Public

Yiyun Li reads her story “Wednesday’s Child,” which appeared in the January 23, 2023, issue of the magazine. Li is the author of two story collections and five novels, including “Must I Go” and “The Book of Goose,” which was published last year. She won the Windham Campbell Literature Prize in 2020. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shampoo ranges hugely in price, from own brand bottles to premium products that promise to improve your hair, leaving it in better condition, stronger and shinier. But can they really deliver?

Listener Sophie sent in a WhatsApp to ask just that, as well as whether we should use different shampoos depending on our hair type, if sulphates or parabens could be harmful to our hair, and if shampoo bars can do the job just as well, and be a greener option?

Greg Foot untangles some of the most common claims by speaking with a clinical Trichologist (someone who has studied the structure, function and diseases of human hair) as well as an expert chemist and pharmaceutical analyst.

This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to [email protected] or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot

In the second part of his interview with Richard Ayre, a former member of the BBC trust board, Roger discusses why he is a Christian and answers questions on Brexit coverage, diversity and BBC cuts and coverage.

Support the podcast by subscribing here.

@BeebRoger

@[email protected]

[email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After over 50 years in broadcasting, and being fired twice by the BBC, Roger Bolton is interviewed on his career by Richard Ayre, a former member of the BBC trust. Roger talks about his departure from BBC Radio 4's Feedback, editing Panorama and Nationwide and discusses the controversy surrounding his 'Death on the Rock' programme in 1988 which examined the deaths of three IRA members in Gibraltar by the British Special Air Service.

Support the podcast by subscribing here.

@BeebRoger

@[email protected]

[email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s something most of us will have used at some point, and a product that has been around for decades in various forms. But do all the advertised fancy features, pivoting heads, multiple blades and higher price tags, really make a difference to your shave?

Listener Tim got in touch, asking just that, as well as whether all the extras on razors these days also have an impact on the environment?

Greg Foot focuses on modern cartridge razors in this episode, and cuts through the marketing hype to get answers, by speaking to a leading Dermatologist, as well as one of the top scientists at one of the largest razor manufacturers, Gillette.

This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to [email protected] or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot

Louise Erdrich reads her story “The Hollow Children,” which appeared in the November 28, 2022, issue of the magazine. Erdrich is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, most recently “The Sentence” and “The Night Watchman,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2021. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If anyone deserves to be called a Renaissance man then one of the leading contenders must surely be Stephen Fry, actor, novelist, comedian, campaigner, Norwich City Football fanatic, long time host of QI, gay icon and the list goes on.

Having just closed his twitter account after Elon Musk’s takeover, transferring his loyalties to Mastodon, we talked to him about the BBC, the future of public service broadcasting, JK Rowling and cancel culture, and much else.

“I would...wish them both to retreat, and to consider that it is possible for trans people to live full, accepted lives, according to their terms, in society, and for women to have all the rights and dignities that they demand. But it isn't possible if each side looks on the other as an enemy."

Support the podcast by subscribing here on Patreon.

@BeebRoger

@[email protected]

[email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, George Saunders returns! We discuss Liberation Day, his first short-story collection in nine years (3:40), the influence of Chekhov and Gogol (4:56), and a timely passage on democracy from “Love Letter” (8:35). Then, we unpack how he builds stories (13:30), a guiding philosophy from our first talk (14:58), and an excerpt from the titular story, “Liberation Day” (21:30).

On the back-half, we talk about the power of revision through “Elliott Spencer” (27:40), the seeds of the book’s moving final story, “My House” (36:34), the ‘failures in compassion’ it reveals (40:50), Saunders’ enduring relationship with his wife (45:08), and how he hopes to continue surprising himself as a writer, at 63 (48:40).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dean Browne won the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2021 and his pamphlet, Kitchens at Night, was a winner of the Poetry Business International Pamphlet Competition; it was published by Smith|Doorstop in 2022. His poems have appeared widely in journals such as Banshee, Poetry (Chicago), Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Review, PN Review, Southword, The Stinging Fly, and elsewhere.

This week's Southword poem is ‘Egyptian Wing’ by Heather Treseler, which appears in issue 41. You can buy single issues, subscribe, or find out how to submit to Southword here.

The BBC has been celebrating its 100th anniversary – if you hadn’t noticed - and on ‘Beeb Watch’ this week Roger Bolton talks to one of it's greatest broadcasters – Melvyn Bragg. They discuss arts programming, BBC World Service cuts and the future of the BBC.

“I think we should start panicking now. There is an encroaching mass, not dependent or related to each other, but it’s out there in force who would benefit if there were no BBC.”  

“I’ve talked directly to all of the people at the top of the BBC saying why don’t you make a stronger case?”

 “Why do they want to throw it away for? Why don’t they go and knock down St Paul’s whilst they’re at it?”

@BeebRoger

[email protected]

And please do support this podcast by subscribing now:

https://patreon.com/user?u=81446035&utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.