Radio Week

The picks of the best of this week’s radio

ENTERTAINMENT

Oti Mabuse’s Dancing Legends WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★

Oti Mabuse (pictured) looks at the work of Gene Kelly, who brought magic to many a musical, including Singin’ In The Rain, Anchors Aweigh and On The Town.

The Great American Songbook

SUNDAY, 9PM, LYRIC FM ★★★★

The next 12 weeks will be devoted to examining the work and the significance of the so-called Great American Songbook, focusing on the six greatest exponents of the art of popular song in the 20th century — Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter. The first programme in the series views the broad spectrum of this immense catalogue of music through the eyes of jazz pianist, Bill Charlap.

2fm Breakfast

MON-FRIDAY, 6AM, 2FM ★★★★ Doireann, Donncha and Carl are ready early every weekday morning to bring a breakfast bowl of mayhem on 2fm with some new games, sketches and challenges.

FACTUAL Talking History

SUNDAY, 7PM, NEWSTALK

★★★★

Dr Patrick Geoghegan takes a critical look at some of the great personalities and political, social and cultural events in history. Talking History focuses on the human side of history — unravelling the gritty and sometimes uncomfortable side.

Today with Claire Byrne MON-FRIDAY, 10AM, RTE RADIO ONE ★★★★ Mid-morning current affairs magazine show with the stories of the day, sharp analysis, sports coverage, in-depth features and consumer interest.

CountryWide

SATURDAY, 8AM, RTÉ RADIO 1HHH

The view from beyond the Pale as Damien O’Reilly and the CountryWide team feature the events and people that bring life to communities across the country.

DRAMA Piranesi

MONDAY-FRIDAY, 12.04PM, 10.45PM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★

Piranesi is a strange character who lives alone in a vast labyrinth. When enigmatic chalk marks appear, Piranesi wonders if others are sharing his home. Susanna Clarke’s latest novel is narrated — in all its surreal glory — by Samuel Anderson.

The Lyric Feature

SUNDAY, 6PM, LYRIC FM ★★★★

Edward Lear (1812-88) is best known as the author of The Owl and the Pussycat, limericks, and other nonsense verse. Less well known is that he was also an artist and composer, and that he had a life-long interest in Ireland as a source of literary and musical inspiration. In The Limerick Man, Sara Lodge, author of Inventing Edward Lear, traces his Irish journeys and friendships and their influence on his creative life.