Illuminated

World champion Strongwomen Lucy Underdown, Rebecca Roberts and Donna Moore redefine what it means to be strong. They reveal what we can all learn from these record-breaking athletes, while also challenging what it really means to be powerful woman.
Contributors: Rebecca Roberts, Lucy Underdown and Donna Moore
Produced by Justine Potter
Executive Producer: Geoff Bird
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4

MRI machines are a miracle of modern medicine. A long white tube that can scan inside our bodies, detecting all manner of illnesses. Getting into one though can leave many people anxious. Something called 'scanxiety'.
When it's his turn to lie down and be rolled inside, presenter Ciaran Tracey must confront his claustrophobia and submit to the machine that can see what's inside his body.
His scan becomes a journey through quantum physics, electromagnetism and - most surprisingly - a space age machine that can talk back. This MRI is a little different - even a little sarcastic. Not least when it comes to telling him whats actually going on inside his own body.
Writer & Presenter: Ciaran Tracey
MRI Voice: Hattie Hayridge
Sound Production: Barney Rowntree
Executive Producer: Innes Bowen
MRI sample sounds by Pond 5
With thanks to the Christie NHS Foundation Trust (Samuel Curley, Steven Jackson, Victoria Donahue, Amelia Cargo); University Of Manchester Preclinical & Clinical Imaging (Denise Ogden); and Daniel Sodickson (NYU, Function Health).
A Big City Nights production for BBC Radio 4

Andy Mycock has one of the world’s worst surnames. Despite being a renowned political scientist, his life has been punctuated by friends and strangers making fun of his name.
Daily acts like meeting new people or being called in to see the doctor can be both hilarious and fraught. His surname has impacted on his professional life, meeting a partner, and forming meaningful relationships. But there are positives too - it’s almost impossible to forget Dr Mycock.
As Andy learns to turn a lifetime of difficult first reactions into an opportunity to connect, he discovers he has a superpower and maybe a community too. Join him as he goes on a personal journey to find peace with Mycock.
Presenter: Andy Mycock
Producer: Olivia Swift
Executive Producer: Geoff Bird
Mixing Engineer: Steve Brooke
Location recording: Mike Dunbar and Simon Buckley
A Reform Radio production for BBC Radio 4

A farmer, a cheesemaker, a philosopher and a scientist take us on a guided tour through a cow.
Told in five acts, this programme weaves together the voices of our four guides - artist-philosopher Samar Nasrullah Khan, cheesemaker Peter Dixon, farmer Nikki Yoxall and Professor of Animal Science and Microbiology Sharon Huws.
They take us on a journey from deep in the soil, through a plant, into a cow’s mouth, through her four stomach compartments – home to vast civilisations of bacteria, protozoa and fungi – and, of course, out the other end. Finally, the cow is milked and her dung is devoured by microorganisms, who turn it back into soil – starting the cycle again.
Part documentary, part creative interpretation, the programme uses field recordings to immerse us in the multi-species communities we encounter along the way. These mingle with the voice of the cow herself, and those of our human guides, who explain and reflect on the interactions and transformations occurring at each stage.
Humans and cattle have co-evolved. Over thousands of years, we have harnessed, exploited and relied on their ability to transform protein-poor plants into milk and dung, providing nourishment for people and soil. But still, what actually goes on inside a cow – and between a cow and its environment – to make these transformations possible remains a source of wonder.
Featuring Nikki Yoxall, Samar Nasrullah Khan, Professor Sharon Huws and Peter Dixon
Producer and narrator: Katie Revell
Executive producer: Carys Wall
Sound design, music and mix: Ev Buckley
Additional recordings by Gastric Mill
A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

John Betjeman wrote that it was 'worth cycling forty miles in a head wind to visit St Wendreda's church in March, Cambridgeshire, because of the 118 angels in the roof.

The wings of the C16th oak carvings are inspired by hen and marsh harriers. Once common locally - they are returning now. Nature writer Robert Macfarlane looks at the carvings, drawing connections between angels and harriers, what they say about of our feelings for the birds and angels.
Robert climbs to the ringing chamber to get close to the harrier angels with Ruth Clay, vicar of St Wendreda's, Edward Wilson-Lee, author of The Grammar of Angels, and Ajay Tegala, ranger at Wicken Fen. They discuss their meaning, in the C16th when they were carved, and today. The persecution and survival of the angel carvings corresponds to that of the birds. At Easter this is a resonant story.
During the Reformation iconoclasts destroyed 'idolatrous' church decorations, including carvings. Michael Rimmer, author of The Angel Roofs of East Anglia, tells of their destruction. At the same time the Tudor Vermin Acts led to a frenzy of killing of birds of prey such as harriers.
When Henry VIII's agents came to March to destroy the carvings, the people of March plied them with drink and food. They left with the church silver, but the harrier angels stayed intact.
In William Barsley’s workshop the wood carver speaks about the art of the carvers who were known as 'imaginators'.

Robert visits Wickham Fen with Ajay Tegala, where hen and marsh harriers are in recovery, to observe them in angelic flight.
And musician Martin Simpson has made a special recording of his song Skydancers, about harriers, their predicament, recovery, and our role in this.
Presenter: Robert Macfarlane
Producer: Julian May