Analysis - Revealing Religion
March 23rd, 2008 by Russell DaviesRadio 4 has a set of prejudices left over from the Reith days. Not bad prejudices, admirable actually, but not mainstream. A set of priorities that gives Radio 4 its character. Sport’s not that important, books and religion are, and Christianity is still part of the fabric of weekly life. Personally I find some of the religious stuff a bit irritating, the sappiness of Thought For The Day is always the final straw that gets Today turned off in my bathroom. But, anyway, anyway, what I’m building up to saying is that this week’s Analysis represents the best of these prejudices. It’s thoughtful, intelligent radio that examines religion as a human, social, cultural phenomenon, not just to be accepted but to be thought about. It looks at religion through the lens of science, not to determine its ‘truth’ or otherwise, but to see how what we can learn about it, to think about why we’re drawn to it. Radio 4 has a bias towards examination. I like that. Thanks to Matt. MP3 here.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Nicely put Russell. It’s a kind of chortling, confident scholarship (Brown is definitely chortling). A bit clubby? Maybe. Brilliant and useful? Definitely (BTW, I think we’re going to have to put Analysis on the ration: along with This American Life and The Archive Hour!)