BBC Radio 4 - not just for the middle aged!

... which is the title of a facebook group I recently joined. Actually, this is going to be a declaration of love. According to my hostmum, Radio 4 has "the best and the worst programmes on the radio", but personally, I just think it's brilliant!
Actually, the first thing I do in the morning when I enter the kitchen is turning the radio on. This is normally during the Today programme. It isn't my favourite, but sometimes it has highly fascinating items, such as the "six words life story", asking listener's to sum up their life in 6 words. This originated from a bet by Ernest Hemingway that he could tell a story in 6 words, which he did: For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

My other favourites include:

Women's Hour: Every Day at 10:00 am. which is usually on during the time that I clean the kitchen. People complain about one of the hosts, Jane Garvey, but I like her. I have discovered some interestings things because they were featured on this show: Stacey Kent's Jazz music, the play "Shadowlands" because Janie Dee, the main actress, was on the show, which I saw twice and which has become my favourite play ever and the BBC 1 series "Ashes to Ashes", sequel to "Life on Mars" which I loved, as Keeley Hawes was on the show.

Desert Island Discs: Every Friday.
Every one knows the opening music. On this show hosted by Kirsty Young, the guest is asked to pick 8 records that he would take to a desert Island and explain why. Finally, he also has to pick a book (everyone gets the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare) and a Luxury.

Just a minute:
A hilarious show. The guests have to talk about a certain topic for a minute, The rules are: no hesitation, repetition or deviation. If one of the rules is broken, the other guests can press a buzzer and take over.

Book of the week:
Each week, one book is read. Usually, the choice is good and the radio adaptation high quality.

Afternoon play:
A different radio play every day. Wants me want to become a writer for radio drama :).

You and Yours:
A costumer affairs programme covering all sorts of topics. I like it because one of the hosts has the funniest voice ever :D. It sounds as if he is talking with a constant big grin :).

Thanks to Radio 4, I actually have an idea of what is going on in the world (which I never did ;)). I even gave up reading The Independent having tried for a while, because the radio covers the news so well.