CONTORTED PASTA

I finished colouring my graphic novel on Monday, so for the foreseeable future I'll be doing the sort of work that can't divide attention with radio. Alas! I sure got in a lot of it towards the end, though.

FACTUAL
You're Dead To Me - Would you look at that, even MORE episodes of this excellent and very imbibable history podcast. New subjects include a Chinese pirate queen, ice cream, and the extraordinarily interesting life of the man who sang "Old Man River."
The Divided Brain - An examination of the role our left and right brains play in our decision making, personalities, and how we interact with the world. Neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist argues that the world has become excessively left-brain dominated and we need to restore the balance before it's too late.
In Our Time: Plato's Gorgias - A panel of experts discuss a seminal philosophical work examining power vs morality, the nature of freedom, the relationship between pleasure and self interest, and whether rhetoric holds outsized sway over politics.
Tupac Shakur, Hip Hop Immortal - I was in middle school when Tupac Shakur died, and while I was aware he was a big deal, I was utterly clueless about him. If you also wondered what the big deal was, this short documentary might help you out a bit, as it did me.
Things Fell Apart - The strapline is "Tales from the Culture Wars"; TBH I've only caught snippets on the actual radio, but they've been very good, so this is listed in order to remind me to catch up and listen properly.
Exploding Library: Jean Rhys - I had to read Wide Sargasso Sea in high school and have to admit I didn't 'get it', but I definitely god comedian Josie Long's portrait of the author and her less famous, but possibly more personal book, Good Morning, Midnight. Fun! Educational! Enthusiastic!


FICTIONAL
Fantastic Journeys - Four short stories that fall somewhere in the fantasy/scifi/magical realism spectrum, but otherwise very different from each other. I link "The Green Door" by H.G. Wells every time it comes around, but the others are also quite good and worth a listen.
Small Gods - Radio adaptation of Terry Pratchett's magnificent comic drama about religion, philosophy, and an unwelcome revelation in a desert theocracy...
Resurrection - On the surface, this Tolstoy is your typical "nobleman deflowers vulnerable maid who goes on to a life of vice, nobleman grows up and tries to make good" story, but mostly it's Tolstoy taking a good hard look at what was wrong with mid-19thC Russian society, a lot of which is sadly still relevant.
The Strange and the Sinister - Short horror stories by someone trying for, and not quite reaching, M.R. James, but they're quite good on their own terms.

FUNNY
Penguin Diplomacy - I linked to Double Acts last time, but last week's episode is the one about a stuffy Brit and an eccentric Dane and the marital habits of penguins on Skarstenø (or is it Goodwill Island?). Sometimes I wonder if this episode was a personal gift.
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - The daftest of panel games is back for another glorious 28 minutes.
Here's What We Do - Another Double Act. A silly heist and some character development, which is all very well on its own, but this one gets bonus points for taking place partly in my favourite Cambridge pub.

As you may have gathered from the lack of posts, things are a bit busy around here. Luckily, in the last couple of weeks, they've been busy in a "listening to lots of radio" kind of way. So here are some programmes that have caught in the baleen of my brain, or which I intend to sift this week:

FACTUAL
In Our Time: Animal Farm - Experts discuss George Orwell's Stalinist satire-cum-cautionary tale; best paired with the reading linked below, but whether as an apertif or a chaser is up to you.

FICTIONAL
Animal Farm - A full unabridged reading of George Orwell's Stalinist satire-cum-cautionary tale.
The Great Scott - Astonishingly, not that Scott, the other one. Radio 4 undertook to dramatise his oeuvre, slimming down each tome to fit in an hour slot. In some cases, the adaptations are a bit "free", but I've trusted all the names on the writing team for years now and they do at least deliver an intelligible radio drama. Very much the cheater's guide to Sir Walter, but I don't see myself doing it the hard way anytime soon ...
Nuremberg - A massive dramatisation of the effort to bring to justice the architects and the footsoldiers of the Holocaust.

FUNNY
Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers - The comedy memoir of one of the first voices I learned to recognise on Radio 4, most famous (to me, anyway) as Satan in Old Harry's Game (which he also wrote).
Paul Sinha's General Knowledge - If you like trivia, or unexpected connections between things, or finding out that what you think you know isn't the way it is at all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable half hour.
The Hudson and Pepperdine Show - It's not often you get a female double act leading a Radio 4 comedy, so drink up.
Radio 9 - The first series of Radio 9 had me in stitches, but they only ever seem to repeat the second series, which is a bit more twisted. Even so.
The Pin - Bite-sized sketch comedy
Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better - Each episode, a different virtue is considered comedically. Wholesome and musical standup.
The Museum of Everything - Don't forget to visit the GIFT SHOP [heavenly chorus] I can't think what separates it from so many other sketch shows, but an inordinate number of catchphrases and running gags from this show have entered my reference library.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme - No stranger to this lineup, but two special reasons for including it again:
1. No less than seventeen episodes are currently available! So much happiness!
2. Series 9. Give it time.

FRANÇAIS
Efter fire år lærende dansk, j'ai retournée à la français, en gros part parce que j'en aurai besoin bientôt. Mon français est assez mal que je ne comprends pas beaucoup en parle, mais c'est assez bon pour m'ennuie si le sujet n'est pas interressant. Alors, pour improver mon comprension, j'écoute à Aujourd'hui l'histoire, un balado de Radio-Canada – trentaine minutes, chaque jour, sur plusieurs sujets d'histoire; toujours different, toujours interressant, toujours en français, et facile à entendre. Je veux les comprendre, ça m'encourage!

Been a while since I've done one of these ... but at the same time, it's been a while since I've been working on something that has allowed (or indeed necessitated) interesting words coming in my ears. But the last week or so I've been doing the most extremely basic colouring-in, so interesting radio has been essential.

Actually, the main thing I have to link here isn't radio at all, but rather a free(?!) course from Yale on African-American history. It goes without saying that I didn't learn much about it in school; for all my TV intake was heavy in history documentaries, they were mostly cheap imports from a British knacker's yard and so rather short on the existential struggles of Black America – and I'm not sure my interest would have been piqued if they were. There is a very long post about race, media, and unconscious bias brewing, so I will say no more here; suffice it to say that there's a gap in my knowledge that is overdue being fixed, and finding this link provided the perfect opportunity to fix it.

AFAM 162 with Prof. Holloway

If you want to go all-in, there are reading materials and everything on the site as well; I've mostly been listening to it as a 'radio' lecture, but I do highly recommend switching over to watching it when he's definitely showing something. It's not a bucket of laughs, but for the first time since getting into the Oregon Trail back in Grade 5 I find myself being inspired by American history, which had hitherto been little more than a history of acquisition, be it by war or purchase or just sheer bloodymindedness. It's like discovering a spinoff series that is better than the original, and even though I consider myself to be fairly well historically informed, it has completely upended my perspective on most things. Do give it a spin.

Having been deep in the guts of these lectures all day provided the most serendipitous moment when Poetry Please, a programme I don't dislike but only ever listen to by accident, came on while I was cleaning the kitchen. The guest was a sociology professor by day, Marvel writer by night, and being a Black woman from Chicago, laid down a killer hand of poems which I would not have understood nearly so well without the fresh contextualisation. Poetry Please with Eve Ewing

And then there's the usual roster of radio plays and whatnot ...

Journal of the Plague Year - Another not-exactly-radio, but made by someone from the radio! Daniel Defoe was only a wee bairn when the Great Plague hit London in 1665, but as an adult he researched the heck out of it and wrote this mock first-hand account. Simon read it, and I listened while sewing masks, back at the start of the pandemic, and I may have linked to it then. It has become no less relevant, and the excellent reading helps smooth over what might be awkwardly archaic language on the page. (Classical theatre training FTW!)
The Divine Comedy - Dante's epic poem of the afterlife is another gaping hole in my education, but a friend of mine is super into it, so I thought I'd give this a listen just to get my bearings. I'm sure a fan of the original would find it cringey, but I thought it rather good, so maybe you will too.
Sparks - I had trepidations about this musical which juggles grief with dating, but it turned out to be really touching and well-executed, with good tunes as well, so I pass it on to you.
London Particular - A three-part drama about living within layers of history; time travel is no new narrative conceit, but this does it in a fun way that goes some interesting places. It starts out a little slow, but by halfway through ep.3 I was hoping it would be a regular series.
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham's classic is not actually about killer plants so much as what happens to society when it's had the rug pulled out from under it, and as such, it's as timely now as it's ever been.
Cadfael: Virgin in the Ice - This was probably my favourite episode of the TV series, to which I was devoted as a teen; usually this is bad news for radio adaptations, but Bert Coules works his mystery-radio magic so well I don't even mind that it's not Derek Jacobi in the lead.
Elephant in the Room - Panel show in which weirdo comedians measure up their likes, dislikes, and life experiences with public norms. Worth listening for the made-up names of respondents alone.
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - It's been an interesting year of live shows now being recorded in isolation – ISIHAC's recording tour was interrupted by the first lockdown, but the format actually made the transition to Zoom panel quite well, though the zaniness inherent in the show might be a good cover ...
Genius - Guests present to an certified genius (of some stripe or other) to ascertain if their ideas are, in fact, genius or not. Sadly the 'how to determine the opposite of anything' episode has expired, but they are all good. I especially recommend the Armando Iannucci one.
The Consultants - One of my regular favourites in the genre of Barmy Sketch Show. Often office-based but not always. Occasional songs.
What Does the K Stand For? - I have a bit of a soft spot for this sitcom about a first-generation Nigerian family in South London because it was airing when I first moved to London, and it was such a different perspective, with such strong characters.
The Brothers Faversham - Silly fake Victorian biographical sketches of an over-the-top family, with bonus "ads" and occasionally a surprisingly poignant moment.

Well, I'm off to continue getting schooled while doing my colouring-in (funny how they'd never let you do that in actual school), so, happy listening!

There has been so much good radio on, I have been too busy listening to it to get this list out in a timely fashion. Therefore some of these shows are expiring fairly quickly, and if you want to listen you should get a move on. For assistance in that, I am providing the expiration date for the first available episode, which I hope may be helpful.

FICTIONAL

Fatherland - This dramatisation of Robert Harris' book knocked my socks off when I first heard it 15 years ago, and the more I listen to it the more I am convinced it is the finest radio play ever made. Alternate history, Nazis won the war, hardbitten detective, pesky lady journalist – practically every noir trope, but it goes places. Oh, it goes places. It doesn't get repeated nearly as much as it used to, so don't miss this opportunity. (7 Sep)
A Study in Scarlet - Bert Coules' radio adaptations of the entire Sherlock Holmes canon (and some extras) are one of the best things ever to happen to radio drama, and 4 Extra has happily repeated the longer ones after a long absence. I have linked to the first episode of A Study in Scarlet but once you launch the player it should take you through The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear as well. (2 Sep)
The 39 Steps - I think I heard this one ages ago, and if memory serves it preserves some rather uncomfortable antisemitism from the book (which I assume the West End play does not) but it is a rollicking good jape otherwise. Plus, Tom Baker! (19 Sep)
Evil Under the Sun - I haven't heard this one yet, but the others in this series of Poirot adaptations have been very good so I assume this is as well. I don't like Christie's milieu as much as Doyle's – what can I say, I'm stuck in 1910 – but that's nothing against the production team here who really know how to put a radio play together. (20 Sep)
Only You Can Save Mankind - The aliens a pre-teen boy is fighting in his video game suddenly surrender, and demand safe conduct out of the war zone as per the Geneva Convention. Terry Pratchett takes the twist of Ender's Game and uses it as a starting place, exploring important ideas about humanity in the process. As a radio production this one leaves something to be desired, but it's still worth listening, especially if you haven't read the book. (18 Sep)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Unlike the book, which reads like 'everything we know about geology in 1864 held together with gossamer threads of plot', this adaptation focuses more on the adventure, and does a good job of subterranean atmosphere. (12 Sep)


FACTUAL

The Mark Steel Lecture - Always interesting and engagingly presented, the episode I've linked to is about Oliver Cromwell but everything else Steel talks about is worth a listen too. (1 Sep)
All The Planet's Wonders - A refreshingly joyful exploration of, in this case, astronomy, but the whole series will lift your spirits with wonder and curiosity. (3 Sep)
Radiolab - This series is a huge hit in podcast land, but I find it overproduced to the point of distraction so I've never really got into it. However, live shows cannot be edited to Kingdom Come, and I enjoyed this one – mainly about what killed the dinosaurs – hugely. (8 Sep)
Meet David Sedaris - It took me a while to come around to Mr Sedaris but I know lots of people like him a lot, so if you are one of those people, or wonder if you might be, here is your heads-up that his series of essay readings is back on Radio 4. (27 Aug)
How Perkin Brought Purple to the People - I haven't listened to this programme yet, but I know this story from James Burke, and it's a good one! There is no natural dye that gives you magenta, so a huge range of colours was unavailable to fashion, until someone created one from a fossil fuel byproduct. (indefinite)
The Infinite Monkey Cage - Radio 4's classic irreverent science show is back, this time discussing one of Dreamy Professor Brian Cox's favourite subjects: black holes. Recorded with an online audience! (indefinite)
You're Dead To Me - This series of history podcasts got at least ten pages of my book done. The host is the head geek behind Horrible Histories, then every episode he brings in a different expert and a comedian to discuss a historical subject for just under an hour. I'm pretty sure I've linked to it before, but it's started updating again. (indefinite)
Intrigue: The Ratline - Loving family man Otto Wachter died mysteriously in Rome a few years after the end of WWII. Could this have anything to do with what he got up to when a high ranking officer in the SS? If you enjoyed Fatherland you may find this a good chaser; its incredible twists and turns take you for quite a ride. (indefinite)

FUNNY

That Mitchell and Webb Sound - After taking their show to roaring success on TV, David Mitchell and Robert Webb returned to radio for one last go in 2013. They have lost none of their genius. (31 Aug)
Cabin Pressure - R4 has apparently finished its rerun of the best radio sitcom ever with Series 2 – I can only assume they're saving the rest for when the country needs a laugh again this winter. If you've missed it up till now, you can still listen to the last four episodes. (23 Aug)
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme - More genius sketch comedy! Honestly the name should be enough to get you to listen, but if you need further convincing, well, there just isn't a dud sketch in the whole show, and it's up to, what, eight series now? (3 Sep)
Old Harry's Game - The sitcom set in Hell really hits its stride in Series 2, when the overcrowding situation in Hell forces Satan to try to make humanity a little less sinful. (indefinite?)
Listen Against - This started as a topical comedy, where the week's programming on Radio 4 got chopped and boiled into an absurd gumbo, but it's funny enough that it keeps getting rerun as a comedy in its own right. Possibly the most self-referential thing R4 has ever made. (29 Aug)
Agendum - In a similar vein of spoofing the news, this one cocks a snook at in-depth investigative reporting and punditry. (7 Sep)
Radio Active - Dipping back into the deeper archives for this one, another sort of mock news programme from the 1980s, with roving reporters and funny names and running gags ... It should be tired by now but it still makes me laugh. (2 Sep)
The Wildebeest Years - Never before have so many puns been crammed into 28 minutes. (28 Aug)
Talking and Not Talking - A rare female-fronted silly sketch comedy; one of the best for recurring characters, including Carol who is Fine and the magnificent China Lion Lady. (1 Sep)
The Horne Section - I suppose it's a variety show, but I think of it as 'a children's show for grownups,' with skits, songs, and a generally uplifting gentle whimsy that I think we all need right now. (4 Sep)
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - The antidote to panel games which has now become the model for panel games. They're rerunning some classic episodes so fill yer boots with such immortal rounds as One Song To The Tune Of Another and Sound Charades. (2 Sep)
Reincarnathan - R4's comedy output has not been stellar of late; this sitcom about a failed human trying to make good through a series of animal reincarnations is not genius, but is the best new thing I've heard in a while. (29 Aug)
King Cutler - Some people will listen to Ivor Cutler and think 'Is this a joke?' Others will listen and think 'Is this a joke?' but not be able to stop listening and, perhaps, in the right mood, double over with laughter. Which are you? (20 Sep)
Paul Sinha's General Knowledge - The quizmaster comes back with his arms full of facts, which he effortlessly strings together in front of our very ears. (18 Sep)

When I was working on the West Coast and listening to Radio 4, my day was shaped by the rhythm of the schedule. Start with PM, some decent news and Eddie Mair's voice part of the daily ritual. Get emails etc done so I could start drawing in time for the 6:30 comedy, which was at 10:30 my time (or be annoyed that a meeting, scheduled or otherwise, intruded, which especially seemed to happen on Fridays). Then at 11:00 The Archers would come on, which was my cue to go for a second coffee and find something to do away from my desk for the longest 15 minutes of the day. Back to work for Front Row, then lunch to the accompaniment of whatever the 8:00 documentary was, and so on. Not only did this give me structure, but it made me really good at doing the time conversion between PST and GMT.

Moving to the UK, I was surprised to discover how well Radio 4 in its home time zone is tailored to the rhythms of the day, almost like it was done so deliberately by people who knew what they were doing. As I work with words a lot more now than I used to, and even when not wording am often doing drawings that take more concentration than I can share with a radio programme, I don't listen as faithfully as I used to. But it's frequently on in the kitchen, and they almost always have good kitcheny listening on when I need it. Clever old things.

As I'm trying to establish a new routine in the new place, I have noticed a funny thing: no matter when I start work in the morning, I get antsy around 11:00. It's too early for lunch but too late for a snack that won't ruin lunch; sometimes I'll get up for a drink but usually I have a teapot on the go next to my desk so it's not much of a trip. Yesterday I realised it's the old Archers Avoidance, which has somehow stuck in my work rhythm despite no longer aligning to The Archers at all. It's like a small personal version of those nonsensical family traditions that are perpetuated simply because 'we've always done it this way.' Today I moved a geranium outside and fertilised it, checked the mildew situation on the acanthus, and came back before I realised I'd got up at 11 again. I suppose I'll just have to work around it ...

I've been sick this week. It's the third cold in as many months, which is very frustrating, but what can you do? Turns out the answer is sleep. I have slept for about four days. I guess I needed it.

When I came home with a bad cold last year, I discovered the tremendous practical use of television: It is sufficiently interesting to keep me in bed doing nothing, i.e. resting, without requiring as much cognitive effort as reading, which is often beyond my decongestant-fogged brain. Last year I imbibed The Terror; this year I indulged the opportunity to catch up on the BBC's new rendition of the first part of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.

I remember when the first book came out. It was at the crest of the wave of post-Harry Potter YA Fantasy. I listened to the audiobook back in those days when I had a tape deck at my desk but not a computer. It wasn't notably satisfying and left me a bit hollow, but was a fun dark adventure that kept me on task, and was better than a lot of the YA fantasy audiobooks I was listening to around that time. Eventually I consumed the other two in the series, but the last one put me off. Pullman was the YA Fantasy representative of the secular humanist cabal making a lot of noise post-9/11 (Richard Dawkins being the loudest) and his books were blatantly trying to be the anti-Narnia for a new, enlightened, Godless generation. This was fine as a premise for the series, but by the third book he had managed to get more evangelical than C.S. Lewis ever was. The preachiness of the last book rather soured my taste for the whole series and I didn't read (or listen to) it again.

My curiosity was piqued by the new TV adaptation, which aired shortly after I left for my Antarctic adventure. I was pleased to find it was still available on the iPlayer when I got back to the UK, so I watched it between naps as I tried to sleep off this cold. It has been probably fifteen years since I was familiar with the books, so I cannot comment as to the faithfulness of the adaptation, but it held on to what little I remember both in storyline and atmosphere, and it was a thoroughly admirable production on all fronts even if the approach to polar architecture broke my suspension of disbelief. Despite the excellent performances and wonderfully executed production, though, I was still left with that empty feeling – it was a grand adventure, but nothing much stayed with me, and in marked contrast to The Terror, even in my susceptible state I didn't much care about any of the characters. Why was such an obstensibly philosophical story so devoid of lasting impact?

It seems to have percolated a bit in my sleep since finishing it, and I woke this morning feeling like I'd figured something out.

In order to understand what I'm getting at, you need to be at least passingly familiar with the premise and basic storyline of The Northern Lights, first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy:

( A Story Rundown with Necessary Spoilers )

( And so, what I think is missing ...  )

So once again I find I have been spoiled by Terry Pratchett, who is much better both at storytelling and proselytising for secular humanism, in part because he knows how to show, not tell, and abstains from lecturing the reader. Pullman can't even make the defence that he's writing for children, because one of Pratchett's best deconstructions of organised religion is the Bromeliad trilogy, which is openly aimed at younger readers. The sneaky thing about Terry Pratchett is that, in the midst of tearing down codified belief systems, he nevertheless provides worldly wisdom and teaches the reader how to be a better person, something Philip Pullman leaves hanging. Will there ever be a high-value TV miniseries adaptation of a Pratchett book, that takes itself as seriously as His Dark Materials? There have been a few attempts, but the essence tends to get lost in translation. Someday, maybe. We can but hope.

I'm back in the comfortable old shoes of drawing all day and listening to radio programmes to keep me on task, so for the first time in a long time, here is a reccs list!

CBC
Q - The CBC's arts and culture show – I haven't listened in ages, but had 383 unlistened podcasts on my iTunes so last week it was easier just to set them playing than hunt for new stuff. I'd forgotten how good it is! They featured a lot of segments from their tour to Nunavut, which was fascinating – so much really interesting new music and excellent people. I will leave you to browse what's on the main site and the less decorative but more full Podcasts page; I recommend the first episode from Iqaluit as a starter.
Then of course there's Ideas, which is as always a smorgasbord of intellectual delights. Recent highlights include:
Dangers of Denialism - The appeal of conspiracy theories and other denials of reality is well known; this takes a look at the underlying psychological factors at play, and some of the not-so-obvious ramifications.
Cata$trophe - An energetic and engaging chat about what really happened in the 2008 financial meltdown, and its surprising aftereffects.
Atheist Overreach - The New Atheism makes big claims about a good and just society freed from the corruption of religion. But how plausible are their projections? A nice objective look at a 'culture war' in which we usually only hear from one side or the other.

BBC
The most important thing on the Radio 4/4x lineup is, of course, the return of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme – gosh it's nice to laugh out loud several times during a comedy half hour, again.
Other stuff for your remaining half-hours:
Paul Sinha's History Revision - This episode takes a humourous but well-informed look at exciting stories of history's women, which have largely been left out of the curriculum; other episodes have other themes.
A Place of Greater Safety - The three-part dramatisation of Hilary Mantel's novel about the French Revolution is available again. With the prosperity gap widening and socio-economic frustration rising, and young idealists certain they know how to re-engineer society, it feels more timely than ever.
Simon Evans Goes to Market - A witty and insightful analysis of three great economic thinkers: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes.
Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation - Following his death in February, the BBC are rerunning a lot of Hardy content, including this series. The linked episode is about food; there are others.
When Jeremy Hardy Spoke to the Nation - A lovingly-compiled clip show which will give you an idea who Jeremy Hardy was, and what we have lost.
Raffles - The gentleman thief and his faithful sidekick rifle through the strong rooms of London. I must admit it was surprisingly difficult to get used to the idea of a pair of late-Victorian adventurous chaps being on the side of crime, after so many years listening to the Bert Coules Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but these are good fun.
Jigsaw - Should you desire more sketch comedy after JFSP but perhaps wish it to be of a slightly darker roast, this also delivers madness and songs in a late-night vein.
Warhorses of Letters - You'd think an epistolary gay romance between Napoleonic horses would be a really bad idea, but it works. It really works.

And now, an entry for the gallery of deeply inappropriate title graphics:



I don't remember when I first heard the radio dramatisation of The Idiot, but I know it was before I went to work at Disney, because it made me laugh when people there called anything mildly unpleasant "dark." No, no, this is dark. It takes a really brutal turn at the end, but there's plenty of the darkness of the human soul right from the beginning.

I only know Tolstoy and Dostoevsky from dramatisations of their work, but if that's anything to go by, I prefer the latter: Tolstoy is a great observer of people, but Dostoevsky sees through them. In doing so, he makes the genre of 19th-century drawing-room drama – which I tend to find petty and tiresome – into an indictment of that whole world, and thereby much more satisfying.

But what do I know, I've never read the books.

Once upon a time I had an idea to do an art book of "failed adaptations" – Disney-style concept art for hilariously un-Disney properties – where I could learn different styles and apply them to such inappropriate* stories as Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451. When my dreams of working in vis dev died a wholly justifiable death, there didn't seem much point for the exercise, but I still think about it sometimes.
*I still think these would make great animated films; they are "inappropriate" only for the general public's disagreement with that idea. There's no reason animation has to be just for kids!

It's funny, now that I'm doing my former "playtime" (drawing polar explorers) for a """job""", I have to remind myself to play occasionally – there's book stuff I need to be doing, but if I don't have a bit of fun every now and again, even a job as fun and rewarding as that will start to wear heavy.

Once again I haven't been listening to as much radio as I normally do; in large part this is due to listening to French-language radio while drawing, in order to 'keep my ear in' and not lose the barely functional level I reached at Annecy (I could have a brief conversation about a sandwich! Quel expérience!) and is why I have strange Québecois songs to share with you. But there's still loads going on in the Anglosphere, so here's what I might have been listening to if I'd been filling my days with English instead:

FUN FACTS
Expletive Repeated: Why Swearing Matters - A really fascinating study of swearing and how profanity has evolved generationally, especially in the last 20 years.
Decolonization: The Next 150 on Indigenous Lands - Canada's 150th birthday prompts some serious analysis of the colony-country's relationship with its original inhabitants, and their land.
Are We F'd? - Why is there such resistance to the idea of climate change? Is it a social problem as much – or more than – a scientific or political one? How can there be any clear thinking when people have so much of their identity wrapped up in the issue?
Not a show (yet), but the 2017 Massey Lectures are coming up in November and I am so excited.
Lord Byron - Comedian Mark Steel takes a look at the frankly unbelievable life of the original Bad Boy.
Spotlight Tonight - Nish Kumar nailed the Now Show monologue and the hosting of topical sketch show Newsjack, and now has his own show from which to lampoon the ghastly state we're all in. Because that's what the world needs right now, more lampoons stuck in it. (no, listen, it's funny, and we all need a laugh.)

FACTUAL FICTION
The Worst Journey in the World - The radio play that started all ... [gestures] ... this. Its current iPlayer manifestation expires tomorrow, so listen up if you're gonna.
Lights, Camera, Kidnap! - Based on a true story about some South Korean filmmakers who were abducted by Kim Jong-Il to make a film for him.
Apollo 21 - Mockumentary looking back on the moon landings from 40 years on, hosted by a mysteriously Northern Buzz Aldrin.

FICTIONAL FUN
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett's first City Watch book, dramatised for radio. Vimes sounds too middle-class and Sybil sounds about seventy, but it's so good to revisit them I almost don't mind.
All the Time in the World - Speaking of Terry Pratchett, I'd be amazed if this Arthur C. Clarke short story about a thief and time didn't inspire Thief of Time.
Tove Jansson Short Stories The creator of the Moomins went on to write more serious grownup books, but lost none of that brilliant insight and wry love for authentic characters.
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - An entry in the genre of British folkloric YA (think The Dark Is Rising), this time set in the North.
Think the Unthinkable - The sitcom about an abysmal consultancy company is back ... It's not Cabin Pressure, but it's one of the few sitcoms I genuinely enjoy, so worth trying out (I think) if you'd like some lighthearted character comedy.
Woman in Black - Halloween is coming up, and the spooky autumnal programming is starting to creep onto the iPlayer. There was a movie made of this Susan Hill book, but as always the pictures are better on radio.

WELL NOW YOU'RE JUST BEING SILLY
The 99p Challenge - The king of gloriously stupid panel games – like those sleep-deprived crazy riffs with your college buddies, but if your buddies were Sue Perkins, Armando Iannucci, Simon Pegg, and their lot.
Genius - In which a guest genius and a funny host evaluate genius life hacks, creative problem solving, and just plain goofy ideas from the audience.
Armstrong & Miller - Barmy sketches ... as you know, one of my favourite things. This show is from near the forefront of the modern Barmy Sketch movement, but holds up pretty well.
Museum of Everything - While everyone else thinks of pirates when they hear Bristolians, I think of the curators of the Museum of Everything, a barmy sketch comedy on the theme of semi-obscure regional attractions. Not to be confused with The Museum of Curiosity (though goodness knows I do).
Just a Minute - The perennial jaw-droppingly clever mile-a-minute rhetoric game, this one being particularly special in that it welcomes back Mighty Marathoness Sue Perkins.

In advance of my trip to Annecy, I've been listening to francophone radio more or less solidly since March, trying to improve my comprehension. Now that I'm back in the linguistic brothel where English was born, it's time to do some catching up – and oh, what a lot there is to choose from!

FACTUAL
The Reith Lectures: Hilary Mantel - Author of Wolf Hall and A Place of Greater Safety speaks fascinatingly about historical fiction, our relationship with the past, how and why we resurrect the dead in stories, and many other things very close to my heart.
Away with the Fairies - An exploration of the journey the Little People have made in popular culture, from uncanny threat to sparkly friends.

FICTIONAL
Golden Hill - An excellent jape set in colonial New York. Only available until the wee hours, UK time, so if you're reading this on June 20th, give it a listen while you can – it's a very good story, very well read!
I, Claudius - A radio adaptation of the famous historical novel. I've only caught half of one episode so far, but it's very good, so will be catching up on the rest as an antidote to the news. If you think man's inhumanity to man is a recent thing, well, you don't know much about the Romans...
A Place of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel's novel of the French Revolution, and a salient cautionary tale for passionate idealists on either side of the political spectrum. This production I know for a fact is fabulous, as it was so good the first time I recorded it and listened over and over. Highly recommended.
Hard Times - I never got into this novel when I tried reading it, but the exploration of heartless pragmatism vs anything else is appealing, so I hope the radio adaptation is a way in to the Industrial Revolutionary fable.
Nineteen Ninety-Eight - A spoof of Orwell's 1984, but when the main character Edward Wilson goes in pursuit of Truth and ends up founding a Movement, and it stars David Threlfall (my favourite Iago) and Hugh Laurie (Hugh Laurie), there's reason enough to listen right there.

FUNNY
Double Acts - John Finnemore's series of droll two-character dramas is back! As always, anything he writes is worth listening to – these aren't as laugh-out-loud funny as Cabin Pressure or Souvenir Programme, but are great little character pieces, and have such range.
Saturday Night Fry - Stephen Fry, Hugh Laure, Jim Broadbent and guests are silly on the wireless – and SO YOUNG.
The Burkiss Way - Vintage barmy sketch comedy
The Harpoon - Slightly more recent barmy sketch comedy, spoofing much less recent and generally non-comedic kids' magazines.
The Consultants - Contemporary barmy sketch comedy
John Finnemore, Apparently - Contemporary barmy sketch comedy by a certain eponymous gentleman, airing Thursday
Talking and Not Talking - Contemporary barmy sketch comedy, with a little more gender balance
On the Town With the League of Gentlemen - Barmiest of all comedy, the radio series that preceded the TV series that launched the careers of Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith, and Steve Pemberton.


And now my laptop's overheating, so I will leave it there! Enjoy!