David Hepworth on Radio 4 remixed, Valley folk, the nuclear option and a gay day coronation
By the sound of things, Radio 4 be tripping. The first part of the Gerald Scarfe-fronted *Recycled Radio* (Monday, 11am, R4) slices and dices a whole mess of pre-loved Radio 4 output with some beats to lend it a contemporary flavour. Old editions of The Archers, Great Lives, On The Ropes and Bertrand Russell delivering the Reith Lecture all zip by "like an Archive Hour on speed", as Scarfe infelicitously puts it. The theme is power, a word that must perforce be said with a growl in the back of the throat. Power apparently fascinates Scarfe. "What connects Richard Nixon, Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan?" he asks, which may be a hint. The format means nobody need spell out an exact point of view much beyond saying "and here's another thing". There's an implicit assumption that power is always sinister and soundtracked by manic cackling.
Contrast his account of power with a recent New Yorker audio production in its *Out Loud* series in which experts George Packer and Ken Auletta discuss the culture and politics of Silicon Valley, where people wield power silently and don't like to think they're doing it. Nothing in British broadcasting, not even the excellent Media Show, can match this nuanced discussion of the achievements and shortcomings of the world of tech, which seems more material to our current concerns than most subjects on the news agenda. Why has the tech revolution been accompanied by a period of economic decline in the west? What happens when technology emerges from its indulged adolescence into the full glare of adult responsibility? Will the geniuses running these organisations ever read anything more challenging than tweets from their friends? Do any of us care as long as they keep selling us Cool Stuff? It's worth hearing.
The paradox of power is that the minute you use it you don't have it any longer, an idea touched upon in a snappy two-handed play *The Letter Of Last Resort *(Saturday, 2.30pm, R4). In it, a Sir Humphrey figure asks the new PM to compose the letter the commander of Britain's last Trident submarine must open if it appears the UK has been vaporised. She's ambivalent about nuclear weapons; he believes in their "philosophical value". There are some unexpected jokes, as well as the ones we could probably predict. "It's like Yes, Prime Minister.""Yes, Prime Minister."
*Coronation Day Across The World* (Sunday, 8pm, R4 Extra) reprises the live broadcast that went out that evening 60 years ago. It was particularly high risk in the days when they couldn't be sure that anyone would be there when they opened the line to the Mall or the summit of Ben Nevis, the social housing in Camberwell or the correspondent on the banks of the Mersey, let alone to the handful of embattled Anglophiles gathered in a Paris bar to say "Vive la reine". The fun all these people are having is medievally quaint. There is not one mention of an alcoholic drink throughout the broadcast; on the other hand, "gay" is freely bandied about.
*5 Live's Big Day Out* (Saturday, 6pm, 5 Live) includes a longer version of Fighting Talk, the 606 End Of Season Awards and a live set by Primal Scream. It is hoped that the Liverpool Echo Arena will be rammed. Over the last few months this event has had on-air advertising that competing promoters wouldn't be able to afford, even if they were allowed to buy it. Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.
By the sound of things, Radio 4 be tripping. The first part of the Gerald Scarfe-fronted *Recycled Radio* (Monday, 11am, R4) slices and dices a whole mess of pre-loved Radio 4 output with some beats to lend it a contemporary flavour. Old editions of The Archers, Great Lives, On The Ropes and Bertrand Russell delivering the Reith Lecture all zip by "like an Archive Hour on speed", as Scarfe infelicitously puts it. The theme is power, a word that must perforce be said with a growl in the back of the throat. Power apparently fascinates Scarfe. "What connects Richard Nixon, Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan?" he asks, which may be a hint. The format means nobody need spell out an exact point of view much beyond saying "and here's another thing". There's an implicit assumption that power is always sinister and soundtracked by manic cackling.
Contrast his account of power with a recent New Yorker audio production in its *Out Loud* series in which experts George Packer and Ken Auletta discuss the culture and politics of Silicon Valley, where people wield power silently and don't like to think they're doing it. Nothing in British broadcasting, not even the excellent Media Show, can match this nuanced discussion of the achievements and shortcomings of the world of tech, which seems more material to our current concerns than most subjects on the news agenda. Why has the tech revolution been accompanied by a period of economic decline in the west? What happens when technology emerges from its indulged adolescence into the full glare of adult responsibility? Will the geniuses running these organisations ever read anything more challenging than tweets from their friends? Do any of us care as long as they keep selling us Cool Stuff? It's worth hearing.
The paradox of power is that the minute you use it you don't have it any longer, an idea touched upon in a snappy two-handed play *The Letter Of Last Resort *(Saturday, 2.30pm, R4). In it, a Sir Humphrey figure asks the new PM to compose the letter the commander of Britain's last Trident submarine must open if it appears the UK has been vaporised. She's ambivalent about nuclear weapons; he believes in their "philosophical value". There are some unexpected jokes, as well as the ones we could probably predict. "It's like Yes, Prime Minister.""Yes, Prime Minister."
*Coronation Day Across The World* (Sunday, 8pm, R4 Extra) reprises the live broadcast that went out that evening 60 years ago. It was particularly high risk in the days when they couldn't be sure that anyone would be there when they opened the line to the Mall or the summit of Ben Nevis, the social housing in Camberwell or the correspondent on the banks of the Mersey, let alone to the handful of embattled Anglophiles gathered in a Paris bar to say "Vive la reine". The fun all these people are having is medievally quaint. There is not one mention of an alcoholic drink throughout the broadcast; on the other hand, "gay" is freely bandied about.
*5 Live's Big Day Out* (Saturday, 6pm, 5 Live) includes a longer version of Fighting Talk, the 606 End Of Season Awards and a live set by Primal Scream. It is hoped that the Liverpool Echo Arena will be rammed. Over the last few months this event has had on-air advertising that competing promoters wouldn't be able to afford, even if they were allowed to buy it. Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.