Radio Week

The picks of the best of this week’s radio

ENTERTAINMENT

The Poetry Programme SUNDAY, 7PM, RTÉ RADIO 1 ★★★★

Olivia O’Leary returns for a new series and her guests are Rachael Hegarty, who guards her mother’s memories in poems from her collection Dancing with Memory (Salmon Poetry), and Jessica Traynor, who explores the pleasure and pain of motherhood in Pit Lullabies, her first collection with Bloodaxe Books.

Alex Jones SUNDAY, 11AM, BBC RADIO 2 ★★★★

Alex Jones sits in for Michael Ball this week, and invites Westlife (pictured) into the studio for a live session and to share news about the band’s upcoming Wild Dreams tour.

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

Oti takes a lesson in Irish dancing, and hears about the long history of the joyful and energetic art form that Michael Flatley sent flying round the world.

FACTUAL

Today with Claire Byrne MONDAY-FRIDAY, 10AM, RTÉ RADIO 1 ★★★★

Mid-morning current affairs magazine show with the stories of the day, sharp analysis, sports coverage, in-depth features and consumer interest.

The Hard Shoulder MONDAY-FRIDAY,4PM, NEWSTALK ★★★★

Kieran Cuddihy brings his style of straighttalking to this opinion-led drivetime talk show, covering everything from current affairs and politics to sport and business.

CountryWide SATURDAY, 8AM, RTÉ RADIO 1 ★★★ 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.

The Godfather And Me THURSDAY, 11.30AM, RADIO 4 ★★★★ The screenwriter and film director James Watkins looks back 50 years to the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather, and looks at the profound effect it had on business, crime, politics and Italian-American families.

DRAMA

The Battle Of Savoy Hill MONDAY-FRIDAY, 12.04PM, 10.45PM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ Romola Garai and Derek Riddell star in this week-long drama about the prudish John Reith, the BBC’s first director-general, and his long-running feud with Hilda Matheson, the BBC’s first director of talks.