Should a major cultural institution ever be seen to be making fun of itself? This article considers some BBC programmes – all ones on the radio – from the 1930s to the 1950s. It follows on from the first in this series of essays, available to read here, or by clicking on this preview: https://prefadelisten.com/2023/01/14/how-the-bbc-has-spent-decades-satirising-itself-part-1/ … Continue reading The art of radio self-satire | Part 2…
Tag: Radio and Film
Radio goes to the movies, and how art imitates life…
In this article I consider a number of writers and journalists past and present, including Pete May, Philip Knightley, Harold Evans, and Michael Green. All good and true men devoted to the art of the printed word. But first, imagine a broadcast journalist, working for a national radio station, who is so comfortable with telling … Continue reading Radio goes to the movies, and how art imitates life…
Movies and radio memories…
There is a connection. Honestly. Do please bear with me. This article was written on Wednesday 29th April 2020, in the sixth week of the Covid-19 confinement for Britain. Easter had come and gone. The dry warm-ish spring weather had continued and by and large the nation had heeded the Governments instructions to “stay home, … Continue reading Movies and radio memories…
Don’t Touch That Dial…
...bear with me this once. This article will appear to be joyously off-topic at the start because it won't mention much about radio; just superheroes. The reason is I want to talk about finding reality in fiction. On the face of it that sounds like nonsense, but if I try to explain I hope you'll … Continue reading Don’t Touch That Dial…
See radio differently…
...is a re-branding exercise by an outfit called Radiocentre (it declines the use of a definite article in its literature). Speaking to radio and industry professionals in Leeds, Yorkshire, in October 2018 Lucy Barrett from the organisation said most stock photographs that accompany a newspaper or online story about radio tend to feature "mother, father, … Continue reading See radio differently…
“I never make predictions…
...and I never will” is a quote attributed to the English footballer Paul Gascoigne, who clearly knew the philosophy behind our natural desire as human beings to have a go at guessing what things will be like in the future. Most of the time we fail, which is why now is a good moment to … Continue reading “I never make predictions…
The soundtrack of your life…
Radio is a personal medium. It's my medium. It's also been the medium of the baby boomer generation, of which I am one. Radio, by the end of the 20th century, had become for many who were born in the two decades after the end of WW2 part of the soundtrack of their lives. Tanja … Continue reading The soundtrack of your life…