PICK OF TODAY’S RADIO

BOARDING SCHOOLS: THE SYSTEM THAT RULES BRITAIN, 8.30PM, RADIO 4

FOR some former pupils, being sent to boarding school was so traumatic that they have spent years in therapy, trying to get over it all. For others, going to a school where they found life-long friends and a mind-stretching education was a lifeenhancing adventure. Nels Abbey, a British/ Nigerian writer who went to a boarding school in the 1990s, looks back at how this education model was driven by the growth of the British empire, before hearing a range of boarders’ experiences, and wondering why parents continue to choose to let their children live away from them.

■ MARS can often be seen in our night skies and has exerted a fascination over us Earthlings for thousands of years. Soon, thanks to data from the Mars Rovers, we will know much more about the Red Planet. Brian Cox (pictured) and Robin Ince present a special edition of from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, bringing us up to date on the ongoing hunt for signs of life on Mars and beyond.