RADIO CHOICE

SIMON BARON-COHEN is an eminent clinical psychologist and an expert on autism. In START THE WEEK (RADIO 4, 9AM, 9.30PM), he talks about the connection between human ingenuity and the genes for autism; then, the archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes explores the art and inventiveness of the Neanderthals.

THE English author Stella Gibbons wrote that classic comic novel Cold Comfort Farm, but the rest of her books — more than 30 of them — are all but forgotten. That’s a shame, as she was a good writer with a sharp eye. All this week, Jan Ravens reads Stella’s between-the-wars romance MY AMERICAN (RADIO 4, 12.04PM, 10.45PM), about a neglected young woman who meets an American man from a wealthy background, and begins a

romance that has farreaching consequences.

THE great Tim BrookeTaylor died in April from Covid-19. Not long before, he recorded two episodes for a new series of the much-loved panel show I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE (RADIO 4, 6.30PM). As a mark of respect, the series was put on hold — but this evening, we get to hear the first of those episodes, which has Tim (pictured) paired with Rachel Parris as they pit their wit and wits against Marcus Brigstocke and Tony Hawks. It’s lovely to hear Tim making us laugh before the pandemic took him from us.