![]()
Blue Canvas: The Artist Miles Davis
A musical portrait of how the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis became a painter in later life.
![]()
Punk, the Pistols and the Provinces
Mark Hodkinson looks at the impact of punk rock in Yorkshire.
![]()
Born in Bradford
Winifred Robinson reports on the lives of thousands of families being tracked in Bradford.
![]()
Next Stop: Mariachi Plaza
A night out in the Latino suburbs with the mariachis of Boyle Heights, East LA.
![]()
The Camera Never Lies
Bafta award-winning film-maker Molly Dineen examines the concept of truth in documentary.
![]()
The Power of Cute
Lucy Cooke explores our seeming obsession with all things cute.
![]()
Field Notes: The Irishman Who Invented the Nocturne
Alistair McGowan uncovers the sensational, creative life of the Irish composer John Field.
![]()
Jarvis on McCullers
Jarvis Cocker celebrates the life and work of literary wunderkind Carson McCullers.
![]()
Return to Subtopia
A timely retracing of the passionate Subtopia campaign against postwar town planning.
![]()
16 5 66
The story of how two of the greatest albums of all time were released on the same day.
![]()
EF Schumacher: Is Small the Next Big?
Is small the next big? Leo Johnson explores the radical vision of EF Schumacher.
![]()
The Sprung Floor
Dane Hurst takes a dance floor to South Africa for use by underprivileged children.
![]()
Return to Subtopia
A timely retracing of the passionate Subtopia campaign against postwar town planning.
![]()
For Better or Worse
Peter McGraith hears personal accounts of same-sex marriage in post equality Britain.
![]()
Tennant Looks Back at Osborne
David Tennant explores the autobiographical back story to Osborne's revolutionary play.
![]()
My Mother's Sari
Dr Shahidha Bari looks at the history of the sari.
![]()
The Business of Music with Matt Everitt
Insiders discuss the decisions that have transformed the record industry.
![]()
The Force of Google
Google dominates internet searching. Rory Cellan-Jones asks if it is too powerful.
![]()
Shakespeare and the American Dream
Robert McCrum journeys across Obama's America in search of Shakespeare and what he means to Americans today.
![]()
The Impostors' Survival Guide
Oliver Burkeman explores the frequent human experience of feeling like a fraud.
![]()
Rising Voices
Fergal Keane explores the cultural landscape of the 1916 Easter Rising.
![]()
Swansong
A meditation on loss, with real and imagined stories bound by sound and silence.
![]()
The Drop Out Boogie
Why do so many university students fail to finish their degrees?
![]()
In Search of Southern Hospitality
Comedian Rich Hall investigates the true meaning of American southern hospitality.
![]()
Working Class Heroes and Poverty Porn
How the portrayal of the working class and poor in film and TV has changed over 70 years.
![]()
A Waste of Space
Harriet Sergeant investigates whether empty commercial buildings could house the homeless.
![]()
The Neglected Sense
Radio 4 announcer Kathy Clugston is anosmic. She cannot smell - and wants to know why.
![]()
The Unabomber
How a reclusive maths prodigy terrorised America - and how the media amplified his cause.
![]()
Three-sided Football
Ian McMillan presents the story of a baffling game with three sides and only three rules.
![]()
Psychedelic Science
Can psychedelic drugs overcome their notoriety to become accepted for routine medical use?
![]()
The Panama Papers
A major investigation reveals how the world's most notorious regimes get around sanctions.
![]()
The Philby Tape
Notorious Soviet spy Kim Philby as he's never been heard before.
![]()
A Dirty Secret
Mary-Ann Ochota visits Bangladesh and India to ask why 2.3bn people lack adequate toilets.
![]()
Seriously Come Dancing
Documentaries about dance, dancers and dancing.
![]()
'Down With Skool': The Art of Molesworth
Philip Hensher explores the art of the gloriously eccentric Molesworth books.
![]()
The Lost Art of the TV Theme
Comedian and musician Richard Morton recalls the heyday of the classic TV theme.
![]()
How to Turn Your Life Around
Succeeding against the odds. What does it take to turn your life around?
![]()
Goodbye Mosquito
Could we, and should we, eradicate mosquitoes? Professor Adam Hart investigates.
![]()
Suck It and See
Songwriter Amy Wadge investigates the history and potential of the harmonica.
![]()
The Returnees
How should Britain manage its returning foreign fighters?
![]()
The Horses
Kenneth Steven explores Edwin Muir's poetic search for the lost Eden of his childhood.
![]()
The Art of the Lyricist
Clarke Peters explores the art of the lyricist to mark My Fair Lady's 60th anniversary.
![]()
The Women Who Wrote Rock
Kate Mossman tells the story of the long-overlooked female music writers of the 1960s.
![]()
The Actors' Gang & The Actors' Gang on the Outside
A two-part Seriously following Tim Robbins's acting classes in LA's Norco prison.
![]()
Turntable Tales
Two-part celebration of the development and impact of the record-playing turntable.
![]()
The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: Anarchy Must Be Organised
Neil Innes looks at the collision of art, humour, music and anarchy in Bonzo Dog.
![]()
How to Go Straight
Ex-convicts tell intimate stories of how they renounced lives of crime.
![]()
Glad to Be Grey
Grey-haired professor Mary Beard investigates why fewer people are now glad to be grey.
![]()
Lord Byron and the Hebrew Melodies
Michael Rosen tells the little-known story of how the poem She Walks in Beauty was set to Jewish music.
![]()
The Horns of a Dilemma
Will the sale of harvested rhino horn help to stop poaching?
![]()
Life Inside 'Islamic State'
Mike Thomson reports on an extraordinary series of diaries on life inside 'Islamic State'.
![]()
Ghosts of the Tsunami
Five years after Japan's tsunami, some survivors report seeing the ghosts of the dead.
![]()
The Day the Refugees Came
Michael Palin tells the story of a group of refugees welcomed in by a small Somerset town.
![]()
The Greatest Ever Faker
Gareth Gwynn uncovers the fantastical world of a Welsh cultural lodestone Iolo Morganwg.
![]()
Back to the Ice
Meteorologist Peter Gibbs returns to Antarctica, where he spent two years in the 1980s.
![]()
A Brief History of Disobedience
American satirist Joe Queenan explores the importance of not doing what one is told.
![]()
The Arts Exodus
Deborah Coughlin examines the value of art to communities and cities.
![]()
Laverne in the Willows
Lauren Laverne celebrates Kenneth Grahame's classic tale The Wind in the Willows.
![]()
Simon Schama: The Obliterators
Simon Schama offers some context for the destruction of antiquities in Syria and Iraq.
![]()
Black, White and Beethoven
Joseph Harker asks why Britain's classical music scene remains so resolutely white.
![]()
SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK
Naomi Alderman presents a history of interactive fiction.
![]()
Musical Variations: The Life of Angela Morley
The colourful career of British composer and transgender pioneer Angela Morley.
![]()
Choose Life
20 years after Trainspotting's release, the real-life addicts who inspired the actors.
![]()
JD Salinger, Made in England
How 3 months in rural Devon influenced one of the greatest chroniclers of urban New York.
![]()
The Art of Adultery
Natalie Haynes finds out why adultery remains such a regular subject in popular culture.
![]()
Mao's Golden Mangoes
Benjamin Ramm explores one of the strangest chapters in China's history - mango mania.
![]()
Batman and Ethan
A blind musical prodigy learns echolocation from Daniel Kish.
![]()
Seriously Cinematic
A collection of documentaries on films, film-making and film-makers.
![]()
Tim Key and Gogol's Overcoat
Comedian Tim Key spins his own surreal tale of one of Russia's greatest short stories.
![]()
Editing Life
Matthew Cobb explores the excitement and concerns about the new genome editing technology.
![]()
Herman Melville's Sea Change
Moby-Dick was made in England. Paul Farley tells a story of fast fish and loose fish.
![]()
Embarrassment
Journalist Lynne Truss prepares to cringe as she investigates embarrassment.
![]()
Mao's Little Red Book Goes West
David Aaronovitch asks why Mao's Little Red Book captured the imagination of the west.
![]()
Invisible Belfast
A mysterious note sends a visitor to Belfast on a labyrinthine journey through the city.
![]()
Gay Bombay
Zareer Masani returns to Mumbai to measure India's changing attitudes to homosexuality.
![]()
Unnatural Selection
Adam Hart reveals how humanity is altering the evolutionary paths of other creatures.
![]()
David Bowie: Verbatim
David Bowie's extraordinary life and career told in his own words.
![]()
Herland
Geoff Ryman explores stories about women and men in future worlds. Plus original story No Point Talking.
![]()
The Good Goering
Gavin Esler tells the story of Hermann Goering's brother, who claimed he saved people from Nazi persecution.
![]()
Trump and the Politics of Paranoia
The story of how ethnic fear has been used from the republic through to Donald Trump.
![]()
Crafty Orchids
Why are orchids so popular? Jim Endersby offers a new scientific history of their allure.
![]()
Utopias
Michael Symmons Roberts the book behind one of our most influential ideas: Utopia.
![]()
Raising the Dead
Composer Adam Gorb goes on a journey to listen to the lost music of concentration camps.
![]()
The Achalasia Diaries
Seriously podcast presenter Femi Martin's autobiographical documentary.
![]()
Catacombs of the Mind
The late Bruce Lacey reflects on his life in this 2014 documentary.
![]()
Deciding Fast and Slow
How do government ministers take decisions in the 21st Century?
![]()
I Dressed Ziggy Stardust
Samira Ahmed meets British Asian women who, like her, were inspired by David Bowie.
![]()
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite... Laicite
What has happened to traditional French values since the Charlie Hebdo killings?
![]()
Work is a Four Letter Word
Professor Andrew Hussey asks why we should let the toad of work squat on our lives.
![]()
A New Life in Europe
A family of Syrian migrants risks everything in a remarkable journey to Germany.
![]()
How My Sister Said Goodbye
Before she died, Jonathan Freedland's sister's left a unique audio legacy - her own Desert Island Discs.
![]()
The Boat Children
Hashi Mohamed follows the trail of of unaccompanied child migrants arriving in Europe.
![]()
Jay Rayner Pigs Out
Self-confessed greedy pig Jay Rayner gets serious about porkers
![]()
Stars of Wonder
Miranda Sawyer explores the magic of the school nativity play.
![]()
A Meaty Problem
Restaurateur Henry Dimbleby unravels the deep-seated attachment of the British to eating meat.
![]()
Chrismukkah and Other Cultural Mash-ups
Sharmini Selvarajah meets interfaith families facing the 'December dilemma'.
![]()
The Selling of Sinatra
A centenary celebration of the life and work of Frank Sinatra.
![]()
Singing Piaf With No Regrets
Caroline Nin listens to those drawn to sing the music of the legendary French performer.
![]()
Online Shopping, Indian Style
Mukti Jain Campion discovers how Indians are embracing the online shopping revolution.
![]()
Hippy Internet - The Whole Earth Catalog
Sukhdev Sandhu tells the story of a book of hippy philosophy that defined the 1960s.
![]()
The Sexy Salaryman
Why has the white collar worker has become a central figure in TV series and comic books in Japan?
![]()
Shoah in Jerusalem
The extraordinary story of the day an epic Holocaust documentary was premiered in Israel.
![]()
When Britain Had the Right Stuff
Archive on 4 uncovers the forgotten history of Britons in space.
![]()
The Emperor of the Glen
How has Chinese ownership changed a Scottish castle after it spent generations in the same family?
![]()
The Art of StarCraft
Stephen Evans goes deep into the Milky Way to look at the phenomenon of StarCraft.
![]()
JFK: The Vinyl Reaction
How the American record industry responded to the assassination of President Kennedy.
![]()
The Nervous Breakdown of the Internet
Internet security is vital, but increasingly fragile. Edward Lucas explores online trust.
![]()
Too Old to Be a Genius
Jim Al-Khalili investigates whether there is a link between age and scientific creativity.
![]()
The Incubator
Clare Jenkins presents a personal insight into the world of premature babies.
![]()
Lynn Hill: Twenty-First Century War Poet
US Air Force veteran and poet Lynn Hill opens up the alien soul of 21st Century warfare.
![]()
The Beauty of Equations
Jim Al-Khalili and fellow physicists explain why they think equations are beautiful.
![]()
Seriously Modern
A collection of documentaries on modern and contemporary classical music.
![]()
The Joy of 9 to 5
Lucy Kellaway explores UK office culture in a three-part series.
![]()
Burlesque Legends
Mat Fraser meets the former showgirls getting back on stage in their 70s and 80s.
![]()
Alice Is Still in Wonderland
Siouxsie Sioux celebrates Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on its 150th anniversary.
![]()
Particle Poets and Molecular Metaphors
Anna McNamee explores atomic science as poetic inspiration.
![]()
Numbers by Nature
What can animals tell us about the origins of our numerical abilities?
![]()
Blood, Sex and Money: The Life and Work of Emile Zola
Glenda Jackson travels to Paris for documentary about influential French writer Emile Zola.
![]()
Forgotten History
Neil Kinnock assesses the poetry of a fellow Welshman, Idris Davies.
![]()
The Last Post
How did an 18th Century British Army bugle call become a sacred anthem of remembrance?
![]()
On the Road
Maddy Prior and daughter Rose Kemp swap musical genres - folk rock and doom drone.
![]()
The Muslim Sex Doctor
The work of Imam Alyas Karmani, counselling those Muslims who have troubled sex lives.
![]()
Pete & Clive
The story of Pete Atkin and Clive James, one of the most enduring songwriting relationships in history.
![]()
Alice in Teesside
Lewis Carroll's roots in the north east of England are uncovered by Simon Farnaby.
![]()
The Piers Plowright Collection
Seven magnificent documentaries chosen and introduced by the legendary radio maker.
![]()
Myanmar's Bright Young Stars
Nomia Iqbal learns how youth radio has played a part in Myanmar's shift from military rule
![]()
Taking Art to the People
Michael Symmons Roberts on the life and legacy of visionary philanthropist Thomas Horsfall.
![]()
Spanish Steps
Clap those hands, stamp those feet! Chris Stewart goes on the trail of flamenco in Granada.
![]()
Fiery Inspiration: Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts Movement
A two-part look at the complex man at the heart of the Black Arts movement in 1960s America.
![]()
Ghost Stories from Theatreland
Actor Jack Shepherd goes backstage to unearth the strange tales of haunted theatres.
![]()
Duelling Scars
Horatio Clare meets the German student duellists for whom a scar is a badge of honour.
![]()
A Man's a Man for a' That: Frederick Douglass in Scotland
The story of abolitionist and freed slave Frederick Douglass's time in Scotland.
![]()
Rave: The Beat Goes On
Jolyon Jenkins reports on Spiral Tribe, the 90s free party sound system, still raving.
![]()
The Jazz Ambassadors of the Cold War
Julian Joseph recounts how jazz diplomacy was used during the Cold War.
![]()
Attention Must Be Paid - Arthur Miller's Centenary
Christopher Bigsby traces the life and work of Arthur Miller, mostly in Miller's own words.
![]()
Homer, Hagrid and the Incredible Hulk
Ben Hammersley investigates fictional universes, from Harry Potter to Game of Thrones.
![]()
Let's Go Round Again - The Story of The Magic Roundabout
Sophie Thompson and Phyllida Law celebrate 50 years of The Magic Roundabout.
![]()
In Search of Great Uncle Frank
Comedian Hugh Dennis travels to Gallipoli to discover how his great uncle died in World War I.
![]()
Highway 61: Fifty Years On
Andy Kershaw re-examines the Bob Dylan album that changed popular music and his life.
![]()
The Loss of Lostness
Stephen Smith embarks on a journey to rediscover the lost joys of getting lost.
![]()
Something Old, Something New
The son of a US soul singer father and Sheffield mother seeks his American roots.
![]()
The Manchester Ballads
Folk singer Eliza Carthy finds a new song to sing from Manchester's 19th Century broadside ballads.
![]()
Hell Is Other People: A Self-Help Guide to Social Anxiety
Performer Byron Vincent tries to overcome his paralysing fear of social situations.
![]()
Mind the Gap
A reluctant bearer snaps at the cultural significance of gap teeth.
![]()
Burying Chernobyl
The daughter of a former Chernobyl engineer returns to her father's workplace.
![]()
When Van Played Cyprus Avenue
Residents discuss Van Morrison's return to the east Belfast neighbourhood of his youth for gigs commemorating his 70th birthday.
![]()
Can Porn Be Ethical?
Nichi Hodgson asks whether there's scope for an ethical code for producing porn.
![]()
Tom Ravenscroft's Campervan of Vinyl Dreamers
The 6 Music DJ discusses private pressings with DIY musicians from the 1970s and 1980s.
![]()
Dotun and Dean
Dotun Adebayo explores his teenage obsession with James Dean.
![]()
Orpheus Underground
Writer Neil Gaiman examines the Orpheus myth in literature.
![]()
From the Self to the Selfie
Lauren Laverne looks into a cultural phenomenon - the selfie.
![]()
The Pop Star and the Prophet
An aspiring pop star meets Jacques Attali, a polymath who in 1976 predicted today's music industry crisis.
![]()
Sugar, Saris and Green Bananas
Lainy Malkani uncovers her family's roots on the sugar plantations of British Guiana.
![]()
Secrets and Spies: The Untold Story of Edith Cavell
Former MI5 boss Stella Rimington investigates the startling case of a woman hanged during WW1.
![]()
Birth of an Orchestra
Alan Bennett and musicians young and old consider the orchestral heritage of Yorkshire.
![]()
Ginny in the Hut
A reflection in sound on the life of Virginia Fiennes, first wife of explorer Sir Ranulph.
![]()
Too Much Fighting on the Dance Floor
A look at the violence and tribalism present at music gigs in the late 1970s and 1980s.
![]()
Kier Hardie: Labour's First Leader
Gordon Brown tells the story of James Keir Hardie, Labour's first leader.
![]()
Music in the Shadow of Ground Zero
The story of two New York churches that survived 9/11 and are now healing the community.
![]()
The Spoken Image
Photographer Eamonn McCabe curates his own photo exhibition on the radio.
![]()
From Enlightenment to Entanglement
Have computers helped us amass too much information for us to understand?
![]()
Donald Duck Gets Drafted
Gerald Scarfe explores the activity of the Walt Disney Studio during World War Two.
![]()
New Orleans: The Crescent and the Shadow
Harry Shearer takes stock in his hometown of New Orleans, a decade after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
![]()
Travelling the Spaceways: The Cult of Sun Ra
Two decades after his death, why does Sun Ra continue to inspire an obsessive following?
![]()
Overage Drinkers
Leala Padmanabhan investigates problem drinking among older people in the UK, starting with the story of her own father.
![]()
The Bin Laden Tapes
1000s of cassettes were found in Osama Bin Laden's abandoned Kabul compound in 2002. What was on them?
![]()
Stadium Rock at 50
Five decades after The Beatles played Shea Stadium, Kate Mossman traces a history of stadium rock.
![]()
Slimboy Fat: The Problem with BMI
What does your body mass index really tell you about how healthy you are?
![]()
Necessary to My Happiness
The story of Lord Byron's abandoned daughter, whose tragic life haunted her father's imagination.
![]()
The Northern Male - and His Mate
Stuart Maconie asks, what's so special about friendships between men from the north of England?
![]()
Misunderstanding Japan
The real Japan and the Japan depicted in Western media are two different places. How have they influenced each other?
![]()
Seth Lakeman and the Newport Folk Festival
Seth Lakeman investigates the history and influence of the Newport Folk Festival.
![]()
Ken, Madge and the Strange Rock
The story of a mysterious find on Morecambe beach by one man and his dog.
![]()
Women of Terror
Fearless, fanatical and female. Bridget Kendall investigates women who turn to terror.
![]()
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Think it's just simple playground game? Think again.
![]()
In Your Head
From false memories to brain trauma - a collection of programmes about what goes on inside the head.
![]()
The Night Shift
Does working the night shift reduce your lifespan? Sarah Montague investigates.
![]()
Strange Sounds
A collection of programmes about weird instruments and unearthly rhythms.
![]()
Shhhhhhh
A quiet celebration of the rich and various virtues of silence.
![]()
The Bletchley Girls
Five women who worked as WW2 codebreakers in their youth tell their incredible stories.
![]()
Seriously Shorts
Fascinating facts in 15 minutes.
![]()
In the Moment
Comedian Stewart Lee introduces his private passion - free improvised music.
![]()
CSI Whale
Award-winning author Philip Hoare attends a porpoise necropsy and thinks about going inside a whale.
![]()
Seriously Surprising
Unexpected stories from across the globe.
![]()
Children of the Olympic Bid
Series following 30 East End kids who helped London secure the Olympics.
![]()
Pussy Galore
Susan Calman finds out why our feline overlords rule cyberspace.
![]()
Seriously Funny
A collection of programmes detailing the facts behind the funny.
![]()
Fast and Furioso
Speed drummers and guitar shredders: the world of the virtuoso.
![]()
Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby
Young females are dating wealthy older men via websites. Who is being exploited?
![]()
Seriously Spoken
Weird words and marginalia from fisher poets and hepcats.
![]()
My Big Fat Documentary
Are you ready for Scottee's personal brand of fat activism?
![]()
Seriously Soulful
Moving stories from magical musicians.
![]()
Another Time, Another Place
Ten years of Antony Gormley's epic installation on Crosby beach.
