Sarah Montague’s alarm goes off at the unearthly time of 3.25am on working days. Why? Because she’s one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme, Today. She arrives at the studio at 4am, spends the next two hours preparing for the show and the programme starts at 6am on the dot. The radio journalist is just one of 3.5 million people in the UK who are ...keep reading
With Great Pleasureis one of the best programmes on BBC Radio 4. If you haven’t discovered it, do give it a try. The series asks well-known names to pick prose and poetry they love – so it’s a fantastic way to discover new writers and hear old favourites. This week I got the chance to attend a recording of two forthcoming programmes at the BBC’s Broadcasting House. The shows featured ...keep reading
BBC political editor Nick Robinson is a brilliant reporter. He always looks cool, calm and unflustered – even when he’s got scary deadlines to meet and major political stories to cover. He’s also got that rare journalistic knack of making the most complicated issues clear and intelligible. He’s particularly good on Radio Four’s Today programme, where he often pops up to detangle the political complexities of the day. Yesterday Robinson ...keep reading
A queue stretching right down the Euston Road, a packed theatre and two of the funniest women in the country in conversation on the stage. Those were the ingredients for the latest recording of Chain Reaction, the BBC Radio 4 series where a well-known figure interviews someone they admire. They in turn choose someone else to interview – and so the baton gets passed down the line. This week it ...keep reading