Best of Today

By BBC Radio 4

Listen to selected highlights from the Today programme.

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FAQs about Best of Today:

How many episodes does Best of Today have?

The podcast currently has 581 episodes available.

Best of Today episodes:

August 26, 2023 Friendly Neighbours Guest Edit
Back in March, to mark 20 years of the Today guest editors we gave people the chance to apply in teams to make a programme with us.
Thousands of you applied and every Saturday through August we’ll be featuring programmes guest edited by those successful teams of listeners.
Today it was the turn of ‘Friendly Neighbours’. Sudi, Mike, Pol and Sophie are four friends and neighbours from the Kingsdown area of Bristol.
At the heart of their community is the Dove Street Estate, a modernist high rise development built in the 1960s.
They want to look at how we make sure that, when we are planning housing developments, we really think about the people and communities who will live there.
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34min
August 26, 2023 George Osborne says thefts "damaging" for British Museum reputation
Chair of Trustees at the British Museum, George Osborne has told Today around 2,000 items have gone missing from the institution but adds they have started to recover some of them.
Yesterday, the British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said he will step down from his role, after treasures were stolen from the London institution.
In a statement, he said it was evident the museum "did not respond as comprehensively as it should have" when it was told about the thefts in 2021.
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12min
August 24, 2023 Prigozhin: The man who challenged Putin
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny against Vladimir Putin, was on a plane that crashed in western Russia, according to aviation officials.
Authorities say all 10 people on board were killed after the private aircraft came down near the village of Kuzhenkino.
Russian authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, amid heavy speculation.
Today’s Nick Robinson and Martha Kearney speaks to Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of international affairs at the New School University in New York, who joins us from Moscow, and Sergei Markov, Putin's former spokesperson. Later in the programme, we were joined by Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University, and Sir John Sawers, former Chief of MI6 and British Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Photo credit: Courtesy PMC Wagner via Telegram via REUTERS
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24min
August 24, 2023 US Climate Envoy John Kerry ahead of Cop 28
John Kerry, Joe Biden's climate envoy, is in Edinburgh launching a new forum for ideas and international cooperation called Scottish Global Dialogues.
Today's Special Correspondent James Naughtie asked Mr Kerry about the failure of the effort to keep global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees on pre-industrial levels.
Mr Kerry has said he's deliberately staying out of domestic politics in the US and the UK - Jim asked him about the challenges that could cause in the run up to the next climate talks in the Middle East in November.
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8min
August 23, 2023 The UK's first successful womb transplant
Surgeons in Oxford have carried out the first womb transplant in the UK.
The recipient was a 34-year-old woman, and the donor her 40-year-old sister, both of whom wish to remain anonymous.
Doctors say both recovered well from surgery and the younger sister plans to have IVF this autumn, using embryos that she and her husband have in storage.
A team of around 20 carried out the procedures, lasting around 17 hours, in adjoining operating theatres at the Churchill hospital in February.
Today's Justin Webb speaks to the Chairman of Womb Transplant UK, who was the lead surgeon who retrieved the womb, Professor Richard Smith, and the surgeon who transplanted the womb, Isabel Quiroga.
Photo Credit: Womb Transplant UK/PA Wire
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7min
August 22, 2023 Lucy Letby: Whistleblower doctor on NHS accountability
Serial killer Lucy Letby was handed a whole life sentence on Monday at Manchester Crown Court for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six others at the neonatal care unit where she was a nurse.
Today's Justin Webb speaks to Dr Stephen Brearey, who was the lead consultant on the unit where Letby worked and raised the alarm in October 2015.
Dr Brearey claimed senior staff at the Countess of Chester Hospital were worried about reputational damage to the organisation, and that instead of acting on his warnings, he and his colleagues' lives were made 'very difficult'. He claimed his experience was not uncommon in the NHS.
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13min
August 21, 2023 Nurse Lucy Letby to be sentenced for murdering seven babies
Nurse Lucy Letby is due to be sentenced later after being found guilty of murdering seven babies, making her the UK's most prolific child serial killer in modern times.
The trial lasted for more than 10 months and is believed to be the longest murder trial in the UK. She has indicated she will not be in court for the hearing.
The government has ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind serial killer Lucy Letby's baby murders.
Detectives are reviewing the care of all babies admitted to hospital while Letby was working as a neonatal nurse. The review includes her work placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2012 and 2015, although police say this did not involve any deaths.
The Department of Health said it would look at how clinicians' concerns were handled, as a BBC investigation found hospital bosses ignored doctors' warnings about Letby. There are also calls for the inquiry the government has announced to be upgraded into a statutory public inquiry.
Today's Mishal Husain speaks to Dame Christine Beasley, former Chief Nursing Officer for England 2004-2012 and current non-Executive director with Kings College NHS Trust, and the Health minister, Claire Coutinho.
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13min
August 19, 2023 Concert Band Guest Edit
Back in March, to mark 20 years of the Today guest editors we gave people the chance to apply in teams to make a programme with us.
Thousands of you applied and every Saturday through August we’ll be featuring programmes guest edited by those successful teams of listeners.
Today it was the turn of Anne, Moyra, Alan and Andrew who are all members of the Dunbartonshire Concert Band. They wanted to use their guest edit to explore the benefits of community music. They commissioned a special report on music education and they asked us to look at whether playing an instrument help keep your brain “fit” as you get older?
Their programme features the violinist Nicola Benedetti.
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39min
August 19, 2023 The Nicola Benedetti Interview
Our programme is guest edited by Moyra, Anne, Alan and Andrew, four members of the Dunbartonshire Concert Band.
For their programme they wanted to look at the contribution community music makes to society. The were very keen to hear from the violinist Nicola Benedetti. Not only is she a world acclaimed violinist, but she has campaigned for years for better music provision – especially for children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Nicola Benedetti is also “Big Sister” to a social change and music education programme called "The Big Noise" that provides free music tuition alongside free childcare and healthy food. The charity supports 3,500 children across Scotland.
Nicola spoke to Today's Simon Jack for this special edition of Today.
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12min
August 18, 2023 Jamie Cullum remembers renowned broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson has died at the age of 88.
Nick Robinson is joined by Jamie Cullum to discuss the illustrious career of the late British broadcaster.
Cullum describes how Parkinson’s ‘genuine fascination’ for his guests brought joy to millions and simultaneously helped launch the careers of several young stars.
Together, Nick and Cullum recollect their experiences with the chat show host and reflect on his magical career.
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7min

FAQs about Best of Today:

How many episodes does Best of Today have?

The podcast currently has 581 episodes available.