World Radio

Tranny toilet dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Thu, 2 Oct 2008 01:20:00 -0400

Which toilet do you use if you're a transexual? It's a real existential conundrum in Manchester, UK!... as heard on the Jeremy Vine Show, Radio 2, 1/10/08.

Pi Day

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 06:02:00 -0400

Wednesday (3.14) is Pi Day. Weekend America gives us some tips on remembering it.

Any Racism?

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 05:37:00 -0400

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Mercer was fired from the opposition front bench after saying that calling a black soldier a black bastard was the same as calling a redhead a ginger bastard. The comments on BBC Radio 4's Any Answers were illuminating on the reaction of the British public.

Brycheiniog crannog

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 03:20:00 -0400

Llangorse Lake, near Brecon, has an artificial island or crannog - the only one known in Wales. Made between AD889 and 893, it was the site of a palace of the kings of Brycheiniog. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle refers to the destruction of a site near Llangorse by an English army in 916AD. On Radio 3's Twenty Minutes Horatio Clare investigates it's myths and legends.

Spoof backfires

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 03:58:00 -0400

BBC radio presenter Jeremy Vine apologised after his show ran a spoof news bulletin that Soham killer Ian Huntley had been murdered. Rumours spread that Huntley, 31, had died and journalists put in calls to the Home Office and police. Police called it "irresponsible" and said it had to inform Holly and Jessica's parents that the story wasn't true. Huntley is serving life in Wakefield jail for killing the 10-year-olds in 2002.

Tyranny of public opinion

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 04:25:00 -0400

Michael Duffy's Counterpoint on ABC Radio National discussed John Stuart Mill's prophetic contributions to modern liberal thought.

Angry Black Woman Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:48:00 -0400

A clip aired on NPR last week is generating a great deal of buzz in the African-American community. It features a man arriving at the house of his former spouse with a new partner: a white woman. When they complain about this, he berates the black women for their inability to keep a decent black man - because of their penchant for drama and fighting.

Sex with Robots

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:09:00 -0400

Is it acceptable to have sex with a robot that looks like your daughter? This question is among those being debated at the Geneva Convention for Robots, a code of ethics that's under development to govern how human beings use robots. Heard on World Update.

Live at Leeds 2

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:44:00 -0400

The Who, Live at Leeds is still regarded as the best live album of all time. Surviving band members Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend have started their latest tour with a recreation of the classic university gig. Former Entertainments secretaries Andy Kershaw and Simon Brogan, who booked the band 36 years ago, reminisce on Newsnight.

Dead Cities

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 02:54:00 -0400

AC Grayling gives his Perspective on allied bombing of German and Japanese cities in World War II.

Requiem for Gyorgy Ligeti

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 09:01:00 -0400

The avant-garde Transylvanian composer Gyorgy Ligeti is perhaps best know for the music used by Stanley Kubrick in 2001, A Space Odyssey and Eyes Wide Shut. He talked to John Tusa on Radio 3 shortly before he died last week.

Janet and John

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 08:10:00 -0400

Another double-entendre story about John Marsh, newsreader on Wake Up to Wogan, and his wife Janet.

How to get excommunicated

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 9 Jun 2006 04:13:00 -0400

A caller to Sunday Night Safran asks how he can get excommunicated. Father Bob McGuire suggests he try assassinating the Pope.

The Smell of Rain

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Mon, 29 May 2006 08:19:00 -0400

Why does the air smell differently just before and after it rains? It's Dr. Karl on Triple J.

Nuking Viet Nam

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Mon, 29 May 2006 06:46:00 -0400

Torn Curtain this week tells the story of how Richard Nixon came up with the idea of dropping nuclear bombs on Viet Nam.

Tree of Knowledge Dead

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Mon, 29 May 2006 02:54:00 -0400

The historic Tree of Knowledge, a ghost gum in the central western Queensland town of Barcaldine, has been poisoned. One of the first May day marches in the world took place during the Shearers' strike on May 1, 1891. It was a symbol of the Australian Labor Party, which was founded in the town in 1891. It appears someone poured about 30 litres of chemicals over the tree's roots. From Australia All Over.

Mea Culpa

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Sat, 27 May 2006 08:52:00 -0400

At last, the two lame ducks, Bush and Blair, have admitted they were wrong. From the BBC Newspod.

Kill Bliar

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Sat, 27 May 2006 04:00:00 -0400

In the magazine GQ, the Respect MP George Galloway has said that the assassination of Tony Blair by a suicide bomber would be morally justified. He confirms his views on the BBC's PM programme.

Kaotians in Darlington

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 26 May 2006 09:46:00 -0400

A sex slavery cult, the Kaotians, based on a series of 1960s science fiction novels, the Chronicles of Gor, has been uncovered by police in Darlington. The cult's master talks to Jeremy Vine.

Taliban in Oldham

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 26 May 2006 08:34:00 -0400

Here's two Bengali-British brothers from Oldham, near Manchester, on the BBC Asian Network with very contrasting views about integration.

Kids + money = misery

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Thu, 25 May 2006 06:24:00 -0400

Discussing his book, Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert tells Diane Rehm that bringing up children does not make parents happy. Indeed, their happiness only returns to pre-marriage levels when the children leave home! The same is true of lottery-winners and money.

Hardwired gender

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Thu, 25 May 2006 06:07:00 -0400

Dr Leonard Sax believes that biological differences between the sexes are so great that they learn in very different ways, and he's now the founder of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. He talks to Richard Aedy on the ABC's Life Matters.

Racist Moment

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Wed, 24 May 2006 07:19:00 -0400

Oscar winning actress Halle Berry got miffed when BBC radio interviewer Chris Moyles pretended to be a "fat, American black guy."

"Are we having a racist moment here," she asked? Berry and Jackman continued the morning show interview for several minutes. A BBC spokesman said Moyles' attempted breakfast humor was not racist.

Dry mouth

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Fri, 19 May 2006 03:40:00 -0400

A typically TOGy snippit from Terry Wogan.

Hugo Chávez in London

noreply@blogger.com (DXer) — Tue, 16 May 2006 08:27:00 -0400

The Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chávez is in Britain at the invitation of London mayor Ken Livingstone. Here he is predicting the end of the American Empire.