TODAY’S RADIO

IF THEN: HOW ONE DATA COMPANY INVENTED THE FUTURE

9.45AM (FM), 12.30AM, RADIO 4 HHHH

It was the summer and, on a Long Island beach, a group of fatally brilliant whizz kids were inventing the future by using algorithms and computers to open up a world of infinite possibilities. All this week, we hear Jill Lepore’s account of how a now all but forgotten data company – Simulmatics, founded in 1959 – played its part in transforming US politics.

RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

1PM, RADIO 3 HHHH

The final scene of Peter Weir’s 2003 naval epic, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, has Russell Crowe and

Sara Pascoe (6.30pm, Radio 4) Paul Bettany – having a lot of fun – playing a joyful piece of music by Luigi Boccherini. The film brought Boccherini’s work to a wider audience, and you can hear more of the 18th-century’s composer’s delightful music in this live concert from London’s Wigmore Hall, given by cellist Steven Isserlis and friends.

THE INFINITE MONKEY CAGE

4.30PM, RADIO 4 HHH

David Baddiel doesn’t like flies. The sound of their buzzing has him reaching for a fly swat, but after appearing on this programme, he may feel differently. Brian Cox and Robin Ince invite David to talk to fly and maggot experts who explain how, without flies, there would no life as we know it on Earth.

THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH

6.30PM, RADIO 4 HHHH

If there were no bats, according to Holly Walsh, there would be no tequila. Holly, along with comedians Sara Pascoe, Miles Jupp and Frankie Boyle, mixes lies and truth in the first of a six-part panel show series. David Mitchell is the chairman, and Holly may or may not be lying about those bats. SJ