Archive on 4

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

Radio 4,699 episodes

Episodes

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The Revolution That Nearly Wasn't
Elinor Goodman explores the general election that brought Harold Wilson to power in 1964.
11 Oct 2014,58 mins
From Inside: The Guildford Four
Martin McNamara presents Paul Hill's letters from jail, read by Jonjo O'Neill.
04 Oct 2014,58 mins,
Joan Littlewood and the People's Theatre
Richard Eyre pays tribute to maverick left-wing theatre director Joan Littlewood.
27 Sep 2014,58 mins
Four Women Poets Today
Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead, Gillian Clarke and Eavan Boland on gender and poetry.
20 Sep 2014,60 mins
Media and the Middle East
Why does the Arab-Israeli conflict attract so much media attention? With John Lloyd.
13 Sep 2014,58 mins
No More Heroes
Angie Hobbs examines the changing nature of the hero, from the Iliad to the present day.
06 Sep 2014,58 mins
The Eccentric Entrepreneur
Dominic Sandbrook explores the life of 1930s radio station magnate Leonard Plugge.
30 Aug 2014,60 mins
Vietnam and the Presidents
David Taylor looks at the Vietnam War through the eyes of three presidents.
23 Aug 2014,58 mins
You Are Feeling Sleepy
The extraordinary history and science of the use of hypnosis in medicine.
16 Aug 2014,58 mins
Wars, Lies and Audiotape
Historian DD Guttenplan explores what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 August 1964.
02 Aug 2014,58 mins
How Britain Went to War
Peter Hennessy examines Britain's secret war planning and preparations before August 1914.
26 Jul 2014,60 mins
The Stranger in the Mirror
Does the history of our ideas about autism tell us more about ourselves than about autism?
28 Jun 2014,58 mins
A History of the N-Word
Ellah Allfrey looks at the evolution of the N-word.
21 Jun 2014,58 mins,
No Destination
Satish Kumar walked 8,000 miles for world peace. Join him as he relives this journey.
14 Jun 2014,60 mins
Imagining the Audience
In the days before audience research, who did the early BBC think it was talking to?
07 Jun 2014,58 mins
Sentimental Journey
Sneer or cheer? Gyles Brandreth surveys the history of sentimentality.
31 May 2014,53 mins
The Benjamin Broadcasts
Michael Rosen discovers Walter Benjamin's radio works for children. Read by Henry Goodman.
24 May 2014,58 mins
Rebel Rebel
Jonathan Agnew looks back at the rebel cricket tours to South Africa between 1981-1990.
17 May 2014,58 mins
Pulped Fiction
What makes a literary reputation last? Who's 'in' and who's on the way 'out'?
10 May 2014,58 mins
Atlantic Crossing
The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.
19 Apr 2014,58 mins
Dark Horse: An Alec Guinness Archive
Alistair McGowan investigates the enigma of a private man who became a global star.
12 Apr 2014,58 mins
Listen without Mother
Fi Glover peels the labels off motherhood, from sacred mother to slummy mummy.
05 Apr 2014,58 mins
Portraying Real Lives
Maxine Peake explores the challenges of playing factual characters.
29 Mar 2014,60 mins
Captive Media: The Story of Patty Hearst
How the kidnapping of a newspaper heiress captivated and transformed the American media.
22 Mar 2014,60 mins,
The Interviewer Stole the Show
Lynn Barber, doyenne of the print interview, traces how the interviewer has taken charge.
15 Mar 2014,58 mins
The First Generation X
Meet Generation X - the teenagers from the shocking, bestselling 1964 book, 50 years on.
01 Mar 2014,58 mins
The Death of the Spiv
Poet Paul Henry traces the evasive spiv as he slips and slides through the archives.
22 Feb 2014,60 mins
John Tavener
Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.
08 Feb 2014,58 mins
A Life Less Ordinary
Reality TV
How reality TV has put three ordinary people in the media spotlight.
25 Jan 2014,60 mins
A Life Less Ordinary
Marcia Shakespeare
Marcia Shakespeare reflects on the media coverage of the murder of her daughter Letisha.
18 Jan 2014,60 mins