Onward, Radio Soldiers

An American journalist writes a paean to the glories of Radio 4?

YES PLEASE.

Some highlights:

Critics and audiences alike praise offerings such as "A History of the World in 100 Objects," a fascinating series exploring artifacts stored at the British Museum. ...

The program, like so many others that have earned wide acclaim, is heard on BBC Radio 4, a channel with national reach and whose impact on this country can be hard to overestimate. With more than 10 million listeners a week, Radio 4 is, in many ways, the standard-bearer of quality radio in Britain. It's been called "the greatest broadcasting channel in the world."

"Their target might be 'whoever has a curious mind,' whether it's urban or rural, male or female," said David Hendy, a communications professor at the University of Westminster and the author of a history of Radio 4. "That makes it different from commercial operators who have to define a segment they're going to target."

But that doesn't prevent the channel from inspiring a devotion among enthusiasts that can border on the "fanatical or fundamentalist," as one writer put it.

Normally I am against fundamentalism in all its guises, but the idea of Radio 4 fundamentalists is oddly attractive. In fact, I may already be one. HALLELUJAH!

WARNING: the article linked above contains a small spoiler for A History of the World in 100 Objects.

Here's One For You, Sunny Jim

SERIOUSLY.


Though to be fair, at 9% humidity it doesn't feel like 109 ... or how I would imagine 109 to feel, at least.