Illuminated Podcast
Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds. New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings.
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.
Episodes to download
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Bass Notes
Sun 28 Dec 2025
Jah Wobble explores a life immersed at the low end of the sonic spectrum.
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A Very British Christmas
Sun 21 Dec 2025
A headlong dive into Christmas Day 2024, made up entirely from phone-recorded voice notes.
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CS Lewis, the Evacuee and the Wardrobe
Sun 14 Dec 2025
Emma Freud sits down with her mother to hear the fascinating tale of her link to CS Lewis.
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Hearing Aids
Sun 23 Nov 2025
Poet Paul Farley faces up to the fact that it’s time to address his hearing loss.
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Lost In Lullabies
Sun 16 Nov 2025
When his son refuses his bedtime songs, Matt Edmonds wonders what magic lullabies hold.
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Problems with Julia Masli
Sun 26 Oct 2025
There are so many problems in the world. Julia Masli has been trying to solve them.
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Returned to Sender
Sun 12 Oct 2025
Join Clint Buffington on his hunt for messages in bottles and the people who sent them.
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Peanuts at 75
Sun 5 Oct 2025
Josh Cohen shares how Peanuts can help us navigate the frustrating squiggle of life.
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Driving, Driving, Driving on the Autobahn
Sun 28 Sep 2025
Alan Dein takes to the road to explore the cultural resonances of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn.
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How Trains Shrank Time and Space
Sun 21 Sep 2025
200 years after the birth of the modern railway we explore its impact on our modern world.
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The Cat Killer Detectives
Sun 7 Sep 2025
A couple from London find themselves caught up in the search for the Croydon cat killer
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The Watch Case
Sun 24 Aug 2025
Watchmaker Rebecca Struthers has come to see the world's oldest watch - but is it real?
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Into the West
Sun 17 Aug 2025
Horatio Clare goes in search of the bird he’s loved since childhood: the red-billed chough
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A Taste of Home
Sun 3 Aug 2025
We unbox care packages to explore flavours from China, India, Ireland and the Philippines.
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Don't Lose Your Head!
Sun 27 Jul 2025
A vicar takes on a church and discovers there's a decapitated head in the vestry.
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Target Girls
Sun 20 Jul 2025
Pull back the curtain on the hidden world behind the target girl’s silent, singular image.
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All Under One Magnetosphere
Sun 13 Jul 2025
Discover the magic of ‘natural radio’ - a hidden electromagnetic soundscape.
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Still Me
Sun 6 Jul 2025
Tracey Okines - locked-in, not locked down - living boldly with humour, honesty and spirit
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The Frozen Light
Sun 22 Jun 2025
The world’s northernmost community celebrates the sun's return after months of darkness.
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Lost and Found
Sun 15 Jun 2025
Illuminated enters the world of a missing Jack Russell Terrier in St Neots, Cambridgeshire
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You've Got Worms
Sun 8 Jun 2025
Sink into the dirt to meet the hidden worms that squelch through the darkness.
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Doctor Dolittle and the Exploding Trout
Sun 18 May 2025
The environmental protest that shook Hollywood and saved a village.
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A Map of the Moon
Sun 11 May 2025
Producer and artist Siddharth Khajuria meets competing human imaginations for the moon.
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The Organ Symphony
Sun 4 May 2025
Five peoples' stories about their relationship with an internal organ - set to music.
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The Big Ask
Sun 13 Apr 2025
How many questions have you asked today? Were any of your questions meaningful?






























