16 September, 2008

Is there anything like Radio 4 anywhere else?

I may sound terribly British and patriotic for a bit but is there anything like Radio 4 anywhere else in the world? Because if there is, tell me about it. The reason I ask this question is that I have just started to listen to Radio 4's new historical series on the history of America. And I cannot imagine another organization preparing a series for radio which is 90 episodes long (15 minutes each), made up of 3 series and taking 18 weeks. It is erudite, intelligent and interesting.

Mind you, all is not entirely well in the BBC land of the I-player. It took me ages to find a link which took me to a version of the programme that worked instead of buffering for ages and cutting out every few seconds. And best of all if you press the link on the main page for the series that says listen to the latest programme it takes you to the Archers! Someone has a sense of humour. You want the history of America, you get the Grundys and Archers in Borsetshire...

But I carp - well done the Beeb. I shall be listening again to this if I can. It's great radio. Now I just want to see if I can a link to the Food Programme which works...

UPDATE: I managed to get listen again to work. Apparently it does if you change the dial-up modem version from off to on. Don't ask me why or how or why I need it on when I use a fast broadband connection. It works which is all I care about.

4 comments:

Oanh said...

Radio 4 is pretty cool... I did a double take when I first heard that they would do a 90 episodes programme. 90!

There is also the US's NPR, which you can access online too (www.npr.org), and they often have very good programmes, though I'm not aware of anything like the 90 episodes...

And just to stick up for Australia, we had Radio National - although what I liked was not the educational stuff but the nightly quiz: Known Unknowns. I even phoned in and got through once, though I lasted no more than 2 questions ...

Eliane said...

Thanks for the tips. I covet a Roberts portable wireless broadband/DAB radio. Great to listen again while weeding... And to listen around the world. One for my Christmas list.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you had problems with the iPlayer. You're welcome to contact me directly (I wouldn't mind asking a few questions) to help us understand what's not working for you.

Eliane said...

Thanks James! I have managed to get it to work and I did send the Beeb a comment/complaint about it. Mind you I suspect that this isn't just my problem as lots of people seem to be commenting on it on the BBC's message boards.