TODAY’S RADIO

DERMOT O’LEARY

8AM, RADIO 2 HHHH

Gary Barlow, who knows a thing or two about writing hit songs, joins Dermot to talk about lyrics, music, structure and making the tricky business of songwriting sound effortless. Gary tells Dermot about his upcoming

BBC masterclass course, where he’ll be sharing songwriting tips.

ONE TO ONE

2.45PM, RADIO 4 HHHH Donating one of your kidneys to save someone’s life is a pretty heroic thing to do. When the BBC newsreader Sabet Choudhury learnt that his mother would die within three years if she didn’t get a donated kidney, he knew he had to save her life, but the thought of the operation and the long-term effects on his health

Dermot O’leary (8am, Radio 2) worried him. In this interview, Sabet tells us how much his health and his relationship with his parents has improved since he saved his mum’s life.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT

9PM, RADIO 2 HHHH South Pacific is a gorgeous musical, stuffed full of heelkicking dance routines and sing-along songs . It also has the bitterly brilliant You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught. In this first of a two-part series on serious social issues in the frothy world of musicals, we hear how Rodgers and Hammerstein fought off all attempts to have this song cut from South Pacific.

THE WHY FACTOR

9.45PM, RADIO 4 HHH Magicians are an odd bunch.

They guard their secrets jealously, and put in hours of practice so that their tricks really do seem to be magic. Tonight, presenter Mike Williams looks into the psychology of stage magicians – and their audiences – to see if he can reveal what’s going on in their minds. SUSAN JEFFREYS