I love Radio 4

[MrBen]

I too am a fan when non musical intellectual stimulus is required. Veering off slightly there are some great digital stations now. My current favourite is The Jazz - finally a proper Jazz station!

The old Jazz FM never actually seemed to play any jazz and is now more approprately Smooth FM and up there with Magic for Mini Cab drivers everywhere.

6 Music is also a favourite for off the wall, old classics and new indie.

And I have a guilty pleasure in Virgin Classic Rock - which is unashamedly playing November Rain by Guns N Roses every 2 hours along with Bowie, The Eagles and Genesis.

Digital Radio is great!

[spadetownboy]

radio 4 does press a few buttons for me esp as already mentioned by many others the fab,im sorry i havnt a clue. im also with mr ben on this one the jazz is a right good station only available on dab at the mo but well worth tuning in for as is capital life old and new pop and the beauty of it all no djs spewing inane crap.

[Ultraconsultancy]

Thought for the day is the most infuriating thing on R4. I recently heard a correspondent suggest that the reason terminally ill patients should be denied euthanasia is so that their suffering can inspire the rest of us. It's just about the most offensive thing I have ever heard anyone say. Love Lionel tho - I don't think his jewish mama jokes are bad at all - and also John Sentanu, the Bish of York when he does it.

[lemonellen]

Fi Glover on Saturday Live is just brilliant.

Has anyone else noticed that Today has been given a bit of a facelift? There's a new arty slot at about 7.45, just for a few minutes. Tell me I'm not imagining it..

[Asset]

Not sure about Fi, bit too knowingly smug. My Favourite used to be Broadcasting House on Sunday morn when Eddie Mare hosted. It is still good but not as good.

Must pay more attention to thought for the day, it seems it is blindingly religious after all. That's the trouble with R4 though it does become a burble in the background.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Saturday morning is brilliant. I love the politics bit before Fi Glover, and Fi herself and then that travel one. My favourite radio day is Saturday.

[Asset]

Gardeners' Q time

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Oh yes! But it's got a bit over stage managed recently. They sound a bit too rehearsed sometimes.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I have to confess to knowing a Christian apologist who has done 'Thought for the Day' [and she lives in Peckham!]. If it's any consolation she is very sweet and incredibly genuine.

[mattham]

I'm not at all religious but I often enjoy thought for the day...just as I would any other piece that might challenge my own beliefs. If anything it could be seen as a non-threatening intro to how religious types view certain issues. My beef with R4 (Today prog specifically) is the John Humphreys style of presenting ? all macho posturing, bulldog stuff. Sometimes it sounds like a parody ? remember The Day Today? They had it spot on and that was about 15 years ago. Appointment of Evan Davis should prove interesting in that regard.

Love Just a Minute, but a lot of the comedy is rather smug and self satisfied...bunch of old blokes laughing at their own jokes. All that said, it's still one of the most valuable parts of the BBC.

[cookie]

I always had pre-conceived ideas about R4 as a plummy station, but tuned in for a Kraftwerk special recently.

Will be keeping more of an eye out in the future for other interesting features.

[Asset]

The 'comedy' slot at 6.30pm can be dreadful.

I didn't know Evan Davis is joining Today, I like him! Sometimes it can be painful listening to Humphrey's worrying away at an interviewee, he's like a terrier. Funny though too.

[blinder999]

> the John Humphreys

> style of presenting ? all macho posturing, bulldog

> stuff.

I read a nice description of his interview style:

"like a drunk man in a pub car park trying to start a fight"

[Nero]

Fi Glover, Eddie Mair, Paddy McConnell are all infuriatingly smug. It's like listening to a lower sixth form at a leafy, middle class comprehensive. Stick them in a room until their egos subsume each other in a meltdown of sub-Danny Baker self-reverential mockery. James Naughtie is great. He's the Betamax to Humphrey's VHS. Nero

[cdonline]

Now that you can listen online, I tend not to listen when the programmes are on live. And then it is a mixture of Radio 3 and 4, which I have in the background when I'm online.

[Keef]

John Humphrey's thinks he is a lot brighter than he actually is. He obviously watched some of the great interviewers goading people, and decided that the way to get answers was to speak louder than the person he's interviewing.

I'm not a big fan, but I still find myself listening!

I love some of the people on Radio 4, especially the book of the week programme (whatever it's called). They are just so incredibly desperate to show how intellectually superior they are, and quite often, they're talking absolute dross!