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BBC Radio 4

Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.

Every week Today programme presenter Amol Rajan talks to radicals, pioneers and innovators from all over the world. From populism and climate change, to economics and AI... How can their radical ideas help you win the future?

As well as presenting Today on BBC Radio 4, Amol is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan will be published on Thursdays on BBC Sounds. It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursdays at 11pm. Visualised versions of the podcast will also be available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast.

The Today Podcast

Only one in three children in the UK enjoy reading in their spare time – the lowest rate recorded in 20 years, according to a survey for the National Literacy Trust. 

Best-selling children’s author Katherine Rundell, whose books include Impossible Creatures and The Explorer, says that represents a crisis of reading which will make it harder to tackle disinformation. 

She thinks every school should have a library that is subject to an Ofsted inspection and literacy should be included in teacher training programmes to try to tackle the decline in children reading for pleasure. 

Amol and Katherine also discuss why Donald Trump’s re-election as US president led her to donate all the royalties from US sales of The Golden Mole (published under the title Vanishing Treasures in America) to climate charities. 

GET IN TOUCH

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by James Piper. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Books v Screens: Why Every School Needs a Library (Katherine Rundell)

Ever since Labour won a landslide victory at the general election, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives have been fighting for the soul of the political right in Britain. 

Now a new right-wing think tank is putting together a suite of potential policies for a future Reform government. 

Dr James Orr, an associate professor of the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University and friend of US Vice President JD Vance, chairs the advisory board of that new think tank - the Centre for a Better Britain (CBB). 

Amol asks him whether the CBB is modelled on American organisations like the Heritage Foundation, which wrote a policy wish list called ‘Project 2025’ that set out a vision for how Donald Trump might govern during his second term in the White House. 

They also discuss who is funding the CBB, the politics of national preference, and how James was radicalised by Brexit and the culture wars. 

GET IN TOUCH 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. 

It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Rohan Madison. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Britain’s New Right: Could Reform Replace The Tories? (James Orr)

Serious pollution incidents by water companies in England rose by 60% last year, but the best-selling author Robert Macfarlane says there is a way to save our rivers. 

Days after a long-awaited review of the water sector in England and Wales was published, Amol sat down with Robert for a conversation about the state of rivers globally, why some are dying and how we can save them. 

From President Donald Trump's dismantling of the Clean Water Act in the US to the dying River Wye, Robert takes us on a journey around the world and explains why he is optimistic about the future. 

He says we can do things like give our rivers rights and mobilise citizen scientists to save them. 

Robert also digs out Amol's report card from when he taught him at Cambridge University more than twenty years ago. 

GET IN TOUCH 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. 

It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Rohan Madison. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Robert Macfarlane: Rivers Are Dying So Give Them Rights

The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson recently warned that Britain’s declining birth rate could have “worrying repercussions for society.” 

Demographer Paul Morland agrees. He says the trend towards an older society with fewer young people risks serious social and economic consequences. 

The author of 'No One Left' tells Amol that he would change the tax system to benefit parents, subsidise childcare and rethink the way we teach sex education in our schools.

They also discuss immigration and the impact that a growing population has on the climate. 

GET IN TOUCH 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Dave O’Neill. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Grey Britain: Do We Need To Have More Children? (Dr Paul Morland)

The singer, songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg thinks there’s a crisis of accountability in politics (23:51). To fix it, he says we need to reform the House of Lords (27:55) and redefine what liberty means in the age of social media (25:17).

A socialist and anti-racism campaigner who grew up in a community where the main employer was the local Ford car factory (3:35), Billy talks to Amol about class in modern Britain (15:47) and sets out the challenges facing democracy today (20:38).

He also argues that there’s a link between Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage (31:37), warns that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is in danger of losing the working class (31:14) and offers his advice to young musicians (39:12).

GET IN TOUCH

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Mike Regaard and Chris Ablakwa. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

From Trump to Corbyn: How Social Media Shapes Politics (Billy Bragg)

Is there a better way to handle divorce and family separation in the courts? Lady Hale thinks there is. 

The former president of the UK’s Supreme Court explains why there needs to be a more streamlined approach and how cuts to legal aid have impacted the family justice system (14:37). 

She also talks to Amol about the rise of authoritarianism (27:42), assisted dying (31:39) and whether lawyers should still wear wigs (42:47). 

GET IN TOUCH
 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Law and Order: How to Fix Britain's Courts (Lady Hale)

More children are being convicted of crime and our prisons are nearly at capacity. But Steve Chalke thinks he has a solution. 

The founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, which runs a chain of academies and the UK’s first secure school, works closely with children who have committed the worst crimes. He advocates for radically changing our schools, the education system, and how we rehabilitate our young offenders. 

Amol and Steve also talk about their shared background, the crisis of masculinity, and how a rejection at the age of 14 lead him to where he is today. 

GET IN TOUCH 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Knife Crime: Can Education Save Lives? (Steve Chalke)

Leading historian Professor Sir Niall Ferguson explains how patterns from the past can help us understand the future. 

Amol and Sir Niall discuss the tensions in the Middle East and why he thinks Israel’s strikes on Iran are a victory for the West. They also explore the idea that we're in a new Cold War. 

And Sir Niall explains why Britain needs a leader like Argentina’s Javier Milei rather than Donald Trump. 

GET IN TOUCH 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Grace Reeve. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davies. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

The Future of War: How Should the West Respond to its Enemies? (Sir Niall Ferguson)

Feminist campaigner Laura Bates has fought for women's safety for over a decade. But now her battle against misogyny moved online. 

She tells Amol how social media platforms are fuelling hatred against women, with algorithms promoting increasingly extreme content. 

The popularity of figures like Andrew Tate, whose videos are widely available, and offensive material is being pushed to teenage boys and young men, even if they don't seek it out.

So how can it be stopped? What responsibility do the big tech companies have in combating this problem? How can they be held accountable? And what is it doing to society if young men are being radicalised in this way?

GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Grace Reeve and Lucy Pawle. Digital production was by David Kaplowitz and Sophie Millward. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

AI and Sexism: The Fight Against Misogyny Online (Laura Bates)

Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.

Every week Amol Rajan talks to radicals, pioneers and innovators from all over the world. 

From populism and climate change, to economics and AI... How can their radical ideas help you win the future?

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan will be published on Thursdays on BBC Sounds starting on 12th June 2025. It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursdays at 11pm. Visualised versions of the podcast will also be available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast.

The Future of War: How Should the West Respond to its Enemies? (Sir Niall Ferguson)

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