[Swprograms] Fwd: [uk-radio-listeners] BBC R4: 1968 season/ 90 part History of America/ Reith lecture/ archive

["Richard Cuff" <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Two of these topics look especially interesting -- the series on 1968
and the "History of America" series that commemorates the 100th
anniversary of Alastair Cooke's birth.

Folks who enjoy radio history may especially enjoy the archival
material from 1968.

Radio 4 publishes an e-mail newsletter that might be helpful in
providing advance word of these series going to air.

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mike Barraclough <mikewb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Feb 7, 2008 9:20 AM
Subject: [uk-radio-listeners] BBC R4: 1968 season/ 90 part History of
America/ Reith lecture/ archive
To: uk-radio-listeners@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Media Guardian reports that Radio 4 is to run an ambitious season of
programming unpacking the pivotal events of 1968. Using material from
the time, a five-minute montage of news reports will be scheduled
every day at 4.55pm, over the course of six months, linked by
narration from the former chief executive of the Barbican, John Tusa.

The Radio 4 controller, Mark Damazer, who announced a string of new
projects and revealed plans for an online archive of every Radio 4
show, said 1968 was particularly relevant to the station's audience,
the majority of whom would have been "between 10 and 30" at the time.
"I'm going faintly bonkers about 1968. For Radio 4, it's the
equivalent of what Radio 2 did last year with the Summer of Love and
Sgt Pepper," he said, promising there would be "no cheating" and
events would be reported as they were at the time.

The season, which will take in news events from the assassination of
Martin Luther King to the student riots in Paris, will also feature
landmark documentaries and live studio discussions.

There will be documentaries on the cultural impact of the often bleak
fallout from the Summer of Love in the year that the Beatles released
the White Album and the musical Hair promised the dawning of the Age
of Aquarius.

This year's Reith lectures would be given by the British-born
historian Professor Jonathan Spence, the author of The Search for
Modern China. The Yale professor will deliver the lectures, which are
in their 60th year, before this year's Olympics in Beijing. Damazer
said the lectures would tackle obvious topics such as human rights,
but also take in athleticism, the body and Confucius.

Damazer also hopes to bring a large audience to a 90-part history of
America timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Alistair
Cooke, the much-loved Letter from America broadcaster who died in
2004. He said the series, written and presented by David Reynolds, who
fronts the BBC4 documentary strand Summits, was a good example of
Radio 4's ability to delve more deeply than television into historic
narratives.

Another highlight will be a special daylong broadcast from the Cern
laboratory in Geneva when its groundbreaking particle accelerator is
switched on later this year. The broadcast, anchored by Andrew Marr,
will include live coverage of the moment the accelerator in a 27km
tunnel is switched on, documentaries on its development and a
made-for-radio edition of the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood.

Damazer said he was "actively pursuing" his long-term ambition to
create a deep online archive of Radio 4 content that would bring
together all programmes on a given topic. "You could type in Stoppard
and get five recent interviews with Mark Lawson, his original plays,
his Desert Island Discs and so on. Because Radio 4 has more content
than anyone else, it's a fantastic treasure trove."

Forthcoming Radio 4 programmes

· 1968 season An as yet unnamed six-month season which will include
reconstructed news bulletins, documentaries and live studio discussion

· Particle physics day After the Today programme, Andrew Marr will
host a day of programming from the new Cern particle accelerator in
Geneva, Switzerland

· Reith lectures The 60th anniversary of the annual series will be
marked in April by this year's lecturer, China expert Professor
Jonathan Spence

· History of America Ambitious 90-part series presented by Professor
David Reynolds




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-- 
Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA

International broadcasting / shortwave blog:
http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com

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