http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/The Radio 4 Choice podcast brings you our pick of the best of the week's documentaries on BBC Radio 4. A new episode is published every Friday. As part of a short trial, episodes of this podcast will be available until the end of December 2009. To find out more visit bbc.co.uk/podcasts/trialThe Radio 4 Choice podcast brings you our pick of the best of the week's documentaries on BBC Radio 4. A new episode is published every Friday. As part of a short trial, episodes of this podcast will be available until the end of December 2009. To find out more visit bbc.co.uk/podcasts/trialBBC Radio 4BBCpodcast.support@bbc.co.uken-gb720http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/r4choice/assets/_300x300.jpghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/(C) BBC 2009Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:15 +0000Documentary, history, science, current affairs, newsDocumentary, history, science, current affairs, newsnononadultIn the heart of London's East End, a team of craftsmen preserves a set of skills dating back to the 1500s, turning out bells for churches and cathedrals across Britain and around the world. Poet and closet campanologist Ian McMillan spends a day among Whitechapel's foundrymen, and follows the birth of a new ring of bells set to bring back life to a church tower which has stood silent since the Second World War.In the heart of London's East End, a team of craftsmen preserves a set of skills dating back to the 1500s, turning out bells for churches and cathedrals across Britain and around the world. Poet and closet campanologist Ian McMillan spends a day among...In the heart of London's East End, a team of craftsmen preserves a set of skills dating back to the 1500s, turning out bells for churches and cathedrals across Britain and around the world. Poet and closet campanologist Ian McMillan spends a day among Whitechapel's foundrymen, and follows the birth of a new ring of bells set to bring back life to a church tower which has stood silent since the Second World War.Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +000028:36http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091106-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091106-1600a.mp3BBC Radio 4It's a skill most politicians clearly feel they've got to learn - how to duck out of tricky questions when they're being interviewed. But if you listen carefully you may discover that they're actually giving away more than they think. In the Sunday Supplement, Jon Sopel discusses why politicians are so evasive - and why it's often a bad idea. Here he is then, cutting through all the equivocation, in Avoiding the Question.It's a skill most politicians clearly feel they've got to learn - how to duck out of tricky questions when they're being interviewed. But if you listen carefully you may discover that they're actually giving away more than they think. In the Sunday...It's a skill most politicians clearly feel they've got to learn - how to duck out of tricky questions when they're being interviewed. But if you listen carefully you may discover that they're actually giving away more than they think. In the Sunday Supplement, Jon Sopel discusses why politicians are so evasive - and why it's often a bad idea. Here he is then, cutting through all the equivocation, in Avoiding the Question.Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +000014:16http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091030-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091030-1600b.mp3BBC Radio 4Novelist Bidisha considers the role of text in art. Does a picture made from words count as literature or art? She talks to gallery visitors reading Richard Long's words on the walls, asks how it is different from a book by Dali, and considers text as art with Keith Tyson, Fiona Banner, Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari.Novelist Bidisha considers the role of text in art. Does a picture made from words count as literature or art? She talks to gallery visitors reading Richard Long's words on the walls, asks how it is different from a book by Dali, and considers text as...Novelist Bidisha considers the role of text in art. Does a picture made from words count as literature or art? She talks to gallery visitors reading Richard Long's words on the walls, asks how it is different from a book by Dali, and considers text as art with Keith Tyson, Fiona Banner, Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari.Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +010028:11http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091023-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091023-1600a.mp3BBC Radio 4In 1984, the Provisional IRA mounted their most audacious terrorist attack - attempting to blow up the British cabinet at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Michael Dobbs, a former senior adviser to Margaret Thatcher and John Major, was at the Grand Hotel when the bomb detonated. He believes its legacy has had a profound impact on our politics, especially at party conferences and Westminster. Revisiting Brighton for the first time since 1984 and talking to leading political figures, he asks if we have struck the right balance in protecting politicians and ensuring they are not cocooned from the people they serve. Featuring contributions from Lord Tebbit, Ken Livingstone, Alastair Campbell, Charles Clarke, Charles Kennedy and Francis Maude.In 1984, the Provisional IRA mounted their most audacious terrorist attack - attempting to blow up the British cabinet at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Michael Dobbs, a former senior adviser to Margaret Thatcher and John Major, was at...In 1984, the Provisional IRA mounted their most audacious terrorist attack - attempting to blow up the British cabinet at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Michael Dobbs, a former senior adviser to Margaret Thatcher and John Major, was at the Grand Hotel when the bomb detonated. He believes its legacy has had a profound impact on our politics, especially at party conferences and Westminster. Revisiting Brighton for the first time since 1984 and talking to leading political figures, he asks if we have struck the right balance in protecting politicians and ensuring they are not cocooned from the people they serve. Featuring contributions from Lord Tebbit, Ken Livingstone, Alastair Campbell, Charles Clarke, Charles Kennedy and Francis Maude.Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +010028:35http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091016-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091016-1600a.mp3BBC Radio 4Janet Ellis heads to Cornwall, Preston and Macclesfield to speak to authors, storytellers and academics about the power of the mermaid image and its origins. The legend of the mermaid is said to date back to the days when sailors far from home would mistake sea mammals like manatees and dugongs for semi-human creatures. Since the days of Homer, the image of the mysterious female luring sailors to their deaths has remained extremely powerful in the popular imagination, and has survived numerous reinventions over the centuries. With the help of the likes of Hans Christian Andersen and Walt Disney, mermaids have become as much a mainstay of modern childhood as pirates and princesses. Janet trawls through the myriad mermaid references in art and literature, from Robert Graves and TS Eliot to the Pre-Raphaelites, who used the mermaid as a powerful image of voluptuous sexuality.Janet Ellis heads to Cornwall, Preston and Macclesfield to speak to authors, storytellers and academics about the power of the mermaid image and its origins. The legend of the mermaid is said to date back to the days when sailors far from home...Janet Ellis heads to Cornwall, Preston and Macclesfield to speak to authors, storytellers and academics about the power of the mermaid image and its origins. The legend of the mermaid is said to date back to the days when sailors far from home would mistake sea mammals like manatees and dugongs for semi-human creatures. Since the days of Homer, the image of the mysterious female luring sailors to their deaths has remained extremely powerful in the popular imagination, and has survived numerous reinventions over the centuries. With the help of the likes of Hans Christian Andersen and Walt Disney, mermaids have become as much a mainstay of modern childhood as pirates and princesses. Janet trawls through the myriad mermaid references in art and literature, from Robert Graves and TS Eliot to the Pre-Raphaelites, who used the mermaid as a powerful image of voluptuous sexuality.Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +010027:32http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091009-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091009-1600a.mp3BBC Radio 4In 2008 Bristol won the bid to be the demonstration 'Cycling City' for the rest of the country, despite having lots of hills, narrow roads and a huge level of car dependency. A year into the launch of Cycling City, Miles Warde bikes round Bristol to find out how the initiative is working on the streets, where the 22.8 million pounds that has been ringfenced for the project is going, and the chances of reaching the highly ambitious target of doubling the number of cyclists in the area within three years. He hears from a range of cyclists, some of the people responsible for the budget, and a couple of cycling visionaries who sense that a better world is within our grasp.In 2008 Bristol won the bid to be the demonstration 'Cycling City' for the rest of the country, despite having lots of hills, narrow roads and a huge level of car dependency. A year into the launch of Cycling City, Miles Warde bikes round Bristol...In 2008 Bristol won the bid to be the demonstration 'Cycling City' for the rest of the country, despite having lots of hills, narrow roads and a huge level of car dependency. A year into the launch of Cycling City, Miles Warde bikes round Bristol to find out how the initiative is working on the streets, where the 22.8 million pounds that has been ringfenced for the project is going, and the chances of reaching the highly ambitious target of doubling the number of cyclists in the area within three years. He hears from a range of cyclists, some of the people responsible for the budget, and a couple of cycling visionaries who sense that a better world is within our grasp.Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +010028:08http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091002-1600.mp3http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20091002-1600b.mp3BBC Radio 4