Drama in Schools: an unfolding tragedy? Actor Christopher Eccleston investigates the decline in #drama education in schools in England. 4pm Tues 10 Feb @BBCRadio4 @BBCSounds Producer @robinmarkwell.bsky.social #education #schools www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Need some uplift? Head to @BBCRadio3 at 4pm for Composer of the Week when Donald Macleod explores the life & music of the great German #Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz #Dresden #classicalmusic www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Looking for reading inspiration in this #NationalYearOfReading2026 ? A Good Read is back 3pm @BBCRadio4 @BBCSounds with eclectic suggestions. Today, writer @philiphensher.bsky.social & comedian @robinince.bsky.social join @harriettsg.bsky.social with favourite #books www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Now it's #StBrigidsDay and the first snowdrop In County Wicklow, and this a Brigid's Girdle I'm plaiting for you, an airy fairy hoop (Like one of those old crinolines they'd trindle), Twisted straw that's lifted in a circle To handsel and to heal, a rite of spring… #SeamusHeaney #otd #poetry

Other Americas are available… #Walden: Paul Farley’s evocative dramatisation of #Thoreau’s classic memoir of paying attention & attempting to live lightly on the Earth. Stars the wonderful Matthew Needham. A huge pleasure to make this one. 3pm Sun 1 Feb @bbcradio4 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Did a book completely transform your life? A new BBC documentary is looking for stories about the life-changing power of books. If so, upload a video of you telling your story to the link below or email [email protected] explaining how the book impacted on you. we.tl/r-6yeldPIg2n

“My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here…” Happy #BurnsNight 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 A favourite Burns poem - and Arvo Pärt’s haunting setting of it youtu.be/6UadEvSJMrQ?...

How one song takes on so many different meanings… today's Soul Music 10.30am @BBCRadio4 is Make You Feel My Love- #BobDylan's song, memorably covered by #Adele & many more. Producer Mair Bosworth. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Congratulations to Karen Solie on winning the TS Eliot Prize for her most recent collection Wellwater, published by @picadorbooks.bsky.social Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.

Great to see a packed house for #poetry at last night’s @tseliotprize.bsky.social readings in London & to hear the effulgent & eclectic shortlist. Brilliantly compered as ever by @imcmillan.bsky.social & thoughtfully produced by Mike Sims. The winner is announced this evening. tseliot.com/prize/

Just 8 days left to listen to T S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral @bbcsounds.bsky.social starring Danny Sapani as Thomas Becket, with music by Joseph Howard performed by the BBC Singers #drama #poetry #audiodrama www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The President & the Polka - Justin Webb 1pm @BBCRadio3 on the relationship between American political & musical #history. Today, Lincoln’s harmonica, #ManifestDestiny & the lure of the frontier. Music by #Copland, Stephen Foster & Marion Dix Sullivan www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

2016 is trending. Which is a happy coincidence for Soul Music, Sat 1030am @BBCRadio4 which looks at #Solange’s #2016 hit Cranes in the Sky & the stories of people it has touched. Producer Eliza Lomas #2016throwback #2016Vibes www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Happy 88th Birthday to the irrepressible Roger Mcgough! #poetryplease @bbcradio4 www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

New Music New York - 19.15 Sun 11 Jan @BBCRadio3 @BBCSounds Against a backdrop of financial crisis and disinvestment, New Music was born. Writer Richard King explores the conditions for creativity in #NewYork in the 1970s. Producer Martin Williams. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Did you know that the first English language book to be printed in North America was a book of songs? Or that George Washington could cut a rug on the dance floor? These & other stories in The President and the Polka with Justin Webb @BBCRadio3 1pm #America250 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Poems on the Underground - 4pm @BBCRadio4 The inside story of one of the world's most successful and enduring public art interventions, as it marks its 40th birthday. With @imtiazdharker.bsky.social & @georgeszirtes.bsky.social Producer Mair Bosworth www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

“Snow was general all over Ireland...” It’s the perfect day to curl up with some Smyrna figs & one of the great short stories - #JamesJoyce’s The Dead from #Dubliners - set at a party for the Feast of #Epiphany Read by Jonathan Forbes for @BBCRadio3 @BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Fanfare for an uncommon man: Aaron Copland is our Composer of the Week @BBCRadio3 🎶Today, Donald Macleod traces #Copland’s roots and his first steps in music. Each weekday 4pm @BBCSounds Producer Ellie Ajao #AmericanMusic www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Soul Music is marking 25 years @BBCRadio4 so for this latest series, we’ve set ourselves the challenge of focusing on tracks from the last 25 years. Today - Porcelain by #Moby & its place in people’s hearts. Producer Maggie Ayre 10.30am or @BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Niche research question... but I'm hoping that a medievalist/ fairytale specialist might be able to help. I read a reference to a French (?) tale in which Noah sends out a dove from the Ark, but it returns a kingfisher. But I can't find any sources. Any leads gratefully received!

Good night, brave friends. So may beginnings always follow ends. Though time is treasonable, may we stand Gathered each year, a stubborn-hearted band Whose gaiety rises like a litany Under the dying ornamental tree. New Year Morning - Adrienne Rich (1952) www.newyorker.com/magazine/195...

All I want for Twixtmas is… Ronald Binge, Eric Coates, Madeleine Dring, Ketèlbey, Bath, Farnon, & Tomlinson - Icons of British Light Music, Composer of the Week 4pm Mon-Fri @BBCRadio3 & @BBCSounds with Donald Macleod. Producer Chris Taylor #lightmusic🧵https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001pv1g

A joy to bring #TSEliot’s 1935 drama Murder in the Cathedral to life with an incredible team. Danny Sapani stars as #ThomasBecket murdered @cburycathedral.bsky.social on 29 Dec 1170. Music by Joseph Howard performed by BBC Singers. 3pm Sat 27 Dec @BBCRadio4👇https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002nv7c

Winterreisen - three new stories about winter journeys, inspired by #Schubert, by @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social @jolloyds.bsky.social and Mark Haddon. Read by Siân Thomas, Morfydd Clark & Lydia Wilson. Produced by Fay Lomas and me. 21.45 22-24 Dec @BBCRadio3 @BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

It's A Georgian Christmas on Composer of the Week at 4pm Mon-Fri @BBCRadio3 Donald Macleod visits the home of #JaneAusten with historian Amanda Vickery to explore some of the seasonal customs & music of late-Georgian Britain. Producer Chris Taylor. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

A Flame God, give us a long winter and quiet music, and patient mouths, and a little pride – before our age ends. Give us astonishment and a flame, high, bright. - Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh #wintersolstice #poetry

“More delicate than the historians' are the map-makers' colors.” (Elizabeth Bishop). Loved the Secret Maps exhibition @britishlibrary.bsky.social On until 18 Jan. Last picture by chronicler & spy John Hardyng - a 1457 map of Scotland, drawn to encourage Henry VI of England to invade.

Accompanying Austen @BBCRadio3 21.45 Mon-Fri The Essay - Antonia Quirke speaks to composers who've scored original music for #JaneAusten adaptations about their musical choices and also about the music Austen enjoyed. Today, Adrian Johnston. Producer Camellia Sinclair. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Prokofiev the storyteller is the theme of our Composer of the Week each day at 4pm @BBCRadio3 with Kate Molleson. Expect some festive Troika, Peter and the Wolf, winter bonfires & Cinderella. Producer Ellie Ajao. Also available @BBCSounds #Prokofiev www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

When I Met Jane Austen: each day this week 11.45 & 13.45 @BBCRadio4 250 years after the birth of #JaneAusten, ten writers & thinkers discuss her work, wit & influence - incl @realbaddiel.bsky.social & @valmcdermid.bsky.social in conversation with Paula Byrne www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's, Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks; The sun is spent, and now his flasks Send forth light squibs, no constant rays; The world's whole sap is sunk; #JohnDonne #otd #StLucysDay 13 Dec www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44122/...

“not every one has your passion for dead leaves, Marianne” - Sense & Sensibility dramatised by Claudine Toutoungi @BBCSounds @BBCRadio4 1515 Sat 20 Dec with Tamsin Greig, Madeleine Mantock, Rose Basista & Ben Hardy. Directed by Anne Isger #JaneAusten250 #JaneAusten www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

An embarrassment of Jane Austen riches @BBCRadio4 & @BBCRadio3 over the next few weeks for #JaneAusten250 And @BBCSounds a new, unabridged reading of Persuasion by the wonderful Jasmine Hyde. Produced by Fay Lomas www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Emily Dickinson’s birthday (10 Dec 1830), so… There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes –

The Poetry Detective with Vanessa Kisuule is back 4pm today @BBCRadio4 looking for poems that can help us think through the things we wrestle with. Today: Doomscrolling. With help from @carolinebirduk.bsky.social among others. Producer Ellie Richold www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Take up your hurdy gurdy & join us for A Medieval Christmas all week at 4pm Composer of the Week @BBCRadio3 William Lyons is Donald Macleod’s guest, exploring Christmas traditions lost, changed & familiar through glorious music. Producer Chris Taylor www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Witches, wilderness & wit. A trio of classics on A Good Read today. Poet Gwyneth Lewis & author @annabelabbs.bsky.social join @harriettsg.bsky.social with books by Sylvia Townsend Warner, Nan Shepherd & #JaneAusten. 3pm Mon 8 Dec @BBCRadio4 Producer Maggie Ayre www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Celebrate St. Nicholas Day with one of my favourite @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social paintings, St Nicholas of Bari banishing the Storm [Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452)]

The Bomb: This is a gripping, illuminating & beautifully made new series on the Cuban Missile Crisis. A personal & political history presented by relatives of the protagonists, Max Kennedy & Nina Khruscheva. Produced by Megan Jones, editor Chris Ledgard. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

A Good Read 3pm @BBCRadio4 The interior design master, Michelle Ogundehin & novelist Lisa St Aubin de Terán join @harriettsg.bsky.social to discuss some of their favourite #books. Lisa's choice is Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix which... 🧵https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n06h

The extraordinary John Rutter is our Composer of the Week @BBCRadio3 each weekday 4pm. Donald Macleod visits him at his Cambridgeshire home to discuss the twists & turns of his career, in this, his 80th birthday year. Producer Amelia Parker @BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Ode Written on the First of December - Robert Southey The green moss shines with icey glare, The long grass bends its spear-like form… Reflection too may love the hour When Nature, hid in Winter's grave, No more expands the bursting bud  Or bids the flowret bloom.

Carols Across the Country all day @BBCRadio3 We’re live from Bethlehem 1pm Sun 30 Nov with Shân Cothi who presents a selection of seasonal music & words from #Carmarthenshire #Wales. Live music @burryport.bsky.social & violinist Simmy Singh. Producer Amelia Parker www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The feast day of the scholar saint Catherine of Alexandria (25 Nov) or Catterntide. I love this characterful wood carving of her from Lower Austria c.1520/5. In the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. #StCatherine

Coppin' the Bop - Our Composer of the Week is drummer and jazz pioneer Max Roach. Kate Molleson is joined by Kevin LeGendre to explore his life, music & activism. Today - New York bebop. Each weekday 4pm @BBCRadio3 or catch up @BBCSounds. Producer Martin Williams www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Structural engineer Roma Agrawal & historian of sex @k8lister.bsky.social share A Good Read with @harriettsg.bsky.social 3pm @BBCRadio4 - The woman who took on Georgian Britain's worst husband and won; an artist's childhood & a novel about a Sri Lankan architect. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Writers Amy Sackville & Richard Benson join @harriettsg.bsky.social on A Good Read 3pm @BBCRadio4 to champion books they love by Annie Ernaux, Sylvia Townsend Warner & Ferdinand von Schirach. Produced by Sally Heaven. Find many more book recommendations @BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Wagner’s dreams - musical, romantic & revolutionary - are the subject of Composer of the Week with Donald Macleod 4pm Mon-Fri. Today’s recordings are all conducted by Charles Mackerras as part of #Mackerras100 on @BBCRadio3 Produced by Ellie Ajao #Wagner www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...