Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 3,12 Jan 2018,49 mins

Lord Fox, David Crystal and Jenny Colgan

The Verb

Available for over a year

On the programme this week, linguist David Crystal is looking at pronunciation - what does is mean to have a 'friendly accent'? Inspired by David's writing is a brand new poem from Mike Garry which plays with 'Approximants' - consonants that sound like vowels and are often seen as being friendly. In 'Spandex and the City' (Orbit), novelist Jenny Colgan finds out what happens when a romantic heroine meets a superhero, and we hear an extract from 'Lord Fox', a collaboration between the writer Kirsty Logan, harpist Esther Swift and songwriter Kirsty Law Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright.

Programme Website
More episodes