TODAY’S RADIO

PEOPLE FIXING THE WORLD 8.06AM, 3.06PM, 11.06PM, BBC WORLD SERVICE

It’s harder to mend things than it used to be. Screws come in all kinds of shapes and sizes that don’t correspond to any screwdriver you own; tracking down spare parts can be difficult, and manufacturers want customers to constantly discard and upgrade. All this helps to add to the two billion tonnes of rubbish generated globally each year. In this programme, we hear about Sweden’s plans to promote fixing things, from jeans to washing machines, and to discard the throwaway culture.

THE VENTRILOQUIST’S DUMMY 2.15PM, RADIO 4

In ancient Greece, ‘belly prophets’ were thought to have the

Mathew Baynton (6.30pm, R4) unliving inside them. Using ventriloquism, these prophets would speak in strange voices, making predictions and answering questions. Eurycles was one of these belly prophets and, in this drama documentary on ventriloquism, Sanjeev Bhaskar plays the ancient

Greek who spoke from his gut.

LAW IN ACTION 4PM, RADIO 4

Is Covid law infringing our human rights? And how are court backlogs affecting justice? Those are the important questions that Joshua Rozenberg will be investigating as he returns for a news series of the long-running legal magazine programme.

RELUCTANT PERSUADERS 6.30PM, RADIO 4

Welcome back to Hardacre’s advertising agency, as Edward Rowett’s award-winning sitcom returns for a fourth series. It’s February 2019, nobody’s ever heard of a coronavirus, and Rupert Hardacre (Nigel Havers) hasn’t been seen since Christmas. But with Joe (Mathew Baynton) in charge, things are running remarkably smoothly... SJ