For thousands of years we have gazed up at the stars and wondered: is anybody out there? The idea of meeting aliens has been the inspiration for countless books and films; for art and music. But today, thinking about meeting life on, or from, other planets is no longer dismissed as pure make-believe – it’s the focus of political consideration and cutting-edge space science. Farrah Jarral presents the story of the fantasy and the reality of preparing for first contact with extra-terrestrials.

First Contact

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Are British politicians at breaking point?  In this new digital age with its high level of public scrutiny, the sheer amount of abuse, disdain and direct threat politicians get is causing their mental health to take a real hit. And this matters. Broken politicians equal broken politics and that’s bad news for us all. Few can dispute that in the wake of a near constant stream of scandals, public perceptions of politics and politicians have become increasingly cynical and toxic.  So what impact is this all having on our politicians and our politics?  Jennifer Nadel - Co-Founder of Compassion in Politics - hears raw personal testimony from MPs across the House who have reached breaking point and worse, asking what this means for the health of our democracy? In this Radio 4 investigation into the mental health and wellbeing of politicians, MPs talk candidly about the incessant pressures of the job and the escalating mental health crisis in parliament. The programme reveals shocking testimony including one former government minister who tells us ‘Politics has left me a broken human being.’ A young MP describes attempting to take his own life, revealing to the BBC that he is not alone. This programme asks whether the mental health crisis is affecting MPs' ability to govern. Many say it does, and that good people are simply being driven out or away from public life. In the face of these mounting personal testimonies Radio 4 asks MPs what can be done? If you have particular experiences or a story related to this podcast that you would like to share in confidence with the programme makers, you can e-mail: Daniel.Tetlow.ext@bbc.co.uk Producer: Daniel Tetlow
Presenter: Jennifer Nadel
Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon 
The music was composed by Daniel Tetlow and Benjamin Bushakevitz and performed by Ammiel Bushakevitz

Broken Politicians, Broken Politics

We lie to people with dementia. In fact, it's one of the only illnesses where lying is acceptable and extends into the entire care process. Since dementia gravely impacts a person's cognitive abilities, those diagnosed won't share the same reality as their carers. To bridge this reality gap and appease disoriented patients, carers distort the truth. Entire care home facilities seek to transform a patient's surroundings into fictional settings. In the heart of Warwick, England, lies an extraordinary experiment in dementia care - a care home transformed to look like a village. In 'Am I Home?' - Life In A Dementia Village, journalist Lara Bullens takes listeners on a profound journey into a community designed to redefine the boundaries of familiarity for those navigating the fog of dementia.  At Woodside Care Village, dementia residents live a somewhat normal life. They are free to roam outside their households, visit the local shop and even get their hair done at Cutters Hair and Beauty salon. Here, the comforts of familiarity and the quiet despair of warped realities coexist, offering a window into the daily dance carers make to navigate the complexities of dementia care.  But beneath the surface of these carefully curated environments, lies a complex web of ethical considerations. Listeners will hear how Lara grapples with the implicates of creating alternative realities for those whose grip on the real world is tenuous. Is it possible to build a world that comforts without deceiving, that cares in complete honesty?  Weaving a narrative that is as personal as it is universal, Lara draws from the haunting memory of her mother's struggle with early onset fronto-temporal dementia. Her own struggles with lying bring to light the ethical labyrinth of dementia care, where therapeutic fibs become a poignant tool in bridging the chasm between the world as we know it and the world as it is perceived by someone with dementia. Through the intimate lens of Woodside Care Village, listeners are invited to reconsider what it means to provide care in the shadow of dementia - a condition that, in its cruellest irony, often leaves individuals feeling profoundly alone in a crowd of familiar faces. Written and Presented by Lara Bullens 
Produced by Lara Bullens and Olivia Humphreys 
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

'Am I Home?' - Life in a Dementia Village

"The north London heroin trade is almost folklore at this stage." For decades, calculated gang warfare involving Turkish, Turkish Cypriot, and Kurdish heroin dealers has played out on the streets of north London, in the midst of dry cleaners, empty market stalls, and oddly abundant carpet shops. In this intimate documentary, we hear the careful accounts of women and young people on the edges of that world. "It is a life-or-death situation to say the wrong thing." Featuring creative direction and original poetry from Tice Cin, an award-winning interdisciplinary artist from Tottenham and Enfield.   "The best way to put it is if you look at the Turkish word ‘suskunluk’ ... It's the honour thing, you can't be bad-mouthing your own community." Presented by Tice Cin
Produced by Jude Shapiro with Tice Cin
Executive Producer: Jack Howson
Mixed by Arlie Adlington - including music composed by Tice Cin with Oscar Deniz Kemanci A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4 (Programme Image by Peri Cimen & Tice Cin; © Neoprene Genie)

How Much Can You Say?

25th April 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of Portugal's 'Carnation Revolution', which overthrew the authoritarian dictatorship of the Estado Novo ('New State') which had governed Portugal since the 1920s. A largely bloodless revolution, marked by the carnations that were placed in the rifles of the soldiers, it led to the successful establishment of democracy in Portugal and the integration of more than half-a-million 'retornados' - returnees - Portuguese citizens from its former African colonies. Portugal's revolution was indeed televised, and recorded in sound. One of those who bore witness to its aftermath was journalist, and former Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow, who reported from Portugal at the time for LBC Radio. At this important anniversary, he remembers his time there, and tells the story of what unfolded, through archive and interviews with those who organised and lived through those heady days of April 1974.  Presenter: Jon Snow
Producer: Michael Rossi With thanks to RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal) and LBC for archive.

Portugal’s Carnation Revolution

In literature and film, night trains are the setting for intrigue and romance, espionage and sudden death. And in real life too they’re places of possibility and the expectation of new adventures. Writer Horatio Clare boards a train to Vienna for a night-time journey across Europe… and into the archive, aboard night trains of decades past.  His journey begins at the Gare de l’Est in Paris, the departure point for the original Orient Express. He looks back to the golden age of the Wagons-Lits, sleeper trains with wood-panelled cabins, an attendant in every carriage ready to be summoned and dining cars where evening dress was obligatory. It was an era which provided rich inspiration for writers and Horatio evokes his predecessors who used night trains to tell stories of brief encounters, betrayal and, of course, murder.  But luxurious Wagons-Lits are only one part of the story. Other travellers find themselves on very different night-time journeys. There are the rucksack-lugging student inter-railers of the ‘70s and ‘80s, sleeping in train corridors on expeditions of discovery (and self-discovery); the perils of sharing sleeping compartments with strangers; and the Ukrainian refugees reluctantly taking the ‘Rescue Express’ westward as they fled the Russian invasion.  After a long period of decline, night trains are on the rise again as new routes open up across Europe. Maybe it’s because we’re tired of the indignities of budget air travel but it’s also driven by the “Flight Shame” and “Train Brag” movements - a growing awareness that travelling by train is better for the planet. “I’m on a train” is no longer an apology for a poor phone signal. Now it’s a claim to the moral high ground. Horatio’s journey doesn’t quite go to plan. But as he overcomes the challenges and navigates his way to Vienna, he discovers that night trains have always taken our imaginations to new destinations. Produced by Jeremy Grange for BBC Audio Wales and West

First Contact

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