Simon O'Hagan

1 day ago | simonohagan.substack.com | Simon O'Hagan

I’ve been a radio listener long enough that the schedules still mean something to me. (My involvement in helping to compile countless radio listings pages for Radio Times over the years also plays a part in that). Of course I catch up with stuff on BBC Sounds, but whereas a listener to, say, the In Our Time podcast who lives in South America probably has no sense of when Radio 4 actually broadcasts it, I’ll still find myself, at 9 on a Thursday morning, thinking, right, In Our Time.

1 day ago | inews.co.uk | Simon O'Hagan

Lucy Worsley is at home in south London, sitting at her desk, holding up a worn paperback – a book that’s very special to her, because, she says, it was where her passion for history all began. “Jean Plaidy!” she exclaims, recalling one of the 20th century’s biggest, best-selling authors. “I used to love this book so much.” And the title of the book? Why, The Young Elizabeth — and suddenly everything about Worsley’s calling falls into place.

1 week ago | simonohagan.substack.com | Simon O'Hagan

Rather like Pick of the Week, Feedback is another Radio 4 programme that is essential listening if you want to keep up with what’s going in BBC radio, but whereas PotW is very much a celebration of output across the stations, the latter deals in listener opinion and often hefty doses of contentiousness, as programme-makers respond to what’s being said about — more often than not complained about — their work.

3 weeks ago | simonohagan.substack.com | Simon O'Hagan

Sometimes a new voice comes along on the radio, and for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on, you just think — you know what, I really like that voice. I like the timbre, I like the tone, I like the attitude. Whoever’s voice that is, it’s someone I reckon I’d enjoy hanging out with. I’ve had that experience recently with the voice that belongs to the presenter of two hugely entertaining Radio 4 series about the elusive artist Banksy — The Banksy Story, and When Banksy Comes to Town.

3 weeks ago | simonohagan.substack.com | Simon O'Hagan

Alfred Hitchcock’s decree that the length of a film should be “directly related to the endurance of the human bladder” no longer really applies now that so much entertainment is home entertainment and we can pause movies whenever we feel like it, but we all know that there are artistic benefits to working within limits.