Radio Week

The picks of the best of this week’s radio

ENTERTAINMENT Amongst Women

MON-FRIDAY, 10.45AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★

The best-known and acclaimed novel by Irish writer John McGahern is the story of Martin, a former IRA commander and veteran of the War of Independence who turns to farming near the border. A stern and angry man, his poignant struggle to come to terms with the past and deal with the new world have a profound affect on the family he dominates.

Sounds Of The 80s

FRIDAY, 8PM, BBC RADIO 2 ★★★★

Marti Pellow (pictured), the former front man of Wet Wet Wet, talks to Gary Davies about the early days on the road with the Scottish rockers, and how music changed their lives.

Tech Talk

SATURDAY, 5PM, NEWSTALK ★★★★

This show highlights how technology affects us, as Jess Kelly decodes the jargon to explain exactly what we need to know and answers listeners’ questions.

FACTUAL

An Seachtain le Máirín Ni Ghadhra

SUNDAY, 10AM, RNAG ★★★★

Reforms to Leaving Cert Irish published in February contain proposals for two different courses, one more challenging one for Gaeltacht and Irish-medium school students, and another one designed for pupils attending English-language education.

Today Máirín Ní Ghadhra will chair a debate about the consultation process relating to these changes, with representatives from the education sector as well as Gaeltacht and Irish-language organisations.

The Reunion

SUNDAY, 11AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★

Whoever poisoned Alexander Litvinenko expected him to die quickly, but he lived for 23 days, giving the police vital information.

Kirsty Wark talks to some of those involved in the investigation into Alexander’s terrible death.

Unravelling The History of Knitting

FRIDAY, 10AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★

The origins of knitting are unclear: some Coptic socks found in Egypt dating from the fourth century, being mere ‘needlebinding’, didn’t quite cut it. It’s now thought it may have started in the Middle East in the 5th century. Bridget Kendall and experts discuss how the soothing pastime came to thrive in places such as Fair Isle, Scandinavia and South America.

DRAMA

The Lyric Feature

SUNDAY, 6PM, LYRIC FM ★★★★

Sappho, the great lyric poet of Ancient

Greece, had a daughter – but there is no record of the child’s father. Poet Theo Dorgan had published a long poem, Sappho’s Daughter, exploring and explaining this mystery when he had the happy thought of commissioning a score from the gifted Colm Mac Con Iomaire to accompany the text. With the parts spoken by Olwen Fouéré and Barry McGovern, and with musicians Catherine Fitzgerald, Colm Quearney and Frank Tate, Colm led a masterful dramatic performance of the resulting work in Dublin Castle on Bloomsday 2016.

Meet David Sedaris

THURSDAY, 6.30PM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★★

When David Sedaris goes on holiday with his friend Patsy, they end up in dodgy parts of Europe. As David ends his current series of comic essays, he wonders if it’s time to end his travels with Patsy.