PICK OF TODAY’S RADIO

PSYCHO, 6PM, 12MIDNIGHT, RADIO 4 EXTRA

ON A dark, rainy night, Mary Crane, with a work client’s $40,000 in her possession, takes a wrong turn off the highway. She’s stolen the money to pay off her no-good boyfriend’s debts, thinking the two of them will soon be living happily ever after. Then, she checks into the Bates Motel, meets the proprietor, Norman, and goes for a nice hot shower . . . William Hope reads this eight-part adaptation of Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel, which was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s unforgettably chilling film of the following year.

JACKIE OATES (pictured) has a sweetly soft, unaffected voice, which suits many a song. She plays the violin and viola and is a member of that fine, all-star folk band The Imagined Village. Jackie also has her own trio, with melodeon player John Spiers and songwriter Megan Henwood. They have a new album out, called Gracious Wing, and play tracks from it tonight on THE FOLK SHOW WITH MARK RADCLIFFE (9PM, RADIO 2).