Recommended Listening

This year's ever excellent Reith Lectures began this morning on Radio 4. The first lecture, Markets and Morals is especially relevant with the news today of Shell capitulating days before they go to court over the executions of Nigerian activists 13 years ago.

Favourite quote from the lecture: "We need to recognise that there are some things that money can’t buy and other things that money can buy but shouldn’t."

More On 4

I promise this is not going to turn into some Radio 4 fan boy site, but Start The Week on censorship this morning was really interesting, and also touched on the Rushdi fatwa.

What I Heard Tonight

Radio 4's Classic Serial this and last week was the Arab Chronicles of the First Crusade. Well worth a listen, though I think you may have to see if you can find it by foul means, rather than fair as since it was played over two weeks you will only be able to listen to the second part* on Listen Again.

Before the Saturday edition was Archive on 4, which by coincidence I believe was this week about the fatwa issued against Salmon Rushdi, also worth a listen.

* Tell a lie, they're both here for at least the next six days.

What I Heard Last Night

Radio 4's Friday Play last night was an adaptation of Eliot Weinberger's essay What I Heard About Iraq, which I'd not heard of before, despite apparently being famous on the net. It's the story of the Iraq war, told almost entirely through quotations. Worth a read, or listen. I'm sure I don't need to mention though, it's neither a light nor a quick read/listen.

Recommended Listening

Radio 4 schedules its comedies at 6:30 weekday evenings. Usually the best are on Monday and Friday (The Now Show, The News Quiz, Just a Minute) while the midweek shows are decidedly mixed. Some of the less humorous examples include the occasionally amusing Milton Jones, a large collection of one liners loosely connected by some absurd plot; the baffling, as in, why/how the hell did that get on air? Count Arthur Strong, a series of gags relating to an old man's mishearing, with predictably non-hilarious results; and those that are so banal that they merge into each other: Hut 33; Double Science; Clare in the Community; Fags, Mags And Bags; etc. But now Radio 4 have rebelled, putting the last series of literary quiz show (boring!) The Write Stuff on Mondays, followed by the new series of Milton Jones, while leaving the genuinely funny Listen Against to Tuesdays. So that's my recommendation, sorry it took so long. While I'm here I might as well say that Screenwipe is the best program on TV at the moment.