Slow Radio

By BBC Radio 3

What's Slow Radio about?

An antidote to today’s frenzied world. Step back, let go, immerse yourself: it’s time to go slow. Listen to the sounds of birds, mountain climbing, monks chatting as you go about your day. A lo-fi celebration of pure sound.

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Slow Radio episodes:

02.25.2024
Sleeper Train
In 2017, audio producer Phil Smith travelled to Ukraine to attend his friend's wedding. There, somewhere between the cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Odessa, he fell in love with the soundworld of the sleeper train: its steady hypnotic rhythms, the...
01.09.2024
Sounds of the Earth - husky howls and oystercatchers
Relax with a mix of music and natural sounds, recorded by Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners. Three dawn choruses from across the UK, starring woodland, garden and sea birds, follow on from the very different dusk chorus from the remote...
01.01.2024
The Clock
Time unravels in this hypnotic audio journey... In this edition of Slow Radio, we tumble inside the delicate mechanism of the clock - our attempt to contain and mark the steady rush of time itself. Musical and rhythmic, this surreal...
11.05.2023
Berlin's Hidden Soundscape
How does the Berlin urban landscape sound? Using a unique approach that combines field recordings and photographs translated into audio, the Uruguayan and Berlin-based artist Darío Dornel, aka Kirap, takes listeners on a captivating journey through the city's hidden soundscapes....
10.13.2023
Sounds of the Earth - from the Himalayas to Dehli
Relax with a mix of music and natural sounds, recorded by Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners. We start in the Himalayas and end in an urban forest in Dehli, getting there via Kardamyli beach in Greece and the Thames footpath...
10.01.2023
A Journey through Ramallah
YA Z AN, a Palestinian Berlin-based artist, travels around his hometown of Ramallah, located in the heart of the West Bank. During his journey, YA Z AN encounters sounds that comfort and remind him of home. He uses binaural technology...
09.24.2023
Sounds of an ascent on foot to the summit of the imposing North Grigna mountain in Italy.
With its peak at 2410 metres in altitude, the North Grigna is an imposing quasi-mythical character in the local culture of the Lombardy region. Those who get to its top can take in a 360-degree view over the Alps, Lake...
09.20.2023
Sounds of the Earth - Rooks, Bats and Toads
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from rooks on Orkney to a midwife toad chirruping in south-west France. Plus bats in Lancashire and nightingales in Sussex. Recordings by BBC Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners Stephanie Fritchley,...
08.29.2023
The Hum of the Hive
Beekeeper Anthony Smith looks after several hundred beehives across Herefordshire and South East Wales. This episode of Slow Radio takes us to one of his apiaries where we eavesdrop on Anthony’s activities. It’s the middle of the summer, and the...
08.11.2023
Sounds of the Earth - The BBC Wild Isles mix
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. A special edition featuring the Sounds of the Earth mixes of music and the incredible sounds of the insects, birds and animals featured in BBC One's Wild Isles series. The...
06.25.2023
Transmitter
Across Britain, 352 BBC transmitters stand, mostly on the tops of hills broadcasting sound, music and voices invisibly across the country. In this slow radio episode, Matthew Herbert and a group of recording engineers visited some of these transmitters in...
05.16.2023
Sounds of the Earth - the Blackbird, the Nightingale and the new-born Lamb
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. This springtime special features a blackbird singing at daybreak in Newcastle, a nightingale in the Umbrian foothills, central Italy, and a newly born lamb communicating for the very first time...
04.13.2023
The sounds of the BBC’s Wild Isles
This Slow Radio experience features sounds from the BBC television programme Wild Isles: a chance to revel in the extraordinary sounds recorded and created for the series, without voice-over or music. Using an aural collage of clips, the half-hour soundscape...
03.29.2023
Sounds of the Earth - Brazilian Rainforest and Banjo Frogs
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from the Atlantic rainforests of Brazil to Eastern Banjo Frogs in Adelaide, Australia. Plus a dawn chorus in Cornwall and chaffinches in Noja, Northern Spain. Recordings by BBC Radio 3...
03.29.2023
Inside the Temple
There’s a gentle rhythm to everyday life in a Hindu temple, that follows carefully choreographed rituals linked to the care of the deities - creating a rich aural texture from dawn when the gods are woken, to nightfall when they...
03.06.2023
Sounds of the Earth - Seychelles and Barbados
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from birdsong and tortoises in the Seychelles to waves and whistling frogs in Barbados, via a bubbling brook in Northumberland and a murmuration of starlings playing in a poplar tree....
02.26.2023
The Glacier in Retreat
High in the mountains snow falls. As it comes to rest on the frozen slopes it become part of an ancient glacier. Over the course of 100 years the glacier will flow down the valley, changing the landscape around it....
02.22.2023
A Sunday walk through Harlem
It is January 2022, and in the Upper Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem all is quiet as people stay at home, preferring not to venture out into the minus-13-degree snow and ice that has blanketed the city. This half-hour soundscape begins...
01.31.2023
Sounds of the Earth - Scottish Highlands, Faroe Islands
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds: a walk in the Faroe Islands, a deer in the Scottish Highlands, a robin in Northamptonshire and a royal garden in Norway. Wildlife recordings from Chris Watson and Andy Fell,...
01.30.2023
A Journey across the Steppes
A settlement first known as Almatu developed on the Silk Road from the 10th century onwards. In the 1920s, the new Soviet authorities renamed the place Alma-Ata ('Grandfather of the apple') and made it the capital of the Kazakh SSR...
12.24.2022
The Reindeer
The Reindeer follows the epic travels of a reindeer mother and her young.
12.14.2022
Sounds of the Earth - Sanderlings on Shetland, Birds in Buenos Aires
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds: sanderlings on a beach in Shetland, a farmyard in Shropshire, urban birds in Buenos Aires and the Red Burn in Argyllshire. Wildlife recordings from Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners Ian...
11.30.2022
Sounds of the Earth - water falling, curlews calling
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Cicadas in Portugal, sheep in Wensleydale and a magnificent dusk chorus in Wiltshire. Wildlife recordings from Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners Kate and John Livingston, Geoff and Christine Holland,...
11.08.2022
Sounds of the Earth - City sparrows, wallowing elephants
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Sparrows in the heart of the City of London, birds on Shapwick Heath in Somerset, and frogs and elephants in the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Wildlife recordings from Radio...
10.04.2022
Sounds of the Earth - Cows, Rain and a Wren
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Cornish waves, Welsh cows, a wren in a walnut tree and rain in the Galician mountains, recorded by Radio 3 Sunday Breakfast listeners Adriana Flores, Sean Tobin, Penny Lawrence and...
09.01.2022
Fair Winds
The ever-present and changing sound of the wind on Fair Isle.
07.22.2022
Sounds of the Earth - May
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Featuring recordings of birdsong from Kelso to Senegal sent in by Radio 3 Breakfast listeners listeners Betsy Barker, Caroline Fiennes, Helen Boyles and Ros Bleach.
07.03.2022
A Day in the Life of Honey the Dog
Join Honey, a 15-year-old fox-red labrador, as she goes about her day.
05.29.2022
Very High Frequency Between Gravesend and Greenhithe
The sounds of a small boat on the tidal Thames and the calls on its two-way radio.
05.25.2022
Sounds of the Earth - April
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. Featuring recordings of spring birdsong in Bath, Leamington Spa, Gloucestershire, and the island of Mauritius, sent in by Radio 3 Breakfast listeners Colette Wilson, Anthea Asprey, Judy Bailey and John...
04.24.2022
Slow Motion Sounds
Stockholm-based artist Milo Lavén reveals the hidden world within slowed-down sounds.
04.19.2022
Sounds of the Earth - March
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from the Fens to the Scilly Isles via St Albans and Shaftesbury. Featuring recordings of birds, frogs and horses made by Radio 3 listeners Susie Nicholls, Tom Perrett, David Learner...
03.27.2022
Coventry's Riley Square
City life and moments of calm – a sound portrait of Riley Square in Coventry, recorded with artists Georgiou & Tolley.
03.16.2022
Sounds of the Earth - February
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds, from Kenya to New Zealand via Lancashire and the Cotswolds. Featuring recordings made by Radio3 Breakfast listeners Cathy Tattersfield and Josh Clarke, and BBC Natural History recordists Trevor Gosling and...
02.25.2022
Northumberland's Electric Coast
The sounds of energy generation across the industrial heart of Northumberland.
01.30.2022
Sounds of the Earth - January
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds. From midwinter on the English coast to the floodplains of Central Brazil via an Oxfordshire canal and a Somerset millpond, this month's mix focuses on birds. Includes listener recordings made...
01.06.2022
Nick Luscombe's Japan Winter
Tokyo-based DJ and broadcaster Nick Luscombe explores the sound of winter in Japan.
01.02.2022
A Sonic Journey across the Universe
The sounds of the cosmos revealed through the sonification of astronomical data.
11.29.2021
Sounds of the Earth - November
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a Loch in the Scottish Highlands to the evergreen forests of Thailand via South Africa and a tiny Gloucestershire village. With field recordings by Hugh Manistree, Grace Niska...
11.05.2021
Sounds of the Earth - October
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a wolf sanctuary in Portugal to a watery Danish peninsula. Plus, sounds from grazing time at Lake Naivasha, Kenya and evening sunlight at the South Downs National Park...
10.11.2021
Sounds of the Earth - September
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the ruins of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight to Cerne Abbas in Dorset, via a 15th Century church in Kings Norton and a leafy park in...
10.03.2021
Homeward
After a break of over a year owing to Covid 19 Restrictions, Calum and Claire MacAulay travel back to their native Skye and North Uist for a long awaited reunion with family.
09.28.2021
The Dunwich Dynamo
Experience a night-time journey from central London to the Suffolk coast, on a bicycle.
09.01.2021
Sounds of the Earth - August
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the Scottish border, to a remote island in the Cyclades, via Northumbrian moorlands and the Ribble Valley. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Heather Wright and Tom and...
08.29.2021
A Night on Lundy
An audio voyage to the remote island of Lundy, a haven for marine wildlife. 12 miles off the coast of North Devon, Lundy has long been a place of refuge. Once ruled by Barbary pirates and political plotters, the island's...
08.06.2021
Sounds of the Earth - July
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the parks of Madrid, to the southern tip of Exmoor National Park via the Malvern Hills. With field recordings by Kevin Tomkins, Julian Tanner, Tom Perrett and Ollie...
06.28.2021
The Funfair
Escape to the seaside and enjoy the sounds of a day at the fair. As the country comes out of long periods of enforced lockdown, it's good to be reminded of the fun things that bring people together, and escape...
06.25.2021
Sounds of the Earth - June
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the Grumeti River in the Serengeti to a tiny frog pool in East Sussex, via London and Suffolk. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Maria Margaronis, Sharon Sanderson...
05.27.2021
Sounds of the Earth - May
Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from a tiny Scottish Hamlet to the coastal paths of Devon, via Antwerp and Kenya. With field recordings by Chris Watson, Matthew Rose, Callum and Kate in Southwest Ross-shire...
04.25.2021
Nan Shepherd's River - The Dee
An elemental journey into the heart of the Cairngorms with 'The Living Mountain' in hand.

What's Slow Radio about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Slow Radio episodes:

Sleeper Train

Sounds of the Earth - husky howls and oystercatchers

The Clock

Berlin's Hidden Soundscape

Sounds of the Earth - from the Himalayas to Dehli

A Journey through Ramallah

Sounds of an ascent on foot to the summit of the imposing North Grigna mountain in Italy.

Sounds of the Earth - Rooks, Bats and Toads

The Hum of the Hive

Sounds of the Earth - The BBC Wild Isles mix

Transmitter

Sounds of the Earth - the Blackbird, the Nightingale and the new-born Lamb

The sounds of the BBC’s Wild Isles

Sounds of the Earth - Brazilian Rainforest and Banjo Frogs

Inside the Temple

Sounds of the Earth - Seychelles and Barbados

The Glacier in Retreat

A Sunday walk through Harlem

Sounds of the Earth - Scottish Highlands, Faroe Islands

A Journey across the Steppes

The Reindeer

Sounds of the Earth - Sanderlings on Shetland, Birds in Buenos Aires

Sounds of the Earth - water falling, curlews calling

Sounds of the Earth - City sparrows, wallowing elephants

Sounds of the Earth - Cows, Rain and a Wren

Fair Winds

Sounds of the Earth - May

A Day in the Life of Honey the Dog

Very High Frequency Between Gravesend and Greenhithe

Sounds of the Earth - April

Slow Motion Sounds

Sounds of the Earth - March

Coventry's Riley Square

Sounds of the Earth - February

Northumberland's Electric Coast

Sounds of the Earth - January

Nick Luscombe's Japan Winter

A Sonic Journey across the Universe

Sounds of the Earth - November

Sounds of the Earth - October

Sounds of the Earth - September

Homeward

The Dunwich Dynamo

Sounds of the Earth - August

A Night on Lundy

Sounds of the Earth - July

The Funfair

Sounds of the Earth - June

Sounds of the Earth - May

Nan Shepherd's River - The Dee