Speechification

I can't believe no one has put up the traditional Christmas bling around here. So I'm going to do it, while suggesting you listen to this very amusing short story by Anthony Horovitz, part of the rather good "Scene of the Crime" series by leading mystery writers currently playing out in the Afternoon Readings slot. [MP3]

A Very Merry Christmas from all at Speechification Towers.

Yes. It's a documentary about ivy. So you'll learn more than you've been planning to learn about ivy lately. But it's also a gorgeous trip through the soundworld of mid-Wales. Put your headphones on: sheep, birdsong, all the intimate and incidental sounds of a walk in the Autumn countryside. Also the relaxed, unconscious, almost hypnotic ease of a seasoned broadcaster - Lionel Kellaway. Musical and quite intoxicating (MP3).

This programme - with all the other Radio 4 nature programmes - is available to listen to permanently on the web site (no seven-day expiry here). There's also an excellent, year-round podcast. I mentioned this one on my Listen with Bowbrick Twitter feed the other day too.

The picture is green/red ivy by Alex Pears and it's used under licence.

Deep beneath the earth, in mines and under mountains, are James Bond-esque lairs filled with scientists... Sue Nelson explores the world of dark matter researchers, a great piece on the geography of scientific investigation and the excitement and politics of small teams competing for a common goal. Don't miss the links from the programme page either. [MP3]

You'll dash through this - fifteen minutes of classical radio documentary values delivered at speed. Entirely satisfying (and very exciting). Good music too.

Lovely pics and a transcript of the gripping, deadpan radio transmissions that form the basis of the programme here.

Hugh Sykes visits Madley Communications Centre, near Hereford, the site of the world's largest earth satellite station (you can see it on Google Maps). Madley reaches out over the Atlantic and even to the Indian Ocean to communicate with geostationary satellites, providing the vital link in the transmission of raw news - and has played a crucial role in a number of world events. [MP3]

A brief little series of 15 minute episodes about music's power to move people geographically as well as emotionally, Musical Migrants ran in 2008 and again in 2009.

Here's the fourth programme from Series 1: Belgian bandoneon player Eva Wolff describes her arrival in Buenos Aires, and her introduction to Tango, in the context of Argentina's catastrophic economic meltdown. [MP3]

Ian Marchant spends some quality time on London's buses, talking to people on the top deck, with particular reference to under-16s, who've been able to use the network for free for the last couple of years. [MP3]

It's great to hear so many teenagers' voices, giving a human side to what is often just a frightening racket, not least on the W3, local to me, and identified by Marchant as the scariest bus route in London.

Good, too, to hear a wide variety of opinions from older passengers and bus drivers, not all of whom are as disapproving as they might first appear. Some of the CCTV discussion is a bit worrying however, and I'd love to know how much the vast systems being implemented cost, compared to reintroducing conductors.

This is a story that's been bubbling under the mainstream news media for quite some time, but a recent report in the New York Times went some way to breaking the silence, and now we have an hour-long report on Five Live, which is good to see if not the most pleasant listening. And I should emphasise that: it's not for the faint-hearted.

Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, gay, lesbian and transgendered people lived largely closeted but, in the major cities at least, mostly without interference - certainly freer than in most Middle Eastern countries. But in the chaos that's followed, a mainly religious-inspired and incredibly violent backlash - supported by local government forces and unacknowledged by the country's leaders or the occupation administration - has decimated the gay population, killing many and driving others into hiding or out of the country entirely, where they face further humiliation and fear at the hands of immigration authorities. [MP3]

This is a brave and thoughtful programme, looking at the issue from many angles, and talking to people on all sides. I didn't know Radio Five did stuff like this, and I'll be looking out for more of this kind of in-depth reporting. You can find out more at the website of Iraqi LGBT, the British-based organisation that's one of the main sources for the programme.

An excellent and engrossing discussion between Night Waves presenter Philip Dodd and historian and journalist Timothy Garton Ash, ranging across Communist Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Orwell, Greene, the soixante-retards, the USA and the Bush administration, and England's place in Europe.

I feel sort of blessed that this level of intellectual discussion is available free to air, just coming out of my radio when I switch it on... [MP3]

The first programme in the latest Global Perspectives series, an annual collaboration between the World Service and eight other broadcasters, this year taking 'islands' as its theme. And once again, it's very good. [MP3]

Alert Bay - My Life So Far was created from recordings gathered by five young people from Alert Bay, a remote island off the west coast of Canada. The young people, aged 11 to 17, were trained by two producers from the Canadian Broadcating Corporation. The producers lent them recording equipment and gave them a simple task: 'Tell us about where you live. Tell us about your life.'

If you're wondering where Alert Bay is, it's here and there are more pictures here and a website here.