On the trail of human traffickers
Radio 4’s To Catch a Scorpion takes us inside the brutal illegal immigration industry.
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The cost of climbing Everest
A new Radio 4 series reveals the stark and deadly reality of conquering the world’s highest mountain.
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The journalist vs the trolls
In Marianna Spring’s series Why Do You Hate Me?, the BBC social media correspondent finds fellowship and reconciliation amid the…
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Radio 4’s Child puts us on the cusp of life
India Rakusen has created a delightful mosaic of trivia about babies and the earliest stages of human life.
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Do you know how to read the news?
This BBC Radio 4 series is a fun, bite-sized analysis of journalistic practice past and present.
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A baffling but brilliant ride through Birmingham’s surrealist scene
Stewart Lee’s Radio 4 documentary on the city’s artistic past is jarring, hard to follow and utterly engaging.
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Why Wimbledon is made for radio
I thought I had to see tennis to believe it – but BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary has transported me…
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The Crossbow Killer attempts to fathom an unfathomable act
Meic Parry’s investigation into the 2019 murder of Gerald Corrigan is well-researched but unnecessarily gory in detail.
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A history of the world in circles
Radio 4’s In the Loop explores the secrets of things that are round – from particle accelerators to the 5,000-year-old…
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When Justin Welby met John Cleese
In BBC Radio 4’s Archbishop Interviews, the unlikely pair talk about faith, forgiveness, cancel culture – and whether Jesus is…
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What makes a witch?
A new BBC Sounds series explores the tangled roots and modern revival of witchcraft.
Do we need another political podcast?
The Power Test, co-hosted by Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman, will delight Westminster obsessives.
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BBC Sounds podcast Believe in Magic: a dark and strange story of online deception
A new series by Jamie Bartlett investigates a charity and its founders, and becomes a cautionary tale of social media…
The secret history of how we measure time
Did you know the 24-hour day is likely the result of humans counting with their fingerbones?
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The BBC podcast series A Very British Cult is dark and gripping
This deep dive into a supposed life-coaching organisation is an explosive listen. I won’t spoil the ending.
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The true meaning of James Bond
The ultimate GQ snob, 007 more than anything represents consumer goods becoming available to people outside of aristocracy.
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Searching for the “ghost children” missing from schools
Terri White’s new BBC series examines the impact of lockdowns on the children told to “stay at home”, when home…
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The Weigh Up explores life after anorexia
This BBC Sounds podcast is a first-person account of how recovery from the eating disorder is possible.
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A queer kind of poetry
This bittersweet, beautiful programme highlights odes to relationships between two men or two women.
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The UK’s rubbish-dump mafia
Radio 4’s Buried tells the story of “the astonishing crime you likely haven’t heard of”.
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