Radio Programmes

Radio programmes 1. The Digital Human: Sin-eaters TX: 02/10/2017 Dur: 27’50” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Scotland Radio Features They’re the invisible janitors of the internet scrubbing our social media feeds clean of the violence, abuse and hate that might either offend, distress or harm us. They’re called content moderators and thousands of them sit in front of computers across the globe from Germany to India to the Philippines. They sift through unfathomable volumes of photos and videos in search of content that ‘breaks the rules’ but what price do they pay in shielding our eyes. That’s question posed by psychologist and technology writer Dr Aleks Krotoski in this episode of The Digital Human. And to explore this she draws on the idea of sin-eating; an age old practice that flourished across the British Isles up until the end of the 19th century. When someone died the sin eater would be summoned to consume a ritualistic meal over the corpse and in doing so they would take on their sins. It was the preserve of those on the fringes of their communities. Whether they were outcasts because of this, or to start with folklorists can't say. What is known for certain though is that they were among the poorest - who else would do it? While the practice may have died out there is a modern day digital equivalent in content moderation. These are the lowest of the low in the digital economy. Poorly paid, poorly trained and poorly protected from all the gruesomeness that would otherwise proliferate across the web. Their employers don’t like to talk about this dirty secret lest it tarnish their reputation as a safe place for its users and probably more importantly advertisers. We hear from content moderators about the harm they come to doing this crucial job and how unscrupulous employers exploit the newness of the job to shirk their responsibilities to them. 2. Salam to Queen and Country TX: 29/03/2017 Dur: 27’40” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: Blakeway Productions Zubeida Malik speaks to serving British Muslims about what it is like to be in the Army today. In the last two campaigns, Muslims in the British army have faced criticism from some members of their own communities, who were opposed to what they saw as taking up arms against fellow Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi became the first, and now only, British Muslim soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in 2006, there was an outpouring of sympathy from his local community, but there was criticism from some quarters too. His death highlighted the role of Britain's Muslim soldiers and soon afterwards a plot to kidnap and behead a Muslim soldier was discovered in Birmingham. Zubeida Malik meets serving British Muslims to hear their stories about joining up and their tours of duty. She asks what it was like to be in the army after 9/11 and during the so called War on Terror. And with under 600 Muslim personnel serving in the British Army, Zubeida asks the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, what is being done to overcome the problems with recruiting young British Muslims into the army today. 3. Heart and Soul: Faith in the Fire TX: 11/08/2017 Dur: 26’27” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: Blakeway Productions On the night the Grenfell Tower fire began on 14 June 2017, the mosques and churches which encircle the tower block in Kensington, West London, provided bases for vital relief work. It was Ramadan so many Muslim faithful were returning from prayers when the fire started, and they were able to alert residents and help people get out of the burning building. In the hours and days that followed, in one of the richest areas of one of the wealthiest cities in the world, people of all religions were mobilised in the crisis and came together to offer crucial pastoral support and practical help, while the authorities were accused of being slow to respond. Presenter Zubeida Malik meets the residents and religious leaders to find out what happened that night and how they continue to administer emotional support and funeral prayers in the aftermath of the tragedy. And she asks them what kind of answers faith can provide in such a crisis. 4. Big Brief TX: 05/05/2017 Dur: 26’30” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: Whistledown Productions What's it like to be the bishop with the biggest brief in the world? Meet Dickson Chilongani, bishop of central Tanganyika in Tanzania. This is the largest Anglican diocese in the world. It has 700,000 Christians in 265 parishes. It's also one of the most forward-looking dioceses in Africa - the first diocese in Tanzania to ordain women and a key player in training priests who can lead their local community as well as preach the gospel. Zita Adamson listens in to Bishop Dickson as he goes about his work ministering to both the spiritual and practical needs of his many parishioners. What is it about this modest, unassuming man that won him a landslide victory in a country where Episcopal victories are normally hotly contested? And why did he lose all his friends on the day he became bishop? The journey takes us to Tanzania's first school for the blind at Buigiri. We also visit Msalato Theological College where a female student describes how villagers thought she was too young and thin to be a priest. And we squeeze into the crowded church in the village of Samaria where people affected by leprosy tell the bishop that their children are thrown out of primary school because they can't afford uniforms and exercise books. We also meet Dickson the family man and Dickson the Man U supporter. We call in on his mother who can't read or write. We hear why Bishop Dickson's son prayed that his father would not get the top job. And along the way we discover just why it's so important to the bishop to get his hands dirty on the farm. This intimate, reflective and, ultimately, joyful portrait offers powerful insight into what Christians in the West can learn from their African counterparts. (This was the first radio programme that the producer Zita Adamson ever made.) 5. Fashion Brands and the Hijab TX: 28/04/2017 Dur: 23’00” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: BBC Trending BBC Trending - Fashion Brands and the Hijab Why are fashion brands using the hijab - and why is there a growing backlash against it by many Muslims? BBC Trending producer/reporter and former hijab wearer Anisa Subedar looks at the commercialisation of the headscarf and its use in advertising and fashion. This year alone, advertisements for companies and brands like Vogue, H&M, Pepsi Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, Uniqlo, DKNY and Dolce and Gabbana have all featured women wearing the hijab. The growing popularity of the headscarf among young Muslim women has led to a wave of internet trends, with thousands of accounts on social platforms like Instagram dedicated to ‘hijabi fashion’. In this programme, Anisa hears from young women who wear the hijab and embrace the mainstreaming of this potent religious and cultural symbol – and from others who decry the commercialisation of their beliefs. And she takes a truly global view, taking in perspectives from countries such as Iran - where wearing a headscarf isn’t a choice, commercial or otherwise. She speaks to some of the biggest names on social media who have been vocal on this topic, including a woman who chose to ‘de-hijab’ because of popular culture pressures and to a female Muslim executive at one of world’s biggest advertising agencies. 6. A New Church for the Red State TX: 21/10/2017 Dur: 49'27" Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: Overtone Productions Ltd The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought a radical political change. But at the same time, a lesser- known group of religious reformers were busy plotting a better future for Russia’s souls – and a new, more democratic, Orthodox Church, closer to the people. Caroline Wyatt explores whether they were simply being used by the Bolsheviks, or whether the Revolution’s answer to Martin Luther almost prompted a real Russian Reformation. The leader of the reform movement - priest Alexander Vvedensky - established a new community, the Renovationist Church, in order to implement reforms such as the translation of the Gospels into everyday Russian rather than Church Slavonic, and giving power to the lower orders of clergy and the laity. When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 Vvedensky thought history was on his side and that revolution in the Church was imminent once the new regime supported it. Indeed it became an extraordinarily successful phenomenon, taking over the leadership of the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church in 1923 and becoming the only legitimate religious community in the Soviet state for several years. Vvedensky’s daughter, Olga Chubakova - now in her 90's and one of the last surviving eyewitnesses of the Renovationist Movement - speaks for the first time about her father and his devastation when the Bolsheviks later switched allegiance to the mainstream Orthodox Church. Leading academics in Russia, the UK and the United States reveal the real motivations of the Bolsheviks: to divide and conquer the Church altogether. As well as the story of a charismatic 20th century Martin Luther, the programme is a testimony to the strength of Orthodox faith in Russia as well as its close allegiance, for good or ill, with the Russian State.

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