TODAY’S RADIO

CRAIG CHARLES 1PM, BBC 6 MUSIC

★★★

The New York punk band Bodega have an ironic, existential style. This goes down well with fans, but for many, their drumming owes a little too much to dear old Dave Clark. Nevertheless, Bodega are on Craig’s show this afternoon with news of their new single, Thrown, which ‘explores themes of identity and consumption’.

AFTERNOON CONCERT 2PM, RADIO 3

★★★★

Barber’s romantic Violin Concerto sets out to touch your emotions from the moment the violinist puts the bow to the strings for the opening bar. Most of the Concerto was written in 1939 as the clouds of war gathered over Europe. The violinist Elena Urioste, with the BBC Symphony

Orchestra, will be making a bid for your tears this afternoon when she plays a work that has become a concert favourite over the years.

PAST FORWARD: A CENTURY OF SOUND ★★★

7PM, RADIO 4 Ernest Marples became the Minister of Transport in 1959, and set about taking an axe to the railway system and building roads, left, right and centre.

Greg Jenner listens to an archive clip of Marples discussing car congestion and pollution in the 1960s; then, Greg talks to experts about the rise of car culture in the UK. Marples fled to Monte Carlo in 1975 to dodge a substantial tax bill, plus a slew of other legal problems that were heading his way.

THE ESSAY: PAUL ROBESON IN FIVE SONGS

10.45PM, RADIO 3 ★★★

The great Paul Robeson remains a significant figure for both his music and his political campaigning in Europe and the US. Marybeth Hamilton concludes the series on Robeson with a look at why his name was erased from the memories of many Americans. SJ

Elena Urioste (2pm, Radio 3)