... AND THE BEST RADIO

SUNDAY PRIVATE PASSIONS RADIO 3, 12PM

Actor Jack Klaff, who has been in everything from Chekhov to Star Wars, is also a member of a science think-tank in Brussels and a visiting professor in the US. He talks about his upbringing in apartheid South Africa and chooses music including Maria Callas (right) in La Traviata and Danny Kaye making fun of Russian composers.

MONDAY BOOK OF THE WEEK: AGENT SONYA RADIO 4, MON-FRI, 9.45AM & 12.30AM

Anne-Marie Duff reads from Ben Macintyre’s acclaimed new book, Agent Sonya, about Ursula Kuczynski, a top-level, German-born spy and Russian Red Army colonel who helped the Soviet Union build the atom bomb (see Craig Brown, p72).

I WAS GEORGIA O’KEEFFE’S FIVE-YEAR COMPANION, RADIO 4, 4PM

In 1977, writer Margaret Wood took a job as a companion in a remote New Mexico village. Her employer was the renowned US artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose work was inspired by the landscape and often featured enlarged, sensual flowers.

WEDNESDAY HILARIOUS HISTORIES – WHAT’S SO FUNNY ABOUT THE PAST?, RADIO 4 EXTRA, 11AM & 9PM

History has often provided inspiration for comedians, from Blackadder to The Life Of Brian. Greg Jenner trawls the archives for some classic historical comedy from the award-winning Horrible Histories team, stand-up Eddie Izzard and Monty Python.

THURSDAY THE FORUM: ELIZABETH FRY: THE ANGEL OF PRISONS, BBC WORLD SERVICE, 10.05AM

Discussion led by Rajan Datar of the work in the 19th Century by Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker philanthropist and pioneer in prison reform whose ideas spread across Europe. Before that, in The Spark on Wednesday on Radio 4 at 8pm, Chris Daw QC argues for the abolition of prisons.

FRIDAY RADIO 3 IN CONCERT RADIO 3, 7.30PM

Distinguished pianist and conductor Sir András Schiff plays a programme of Schumann and Janacek, including two sets of miniature pieces and two sonatas, live at London’s Wigmore Hall.

SATURDAY JOHN LENNON AT 80 RADIO 2, 9PM

What would have been the week of Lennon’s 80th birthday is marked by a Radio 2 coup when Sean Ono Lennon (John’s youngest son) interviews brother Julian Lennon, Paul McCartney and his godfather Elton John about his father’s life and music. Part 2 is on Sunday, preceded by John Lennon At The BBC at 7pm.