Feedback

Do people exist as more than through their memory? If you lose it, do you cease to exist? That is the question Sir Jonathan Miller wanted to explore shortly before his death.

This week, his son William talks to Roger Bolton about the Archive on 4 programme he made about his polymath father - Jonathan Miller: Lost Memories - and why he wanted to carry on investigating memory after his father’s death.

Rory Cellan-Jones is soon to leave his job as the BBC’s Technology Correspondent. He explains how he translates complicated stories for a mainstream radio audience.

And two listeners review 5 Live’s Your Call with Nicky Campbell. Will they be ringing back?

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

It would appear that leaders of western governments have been caught napping by the speed of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, but was the BBC also taken by surprise? Jamie Angus, Senior Controller, BBC News Output and Commissioning, answers listeners’ questions on the coverage of events.

Also, Matthew Syed talks about his Radio 4 series Sideways, which eschews conventional thinking.

And two listeners try out the dazzling - or is it daunting - world of podcasts.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

The BBC’s departing New York correspondent, Nick Bryant, thinks America has stopped being great. Is this perhaps why he is going? Nick discusses audience comments on the BBC's reporting of Donald Trump, Joe Biden and America in general.

Should Radio 4’s Front Row have devoted most of a programme to an interview with Sarah, Duchess of York? Some listeners thought the interview about her first adult novel, a Mills and Boon romance, should not have featured on the arts programme at all.

And did Radio 4’s Open Country get lost in Windsor Great Park? Two listeners give their verdict.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

Are a third of us, from both sides of the political spectrum, attracted by authoritarianism? That's a claim made in Radio 4’s The Spark. Roger Bolton asks its presenter Helen Lewis about that claim, and about the sort of sparks she is seeking to create.

The series producer of Radio 4's Sunday Worship, Philip Billson, discusses the decision to make an edition of the programme commemorating the anniversary of last year's catastrophic explosion in Beirut.

And the Out of Your Comfort Zone listeners get lost in tech speak.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

How does the comedian Mark Steel get away with cheekily satirising towns and cities that he visits in his eponymous Radio 4 programme?

Mark Steel’s in Town has been running for over a decade, but now he has broken new ground writing and appearing in a radio sitcom, Unite. Mark tells Roger Bolton he thinks all comedians are actors at heart, and questions whether there is such as think as left-wing comedy.

And two listeners review Alun Cochrane: Centrist Dad? Part of a series of stand-up specials on Radio 4.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

The Proms are back but will there be a full audience in the Albert Hall to hear them, who will they be listening to, and will the flags be flying for the Last Night? Questions for the Proms Director, David Pickard.

Also, Feedback has heard criticism from some listeners about the BBC’s coverage of the riots in South Africa, which many believe pose the greatest threat to the country since the end of apartheid. A leading academic gives his view.

And two listeners discuss a Radio 2 documentary about Amy Winehouse, called Legacy of a Lioness. Did it live up to its billing?

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

Should BBC sports commentators remain impartial during football matches involving home nations? Some listeners think they are openly biased in favour of England, Roger Mosey, the former Director of BBC Sport, gives his views.

Does Radio 4’s Rethink series needs to be rethought for not being radical enough?

And 25 years after the Spice Girls crashed through some glass ceilings, did two radio listeners really, really want to listen to a Radio 2 documentary about them?

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

The Deputy Director of BBC News Jonathan Munro discusses impartiality, cronyism, and the tendency for guests to disappear at a vital moment in an interview.

The writer Jan Etherington talks about her award winning Radio 4comedy series Conversations from a Long Marriage, starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam.

And in the Out of Your Comfort Zone feature, two listeners examine a documentary which claims that emojis have changed the course of history.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

Listeners have been enjoying the conclusion of long-running Radio 4 fictional serial The Corrupted this week. The author GF Newman explains how he sees corruption everywhere in our most respected circles and how, as a child, his eyes were first opened to it.

And what is more important to the new presenter of the News Quiz, who is also the Test Match Special statistician, Andy Zaltzman, comedy or cricket? Andy responds to listener comments and questions.

In the Out of Your Comfort Zone feature, a theology graduate gives her view on 5 Live’s early morning science series.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4

With listeners concerned about cuts to BBC radio drama and asking if it's still a priority for Radio 4, a former head of BBC Radio Drama tells Roger Bolton she shares those concerns.

And the Editor of The Reunion discusses the usually acclaimed programme and replies to criticism of an edition about Romanian orphanages, which one listener describes as, “flaunting of British superiority”.

And can you make a successful radio programme about cartoon music when you can’t see the cartoons? Two listeners give their views.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4