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BBC Radio 4 22nd July, 11.30

Ben Schott, Britain’s foremost Almanac maker, charts the history and influence of a pocket book encyclopaedia and self-help manual that rivalled the bible as a bestseller. With optional advice on amateur surgery. With over 400,000 sold annually, 1 in 4 households owned an almanac. Combining the characteristics of calendar, self-help manual and pocket encyclopaedia, almanacs contained utilitarian information on just about everything: feast days and holidays, good and bad weather, when to sow crops, let blood, how to write an IOU, even advice on amateur surgery and do-it-yourself abortion.

“a snappily produced programme, with lots of atmospheric detail: creaking doors, jaunty music as a backdrop to the sillier quotations, and rich visual clues from casual asides… well told, and illustrated with cracking material” Elizabeth Mahoney, The Guardian

BBC Radio 4, 17th June

The anatomy of the ritual hand clap, with recordings made in China, Fiji, Spain and the UK. From chimps in the jungles of Borneo to delegates at the trade union congress, the hand clap has an attention-seeking variety of meanings that provide rich clues to the origins of language.

“Water cooler friendly” Chris Campling, The Times

Back 11th August at 9am for four weeks.  This time:

• the qwerty keyboard faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct the English language;

• the question “do women and men use language differently?” is addressed

• the surprisingly subtle use of contradiction is argued about

• the future of language is considered.  This includes the question “How would a Robot Read a Novel?” answered, and the magical new language of Jafaican explained.

  
  

Series 1 and 2 are available on CD and download.  Enjoy a taste of tosh from The Joy of Gibberish here. 

BBC World Service Friday 11th June

Welcome to the world of a forensic entomologist.

Amoret Whitaker is a scientist called in to help on murder cases where it is difficult to determine the time of death, since rigor mortis may have long since set in. The body has started to decay yet is full of life.  Insect life. These insects are Amoret’s ‘best friends’ as they give her all she needs to know. As a body decomposes, it gives off different chemical signals which attract different insects at different stages of composition.

Read more and listen here.

The Current Series ends 22nd May, and will return next year.  Guests have included Rachel Johnson,  James Brown, David Morrissey, Janet Street Porter and Sarah Millican.

At Radio 4’s request we repeated a 2008 edition featuring Nick Clegg, Kate Adie and Robin Denselow. The new Deputy Prime Minister, then a fairly newly elected Lib Dem leader chose Johnny Cash’s Fulsom Prison Blues.