Podcasts about petroc trelawny

Petroc Trelawny is best known for being the host of BBC Radio 3's Breakfast show for 14 years from 1998. In April 2025, he transitioned to co-host “In Tune” alongside Katie Derham, succeeding Sean Rafferty. In 1992, Petroc joined Classic FM as its inaugural afternoon show host, later moving to London News Radio and co-presenting BBC GMR's Breakfast Show. Petroc has introduced numerous broadcasts for Radio 3, including the BBC Proms, Cardiff Singer of the World, and the Leeds International Piano Competition. His television appearances span BBC Two, BBC Four, and Sky Arts. In 2018, he co-hosted the Eurovision Young Musicians final, and in 2019, the Eurovision Choir of the YearPetroc Trelawny is our guest in episode 498 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .Follow Petroc Trelawny on Twitter/X: @PetrocTrelawnyFollow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter/X & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter/X: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: Petroc Trelawny reads his diary for the week (1:14); Gareth Roberts wants us to make book jackets nasty again (6:22); Tom Lee writes in defence of benzodiazepines (13:44); Leyla Sanai reflects on unethical practices within psychiatry, as she reviews Jon Stock's The Sleep Room (19:41); and, Iram Ramzan provides her notes on cousin marriages (24:30).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: Petroc Trelawny reads his diary for the week (1:14); Gareth Roberts wants us to make book jackets nasty again (6:22); Tom Lee writes in defence of benzodiazepines (13:44); Leyla Sanai reflects on unethical practices within psychiatry, as she reviews Jon Stock's The Sleep Room (19:41); and, Iram Ramzan provides her notes on cousin marriages (24:30).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Suzie and Tim discuss books for Christmas and there are interviews with Tom Parker-Bowles, author of Cooking and the Crown and Petroc Trelawny, Radio 3 presenter and author of Trelawny's Cornwall, a Journey through Western LandsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest on this episode of More Rosebud is Petroc Trelawney, the broadcaster and writer who is best known as a presenter on BBC Radio 3. Petroc is also an author who is talking to Gyles about his new book 'Trelawney's Cornwall' and about his childhood, growing up on the remote Lizard peninsula. This a moving and open interview, in which Petroc talks about the death of his mother from cancer when he was 12, about the way life in his family of boys changed after that, about the difficulties of coming of age as a gay man in the 80s, about being arrested in Zimbabwe, and about how to cheat in piano lessons. 'Trelawney's Cornwall: A Journey Through Western Lands' by Petroc Trelawny is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and is out now. Thank you to Petroc for such a wonderful conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on this episode of More Rosebud is Petroc Trelawney, the broadcaster and writer who is best known as a presenter on BBC Radio 3. Petroc is also an author who is talking to Gyles about his new book 'Trelawney's Cornwall' and about his childhood, growing up on the remote Lizard peninsula. This a moving and open interview, in which Petroc talks about the death of his mother from cancer when he was 12, about the way life in his family of boys changed after that, about the difficulties of coming of age as a gay man in the 80s, about being arrested in Zimbabwe, and about how to cheat in piano lessons. 'Trelawney's Cornwall: A Journey Through Western Lands' by Petroc Trelawny is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and is out now. Thank you to Petroc for such a wonderful conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Journeys of Discovery, Michael Hayman sits down with Petroc Trelawny, classical music broadcaster, and the voice behind BBC Radio 3's Breakfast programme.  Petroc reflects on the influence of music and music performance, classical and otherwise, on identity and emotions, and discusses his new book, Trelawny's Cornwall, a part history, part memoir, which explores the past, present and future of the region.

Andrea Catherwood brings listeners questions to the broadcaster and journalist Darryl Morris and Executive Producer Jo Meek - makers of Radio 4's documentary God Next Door. Darryl has spent a considerable amount of time talking to James from Manchester, a landscape Gardner who believes himself to be God and has a number of followers in the local community who share his belief. There's been a sensational cycle of breaking stories in the U.S. presidential campaign during the month of July. Many Feedback listeners have been concerned that this has dominated much of our news. Andrea puts these points to Justin Webb - Today presenter, co-host of Americast and Former North America Editor. Imagine taking a week long Summer break, discovering new places, experiencing a wide range of culture and music with moving from your radio. The Feedback inbox has been overflowing with praise for Petroc Trelawny's Breakfast Road Trip to the North East of England which was broadcast live every morning last week. Taking a break from preparations for the The Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, Petroc came on Feedback to give some insight into how a week out and about works. Presented by Andrea Catherwood Produced by Pauline Moore A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

This Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast episode features Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu who, on the 16th August releases her recording of Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor (pared the Grieg Piano Concerto). She's also playing a major role in the Leeds International Piano Competition later this year giving the first Alexandra Dariescu Award for the outstanding performance of music by a female composer - Clara Schumann's concerto is one of the concerto that finalists can select for the Concerto Final. The Leeds gets underway on 11 September, with the Finals staged on 20 and 21 September. Alexandra joins Petroc Trelawny presenting the Leeds on Medici TV.

- Pomysł BBC Proms sięga aż roku 1895, jesteśmy częścią naprawdę wiekowej tradycji, która ma już ponad 125 lat. Pierwsza noc Festiwalu BBC Proms jest transmitowana nie tylko w Polsce, ale także na terenie całej Wielkiej Brytanii, na Łotwie, na Litwie, w Portugalii, we Włoszech i jeszcze przynajmniej kilku innych krajach. Wszystko oczywiście dzięki zrzeszeniu w Europejskiej Unii Nadawców - mówił w Dwójce Petroc Trelawny, dziennikarz radia BBC 3.

Updates on the weekend's culture news and current affairs with Emma Nelson. British classical-music radio and television broadcaster Petroc Trelawny reviews the papers, French journalist Agnès Poirier discusses France's debt and Monocle's Monica Lillis speaks with author Beth Lewis about cults.

For the BBC's live television broadcast of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May 2023, for the first time for a state occasion there was live descriptive commentary via the red button and through the BBC iPlayer for blind and partially sighted people  RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey recently caught up with two of the people behind the BBC's live descriptive commentary, former Army Colonel Lincoln Jopp MC and BBC Radio 3 Breakfast presenter Petroc Trelawny. Toby began by asking both Lincoln and Petroc about how they were initially approached by the BBC to work on the live descriptive commentary for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. To then finding out how they prepared for the day itself, working on their descriptive scripts, the great help and support that they received from the RNIB, RedBee Media who produce audio description for a range of broadcasters along with the personal insight about descriptive commentary that Lincoln received from two blind and partially sighted friends. To find out more about audio description for BBC television programmes do visit the following link to the BBC website- https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/everything-else/audio-description  Image shows the British Flag. In a white circle in the middle it reads: 'The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III & Her Majesty The Queen Consort', an image of a crown is placed underneath the text with '6-8 May 2023' written below the crown. In the bottom left corner is the RNIB logo. RNIB in capital black letters, underlined with a pink bold line and 'See differently' written beneath it.

Georgina Godwin and broadcaster Petroc Trelawny review the day's papers, Andrew Mueller offers a wistful take on the past seven days and Monocle's editor-in-chief, Andrew Tuck, eases us into the weekend.

Paula Downes reads her Grandfather and Andrew Downes' father Frank's book, Around the Horn, which tells the story of the Classical Music Industry from the point of view of a professional Horn player. Born 1921, died 2005, his fascinating orchestral career spanned the demise of the silent cinema, municipal seaside orchestras, the RAF Central band during World War II, orchestral playing in pre and post-war Britain, and the rise towards a Royal title for the Birmingham Conservatoire. Chapter 17 covers the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, with Andrew Downes watching in his highchair; Frank's first TV broadcasts; a mishap with his horn pull-through; Sir John Reith and Sir John Manduel. Paula has chosen to end this episode with the Prelude from Andrew Downes' Five Dramatic Pieces for Eight Wager Tubas, from the CD, "Andrew Downes: Works for Horns and Wagner Tubas", dedicated to te memory of Frank Downes. This work was described as "Gorgeous writing" by Petroc Trelawny on BBC Radio 3 in 2014: https://www.andrewdownes.com/Instrumental-Ensemble.html#Wagner
 The image of the Queen is a photograph of a Candy Box at about the time of the Queen's Coronation in 1953 by Ross Dunn.

Monocle's Georgina Godwin and the broadcaster Petroc Trelawny review the day's papers. Plus: we explore the news cycle's quirkier stories.

The broadcaster Petroc Trelawny, host of the Radio 3 Breakfast show, and the crime writer Stuart MacBride, author of the bestselling Logan McRae and Ash Henderson crime thrillers, talk to Harriett Gilbert about books they love. Petroc's choice is dystopian J. B. Ballard novel The Drought, Stuart's is the Hollywood memoir by David Niven, The Moon's A Balloon, and Harriett's is Borges and Me by Jay Parini. Produced by Eliza Lomas. Comment on instagram at @agoodreadbbc

Colombo-born George Alagiah is familiar to millions as a BBC journalist and newscaster and, more recently, as a figurehead for cancer patients and campaigner for improved cancer screening. He is the author of two memoirs charting his family story and the process of becoming an Englishman: A Passage to Africa and A Home from Home: from Immigrant Boy to English Man but has now turned novelist with his well-received thriller of murky dealings in post-apartheid South Africa, The Burning Land. George was in conversation with a fellow star of the BBC, Petroc Trelawny, at North Cornwall Book Festival 2021.

Two lively meditations on our relationship with the sea and shoreline which are also memoirs. As part of her postgraduate cultural anthropology masters, Lamorna Ash elected to return to her mother's Cornish roots to embed herself in Newlyn's fishing community. There she experienced first-hand the brutal lessons of life at sea and came to appreciate both the challenges facing an industry in peril and the privileges she had taken for granted. The result, Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town has struck a chord with a forcibly isolated public and been Radio 4's Book of the Week. Cornwall-based Lisa Woollett's Rag and Bone celebrates the environmentally friendly pleasures of picking over what the waters throw up, from mudlarking on the Thames to beachcombing in the far west, while charting her family's association with recycling what others throw out. The BBC's Petroc Trelawny interviewed Lamorna and Lisa at North Cornwall Book Festival 2021.

Presenter of "Breakfast" on BBC Radio 3 Petroc Trelawny talks about his week of live shows following a Yorkshire river from source to sea. Petroc reveals how the show will blend the evocative sounds of nature with chosen pieces of classical music including local composers and performers. In this podcast, Petroc also shares his favourite pieces of music – and those works that best evoke the British countryside. A Yorkshire River Journey runs from 12-16y from 6.30-9am. And you can catch up on BBC Sounds. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason in conversation with award winning broadcaster Josie D’Arby. This 5x15 event features a live performance by the Kanneh-Mason family – ‘Britain’s most musical family.’ (The Times) This very special evening will celebrate the launch of Kadie Kanneh-Mason’s new book House of Music - a moving and inspirational account of determination, music and love. It is a story about race, immigration and education. It is the story of a mother and her family. And it is the story of her children, seven phenomenally talented musicians. Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason is a former lecturer at Birmingham University and the mother of seven children. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, her third eldest was the first black musician to win BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016 and performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Three of his siblings are also former BBC Young Musician category finalists and the eldest, pianist Isata, has also presented for the Proms. Collectively, the Kanneh-Masons have performed at the 2018 BAFTA Ceremony and concert halls across the world, not to mention the hugely popular live performances from their family home in Nottingham during lockdown, as captured in the BBC’s recent Imagine documentary. Josie D'Arby was born and raised in South Wales and has worked in television since the age of 14.  As an RTS award winning broadcaster, Josie has presented for all the major UK networks on programmes related to music, art, entertainment and human interest, broadcasts ranging from Top of the Pops to BBC Radio Four documentaries. She is a regular presenter of BBC Arts programmes including BBC Young Musician ( with Clemency Burton Hill) , BBC Choir of the Year (with Gareth Malone ), BBC Cardiff Singer of the world (with Petroc Trelawny) and of course the BBC Proms. 5x15 brings together outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. There are only two rules - no scripts and only 15 minutes each. This talk was recorded at an online 5x15 event in Sept 2020. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

From the Producer's Office is a series of informal podcasts with Opera Holland Park’s Director of Opera, James Clutton. In conversation with creatives and collaborators across the industry, we explore the process of putting opera on stage, and how the artists involved approach their craft. In our latest episode James joins host of BBC Radio 3 Breakfast, Petroc Trelawny, to discuss his journey in classical music and career in broadcasting. In a wide-ranging conversation, they reflect on both the challenges and opportunities faced by the classical music industry in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Music Matters speaks to Mark Pemberton, Director of the Association of British Orchestras, about the impact of Covid-19 on the financial stability of British orchestras and the livelihoods of the musicians who work for them. And we hear from conductor Jessica Cottis who reflects on the digital responses to the pandemic from across the musical world. Tom Service speaks to the French pianist François-Frédéric Guy about life during lockdown, and his recording project with the Sinfonia Varsovia featuring all of Beethoven’s piano concerti. And on the sad news of the death of the Polish composer and conductor, Krzysztof Penderecki, we hear Petroc Trelawny’s interview for Music Matters in 2009, and Lady Camilla Panufnik shares some of her more recent memories about the composer. Finally, we dive into the Music Matters archives for another chance to hear Tom’s encounter with one of music’s most inspiring figures: the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

An unmissable conversation with Barbara Hosking and Petroc Trelawny. Hear how Barbara's extraordinary life has shaped the political landscape, the realities of being an ambitious young woman in the 1950s, how she came to terms with her sexuality and much more as they discuss her autobiography Exceeding My Brief: Memoirs of a Disobedient Civil Servant. Oct 13 2019

BBC Radio 3 Breakfast show presenter Petroc Trelawny discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Miklos Banffy's Transylvanian Trilogy https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/aug/05/writing-wall-miklos-banffy-summer-readings Call My Agent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_My_Agent! Hungarian wine https://winefolly.com/review/hungarian-wines-for-the-win/ Limerick https://www.limerick.ie/limerick-insider/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-limerick Lennox Berkeley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW_PDF5K4Fc The Railway Dining Car https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/journey-information/on-board/pullman-dining

Bestselling writer John Boyne discusses his latest book for adults, A Ladder to the Sky, with broadcaster Petroc Trelawney. Oct 12th 2019. The audio quality of this recording is higher after the first few minutes.

Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny celebrates a composer whose fascinating life story and music are particularly special to him: the Englishman Lennox Berkeley.

David, Petroc & Jess chat BBC Proms & Andy discusses the Manchester Distractions Summit.

Immerse yourself in this river setting with Petroc Trelawny - with sounds of the Severn recorded along, and within, the flowing water.

Joining Tom Jackson to discuss the postcards from their pasts are broadcaster PETROC TRELAWNY (BBC Radio 3 Breakfast, Leeds International Piano Competition Live) and music writer RICHARD KING (How Soon Is Now?, Original Rockers). In this musically-tinged episode we explore the demise of the non-conformist chapel in the Cornish landscape, pore over a personal postcard sent by John Peel, and hear about a strange family coincidence in a church in Alexandria. Don't drink the salt water. Wish you were here? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country. Petroc Trelawny celebrates the glittering world of Dingles, a Plymouth department store which weathered two firestorms and introduced him to glamour, magic and red gingham - but tellingly has now been humbled by the mundane; Alison Holt reflects on a thought-provoking conversation with an older woman in a Dorset care home about the growing financial pressures she and the home itself are facing, while Gareth Jones ponders the links between the NHS and the town of Tredegar - whose MP set up the service 70 years ago but who today might wonder at what he found there; Charmaine Cozier dons her best I-don't-care-look and reveals the pleasures of going to gigs alone; and Andrew Green, who is himself a villager in the Chilterns, wonders what the often tense relations between weekend cyclists and locals on country lanes tell us about life today on the open road. Producer: Simon Coates

Has BBC News over-reported allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party? Also, Roger Bolton has breakfast with Petroc Trelawny, Home Front's editor discusses the end of the series, listeners weigh in on Soul Music, and Michael Sandel discusses The Public Philosopher. Listeners have been speaking to Feedback about the BBC's coverage of Jeremy Corbyn's recent attendance at a controversial seder dinner, which reignited the ongoing row over claims of anti-Semitism in his party. Some cite this as evidence that the BBC is anti-Corbyn. Meanwhile, Feedback listeners have been singing the praises of Michael Sandel's The Public Philosopher, praising in particular an edition where he led a debate on the question of Citizens of Nowhere. Michael Sandel joins Roger from Harvard to talk about how the programme aims to bring a more measured and philosophical lens to urgent politicial questions, such as those about Brexit. When it wraps up in November this year, the drama Home Front will have run for nigh on 600 episodes. Editor Jessica Dromgoole explains what its like to reach the final leg of what has been an extremely ambitious journey, and historical adviser Professor Maggie Andrews discusses how the series attempts to recreate the feel of First World War Britain. And some listeners have been in touch with Feedback to say that they've been fleeing the Today programme for the soothing tones of Petroc Trelawny on Radio 3. Fresh from his breakfast show, Petroc joins Roger for a cup of coffee to elucidate how he stays so calm so early in the morning. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Will Yates Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Lost confidence, fake seeds, masked assignations, steaming glory and animal insights. Humphrey Hawksley is in a fishing village in the Philippines, hard hit by China's expanding maritime claims. Adam Shaw is in rural Kenya where a precarious existence for farmers is made even worse by crooks selling counterfeit seeds. In Venice, it's a time to dress up in your feathers and mantillas and, of course, masks - to look your very Carnivale best - but not if you're a local. Petroc Trelawny takes the slow train through Germany's Harz mountains, once the frontline between east and west. And Andrew Harding has travelled far and wide as a correspondent, experiencing the excitement, the tension, and the vets.

Marguerite is a satirical comedy set in 1921 France, about a tone-deaf would-be opera diva who thinks she can sing. Music broadcaster Petroc Trelawny reviews.Antonio Pappano discusses conducting Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov for the first time, in a new production at the Royal Opera House with Bryn Terfel as the troubled Russian Tsar.The death of Anita Brookner has been announced. Front Row pays tribute to the Booker Prize winning novelist who was best known for exploring themes of social isolation through her female protagonists.The first major retrospective of the American artist and photographer Paul Strand (1890-1976) in the UK for over 40 years opens at the V&A in London this week. Photographer Eamonn McCabe, The Guardian's former picture editor, gives his response to Paul Strand: Photography and Film for the 20th Century, which charts Strand's 60-year career and includes his abstract and documentary photography.Presenter : Kirsty Lang Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Your window on the wider world. The Iraqi forces claimed victory over IS fighters when they swept into the city of Ramadi - but the place has been devastated, it will be months before residents can return to their homes. Thomas Fessy, who's been there, explains why this is being viewed as a significant achievement by the Iraqi security forces. On the Greek island of Lesbos, bad weather has slowed the tide of human migrants sweeping into the EU but Paul Adams says the new year will see European leaders trying again to come up with a coherent response to what's been one of the great human migrations of recent times. The new Argentine president is trying to breathe life into the country's moribund economy -- in Buenos Aires, as Petroc Trelawny's been finding out, some dare to dream this could bring the glamour back to the once-smart shopping streets of the capital. We're amazed to learn from Carolyn Browne in Brittany that it's possible to drive a car quite legally on the roads of France -- even if you've lost your driving licence after being convicted of drink/driving! And Kota Bharu in Malaysia is a city which few westerners get to - but Gareth Armstrong was a recent visitor and talks to us about a harmonious place where people of different faiths live happily side by side. He points out though that it pays to carry an umbrella there!

Seasonal stories and festive fables: Mike Wendling strongly disagrees with the thought that New York City is the world's most magical place at this festive time of year; why Yolande Knell in Bethlehem is looking forward to two MORE Christmases in the coming weeks; Nick Thorpe meets a Gypsy 'Santa Claus' on an allotment in southern Hungary; Petroc Trelawny on how the glittering New Years's Day ball in Vienna has its roots in a dark era of Austrian history and in Paris, Joanna Robertson tracks down a seasonal delicacy which, while delicious, carries the unmistakeable whiff of ... gunpowder!

In the final programme in the series Petroc Trelawny measures the impact and effectiveness of education in sustaining and nurturing the massive growth in Western Classical music.

The second programme in Petroc Trelawny's series looking at the new Global passion for classical music. In programme one his attention was on the dramatic new concert hall's, opera houses and cultural centres which make such a bold and apparently determined statement of intention about the art form. In this programme the focus switches to a new world of performers.

Petroc Trelawny presents a three part Sunday Feature series looking at the way Western Classical Music is flourishing in often surprising new territories. In the first programme he considers the importance of the buildings that have come to symbolise this new development in Global Classical Music – and that leads inevitably – to China.

Despatches by reporters around the world. In this edition, Chris Morris, who was in Gaza twenty years ago, returns to chronicle how things 'have got worse, much worse'. Claudia Hammond, in Cyprus, on the latest attempts to find out what happened to those who went missing decades ago during fighting between the island's Greek and Turkish communities; Tim Mansel is in Sierra Leone amid growing alarm over the spread of the Ebola virus in west Africa. Why a seagull observed in Vatican City could be a disturbing omen for peace - that's from Alan Johnston and Petroc Trelawny finds out where the newly-weds like to go in Guangzhou, one of China's fastest-developing cities.

Correspondents' stories. Today: Hugh Sykes is in Cairo where the mood, at the end of a troubled week, is bleak and the outlook, apparently bleaker. Syrians caught in the cross hairs - Hannah Lucinda Smith on the real story of Aleppo's war: one of people trying to carry on with their lives amidst a conflict they never chose; Petroc Trelawny is on a bridge in Hanoi. The Vietnamese city, once the capital of French Indochina, is growing fast and economic forecasts are optimistic. Celeste Hicks suffers a head injury in Chad. It gives her a chance to see whether any of the country's extensive oil wealth has trickled down as far as the local hospital emergency room and David Stern has been in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where he walked in the footsteps of the man accused of killing President John F Kennedy and ended up facing something of a quandary. The producer of From Our Own Correspondent is Tony Grant

Correspondents around the world telling their stories: Lyse Doucet has been meeting some of the millions of people who've been forced to flee their homes in Syria because of the continuing bloodshed there. Mark Doyle in Bamako on how the fighting in Mali has seen a new alliance being forged between the French and the Nigerian military. The Hungarian economy may be tottering - but Petroc Trelawny has been finding out it's boom time in the flea markets and second-hand shops of Budapest. Why are the French drinking so much less wine than they used to? John Laurenson set off for a country bistro in search of answers. And as the fighting continues in Mali, Nick Thorpe remembers a visit there and a drive across the Sahara Desert in more peaceable times - thirty two years ago.

Despatches from reporters across the globe. Jon Donnison was in Gaza as the city came under Israeli attack and a BBC man took a distressing phone call. Gabriel Gatehouse was in Goma as rebels took the town in eastern Congo with UN peacekeepers standing by, seemingly unable to intervene. Petroc Trelawny was in a part of France which is taking a special interest in the vote in Catalonia which many feel could be a step along the road to Catalonian independence. Owen Bennett Jones has been talking to a famer in New York state who feels consultancy might be a better earner than growing onions. And cup cakes? Salsa classes? Nightclubs? Mary Harper's been seeing signs of Africa both old and new in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

A dead man's suitcase in Cape Town transports Tim Butcher from today's Africa via World War Two Italy to Renaissance Tuscany. The most cosseted pets in the world: it's no dog's life, says Joanna Robertson, for the pampered pooches of Paris. High in the Himalayas Joanna Jolly goes searching for a little yellow idol which once wreaked terrible vengeance. Allan Little shares some of the jokes which have fuelled the big news stories in years gone by and Petroc Trelawny on the extraordinary history of Odessa and its enduring passion for music.

'The Bahrain I had known wasn't there' - Frank Gardner, who used to live on the Gulf island, reports on life there under a state of emergency. The 7/7 bombings in London claimed victims of many nationalities; Nick Beake has travelled to Poland to hear more about one of them: a young woman who was a keen student and a member of the local choir. India's huge population has come under scrutiny in the recent census and Mark Tully has been wondering if the country's relatively youthful population will ultimately prove a boon for the economy -- or a drain on it. A long running strike at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has finally come to an end and Petroc Trelawny's been hearing that it could be a long time before the wounds are healed. And Kathy Flower finds that chemists' shops in the French Pyrenees offer much more than just aspirins - they're places you can visit for advice on wild mushrooms: will they kill you or prove a tasty topping on your omelette?