Radio 4 plays the national anthem before it shuts down at 1am. This might confirm several hideous things for you: that Radio 4 is as backwardly nationalistic as the hard-right Tory rump, that it is as old-fashioned as the shilling, and that its listeners are probably the sort of people who get out of bed to salute as it's played. To a certain extent, Radio 4 is like this - but it is also the only place on the dial with the intelligent discourse and cultural entertainment we so desperately need and want.
I am a new convert. Six months ago you would have found me listening to a London talk station, condemning the boring Archers (duller than sheep-dip) or the anti-feminist haven of Woman's Hour, while praising the democracy of the phone-in. Now, however, I have realised that just because people can express their opinions 24 hours a day on the radio does not mean that they're interesting or even sane. I tentatively turned my wireless to Radio 4 and have remained glued to it since.
It's not just me, either. Radio 4 has put on 350,000 new listeners in the past year, according to Rajar, the audience-measuring organisation. Although this only means that people are listening for as few as five minutes every week, if they're anything like me, it will be considerably longer, since it has so much to offer as food for the brains and for the ears.
If you desire current affairs, you can start at 6am with politicians being grilled on the Today programme and hear incisive debate on everything that matters right until midnight, with Today in Parliament, passing through the World at One and The World Tonight. Despite seemingly every report on the Today programme starting with the sound of someone crunching up a gravel path - whether they're in Ipswich or Iceland - their correspondents know their stuff and get much more in-depth with their subjects than TV reporters.
I do object to radio drama of any stripe, since it lacks any hint of acting and always suggests luvvies gathered round a mike popping balloons for gunshots. But the Book of the Week and the Book at Bedtime cover a wide range of genres, and even allow cheats to talk about how much they loved the last Zadie Smith when all they heard was a Radio 4 abridgement. Desert Island Discs inevitably brings up wide-ranging tunes, while the Shipping Forecast has a cult charm (and soporific effect) all of its own.
Although not every moment is stimulating - Broadcasting House and Saturday Live are purgatorial - I think my love affair with Radio 4 has staying power.
