Two of these topics look especially interesting -- the series on 1968 and the "History of America" series that commemorates the 100th anniversary of Alastair Cooke's birth.
Folks who enjoy radio history may especially enjoy the archival material from 1968. Radio 4 publishes an e-mail newsletter that might be helpful in providing advance word of these series going to air. Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mike Barraclough <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Feb 7, 2008 9:20 AM Subject: [uk-radio-listeners] BBC R4: 1968 season/ 90 part History of America/ Reith lecture/ archive To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Media Guardian reports that Radio 4 is to run an ambitious season of programming unpacking the pivotal events of 1968. Using material from the time, a five-minute montage of news reports will be scheduled every day at 4.55pm, over the course of six months, linked by narration from the former chief executive of the Barbican, John Tusa. The Radio 4 controller, Mark Damazer, who announced a string of new projects and revealed plans for an online archive of every Radio 4 show, said 1968 was particularly relevant to the station's audience, the majority of whom would have been "between 10 and 30" at the time. "I'm going faintly bonkers about 1968. For Radio 4, it's the equivalent of what Radio 2 did last year with the Summer of Love and Sgt Pepper," he said, promising there would be "no cheating" and events would be reported as they were at the time. The season, which will take in news events from the assassination of Martin Luther King to the student riots in Paris, will also feature landmark documentaries and live studio discussions. There will be documentaries on the cultural impact of the often bleak fallout from the Summer of Love in the year that the Beatles released the White Album and the musical Hair promised the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. This year's Reith lectures would be given by the British-born historian Professor Jonathan Spence, the author of The Search for Modern China. The Yale professor will deliver the lectures, which are in their 60th year, before this year's Olympics in Beijing. Damazer said the lectures would tackle obvious topics such as human rights, but also take in athleticism, the body and Confucius. Damazer also hopes to bring a large audience to a 90-part history of America timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Alistair Cooke, the much-loved Letter from America broadcaster who died in 2004. He said the series, written and presented by David Reynolds, who fronts the BBC4 documentary strand Summits, was a good example of Radio 4's ability to delve more deeply than television into historic narratives. Another highlight will be a special daylong broadcast from the Cern laboratory in Geneva when its groundbreaking particle accelerator is switched on later this year. The broadcast, anchored by Andrew Marr, will include live coverage of the moment the accelerator in a 27km tunnel is switched on, documentaries on its development and a made-for-radio edition of the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood. Damazer said he was "actively pursuing" his long-term ambition to create a deep online archive of Radio 4 content that would bring together all programmes on a given topic. "You could type in Stoppard and get five recent interviews with Mark Lawson, his original plays, his Desert Island Discs and so on. Because Radio 4 has more content than anyone else, it's a fantastic treasure trove." Forthcoming Radio 4 programmes · 1968 season An as yet unnamed six-month season which will include reconstructed news bulletins, documentaries and live studio discussion · Particle physics day After the Today programme, Andrew Marr will host a day of programming from the new Cern particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland · Reith lectures The 60th anniversary of the annual series will be marked in April by this year's lecturer, China expert Professor Jonathan Spence · History of America Ambitious 90-part series presented by Professor David Reynolds Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uk-radio-listeners/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uk-radio-listeners/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA International broadcasting / shortwave blog: http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Swprograms mailing list Swprograms@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above.