Podcasts about producer harry parker

Stevenson's swashbuckling Jacobite set novel has been translated into a play which is touring Scotland. Tartan and its history are on show at V&A Dundee, including a piece of tartan found in a peat bog in Glen Affric around forty years ago newly dated to circa 1500-1600 AD, making it the oldest known surviving specimen of true tartan in Scotland. The Highland Book prize has announced its shortlist. Anne McElvoy is joined by New Generation Thinker and poet Peter Mackay, fashion historian Jonathan Faiers and theatre director Isobel McArthur. Kidnapped: a swash-buckling rom-com adventure is directed by Isobel McArthur and Gareth Nicholls for the National Theatre of Scotland and the tour visits venues in Greenock, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Perth, Newcastle and Brighton Presented by the Highland Society of London, and facilitated by Moniack Mhor Writers' Centre, the Highland Book prize shortlist is: Companion Piece by Ali Smith, Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer by Tony Davidson, Crann-Fìge/ Fig Tree: Short Stories by Duncan Gillies, WAH! Things I Never Told My Mother by Cynthia Rogerson. The winner will be announced on the 6th of June https://www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/ Tartan at V&A Dundee opened on April 1st and includes over 300 objects. The book Tartan: Revised and Updated by Jonathan Faiers is out now, published by Bloomsbury. Producer: Harry Parker

John Lyly's play Galatea, first recorded in 1588, inspired Shakespeare to write As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Brighton, Emma Frankland is directing a rare professional revival of it, so she and the academic advisor on the project Andy Kesson join Globe Theatre head of research Will Tosh and New Generation Thinker Emma Whipday for a conversation about cross-dressing in Elizabethan dramas and about the plays gathered together in Shakespeare's First Folio. Shahidha Bari hosts. Emma Frankland's Galatea is commissioned by and is on as part of Brighton Festival, from the 5-21 May, 2023 Dr Andy Kesson teaches at Roehampton University and runs a Before Shakespeare project Dr Emma Whipday is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She teaches at the University of Newcastle Dr Will Tosh is Head of Research at Shakespeare's Globe, London. He is currently working on a book called Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare The Globe Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream runs 27th April to 12th August On the Free Thinking programme website you can find a collection of discussions about Shakespeare and the Shakespeare Sessions on BBC Sounds includes a whole series of plays available to listen to. The most recent addition is Henry IV part II which you can also hear as a Drama on 3 on Sunday night on Radio 3. Producer: Harry Parker

My Beautiful Laundrette, written by Hanif Kureishi and directed by Stephen Frears, was one of the early films produced for Channel 4. First screened in 1985, it tells the story of a young British Pakistani, Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke, who is given a failing laundrette to run by his entrepreneurial uncle. Omar recruits an old school friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) to help him turn the business round and a gay relationship between them develops. Francis Lee, director of God's Own Country and Ammonite, tells Francine Stock about the impact it had on him as young gay man, the sexual and social issues in the film and his own encounter with Stephen Frears. Producer: Harry Parker

Antonia Quirke considers the phenomenon and future of the so called film junket, the movie publicity process whereby film stars are serially interviewed in expensive hotels by a succession of film journalists and presenters. She looks back at the promotional encounters she's had with a cast of big Hollywood names including (in order of appearance) Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Annette Benning, Willem Dafoe, Glen Close, Timothee Chalamet, Jeff Bridges and Greta Gerwig. Producer: Harry Parker

Antonia Quirke talks to Francis Lee, director of Ammonite, starring Kate Winslet, about the palaeontologist Mary Anning. They discuss his controversial imagining of a lesbian relationship for Anning, the importance of sound in cinema and why he has never seen his own film on the big screen. Antonia also looks at the work of MIMC, a film makers' collective in the Scottish borders and discovers the part it plays in its members' lives both socially and cinematographically. And director Mark Jenkin continues his audio diary and reveals why going on holiday just before shooting commences might not be a bad thing. Producer: Harry Parker

Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Its follow-up takes the lead character to Parisian salons and an underworld of drug dealing so Free Thinking tracks the French connection through film, history and philosophy as Matthew Sweet is joined by Viet Thanh Nguyen, by film critic Phuong Le and by Peter Salmon - author of a biography of Derrida - he's been investigating the ideas of the Vietnamese thinker Tran Duc Thao who inspired some of Derrida's work. The Sympathizer and the new novel The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen are out now. You can hear Phuong Le in a Free Thinking discussion about Marlene Dietrich https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000q8cq and about Billy Wilder https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p1dx Peter Salmon's biography of Derrida is called An Event, Perhaps. You can hear him talking about that in a Free Thinking called Derrida and post truth https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nc7t Free Thinking also has a playlist exploring different takes on the idea of Home and Belonging https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03mb66k Producer: Harry Parker

Rana Mitter talks to historians of China - Jung Chang and Julia Lovell. Jung Chang's latest book Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister looks at the lives of the first Chinese girls to attend university in the USA. On their return to Shanghai one worked in business, one married a politician and one was involved in high society. Julia Lovell has been awarded one of the most significant history writing prizes - the Cundill - for her latest book Maoism: A Global History. Cindy Yu is a China reporter and broadcast editor at the Spectator. Playwright Tom Morton-Smith discusses putting cold war tensions on stage in his new play Ravens: Spasky v Fischer which is inspired by the chess match that took place in Reykjavik, 1972. The play runs at the Hampstead Theatre in London until January 18th. The winner of the biennial David Cohen prize for Literature is announced. You can find our playlist of In Depth Interviews here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04ly0c8 Film critic Agnes Poirer compares two crime caper films from 50 years ago The Italian Job featuring Michael Caine and Noel Coward and The Brain, which starred David Niven alongside Jean Paul Belmondo and comedian Bourvil. If you want more programmes exploring China include this discussion of Patriotism Beyond the West: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08583zz The Cultural Revolution https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079mcg9 Rana talks to the leading Chinese thinker Zhang Weiwei in Japanese History, Chinese Democracy https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03q5gdy Jung Chang discusses her book on Empress Dowager Cixi https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hy158 Producer: Harry Parker.

Moral philosopher Susan Neiman studies lessons from German & US history. Ursula Owen went from Virago to Index on Censorship. Christopher Hampton has translated an Ödön von Horváth novel about the fallout from an accusation of racism. Anne McElvoy brings them together for a conversation about tolerance, censorship and parallels between the past and the present. Written in exile while in flight from the Nazis, Youth Without God was the last book by Ödön von Horváth (1901-1938), a German-writing Austro-Hungarian-born playwright and novelist . Christopher Hampton's stage version has its UK stage premiere at the Coronet Theatre, Notting Hill London from 19 Sep–19 Oct Susan Neiman's latest book Learning from the Germans: Confronting Race and the Memory of Evil looks at western struggles with the legacies of racism and colonialism. A white girl from the American South, Susan Neiman is also a Jewish woman living in Berlin and the book draws on these experiences. Urusula Owen's parents were German Jews who fled Berlin for London. Her career has seen her work as a founder director of Virago Press and later as Chief Executive of Index on Censorship. Her memoir is called Single Journey Only. Producer: Harry Parker

An ecological fable about a perfect society which terrified children when it was first animated. Matthew Sweet reads Richard Adams' classic as a new version arrives on UK TV screens. He's joined by Dr Diana Bell, conservation biologist at UEA; Victoria Dickenson, author of Rabbit, a cultural history of rabbits; Brian Sibley, adaptor of the novel for a radio version and New Generation Thinker Lisa Mullen to debate rabbits both real and fictional. First published in 1972, Adams' novel follows rabbits escaping the destruction of their warren. Adams said that he told the tale to his daughters on car journeys and he rejected comparisons with the Bible tale of Moses and other religious symbolism. What do portrayals of rabbits in literature and film, from Peter Rabbit to Bugs Bunny, tell us about our own society? Matthew Sweet remembers being scared by the first animated film released in 1978. Now a new one from BBC TV and Netflix features the voices of James McAvoy, John Boyega and Gemma Arterton. Producer: Harry Parker

Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie talk to Matthew Sweet about how humour changes and the targets of their TV comedy show which ran during the '70s and early '80s. A box set of the 67 half hour episodes is being released. Producer: Harry Parker.

Anne McElvoy talks to Nadeem Aslam and Chibundu Onuzo about their novels set in Pakistan and Nigeria which follow characters who have to find safe places to live following violent uprisings; Alex Evans joins them to explore myth-making plus we hear from Julius Bryant, the curator of an exhibition at the V&A about Lockwood Kipling art teacher and father of Rudyard. Nadeem Aslam is the author of books including Maps For Lost Lovers and The Blind Man's Garden which have won a series of awards. His new novel is called The Golden Legend. Chibundu Onuzo's first novel The Spider King's Daughter won a Betty Trask Award and her new novel is called Welcome to Lagos. Lockwood Kipling: Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London is a free display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London opening Saturday January 14th. The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren't Enough by Alex Evans is out now. Producer: Harry Parker

Anne McElvoy meets David Rooney curator of the Winton Mathematics gallery at the Science Museum which has been redesigned by Zaha Hadid architects and explores the way maths skills are increasingly needed for jobs. She discusses the changing attitudes to mathematics in history and the present day with Alex Bellos, writer on maths puzzles, maths historian Serafina Cuomo and maths lecturer Vicky Neale. They are joined by astro-physicist Neil de Grasse Tyson who is director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Alex Bellos is the author of Alex Through The Looking Glass and his latest book called Can You Solve My Problems. Neil de Grasse Tyson is the author of many books including Welcome to the Universe co-written with J Richard Gott and Michael A Strauss. Vicky Neale is Whitehead Lecturer at the Mathematical Institute and Balliol College at Oxford University. Serafina Cuomo is Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Producer: Harry Parker.

Richard Coles & Anita Anand with special guest actress, writer and Costa Book award judge Natascha McElhone on her unthespian roots and the sudden death of her husband. They hear the Inheritance Tracks of singer Graham Nash and Ron Moody's Secret Life of 'ombrage'. Flood victim Trixie Webber tells them how she recovered from the Boscastle flood of 2004 and Louise Ashley and Jason Liostatos reflect on how their relationship fared with no fixed abode. Peter Caton revisits the train journeys of his childhood and Matt Adkins explains why a traffic roundabout was his salvation.Producer: Harry Parker.

Suzy Klein and JP Devlin with BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz who talks about his unpromising beginnings in the arts and a project to find the Art of the Nation. Appropriately they also hear the Inheritance Tracks of popular artist Jack Vettriano and why the mandolin is so widespread from musician Simon Mayor. Zoe Lemon tells what happened to a message in a bottle she threw into the sea twenty three years ago and Brian Conaghan explains how the late diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome affected his life. Princess Michael of Kent reveals a secret passion for singing and Jan Prebble reveals her secret passion - a married man whose his clandestine mistress she was for over forty years. And there are the unspoken thanks of listeners, spoken at last.Producer: Harry Parker.

Richard Coles and Anita Anand with chef and restaurateur Rick Stein who tells of the ups and downs of his life, the Inheritance Tracks of Canadian author Margaret Atwood and traveller Tim Cope's tales of his journey on the trail of Genghis Khan. Teacher Guy Tarrant talks about the items that teachers have confiscated from pupils and Steve Rodgers, a fourth generation fisherman from Devon, joins Richard and Anita with his personal recollections of life on the sea and the future of fishing and we hear the latest on Fynnjan Leach-Verhoeven the boy with Aspergers who has made a Christmas single.Producer Harry Parker.

Richard Coles and Anita Anand meet singer Linda Nolan who talks about how she turned to the Samaritans at low points in her life. They hear the Inheritance Tracks of Richard Eyre and the meditative sound of singing bowls. A refugee from Afghanistan explains how he got to Britain and a father and son tell of their adventures all over Britain. A daughter reveals her parent's surprising secret and we get a glimpse behind the scenes at a peace camp.Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with writer and comedian Viv Groskop, the Inheritance Tracks of actor Paul Nicholas, author Sara Wheeler's first attempts to learn Russian and the sounds of a balalaika band. There's Angela's story of a broken family healed, David Chilvers's sighting of the world's first cosmonaut and Professor Carole Hough reveals what our names tell us about our origins.Producer: Harry Parker.

Suzy Klein and JP Devlin with author Sebastian Faulks; Kerry Katona's Inheritance Tracks; resuscitation doctor Sam Parnia, traveller Olly Burton on Senegalese music, John Edser on being part of Dr Beeching's team who changed the map of the British Rail Network, Judith Bowen who has as 56 year old Easter egg and Phil Gould and Glyn Shipman on their tribute songs to Cremola.Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with Deborah Moggach, cocktail pianist Cathy Kinley and former city trader Geraint Anderson. Sara Wheeler visits the Forth Rail Bridge and Ian Hunter shares his Inheritance Tracks . Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with comedian and writer Sean Hughes, 100 year old Violet Coleman palliative care nurse Katherine Hopkins, and Marc Roberts who had brain surgery while fully conscious. There's a feature on the British Water Tower Appreciation Society, John McCarthy with explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a Crowdscape from Portsmouth and Tamasin Day-Lewis's Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with comedian Lee Mack talking about his life before and after he made it as comic and Paul O'Grady on his enthusiasm for home remedies. Paul Hodgkinson walked to all 92 Football League grounds as his sight deteriorated and John McCarthy travelled on Leighton Buzzard's miniature steam railway with travel writer Monisha Rajesh who journeyed round India by train. Michael Sanderson explains why he stockpiles goods and necessities for a terrible eventuality, Ruth Keeling tells why she is never without her Granny's sewing kit and the actor Fiona Shaw chooses her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams and John McCarthy with studio guest Edwina Currie reflecting on her public and personal life, two very different attitudes to burial from Mark Elliott and Wendii Miller, Spanish author Javier Marias who is the literary and literal king of the micronation Redonda, the pros and cons of procrastination from Steve Swift, Talitha MacKenzie on why her song caught on in Serbia, the musings of Mancunians and the Inheritance Tracks of Big Issue founder John Bird. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sian Williams & John McCarthy with archaeologist and broadcaster Neil Oliver; Anthony Weir tells the story of his failed attempt to live with a pygmy tribe; open-water swimmer Anne Marie Ward reveals her plans to swim the Bering Straits; Alison describes her experience of living with face-blindness; Jackie Palmer explains why she loves the sound of a telephone exchange; a group of former Spitfire pilots share their wartime memories, and actress Emma Thompson shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Harry Parker.

In the last Excess Baggage, John McCarthy talks to three inveterate travellers: Sara Wheeler, who has written on Africa and the Antarctic, explorer Benedict Allen who has travelled in Siberia and New Guinea and documentary maker Simon Reeve who has just returned from the Indian Ocean. He asks them why they are driven to explore the world and what is the point of travel. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy discusses travel to the African countries of Rwanda, Uganda and to the world's newest country, South Sudan. With his guests, doctor Rob Summerhayes, paramedic Franz Opitz and forensic accountant Benedict Jenks - John finds out what attracts people to visiting a country with troubles past or present. All the guests are sensitive to the highly political issues that are involved in visiting such countries and have wide experience of travel to some of the world's hotspots. All have also spent considerable time in Central Africa developing considerable insight into those countries. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig goes to Reykjavik to look at aspects of tourism in Iceland and discovers that the volcanic eruptions and the financial crash there may not have been so bad for the country. As well as reminding the world of its geological attractions the crises have helped Iceland look at its cultural roots like the sagas and....knitting. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy takes a look at family travel with novelist Gill Lewis, who has taken her daughters spotting wildlife both abroad and in Scotland and Cornwall and Ben Hatch who toured Britain with his young children. And holiday lettings agent Wendy Shand explains how self-catering holidays can be more child friendly. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets a writer who followed in the 14th century footsteps of the Black Prince through SW France; an historian who has followed a medieval wine trail through Gascony and a novelist who was seduced by the lure of Lourdes and the Pyrenees. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig discusses the 'Wild East' - Russia - with the BBC's former Moscow correspondent, Martin Sixsmith. Actor Michael Simkins relates his adventures on a rail journey from London to Kiev and on to Crimea to visit the former site of the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava in 1854 - and author and linguist Anna Shevchenko explains why she believes Ukraine, where she was born, is a 'hidden' country with much to offer the traveller. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig hears about medical work abroad from Dr Marie Charles who runs an organisation which places volunteer doctors and nurses in developing countries to impart their skills to local medical workers. She tells of her experiences travelling the world in the course of her work. And dentist Ian Wilson relates how he used his skills to start an oral health programme in Tanzania. Sandi also meets writer and comedian Liz Carr who explains how she went to join the red carpet crowds in Hollywood for the Oscars. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig hears about a lost Emperor of India: Ashoka ruled the subcontinent about 2,200 years ago and left many pillars and rocks carved with his edicts. Historian Charles Allen went in search of the legacy of this once great Emperor a journey which took him to some of the remoter parts of the country. Writer Tim Moore and webmistress Cathy Shaw both have an interest in visiting some of the least attractive sounding places in Britain and have made many trips to find out if the reputations of towns like Middlesbrough and Scunthorpe for being undesirable destinations are justified. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to artist Emily Young about her travels to find stone for her sculpture, to travel writer Martin Symington about his venture in search of Britain's sacred places both ancient and modern and to Richard Grant about his exploration by inflatable raft of the Malagarasi River in East Africa. Together they consider the extent to which destinations can be spiritual. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy visits 'The Heart of the Great Alone' an exhibition of polar photography at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace and, before an audience, introduces a discussion of Antarctica with the explorer David Hempleman-Adams and his daughter Amelia who has just returned from there. Joining them are the author Meredith Hooper and Frozen Planet cameraman Doug Allan. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at the delights and difficulties of visiting the occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank with writer Sarah Irving who has published the first new guide to Palestine for many years, circus performer China Fish who recently returned from entertaining children there and traveller Gail Simmons who sampled the alternatives to the mass tourism. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at the changing nature of the traditional attractions of England with historian John Julius Norwich, curator Lucy Worsley and journalist Martin Wainwright. Together they discuss the appeal of English places from Kensington Palace to Watford Gap and why we look for the past in palaces and cottages. Producer: Harry Parker.

Peter Curran presents an Excess Baggage special quiz for Christmas from the Radio Theatre with Sandi Toksvig, John McCarthy and their special guests Caroline Quentin and Arthur Smith answering questions on the world of travel and travelling the world. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy discusses travel biography at October's Cheltenham Literature Festival with eminent writers in the field; Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sara Wheeler and Alexander Maitland. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy takes a look at historic walks in the company of archaeologist Bill Bevan who selects Britain's top prehistoric sites best approached by foot and walks webmaster David Stewart who tells how you can follow ancient pathways all over the country from packhorse routes to corpse roads. John also compares fast and slow trains with journalist Tom Chesshyre maintaining that high speed railways have opened up Europe for passengers and travel editor Michael Kerr favouring a more leisurely approach to rail journeys. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets scriptwriter Edward Canfor-Dumas who has just returned from Gambia where he was acting as a Commonwealth observer in the recent Presidential elections. He describes how even with a scrupulously correct voting process in the remote bush the outcome can still be influenced. John also talks to journalist Julia Horton who went trekking in Nepal on the trail of the Maoist guerillas and Leigh Banks for whom the Himalayas meant white water rafting. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy explores storytelling in Japan with charity founder Nicola Grove who visited the country recently to learn about the heritage of folk tales there and in particular the depiction and involvement of those with learning difficulties. Journalist Richard Hamilton compares this with his own experience of the tellers of tales in the market place of Marrakesh and how this is surviving in modern times. John also meets Geoff Saunders who made a series of journeys all round the British Isles to the coastal weather stations featured in the early morning shipping forecast. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at Eastern Europe with broadcaster Dennis Marks who visited many of the places described by the author Joseph Roth who wrote between the wars about the declining years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and often depicted Jewish life. Dennis journeyed around this 'Mitteleuropa' in search of a world which has all but disappeared since the Holocaust and the years of the Iron Curtain. Journalist Tim Luard also makes a journey into the past. He traces the escape from Hong Kong in 1942 of a one-legged Chinese admiral with a party of British military personnel. Tim and his wife followed their path through what was once bandit country but is now part of bustling modern China. John also talks to Rita Boogaart, one half of a Dutch couple whose obsession with the A272 has led them to publish a guide to the delights to be found along its route through Sussex and Hampshire. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets foreign correspondent Nicholas Wood who has turned his hand to running tours of some of the world's politically sensitive spots. They are joined by playwright Sam Holcroft and economist and playwright Alastair Muriel who recently accompanied Nicholas on a trip to North Korea to find out if they could get any closer to this controversial country. John also looks at Panama with Verol Gordon who has moved there with his family and explains the attractions of a new life in a fast developing land. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy hears about the transoceanic rowing experiences of Roz Savage who has just completed a crossing from Australia to Mauritius making her the first woman to row solo across the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. John also goes cheek to cheek with the tango as he finds out why the dance draws people to its roots in Argentina. He talks to travel writer Kapka Kassabova about its history and hold over her, Sarah Kennedy who went on a tango holiday and Sally Blake who has written a tango guide to Buenos Aires. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy hears about Congo in the early days of independence in the 1960s from Veronica Cecil who had to flee from the civil war with her young family and about the country after it had become Zaire a decade later from Ian Mathie who lived amongst the forest dwelling people. John also meets Kathy O'Keefe who visits the remote Indian Ocean isles of Rodrigues to help with their teacher training. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at natural navigation with Alison Steadman who has been learning from the adventurer Tristan Gooley how to find and follow directions using only the signs provided by the weather and the landscape. Leading guide Kevin Albin talks about snow shoeing in the Pyrenees and sun bears in Borneo and British Indian novelist Rana Dasgupta explains why he is fascinated by Bulgaria and post-colonial India. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy discusses travel biography at the Cheltenham Literature Festival with eminent writers in the field; Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sara Wheeler and Alexander Maitland. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy gets a flavour of rural Italy and its food in conversation with writer Tracey Lawson who investigated the surprising longevity of an Italian village's residents by going to live there and learning all about their diet; their great life expectancy is due in no small part to simple food freshly prepared and she shares some of the secrets with John. They are joined by author Julia Blackburn whose own experiences of living in an Italian village led her to collect the memories and stories of the older inhabitants. And the writer and columnist Vitali Vitaliev tells why, originally from the Ukraine, he loves Italy so much and how he ate a great many good Italian meals in the apparently futile search for a bad one. Producer : Harry Parker.

John McCarthy asks the historian Thant Myint-U, who visits Burma regularly, about the recent political developments there and its role in south east Asia. Thant reflects on the how the country's relationship with tourism might also change. The author and traveller Anthony Sattin tells John how the history of Egypt has attracted traders and tourists and how the change of government there too has affected tourism. John also finds out from Pauline Sanderson about her part in the world's longest climb from the Dead Sea to Everest which involved an eight thousand kilometre cycle ride through countries like Iran and Pakistan topped of with an ascent of the highest mountain. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to adventurer Jock Wishart about his recent expedition rowing to the North Pole. He and his team were the first to achieve this feat made possible this year by global warming melting the ice. They were under threat from polar bears and crushing ice floes and had to return before the sea froze over again. John also meets novelist Jo Baker whose stay in Malta led to the discovery of her family's First World War connection with the island. And Peter Caton who has visited all of Britain's tidal islands tells John about the variety of history and landscape of these fascinating places isolated from the mainland at high tide. The best known are Lindisfarne and St Michael's Mount but there are many others from the Thames to the Highlands. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy introduces businesswoman Alice Morrison who took time off from the recession to ride from Cairo to Cape Town on the Tour d'Afrique cycle race, braving bandits and wildlife for a life changing experience. Best selling crime novelist John Connolly talks about his love of the US state of Maine despite not liking two of its great attractions, hunting and seafood. And writer Duncan Fallowell talks about his travels to Gozo, India and South Wales in search of people who have disappeared from view. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig takes a bus trip along the south coast of England from Brighton to Eastbourne in the company of the listener who suggested it, Veronica Groocock. Together they discover the delights to be had on an ordinary scheduled bus route. These include Kipling's garden, a 1930s lido, the Greenwich meridian, a lamb called Hardy and the lighthouse at Beachy Head. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig in the second of two programmes continues her exploration the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She looks at the its richness both in history and the fusion of eastern and western cultures in the arts and cuisine. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig in the first of two programmes begins to explore the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She gets an overview of the city from the tops of two very different towers, hears about the impact of tourism and economic growth on the city and rediscovers a forgotten opera singer. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sonia Deol hears about the re-enactment of a historical voyage round Africa from marine explorer Philip Beale. He built a replica of an ancient sailing boat to recreate the Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa. He and his crews sailed clockwise round the continent and on the two year journey risked whale sharks, modern shipping and pirates. Even after the journey the problems weren't over as Philip had to rescue the boat from the recent troubles in Syria. Sonia also looks at the British seaside with journalist Brian Viner and author Jane Struthers. Both were brought up in seaside towns and have continued to have a fascination for coastal resorts ever since. They discuss the history of the British beach holiday and the continuing appeal of summer by the sea. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sonia Deol looks at Kashmir with the author Rosie Thomas, who went there to learn about the production of cashmere shawls, and journalist Tim Hannigan who toured the region investigating the murder of the Victorian explorer George Hayward. They discuss the pleasures and dangers of travelling in the beautiful but troubled land. Sonia also meets Adam Strudwick and Rekha Sharma a couple who are visiting all the world's countries in the order they became independent. It's a lifetime's project but already they are visiting the South American countries which had revolutions in the nineteenth century. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig explores Cape Town in the company of two very different experts. Lindsay Johns has family connections to the city and visits regularly. Bryan Tully is a forensic psychologist and has recently led a 'forensic tour' to South Africa. While mortuaries, hospitals and prisons feature on the tour, Bryan talks especially about his impressions of Cape Town. Sandi also talks to journalist Miranda Sawyer who has retraced both her footsteps and the train tracks of her youthful InterRailing adventures around Europe. Producer Harry Parker, Chris Wilson Presenter Sandi Toksvig.

Sandi Toksvig meets journalist Colin Freeman who was kidnapped by pirates in Somalia whilst investigating them. He tells Sandi about how the total breakdown of law and order has led to piracy on the high seas and poverty on the land. David Edwards had barely arrived in Montserrat in 1995 when the volcanic eruptions took place that were to cover most of the island in ash. He went back 16 years later to see how life has changed for both visitors and residents. Language teacher Elisabeth Smith tells Sandi why the British are so bad at speaking foreign languages when travelling - and what they can do about it. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig looks at rites of passage with Anders Ryman who spent seven years photographing the ceremonies associated with key events in human life; birth, coming of age, marriage and death from Micronesia to Madagascar and Norway to Nepal. They are joined by author Sarah Murray who has travelled the world looking at rituals associated with death and Lucy Neville whose memoir of her time in Mexico includes her experiences of the Day of the Dead festival and the Saint of Death religious cult. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig looks at the simplicity and versatility of the bicycle as a travel machine with three very different cyclists. Susie Wheeldon rode 22,000 kilometres around the world, crossing deserts from Tunisia to Arizona, as she and her companions were researching solar energy. Robert Penn leads cycling weekends in the hills of the Brecon Beacons where the ups are as satisfying as the downs. And Matt Carroll recommends day trips in some of England's most beautiful countryside. Together they discuss the feeling of freedom realised in today's world by a device which hasn't changed its basic design for over 130 years. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig meets novelist Richard Gwyn and translator Peter Bush to discuss Catalonia and its relationship with Spain. She hears how life is changing there, not just in the big city of Barcelona but in the more rural areas near the Pyrenees. Sandi also talks about the Cornish coast with the historian and author Philip Marsden who has lived in the Falmouth area for many years and reflects on the role of the sea in the lives of the residents and visitors from the days of sail to the present. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to travel journalist Harry Bucknall about his journey round the Greek islands which vary from the crowded to the deserted and novelist Meaghan Delahunt reveals her love of Naxos an island less frequented by tourists. They discuss the appeal of the islands to the history lover and the holidaymaker. John also meets the writer Jasper Winn who paddled his way around Ireland in a kayak. The journey led him to see his home island from a new perspective with its wild coastline, wildlife - and wild winds which on one occasion stranded him on an uninhabited island. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to three writers who have reported as freelancers from conflict zones. Lucy Morgan Edwards worked in Afghanistan both during and after the Taliban regime as an aid worker, journalist and election observer. Despite the risks she grew to love the country and its people. Benjamin Hall's thirst for front line journalism took him to Misrata in Libya at the height of Gaddafi's attacks on the rebel city and Oliver Bullough wrote from Chechnya as it struggled against Russian domination. They tell John about the practical difficulties and excitement of travelling in such dangerous places without backup. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets poet and author Lavinia Greenlaw who tells him about the designer William Morris's journeys to Iceland in the 1870s and how what he saw informed his radical socialism. She also compares his experiences with her own trip there in the wake of the financial crash. Novelist Niall Griffiths emigrated to Australia as a child with his family but they returned to Britain after a few years. He tells John about rediscovering his childhood haunts thirty years later and how modern Australia lived up to his memories. John also talks to art historian Christopher Lloyd who reveals that Britain's art galleries are full of overlooked masterpieces and that a trip to any part of Britain can be a journey of aesthetic discovery. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy hears from architectural journalist Jonathan Glancey about the little visited state of Nagaland in north east India. Although concerned with buildings in his profession, Jonathan has returned several times to a land that has little of the built environment but much stunning mountain scenery - and the wildness of this frontier region gives it the air of a lost kingdom. When Elizabeth Gowing went to Kosovo to live she found that one way to getting know this country of mixed cultures in the years after its civil war was through beekeeping. John talks to her about how she fell in love with a nation that is finding its feet in modern Europe whilst still holding on to the past - and honey. John also meets Henry Iddon a British speed skier who grabbed the chance recently to go skiing in Iran where his experiences included the descent of a volcano. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at Liberia and Sierra Leone with journalist and author Tim Butcher who retraced a journey without maps made by Graham Greene in 1935. The dangers of heat and disease are still there but on his 350 mile walk through the jungle Tim also encountered a region riddled with post-conflict tensions and superstitions. Photographer Marion Bull tells John about her travels usually made on her own to physically challenging places - in particular to the deserts of Algeria, where she is fascinated by rock paintings but is also drawn to the harsh and sometimes risky life among the Tuareg people. And when life in a country becomes too risky for visitors, they may well call on their insurance company to repatriate them. John meets specialist Ted Jones who organises the evacuation of clients from political, medical or natural crises such as recent events in Libya, Egypt or Japan after the tsunami. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy visits Northern Ireland where he stays in two contrasting hotels and hears about different approaches to tourism after the troubles. In Belfast he talks to the owner, the concierge and a famous guest of the much bombed Europa Hotel, takes a taxi tour of the opposing sections of the city and looks forward to developments in the arts attracting visitors. In South Armagh, John visits the first new hotel for 100 years in Crossmaglen, a notorious village during the conflict, hears a traditional music session or ceoltas and gets a panoramic view from a local beauty spot. Producer: Harry Parker.

Food writer Tim Hayward goes in search of British charcuterie - the preserved meat that we tend to think of as Contintental. He finds that making it is thriving and closer to its origins in the home than he had expected. He meets a couple whose hobby smoking meats has turned into a career; a shopkeeper, a publican and a restaurateur who cure hams and salamis on the premises for customers, and a pig farming family who have taken to curing their own pork. He learns about the British traditions of salting and pickling meats and talks to author Lindy Wildsmith about how we can do it at home - and even has a go at making his own bacon. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sheila Dillon investigates the role malt plays in our drinks and diet. Malt has been around for millennia and is a natural ingredient in many but many people won't realise how ubiquitous it is. As well as being the foundation of beer and whisky, its flavour and richness makes it a favourite for uses in bakery, breakfast cereals and confectionary as well as being an important export for the country. Sheila talks to a distiller, a baker and a brewer about malt's remarkable properties and visits a traditional maltster to find out how malt is made.Producer: Harry Parker.

Sheila Dillon explores the past present and future of cooking and food preparation in the school curriculum. She learns how it was introduced in the 1800s to educate girls for domestic service and is now part of the design and technology syllabus. Sheila looks at two approaches to food education in a primary and a secondary school and hears from interested parties the reasons for making cooking compulsory at secondary level. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sheila Dillon investigates the appeal of shellfish - bivalves and molluscs - from the point of view of taste and sustainability and asks why we don't eat them more in Britain. She finds out what has happened to the marine environment in Lyme Bay since a scallop dredging ban was introduced in part of it and about the implications of a proposed mussel farm there. She discovers why whelk fishing is a big export industry with low environmental impact and oysters are ecologically friendly. Chef Mark Hix shows what can be done with the lesser used varieties like whelks and razor clams.Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell about his enthusiasm for hiking in Tasmania and Madeira, glaciologist Richard Sale about long distance walking routes in Europe and to photographer Jason Florio and his partner Helen Jones about travelling all around Gambia on foot. Producer: Harry Parker.

Peter Curran presents an Excess Baggage special quiz for Christmas from the Radio Theatre with John McCarthy and Sandi Toksvig and their special guests, explorer Benedict Allen and comedian Lucy Porter, answering questions on the world of travel and travelling the world. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at endangered peoples of the world with broadcaster and traveller Piers Gibbon who has stayed with South American tribes and studied their use of plants. This has lead him to taking part in their rituals involving poisonous frog toxins. Closer to home, hunter-gatherer tribes first inhabited the Hebrides 10,000 years ago but have left little for archaeologists to study. Professor Steven Mithen tells John how years of going there to excavate have brought him a deep appreciation of the islands and their present day people. What kind of appreciation do visitors have of the islands of Great Britain? John talks to Immaculate Mwaungulu from Tanzania about her impressions on her first visit to the UK - including an interesting insight into tapwater. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets the human rights advocate Bianca Jagger and asks her about a lifetime of travel from her home country of Nicaragua and student protests in the Paris of the sixties to her recent work in the state of Orissa in India protesting at the effects on the local tribes of aluminium processing there. John also talks to the Welsh actor Matthew Rhys about his trek on horseback across Patagonia. He joined a group of Welsh Patagonian riders recreating the original nineteenth century journey from the Atlantic to the Andes in search of fertile land to settle. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at travelling to Yemen. Ginny Hill of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and travel writer Tim Mackintosh-Smith debate the delights and dangers of this ancient land; these days seen in the west as a source of terrorist activity but rich in Muslim and pre-Islamic culture. John also meets Richard Cohen who has travelled the world researching cults of the sun - from primeval solstice rituals to modern solar farms. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets ophthalmologist Lucy Mathen who runs an organisation performing cataract operations in north east India and Andrew Ready who leads a team transplanting kidneys in Trinidad and Ghana. He asks them about operating in less than ideal conditions and the impact their work has on the local communities. John also talks to architectural historian and TV presenter Dan Cruickshank about his fascination with bridges and those he has visited on his travels round the world. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets Dr Lavinia Byrne who leads tours to the ancient sites of Syria and tour operator Amelia Stewart who has started to offer trips there and talks to them about why the many layers of its past make it so rewarding for those fascinated by history. The Greeks and Romans, the early Christians, Islam and even the French have all left a mark on this multi-layered country that is beginning to attract more western tourists who now see it as a much less dangerous destination. And broadcaster Steve Blacknell tell John about his fondness for the smallest Channel Island of Sark and how its peace and quiet and lack of motor cars really mean you can get away from it all. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to journalist Clive Aslet about the nature of British villages, how they've changed and whether they have become places to visit rather than to live and work in. He tells John some of the stories associated with them and where to find the most attractive villages in the country. The academic Rachel Hewitt looks at the landscape as it has been mapped by the Ordnance Survey, the history of the organisation and it's impact on our appetite for rambling and hiking. Rural Finland offers peace and quiet which is just to the businessman John Murolo's taste. A regular visitor to the country he tells John why it is one of the last unspoiled places within easy reach of the UK and how he became such a fan of Finland. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy talks to Doreen Tayler who explored northwest India visiting places featuring in Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim. The trail lead her to places that defied her expectations, from strange rituals on the Pakistan border to the summer capital of the Raj and she discovered the best places are not always the most visited. Modern computer technology is making its mark on the way we travel and John meets Rough Guides founder Mark Ellingham who is now producing guide 'apps' for mobile phones and Paul Smith a writer and blogger who journeyed to New Zealand relying entirely on offers made on the phone message service, Twitter. He asks them if the traditional guide book is dying. Producer: Harry Parker.

The actress Imogen Stubbs talks to John McCarthy about why she is drawn to the Alaskan wilderness. Her experiences there with the vast distances, the extreme weather and the danger from encounters with bears contrast strongly with the relatively safe indoor life of theatre and television. John also meets Abraham Banda, who leads walking safaris in Zambia where you can encounter danger from many animals from lions to crocodiles, and learns why the role of the guide is getting more and more professional. And reporter and keen cyclist Stephen Mulvey tells John about a new bike trail from London to Paris which is mostly off-road and should prove very popular with the increasing numbers of cyclists making the journey for charity. Producer Harry Parker.

John McCarthy meets Dani Maimone who was Africa's only female hot-air balloon pilot flying over the Masai Mara giving her passengers a fantastic view of the wildlife below. She tells John of the pleasures and perils of balloon safaris. Kathy Wilden runs an organisation placing holiday volunteers with animal conservation scientific projects and Dr George McGavin is an entomologist and explorer who recently featured in the TV programme the Lost Land of the Tiger. They discuss with John the pros and cons of wildlife travel and tourism and its role in protecting animals. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig meets two people who travelled to research their family histories. Television executive Martin Davidson knew his German grandfather must have fought in the Second World War but was shocked when he discovered him to have been a member of the SS. He went to Berlin, Prague and Prussia to try and understand what had driven him to become such an enthusiastic and unrepentant Nazi. Sports presenter Rob Curling's father was also a soldier but served with the Gurkhas during the emergency in Malaya in the fifties. He was drawn to travel to modern day Malaysia to discover more about that period of his parents' life and the country where he himself was born. Sandi also talks to theologian and 'freelance missionary' Margaret Hebblethwaite about why she started a hotel in southern Paraguay and how she came to write the first and only English guide book dedicated to this little known country. Producer: Harry Parker.