For Your Information II


For Your Information II

Interesting, Educational and often Comical Nonfiction Broadcasts


F:\FYI II ========= A Question of Treatment * This is a radio series perhaps unlike anything you have listened to before! Recorded over a year, the series charts the fascinating and bizarre lives of two colonies of wood ants; one in a pine forest and the other in a deciduous woodland in Northumberland. Using specially designed microphones, we eavesdrop on the private and noisy activities of the ants; we join the soldiers, workers, nurses and guards within nests, following them as they march through the forest on a highway of ant trails, and we are with them when the nest is attacked by badgers, damaged by mountain bikes, and threatened by tree harvesters, dogs, ferocious storms and predatory birds. A Year in the Life of Ants 1.5 - Early Spring A Year in the Life of Ants 2.5 - Late Spring A Year in the Life of Ants 3.5 - Early Summer A Year in the Life of Ants 4.5 - Late Summer A Year in the Life of Ants 5.5 - Autumn and Winter Auden - 6 Unexpected Days Austria-A Convenient Victim Between The Ears - Hearts Lungs And Minds Between The Ears - Staring At The Wall * Historian John Gilmore and writer Angelina Osborne visit four places connected with the British slave trade to tell their stories and reflect on their legacy. Britain's Hidden Slave Trade - ESSAY 1.4 Britain's Hidden Slave Trade - ESSAY 2.4 Britain's Hidden Slave Trade - ESSAY 3.4 Britain's Hidden Slave Trade - ESSAY 4.4 * Will Self considers Pavlov's dog and Phillip Pulman explains how he was encouraged by a cat in a box. Just two of the writers who talk to Ian Peacock about some of the greatest scientific discoveries and theories - and how they have provided inspiration for their writing. Cats & Comets 1.5- Newton's Apple Cats & Comets 2.5- Schroedinger's Cat Cats & Comets 3.5- Franklin's Kite Cats & Comets 4.5- Pavlov's Dog Cats & Comets 5.5- Halley's Comet Chaos Theory - is the universe chaotic or orderly? * Philip K Dick is now world famous, thanks to films like Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. But in the last years of his life he encountered something so strange and troubling he couldn't stop writing about it. Writer Ken Hollings asks: was it Phil's fault God talked to him or was it God's? Confessions Of A Crap Artist (Documentary on the final days of Philip K. Dick) English and American Thrillers (Raymond Chandler & Ian Fleming discussing their writing) Gorey Details (re Edward Gorey) Grassy Knoll * Andreas Antoniades, who confirmed to a Sunday Times reporter two years ago that he had made about £300,000 as a registered informant for Customs, is a Greek Cypriot who was first recruited in the 1950s by Britain to inform on Eoka, a guerrilla group fighting British control of Cyprus. In 1959, Antoniades was resettled in Britain and turned to crime. He was jailed for four years for “wounding with intent” in a gun attack in west London. Over the following decades, however, Antoniades continued as an informer and became what one Customs official said was “one of the best we ever had”. In the 1990s, suspicions grew, whether well-founded or not, that he was working with Turkish and Kurdish gangsters. One Customs officer reported that he was “suspected of being involved in organising large shipments of heroin being imported to the UK by various methods”. Heroin Connection * In the 1950s, the Seventh-day Adventist Church struck an extraordinary deal with the US Army. It would provide test subjects for experiments on biological weapons at the Fort Detrick research centre near Washington DC. The volunteers were conscientious objectors who agreed to be infected with debilitating pathogens. In return, they were exempted from frontline warfare. Fort Detrick was working on weapons it could use in an offensive capacity as well as ways of defending its troops and citizens. Hotel Anthrax uses declassified documents, evidence from Senate investigations and personal testimony to trace the American bio-weapon programme during this period. The research involved anthrax, other lethal bacteria and biological poisons. The scientists also conducted tests on an unsuspecting American public. Hotel Anthrax 1.2 Hotel Anthrax 2.2 * Britain has been through a number of "Ice Ages" in the last two and a half million years, but is currently in a relatively short "warm period". Over two programmes, Howard Stableford finds clues that the British Isles were once gripped by an age of ice which ended a mere 10,000 years ago. His search takes him the length and breadth of the country, from the central highlands of Scotland to Jersey. Ice Age Britain 1.2- Evidence In Britain Ice Age Britain 2.2- Still In The Freezer * Twm Morys explores the legend of Tristan and Isolde, one of the world's most enduring love stories. Immortalised by Richard Wagner in his 1865 opera, the story predates this by over 1,000 years. Wagner based his text on medieval sources, which themselves derive from a much earlier oral tradition. In Search of Tristan * October 1962 - The Soviet Union installs near range nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. With armed forces on both sides at their highest state of readiness the fate of millions of people rests upon the ability of two men, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise and avoid nuclear war. Anthony Howard draws on the secret tapes made by President Kennedy to tell the inside story of what went on in the White House during the crisis period. Few, if any, of Kennedy's advisors were aware that their meetings with the President were being taped during the crisis when the world came the closest it's ever been to nuclear war. They reveal that the United States had decided to carry out a limited strike against the missiles in Cuba but drew back when the consequences became clearer. Kennedy's Secret Tapes - Cuban Missile Crisis * Fifty years ago, on 5 March 1953, the Soviet leader Josef Stalin died. His political life as a dictator who dominated millions has been minutely dissected over the decades. But his last days continue to provoke speculation and argument. Did he die of natural causes following a brain haemorrhage or was Stalin killed because he was about to plunge the Soviet Union into a war its people were in no position to fight? Last Mystery Of Stalin Loose Ends Manhattan Story
* Claudia Hammond presents a series looking at the development of the science of psychology during the 20th century. When Philip Zimbardo set up a mock prison, he had no idea that the resulting behaviour would be so extreme that he would have to abandon the experiment. Over 30 years later, when he saw photos of the abuse in Abu Ghraib, it was with the shock of recognition that he went on to testify in the defence of one of the accused soldiers. Mind Changers - Stanford Prison Experiment Mind Changers- Albert Bandura Mind Changers- Heinz Dilemma * Chris Ledgard looks at the global war over intellectual property. Mine All Mine 1.5 - Most scientists and inventors want to protect their work with patents, filing hundreds of thousands every year. But without patents could the world have cheaper healthcare and more efficient cars? Mine All Mine 2.5 - Trademarks have to be protected, but should anyone be allowed to trademark a colour or a phrase? And is it really a sin to buy a fake Rolex watch? Mine All Mine 3.5 - The music industry has been revolutionised by the internet explosion. With free music available online, why should anyone pay for it? Mine All Mine 4.5 - Anyone with a broadband computer can now download and watch virtually any movie free of charge. This is illegal, but the chances of being prosecuted are close to zero. Some consider this the death of an industry, but others call it healthy anarchy. Mine All Mine 5.5 - My Words. Plagiarism has become a nightmare for teachers, publishers and journalists. * Micky Dolenz explores how two producers, hot from the success of The Monkees TV series, kick-started an artistic renaissance in Hollywood with their counter-culture movie about two hippie bikers riding across America. Contributors include Peter Tork, Jim Frawley, Steve Blauner, Henry Jaglom, Karen Black, Roger McGuinn, Donn Cambern and Peter Bogdanovich. Movie Outcasts-The Making of Easy Rider * Barry Took: Mr Point of View The late comedian, writer and broadcaster tells his own show business story. Mr Point of View 1.4 by Barry Took Mr Point of View 2.4 Mr Point of View 3.4 Mr Point of View 4.4 Mr Punch Says That's the Way to Do It * On Closer Inspection - Professional cynic and satirist Marcus Brigstocke is forced to meet some of his political targets and reassess his own prejudices about the character of politicians. Mandy Baker introduces him to the ways of Westminster - in the Commons chamber, at news conferences, in the corridors and of course at the bar. On Closer Inspection 1.2 On Closer Inspection 2.2 On the Trail of the Templars * Pain of Laughter - Rob Brydon explores the complex character of Kenneth Williams, a gifted and articulate performer at odds with his public persona. Kenneth's inner circle of friends offer an insight into his passions and private world, revealing an intelligent and spiritual man grappling with his declining career and health. Pain of Laughter - The Last Days of Kenneth Williams 1.2 Pain of Laughter - The Last Days of Kenneth Williams 2.2 * Placebo - The Placebo Effect - When a new drug or treatment is dismissed as being ‘no better than placebo’, we all get the message: any benefits are probably ‘all in the mind’, it’s ineffective, not worth pursuing. Yet studies suggest that the placebo effect can have a significant impact on the course of a wide range of illnesses, including depression, irritable bowel syndrome and angina. It seems that it’s the meaning of a particular treatment to the patient that’s crucial. For example, research shows that the colour of an inert sugar-pill and even the branding on the box, can alter a pill’s effect. In this first programme, Ben Goldacre looks at the growing body of research into the placebo effect, and explores the factors influencing the strength of the placebo response. * The Implications for Medicine - Studies using placebo or ‘sham’ treatments show that what a doctor says to a patient, along with the ritual of the therapeutic encounter itself, can have a real impact on health outcomes. This raises important ethical issues for those who work in medicine. A doctor’s first commitment is to the wellbeing and health of the patient. Given the undeniable benefits of placebos in the management of many hard-to-treat conditions, can it ever be right to prescribe a placebo without informing the patient? Could complementary therapies, many of whose specific effects are unproven, represent the acceptable face of placebo prescription? Has modern, scientific medicine, with its emphasis on ‘magic bullets’ targeting specific diseases, lost sight of the importance of the ‘art’ of medicine? Placebo 1.2 Placebo 2.2 * Poulson - A Case of Corruption - A look at the case during the early 1970s which exposed widespread corruption in public life. * Punt PI - Steve Punt turns private investigator, examining little mysteries that perplex, amuse and beguile Punt PI - s01e01 - 400 False Legs - He explores the case of a couple who found 400 false legs hidden under their floorboards. Punt PI - s01e02 - Strategic Steam Reserve - He investigates the steam trains which formed part of a nuclear war contingency plan. Punt PI - s01e03 - Dark Peak - He explores the area around Dark Peak in the Peak District, Britain's own Bermuda Triangle * Quirks & Quarks - CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks has won an award at the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association annual conference in Nairobi for a show explaining the science behind biofuels. Every week, Quirks & Quarks presents the people behind the latest discoveries in the physical and natural sciences—from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest objects in the sky—and everything in between. The program also examines the political, social, environmental and ethical implications of new developments in science and technology. From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Quirks & Quarks 01 Quirks & Quarks 02 Quirks & Quarks 03 Quirks & Quarks 04 Quirks & Quarks 05 * Real Spooks - British Security Services 1.2 - A look into the shadowy world of Britain's security services, forced into radical change after 9/11 - Trench Warfare - Gordon Corera looks at how MI5 responded to 9/11 and how has it adapted since. Real Spooks - British Security Services 2.2 - What We Feared - Was the service ready for the events of 7/7 and what is it doing to prevent other attacks?
* Roman Way - 1 of 4 - Using contemporary accounts from all levels of society, from the chattering classes to humble foot-soldiers, from senators to slaves, The Roman Way explores four aspects of everyday life, two millennia ago. David Aaronovitch, the presenter of the series, gives his view on some aspects of the Roman way. Why is there a growing interest and fascination with the Roman Empire? Can we learn from the romans even in the 21st century? Roman Way - 2 of 4 Roman Way - 3 of 4 Roman Way - 4 of 4 * Scars of Evolution - 1 of 2 - The Aquatic Ape - Presented by Sir David Attenborough Scars of Evolution is a two part series looking at the history and current status of the 'aquatic ape hypothesis' (AAH), first proposed 45 years ago by Sir Alister Hardy, then elaborated and developed by Elaine Morgan and others. The hypothesis proposes that the physical characteristics that distinguish us from our nearest cousin apes - standing and moving bipedally, being naked and sweaty, our swimming and diving abilities, fat babies, big brains and language - all of these and others are best explained as adaptations to a prolonged period of our evolutionary history being spent in and around the seashore and lake margins, not on the hot dry savannah or in the forest with the other apes. Scars of Evolution - 2 of 2 * Schizophrenia, All in the Mind - the way forward - Dr Raj Persaud explores the limits and potential of the mind, revealing the latest research and bringing together experts and commentators from the worlds of psychiatry, psychology and mental health. Dr Persaud chairs a special debate on schizophrenia from the Institute of Psychiatry in South London, where listeners, service users and mental health organistions can put questions to a panel of experts. Science in High Resolution (1 of 6) - The Eddystone Lighthouses From 1698 Science in High Resolution (2 of 6) - Making Something of Nothing Science in High Resolution (3 of 6) - The Big Sleep Science in High Resolution (4 of 6) - The Humble Aspirin Science in High Resolution (5 of 6) - With the Brain as My Compass Science in High Resolution (6 of 6) - Lord Kelvin's Bedspring Six Places That Changed The World - 1 - 6. Hiroshima Six Places That Changed The World - 2 - 6 - The Summit At Yalta In February 1945. Six Places That Changed The World - 3 - 6 - San Francisco. Six Places That Changed The World - 4 - 6 - Delhi Six Places That Changed The World - 5 - 6. Bretton Woods Six Places That Changed The World - 6 - 6. Geneva Smile - The Genius of Charlie Chaplin 01 The Tramp (60 mins.) Smile - The Genius of Charlie Chaplin 02 The Great Dictator (60 mins.) Something Is Terribly Wrong - The Day Jack Kennedy Died Stuck in the Middle 1.5- Keeping Up Appearances Stuck in the Middle 2.5- Acting the Adult Stuck in the Middle 3.5- Relationships Stuck in the Middle 4.5- The Generational Squeeze Stuck in the Middle 5.5- Time's Winged Chariot * Stuff and Nonsense - Winner, An Award of Excellance. A site about Television and over useless forms of entertainment. Mainly StarTrek, but lots of other stuff as well!! * The Lopsided Universe - Lucifer's Legacy - Why are we here? This question is at the heart of modern physics. We live in an asymmetrical world, full of asymmetrical beings. Writer and physicist Frank Close discovers that we owe our very existence to the destruction of the symmetry of the universe at the instant of creation. We live in an asymmetrical world, full of asymmetrical beings. Human males have asymmetric testicles. The left one hangs lower than the right one. Check now - if you have this apparatus. Some of you may find that you're the other way round. Don't panic, but beware, you belong to a very small group of people whose hearts are situated on the right side of their thorax. That's the wrong side. The outside of our bodies are generally symmetrical, either side of a line drawn from the crown of our heads to the soles of our feet. But look inside and it's quite another story - asymmetry reigns supreme. Our organs are packed in to produce an organised asymmetry. But how does the developing embryo know its right from left? How does it "know" to lay down the heart on the left side and the liver on the right? Could it be that the molecules that make the tissues, that become the organs, are handed? Frank Close sets out on his quest to explore asymmetry in people, planets, galaxies, space and ultimately the universe - and discovers how all these things are inextricably linked to produce US! * Who Breaks a Butterfly Upon a Wheel - The Rolling Stones on Trial - Revisiting the Rolling Stones' notorious summer of 1967, when two band members were sent to prison. Bob Harris looks back at the controversial drug bust at a party, which resulted in Keith Richards' and Mick Jagger's conviction. The programme takes its name from a piece in The Times written by its traditionally conservative editor William Rees-Mogg. He questioned the outcome of the court case that saw Richards and Jagger handed custodial sentences for first time offences that were harsher than "any purely anonymous young man" would have received due to their celebrity status. About the title: `Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?` is a quotation from Alexander Pope's `Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot` of January 1735. The line has entered common use and has become associated with more recent figures. It can be taken as referring to putting massive effort into achieving something minor or unimportant, and alludes to `breaking on the wheel`, a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tied to a cartwheel. * Zero Gravity - By Emma-Jane Kirby in Moscow Despite the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia has continued to run a space programme. The main difference now is that foreigners are actively encouraged to take part in it. An hour and a half outside Moscow, at a space training centre called Star City, would-be cosmonauts learn about the rigours of space flight, and how to work in the most challenging environment of all - zero gravity. Instead of the high tech military camp swarming with surveillance cameras which I had vaguely imagined, the Russian space centre seemed to be a collection of rather down-trodden high rise apartment blocks cut into dense woodland. The peasants who were carefully tending their vegetable allotments looked far removed from the burly cosmonauts I had been prepared for. But we probably presented them with an equally confusing picture. As flight trainees, we were a somewhat motley crew - an enormous, bald, Slovenian theatre director called Dragan, a circus acrobat, a German juggler, a couple of French dancers, a delicate Irish rocket scientist called Susan, and myself, a BBC radio reporter. "First, you are to watch a video," she said. "You will enjoy this please." After zero gravity we were to expect 2G - where the pull of gravity is twice as strong as usual and we would feel double our weight. It was about then that my ear picked out, through the incomprehensible Russian, the repetition of a slightly familiar phrase: "Plastica bagga". "Excuse me," I said. "This business of plastic bags - is there a chance we'll be sick?" The interpreter looked surprised. 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