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Today: 2000 years of love letters Updated: 2012-02-14 10:35:00 Description: A new collection of love letters, drawn from the archives of the British Library, has been published in time for Valentine's Day. The letters of Wallis Simpson to King Edward VIII are included and biographer Ann Sebba outlines what makes a good love ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Majority of Christians 'tick the box' Updated: 2012-02-14 10:31:00 Description: Research carried out by for a secularist foundation has suggested that most of those who describe themselves as Christian in Britain have only a low level of belief and practice of the religion. Professor Richard Dawkins, founder of the Richard Dawki...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'The idea that I've abandoned growth is nonsense' Updated: 2012-02-14 10:25:00 Description: The credit rating agency, Moody's, has placed Britain and two other countries on a "negative outlook" meaning a risk of losing its triple-A status. Chancellor George Osborne responds....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-14 06:28:00 Description: Laurie Lambie, investment director at Williams de Broe, reflects on Moody's decision to place the United Kingdon on "negative outlook". And Ruth Lea, director of Arbuthnot Banking Group, talks about the implication for a fall in the rate of inflatio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are fairytales too scary? Updated: 2012-02-13 10:34:00 Description: According to research by TV channel Watch, parents are avoiding reading their children fairytales because they are too scary. Dr Jacqueline Simpson, formerly of the Folklore Society, and Nicholas Tucker, educational psychologist, discuss whether this...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Civil war' at NewsCorp Updated: 2012-02-13 10:30:00 Description: The Sun's Trevor Kavanagh has written an opinion piece in response to the arrest of five senior journalists from the paper . "The Sun's journalists are being treated like members of an organised crime gang" he complains. And both the Telegraph and th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Greece 'No light at the end of the tunnel' Updated: 2012-02-13 10:22:00 Description: Violence on the streets of Greece rages on as a further austerity measures are passed in the Greek parliament. The austerity package is being demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a £110bn bailout to avoid default. Alexandros Papadamo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-13 06:04:00 Description: Takis Georgakopoulos, chief financial officer of Global Corporate Banking at JP Morgan, reflects on news that harsh austerity measures were passed in the Greek parliament last night in order to secure a further EU bailout. And Professor Russel Griggs...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Carey: Christianity 'marginalised' Updated: 2012-02-11 11:07:00 Description: The High Court has ruled that a Devon town council acted unlawfully by allowing prayers to be said before meetings. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, explains why he is upset at the ruling....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Jade: My teenage years in care Updated: 2012-02-11 11:01:00 Description: This week, the Today programme reported that local authorities in England are making more applications than ever to put children into care. Jade is someone who has been through care, and she shares her story....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hugh Grant: No one is allowed to question the Mail Updated: 2012-02-11 10:50:00 Description: The actor tells Evan Davis about his ongoing spat with the Daily Mail...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Why do we struggle with Maths?' Updated: 2012-02-10 12:34:00 Description: A report from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) says maths education in England is not fit for purpose and is damaging competitiveness. But how do you motivate children in maths and to keep them doing it to an advanced level? Lucie Green, Solar Researc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lansley has 'lost confidence of medical professions' Updated: 2012-02-10 12:30:00 Description: The Conservative Home website, seen as the voice of the Conservative Party grassroots, has published an editorial calling for the government's controversial Health and Social Care Bill to be dropped altogether. Conservative Home was urged to make the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is the future financial? Updated: 2012-02-10 12:25:00 Description: As Barclays Bank posts annual pre-tax profits for last year of $5.9bn - a fall of three percent and announces that a ceiling of £65,000 has been imposed on cash bonuses, Stuart Fraser from the City of London Corporation and the TUC's Brendan Barber ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-10 07:14:00 Description: Georg Grodzki, head of credit at Legal and General, correspondent Michelle Fleury, and Paul Thandi, chief executive of The NEC Group....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Redknapp 'will want the job' Updated: 2012-02-09 11:59:00 Description: Fabio Capello has resigned as England football manager, hours after the favourite to replace him, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, was cleared of tax evasion charges. Former FA chief executive David Davies and Telegraph football correspondent Henry Win...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Death and hysteria in Homs Updated: 2012-02-09 11:55:00 Description: The city of Homs in city is in a state of brutal civil war, with civilians bearing the brunt of an army onslaught. After being smuggled out of Syria, the BBC's Paul Wood reflects on his time reporting from inside the embattled city....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why is the number of children in care rising? Updated: 2012-02-09 11:50:00 Description: Since the Baby P case hit the headlines in late 2008, there has been a significant rise in the number of children in England being taken away from their parents and put into care. Bristol social worker Anne Farmer explains what the marginal care case...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-09 06:38:00 Description: Simon Jack interviews Christian Shulz from Berenberg Bank, James Bevan Chief Investment Officer at CCLA Investment Management and Theresa Wise, Independent Media Analyst....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is Qatari comedy any laughing matter? Updated: 2012-02-08 11:02:00 Description: The Arab Spring has seen a new permissiveness across the Middle East but jokes about the ruling emir and his ministers, and even the World Cup, are still not allowed in Qatar. Kevin Connolly reports from the autocratic Gulf state....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Paul Wood: Despair in Homs Updated: 2012-02-08 10:59:00 Description: Opposition activists in the Syrian city of Homs say more than 40 people have already been killed today in shooting and shelling by government forces. The BBC's Paul Wood has been in Homs for the last few days and explained that locals say the shellin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hester: I am not a robot Updated: 2012-02-08 10:53:00 Description: In his first broadcast interview since turning down his bonus, the RBS boss explains how he considered resigning and why defusing the "time bomb" of the RBS balance sheet is good for the UK....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-08 06:29:00 Description: The European Central Bank has made some key concessions to help solve the Greek debt crisis. And more than 100 London-based bankers are suing Germany's second-largest bank Commerzbank for breaking a pledge made months before the takeover to pay them ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Simon Callow reads Dickens Updated: 2012-02-07 10:54:00 Description: It is 200 years to the day since Charles Dickens was born, and to mark the occasion, actor Simon Callow reads an extract from The Pickwick Papers....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bowen: Things looking good for Assad Updated: 2012-02-07 10:48:00 Description: Friends and relatives of people suffering in Syria and who are fighting the regime have been protesting outside the Syrian Embassy in London. Today reporter Nicola Stanbridge heard from some of them. And the BBC's middle east editor Jeremy Bowen expl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Extreme concern' over cleric's release Updated: 2012-02-07 10:41:00 Description: In the next few days, radical cleric Abu Qatada will be freed from jail after the European Court of Human Rights blocked his deportation to Jordan. The BBC's Gordon Corera has the latest. David Anderson, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-07 06:16:00 Description: Mining giant Xstrata and trading house Glencore are in talks to join forces in a merger thought to be worth in the region of 90 billion US dollars. And the Local Data Company's latest Shop Vacancy report shows one-in-seven shops on the UK's high stre...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'A calm centre of our lives' Updated: 2012-02-06 10:51:00 Description: It is 60 years to the day since the Queen's accession to the British throne. Reg Turnill, who reported for the Press Association on the day in 1952 when the new Queen arrived back in the UK from a trip to Kenya, and author Sarah Bradford reflect on h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Unemployment emergency' in UK Updated: 2012-02-06 10:45:00 Description: The problem of youth unemployment has reached an "emergency point" according to a new report. Former foreign secretary David Miliband, who chairs the Commission on Youth Unemployment which produced the report, explains what he believes needs to be do...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: People of Homs 'feel very alone' Updated: 2012-02-06 10:39:00 Description: At least 55 people have been killed in Homs over the weekend in clashes between the Syrian authorities and protestors. Paul Wood reports from the city of Homs, where the battle for the country has taken a brutal turn....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-06 06:20:00 Description: Talks on new and deeper cuts in Greece continued into last night and resume today, but can the country take any more austerity? And Neil Blake, senior economic advisor to the Ernst and Young ITEM Club, on the claim made by Barclay's that overall bank...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Spaghetti Westerns transformed movie music Updated: 2012-02-04 10:58:00 Description: A lecture to be delivered at the Watershed in Bristol today, by the cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling, is to look at the Spaghetti Westerns which transformed movie music. Sir Christopher Frayling and Debbie Wiseman, a film composer, analyse...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is outrage at bankers justified? Updated: 2012-02-04 10:52:00 Description: Is the moral outrage against bankers justified? Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee and the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association Angela Knight discuss....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Fighting the cold without central heating Updated: 2012-02-04 10:44:00 Description: What needs to be done to help elderly people get through the winter? Reporter Nicola Stanbridge speaks to Nancy, a 89-year-old who is fighting the cold without the aid of central heating. And Mervyn Kohler, an advisor to Age UK, explains what can be ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Royal Bank of Scotland Updated: 2012-02-03 12:40:00 Description: Eight days ago, Stephen Hester,the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland,was given a bonus. Shares worth just under a million pounds. Five days ago, he renounced his entitlement to it. The public and political pressure got to him. The inside stor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Farce Updated: 2012-02-03 12:36:00 Description: For some time now, farce has been theatre's poor relation. Largely unloved and ignored, the genre almost disappeared from the stage. But now it's back with a vengeance. Later today, one of Britain's leading companies, the Old Vic, will announce tha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Weekend Deaths Updated: 2012-02-03 12:16:00 Description: New data based on a full year of patient records, confirms the picture that you have a higher chance of dying if you are admitted to a hospital at the weekend in England....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: That's the way to do it! Updated: 2012-02-02 10:26:00 Description: The age-old pantomime of Punch and Judy is being recreated at the Barbican theatre in London, 350 years after the first recorded reference of the puppet show in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. Julian Crouch, director of The Devil and Mister Punch, and J...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is the 'Gloucestershire Growler' on the loose? Updated: 2012-02-02 10:21:00 Description: Scientists at the University of Warwick have analysed the carcass of a deer found in the National Trust-owned Woodchester Park near Stroud in Gloucestershire to see if they can find any traces of feline DNA. Fears were raised after the dead deer w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Call for undercover policing inquiry Updated: 2012-02-02 10:08:00 Description: A report by the Inspectorate of Constabulary has found that the undercover policeman, Mark Kennedy, whose actions led to the collapse of a trial of environmental protestors, had "defied" management instructions and was inadequately supervised. Enviro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-02 06:15:00 Description: Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones reflects on the significance of Facebook selling shares for the first time. And Mariana Mazzucato, professor in science & technology at the University of Sussex on a study into the UK's financial sector whic...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Iran bomb 'would trigger nuclear arms race' Updated: 2012-02-01 10:24:00 Description: President Obama's former special envoy on the Middle East has said more pressure should be put on Iran to stop it taking the next steps towards making nuclear weapons. In his first British interview since stepping down, Dennis Ross talks about the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Scientists 'get closer to telepathy' Updated: 2012-02-01 10:08:00 Description: Scientists believe the first step has been taken towards hearing imagined speech using a form of electronic telepathy and hope that in the future, it may be possible to "decode" the thoughts of brain-damaged patients who cannot speak. Bob Knight, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Goodwin 'author of his own misfortune' Updated: 2012-02-01 09:59:00 Description: Was it the right decision to strip the former chairman of RBS, Fred Goodwin, of his knighthood? Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon MP and former chancellor Alistair Darling discuss the implications for singling out Fred Goodwin, while ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-02-01 06:18:00 Description: Former trade minister Lord Digby Jones on news that the former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin is to be stripped of his knighthood. And Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, explains why the website TripAdvisor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The art of storytelling Updated: 2012-01-31 09:49:00 Description: As part of World Book Day 2012, a competition is being launched to find the UK's "Storytelling Superstar". Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, reflects on what makes a good storyteller. And she tells John Humphrys about...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'No smoking gun' in Iran nuclear report Updated: 2012-01-31 09:45:00 Description: A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to end its three-day visit to Iran. Iran's foreign minister has offered to extend the UN nuclear inspectors' visit, hoping its findings would help ease tensions, despite international cl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are vocational qualifications valuable? Updated: 2012-01-31 09:39:00 Description: Thousands of vocational courses are to be excluded from school league tables in England because the government says under-performing schools are relying on subjects of "little academic worth". Christopher McShane, head teacher of Winton School in Ham...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-31 06:21:00 Description: John Whiting, of the Chartered Institute of taxation on filling out your self assessment tax returns. And Alan Miller, founder of SCM Investment, and Gary Shaughnessy, UK Managing Director of Fidelity World Wide Investment on calls by Investment fund...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Confusion' over slapping law Updated: 2012-01-30 09:33:00 Description: The MP for Tottenham David Lammy has said parents in his constituency were confused about the law on smacking and "live in fear of social services turning up on their doorstep". And he said lots of middle class parents "have never met social servi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Greece's austerity 'failure' Updated: 2012-01-30 09:28:00 Description: Germany's vice chancellor and economy minister has said Greece must surrender control of its budget policy to outside institutions if it cannot implement reforms attached to eurozone rescue measures. Michael Fuchs, deputy parliamentary leader from th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Politicians taste 'first blood' on bonuses Updated: 2012-01-30 09:21:00 Description: The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that its chief executive, Stephen Hester, will not take his bonus of shares worth almost £1m. The BBC's Robert Peston and Nick Robinson explain why the decision was made and outline the potential political im...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-30 06:24:00 Description: William Wright, Investment banking columnist, Financial News and Justin Urqhart Stewart from 7 Investment Management reflect on news that the boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, won't be taking his controversial near-million pound bon...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Opening ceremony is "key" to Olympic vision Updated: 2012-01-28 11:09:00 Description: The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games has been given the title Isles of Wonder by Danny Boyle, the ceremony's director. Jude Kelly, artistic director of the South Bank Centre and Janie Hampton, an Olympic historian, discuss what the opening cerem...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU outsider in Greece 'a dangerous move' Updated: 2012-01-28 11:02:00 Description: EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday as talks about reducing Greek debt remain unresolved, with fears that a disorderly default could happen in March. Former chancellor Lord Lamont and Baroness Vadera, who worked for Gordon Brown at the Treasur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Qatar: World's coolest sport in hottest country Updated: 2012-01-28 10:52:00 Description: As the sporting world begins to countdown to the start of the London Olympics in the summer the tiny Gulf Emirate of Qatar is already preparing to host the World Cup in 2022. Kevin Connolly went to find out more about Qatar's plans for the World C...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Afghan troop drawdown 'will be hard to manage' Updated: 2012-01-28 10:47:00 Description: As the PM meets President Karzai, veteran journalist Robert Fox and Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, former UK ambassador in Kabul, analyse what will be on the agenda....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Unravelling the eurozone story Updated: 2012-01-27 10:28:00 Description: Savage austerity cuts coupled with a massive EU bail out were supposed to save the Greek economy and hold the eurozone together. Now even Angela Merkel has expressed doubts that it will work, and the single currency is still in danger of unravelli...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why are vinyl sales rising? Updated: 2012-01-27 09:44:00 Description: Vinyl record sales have reached a six-year high, according to the Official Charts Company. BBC 6Music presenter Liz Kershaw and Will Page of the Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS) discus why vinyl is becoming popular again....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Public 'flabbergasted' by Hester bonus Updated: 2012-01-27 09:28:00 Description: The boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, is to receive a £963,000 bonus despite the bank being 81% owned by taxpayers. Business editor Robert Peston and deputy political editor James Landale analyse the economic and political implicat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-27 06:13:00 Description: Christopher Wheeler of MedioBanca analyses the decision to award RBS boss Stephen Hester a bonus of £963,000 on top of his £1.2m salary. And our Friday boss is Stephen Collier, CEO General Healthcare Group....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Could lack of Vitamin D be behind Sids cases? Updated: 2012-01-26 10:19:00 Description: Vitamin D deficiency, which causes childhood rickets, is a growing problem in Britain. But a new theory suggests a lack of the vitamin could also be behind the phenomenon of Sudden Infant Death and possibly miscarriages of justice involving allegatio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Brain stimulation 'not a magic pill' Updated: 2012-01-26 10:08:00 Description: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be much cleverer than you are? Researchers at Oxford University have developed a new brain stimulation technique that could make us all much smarter. Science correspondent Tom Feilden reports that Tra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Mandelson - Globalisation creating income inequalities Updated: 2012-01-26 10:01:00 Description: In a report for the Institute for Public Policy Research being launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, former EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson argues for the need to re-evaluate the rules governing globalisation. Business editor Robert Pe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-26 06:15:00 Description: Economist Gabriel Stern of Exotix reflects on further negotiations to try and avoid a Greek default. And as the World Economic Forum in Davos continues, Mark Spelman, Global Head of Strategy at Accenture, outlines research which shows the majority of...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Detachment' behind fall in integrity Updated: 2012-01-25 10:57:00 Description: According to new research published today by the University of Essex, the public are now more tolerant towards dishonest actions such as having an extramarital affair or drink driving. Angie Hobbs, professor of philosophy at Warwick University, an...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: PM wants 'greater leeway' from European Court Updated: 2012-01-25 09:50:00 Description: David Cameron is to address the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and is expected to call for a filtering system to make sure only the most important cases reach the European Court of Human Rights. Sanchia Berg reports on some of the more memorable dec...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Gates: Capitalism a 'phenomenal system' Updated: 2012-01-25 09:26:00 Description: One of those heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos is Bill Gates. He speaks to the Today programme's Evan Davis about the message he is taking with him....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-25 06:30:00 Description: Chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Peter Sands on how the eurozone crisis will be dealt with at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. And John Griffiths-Jones, UK Chairman at the financial services firm KPMG, reflects on this years theme ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Cheap fossil fuel ' is good news' Updated: 2012-01-24 10:24:00 Description: Dwindling stocks of fossil fuels and the looming threat of global warming have been pushing the world towards a new era of sustainable energy including wind, wave, solar and nuclear. But with the discovery of techniques to extract shale gas, the narr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Design 'isn't all red hair and bare chests' Updated: 2012-01-24 10:08:00 Description: Plans to create what's being billed as the world's leading design museum in London will be unveiled today. It will be an £80m relocation from the South Bank and is hoped will make it the world's leading museum of design and architecture. UK de...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lansley - No evidence for NHS 'salami-slicing' Updated: 2012-01-24 09:17:00 Description: The health select committee has said health trusts in England are resorting to short-term salami-slicing of services to meet the government's efficiency targets instead of looking for long-term reforms to practices. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley re...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-24 06:26:00 Description: Sony Kapoor, managing director of Redefine, a Brussels based think tank,analyses the implications of a rejection by European finance ministers of an offer from private creditors to restructure Greece's debt. And Sean O'Hare, remuneration partner at P...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Big Ben tilt 'there for years' Updated: 2012-01-23 09:49:00 Description: A select group of MPs is to meet to consider the state of the Palace of Westminster, including what to do about the clock tower holding Big Ben, which experts say has a slight tilt. John Burland, emeritus professor at Imperial College, who was res...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: What makes a city thrive? Updated: 2012-01-23 09:44:00 Description: A study by the think tank Centre for Cities says that the gap between the economic performance of cities across the UK is widening. The Today programme's Sanchia Berg reports Milton Keynes, which is once again listed as one of the top five cities ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Cosmetic surgery ads 'are outrageous' Updated: 2012-01-23 09:40:00 Description: The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) is calling for an outright ban on the advertising of all cosmetic surgery. Fazel Fatah, president of BAAPS, and Sally Taber, director of the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IH...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: IDS - Welfare reform is about 'changing lives' Updated: 2012-01-23 09:31:00 Description: The government is to come up against strong opposition in the House of Lords over its plans to cap benefits payments to £26,000 per household per year in England, Scotland and Wales. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith defends the proposal...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-23 06:29:00 Description: Chris Williamson chief economist at Markit and Richard Jeffery chief investment officer at Cazenove Capital Management look ahead to the latest GDP figures this week and pessimistic news about growth in the international market. And Nicola Smith head...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Italy 'embarrassed' by Captain Schettino Updated: 2012-01-21 11:02:00 Description: Italy has been utterly gripped by the drama of the past week: the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the great bravery of some of the passengers and the extraordinary behaviour of its captain. Beppe Severgnini, Italian writer and political commentator, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Cultural issues' shape capitalism Updated: 2012-01-21 10:52:00 Description: David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have all delivered speeches this week on their visions for a more ethical capitalism in the UK. Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times and Michael Portillo, former Conservative cabine...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'We need fewer and better staffed A&E units' Updated: 2012-01-21 10:43:00 Description: The King's Fund Nigel Edwards and the NHS Confederation's David Stout discuss how A&E units can cope with greater demand and stretched resources....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Exceptional' life of Max Sebold Updated: 2012-01-20 09:56:00 Description: It is just over a decade since the author WG Sebald, or Max Sebald as he was known to friends, was killed in a car crash at the age of 57. He was already known as a serious literary force, but 10 years on he is being recognised as one the most imp...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Do UK primaries work? Updated: 2012-01-20 09:52:00 Description: How committed is the government to holding US-style open primaries for Westminster seats? The residents of Totnes in Devon made a piece of political history in 2009 when they held an "open primary" vote to choose a Conservative candidate for the 2...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Most' migrant benefit claims legitimate Updated: 2012-01-20 09:37:00 Description: According to government figures just over 370,000 people claiming benefits are migrants who came to the UK as foreign nationals. Employment Minister Chris Grayling explains the government commitment to bringing the number down....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-20 06:30:00 Description: William Wright of Financial News analyses a series of disappointing annual results for American banks. And our Friday boss is Nick Varney chief executive of Merlin Entertainments Group which owns the likes of Alton Towers and Thorpe Park....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 30 years of Adrian Mole Updated: 2012-01-19 09:48:00 Description: It is 30 years since the publication of the first Adrian Mole novel, "The Secret of Adrian Mole, 13 and 3/4". Author Sue Townsend reflects on the life of the UK's most angsty teenager....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lansley-NHS reform opposition 'purely political' Updated: 2012-01-19 09:44:00 Description: The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives are calling on the government to scrap its planned changes to the NHS in England as part of the Health and Social Care Bill. Chris Ham, chief executive of the King's Fund, analyses the bi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ex-diplomat coy on 'spy rock' revelation Updated: 2012-01-19 09:38:00 Description: Tony Blair's former chief-of-staff, Jonathan Powell, says the UK really did use a plastic rock in a park to spy on Russia in 2006, despite attempts by the government to dismiss the story at the time. Sir Tony Brenton, a former ambassador to Russia...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bank boards should decide bonus levels Updated: 2012-01-19 09:15:00 Description: Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband are making speeches today on what can be broadly called the morality of capitalism. Former RBS chairman Sir George Mathewson and the BBC's Nick Robinson and Robert Peston analyse just how far public opinion and the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-19 06:19:00 Description: Colm McCarthy, lecturer in Economics at Trinity College reflects on Ireland's progress on its austerity programme ahead of a troika report. And Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, on whether Peacocks, which has just gone into admin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Dickens Museum to close during bicentenary Updated: 2012-01-18 09:51:00 Description: The Dickens House and Museum in London, which holds so much Dickensian material, celebrates the bicentenary of the author's birth but is causing uproar among enthusiasts by closing from April to December this year for building work. The museum's dir...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Medical device rules 'not fit for purpose' Updated: 2012-01-18 09:36:00 Description: An article in a medical journal, Lancet Online, says that the regulation of medical devices including surgical instruments and surgical implants in this country is not fit for purpose. The Today programme's Tom Feilden outlines the criticism aimed...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'The time is now' for London airport expansion Updated: 2012-01-18 09:30:00 Description: BAA's chief executive Colin Matthews and the Mayor of London Boris Johnson react to the news that the government is to open a formal consultation on plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-18 06:26:00 Description: Takis Georgakopoulus of JP Morgan analyses the possible outcome of fresh negotiations between the Greek government and the country's many creditors after the collapse of previous talks. And technology analyst Larry Magid reflects on the resignation o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Britishness is a generous thing' Updated: 2012-01-17 10:07:00 Description: A recent poll suggests that 43% of English voters want an independent Scotland, while only 32% are in favour of continuing the existing union between the two countries. Chief political commentator for the Daily Telegraph Peter Oborne and Scottish wri...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hollywood 'distorts concept of panic' Updated: 2012-01-17 09:41:00 Description: What happens psychologically when people are faced with a disaster like the sinking Costa Concordia cruise ship? Professor Ed Galea, director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich, and Dr John Drury, a specialist in crow...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Welfare reform 'being rushed through' Updated: 2012-01-17 09:27:00 Description: The government's Welfare Reform Bill faces pressure as it comes before the House of Lords, where peers will debate the replacement of the Disability Living Allowance with the Personal Independence Payment. Home Affair editor Mark Easton gives his ana...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-17 06:30:00 Description: Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC, reflects on who bails out the bailout fund as a rating agency downgrades the European Financial Stability Facility. And Christine McGourty, director of Energy UK, on whether an ambitious plan to install 50 milli...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Should the Queen get a new Royal Yacht? Updated: 2012-01-16 09:46:00 Description: The Guardian has a leaked letter this morning from Education Secretary Michael Gove proposing that the British public should donate a new Royal Yacht to the Queen to mark this year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The writer and royal observer Robert ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Osborne: - London can be Far East currency centre Updated: 2012-01-16 09:39:00 Description: The Chancellor will outline how London can become a new global hub for trading in the Renminbi, the Chinese currency. George Osborne, who is visiting Hong Kong, outlines his ambitions for The City....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'These ships are still safe' Updated: 2012-01-16 09:32:00 Description: The owners of the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Tuscany have suggested there may have been "significant human error" on the part of the ship's captain. Alan Johnston reports from the scene on the progress of the rescue mission. While ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-16 05:59:00 Description: Peter Spencer of Ernst and Young outlines their report which says that the UK is probably already in a "technical recession" as uncertainty in the eurozone paralyses the country's recovery. And as International inspectors arrive in Athens to investig...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ed Balls: 'We've got to be honest with people about the choices they face' Updated: 2012-01-14 10:53:00 Description: The shadow chancellor Ed Balls says he backs an extension of the 1% pay cap in the public sector until 2015. In the Autumn Statement the government introduced a limit of one per cent for pay awards over the next two years - now Ed Balls will say in a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Journalists don't anguish over ethics' Updated: 2012-01-14 10:47:00 Description: The proprietor of the Daily Express, Richard Desmond, told the Leveson inquiry this week that he didn't really know what the word "ethics" meant. Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of the Sun, and Chris Blackhurst, editor of the Independent, debate wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'People kept falling - it was scary' Updated: 2012-01-14 10:30:00 Description: More than 4000 people - including dozens of Britons, the Foreign Office believes - were on board the Costa Concordia when the ship hit a sandbar off the island of Giglio, off the coast of Tuscany last night. Fabio Costa, who worked in a shop on the s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Enchanting' spider silk cloth Updated: 2012-01-13 10:02:00 Description: The largest pieces of cloth in the world created from the silk extracted from spiders is go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. An elaborately embroidered cape and a four metre long scarf have both been spun from the silk of mo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Gove outlines teacher review changes Updated: 2012-01-13 09:55:00 Description: From the start of the next school year in England, head teachers will find it easier to remove under-performing teachers. Education Secretary Michael Gove explains why he wants to streamline the process....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Stop and search 'The time is right to move on' Updated: 2012-01-13 09:04:00 Description: The Met Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, is ordering police in London to use fewer stop and searches as a way of improving relations between police and ethnic minorities. Ken Hinds, chair of Haringey Stop and Search Monitoring Group, and Comm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-13 06:22:00 Description: Chris Ordnoff of Western Asset Management reflects on bonus season in the US as banks begin reporting their latest results. And our Friday boss is Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: John Sentamu '10 in 11 children are happy' Updated: 2012-01-12 10:20:00 Description: Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, is launching a Childrens' Society report into childhood and happiness. The survey, he said, found that 10 out of 11 children were happy. "It is family relationships that matter," he said....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The story of Resistance 'betrayal' Updated: 2012-01-12 09:47:00 Description: Seventy years ago the French Resistance hero, Jean Moulin, was sent from London to unite the rival factions within the Resistance. But he was betrayed when Resistance leaders met secretly, which lead him to be tortured by Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Stunning variation' in whiplash claims Updated: 2012-01-12 09:23:00 Description: The Commons transport select committee is calling for urgent action to cut the amount of compensation paid to people who claim they suffered whiplash in car accidents. Former justice secretary Jack Straw and Nick Starling from the Association of Brit...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-12 06:28:00 Description: William Wright, Investment Banking Columnist at Financial News, reflects on the future of Royal Bank of Scotland in the face of thousands of job cuts. And James Ashley of Royal Bank of Canada analyses Hungary's economic woes....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ken Loach on film funding review Updated: 2012-01-11 09:54:00 Description: The Prime Minister is to urge the British Film industry to concentrate on more mainstream productions, the expected recommendation from a review by former Labour culture minister Lord Chris Smith on funding British films. Arts editor Will Gompertz ha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Salmond - Referendum 'must be built in Scotland Updated: 2012-01-11 09:46:00 Description: Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has said that the referendum on Scottish independence has to "made in Scotland and decided by the Scottish people". Speaking to James Naughtie, he said it was wrong "at this stage" to limit the scope of the r...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Darling 'Get the process sorted out' Updated: 2012-01-11 09:28:00 Description: A political battle is underway between Westminster and Holyrood over the nature and timing of a referendum on Scottish independence. Scottish political editor Brian Taylor has the details. And former Labour chancellor and Edinburgh MP, Alistair Darli...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-11 06:30:00 Description: Kathleen Brooks, research director with Forex.com reflects on the latest developments in the eurozone where Hungarian negotiators are to meet with the IMF in Washington to voice their concerns over the crisis. And Professor Douglas McWilliams, of the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The art of the book review Updated: 2012-01-10 09:40:00 Description: The Hatchet Job of the Year award will honour the angriest, funniest and most trenchant book review of 2011. DJ Taylor, author and Hatchet Job Award judge and Joanna Biggs, assistant editor at the London Review of Books, discuss the evolution of book...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: New Hampshire: Beating Barack Updated: 2012-01-10 09:37:00 Description: Republicans in New Hampshire go to the polls later in the second stage of their presidential candidate selection process. North America correspondent Jonny Dymond reports on how winning the crucial "blue collar" vote will be key to challenging Barack...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ed Miliband 'I can win it' Updated: 2012-01-10 09:29:00 Description: Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he can win the next election, but that a future Labour government would be different from the last, in the third of the New Year Today leader interviews...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-10 06:17:00 Description: John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, on their quarterly survey which shows a mixed picture for UK manufacturing. And Carl Weinburg, US chief economist at High Frequency economics, reflects on recent signs of growth in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Sturgeon - PM 'interfering' in Scottish politics Updated: 2012-01-09 09:52:00 Description: David Cameron went on the offensive over Scottish independence over the weekend, pledging to publish legal advice reported to show Westminster must give permission for a referendum. Ahead of the cabinet meeting to discuss such a referendum, political...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Duwayne Brooks: 'It was all worth it' Updated: 2012-01-09 09:47:00 Description: Stephen Lawrence's friend Duwayne Brooks was the only witness to his killing in 1993. In his first broadcast interview since Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted last week for the murder, Mr Brooks reflects on the trial verdict and the 18-y...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are top earners 'out of touch'? Updated: 2012-01-09 09:41:00 Description: The prime minister has said that excessive pay for company bosses will be a thing of the past after revealing plans to make shareholder remuneration votes mandatory in an attempt to curb excessive rewards. Deborah Hargreaves, chair of High Pay Com...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-09 06:31:00 Description: Otto Thoresen, director general of the Association of British Insurers reflects on the ongoing row over executive pay. And chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Torsten Muller-Otvos talks about the company's record level sales for 2011....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Twitter 'essential' to courtroom reporting Updated: 2012-01-07 10:10:00 Description: Reporters are now allowed to tweet words from courts giving minute by minute coverage. Until the Stephen Lawrence case this week, there had never been quite such a moment of live coverage of a judge's words in a high profile case. Philippa Thomas,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: How have attitudes to race changed? Updated: 2012-01-07 10:02:00 Description: It has been suggested this week that the Stephen Lawrence case was a turning point in our attitudes towards race,not only within the police but also in wider society. Nicola Stanbridge has been looking through the archives of Mass Observation, which ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'We need a more responsible capitalism' Updated: 2012-01-07 09:53:00 Description: High pay is one issue the politicians of all main parties have decided they need to deal with this year. Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna outlines Labour's thinking on high pay....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Quality of teachers is key, not class size' Updated: 2012-01-06 11:32:00 Description: The Chief Executive of a council in greater London has suggested that the legal limit for school class sizes should be raised from 30 to 32. Lee Elliot Major, Head of Policy and Research at the Sutton Trust, and Christine Blower, General secretary of...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Prof Hawking: your questions answered Updated: 2012-01-06 11:22:00 Description: Shortly before Christmas we offered you the chance to put your questions to the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking as one way of marking his 70th birthday on Sunday. Hundreds of questions came in via Twitter, email and on our Facebook page. Science...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Cameron 'not satisfied' with top pay Updated: 2012-01-06 10:08:00 Description: Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the government will act on top pay levels, has called for politicians to "speak up" about nursing standards and has defended his use of EU veto...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-06 06:36:00 Description: The Euro has hit a sixteenth month low against the pound and the dollar yesterday. And the London boat show opens today representing everything from gin palaces to catamarans, one industry that's staying buoyant through the economic storms....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Clegg: 'No-one planned' for EU isolation Updated: 2012-01-05 10:30:00 Description: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has urged the UK to re-engage with Europe and called for more action on tax avoidance in the first of the Today programme New Year leader interviews....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: How to stop the scrap black market? Updated: 2012-01-05 10:26:00 Description: Hospitals, railway lines, utilities, sculptures, churches and even war memorials have all been targeted by metal thieves in recent years, as metal prices continue to climb ever higher. Andrew Hosken reports on what may be done to regulate the industr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is assisted dying report 'biased'? Updated: 2012-01-05 10:18:00 Description: A new report from the Commission on Assisted Dying says assisted dying should be allowed if an adult has less than a year to live. Baroness Finlay, former president of the Royal College of Medicine, believes the group was "biased at the outset" wi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-05 06:20:00 Description: A new report shows that the government's changes to public sector pensions might not be saving the country any money. And the head of the Swiss Central Bank will break his silence today over controversy about his wife's foreign exchange dealings....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The science of silence Updated: 2012-01-04 11:07:00 Description: Can sitting silently be good for your health? Meditation was until recently viewed in the west as a religious practice that had little to do with science. Culture correspondent David Sillito investigates whether that has now changed....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Should all medical research be published? Updated: 2012-01-04 10:57:00 Description: The British Medical Journal has printed an editorial attacking the pharmaceutical and science community for the long-existing habit of only selectively publishing the results of clinical trials. BMJ editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee and neuroscientist ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Bitter lessons' of Lawrence murder Updated: 2012-01-04 10:52:00 Description: The brutal murder of Stephen Lawrence has led to profound changes in law, policing and culture in Britain. Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the Lawrence Family in its civil claim against the police, explains the legal repercussions. Nicola Stanbridg...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-04 06:44:00 Description: The European bond markets face a big test as many of the debts taken up over the credit boom come up for renewal. A rise in the price of oil. And deregulation of the service sector in Italy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Children need predictability' Updated: 2012-01-03 11:18:00 Description: The Princes Trust youth charity says it has discovered that the wellbeing of many young people is diminished, and their school grades affected, by a lack of "structure and direction" at home. Paul Brown of the Princes Trust and Dr Pat Spungin, a fami...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Social care 'cannot go on like this' Updated: 2012-01-03 11:09:00 Description: An open letter to David Cameron has called on him to work with rival politicians in order to reform social care for older and disabled people in England. Richard Humphries, Senior Fellow Social Care at the health think tank the King's Fund, former Co...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Iran: Israel nearing 'decision point' Updated: 2012-01-03 10:59:00 Description: Iran has tested missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, as preparations are made to impose further economic sanctions on Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme. James Reynolds has the latest and Mark Fitzpatrick, director for non-proliferation programme at...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-03 06:28:00 Description: Is Britain facing a Japanese-style "lost decade"? And Richard Fenning, chief executive of the risk consulting firm Control Risks, on whether it is time for companies to move in to countries such as Tunisia and Egypt where regimes have tumbled....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Britain in 2012: The editors' view Updated: 2012-01-02 10:40:00 Description: Home editor Mark Easton, economics editor Stephanie Flanders, business editor Robert Peston and political editor Nick Robinson give their predictions for the year ahead....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Foreign England manager 'feels wrong' Updated: 2012-01-02 10:36:00 Description: Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has told Robert Peston that an Englishman should manage the England football team after Fabio Capello steps down. Keir Radnedge of World Soccer magazine and sports writer Alyson Rudd debate whether, in this globalised wor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'A big society needs big citizens' Updated: 2012-01-02 10:30:00 Description: Two think tanks are publishing pamphlets arguing that David Cameron would do well to revive the ideas behind the Big Society. Professor Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College, who wrote one pamphlet for Policy Exchange, and Matthew Taylor, chie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2012-01-02 06:24:00 Description: Europe business correspondent Nigel Cassidy meets some winter holidaymakers to get their outlook on the year ahead. And Richard Lister went to see the Crossrail engineers who are getting ready to start tunnelling beneath London in what has become Eur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Alan Moore's alternative Thought for the Day Updated: 2011-12-31 10:32:00 Description: Today's guest editor Stewart Lee wasn't keen to suggest a guest for our Thought for the Day slot, but instead offered an Alternative Thought for the Day for his programme from writer Alan Moore....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: AS Byatt on Norse mythology Updated: 2011-12-31 10:27:00 Description: Today's guest editor is intrigued by how certain narratives - such as the Nativity story can provide solace even for those who do not believe them to be true. It is something he thinks comes through in AS Byatt's novel Ragnarok, a book which retells ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why do bands sell music for adverts? Updated: 2011-12-31 10:21:00 Description: This Christmas, the songs of respected bands and artists such as Bob Dylan, The Pixies and Steve Earle have been cropping up in unlikely places - in ad breaks during Downtown Abbey and Coronation Street. Today's guest editor Stewart Lee wonders wheth...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is there a perfect audience for comedy? Updated: 2011-12-31 07:40:00 Description: Big stage, stadium and festival performances are more popular than they have ever been, but is there an optimum audience size, beyond which you fail to get your point across? Today's guest editor Stewart Lee, who thinks big venues can be tricky the m...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Baroness Boothroyd's final thoughts Updated: 2011-12-30 10:29:00 Description: Former Commons speaker Baroness (Betty) Boothroyd, reflects on her time as guest editor....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Betty's moles Updated: 2011-12-30 10:25:00 Description: Our guest editor today Baroness Boothroyd has a love/hate relationship with her garden, in Cambridgeshire. The trouble is that she is the victim of various intruders such as moles, voles, rabbits and stray deer. So the the BBC's James Naughtie tried ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The Glass Ceiling: Myth or reality? Updated: 2011-12-30 10:14:00 Description: Today's guest editor Baroness Boothroyd made history as the first, and to date, only female speaker in the House of Commons. She believes that people should rise according to their merits and not as a result of positive discrimination. However, she a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwin Updated: 2011-12-30 07:01:00 Description: On the programme are: James Bevan, from investment managers CCLA, David Morgan, the Managing Director of the investment firm JC Flowers, Europe and Asia and Peter Warburton from the consultancy Economic Perspectives....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Parky and Vaughan on cricket Updated: 2011-12-29 10:15:00 Description: One of the themes our guest editor Sir Victor Blank has chosen for his programme is what makes a good leader. He asked his friend Sir Michael Parkinson to ponder with former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU's leadership crisis? Updated: 2011-12-29 09:34:00 Description: Sir Victor wonders whether the eurozone crisis is down to a lack of good leadership. Bronwen Maddox, editor and chief executive of Prospect Magazine and Lord Owen former British Foreign Secretary discuss whether the current crisis is more of a pol...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: FW de Klerk- It was unjust, it was immoral, it was wrong Updated: 2011-12-29 09:25:00 Description: What motivates a leader to take action that isn't necessarily in their own political, personal or class interest? It's a question that intrigues our guest editor Sir Victor Blank and one that he wanted us to put to his friend FW de Klerk, former p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-12-29 06:14:00 Description: James Ashley of Royal Bank of Canada on how borrowing costs for the Italian government fell yesterday ahead of a bond auction today. And as part of Sir Victor Blanks guest edited programme, businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter and global ch...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Winterson reads Blake Updated: 2011-12-28 09:43:00 Description: In the second instalment of Tracey Emin's celebration of voices she loves to hear on the radio, author Jeanette Winterson reads William Blake's The Divine Image...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Serota: UK 'a much more visual culture' Updated: 2011-12-28 09:33:00 Description: Tracey Emin believes the visual arts have a key role to play in our country's economic growth. Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate galleries and Gregor Muir, executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) examine just how muc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Blumenthal: Hospitals need 'food for health and mind' Updated: 2011-12-28 09:29:00 Description: Our guest editor today Tracey Emin thinks the quality of food served to patients in many hospitals is a real cause for concern and was keen to hear from the chef and restaurateur Heston Blumenthal, who has been involved in a project seeking to make h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'You can take the girl out of Margate...' Updated: 2011-12-28 09:24:00 Description: Our guest editor Tracey Emin spent most of her childhood in Margate on the Kent coast. She has returned to it again and again, both in her art and in person and most recently she's been a staunch supporter of the town's new Turner Contemporary gal...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-12-28 06:23:00 Description: John Philpott, chief economic advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on a report they've published suggesting unemployment will rise to 8.8% in 2012. And Baroness Margaret Ford, chair of the Olympic Park Legacy Company talks ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Mo Ibrahim's vision of Africa Updated: 2011-12-27 10:49:00 Description: Dr Mo Ibrahim has tried to use his programme to present a different picture of Africa. He sits down with Evan Davis to talk about why chose to focus on that. This is an extended version of the broadcast item....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'NHS charges market rates for IVF' Updated: 2011-12-27 10:41:00 Description: A professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London has told the Independent newspaper of the "scandalous exploitation" of people trying for an IVF baby. Professor Robert Winston explains why he thinks the market is driven by greed on the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'We have built a positive country' in Cape Verde Updated: 2011-12-27 10:35:00 Description: This year the Mo Ibrahim Foundation awarded its Prize for Achievement in African Leadership to Pedro Pires, the former president of Cape Verde. In December 2007 Cape Verde graduated from Least Developed Country status to Middle Income Country. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-12-27 06:32:00 Description: Hurley Duddy of Emerging Capital Partnerships talks about his company's investment in Mo Ibrahim's telecoms company CELTEL in Africa. And Pippa Malmgren, former advisor to President George W Bush, former Chancellor Alistair Darling and Richard Lamber...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Can science bring sporting success? Updated: 2011-12-26 12:02:00 Description: In the 1980s, Lord Coe's father Peter coached him to two Olympic gold medals with a novel scientific approach to training and fitness. More recently football managers like Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho have introduced scien...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: How real are sporting rivalries? Updated: 2011-12-26 11:58:00 Description: Lord Coe's rivalry with Steve Ovett is one of the most gripping in sporting history. So did this battle make them each greater athletes? And how did they compare with the other great sporting rivals like Ali and Frazier, and Borg and McEnroe. Today p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Coe's return to Moscow Updated: 2011-12-26 11:37:00 Description: The 1980 Moscow Olympics cemented Lord Coe's place as one of Britain's greatest middle distance runners. But those games were particularly interesting: they were marked the largest ever boycott of the games, led by the US, in protest at the Sovie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The last shepherds of Bethlehem Updated: 2011-12-24 09:19:00 Description: It is a big day in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem with thousands of Christians due to attend Christmas Eve mass in Bethlehem. There are still shepherds in Bethlehem 2000 years on from the nativity but as our West Bank correspondent Jon Donnison re...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Guest editors set to take over Christmas Today Updated: 2011-12-24 09:16:00 Description: The 2011 guest editors start on Boxing Day featuring Seb Coe, Victor Blank, Betty Boothroyd, Tracey Emin, Mo Ibrahim, Stewart Lee And their various guests Jose Morinho, Ian McEwan, AS Byatt, Alan Moore, Mark E Smith, Tony Blair, FW de Klerk, Hesto...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The 'tipping point of the UK riots' Updated: 2011-12-24 09:11:00 Description: At the time of the riots commentators imagined they would dominate the political agenda for months to come and political careers would be made and broken by policies toward civil unrest, but it has slowly faded from the public consciousness. Why i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: World in 2012 Updated: 2011-12-24 08:54:00 Description: 2011 has been a tumultuous year with the Arab Spring uprising, European riots and economic turmoil and as thousands of people are expected to attend a rally in Moscow today to condemn alleged irregularities in Russia's parliamentary election earlier ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Would Cromwell cancel Christmas today? Updated: 2011-12-23 11:24:00 Description: In the mid 17th century, Christmas was cancelled and celebrating it was a punishable offence under the auspices of Oliver Cromwell. Nicola Stanbridge spoke to comedian Stewart Lee, who will be guest editing our New Year's Eve programme, who is kee...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Gormley - Public spaces 'have been privatised' Updated: 2011-12-23 11:19:00 Description: In the days following the theft of Barbara Hepworth's sculpture from Dulwich Park, much has been said about the importance of public art. Richard Sennett, Professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics, and sculptor Antony Gormley di...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Bargain hunting is an illusion' Updated: 2011-12-23 11:14:00 Description: Today is expected to be the busiest day of the year for last minute Christmas shopping, but why? Oliver James, author of Affluenza and the Selfish Capitalist, and Maureen Hinton, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research, debate whether we are mas...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Consumers feel 'ripped off' by card surcharges Updated: 2011-12-23 10:43:00 Description: The government says it is to ban companies from imposing excessive charges for paying by a credit or debit card following complaints by consumer groups over the high fees being demanded by some businesses. The Treasury minister Mark Hoban and Richard...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-23 06:18:00 Description: Bill Blain, senior director at the Newedge Group on news that US politicians have agreed to extend tax-cuts to millions of workers for a further two months. And our Friday boss is Oxfam's chief executive, Dame Barbara Stocking....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Sporting scraps in court Updated: 2011-12-22 10:06:00 Description: John Terry is being prosecuted for allegedly racist words uttered in a football match back in October. Matthew Syed, sports columnist at the Times and Mark Palios, former chair of the FA discuss whether courts the right place to settle on- pitch d...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Rubik solution - Clever or good memory? Updated: 2011-12-22 09:56:00 Description: Ed Milliband revealed that he could solve a Rubik's cube in one and a half minutes. Alex Bellos, author of maths best-seller Alex's Adventures in Numberland, reflects on what this says about the intelligence of the Labour leader....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Narey - We can do better on adoption Updated: 2011-12-22 09:47:00 Description: The government is to overhaul the assessment process for people looking to adopt to make it less bureaucratic. Hilton Dawson is the chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers explains why he is sceptical and Martin Narey, governm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Less space for bumper pay awards' Updated: 2011-12-22 09:38:00 Description: The latest figures are about to be published for the output of the British economy. The Office for National Statistics' GDP figures are expected to confirm that the economy is still trapped in the doldrums. Gillian Tett, associate editor of the Finan...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-22 06:22:00 Description: Simon Rubinson, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors talks about why he believes house prices will fall next year. And the BBC's Emma Simpson reports from Coventry on a Local Enterprise Partnership initiative to encourage banks to lend to small l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The 'exhilaration' of wild swimming Updated: 2011-12-21 11:05:00 Description: Throughout autumn and winter, people around the UK gather for coldwater swims, including on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Author Susie Parr, who has written about "wild swimming" in the Story of Swimming and 74-year-old Georgina Ro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'It's like being at the bottom of a hole' Updated: 2011-12-21 10:57:00 Description: A report by homeless charity Crisis has highlighted that those living rough have a shorter life expectancy, of 30 years, than the national average. The Today programme's Zubeida Malik hears the experiences of 28-year-old woman, who did not want he...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Diamond and Kavanagh clash over Leveson Updated: 2011-12-21 10:42:00 Description: It is the last day of evidence at the Leveson inquiry before breaking for Christmas. Broadcaster Anne Diamond and Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of the Sun, who have both given evidence, debate if whether statutory regulation should be introduced ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-21 06:16:00 Description: Erik Britton of Fathom Consulting on the credit rating agency Moody's confirmation that the UK will retain its triple A credit rating. And Daniel Green, chief executive of solar company, Homesun explains why they are challenging the government's cuts...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Should encores be spontaneous? Updated: 2011-12-20 09:56:00 Description: The musician Laura Marling told an audience on her current tour that she will not be doing a planned encore. Andrew Harrison, editor of the music magazine The Word, and music writer Dave Simpson discuss whether spontaneous encores have become a th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The perfect name for the job Updated: 2011-12-20 09:32:00 Description: Why do some people have names that seem to perfectly fit their job? The New Scientist's John Hoyland explains his theory of "nominative determinism" and prison reformer Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, and the Rev...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Systemic' problems at HMRC Updated: 2011-12-20 09:25:00 Description: A report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the tax authority, HMRC, saying there were "serious concerns" about how some large settlements were reached with big companies. Chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym reports and chair ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-20 06:43:00 Description: Professor Preem Sikka of Essex University looks at accusations that "cosy" negotiations between tax officials and big companies are costing taxpayers millions of pounds. And Dublin based solicitor Anthony Joyce details the bankruptcy case of Sean Qui...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 80 years of Ealing Studios Updated: 2011-12-19 10:05:00 Description: Dr Keith Johnston, an academic from the University of East Anglia, has decided to mark the 80th anniversary of Ealing Studios in his own way, by attempting to watch the whole back catalogue of almost 100 films. The Today programme's Justin Webb met u...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Mortgage pillars 'kicked away' Updated: 2011-12-19 09:47:00 Description: The Financial Services Authority has announced its Mortgage Market Review, setting out plans to crack down the practise of "risky mortgage lending seen in boom times". Presenter of Location, Location, Location, Kirstie Allsopp and Merryn Somerset Web...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: N Koreans 'never warmed to Kim Jong-il' Updated: 2011-12-19 09:43:00 Description: South Korea has put its military on high alert following the announcement of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from South Korean capital Seoul and Former US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-19 06:31:00 Description: Member of the Vickers panel and writer on the financial services industry, Philip Augur, looks ahead to the government's plans to restructure the UK's banks in response to proposals by the Vickers Independent Commission on Banking report. And the BBC...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hitchens vs Hitchens Updated: 2011-12-17 11:37:00 Description: Today presenter James Naughtie interviewed the late Christopher Hitchens and his equally feisty brother Peter at the 2005 Hay Literary Festival about their controversial views, the Iraq war and religion....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Eurozone solution 'needs credibility with markets' Updated: 2011-12-17 11:33:00 Description: Last week Britain was the only one of 27 EU nations which did not sign up to the deal in principle, but now other countries including Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic have expressed doubts about elements of the treaty. So what is going to happe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Inside Black Friday's 'booze bus' Updated: 2011-12-17 11:25:00 Description: Last night was said to be Black Friday, the biggest night of drinking ahead of Christmas. In London, the ambulance service have set up a "booze bus", a special clinic fed by ambulances running around picking up drunken partygoers. Our reporter Dave M...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: What are your reading ailments? Updated: 2011-12-16 09:57:00 Description: The School of Life in London is offering a new form of therapy, Bibliotherapy, which aims to guide you through the overwhelming choice of literature and teach you how to use books to enhance your life. The Today programme's Justin Webb goes on the co...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Call for 'radical change' in dementia care Updated: 2011-12-16 09:51:00 Description: Hospitals are overlooking some of the most basic needs of patients with dementia, according to the first national audit of dementia care in England and Wales. Ann Reid describes her experience of looking after both her late mother and husband who bot...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Christopher Hitchens 'swam against every tide' Updated: 2011-12-16 09:45:00 Description: Atheist author and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died aged 62 after a battle with cancer. Labour MP Denis McShane and author Ian McEwan share their memories of him....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-16 06:20:00 Description: Professor of Economics Manfred Gaertner of the University of St Gallen in Switzerland on the reaction of the governor of the Bank of France to Fitch's downgrading of six major world banks. And our Friday boss is the PR guru Lord Peter Chadlington who...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Today's artic racing tips Updated: 2011-12-15 10:07:00 Description: Every day, the Today sports presenters tip horses running across the country. But are their tips worth the money, or should they be frozen out of the running? Mark Crawford has been tracking their success, and explains the results....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Iraq's 'endless series of disappointments' Updated: 2011-12-15 10:03:00 Description: After nearly nine years of war, the US military will today formally mark the end of its combat operations in Iraq with a ceremony in Baghdad. Lubna Naji, a doctor in Baghdad who the Today programme has spoken to many times over the years, reflects on...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ode to the Christmas carol Updated: 2011-12-15 09:58:00 Description: An article in The Economist says that the popularity of both religious and non-religious Christmas carol concerts is increasing. Classical music promoter Raymond Gubbay and Observer music critic Fiona Maddocks, discuss why we seem to want more carols...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The trauma of war Updated: 2011-12-15 09:53:00 Description: As the memories of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan fade for soldiers previously stationed there, what are the lasting effect on them mentally and physically? Lewis McKay and Neil Christie, veterans of both wars, describe their experience and recover...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-15 06:20:00 Description: Howard Wheeldon of BGC Partners talks about the significance of a tumble in the financial markets for the euro, oil, gold and shares. And Chris Hodge, head of corporate governance at the Financial Reporting Council outlines revisions the independent ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: How do you arrange your bookshelves? Updated: 2011-12-14 10:53:00 Description: Author Alexander McCall Smith mentioned on Twitter that he was finding it "painful" getting rid of books and asked for any advice about how to arrange his shelves. He goes through some of the responses he received and gives his own tips on bookshelf ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Alex Salmond critical of EU 'posturing' Updated: 2011-12-14 10:43:00 Description: Alex Salmond has challenged David Cameron on his decision to veto agreement in the European Union. He explains why he believes Scotland needs a voice at the top table in Europe when national interests are being discussed....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'I knew he was capable of killing me' Updated: 2011-12-14 10:31:00 Description: The government is to review the laws on domestic violence and examine if the definition should be widened to include under-18s and psychological abuse. Vicky, who lived in a abusive relationship for a decade, describes her experience....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-14 06:32:00 Description: Chris Skinner of the Financial Services Club talks about worries that the banking system is in trouble. And Paolo Cabral reports from Brazil on a growing trend of young Europeans, from countries such as Portugal, emigrating to countries with booming...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why do urban birds sing differently? Updated: 2011-12-13 09:52:00 Description: Urban birdsong is significantly different from rural birdsong because birds in cities use buildings to bounce sound and project further, according to new research from the University of Aberystwyth. Dr Rupert Marshall, lecturer in Animal Behaviour...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Criminal responsibility age questioned Updated: 2011-12-13 09:48:00 Description: A report by the Royal Society says advances in the understanding of the human brain may raise questions over the age of criminal responsibility. Author of the report and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the Univer...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Child poverty targets 'will not be met' Updated: 2011-12-13 09:41:00 Description: The government's Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility and Child Poverty, Alan Milburn, is to give his first keynote speech on child poverty. Mr Milburn outlines what progress he believes has, and has not, been made in eradicating child poverty....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-13 06:31:00 Description: Gerard Dalbasco, Asia-Pacific Managing Partner at Ernst and Young reflects on whether China could be a bigger threat to the world economy than the Eurozone crisis. And Mark Cahill of Manpower analyses data which suggests there is an East/West divide ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: What is the greatest invention? Updated: 2011-12-12 09:55:00 Description: What has been the greatest invention of all time? That question was asked by a recent article in Intelligent Life, saying that only tangible processes were eligible and not ideas or principles. Samantha Weinberg who wrote the article and Graham F...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: David Miliband - 'It was a phantom veto' Updated: 2011-12-12 09:50:00 Description: Former foreign secretary David Miliband has said David Cameron's use of the veto in EU negotiations was "the first veto in history not to stop something." Speaking to John Humphrys, he said that the "phantom veto" was "a very self-defeating way o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU veto 'doesn't threaten coalition' Updated: 2011-12-12 09:42:00 Description: Prime Minister David Cameron is to defend his decision in the Commons to use Britain's veto at the European Union summit. Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, reflects on where it leaves Britain position in Europe....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-12 06:26:00 Description: Colin McLean of SVM Asset Management on the report by the Financial Services Authority on the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland. And Rob Young reports from Libya on the high rate of youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Remembering HMS Prince of Wales & Repulse Updated: 2011-12-10 11:49:00 Description: It's the 70th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and her sister ship HMS Repulse by the Japanese off Kuantan on the Malayan coast, in which 800 lives were lost. A few lucky survivors of this and subsequent POW camps met BBC reporter Bo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU deal reached at 'brain's lowest ebb' Updated: 2011-12-10 11:42:00 Description: Is it wise to try and reach a deal at big conferences when leaders have had so little sleep? Derk-Jan Dijk is a professor of sleep and physiology at the University of Surrey and explains how the brain works with little rest....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU veto 'helped protect UK interests' Updated: 2011-12-10 11:24:00 Description: David Cameron was toasted at a dinner in Chequers last night after refusing to sign up to the European Union's treaty change. Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times explains why they have printed a leading article casting grave doubt on what Mr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Editors analysis, UK relation to EU 'utterly altered' Updated: 2011-12-09 11:05:00 Description: After a long night of negotiations between EU leaders, it was announced that decisions had been taken that would have consequences - for the eurozone and for us. Europe Editor Gavin Hewitt and politics editor Nick Robinson analyse the repercussions....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: They finished painting the Forth Bridge Updated: 2011-12-09 10:59:00 Description: The painting of the Forth Bridge is to end today, but how can the English language survive without one of our favourite metaphors? John Andrew, Business Development Director at Balfour Beatty, and Mark Forsyth, author of the The Etymologicon, discuss...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hague, UK 'is not being isolated' Updated: 2011-12-09 10:49:00 Description: David Cameron has announced that Britain will stay out of planned EU financial crisis deals after a night of intense negotiations at the EU summit in Brussels. Foreign Secretary William Hague gives his views on the future of Britain's position in the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-09 06:22:00 Description: The latest from the EU summit in Brussels where Eurozone leaders negotiating into the small hours of this morning have agreed a draft of new financial rules for the region. And this week's Friday boss is the UK's largest residential landlord, Andrew ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Huge telescope 'to reveal new view of cosmos' Updated: 2011-12-08 10:24:00 Description: Plans for the world's largest telescope are expected to take a major step forward today as the organisation overseeing its development meets in Germany to approve interim funding for the project. Science correspondent Tom Feilden has been talking to ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ofqual - Alleged exam leaks 'not acceptable' Updated: 2011-12-08 10:09:00 Description: Education Secretary Michael Gove has ordered an investigation into claims in the Daily Telegraph that some examiners for English and Welsh schools told teachers which questions were coming up on next summer's GCSE and A-Level exam papers. John Bangs,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lord Howard: EU referendum 'beside the point' Updated: 2011-12-08 09:59:00 Description: European leaders are gathering for their latest summit in Brussels which will focus on enforcing budgetary discipline in the eurozone and writing it into the EU treaty. Former Conservative leader Lord Howard reflects on what is at stake for David Cam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-08 06:32:00 Description: Sony Kapoor, managing director of the think tank Re-Define looks ahead to the European Central Bank's interest rate decision later today. And Dr Fred Prata of Norwegian Institute for Air Research on a new system by Easyjet to prevent the air industry...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'My heart bleeds for Afghanistan' Updated: 2011-12-07 09:59:00 Description: A suicide bombing has killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 100 at a shrine in Kabul, prompting the Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say that a sectarian attack on this scale was unprecedented in Afghanistan.World Affairs editor John Simpso...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'More pessimism about state than society' Updated: 2011-12-07 09:53:00 Description: The annual British Social Attitudes Survey has found that people are looking to themselves rather than government to solve society's problems.Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA and Camilla Cavendish, associate editor and columnist at the Time...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Payday loans on the rise Updated: 2011-12-07 09:48:00 Description: According to R3, an organisation representing most of Britain's insolvency practitioners, more than 3.5 million people say they are likely to take out a so-called payday loan in the next six months. The Today programme's Andrew Hosken reports....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-07 06:39:00 Description: Yael Selfim, head of macro-consulting at PriceWaterHouse Coopers on David Cameron's pledge to protect Britain's interests in the face of changes to the EU Treaty. Elissa Bayer, investment director at Williams de Broë on whether S&P's latest credit w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Poets' Corner to honour Ted Hughes Updated: 2011-12-06 10:13:00 Description: The poet Ted Hughes is to be honoured with a memorial stone in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in a ceremony which will include readings by the poet Seamus Heaney and actress Juliet Stevenson. Arts correspondent Rebecca Jones speaks to the Dea...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lord Stevens - Police are feeling 'unloved' Updated: 2011-12-06 10:05:00 Description: The first root and branch review of policing for nearly 50 years is being launched by the Labour Party which will look at accusations that the police force lacks vision and purpose. Former Met Commissioner Lord Stevens will chair the Independent ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Eurozone downgrade warning 'statement of blindingly obvious' Updated: 2011-12-06 09:50:00 Description: The credit ratings agency, Standard and Poor's (S&P) is reviewing the credit standing of 15 eurozone countries including Germany, France whose leaders have agreed proposals for tougher budgetary controls. Ngaire Woods, professor of Global Economi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-06 06:31:00 Description: Georg Grodski, Legal and General's head of credit and Richard Dunbar, investment director at Scottish Widows examine the implications of a downgrading of 15 eurozone countries by Standard & Poors just as France and Germany agree that a new EU treaty ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Morpurgo: I couldn't have made a better War Horse film Updated: 2011-12-05 09:51:00 Description: War Horse, the story by Michael Morpurgo of the relationship between a young English boy and his horse during the first World War, has become one of the most popular British plays ever staged. Now it's been made into Stephen Spielberg movie and h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Willetts explains life sciences strategy Updated: 2011-12-05 09:45:00 Description: The government is announcing a new strategy to support the life sciences in the UK. There are currently 360 good ideas "sitting in research institutes", waiting to pass a proof of commercial viability "valley of death" Universities and Science Mi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: US extradition 'needs reform' Updated: 2011-12-05 09:35:00 Description: A vote is being held in the Commons to reform extradition arrangements with both the United States and the rest of the EU after fears that UK citizens are not being sufficiently protected. Conservative MP Dominic Raab and former home secretary David ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-05 06:35:00 Description: Lee Hopley, chief economist with the EEF talks about how the eurozone crisis is hitting UK manufacturing. Control Risks' Toby Latta talks about the global risk factors facing businesses coming into 2012. And Mark Thomas of consulting firm PA analyses...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Pretend offence' over Clarkson Updated: 2011-12-03 11:30:00 Description: Jeremy Clarkson has created a media storm this week after comments he made on the BBC One Show calling for strikers to be shot in front of their families. Toby Young and Joan Burnie, of the Daily Record, debate the way in which the press have reacted...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Prescott: 'Conspiracy against poor' at climate talks Updated: 2011-12-03 11:26:00 Description: The latest big international conference on climate change is under way in South Africa. John Prescott, former environment secretary who led the British delegation at the Kyoto talks, explains what is at stake at the conference....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'I'm an optimist... but it's bleak, challenging and terrifying.' Updated: 2011-12-03 11:16:00 Description: What does austerity mean in practical terms for people in this country? To try to answer that question, John Humphrys went back to Watford, a small town north of London, to talk to a panel of eight people the programme rounded up a few years ago, to ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Myners: Bonus practices 'obscene' Updated: 2011-12-02 11:01:00 Description: The Financial Policy Committee which is tasked with regulating the City said that banks should keep lending, but if they needed more cash to build up their reserves they should cut dividends and bonuses. Angela Knight, of the British Bankers Asso...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are council prayers unlawful? Updated: 2011-12-02 10:49:00 Description: The High Court is to decide whether a town council in Devon should be allowed to say prayers before meetings, after a complaint from an atheist member of Bideford Town Council, who claimed that saying prayers was a breach of human rights legislation....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Should public sector pay be regional? Updated: 2011-12-02 10:41:00 Description: In his Autumn Statement, the chancellor asked pay review bodies to "consider how public sector pay can be made more responsive to local labour markets", which could mean scrapping national pay rates for public sector workers and negotiating them loca...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-02 06:37:00 Description: Gabriel Sterne Associate Director and Economist at Exotix talks about the latest in the eurozone crisis now that the ECB have indicated it may play a bigger role. And our Friday boss is David Wild, chief executive of Halfords....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: How much caffeine in your coffee? Updated: 2011-12-01 10:27:00 Description: A new study from the University of Glasgow highlights potential health concerns over the caffeine content of drinks served in high-street coffee shops. Professor Alan Crozier led the research and describes the findings....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Dollar lending plan 'will oil wheels for a while' Updated: 2011-12-01 10:20:00 Description: Share prices have surged following news that world central banks were to take a co-ordinated approach in dealing with the eurozone crisis by making cheaper to borrow dollars. Sir Howard Davies, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, analyses ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hague - Intensify economic sanctions on Iran Updated: 2011-12-01 10:09:00 Description: European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are to discuss whether to take further action against Iran after Britain's embassy in Tehran was overrun by protesters. After closing the Iranian embassy in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague talks ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-12-01 06:29:00 Description: Chris Orndorff, fund manager at Western Asset Management in California on a co-ordinated effort by world central banks to support the global financial system. And Douglas McNeill, transport analyst for Charles Stanley Stockbrokers looks at the challe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Oscar Wilde 'knew the danger of a kiss' Updated: 2011-11-30 10:19:00 Description: The restored and newly-protected tomb of dramatist Oscar Wilde is to be unveiled in France on the 111th anniversary of his death. Actor Rupert Everett is a fan of Wilde and describes how he was invited to attend the opening by his grandson Merlin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: '58% of schools are closed' says minister Updated: 2011-11-30 10:11:00 Description: Today's public sector strike is expected to cause widespread disruption to schools, hospitals and some airports. Dave Prentis General Secretary of Unison talks about why the public sector is striking and the Schools Minister Nick Gibb gives the g...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Osborne- Public sector pensions offer 'is generous' Updated: 2011-11-30 09:59:00 Description: Public sector workers have begun a 24-hour strike over changes to their pensions. Unions say around two million workers are taking part in today's action - causing disruption to public transport, hospitals, courts and council services. The Chance...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-30 06:34:00 Description: Tom McPhail, head of Pensions Research at Hargreaves Lansdown talks about the significance of raising the pension age as announced in the Autumn Statement. And Professor of International Economics at the University of Rome, Paolo Guerrieri talks abou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Marmite - your views Updated: 2011-11-29 09:42:00 Description: A tanker carrying more than 20 tonnes of yeast extract, thought to be marmite, has overturned bringing disruption to the M1 near Sheffield. The motorway has been closed in both directions....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Climate targets 'pathetically inadequate' Updated: 2011-11-29 09:38:00 Description: UN climate change talks are entering their second day in Durban, South Africa, aiming to come up with a settlement constraining greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in a year. Sir David King, the former chief scie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Growth: The view from Leeds Updated: 2011-11-29 09:31:00 Description: Economic growth is the phrase of the day with the Chancellor George Osborne due to deliver the Autumn Statement. But what is the right kind of growth for the economy? Evan Davis reports from West Yorkshire....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-29 06:29:00 Description: Colin Ellis of the British Venture Capital Association previews the chancellor's Autumn Statement and looks at the latest OECD and Office for Budget Responsibilites' forecasts on economic growth. And Colin McLean of SVM Asset Management and Norval Lo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Garfunkel: Simon 'is part of my soul' Updated: 2011-11-28 10:20:00 Description: Art Garfunkel, along with his childhood friend Paul Simon, recorded some of the most memorable songs in pop music history including Bridge over Troubled Water, The Sound of Silence and Mrs Robinson. With both men having just turned 70, Art Garfunkel ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Robinson - Religious apartheid in NI schooling has huge impact Updated: 2011-11-28 10:14:00 Description: The DUP leader and Stormont's First Minister Peter Robinson has said he wants to bring Catholics and Protestants closer together in Northern Ireland, speaking of the need for a shared education system. He explains why he wants to end the "them and us...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Alexander Infrastructure boost 'within spending plans' Updated: 2011-11-28 10:07:00 Description: Some £30bn of extra infrastructure work has been planned as part of a government plan called the National Infrastructure Plan, funded by pension funds and other investors. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander outlines when the money is co...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-28 06:57:00 Description: Joanne Segars, of the National Association of the Pensions Funds and Glyn Jones of pensions advisers, P-Solve talk about government plans to use pension funds to finance infrastructure projects. And Adam Marshall of the British Chamber of Commerce ex...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Onion TV comes to the UK Updated: 2011-11-26 11:50:00 Description: The US satirical paper, The Onion, also has a television channel of a similar tone and that channel is now coming to Britain courtesy of Sky. Suzanne Sena plays the part of the main reporter, Brooke Alvarez, and she put together a short bulletin for ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Egypt 'finding its own way to democracy' Updated: 2011-11-26 11:43:00 Description: Despite the protests across Egypt this week, elections are still planned to commence next week. It is a very complicated system as our correspondent Kevin Connolly has been finding out....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Coogan on Leveson's 'watershed week' Updated: 2011-11-26 11:33:00 Description: Celebrities and victims of tragedy gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry about phone hacking and general press intrusion and horrific abuse into their personal lives. This has spawned a secondary debate with some newspapers asking the question, such a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Clegg: Youth contract 'will provide hope' Updated: 2011-11-25 10:53:00 Description: The government is to outline a £1bn strategy to tackle youth unemployment, which promises to create over 400,000 jobs in three years. Krystina Robinson from Middlesbrough, is one of a million "Neets", young people not in education, training or work ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Paralympic medallist walks again Updated: 2011-11-25 10:39:00 Description: Monique Van der Vorst, a Paralympic silver medallist in hand cycling, lost the use of her legs as a result of an operation that went wrong when she was a teenager. Last year she had another accident while training and, in an extraordinary twist, she ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Shapps and Humphrys clash on housing announcement Updated: 2011-11-25 10:30:00 Description: On Monday a new housing strategy was announced and debated in parliament. On Tuesday official figures were released which showed that the number of new affordable homes on which a start had been made had fallen dramatically. Housing Minister Grant Sh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-25 06:30:00 Description: Stian Westlake of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts argues the case for an enterprise bond, a form of "credit easing" for businesses as a means of bypassing the banks. And this weeks Friday boss is Stephen Fitzpatrick, found...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Rebecca Ferguson 'made me eat my hat' Updated: 2011-11-24 11:18:00 Description: X Factor has been criticised in the past for not doing much to inject creativity into the UK music industry. Last year's runner-up, Rebecca Ferguson and the Daily Telegraph's chief pop and rock music critic, Neil McCormick, discuss whether TV talent ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The perils of taking kids to work Updated: 2011-11-24 11:02:00 Description: When public sector workers strike next week, and schools may be disrupted, it has been suggested that people who are working should be encouraged to take their children to work, an idea supported by David Cameron. Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who m...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Arcadia to close 250-260 shops Updated: 2011-11-24 10:57:00 Description: Arcadia, the retail giant behind brands such as Topshop, BHS, Burtons and Miss Selfridge, has seen its pre-tax profits fall by a third in the year to the end of August. Arcadia's owner, Sir Philip Green, explains what happens next for them and Profes...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Mark Serwotka: 'Blind panic' over border strike Updated: 2011-11-24 10:41:00 Description: The government is making plans to use non-striking civil servants to cover duties at border posts during next week's public sector strike. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, outlines what the strikes hope to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-24 06:28:00 Description: Lena Komileva of G7 Market Economics on the implications of a poor auction of bonds by the German government. And Robert Guest of the Economist and David Soskin, former CEO of cheapflights debate whether debt by its nature is always a bad thing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Squeezed middle' is word of the year Updated: 2011-11-23 10:01:00 Description: The Oxford English Dictionary team, in both the US and UK, have named the word of the year as "squeezed middle", saying it now has substantial resonance. Suzie Dent, spokesperson for Oxford dictionaries and Oliver Kamm, who writes the Pedant column a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Basic compassion should never be switched off' Updated: 2011-11-23 09:54:00 Description: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that thousands of elderly people in England receive care services at home that are so poor their human rights are being breached. Paul Burstow, minister for care services, responds to the report....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Like a skin graft on a paralysed body' Updated: 2011-11-23 09:45:00 Description: Tens of thousands of Egyptians are still camped out in Tahrir Square in Cairo, calling on the military leader, Field Marshal Tantawi, to step down immediately, despite his promise that parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned. Kevin Connolly ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-23 06:34:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. Georg Grodski of Legal & General Investment Management and Sharon Bowles of the European parliament discuss whether Eurobonds are a possible solution to the eurozone crisis. And Terry Scuoler, of the manufacturers organ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lansley defends hospital video loop Updated: 2011-11-22 10:25:00 Description: Why does Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's face peer out from every hospital television screen? Following reports in the Independent newspaper, Mr Lansley rang into the Today programme to explain why people had to register before they could turn the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bosses' pay too high? Then 'move to Cuba' Updated: 2011-11-22 10:19:00 Description: A year long inquiry into boardroom pay has found that excessive deals for the UK's top bosses is having a corrosive effect on the economy, for companies as well as society as a whole. Chair of the High Pay Commission Deborah Hargreaves and Dr Heather...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Amazing watershed' in cancer treatment Updated: 2011-11-22 10:08:00 Description: study of cancer survival rates in England and Wales, by Macmillan Cancer Support, has found that on average people diagnosed with the disease typically live nearly six times longer than 40 years ago. Professor Peter Johnson, of Cancer Research UK, ta...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-22 06:36:00 Description: Business News with Simon Jack on news that the UK government looks set to move the goalposts for reducing the deficit with Michael Taylor of Lombard Street Research. And Jared Bernstein, former economic advisor to the US Vice President, Joe Biden, ta...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Volunteering in return for citizenship? Updated: 2011-11-21 11:14:00 Description: According to the think tank Demos, compulsory volunteering should be introduced for those wanting to gain British citizenship. Author of the report, Max Wind-Cowie of Demos, and Telegraph columnist Charles Moore discuss what it is that makes us proud...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: So does starting a sentence with 'so' annoy you? Updated: 2011-11-21 11:08:00 Description: Beginning a sentence with the word "so" has become a regular occurrence in everyday conversation, and it has not been received entirely positively. John Rentoul of the Independent on Sunday, and author of The Banned List: A Manifesto Against Jargon a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hague - Egypt 'should end state of emergency' Updated: 2011-11-21 11:00:00 Description: Egypt is seeing a new phase of uncertainty after clashes over the weekend between democracy protesters and the military. The BBC's Jon Leyne reports from Cairo on whether the Egyptian regime can be trusted and Foreign Secretary William Hague outlines...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-21 06:30:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. With Professor Santiago Carbó Valverde of the University of Grenada and Darren William of Allianz Bernstein discuss the economic challenges facing Spain's new government. And ahead of the CBI's annual conference, Direc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Kabul's own 'Bruce Lee' Updated: 2011-11-19 11:24:00 Description: Few in Britain will have heard of Rohullah Nikpai but he is a hero in his native Afghanistan as the first Afghan to win an Olympic medal - for taekwondo - at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mike Thomson went to meet the 24-year-old athlete in Kabul as he ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are pension charges too high? Updated: 2011-11-19 11:15:00 Description: The financier David Norman, who used to be chief executive of Credit Suisse, has written to the prime minister saying pension charges are too high, deliberately complex and sometimes hidden. He explains why he believes urgent and radical changes are ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: GPs 'should not write sick-notes' Updated: 2011-11-19 11:08:00 Description: A government-commissioned review is going to say changes should be made in the way people on sickness benefits are assessed. Lord Freud, the minister for welfare reform, and Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA GPs committee, debate the pro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Campaign to save Yorkshire anthem Updated: 2011-11-18 10:42:00 Description: It has been Yorkshire's anthem since Victorian times, but now a brass band leader is launching a campaign to stop On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at from dying out. Gordon Eddison, a school music teacher and musical director of Otley Brass Band, explains why he ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Fuchs Germans 'don't want to run Europe' Updated: 2011-11-18 10:34:00 Description: Talks between David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to focus on the European Central Bank taking a more active role in the eurozone crisis. Economics editor Stephanie Flanders analyses the upcoming meeting and Dr Michael Fuchs, deputy...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hunger fears as Afghan snows approach Updated: 2011-11-18 10:26:00 Description: An estimated £40bn worth of aid has been given to Afghanistan over the last 10 years, most of it to the south of the country where the war is being fought. Mike Thomson reports from the far north of mountainous Bamyan Province, on fears that the com...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-18 06:34:00 Description: Economist Christian Schulz, formerly of the ECB and Pedro Schwarz of San Pablo University in Madrid discuss Spain's record borrowing costs and where the ECB fits into this. And Hugh O'Donnell, chief executive of Kentz Engineers and Constructors is ou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: NYC Cafe Society comes to the Southbank Updated: 2011-11-17 10:41:00 Description: The 1940s jazz club, Cafe Society, is being recreated at London's Southbank Centre. The Today programme's Nicola Stanbridge spoke to the founder, Barney Josephson's wife Terry Trilling-Josephson, about the legendary New York club which made history f...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: '1-in-12 teens self-harm' Updated: 2011-11-17 10:18:00 Description: According to a new study, as many as 1-in-12 people self-harm as teenagers, the majority of them girls. A former self-harmer tells her story and Dr Paul Moran of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College Hospital gives his thoughts on what mental ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Party funding 'not sexy, but important' Updated: 2011-11-17 08:50:00 Description: Political party funding has come under the spotlight with Nick Clegg ruling out extra state funding, saying taxpayers wouldn't stand for it, while a committee on standards in public life is about to publish a report of party political funding. Steve ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-17 06:15:00 Description: Dominic Rossi of Fidelity talks about the Bank of England's quarterly report, which has slashed the growth forecast for the UK to just one percent. And Richard Jeffrey from the newly opened Business Growth Hub in Manchester explains how it hopes to f...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Kabul's lost children Updated: 2011-11-16 11:21:00 Description: In the third of his special reports from Afghanistan, Mike Thomson focuses on the life of children in a country which has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the world and where around 37,000 children live on the streets....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Toast sandwich: The best budget bite? Updated: 2011-11-16 11:03:00 Description: What is the cheapest, most nutritious lunch you can have? John Edwards of the Royal Society of Chemistry reveals the surprising answer....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Brodie Clarke 'I should have checked with May' Updated: 2011-11-16 10:48:00 Description: The former head of the UK Border force, Brodie Clark, gives his first interview since quitting following a row with the home secretary over a pilot scheme to relax border controls....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business News with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-16 06:34:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. Derek Scott, former economic advisor to Tony Blair and Richard Dunbar of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership talk about worrying movements in the bonds of core Eurozone countries. And the Aldridge Foundation's, Honor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Turner's suns: Inspired by science? Updated: 2011-11-15 11:49:00 Description: A new book, Turner and the Elements, suggests that the painter JMW Turner's depiction of the sun in his works may have been influenced by the groundbreaking scientific discoveries of his day. Contributing writer to the book James Hamilton and Rob La ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Confusion over accountability' at Border Agency Updated: 2011-11-15 11:40:00 Description: The former head of the UK Border agency, Brodie Clark, is to give his version of events at Westminster after resigning following a row with the Home Secretary over the relaxation of border controls. Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw traces the hi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'I tried to burn myself to death' Updated: 2011-11-15 11:29:00 Description: Improving women's rights in Afghanistan was one of the major civil objectives when Nato forces toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan 10 years ago. In the second of his series of reports, Mike Thomson speaks to Shabana, who was given away to another fami...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business News with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-15 06:33:00 Description: Martin O'Donovan of the Association of Corporate Treasurers on a new set of rules for credit rating agencies set out by The European Commission. And Western Union's Hikmet Ersek, on the company's newest venture....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Webb at the potter's wheel Updated: 2011-11-14 10:49:00 Description: In his newest book The Pot Book, writer and artisan Edmund De Waal charts the history of pottery and ceramic ware from the third millennium BC to the present day. Justin went to the potter's South London studio to try his hand at pottery under Edmund...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Economic turmoil 'casting long shadow' on UK Updated: 2011-11-14 10:38:00 Description: Pessimism about the UK economy seems endemic, and the latest report by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development has only added to the gloom, saying that its survey of businesses suggests that many of them are stuck in a "wait and see" fr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Mistake not to represent tabloids' at Leveson Inquiry Updated: 2011-11-14 10:29:00 Description: The Leveson Inquiry into the issues arising from the News of the World scandal is to start hearing from the victims of phone hacking. Associate Editor of the Sun Trevor Kavanagh and Roy Greenslade, professor of Journalism at City University, debate t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-14 06:12:00 Description: Markets will pass their verdict on the comings and goings in Rome. And a report today from the Institute of Family Business highlights the importance of family businesses to the UK economy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Abbey Road at 80 Updated: 2011-11-12 11:05:00 Description: Eighty years ago today the world famous recording studios at Abbey Road opened their doors. They were sold yesterday by EMI to Universal Music Group. Brian Southall, a former director of EMI and author of Abbey Road, looks at its illustrious history....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Putin's support 'on the decline' Updated: 2011-11-12 10:49:00 Description: Vladimir Putin has been defending his decision to stand for the Russian presidency next year: he has been prime minister for the last four years and if he wins next year, as is expected, he could end up staying in power until 2024. The BBC's diplomat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Here in Syria we are being killed every day' Updated: 2011-11-12 10:42:00 Description: There are growing calls for the Arab League to suspend Syria as violence continues in the country. Today reporter Andrew Hosken has managed to hear first-hand about some of the clashes that continue there, and the writer and commentator on Middle Eas...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Louis Armstrong's blues 'filled with spirit' Updated: 2011-11-11 10:50:00 Description: A new film based on Louis Armstrong's early years examines how the musician's childhood in the squalor and brothels of New Orleans gave him "something to live for". Reporter Tom Bateman met the film's director, Daniel Pritzker....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 'You never think it will happen to you' Updated: 2011-11-11 10:43:00 Description: The families of two soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan remember their sons....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is the EU 'undemocratic'? Updated: 2011-11-11 10:34:00 Description: As Greece and Italy prepare to swear in new, unelected, prime ministers, has the eurozone's democratic dream been forgotten?...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-11 06:42:00 Description: The European Central Bank is facing an identity crisis as it tries to tackle the current eurozone troubles. And Carmen Watson, managing director of one of the UK's biggest recruitment agencies, Pertemps, discusses changes to industry regulation of te...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Photography isn't changing - the world is' Updated: 2011-11-10 11:12:00 Description: The photography agency Magnum has brought together unseen contact sheets - rows of negatives printed directly onto paper - together in a new book including works by the agency's founder Henri Cartier-Bresson. Photographer David Hurn, who joined Magnu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Poets 'domination' of First World War Updated: 2011-11-10 11:08:00 Description: Unpublished poems by World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon have been unearthed by Dr Jean Moorcroft Wilson, Sassoon's biographer. Dr Wilson and Prof Gary Sheffield of the University of Birmingham discuss the historical significance of the discovery....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Robert Peston, Smaller eurozone 'is the road to Armageddon' Updated: 2011-11-10 11:03:00 Description: Reuters are reporting a senior EU official saying that there have been intense consultations between France and Germany in recent weeks on a potential reshuffle of the EU. Business Editor Robert Peston discusses what this restructuring might look lik...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-10 06:28:00 Description: Shares in the Asian stock market are falling after Italy's cost of borrowing rose to a record high yesterday. And Brian Hilliard, UK economist for Societe Generale, on the worst UK trade deficit on record....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Do you find birds 'uncanny'? Updated: 2011-11-09 11:12:00 Description: A new book of short stories has been published which ponders many people's fear of birds. Arts Correspondent David Sillito has been meeting the writers who are raising money for the RSPB by coming clean about their uncomfortable feelings about our fe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Iran's nuclear 'capacity creep' Updated: 2011-11-09 11:06:00 Description: The UN nuclear watchdog says it has information that Iran has carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device". Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Sir Richard Dalton, former ambassador to Iran, debate how Br...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Escalating fiasco' over UK borders Updated: 2011-11-09 11:00:00 Description: Brodie Clark, who was running the UK Border Agency during the summer, has denied improperly relaxing the rules and says there were regular three hour immigration queues at Heathrow as a result. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper gives her view on th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-09 06:24:00 Description: The reaction of the markets following the news that Silvio Berlusconi has offered to resign. And John Cridland, director General of the CBI, on how to get the Britain's economy moving....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Harlots and rakes at Hogarth's House Updated: 2011-11-08 11:16:00 Description: Hogarth's House in Chiswick, the country home of one of Britain's most famous 18th century artists, reopens today three years after it closed for restoration. Nick Higham takes a look around....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: HS2 project: 'Wrong to castigate locals' Updated: 2011-11-08 11:11:00 Description: MPs on the transport select committee have come out in support of the government's plans to build a high speed rail network between Manchester and London but are questioning its costs and environmental issues. The Today programme's Nicola Stanbridge ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'A drama ancient Romans would have understood' Updated: 2011-11-08 11:04:00 Description: As Silvio Berlusconi faces a crucial parliamentary vote the BBC's Gavin Hewitt reports that "there is that undercurrent that Italy is being pushed around"...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-08 06:07:00 Description: Giuseppe Fontana, Professor of Monetary Economics at Leeds Business School, on Italy's record borrowing costs. And shares in the Japanese electronics firm Olympus fell 30% overnight, after the company admitted hiding their losses....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Surviving the Chindit war Updated: 2011-11-07 10:55:00 Description: A new book War in the Wilderness: The Chindits in Burma, 1943-1944 tells the remarkable story of the Chindits, an Allied Special Force that suffered heavy losses and faced extreme physical and psychological pressures in Asia during the Second World W...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bankers 'also have moral concerns' Updated: 2011-11-07 10:47:00 Description: A report into the standard of morals and ethics in the financial sector, carried out by St Paul's Cathedral's Institute and due to be published on the day after Canon Giles Fraser resigned, has been delayed because of the protest camp. The former Cha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Greece 'does not belong to the Greek people' Updated: 2011-11-07 10:41:00 Description: John Humphrys has spent the weekend in Athens talking to those paying the price of their government's massive spending spree....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-07 06:26:00 Description: The future of the euro as Greece forms a new governement. And David Cumming, Head of UK Equities at Standard Life Investments, analyses the markets....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Johnny Depp, fame 'doesn't exist without a price' Updated: 2011-11-05 11:13:00 Description: Before the writer Hunter S. Thompson shot himself in 2005, the actor Johnny Depp had promised that he would turn one of his earliest manuscripts, called the Rum Diary, into a film. Sarah Montague went to meet Johnny Depp and asked him how he had come...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Border Agency is allowing anyone to come in' Updated: 2011-11-05 11:07:00 Description: The head of the UK Border Force has been suspended amid accusations of deliberately scaling down some identity checks. Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, explains why he is unhappy with the revelations....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'An awful moment for Greece' Updated: 2011-11-05 11:02:00 Description: After a week of turmoil, John Humphrys has been gauging the mood of the young people in front of the parliament building in Athens....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Osborne, G20 summit is not pre-cooked Updated: 2011-11-04 11:10:00 Description: The G20 summit in Cannes has been overshadowed by turmoil within Greece as it seeks to wrestle with its continuing debt problem. Speaking from the summit, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne outlines his hopes, both for a resolution of the Gre...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Barroso: all problems will be solved Updated: 2011-11-04 11:02:00 Description: After a chaotic day in the Greek parliament, it appears there will not be a referendum on the eurozone bailout package, but that Greek prime minister George Papandreou position is in jeopardy. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso tells T...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'We have to balance being responsible with being competitive' Updated: 2011-11-04 10:50:00 Description: In his first in-depth broadcast interview since taking over Barclays, its chief executive Bob Diamond has admitted that Britain's banks "have to balance being responsible with being competitive"....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-04 06:24:00 Description: Barclays boss Bob Diamond's has defended the banking industry during his speech as guest speaker at yesterday's BBC Today Programme Business Lecture. And Georg Grodski, Head of Credit Research at Legal & General Investment Management, on the markets'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'It's not just Greece. It's a much deeper problem' Updated: 2011-11-03 11:01:00 Description: The French and Germans have told Greece that if they vote no in the referendum they will not get any bailout money and should leave the euro. Harvard economics professor Ken Rogoff analyses what could happen to the eurozone if the referendum goes ahe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Oxford pop - more than just Radiohead Updated: 2011-11-03 10:56:00 Description: A new film - Anyone Can Play Guitar - aims to put Oxford back on the music scene, highlighting the global success of both Radiohead and Supergrass, but also celebrating the influence of many lesser-known bands. Entertainment reporter Colin Paterson h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Family justice, in the slow lane Updated: 2011-11-03 10:50:00 Description: David Norgrove, who has been given the job of reviewing the way family law works in England and Wales, wants to reduce delays in the courts to a legal limit of six months by asking judges to no longer scrutinise detailed plans for children in care, b...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-03 06:25:00 Description: Greece will have to decide whether it wants to stay in the Eurozone when it votes on the bailout deal. And Simon Derrick, Head of Currency Research at BNY Mellon, discusses the US Federal Reserve's intention to keep interest rates at record lows unti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: TV, from 'lookers in' to 3D viewers Updated: 2011-11-02 10:45:00 Description: It is 75 years ago that the BBC first broadcast a continuous high definition television service - the TV we recognise today. John Trenouth, a television historian, and Adrian Mars, a technology journalist and futurologist, discuss the long-term signi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Christopher Jefferies 'disturbed' by press slurs Updated: 2011-11-02 10:34:00 Description: Joanna Yeates' landlord Christopher Jefferies received damages payments from eight newspapers who branded him a "freak" and "a peeping tom" after being arrested by police investigating her murder. Mr Jefferies, who was released without charge, descri...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Finance 'an issue of ethics, morality and God' Updated: 2011-11-02 10:24:00 Description: After days of criticism from the public and the press, St Paul's Cathedral has now made it clear it will not be trying to evict anti-capitalist protesters from its grounds, while acknowledging the protestors demands that "something must be done". The...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-02 06:15:00 Description: Dominic Rossi, global chief investment officer at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, talks about the sharp fall of the financial markets yesterday after news of the potential unravelling of the EU bailout package agreed only last week. And as markets rem...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why do August babies lag behind? Updated: 2011-11-01 10:56:00 Description: Detailed research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that there is a big difference between the paths followed by children born in August and September, such as the likelihood to go to a top university or score lower in the National Achieve...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Large-scale action' needed against cybercrime Updated: 2011-11-01 10:46:00 Description: The government is increasingly worried about cybercrime, with the number of attacks on the rise and companies spending vast amounts trying to protect themselves. Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University and Misha Glenn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Greek poll 'political blackmail' Updated: 2011-11-01 10:37:00 Description: What will the Greek prime minister's plans for a referendum mean for the euro bailout deal agreed last week? Greek MEP Anni Podimata and the Athens Chamber of Commerce's Constantine Michalos debate the country's referendum on the euro debt deal....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-11-01 06:28:00 Description: How much has the UK economy grown over the last three months? And the eurozone debt crisis has claimed its first victim - US broking company MF Global filed for bankruptcy after a large exposure to eurozone debt....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are video games an art form? Updated: 2011-10-31 10:48:00 Description: The organisers of a new competition for games - the Gamecity prize - are calling for video games to be embraced as an art form. Charlie Higson, the writer of the Young James Bond books was on the panel and the writer Ekow Eshun, former director of th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Adoption process 'frustrating' Updated: 2011-10-31 10:40:00 Description: The government wants English councils to do a better job of speeding the process of adoption. Andrew, who has just gone through the process with his wife, explains how difficult it is to adopt a child....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU isolation 'costs jobs, growth and livelihoods' Updated: 2011-10-31 10:32:00 Description: The government needs growth. Its hopes of convincing people of economic recovery, while they are in the throes of deep cuts in public spending, depend on signs of job creation and investment. The deputy prime minister Nick Clegg explains how this sec...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-31 06:35:00 Description: As the president of the European central bank steps down after eight years, did the ECB under his leadership do enough to prevent the crisis happening?...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Camels' milk ice-cream comes to UK Updated: 2011-10-29 10:27:00 Description: This month sees a new ice cream on the shelves made from camels' milk which the producers say has got less fat and more vitamins than normal ice-cream. The BBC's Anna Holligan went to the Netherlands to visit the only commercial camel farm in Europe....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The changing face of the City Updated: 2011-10-29 10:22:00 Description: This week saw the 25th anniversary of the Big Bang in the City of London, a slew of deregulation that set off huge changes and expansion of the City. Evan Davis met up with historian David Kynaston, who has written a history of the city, for a quick ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Jesus would have stood with protesters... and talked to bankers' Updated: 2011-10-29 10:16:00 Description: When faced with anti-capitalist demonstrators, where should the Church of England stand? John Reynolds, who chairs the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group and Professor Marina Warner, cultural historian at the University of East Anglia, discus...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Diary tells of life in 'Dad's Army' Updated: 2011-10-28 09:48:00 Description: A diary kept by Rodney Foster about what it was like to be in the Home Guard in Kent, with entries for every single day of World War II from 1940 onwards, is being published this week. Shaun Sewell, an antique dealer who found the diary and Mr Foster...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'A closed little club' sets executive pay Updated: 2011-10-28 09:41:00 Description: Pay for the directors of the UK's top businesses rose 50% over the past year, Incomes Data Services has claimed. John Purcell, managing director of head-hunters Purcell & Co, and Deborah Hargreaves, chair of the High Pay Commission debate why executi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Sir Martin Sorrell defends top pay Updated: 2011-10-28 09:34:00 Description: A report has found that top executives in the UK are getting paid 49% more than they were last year. Chief executive of WPP, the world's biggest advertising company, Sir Martin Sorrell, saw his pay rise by 70% last year. He explains why he deserv...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-28 05:33:00 Description: Kerry Brown, from the foreign thinktank Chatham House, on Europe asking China for support in the eurozone bailout package. And John Nelson, new head of Lloyds of London, on the strain of natural disasters on the insurance market....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Simon Mann, 'my life as a mercenary' Updated: 2011-10-27 09:55:00 Description: Simon Mann has published Cry Havoc, the story of his life as an international mercenary, written in the style of an adventure thriller. Speaking to James Naughtie, he said he made about £10m from his mercenary activities in Angola, but "however ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Osborne, eurozone leaders must 'maintain momentum' Updated: 2011-10-27 09:42:00 Description: The chancellor, George Osborne, says it is "crucial" that eurozone leaders "maintain the momentum" and avoid delays in implementing the deal agreed at yesterday's EU summit. Mr Osborne told Today presenter Evan Davis that the summit had made "ver...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ken Clarke, sentence change 'not an easy step' Updated: 2011-10-27 09:32:00 Description: The Justice Secretary says he intends to introduce, for the first time, mandatory sentences for some crimes other than murder in England and Wales. Kenneth Clarke explains why he is making the change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-27 05:34:00 Description: Jens Larsen, of RBC Capital Markets and Thomas Heurtas, formerly of the European Banking Authority on the markets' reaction to decisions made in Europe to tackle the eurozone debt crisis. And David Geen, of the General Counsel of the International Sw...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Archer, royal succession rules 'farcical' Updated: 2011-10-26 10:10:00 Description: David Cameron has written to Commonwealth leaders asking for support in changing Royal succession laws, allowing for the first-born child of Prince William and Kate, whether a girl or boy, to be next in line to the throne. Lord Jeffrey Archer and the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Breast screening benefits 'exaggerated' Updated: 2011-10-26 10:03:00 Description: An independent review is to examine the merits of the NHS breast cancer screening programme in England following research which questioned the effectiveness of screening. Professor Sir Mike Richards, the cancer director for England, and Professor Mic...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Lamont, 'Eurozone agreement is crucial' Updated: 2011-10-26 09:55:00 Description: The latest European summit is being billed as the last chance to come up with a solution to the eurozone debt crisis. Business editor Robert Peston and former chancellor Lord Lamont discuss the implications for Britain if an agreement is not found....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack. Updated: 2011-10-26 05:34:00 Description: Shahin Vallee of the European think tank Bruegel Institute on the sticking points of coming up with a solution to the eurozone debt crisis. And Christopher North from Amazon.co.uk on whether the Kindle has caused the company's latest profits to nose ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: World faces 'consumption bomb' Updated: 2011-10-25 09:49:00 Description: The United Nations is reporting that the world's population is due to reach seven billion. The BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports from Ethiopia on the pressures a booming population puts on a country. Fred Pearce, author of the new book Peoplequake, and t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bluebird 'just went too fast' Updated: 2011-10-25 09:34:00 Description: A new book on the crash of the Bluebird in 1966 gives a scientific account of the last water speed record attempt made by British speed record breaker, Donald Campbell, who died in the attempt. His daughter Gina Campbell and the book's author Neil Sh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Melange of reasons' for rebellion Updated: 2011-10-25 09:22:00 Description: Even though an EU referendum was voted down in the House of Commons, 81 Conservative MPs still rebelled against their leader. Education Secretary Michael Gove gives his reaction to the vote....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-25 05:32:00 Description: MF Global's Simon Maughan on the latest results from Swiss banking giant UBS. And the BBC's Chris Morris reports from Athens on some of the solutions under discussion to the Greek government debt....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Saudi custom 'to be modest' Updated: 2011-10-24 11:13:00 Description: In the latest in a series of reports from Saudi Arabia, Edward Stourton examines the importance of privacy and convention in Saudi society and how different things can be behind closed doors....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Emma Thompson Burma 'seems to be opening up' Updated: 2011-10-24 11:01:00 Description: According to the charity ActionAid, Burma may be reaching a tipping point with the release of political prisoners and the easing of censorship. The actress Emma Thompson has just visited Burma as an ambassador for the charity....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'No costless solution' to eurozone crisis Updated: 2011-10-24 10:19:00 Description: EU member states are looking to solve the eurozone crisis using a three-pronged approach to dealing with Greece, the banks, and beefing up the rescue fund. Business editor Robert Peston reports on whether this will be enough and Professor of banking ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Commons EU motion 'Wrong question, wrong time' Updated: 2011-10-24 10:09:00 Description: The House of Commons will be voting on whether to hold a referendum on Britain's future in the EU as tensions flare between European leaders in Brussels. Political editor Nick Robinson reports and Foreign Secretary William Hague explains why he belie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack. Updated: 2011-10-24 05:26:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. After a weekend of discussions on the eurozone, Carsten Brzeski, of ING Belgium analyses the decisions still to be made by European leaders on a solution to the debt crisis. And Marex Spectron's Jamie Stewart on why com...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The arcane power of the haka Updated: 2011-10-22 09:22:00 Description: The BBC's Alastair Eykyn examines the history of the All Blacks' traditional pre-match challenge, the haka....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Obama's 'me time' Updated: 2011-10-22 09:13:00 Description: Mark Mardell analyses how the US decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq has affected the president's re-election bid....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: EU ministers chew over Greek bailout plan Updated: 2011-10-22 08:46:00 Description: German MEP Elmar Brok and HSBC's Steven Major analyse the prospects of agreement on a Greek debt bailout....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Do Saudis want nuclear weapons? Updated: 2011-10-21 10:06:00 Description: This week, the Treasury froze the assets of five men alleged to have been involved in an Iranian plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador in Washington, a case the US has referred to the UN Security Council. Edward Stourton reports from Saudi Arabia on h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Danny Glover - 'History is made by young people' Updated: 2011-10-21 10:02:00 Description: Actor Danny Glover has co-produced a documentary about the black power struggle of the 60s and 70s in the United States. Nicola Stanbridge speaks to him about the parallels he sees with the current protest movement....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Pride' over UK role in Gaddafi's fall Updated: 2011-10-21 09:51:00 Description: Celebrations continued throughout the night in Libya following the death of Colonel Gaddafi. Correspondent Wyre Davies reports from Tripoli. And Defence Secretary Philip Hammond gives his reaction to the death....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-21 05:31:00 Description: The BBC's Nigel Cassidy reports on the news that a second EU summit is to be held as France and Germany announce they need more time to come up with a plan to tackle the crisis in the eurozone. And Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder and chairman of Cobra ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ohio resident: 'They got a taste of human blood' Updated: 2011-10-20 10:44:00 Description: Police in the US state of Ohio have been hunting down dozens of dangerous animals, including lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves and grizzly bears, which went on the run from a local reserve. Fred Polks Snr, a resident of Zanesville Ohio, describes how s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Mitchell: 'Zero tolerance' for aid corruption Updated: 2011-10-20 10:25:00 Description: British aid is feeding more than 2.4 million people in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, according to new government figures. Correspondent Mike Wooldridge reports from Adada in eastern Ethiopia near the border with Somalia where, three months aft...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Tory MP would defy Cameron on EU vote Updated: 2011-10-20 10:14:00 Description: Eurosceptic Conservative backbenchers will face a test of loyalty later this month when the Commons debates whether to stage a referendum on Britain leaving the EU or renegotiating its membership. Political editor Nick Robinson reports on how the pri...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-20 05:37:00 Description: Damian Carolan of the law firm Allen & Overy on new regulations to limit financial speculators. And Maria McCaffery of RenewableUK on the possibility that the UK windpower industry will have its government subsidies cut....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Churchill's dinners Updated: 2011-10-19 09:53:00 Description: Did Winston Churchill's skill as a host ease international relations? Cita Stelzer, author of Dinner with Churchill, and former diplomat and politician George Walden discuss the link between dining and diplomacy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Is £750 too much for egg donors? Updated: 2011-10-19 09:38:00 Description: New rules on compensation for egg donors are expected to be approved today, which will see women donors receive a flat fee of £750 per cycle, an increase of £500. Professor Lisa Jardine of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Dr Dav...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The museum in a book Updated: 2011-10-19 09:33:00 Description: A new book called The Art Museum, published by Phaidon, tries to make a museum from a book. Amit Sood, founder of the Google Arts Project, Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery and Phaidon's Amanda Renshaw at Phaidon, debate if you ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: A home 'is more than just a place to live' Updated: 2011-10-19 09:25:00 Description: Some 25 million bedrooms lie unoccupied in British homes according to a report by the Intergenerational Foundation. It says much of Britain's housing is unused despite a housing shortage affecting primarily the younger generation. Reporter Sancha Ber...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-19 05:32:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack with Lord Wolfson on the best way for a country to leave the euro. And the BBC's Nigel Cassidy reports from Greece where he has been speaking to one factory owner who thinks returning to the Drachma would be a disaster....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Spain's stolen babies Updated: 2011-10-18 10:13:00 Description: People in Spain have been shocked by revelations of mass baby trafficking and the theft of newborn babies over decades, up to the 1990s, involving respected doctors, nuns and priests. Randy Ryder, tells his story about finding out about being adopted...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'We lived the dream that we're equal' Updated: 2011-10-18 10:05:00 Description: The veteran Egyptian feminist and novelist Dr Nawal El-Saadawi was given the Outstanding Achievement award at the Women of the Year lunch on Monday for her life's work as an activist and novelist. Dr El-Saadawi talks about her political activism and ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Both sides await mideast prisoner swap Updated: 2011-10-18 09:56:00 Description: The captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is due to be freed today after five years in captivity, in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. The BBC's middle east correspondent Kevin Connolly reports from Gaza City on...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-18 05:19:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack with a preview of the latest inflation figures with Peter Warburton, director of the consultancy Economic Perspectives. And Ralph Silva, a banking analyst for SRN, on losses and job cuts in Goldman Sachs....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Time tourists Updated: 2011-10-17 10:17:00 Description: he best time and place to be alive is the subject of a discussion in the latest edition of The Economist's quarterly, Intelligent Life. Historians Patrick Dillon and Kate Williams discuss their choices of where and when they would like to live....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are energy price rises inevitable? Updated: 2011-10-17 10:08:00 Description: The government is holding an energy summit with the big six energy companies, consumer groups and the energy regulator Ofgem to discuss high energy bills. Phil Bentley of British Gas and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne debate what can be done to keep th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: BBC reporter under fire in Sirte Updated: 2011-10-17 09:13:00 Description: Gaddafi loyalists are continuing to hold onto power in the centre of the city of Sirte. Wyre Davis reports from the city, coming under fire in a supposedly safe area of the city....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-17 05:29:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack with Ernst and Young's Peter Spencer on why they have cut their outlook for economic growth. And Michael Arghyrou, senior lecturer in economics at Cardiff Business School on Greek debt and how to stop any default spreadi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'The tectonics of globalisation' Updated: 2011-10-15 09:56:00 Description: The American economist Jeffrey Sachs has added his own work to the growing collection of books on the financial crisis. He told Today presenter Evan Davis about "the tectonics of globalisation"....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Fox resignation 'will weaken government' Updated: 2011-10-15 09:48:00 Description: Dr Fox has concluded he couldn't carry on in his cabinet role and handed his resignation to the prime minister yesterday. Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough and supporter of Dr Fox, gives his views on the defence secretary's resignation....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Ofsted head to tackle coasting and incompetent teachers Updated: 2011-10-15 09:40:00 Description: The government has chosen Sir Michael Wilshaw to be the next chief inspector of schools. He outlines how he will tackle the new role heading up Ofsted....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Can Mrs Beeton be beaten? Updated: 2011-10-14 10:37:00 Description: This week marks the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Mrs Beeton's classic How to Cook. Chef and food writer Gerard Baker, who has updated Mrs Beeton's recipe in his new book, and chef Clarissa Dickson Wright discuss how important Mrs Bee...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: New PCC head promises 'renewal' Updated: 2011-10-14 10:26:00 Description: Tory peer and former cabinet minister Lord Hunt has been appointed as the new head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), succeeding Peta Buscombe who resigned following the phone hacking scandal. Lord Hunt outlines where he plans to take the PCC....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Why are the elderly being failed? Updated: 2011-10-14 07:17:00 Description: Following on from the Care Quality Commission's damning report on NHS elderly care, many listeners contacted the Today programme to share their own experiences. Dame Joan Bakewell, former government champion for the elderly, and Dr Raymond Tallis, ph...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-14 05:27:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. Our Europe correspondent Nigel Cassidy reports from Paris on the downgrading of Spain's credit rating cut ahead of G20 finance ministers meeting. And the co-founder of Rachel's Organics, Rachel Rowlands talks about the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Private rents 'becoming unaffordable' Updated: 2011-10-13 11:15:00 Description: According to a report by the housing charity Shelter, it is becoming almost impossible for ordinary working families to afford private rents in England. Andrew Hosken reports....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Architecture 'not just for super-rich' Updated: 2011-10-13 11:03:00 Description: A major exhibition has opened at the Barbican Art Gallery of the work of OMA - described as "one of the most influential architectural practices working today". The Dutch architect behind it, Rem Koolhaas, reflects on how bespoke architecture should ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Care should not be a lottery' Updated: 2011-10-13 10:49:00 Description: A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on the treatment of elderly patients in NHS hospitals in England has found that half of the 100 hospitals inspected gave cause for concern and 20 were in breach of the law. Director of Operations Delivery at the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-13 05:30:00 Description: Cass Business School's, Peter Hahn and Michael Thompson of Standard and Poor's discuss the future of Europe's banks. And the BBC's Nick Servini reports from a new Airbus factory opening in North Wales....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Man Booker shortlist: Julian Barnes Updated: 2011-10-12 10:07:00 Description: The winner of the Man Booker Prize is announced next week. In the run up to the award, the Today programme will be hearing from the six shortlisted authors about their books. First up, arts correspondent Rebecca Jones talks to Julian Barnes about bei...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: US/Iran relations 'could blow up' Updated: 2011-10-12 10:00:00 Description: US authorities say they have charged two men over a plot, linked to Iran, to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to Washington - Iran has denied the accusation. Historian Robert Lacey and Raymond Tanter, who was on the US National Security Council staff...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Traditional female jobs 'have folded in last 25 years' Updated: 2011-10-12 09:51:00 Description: The latest unemployment figures show more than a million women who wanted to work could not find a job. Tracey Copeland, a single mother of three children, outlines the difficulties she faces in finding work. Bristol University's Professor Harriet Br...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-12 05:37:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. The Slovakian parliament has rejected a plan to expand and strengthen the Eurozone bailout fund - Richard Sulik, leader of the party which refused to back expansion and Chris Wheeler, banking analyst at Mediobanca, disc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The songs Sandy never sang Updated: 2011-10-11 10:32:00 Description: Sandy Denny was one of the most famous folk singers of the 1970s, after finding fame with Fairport Convention, but died tragically in 1978. Now, the lyrics she wrote in her bleak final months have been turned into songs by singer Thea Gilmore. Davi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Olympic stadium move 'bold' Updated: 2011-10-11 10:20:00 Description: The deal to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games has collapsed, the BBC has learned. The board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has ended negotiations amid concerns over delays caused by the ongoing legal dispute w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Britain's income squeeze Updated: 2011-10-11 10:07:00 Description: Middle-income families are set to see the biggest fall in their living standards since the 1970s, according to a new report. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the stagnating economy will also push a further 600,000 children into poverty. Dav...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-11 05:59:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack, discussing whether Slovakia will hold up the eurozone bail-out, investor John Paulson's bad run, and the unexplained glitch that cut-off internet and messaging services for large numbers of Blackberry users....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hollingworth 'a wonderful old girl' Updated: 2011-10-10 10:42:00 Description: Clare Hollingworth, the first correspondent to report the outbreak of World War II, is 100 today. In an archive interview she explains how the event unfolded, and world affairs editor John Simpson celebrates her life and work....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Are UK manners improving? Updated: 2011-10-10 10:36:00 Description: A new report counters the claim that Britain has lost its good manners, saying on some standards behaviour is better than it was a generation ago. Home editor Mark Easton looks at the results, and Simon Tucker, chief executive of the Young Foundation...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Smear and innuendo' against Fox Updated: 2011-10-10 10:26:00 Description: Dr Liam Fox's fate will be decided later when David Cameron is handed a report into his dealings with a close friend and whether or not he since lied about it. Political editor Nick Robinson and Conservative MP Greg Hands examine the defence secretar...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Simon Jack Updated: 2011-10-10 05:42:00 Description: Business news with Simon Jack. Marie Diron, senior economic advisor to the Ernst and Young Eurozone forecast is in as the Prime Minister calls for a "big bazooka" approach to resolving the eurozone debt crisis, the markets guest is Richard Hunter, he...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: George Baker 'loved his work' Updated: 2011-10-08 10:20:00 Description: George Baker, who starred as Chief Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, has died aged 80. His daughter Ellie Baker looks back at his life....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Cuts concerns 'much higher in north' Updated: 2011-10-08 10:14:00 Description: The governor of the Bank of England has said the economic problems could be the worst ever, but what do the public think? Luke Walton went to a high street on Teesside to test the mood of traders and shoppers, and Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos Mori, reflect...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Fox's 'self-inflicted political crisis' Updated: 2011-10-08 10:06:00 Description: Defence Secretary Liam Fox has arrived in Libya amid many questions about his best man and former flatmate Adam Werrity. Dr Fox withdrew from planned interviews today. Robin Brant is our political correspondent, and Jim Murphy, the shadow defence sec...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: NHS reinvestment 'an illusion' Updated: 2011-10-07 10:39:00 Description: Health service managers say the government is not being straight with the public about the financial constraints the NHS has to face, and that decisions being made to save money are in some cases dangerous for the care that patients need. Health corr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Novelist Coe's melodic play on words Updated: 2011-10-07 09:55:00 Description: The novelist Jonathan Coe has written a play set to song in a bid to find a way of combining words and music. Listen to Jonathan Coe and two of his performers, actor Henry Goodman and Marcus Holdaway from the band the High Llamas, perform an extended...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Credible fiscal plan' behind QE Updated: 2011-10-07 07:02:00 Description: The governor of the Bank of England has agreed that a further £75bn is to be pumped into the economy through quantitative easing (QE), following Chancellor George Osborne's announcement that credit easing could also be implemented by the Treasury to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-10-07 05:29:00 Description: The European Central Bank kept rates on hold at 1.5%, also pledging to offer unlimited liquidity to banks with cashflow problems and buy up to 40 billion euros of covered bonds. Peter Thal Larsen of Reuters Breakingviews considers the role of central...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Should 'brutalist' bus station stay or go? Updated: 2011-10-06 11:01:00 Description: Preston Bus Station, once the largest bus station in the world, it is slated for demolition as part of a redevelopment scheme despite being on the list of endangered cultural sites by the 2012 World Monuments Watch. Erica Avrami, director of Worl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hype 'part of Jobs's genius' Updated: 2011-10-06 10:56:00 Description: Steve Jobs became one of the best-known names in American business, famous for such products as the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. In the wake of his death, editor of Wired magazine David Rowan and cultural historian Bryan Appleyard of The Sunday Tim...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Darling's doubts about new QE Updated: 2011-10-06 10:42:00 Description: 0810 For the first time in months, there is genuine suspense today, over the regular decision of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee on whether to implement more quantitative easing: the policy of creating and spending money to stimulat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Dominic Laurie. Updated: 2011-10-06 05:35:00 Description: Chief economist at the british venture capital association Colin Ellis previews the latest decision on interest rates from the Bank of England and CEO of Vocalink, Marion King talks about why there's been a slowdown in take home pay....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: WWII book 'a history for 21st century' Updated: 2011-10-05 10:23:00 Description: Sir Max Hastings' new book on the Second World War, All Hell Let Loose, makes use in part of personal testimony from veterans of the War. Sir Max and Colonel John Llewellyn Waddy, who fought in the war, examine whether our link to that conflict will ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: PM 'is catching up with events' Updated: 2011-10-05 10:16:00 Description: The prime minister is to tell his party conference today that the only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. His speech comes on the day that two of our biggest retail groups, Tesco and Sainsburys, announce their latest results. Sainsb...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Hague - EU treaty talks 'years away' Updated: 2011-10-05 10:05:00 Description: Despite Europe being a divisive issue for the Conservative Party, behind the scenes at Whitehall, work is going on to discuss possible scenarios if and when eurozone countries are forced into closer fiscal union. William Hague discusses the options....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen. Updated: 2011-10-05 05:39:00 Description: Attempts to stem the eurozone crisis have been rocking the world's financial markets again. Andrew Bell, chief executive of Witan Investment Trust examines the implications of this. And the BBC's Nigel Cassidy looks at why austerity measures in Greec...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Italian courts 'slow but fair' Updated: 2011-10-04 09:26:00 Description: Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito have walked free after being cleared for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy. Alessandro Canali, a lawyer in Rome, gives his reaction....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Harris - Computers rule finance markets Updated: 2011-10-04 09:20:00 Description: The real threat to the world's financial system is fear and the people who trade in it according to a new book. Author of The Fear Index, Robert Harris, and former derivatives trader and author Mike O'Hara discuss if the financial crisis has slipped ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'An economy that works for everybody' Updated: 2011-10-04 09:11:00 Description: The prime minister said at the Conservative Party Conference that "we have got to explain to people that there is something better at the end of this." David Cameron explains his vision....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-10-04 05:43:00 Description: George Osborne is off to Europe to oppose new financial regulation he fears might stall growth in the UK. Sharon Bowles of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee looks at his proposals. And File on 4 reporter Gerry Northam ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'For a child, war is like watching TV' Updated: 2011-10-03 11:13:00 Description: Controversial French author Tomi Ungerer and children's writer Judith Kerr will speak at the Children's Book Show in London this evening. They discuss how their experiences of the Second World War influenced their writing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Nato - 'Very little we can do in Sirte' Updated: 2011-10-03 10:56:00 Description: Supporters of Colonel Gaddafi are still fighting to keep control of his home town of Sirte in Libya. The UN's Baroness Amos describes conditions for residents trying to escape the city and Nato spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie explains the alliance's ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Osborne: UK has got to pay its way Updated: 2011-10-03 10:40:00 Description: On the first full day of the Conservative Party Conference, the chancellor will lay out his plans for growth in the UK. George Osborne outlines his strategy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Lesley Curwen Updated: 2011-10-03 05:43:00 Description: The Institute of Directors is pressing the government to adopt new measures to get growth going. The IOD's new director general Simon Walker discusses their concerns. And Toby Croasdell of Barclays Capital talks about bonds in the retail market....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Avoiding linguistic extinction Updated: 2011-10-01 11:53:00 Description: It is estimated that world languages are dying out at the rate of one every fortnight. This statistic has prompted a small group of linguists in New York to form the Endangered Language Alliance. Our reporter Matt Wells visited them at their field st...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'No NHS mechanism for change' Updated: 2011-10-01 11:37:00 Description: The Royal College of Surgeons have issued a report revealing more than 50% of patients suffer complications after having abdominal surgery. Sir Gerry Robinson is the businessman who presented the TV series called Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?, and ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Dizaei: I will clear my name Updated: 2011-10-01 11:18:00 Description: Ali Dizaei joined Scotland Yard the same year that the force was condemned as being institutionally racist. He rose to power quickly, but was accused of serious offences which he was then cleared for. Mr Dizaei wants his job back, but the Met refuse ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'The Iliad isn't Barbara Cartland' Updated: 2011-09-30 08:54:00 Description: An American classics professor, Madeline Miller, has written a modern prose novel that takes elements of the The Iliad for its plot. Professor Miller and Dr Peter Jones, co-founder of the charity Friends of the Classics, discuss whether it will encou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Bahraini doctor 'tortured and threatened with rape' Updated: 2011-09-30 08:47:00 Description: A military court in Bahrain has sentenced a group of 20 medical staff who treated anti-government demonstrators earlier this year to up to 15 years in prison. One of the doctors, Nada Dhaif, shares her story....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Councils have choice' over weekly bin collections Updated: 2011-09-30 08:41:00 Description: Weekly bin collections may return to England, after the government announced it was establishing a £250m fund to help councils make the switch. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles explains the plans....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Dominic Laurie Updated: 2011-09-30 05:32:00 Description: Business news with Dominic Laurie. Plans for a Europe-wide financial transaction tax have received a mixed reaction across the continent. Emeritus professor of economics at the University of Frankfurt Professor Wilhelm Hankel explains why so many Ger...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'This is just a warm spell, not an indian summer ' Updated: 2011-09-29 08:44:00 Description: This week an Indian summer has come to the UK, with temperatures soaring. Antony Woodward, author of a book about our weather obsessions called The Wrong Kind of Snow, and BBC weatherman Liam Dutton welcome the unexpected heatwave....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Larry Summers on Europe's debt crisis Updated: 2011-09-29 08:36:00 Description: The German parliament votes today on whether to ratify or block efforts to send more money to Greece via the European Financial Stability Fund. Larry Summers, a senior economic adviser to Barack Obama, gives an outsider's perspective on Europe's woes...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: NHS surgery patients 'at risk' Updated: 2011-09-29 08:24:00 Description: The NHS must address the significant variations in care experienced by the 170,000 patients who have major emergency abdominal surgery each year, according to a new report. Jo Webber, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, and Dr Tony Do...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Dominic Laurie Updated: 2011-09-29 05:34:00 Description: The German parliament votes later this morning on plans to expand the powers of the eurozone bailout fund. Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, and Sony Kapoor, managing director of the international think tank Re-Define, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Children 'have a better life' in countryside Updated: 2011-09-28 08:53:00 Description: Is it better to raise children in the city or countryside? Author John O'Farrell and designer Pearl Lowe debate the virtues of urban and rural upbringings....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'Predators v producers too simplistic' Updated: 2011-09-28 08:46:00 Description: Ed Miliband told the Labour Party Conference yesterday that he was pro-business, but made a distinction between good and bad businesses as "producers" and "predators". The General Secretary of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, voices his support for Mr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Miliband: I'm not anti-business Updated: 2011-09-28 08:36:00 Description: In his speech to the Labour Party Conference, Ed Miliband spoke of striking a new bargain between government and people. He explains his comments on business and defends himself against jibes that he is "weird"....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Business news with Adam Shaw Updated: 2011-09-28 05:21:00 Description: Business news with Adam Shaw. Inspectors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will be back in Athens today after pulling out of discussions earlier this month. Constantine Michalos, chairman of t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: 'The healing power of lust' Updated: 2011-09-27 08:54:00 Description: This autumn BBC2 is launching a mixed race season, which will explain why many more people in our society in the future will be of mixed racial background. The geneticist Steve Jones and author Katharine Birbalsingh, who is of Indian and Afro-Caribbe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: The self-sacrifice of sport Updated: 2011-09-27 08:49:00 Description: Mark Cavendish became the world champion road racing cyclist at the weekend, although his individual success was largely due to a team effort. Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman and former cricketer Ed Smith discuss the place of altruism in profes...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Today: Cancer drugs costs 'not tenable' Updated: 2011-09-27 08:38:00 Description: How much should the state spend to prolong someone's life by a few months? Dr Karol Sikora, one of the one contributing authors to the Lancet Oncology Commission report, and Prof Peter Johnson of Cancer UK, debate whether the UK is over-spending on c...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD | ||||
