Radio programmes

1. Clarke’s Psalter SINGLE PROG. TX: 09/09/2018 Dur: 28’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: Overtone Productions

A contemporary poet examines his process of engaging with the Psalms and scrutinises his belief that poetry is the most powerful means of negotiating and making sense of ourselves and the world .

Edward Clarke charts his journey writing a collection of modern Psalms. It began with an accidental attempt to write a Psalm in rhyming couplets but has become a compelling part of his life - getting up in the early hours every morning and juggling writing with commitments to family and teaching.

His poems are not translations but imitations that draw on his daily life and on the "Holy Book” which he sees as central to a way of life.

His wife Francesca observes her husband's commitment to the project, and how his poetry provides him with a means to critique the modern world. She concludes that, while she prefers life to poetry, Edward seems to prefer poetry to life.

Edward writes according to the old rhythms of English poetry, and uses old stanzas as well as inventing his own in the manner of the Sidneys, John Donn, and George Herbert. This attention to form embodies his hope that his Psalter will outlive other contemporary poets.

He writes out of a conviction that the role of poetry is to negotiate the boundaries between the material world and spiritual realms - an attempt to wake himself up as much as his audience.

Throughout the programme we also hear a developing sound tract by the Italian Composer Corrado Fantoni who is setting some of Edward Clarke’s poems to music.

Since TX Paraclete Press has decided to publish the complete work, and Ed also won the Phyliss Tickle prize an unpublished collection.

2. The Kristapurana SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 18/11/2018 Dur: 43’52” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 3 Production Company: BBC Radio

Amazing travels of the first Englishman in India, a Jesuit Missionary, & a hunt for a lost poetic masterpiece..

A full 50 years before John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, an Englishman called Thomas Stephens composed an epic based on the story of the Bible, and he wrote it in Goa, India - that lush, monsoon soaked region so beloved of hippies and holidaymakers. And he wrote it, not in English, or any European language, but in a regional Indian language, Marathi. 11,000 verses in a classical Indian verse form, rich with images of India - jasmine and coconuts, palm trees and gurus.

'The Kristapurana' is the great, forgotten jewel of Anglo-Indian contact, and the story of its making is as complex as the man who wrote it. Once read and recited in every Christian household in Goa, barely a memory… why has it disappeared? And who was this man, this Thomas Stephens? How did he find himself on the other side of the world?

Professor Nandini Das, scholar of early travels and voyages of exploration, is fascinated by Thomas Stephens, and 'The Kristapurana'. She brings the epic poem, and it's writer to life, tracking the scattered traces of his life, from the Tower of to a remote parish church in south Goa, in an evocative monsoon soaked adventure, reaching back almost 500 years.

With the help of architectural historian Noah Fernandez, archivist Sally Dixon-Smith from the Tower of London, Father Peter Davidson of Campion Hall, Father Vijay D'Souza, Dr Suresh Amonkar, Professor Gil Harris, Dr Liesbeth Corens, Joao Vicente De Melo, Dr Carlos Fernandes of the Goa State Library, Dr Menezes, Rector of Rachol Seminary and Father Victor, archivist, Father Glen D'Silva and the children of the Sacred of Jesus Church, Vaddem, Sanguem

3. 19 weeks SINGLE PROG. TX: 17/04/2018 Dur: 44’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC

In 2016 writer Emily Steel had a termination after her baby was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. 19 weeks tells her story with brutal honesty.

Emily used to think that people that had 'late' abortions weren't very smart or responsible. A late termination wasn't really ok. Yet here she is, being ushered through protesters, putting on a hospital gown, having an IV drip inserted. Emily is 19 weeks pregnant. The two-day abortion procedure is about to start, but the anaesthetic doesn't seem to be working .....

According to recent statistics 1 in 3 women in the UK have had an abortion and 95% of those say they don't regret it. Yet the subject remains taboo. 19 Weeks is a raw account of the emotional, physical and philosophical battles Emily encountered throughout her late pregnancy termination.

Eve Myles stars as Emily in this true and visceral story.

Directed by Helen Perry, A BBC Cymru/Wales Production.

4. Judas SERIES TX: 26/03/2018 Dur: 67’16” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC NI Radio Drama

Broadcast daily on BBC Radio 4 across Easter week 2018, this powerful told the story of Jesus from the perspective of the young man you never hear from: Judas.

Judas of Kerioth followed Jesus all through His ministry, hearing revolutionary teaching and witnessing miracles. Like the other apostles, he gave up everything to follow this teacher, and yet, with the of friendship, he betrayed the man he loved and who loved him.

Over the course of this BBC Radio 4 ‘’ series (5 x 15 mins) we follow Judas from his first encounter with Jesus, hearing Him preaching on a hillside, to becoming a trusted disciple. However Judas, always an outsider, struggles to weigh Jesus’ peaceful teachings against his growing resentment for the Roman authorities.

As the final episode unfolds, retelling the Passion of the Christ from the perspective of Jesus’ betrayer, Judas comes to realise how much he has lost.

Starring Damien Molony as Judas, Jimmy Akingbola as Jesus, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as John and Clive Hayward as Peter. Directed by Allegra McIlroy Sound design by Wilfredo Acosta.

Writer

Multi award winning writer Lucy Gannon tackles the human story of Judas in a bold and challenging retelling of the greatest story never told.

Lucy Gannon is a hugely experienced playwright and creator of television series such as ‘Soldier, Soldier’,‘Frankie’ and ‘The Best of Men’ which told the story of the first Paralympic Games. She was awarded the MBE for services to drama in 1996. Lucy’s writing of ‘Judas’ blended unflinching humanity with warmth and tenderness, bringing a story close to her heart to life for listeners of all ages and backgrounds.

5. BBC Heart & Soul: Stepping on the Bones - Solovki and Russia's Past SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 20/07/2018 Dur: 27’00” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: BBC Radio

Founded in the 15th century on a remote archipelago in the White Sea, Solovetsky monastery (or “Solovki”) was once of Russia’s most religious sites. But in the 20th century the islands gained notoriety as the “Mother of Gulags” – the first and most brutal of the concentration camps of the Soviet time, a stark embodiment of repression.

With the fall of the communism in the early 1990's, the monastery was re-established though and a small group of monks were allowed to settle.

Monks and historians have worked together to keep the dual-legacy of Solovki alive, but spiritual revival on the bones of the dead has proved complicated; the Russian Orthodox Church wants to make the entire archipelago the stronghold of belief it had once been, while historians and human rights activists say that traces of Gulag are being gradually and forcibly removed.

Natalia Golysheva, whose grandfather was a Gulag prisoner, explores the conflict of Solovki’s legacy. Will reconciliation ever be possible?

6. Belonging (Part 1 : Old ties, Part 2 : New bonds, Part 3 : Tomorrow's Stories SERIES TX: 03/12/2018 Dur: 27’40” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Radio

The three part series explores why a need to belong is an essential part of what it means to be human and why former cabinet minister, Douglas Alexander, believes we have a crisis of belonging today. He asks religious leaders, ethicists, historians, psychologists, stall holders, gig workers and poets about the ties that bind and why, now, they are fraying.

Programme 1 looks at recent decades - the period during which Alexander was an MP. He discusses the decline in religious observance, the growing lack of security and a weakening of class and social structures. Into this heady mixture, has arrived a flourishing of online tribes in an age of social media and political storytelling that has focused, perhaps, too much on economic individual progress.

Programme 2 looks at the many different ways in which people today identify themselves - as welsh Somalis, global londoners, muslims, jews, atheists, scientists, scots, brits and english; we have more choice now than ever before. So to whom do we believe we belong? And what role has place - where you were born and where you live - had, throughout history, in deciding who you are and where you call home. Alexander, born and brought up in Renfrewshire, explores the rise of nationalism, with a focus on Scotland, and explores the that referendums have had on hardening divides.

Programme 3 looks at the power shared stories might have in uniting a fractured country. In an age of diverse media, what form might modern stories take and who would today's effective story-tellers be? Alexander asks what we can learn from religious rituals and poetic rhetoric. But he also questions whether shared stories and modern rituals will ever be able to bind unless economic inequality - which undermines shared national belonging - is reversed.

7. The Listening Service - Searching for Paradise SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 18/03/2018 Dur: 28’33” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 3 Production Company: Radio 3 Production Department

'The Listening Service' is Radio 3’s innovative weekly music programme and podcast aimed at bringing fresh, non-specialist audiences to classical music, and to widen musical horizons. It’s designed to help curious listeners understand how music works, and why…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b078n25h/episodes/downloads

Each episode of The Listening Service is produced by one of a team, and in this case it was Georgia Mann-Smith.

Each week our presenter, Tom Service, introduces a different way of listening to and imagining a musical idea. In this edition, which was one of three designed to complement the BBC TV series “Civilisations”, Tom looks at the idea of the sacred in music.

Originally broadcast in March 2018, the programme was also re branded as a Proms Special podcast in August, to complement a late-night Prom re-creating the service of Compline. We have used music to commune with the sacred for as long as we have been human: from the caves of Chauvet, tens of thousands of years ago, to the churches, temples, and synagogues of today, we have sung and hymned and played our connection with our God(s).

Something else has happened in modern Western society: as organised religion has waned, a cult of music has developed, in which we don't just use music to worship, but worship music and musicians as carriers of a divine spark. With the help of Keith Howard, Emeritus Professor of Music at SOAS, Jeremy Llewellyn of Oxford University and The Reverend Lucy Winkett, Tom explores how music has sounded the sacred and itself become sacred.

From a listener: " really enjoyed this program, as a listener, congregant, singer, musician, and teacher. You gently take us from the familiar, challenge that with a juxtaposition and resolve the quandary, yet leaving us open to question further."

8. Sisters of the Troubles SINGLE PROG. TX: 25/03/2018 Dur: 48’52” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: BBC Religion

Many books have been written about the role of Catholic priests and Protestant clergy in negotiating peace in Northern Ireland, but the stories of women in religious orders, working in schools or living on Belfast’s Peace Line, have not been heard. “No one asked us,” they say.

The BBC World Service marked the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement by broadcasting the untold stories of “Sisters of the Troubles.” Around twenty nuns had been sharing their experiences privately in a series of so-called “Witness seminars” initiated by independent scholar Dr Dianne Kirby and Professor Lisa Isherwood from Winchester University. Several of them agreed to re-convene for a worldwide audience. Dominican Sister Geraldine Smyth presented the documentary.

As members of religious orders, the Sisters were embedded in local communities as teachers and youth and community workers. Listeners were able to hear about the daily risks they took through thirty years of Troubles, and the spiritual challenges they faced. These “An important, moving and humbling programme,” was one of many appreciative comments on , “We left Northern Ireland in 1978 because of the Troubles. I was 11. This has made me proud of my homeland. Thank you.”

The programme was produced by Rosie Dawson, the executive producer was Amanda Hancox.

9. The Silence of the Lamb (Lent talks) SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 21/03/2018 Dur: 12’32” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Religion

The Lent talks are an annual fixture in the Radio 4 calendar with contributors offering personal takes on an aspect of the Passion narrative. There has rarely been a talk as personal and raw as this one. We commissioned it because we knew that the story told would resonate with many people in the context of the #MeToo movement.

Dr Katie Edwards, a lecturer in the Bible in Contemporary Culture at Sheffield University, used her experience of sexual abuse to challenge the idea that silence in the face of suffering is a virtue. Katie grew up in Rotherham, one of many towns where we now know young girls were groomed by abusive men. Katie recalled the routine harassment she and her friends experienced at school before going onto recount the story of a party in which she saw her friends being raped.

Katie describes a society in which girls are either not believed or blamed if they speak out about abuse. In school assemblies a visiting clergyman presented the silence of Jesus before Pilate in Matthew’s gospel as a sign of His strength? Why wasn’t she told, Katie wondered, about the vocal Jesus in John’s gospel who challenged his interrogator, who spoke out.

The audience took to Twitter in scores to thank Katie for her bravery in speaking out. “Not an easy listen, this, but a brilliant one, “ wrote Catherine Nixey in , “women everywhere will recognise her silence.”

The programme was produced by Rosie Dawson, the executive producer was Christine Morgan.

10. Ageing with Grace SINGLE PROG. TX: 29/04/2018 Dur: 27’30” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: Falling Tree Productions

Marie-Louise Muir tells the story of the Nun Study; a pioneering study, started in America in the 1980s, which brought a young epidemiologist together with a group of Catholic Sisters to examine the mysteries of ageing and Alzheimer’s.

In 1986 Dr David Snowdon approached the sisters at the convent of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Minnesota. An order of Catholic sisters with their uniform life-styles were perfect for an examination of the ageing process. It was the beginning of a study which experts still consider to be one of the most innovative efforts to answer questions about who gets Alzheimer's disease and why.

A curious and unlikely friendship developed between Snowdon and the sisters. Some of the nuns recall how they would look forward to the annual cognitive and memory tests. "We cared about Dr Snowdon and he cared about us", says one of the nuns. "He would walk with us and talk with us and we looked forward to his visits."

A breakthrough came when the Snowdon team came across a filing cabinet full of diaries written by the sisters when they’d entered the order. The team worked out that those sisters who used more complex sentences and ideas were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s later on. As they died, the brain of each sister was analysed for further information and these samples are now stored at the University of Minnesota along with the brains of other sisters who have continued to participate in this extraordinary longitudinal study. We hear the voices of some of the original Snowdon team as well as neurologists working in the field of Alzheimer’s and some of the nuns themselves.

11. The Home Babies SERIES TX: 25/05/2018 Dur: 15’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 The PM Programme and Podcast Production Company: BBC

In a small town in the west of Ireland, a secret lay hidden beneath the ground for years, until one woman began to dig into the past. In 2012, Catherine Corless, a grandmother and amateur historian, decided to write an essay about the mother and baby home which once stood in her home town. She remembered walking by the institution’s high walls on her way to school and felt guilty about how she’d treated the children who were born inside to single women.

Once she’d begun her research, she couldn’t stop, and through her painstaking, detailed research she uncovered an unmarked grave with the remains of hundreds of children, which lay in the old sewage system of the home.

In a series of ten episodes Becky Milligan tells the story of a dark past coming back to haunt the town, the country and the , and the dogged determination on one woman to expose the truth, standing up to the church and the state and never giving up.

The reports had a huge impact; here are some of the comments: “The Home Babies. Fascinating, shocking, and a story which needs telling.” “Proper stop what you are doing, sit down and listen broadcasting, and then think about it for a long time.” “If you do nothing else this weekend, PLEASE listen to The Home Babies”

After the podcast was broadcast the Irish Government announced that the site would be fully excavated, the remains identified and reburied. Catherine Corless has received numerous awards for her work.

12. Documentary On One: Sisters SINGLE PROG. TX: 23/06/2018 Dur: 38’33” Broadcaster: RTÉ Radio 1 Production Company: RTÉ Radio

In 1951, 18yr old Jo Murray stood at the railing of a westbound transatlantic ship flanked by four other teenage Irish girls. But these aren’t just any mid-century Irish immigrants. They’re going to Texas, and they’re going to become nuns.

For the past three years Emma Decker has lived on and off in the convent these women immigrated to in San Antonio, Texas.

Sisters Jo (Josephine) Murray and Gabrielle Murray, now aged 80 and 85, from the West of Ireland are Emma’s grand aunts.

The more they talked to Emma about growing up in the West of Ireland in the 1940s, about emigration as young single women, and arriving into a deeply polarized American South in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, the more Emma wanted to know: how did hundreds of Irish teenagers end up in Texas, and what became of that choice? Sisters Jo and Gabrielle Murray’s path from Ireland to San Antonio and the legacy they’ve left behind are both unlikely. In 1888, a widowed Irish immigrant established a pipeline between San Antonio and convents in Ireland so that she could staff an antebellum school for emancipated African Americans with young Irish nuns.

During the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s, this order of nuns defied the Catholic Church’s call to stay away from politics by marching with protesters and supporting the desegregation of schools. Many became influential leaders in their communities and the first in their families to go to college. These mid-century teenagers turned entering a convent—of all places— into an opportunity to be pioneers. Soon, their stories will be gone and they are ones that need to be told — of the vanishing, the brave, and the silent forces of history.

13. Documentary On One: In Shame, Love, In Shame SINGLE PROG. TX: 18/08/2018 Dur: 41’52” Broadcaster: RTÉ Radio 1 Production Company: RTÉ Radio

When Documentary On One: In Shame, Love in Shame was first broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 it was a broadcasting phenomenon – listeners all over the country were stopped in their tracks. Divers pulled over to the side of the road to give the broadcast their full attention. Tears flowed.

Broadcast as part of the station’s long-running, critically acclaimed Documentary on One series, In Shame, Love, in Shame generated a massive reaction on social media, mainstream media and in the public realm. It has been cited by audiences and the national press as the 'best piece of Irish radio' in 2018.

The documentary itself tells the story of the impact that the actions of the Irish Catholic Church and State had on three generations of one family, the McCarthys.

Told by Conor Keane, son of the famous Irish playwright John B. Keane, the documentary begins in 1946, when, in an act of defiance against the local clergy, a group of local men in Listowel, Co. Kerry in the South West of Ireland force open the locked gates into the Parish Church.

This action by the townspeople of Listowel never makes it into the newspapers, nor is it recorded anywhere else at the time. In fact, the incident has largely faded from the town’s memory. What was it that drove a normally compliant congregation to challenge the local Parish Priest, Canon Patrick Brennan's, dominion?

'Documentary On One: In Shame, Love, In Shame' looks at the events behind this story, piecing it together and bringing the entire story into the public domain for the very first time - of a young mother's life, her daughters life, of how the people of Listowel rallied round - and of what happened before and since those Church gates were rammed open in 1946.

14. Morning With Paul Coia SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 23/09/2018 Dur: 46’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio Berkshire Production Company: BBC

This weekly programme seeks, without budget, to treat Faith like any other News topic, but also delivers an extra audience by capturing those with no faith whatsoever.

We do this by treating stories with the rigour of a News agenda (on this programme 's controversial speech on Amazon's taxes, and the Church's attitudes to transexuals) but by showing local Faith leaders to be human, inviting those of no faith to share in the common humanity of people dealing with their own problems while being expected to lead their flocks. Here, a vicar talks about the death of his wife, and another about adopting twins as a single mum.

We introduced several short features. Our Sixty Second Sermon and My Favourite Hymn both feature local Faith leaders each week. As a sign of their success, they are now copied on other local BBC stations.

We also introduced Mark My Words, where a listener shares the motto or quote that helps them in times of difficulty - sometimes a biblical quote, sometimes a line from a song.

Finally, to show listeners, whatever their beliefs, that faith is all around us, we finish each show with The Hit Bit, the story behind a song of faith that has become a pop chart hit. It may be My Sweet Lord or it could be a less obvious one such as Shackles by Mary Mary. We devised this to encourage the interest of non Faith listeners and, again, it has been taken up by other stations.

A sign of our success, apart from ever rising ratings, is the number of texts and emails we receive from Humanists and the merely curious, as well as those whose faith is deepened by the show.

The sound file you will receive has had the music edited out.

15. How To Be A Muslim Woman SINGLE PROG. TX: 16/11/2018 Dur: 27’40” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC

How To Be A Muslim Woman, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2018, was Sayeeda Warsi’s attempt to broaden the debate about what it means to be a Muslim woman in 21st century Britain. Sayeeda is tired of Muslim women only being heard in public life, or in the media, when they fit an existing narrative or reinforce a lazy stereotype. She wanted to talk about more than polygamy, FGM, forced and the burka.

So in this documentary and its accompanying 7-part podcast, Sayeeda spoke to Muslim women about some of the many other ways of being a Muslim woman. She spoke to women who are victims of Islamophobia, and of terrorist attacks; women of the political right and left; women whose main challenges come from within Muslim communities, and those who see them from outside. They shared tears, laughter and conversations which are uplifting, tragic, intimate and sometimes shocking. They talked about sex, prayer, the , the British Army, parents, patriarchy, dressing up as a pig, and yes, even the burka.

The programme and the podcasts engaged with some of the many discussions taking place within British Muslim communities, as well as those taking place outside about those communities. We know that many Muslim women – and men – sought it out, but it also appealed to the general audience.

The podcast, featuring the individual full-length interviews from the documentary, followed the series and allowed the listener to delve more deeply and more intimately into these fascinating conversations.

16. Between the Ears: Message from the Moon SINGLE PROG. TX: 22/12/2018 Dur: 28’29” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 3 Production Company: Boffin Media

On Christmas Eve 1968, as the crew of Apollo 8 orbited the Moon, they read extracts from Genesis live on TV to tens of millions of people around the world. Later, they would also capture – by accident – a photograph of the Earth rising above the lunar landscape: Earthrise. Both events would have a profound and influential effect that continues to this day.

In Message from the Moon, we follow the Apollo 8 mission from launch to splashdown – including the reading from Genesis – and hear from astronauts giving their unique perspective on creation, faith and God. Their thoughts are interwoven with music from Hannah Peel's composition, Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia.

The programme features original interviews with Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, Apollo 16 astronaut and Moonwalker Charlie Duke, Shuttle astronauts Nicole Stott and Mike Massimino, as well as serving NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli.

Archive includes NASA commentary from the mission, previously un-broadcast extracts from the Apollo 8 capsule flight recorder and BBC TV commentary.

The producer is Richard Hollingham, with sound engineering by Sam Gunn.

Message from the Moon is a Boffin Media Production for BBC Radio 3

17. Mark Meynell – When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend: Reflections On Life And Ministry With Depression SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 17/05/2018 Dur: 27’24” Broadcaster: Premier Christian Radio Production Company: Premier Christian Radio

Mark Meynell is the Director of Langham Preaching and Langham Partnership (Europe and Caribbean). For nine years he worked on the Senior Ministry team at All Souls Langham Place, London. Previously he had been involved in student ministry and taught biblical studies at a seminary in Kampala, Uganda.

Here Mark shares his story with Loretta of working in ministry and living with depression, which he has documented in his new book, 'When Darkness Seemed My Closest Friend'.

18. Dr Rowan Williams – Being Human SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 02/05/2018 Dur: 23’17” Broadcaster: Premier Christian Radio Production Company: Premier Christian Radio

Listen to Loretta's conversation with the former Archbishop of Canterbury and Wales, now Master of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge, Dr Rowan Williams; who's talking about his latest book ‘Being Human’ which explores consciousness, the mind, the path to human maturity and how faith fits in to life.

He unpacks a number of relatable ideas in this interview which are as ever clever from the former ABC.

19. Christmas Meditation with Paul Kerensa SINGLE PROG. TX: 26/12/2018 Dur: 14’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: Paul Kerensa (+ Katharine Longworth producer)

Fresh from compering his seasonal touring show 'Comedians and Carols' in pubs, arts centres and churches, Christmas obsessive comedian Paul Kerensa offers a light-hearted reflection for Christmas night - a bit of a lift after all that turkey, sherry-filled Christmas pudding and what can sometimes be the hard labour of family interaction! In this delightful sleigh ride Paul sends up a few of the most cherished Christmas traditions and answers some festive questions you never thought to ask. Whether you mull on wine or enjoy the biggest turkey, the biggest tree or the biggest credit card bill, unwrap the Christmas story through Paul's celebration of Christmas.

Producer: Katharine Longworth.

20. Meeting The Man I Killed SINGLE PROG. TX: 10/04/2018 Dur: 36’41” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: Loftus Media

Jonathan Izard accidently killed a man in a road accident. Attempting to come to terms with what he’s done, he sets out to get to know the man he killed, Michael Rawson.

Jonathan goes back to the place where his car hit Michael, on New Year’s Eve 2015. Michael was crossing the road on his crutches from the bus-stop to his flat in sheltered accommodation. It was a winter’s evening, pitch black. He didn’t see Jonathan’s car until it was too late. Jonathan saw Michael, very briefly, just before the impact: a face in the windscreen, a look of puzzled bewilderment, as if to say, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” 10 months later, the inquest confirmed that there was nothing Jonathan could have done; it ruled that no blame should attach to the driver. Meanwhile, Jonathan retreats from the world, stops shaving, wears black. He doesn’t tell his friends what’s happened, overcome by trauma and grief.

After the inquest, he starts to make this programme. He visits the place Michael lived, and talks to his friends. He sees Michael Rawson’s photograph for the first time and discovers that, strangely, they have things in common. He begins to build up a picture of a complex, highly intelligent scholar who had a passion for photography, travel and classical music. And he talks to other people who have accidentally killed - Maryann Gray, accidentally killed an 8-year-old child. For Gray, this meant she decided never to have children herself; she felt she didn’t deserve them.

“Terrible things happen to perfectly good people. The world can be so capricious. But it’s helpful for just day-to-day functioning to forget that, and assume that we’re in control. When these accidents happen, they are reminders that we are only in partial control.”

21. Search for the Spirit SINGLE PROG. TX: 09/04/2018 Dur: 10’08 Broadcaster: Spark FM/Soundcloud Production Company: Stuart Russell

Some embrace the spirit as a source of comfort but what exactly is this ethereal entity? Believers and non-believers search for the elusive human spirit.

22. War and Peace - how an Army chaplain combines faith and serving in the armed forces SINGLE PROG. TX: 21/10/2018 Dur: 06’07” Broadcaster: BBC Hereford & Worcester Sunday Breakfast Show Production Company: BBC Hereford & Worcester

In "Faith on the front line" we discover how can someone who has faith can use those beliefs to support those who serve in the armed forces.

Both Herefordshire and Worcestershire have strong links with the army - Worcestershire's regiment is now part of 2 Mercian, while Herefordshire is home to the SAS. With 2018 seeing the 100th anniversary of the end of the 1st World War, BBC Hereford & Worcester commissioned a piece to find out what place faith has on the front line today.

For "Faith on the front line" producer, Lizzie Lane gained an exclusive interview with a serving army chaplain from Herefordshire, who explains the role of the modern chaplain and how they serve both God and the army.

23. Hacking Happiness: Existential Cool - Buddhism and the Art of Acceptance (Episode 4 in the series) SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 19/07/2018 Dur: 14’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: Reel Soul Movies

In ‘Hacking Happiness: Existential Cool - Buddhism and the Art of Acceptance’, writer and presenter, Leo Johnson, asks, ‘Does true happiness, Nirvana, come from dissolving the self?’ To find out he visits Plum Village Buddhist Monastery near Bordeaux, France, the monastery set up by Thich Nhat Hahn, the monk who persuaded Martin Luther King to oppose the Vietnam War. What Leo discovers is a way of life that challenges every assumption he holds self evident about happiness.

This programme is Episode 4 in the 5-part ‘Hacking Happiness’ series made by Reel Soul Movies for BBC Radio 4.

24. Easter Sunday Breakfast with Sarah Major SINGLE PROG. TX: 01/04/2018 Dur: 3 hours Broadcaster: BBC Radio Sheffield: https://www.bbc.co.uk/radiosheffield Production Company: BBC Radio Sheffield

CLICK HERE FOR RUNNING ORDER - Sunday Breakfast with Sarah Major, BBC Radio Sheffield 1st April 2018, 6-9am

This was a special edition of BBC Radio Sheffield's Sunday Breakfast programme for Easter Day presented by Sarah Major. The majority of the programme was themed around the Christian celebration of Easter, with a particular focus throughout the three hours on how we teach children about the more challenging aspects of the Easter story, from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. As is usual for the Sunday Breakfast show, it was a mixture of music, interviews and features, punctuated with regular junctions such as news, weather, travel and sport. The programme turned traditional Easter broadcasting on its head, putting the emphasis on how young people articulate the complex themes of Easter, rather than relying solely on clergy and church leaders to tell the story. During the course of the broadcast we discovered that young people are often much better at clearly explaining these religious themes than adults. The programme also explored some of the other traditions of Easter through the prism of real life, from why we eat chocolate eggs, to the food associated with the festival. Sarah taking listeners through the process of making a Simnel cake in her own kitchen was an attempt at reviving a tradition which for some people has been lost.

Items in the programme also received a wider audience that same day across a number of BBC outlets. Sarah’s package on teaching children about the Easter story also ran on BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme, as well as on a number of other BBC Local Radio stations. Her Simnel Cake package was offered out across BBC Local Radio, and some of the audio of the primary school children ran that same day on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday programme.

25. The Sacred, SINGLE PROG. TX: 11/04/2018 Dur: 54’30” Broadcaster: The Sacred podcast available on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud etc. Production Company: Theos

The Sacred is a podcast about the state of our public conversations, how we can overcome our own tribalims and engage better across difference. In each episode Elizabeth Oldfield speaks to someone involved in public debates, from politicians to comics, authors to campaigners, and asks them what they hold sacred.

Sally Phillips is an English actress, television presenter and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her main role in Miranda as Tilly, Parents as Jenny Pope and Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015. Phillips has also worked on films such as Burn Burn Burn as Ingrid alongside Laura Carmichael. Since 2004, she has played the title role in the BBC Radio 4 comedy show . Since 2018, she has been curator of "" on the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme of that name.

In this episode, Elizabeth speaks to Sally about her relationship with faith over the span of her career, why at times, you may have to give up the things you hold sacred to pursue wider goals, and her experience as an activist, campaigning on issues for parents looking after children with Downs' syndrome.

26. The Sacred, Andrew Copson SINGLE PROG. TX: 12/12/2018 Dur: 49’18” Broadcaster: The Sacred podcast available on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud etc. Production Company: Theos

The Sacred is a podcast about our tribal moment and how we can better communicate with people different from ourselves. Every episode Elizabeth Oldfield interviews someone involved in public conversations, from comics to politicians, activists to academics and asks them about their sacred values and what they’ve learnt about engaging across divides.

Andrew Copson is Chief Executive of Humanists UK, previously known as the British Humanist Association, and was formerly Director of Education and Public Affairs at the same organisation. He is also President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the global umbrella body for atheist, humanist, sceptic and secularist organisations. He has contributed to several books on secularism and humanism and is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom.

In this episode he discusses his childhood in the midlands, his sacred values of freedom, family and community, and how Blair’s backing of faith schools in the late nineties felt like a disruption of destiny. The episode also covers the pressures on campaigning organisations around integrity, navigating adversarial situations productively and the sometimes unspoken challenges of being friends across divides.

27. Raw Grief & Widowhood SERIES TX: 06/09/2018 Dur: 26’30” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: BBC

The Food Chain is a weekly programme and podcast on the BBC World Service, exploring the economics, science and culture of food. We are entering our mini-series of two shows, 'Raw Grief' and 'Widowed: Food After Loss' for your consideration (as recommended by your trustees and friends). I have submitted the first episode for you to listen to. Here is the synopsis of the series:

In the first of two episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores how food can help us navigate through the darkest of times - the days, weeks, and even years following the death of someone we loved. In times of loss, should we use food to remember the dead or to reconnect with them? A neurologist explains the science behind grief and appetite, and people who've been recently bereaved talk about the foods and eating rituals that have helped them through it.

In episode two we look at the difficult mix of food and widowhood. No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food, can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again. In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married.

28. Analysis: Too Young to Veil SINGLE PROG. TX: 25/04/2018 Dur: 38’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC

This year, St. Stephen's primary school in east London found itself at the centre of an incendiary and increasingly far-reaching debate that is rocking not only Muslim communities and campaigners across the UK but also penetrates the very heart of the country's education system.

An attempt to ban girls under the age of 8 from wearing the hijab to school resulted in a major backlash from the local community and beyond. Over 19, 000 people signed a petition to reverse the ban, a national campaign group got involved and social media was awash with outrage, some comparing the head teacher to 'Hitler' and branding her a 'paedophile'. The ban was swiftly reversed.

What is really at the root of the outrage given that Islam does not require children to cover their heads? And what is motivating the trend for younger girls -some as young as four- to wear the hijab, when previous generations would not have veiled so young?

Female Muslim campaigners have warned that it should be fiercely rejected' as it 'sexualises' young girls. Ofsted has voiced concern and is investigating whether teachers have come under pressure from religious groups to change uniform regulation. Others argue it is simply a case of girls copying their mums and suggesting otherwise is a form of Islamophobia.

In all the noise between parents, teachers, religious leaders, campaigners and authorities, who - if anyone - has the right to decide what a young girl puts on her head?

Producers: Sarah Stolarz, Lucy Proctor Presenter: Shaimaa Khalil Editor: Emma Rippon

29. : Dying on the Streets SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 13/02/2018 Dur: 38’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC

If you're living on the streets, who will care for you when the end comes?

In this episode of File on 4, the programme heard from homeless people living with life threatening illness, who can't find a regular bed for the night, let alone a place where their medical needs can be met.

A bed in a nursing home or hospice was usually not available to them. Hostels are left to do their best for the dying but some told reporter Jane Deith that they aren't trained or equipped to give people a dignified death.

The programme also heard from those battling to get homeless people basic medical care and explored how when services fail, people are left to die on the street. People like Paul Hawkrigg.

Paul’s body was found in a sodden sleeping bag, hidden in some bushes behind an industrial estate in Barrow-in-Furness; just weeks after being discharged from hospital following the removal of a brain tumour. Paul was a regular at a local church drop-in centre where he would get something to eat and some clean clothes. Staff there remembered him as a gentle man and were left devastated when they learnt of his death.

The programme pieced together Paul’s last weeks to find out how a man with terminal cancer could be left to die entirely alone.

File on 4 is a weekly current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad. It is broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday at 8pm and repeated on Sunday's at 5pm. It is presented by various and has an overall audience of 1.2 million. The programme is broadcast to a general audience most of whom are not religious.

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Emma Forde Editor: Gail Champion

30. Journey to Ashkenaz SINGLE PROG. TX: 05/10/2018 Dur: 26’30” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: Certain Height (production company for the BBC)

This documentary for the BBC World Service's "Heart and Soul" strand combines history, journalism and memoir to create a picture of Jewish life in western Ukraine today. A century ago it was the heartland of the world's Ashkenazic Jewry. 25 years later than ninety percent of the region's Jews were dead. Equally devastating, the history of the Jews in this region was wiped out.

Presenter Michael Goldfarb's family traces its roots to the heartland of Ashkenaz and in this report he returns to Odessa and the area around what is today Lviv to report on how Jewish life is slowly returning. He reports on how the history of Jewish life is slowly being rediscovered. Finally he goes in search of his family's village and makes an extraordinary discovery.

This is a deeply reported, sound rich, moving piece of radio storytelling.

31. Remembrance Sunday with Ricky Ross SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 11/11/2018 Dur: 01.50.59 Broadcaster: BBC Radio Scotland Production Company: BBC Radio Scotland - Religion & Ethics and Features

Click here for a copy of the running order

The Grave of the Unknown Warrior lies in honour in Westminster Abbey "amongst the kings". To mark the centenary of the end of WW1, Ricky Ross is commissioned to write a new song in commemoration of the Unknown Warrior.

Ricky is the lead singer of Deacon Blue and to write his song he looks into the history of the Unknown Warrior. He talks to the grandson of army chaplain, Rev David Railton, who proposed the idea of remembering the many hundreds of thousands of dead by giving due honour to an Unknown Warrior. The Rev George Kendall was responsible for helping to select the body and keeping the identity completely secret. Ricky meets his son and grandson, David and Tim Kendall, to hear about that particular responsibility. And Ricky pays his respect at the tomb itself in the company of the Dean of Westminster Abbey, the Very Rev Dr John Hall.

Ricky’s ‘Ballad for the Unknown Warrior’ is performed by the National Youth Choir of Scotland, after the national silence.

After holding the silence together, Ricky hears from women directly affected by loss as a result of conflict. Christine Morgan’s son was killed in Iraq; Anne Blair’s husband was killed in Northern Ireland and, in partnership with the War Widows’ Association of Great Britain, Dr Nadine Muller is gathering the stories and experiences of war widows past and present.

War, and the remembrance of those who suffer its terrible consequences, has always been a draw for writers and artists. Susan Holland received a letter in the post that captured her imagination and drew her into the story of one young man who lost his life in WW1. And writer, Andrew Greig, and poet, Jackie Kay, talk to Ricky about finding the words to capture something of the impact of war.

32. BBC Radio Manchester Christmas Series 2018 SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 16/12/2018 Dur: 03’58” Broadcaster: BBC Radio Manchester Production Company: BBC Radio Manchester

What makes Christmas, Christmas?

In a four part series for BBC Radio Manchester, Rebecca Kelly and self-confessed Christmas expert, Rev Wayne Clarke take a look at the traditions of food, decorations, gifts and music; the aspects of Christmas, that make the season special.

Submission of part 3: Gifts. For many small people Christmas is about presents. For big people too, we get pleasure from getting and from giving. But what is the connection between Christmas and the giving of gifts to each other? Is there any religious significance to the giving of gifts? And who is the big man in the red coat, Santa, Father Christmas or St Nicholas?

33. How Can We Feed The Hungry? SERIES TX: 25/01/2019 Dur: 07’30” Broadcaster: United Christian Broadcasters / UCB 1 & UCB 2 / ucb.co.uk / DAB & online Production Company: United Christian Broadcasters (UCB)

Despite an historical period of change for Zimbabwe, a political and economic crisis grips the country. In November, Vicky Gibbens, a UCB Presenter & Senior Broadcast Journalist for the News Team, travelled to communities around the Harare to report on how living standards for many are rapidly deteriorating. A multi-episode series made up of radio packages and live ‘on location’ radio interviews explored the work and partnership between The Joseph Foundation, a local church ministry and Feed The Hungry, an evangelical Christian humanitarian organisation.

34. Doorstep Daughter SINGLE PROG. TX: 24/09/2018 Dur: 5 x 15’00” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Radio Current Affairs

The surprising and warming story of how two very different families – one Muslim, one Christian – came together to raise a baby in 1990s , forming ties that changes all their lives.

Producer: Sally Chesworth Editor: Gail Champion Executive Editor: Richard Knight Produced by BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC Radio 4

Note: Doorstep Daughter was broadcast as five 15-minute episodes in September 2018. It provoked an extraordinary reaction and so was repeated – edited into an hour-long ‘omnibus’ edition – on 29 December 2018. The material is the same; the edits are slightly different. We have submitted the omnibus edition so the judges are able to hear the full story. We think Doorstep Daughter subtly – and, we think, rather beautifully! – illuminates the immigrant experience in Britain and the role of religion in that experience (RK).

35. Hashtag Pray SINGLE PROG. TX: 07/10/2018 Dur: 27’29” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: CTVC

More than half of the British population now say they have no religion. Yet in the Twittersphere, faith seems alive and well: hashtags like #PrayforLondon invariably start trending after a terror attack. And when someone dies, they are often addressed on social media as though they were still able to read those messages. “Fly with the angels in the stars,” was one of many tweets to the eminent cosmologist Stephen Hawking after his death in March 2018, even though in his lifetime he had dismissed the afterlife as a fairy story.

So what’s going on here? Are people who have turned their backs on organized religion making up their own comforting set of beliefs when it comes to the most difficult things in life, such as death and the loss of loved ones? And are they consciously attempting to hold a balance between two contradictory ways of thinking – or is it far less rational than that?

In this programme, Jane Little tries to find some answers.

She meets people who define themselves as non-religious, yet hold strong beliefs in the supernatural. People like Russ and Kerry, who lost their baby daughter Ruby Jane when she was three months old, but believe she is still around and sending them signs; Pat, an atheist who claims to have had a whole raft of encounters with ghosts; and Rowan, who feels ‘belief’ isn’t strong enough a word for her experience of angels: “I know this to be true. It is fact.”

We are submitting this programme because it examines a phenomenon on the margins of religion which is now very widespread, yet very rarely addressed in mainstream religious programming.

36. Death and Paradise SINGLE PROG. TX: 30/03/2018 Dur: 31’37” Broadcaster: http://www.thingsunseen.co.uk Production Company: CTVC

How does belief influence the way people approach death? Why don’t those who believe they’re going to heaven seem that keen to go? And how is belief changing, in an age where people send twitter messages to the dead, and many who say they have no faith still believe in an afterlife?

We hear from Rick, who has a motor-neurone condition with a terminal prognosis, about how his faith affects his approach to death. In the studio we’re joined by Toby Scott from Hospice UK and palliative care nurse Katie Cantlay, each with personal experience of those at the end of their lives. And down the line from the University of Bath, Professor of Death Studies Tony Walter shares an intriguing mix of personal anecdote and a deep historical perspective.

The podcast was released on Good Friday – marked by Christians as the day when Jesus Christ was put to death by the Roman authorities on a cross. It’s an event which, along with his resurrection three days later, is central to their faith. Through this event, according to the Bible, death is in some sense defeated, with a promise of eternal life. The podcast explores the relationship between faith, and a renewed concern for end of life issues.

The Things Unseen podcast explores what’s beyond the material, visible world. And it does so through an unseen medium – audio podcasts. It’s listened to by people of all faiths and none, and with the help of occasional broadcasts on partner stations, reaches many thousands of people each month.

37. A Loan from God SINGLE PROG. TX: 10/09/2018 Dur: 40’44” Broadcaster: Things Unseen podcast Production Company: CTVC

Shaunaka Rishi Das is an Irish-born Hindu and Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He spent many years caring for his wife Keshava, who had chronic fatigue syndrome. In her mid-50s and suffering from depression, Keshava took her own life, with questions over the medical response leading to a traumatic two-day inquest.

In this Things Unseen podcast, Shaunaka shares the story of his wife’s suicide, and the “complicated grief” that invariably follows this kind of bereavement, for the first time. In conversation with Mark Dowd, who himself lost a brother to suicide, he reflects on death, mourning and letting go – and the many troubling questions that a suicide inevitably throws up: why did the person I loved choose death? Is this a rejection, or does it mean that I didn’t do enough? How can a person of faith choose to end her own life? Eventually, we hear, as Shaunaka was returning Keshava’s ashes to the river Yamuna in India, he found comfort in the Hindu idea that she had been ‘on loan’ to him from God and eventually had to be returned.

We are submitting this podcast because Shaunaka’s story and insights, despite the traumatic nature of his story, are remarkably positive, and his spiritual insights, while coming from a Hindu perspective, are framed in such a way that people from all faiths and none will feel able to relate to them.

Things Unseen is a regular podcast for people of faith, but also those who are just spiritually curious and interested in the big questions of life.

38. Christian Mother, Muslim Daughter SINGLE PROG. TX: 12/10/2018 Dur: 26’29” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: CTVC

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, a feud over faith threatened to rip a family apart. Then a simple idea promised hope.

Seeing one of your children convert to a different faith is difficult for most parents. Yet for Patricia Raybon, a former magazine editor and professor of journalism at the University of Colorado, watching her daughter Alana embrace Islam was exceptionally hard. For Patricia, an African- American and now a full-time writer, is a highly committed Christian. One of her Christian friends called Alana’s conversion ‘a mother’s worst nightmare’.

Alana, in turn, was deeply hurt by her mother's stance to her new faith - and the implication that as a Muslim, she couldn't know God. In this programme, they each tell their side of this compelling story - how they have moved from being barely on speaking terms, via a difficult period punctuated with hurts and religious point-scoring, to a relationship which is once again warm and loving, if not straightforward. "Peace is a journey," says Alana, "and we've got a ticket for the ride."

Veteran BBC Reporter Mike Wooldridge OBE visits the Raybon family at a key moment in their story, as three generations of the extended family live together in one house as part of Alana’s move back to Denver to be near her parents. He hears not only from Alana and Patricia, but also from Alana’s husband Paul (not the tall, black Christian man her mother had been hoping her to marry, Alana says), and from her lugubrious father, Dan, who has particular insights into Alana’s journey. And we listen in to the way faith is playing out at meal times, and when playing games and reading stories to the children.

39. The Girl Who Witnessed Crystal Night SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 09/11/2018 Dur: 26’29” Broadcaster: BBC World Service Production Company: CTVC

A programme to mark the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the outright persecution of Germany’s Jews.

Ruth Winkelmann, daughter of a Jewish father, was just ten years old when she witnessed what later became known as ‘crystal night’, or the night of broken glass: the evening of 9th November 1938, when Jewish shops and synagogues all over Germany were smashed up and looted, and many Jews arrested or killed. It marked the beginning of the outright persecution of Germany’s Jews – the beginning of the Holocaust. Now 90, Ruth meets Caroline Wyatt to tell her what she remembers of that frightening night – and how it changed the course of her life.

Ruth’s memories of crystal night are vivid. When she arrived at her Berlin school the morning after, she found it barricaded by Nazi stormtroopers, who had also desecrated the nearby synagogue. The schoolgirls had to escape via the lofts of adjacent buildings. That evening, Ruth’s father told her, “This is the beginning of a very difficult time.”

He was right. For Ruth, crystal night was the end of her childhood. Her father and 14 other Jewish relatives were killed at Auschwitz, she herself and her mother survived hiding in a wooden hut on an allotment which – of all people – belonged to a Nazi.

The experience of crystal night and its aftermath shaped Ruth’s religious outlook profoundly. Brought up in the Jewish faith and considered Jewish by the Nazi regime, she later converted to Christianity out of gratitude to the man who had saved her life. But, she says, today she is deeply rooted in both faiths – and her strong faith in God, which transcends divisions, has enabled her to live her life with a remarkable lack of bitterness.

40. A Long Walk Towards Wellness SINGLE PROG. TX: 20/06/2018 Dur: 29’19” Broadcaster: Things Unseen podcast Production Company: CTVC

After years of mental illness, Guy Stagg embarked on a walk from Canterbury to Jerusalem, spending ten months on a 5,500 km medieval pilgrim route, a journey to the centre of the three Abrahamic faiths. And all this despite having no faith or belief in God.

He joins Mark Dowd in Canterbury, retracing the footsteps of where it all began, to discuss why as a non-believer, he hoped the extraordinary adventure would heal him.

For Things Unseen he reflects on the rollercoaster highs and lows of travelling alone and without support, near death experiences, the extraordinary characters he met along the way, and the landscapes he encountered. Guy offers a unique and meditative insight into contemporary faith that lays bare his struggle to escape the past and walk towards recovery.

Things Unseen is a podcast platform aiming to engage people of faith, but also those outside organized religion who are spiritually curious.

41. Afternoon Edition: Guest Edit with Rap Artist 'Guvna B SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 17/04/2018 Dur: 42’50” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 5 Live ‘A