RADIO CHOICE

‘AS I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.’ George Orwell wrote his essay The Lion And The Unicorn at top speed in the dark days of World War II. In the work, Orwell outlined his hopes for a left-wing patriotism that would stand firm against Fascism. In this first of his new series, THE ENGLISH FIX (RADIO 4, 9AM, 9.30PM) Patrick Wright wonders if Orwell’s vision might yet become reality.

STATISTICALLY, children born in the summer fare less well than those born in autumn or winter. For WHODUNNIT: THE CALENDAR CONSPIRACY (RADIO 4, 1.45PM) Michael Blastland looks at the figures, and tries to find out why this should be.

‘I’M SCRAPING the bottom of the barrel, so I thought of

you right away.’ Cato Kwong is a disgraced detective sent to the very edge of Australia to work with the stock squad, fighting cattle theft. Then, the remains of a man wash up on the beach. Kwong is sent to investigate, and hopes that the case might put his career back on track. CRIME DOWN UNDER: PRIME CUT (RADIO 4, 2.15PM) is a dark yet sharply witty two-part cop thriller. JAMES NAUGHTIE (pictured) joins SIMON MAYO (RADIO 2, 5PM) to talk about the marvellous new encyclopaedia Books That Changed History.