Start the Week

Reporting from the Front Line


Listen Later

Andrew Marr talks to the journalist Lindsey Hilsum about the extraordinary life of the war correspondent Marie Colvin. Throughout her career she travelled to the most dangerous places in the world, to bear witness to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. She wrote: “it has always seemed to me that what I write about is humanity in extremis, pushed to the unendurable, and that it is important to tell people what really happens in wars.’ She was killed in Syria in 2012.

For most of her career Marie Colvin wrote for The Sunday Times newspaper. Eve Pollard knows only too well the added pressures of getting a scoop for the nation’s weekend papers, as she formerly edited both the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Express. She’s now the UK Chair of Reporters Without Borders which this week will honour courage, impact and independence in journalism.

Anabel Hernandez is an investigative reporter who has fought to lay bare the terrible facts behind the disappearance of forty-three Mexican students in 2014. Her book, A Massacre in Mexico, details the systemic corruption and cover-up among state officials, from the local police to government ministers.

It is a hundred years since the poet Wilfred Owen died in battle, just a week before the end of WWI. The poet Gillian Clarke explores how Owen’s poetry brought to light the physical and mental trauma of combat, and how in her own work she’s reflected contemporary conflicts.

Producer: Katy Hickman

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Start the WeekBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

152 ratings


More shows like Start the Week

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,727 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

290 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

369 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

879 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,036 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,506 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,817 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,874 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

607 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

290 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,822 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,079 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,944 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

521 Listeners

Last Word by BBC Radio 4

Last Word

47 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

302 Listeners

Moral Maze by BBC Radio 4

Moral Maze

61 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

830 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

128 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

44 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

72 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,177 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,167 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

113 Listeners