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Paul Allen uses the archive to explore the social changes that led to the British New Wave Read more
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Beyond the Kitchen Sink
Paul Allen uses the archive to explore the social changes that led to the British New Wave
Bombing Berlin
Stephen Evans on Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's 1943 dispatch during a bombing raid on Berlin.
A Brief History of Irony
Satirist Joe Queenan charts the rise and fall of the 'nudge nudge wink wink' epidemic.
Yeats and Heaney: A Terrible Beauty
Fintan O'Toole looks back at the reputations of WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney.
The World Turned Upside Down
Peter Day argues that the internet is completely revolutionising manufacturing and trade.
Not Enough Hours in the Day
Claudia Hammond looks back at 80 years ago of time use surveys, started by the BBC.
Orson Welles and The War Of The Worlds - Myth or Legend?
The true story behind the most notorious hoax in radio - Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds.
Gloria and Me
Glenn Patterson traces the cultural journey of Van Morrison's much-covered song Gloria.
The Kennedy Book Depository
Mark Lawson explores the literary and cultural responses to JFK's assassination.
Monkey Planet
Will Self asks where apes end and human apes begin.
When Comedy and Politics Collide
Is satire on radio and TV now harming rather than helping our politics?
The Three Day Week
White explores the political significance of the 1970s crisis, when Edward Heath was PM.
The Long, Long Trail
Roy Hudd explores the forgotten radio masterpiece that inspired Oh What a Lovely War.
A Life Less Ordinary
Christopher Jefferies
Christopher Jefferies assesses the media assault that left his reputation in tatters.
Marcia Shakespeare
Marcia Shakespeare reflects on the media coverage of the murder of her daughter Letisha.
Reality TV
How reality TV has put three ordinary people in the media spotlight.
John Tavener
Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.
The Death of the Spiv
Poet Paul Henry traces the evasive spiv as he slips and slides through the archives.
The First Generation X
Meet Generation X - the teenagers from the shocking, bestselling 1964 book, 50 years on.
The Interviewer Stole the Show
Lynn Barber, doyenne of the print interview, traces how the interviewer has taken charge.
Captive Media: The Story of Patty Hearst
How the kidnapping of a newspaper heiress captivated and transformed the American media.
Portraying Real Lives
Maxine Peake explores the challenges of playing factual characters.
Listen without Mother
Fi Glover peels the labels off motherhood, from sacred mother to slummy mummy.
Dark Horse: An Alec Guinness Archive
Alistair McGowan investigates the enigma of a private man who became a global star.
Atlantic Crossing
The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.
Pulped Fiction
What makes a literary reputation last? Who's 'in' and who's on the way 'out'?
Rebel Rebel
Jonathan Agnew looks back at the rebel cricket tours to South Africa between 1981-1990.
The Benjamin Broadcasts
Michael Rosen discovers Walter Benjamin's radio works for children. Read by Henry Goodman.
Sentimental Journey
Gyles Brandreth surveys the history of sentimentality, wondering whether to sneer or cheer
Imagining the Audience
In the days before audience research, who did the early BBC think it was talking to?
No Destination
Satish Kumar walked 8,000 miles for world peace. him as he relives this journey.