Archive on 4: In the Psychiatrist’s ChairRadio 4/BBC Sounds, 8pmA memorable edition finds one of the BBC’s great interviewers, Kirsty Young, looking back on the work of another, the master of the emotionally freighted radio interview, Prof Anthony Clare. From 1982 to 2001, Clare served up a succession of rarely bettered encounters with famous names on his Radio 4 seriesIn the Psychiatrist’s Chair. Young selects some of the most revealing – with Claire Rayner, Ann Widdecombe, Bob Monkhouse, Maya Angelou and Hanif Kureishi among others – reflecting on the blend of psychiatric training and journalistic flair that made Clare such a formidable scrutiniser of the psyche and virtuoso of the radio confessional.
Saturday 9 May
Opera on 3: La Fille du RégimentRadio 3/BBC Sounds, 6pmIn the right hands, Donizetti’s frothy romcom is a guarantee of dazzling singing; in the hands of glorious coloratura soprano (and darling of the Met) Erin Morley, as Maria, andbel cantospecialist Lawrence Brownlee, as Tonio, expect this recording from New York last October to be positively incandescent.
Sunday 10 May
Desert Island DiscsRadio 4/BBC Sounds, 10amFromState of PlayandThe DealtoThe Walking Dead,Sherwood,Daddy Issuesand most recentlyGone, David Morrissey has delivered countless memorable performances on our TV screens. Here’s a rare chance to get a glimpse of the man behind the actor’s mask as Lauren Laverne draws him out on career highs and lows, his musical and literary favourites and, of course, that luxury choice.
Radcliffe and MaconieRadio 6 Music/BBC Sounds, 8amIt’s Slow Sunday on Radio 6 Music, with shows across the day dialling down the tempo ahead of UK Mental Health Awareness Week. Stuart Maconie flies solo this week, treating listeners to a relaxing morning by the riverbank, with soothing riparian tracks from the likes of Nick Drake, Ibeyi, The Coral, Lykke Li and Al Green. Later,Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour(1pm) explores the therapeutic value of birdwatching, whileMary Anne Hobbs(6pm) experiences the joy of forest bathing and the magic of trees, with archive words and music from the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Monday 11 May
Exploring Art HistoryFortnightly on Mondays, all major platformsIf your art interests ever stray towards the academic, check out this new podcast in which writer, filmmaker and all-round polymath Howard Burton delves deeply with art historians about their key subjects. So far, he’s discussed Albrecht Dürer with UCLA print specialist Susan Dackerman and, in a particularly captivating encounter, brought historical maps into the art arena with cartographic historian Jessica Maier. He’s also given over two episodes for an exploration of Michelangelo with renowned expert Bill Wallace – it’s worth checking out the visualised version for the illustrations, but not essential.
RinsedRadio 4/BBC Sounds, 1.45pmChannel 4’s horrifyingDirty Businessdidn’t quite arouse the hoped-for national outcry. Perhaps Kate Lamble’s daily 10-parter for Radio 4 about the pollution scandal that’s seen UK water companies pumping untreated sewage into our rivers for decades, suffocating plants, killing wildlife and making people ill – while rinsing every one of us for profits – will raise awareness to a level where our spineless Environment Agency and supine government are finally forced to do something about it.
Tuesday 12th May
Eurovision 2026: Semi-Final 1Radio 2/BBC Sounds, 8pmIt’s that time of the year, when glitter and high-camp pop take over the airwaves ahead of Saturday’s Eurovision grand final in Vienna. Parachuted in to cover most of Scott Mills’s former Radio 2 duties,Sara Coxmust have had to spend the last month swotting up on obscure Europop gossip and triviato prepare for this unexpected debut. She hosts the two live semi-final competitions tonight and Thursday, with Rylan joining Cox for the grand final. Upbeat comedian Ellie Taylor, meanwhile, fills in on Cox’s usual teatime slot.
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A Century in a Click: 100 Years of the PhotoboothRadio 4/BBC Sounds, 4pmTaking his cue from a recent exhibition at the Photographer’s Gallery in London celebrating the centenary of the photobooth, Alan Dein weaves a typically masterly tale infused with memory and nostalgia on the silliness and old-fashioned serendipity of sitting in a boxful of camera lenses and chemicals to capture your identity, or just a unique moment in life.
Wednesday 13 May
Tales from the Celebrity TrenchesWednesdays, all major platformsBack in the “wild west” days of the internet, Jamie East, via hisHoly Molywebsite, was one of the first – alongside rivalPopbitch– to successfully surf the unstoppable wave of celebrity gossip. Now carving a career in podcasting, his latest series takes him back to his pop culture roots, chatting with showbiz friends old and new (his first guest is Simon Cowell) about the weird and often hilarious world of celebrity. On a more serious note, Maria Sharapova’s weekly podcastPretty Toughfinds the former World No 1 tennis player leveraging a different kind of celebrity to sit down with high-achieving women(among themZoe Saldaña, Chelsea Handler and Gabriella Hirst) to ease out what it takes to succeed on your own terms.
John Tothill Forgives Your SinsRadio 4/BBC Sounds, 6.30pmA delightfully effervescent half-hour in which former teacher Tothill (a Best Show nominee at last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards) encourages audience members to share their most embarrassing mistakes – and shares his own considerable back catalogue of comedy-gold errors.
Thursday 14 May
Live from Mount OlympusThursdays, all major platformsThe US podcast that fuses Greek mythology with music-driven children’s storytelling and innovative narrative techniques returns for a seventh and final series, this time telling the story of those divinely different twins, Apollo and Artemis. With a back catalogue covering everything from Pandora, Persephone and Prometheus to Theseus and Ariadne, it’s an effortlessly accessible route into the classics.
Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange with Sarah Raven & FriendsThursdays, all major platformsIt’s been going since lockdown, but Mary Berry’s appearance this week and Adam Nicolson’s contribution on the secret history of Sissinghurst a fortnight ago reminded us what a perfect weekend podcast this is for anyone remotely green-fingered. Ravens’s passions – as a gardener, writer, teacher and cook – shine through across a wide range of horticulture-related subjects, guaranteeing all kinds of outdoor and indoor inspiration for the weekend ahead.
Open CountryRadio4/BBC Sounds, 3pmAlmost 60 years since Donald Campbell lost his life attempting to break his own world speed record, his restored iconic jet-powered hydroplaneBluebird K7(those grainy black and white images of it flipping up and disintegrating in 1967 were etched on countless memories) isreturning to Coniston Wateras part of a week-long festival celebrating the 70th anniversary of Campbell’s 1956 world record and other achievements. Caz Graham is waterside for what’s sure to be an emotional first run out.
Friday 15 May
Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Eurovision Kitchen DiscoRadio 2/BBC Sounds, 9pmAhead of Saturday’s grand final in Vienna, Radio 2’s queen of the Friday night dancefloor hosts her annualEurovisiontribute show of back-to-back, guaranteed floor-filling Europop bangers, from Eurovision classics such as Abba’sWaterlooand Loreen’sEuphoriato the more tangential hits from Girls Aloud and Tom Jones. If musical theatre is more your bag (and, who knows, there might be a crossover audience),Friday Night Is Music Night(Radio 3, 7.30pm)features a Richard Rodgers special from the BBC Concert Orchestra, recorded at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton last month.
