The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

1. 1
   Number 1: Reform's £72 million donation

   Conservative pollster Lord Hayward voices concern over the role of big money in politics and we get the reaction of billionaire donor John Caudwell. Paddy visits one of the UK's only hybrid schools, where pupils mix online home learning with one day a week in class. Is it an answer to absenteeism? Former Labour MP John Ashworth asks for your poetry suggestions to help him recover from a stroke and we test your pronunciation of hard to say place names after Angela Rayner fell foul of Worcester this week.

   September 13, 2026·51min
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2. 2
   Number 2: US envoys head to Kyiv after Moscow talks

   Simon Jack presents BH: James Landale on Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's visit to Ukraine after talks in Moscow. A preview of the by-election battle triggered by Sir Keir Starmer stepping down as an MP. What are you reading? Author and columnist James Marriott warns we're heading for a literacy dark age as people move to screens from pages. How to prep for public service emergencies in style and Sir John Curtice on the power or not of polling. On the news review West Yorkshire metro mayor Tracy Brabin, comic and writer Kiri Pritchard-McLean and GB news political editor Christopher Hope.

   September 06, 2026·52min
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3. 3
   Number 3: Andy Burnham: PC Harper's killers to stay in jail

   PM tells BBC that those convicted of unlawful killing won't be eligible for early release. We have reaction from a former Conservative Justice Secretary who himself introduced some early release. Plus, a warning from the man Andy Burnham tried to recruit as a Treasury minister: don't apply a wealth tax but DO scrap the triple lock on pensions. Also on BH, we hear a call to name our favourite hymns amid fears fewer of us are belting them out. Women spend much longer than men queueing for public toilets - do we need to re-think our approach to public loos? And, we go live to Cape Canaveral ahead of the launch of the new Grace Roman space telescope. The headliners are Rory Sutherland, Ava Glass and Lizzy Buchan.

   August 30, 2026·51min
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4. 4
   Number 4: England's mayors to get more planning powers

   England's mayors will get greater powers to overrule councils in some planning decisions, but will it help the government's new homes target? We hear from house builder Eleanor Deeley of Deeley Group. The mayor of the Italian town Como speaks to us about banning cyclists, after he was hit by an e-bike. Why has behaviour deteriorated in our public spaces? Expert Kirsty Sedgman joins us live. Shipbuilding has returning to the yard which built the Titanic - Harland and Wolff. The BBC's Ireland correspondent Chris Page reports from Belfast, and we speak to the famous firm's new owners. It's harvest time for many amateur growers - allotment holders Katie Razzall, Sir John Curtice and Frances Tophill tells us what's thrived and what's died - and we get growing tips from gardening expert Terry Walton. Our newspaper reviewers are Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who founded the Black Farmer food range. Calum Leslie, Radio 1's Newsbeat presenter, and the writer and broadcaster Naomi Alderman.

   August 23, 2026·50min
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5. 5
   Number 5: Wildfires and emergency alerts

   Wildfires caused by arsonists in South Wales are a danger to life according to the Chief Fire Officer there. Plus, did the government need to use the national warning alarm? We have live debate. Also on BH, Lord Woolley says a media witch-hunt led to the death of his friend, the academic Jason Arday, who'd been accused of plagiarism. Amid a summer of drought, Elbow's Guy Garvey picks some of his favourite songs inspired by rain, as people around the country hope for some more soon. On the news review, philosopher Kathleen Stock, podcaster and former government advisor Jimmy McCloughlan, and author Daisy Buchanan.

   August 16, 2026·54min
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