The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
On My Wavelength
Today is 10 years since the final edition of the News of the World after 168 years in print, and whether you miss it or not, its end marked a turning point in the role of the mainstream press in this country. Or did it? In The Archive Hour: Thank You & Goodbye (Saturday, Radio 4, 8pm), media journalist Jim Waterson tells the story of how the News of the World met its demise, and the aftermath for the media and the political establishment.
The subject of wokeness is a hot one for comedy. The actress and critic Kate Copstick makes this modern taboo the focus of a new comedy, Taboo (Sunday, Radio 4, 7.15pm), featuring comedians whose material addresses political issues from all angles, including Desiree Burch, Scott Capurro, Tanyalee Davis, Jordan Gray, Roger Mahony, Tim Renkow and Kate Smurthwaite.
Languid waters and messing about in boats: on A Yorkshire River Journey with Petroc Trelawny (Monday to Friday, Radio 3, 6.30am), the presenter will be broadcasting live from different locations on the rivers Ure, Ouse and Humber throughout the week. Along the way he’ll explore cultural landmarks and present live music from local musicians and special guests. He begins in Wensleydale, and there’s a trip to the source of the Ure. He also explores the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey, the gardens of Newby Hall, and the historic streets of York, before finishing up at Spurn Head on the Humber Estuary.
Steph McGovern always brings a level-headed sense of humour and lightness of touch to practical subjects, so her meditation on the nature of the hi-vis jacket in
Reflections on Hi-Vis (Tuesday, Radio 4, 11am) is sure to be good value. We see people in hi-vis jackets every day, and perhaps we don them ourselves for work. McGovern asks, does this bright uniform convey authority in all contexts, and how did it come to be ubiquitous?
Soul Music (Wednesday,
Radio 4, 9am), the series offering a deep exploration of songs and pieces of music with contributions from those who love them, returns this week. The first episode looks at the Eighties disco classic Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat, a club floor-filler as well as a poignant song about a young gay man leaving his homophobic home town and finding freedom in the city. A song about a search for belonging, it became a dearly cherished anthem of the LGBT community.
Kirsty Wark concludes her excellent, nuanced series about Scottish writers and their home country this week in Written in Scotland (Thursday, Radio 4, 11.30am). This time the focus is on language and class, and how these are revealed through Scotland’s literature. She argues that the language used by Scotland’s writers is almost always political, and poet Hugh MacDiarmid’s experimental writing in Scots generated a response so huge that it led to the founding of the party that would become the SNP.
And Book of the Week: The Madman’s Library (Monday to Friday, Radio 4FM, 9.45am) is Edward Brooke-Hitching’s captivating guide to some of the oddest books ever written. It’s a guide to books written in blood (Saddam Hussein’s, to be exact), books written as curses, hoax books, invisible books, books worn into battle, books with supposed supernatural powers, a Grand Grimoire, and the longest, largest and smallest books ever known.