The proof that Theodore Kacyniski – who earned notoriety between 1978 and 1995 as the Unabomber – had but a fragile hold on reality was that he felt that the best way to communicate his ideas was to demand that a 35,000-word version of them be published in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Although some of the points he touched on, particularly those pertaining to the relationship between technology and tyranny, might get a sympathetic hearing nowadays, few had the stamina to plough through the lot. The police were in favour of publication because they felt there was a chance that a reader might recognise the author’s hand. They were correct. The full amazing, appalling story is well told by Benjamin Ramm through archive and new interviews in The Unabomber (Saturday, 8pm, Radio 4).
This column is not usually in the habit of handing out technical advice to owners of DAB radios but it has come to my attention that when recourse to the “retune” button fails to come up with recently launched radio services, it sometimes works if you hold down said button for a little longer. This is how I came to hear TalkRADIO, which has just been launched from the same stable as TalkSport and similarly does what it says on the tin. Its array of talent includes Paul Ross, who does breakfast, Julia Hartley-Brewer, who takes care of the mid-morning, Jon Holmes over lunchtime and then Sam Delaney at drive.
Of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll – Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard – the last-named had the biggest personality. Little Richard In His Own Words (Sunday, 1pm, Radio 6Music) reminds us that said personality animated his speech and music equally. He was never handicapped by modesty. “I am the leader in music,” he can be heard asserting in the heyday of “acid rock or folk rock or whatever the hell they call it to keep from saying this is what Little Richard invented.” He has as much right as anyone to that claim.
Between Thursday 14 April and the following Sunday, BBC Radio 2 50s will operate as a pop-up station celebrating the music of that decade. It starts with My Buddy And I (Thursday, 1pm, Radio 2 50s) in which Chris Evans and his son Noah celebrate the timeless nerd appeal of Buddy Holly. Other highlights include Stuart Maconie’s Fifties Freakier Zone (Saturday, 6pm, Radio 2 50s) and The Eddie Cochran Story (Sunday, 7pm, Radio 2 50s). Again, find the station by pressing your “retune” button.
The excellent adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Sword Of Honour, which debuted on Radio 4 in 2013, gets another run-out on Radio 4 Extra this week, starting on Monday at 10am. Elsewhere, in Free Speech (Weekdays, 1.45pm, Radio 4) Timothy Garton Ash sets out the arguments against “no-platforming”, “safe spaces” and other facets of the new censorship and warns us to look out for three threats: the heckler’s veto, the offensiveness veto and the assassin’s veto.
The final Boswell’s Lives (Monday, 11.30am, Radio 4) is distinguished by Alistair McGowan’s definitive depiction of Alan Bennett. “I’m not so keen on you poking about in my private areas,” he says when Miles Jupp proposes to profile him. They visit the site of his father’s butcher’s shop in Leeds, the grave of Phillip Larkin and eventually end up in a gay bar • √•ents against “no-platforming”, “safe spaces” and the other facets of the new censorship and warns us to look out for three threats - the heckler’s veto, the offensiveness veto and the assassin’s veto. The final Boswell’s Lives (Monday 1130 R4) is distinguished by Alistair McGowan’s definitive depiction of Alan Bennett. “I’m not so keen on you poking about in my private areas,” he says when Miles Jupp proposes to profile him. They visit the site of his father’s butcher’s shop in Leeds, the grave of Phillip Larkin and eventually end up in a gay bar.
