Programme Information

Bob Harris presents highlights of the ninth Americana Music Association Awards, held at the legendary Ryman auditorium in Nashville.

Among the nominations this year are Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash; Levon Helm, former frontman of The Band; and singer songwriters Patty Griffin, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Dave Rawlings.

The nominated songs of the year include The Weary Kind by Ryan Bingham, which featured in the film Crazy Heart and won an Oscar for best original song earlier this year. Honoured with lifetime achievement awards this year are Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp, queen of rockabilly Wanda Jackson and record producer Brian Ahern.

The ceremony also features live performances from a range of artists including country pioneer Emmylou Harris, alt.country favourites The Avett Brothers and old-time jug band The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

In a round-up of the evening's events, Bob goes backstage to interview the performers, winners and nominees from Americana's big night and selects his musical highlights from the ceremony.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Al Booth for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Frank Renton presents music and conversation from the Sunday Gala following the British Open Championships in Symphony Hall Birmingham, one of the most popular concerts of the banding year.

This year, Grimethorpe Colliery, Cory and The Black Dyke Band take to the stage, along with the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist Matthew White.

Presenter/Frank Renton, Producer/Terry Carter for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Tony Blair talks to Philip Dodd about the human dimensions of life as Prime Minister

In the aftermath of the publication of his much-anticipated memoirs, A Journey, Tony Blair is in extended conversation with Philip Dodd in tonight's Night Waves. The former Prime Minister has previously said: "I have tried to write a book which describes the human as much as the political dimensions of life as Prime Minister."

Philip asks about these human dimensions – Blair's attitudes to politics, money, socialism, his faith, his personal qualities and his reflections on his time at No. 10 now that he has been out of office for three years. He also asks whether, in among the life-and-death decisions that included leading Britain into an unpopular war, a Prime Minister has time for any self-reflections on how power is changing him as an individual.

Presenter/Philip Dodd, Producers/Tim Prosser and Fiona McLean

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Neil MacGregor continues his exploration of powerful empires around the world in the 14th and 15th centuries in the third and final series of the history of humanity as told through 100 objects from the British Museum in London.

Today's object is a handsome jade cup that once belonged to one of the great leaders of the Timurid Empire – the great power that stretched across Central Asia, from Iran to parts of India.

The owner of the cup was Ulugh Beg, the man who built the great observatory in his capital Samarkand and who, like Galileo and Copernicus, has a crater on the moon named after him.

Neil tells the story of the Timurids and charts the influences that spread along the Silk Road at this time. Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov and historian Beatrice Forbes Manz describe the Timurid world and the extraordinary character of Ulugh Beg.

Presenter/Neil MacGregor, Producers/Anthony Denselow and Paul Kobrak

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Cerys Matthews celebrates her childhood heroine and the rebel of Swedish children's literature, Pippi Longstocking, who has captured the imaginations of children all over the world for more than 60 years.

Pippi has red hair, freckles and a nose the "shape of a very small potato". She was invented in the Forties by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, who created the character for her daughter before later sending the idea to a publisher.

Pippi is an orphan – her mother is an angel and her father is the king of a cannibal island. She eats pancakes, drinks lots of coffee and goes to school when she feels like it. She defies all the rules, speaks out against authority and is courageous and loyal.

Nothing could have prepared Lindgren for the huge reception Pippi received; fiercely criticised on the one hand as irresponsible and seditious, and enthusiastically applauded on the other as a work of liberation and an outstanding artistic accomplishment.

Today Pippi Longstocking has become a worldwide phenomenon, a national treasure and a trade mark.

In this programme Cerys explores the many layers to the Pippi Longstocking character, with contributions from Astrid Lindgren's daughter, Karin Nyman; Britain's most famous Swede, Ulrika Jonsson; writer Ulla Lundqvist; artist Marianne Lindberg de Geer; and the voice of Lindgren herself from a Swedish Radio interview recorded in 1988.

Presenter/Cerys Matthews, Producer/Sarah Cuddon for Falling Tree Productions

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Only days after the Coalition Government gave their "mother of all budgets" the English nation is again holding its collective breath. A Chancellor's fear-filled austerity speech fades into party politics, a warm-up act to a more serious matter – football, a sport that enables the understanding of a nation.

Set in the Man of Hope pub, Paul Watson's play explores sensitive male issues, difficult lives and the sexual relationships of the pub's regulars.

Colin and Dean, lovers for years, are facing up to Colin's irascible temper and terminal cancer. John is advising Dave to leave his unfaithful wife and live with Lola, the pub's barmaid. The landlord, Gerry, also wants to woo Dave while Max, a sexually aware virgin from the local public school, seeks enlightenment from Andrea.

Greying Jonathan is in the clutches of a $55million Russian con. The football match is eventually hijacked with tragic consequence by Gareth and his gang of tin-pot car drivers. By the end, England is shamed both by its footballers and watchers.

Narrated by Paul Watson, the cast features Robert Longden as Colin, Barry Aird as Dean, Peter Benedict as John, James Allen as Dave, Tilly Vosburgh as Lola, Mark Kempner as Gerry, Matt Field as Young Max, Louise Jameson as Andrea, Michael Fenton Stevens as Jonathan, Gareth Abel as Gareth, Jacqui Sharpe as Julie, Mike Anfield as Joe, Rhys Swinburn as Wayne, and Fred Wheadon as Older Max.

Producer/Paul Watson for Pier Productions

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Four amateur scientists have turned their ideas into real experiments this year, with help from the Material World team. They were selected from 1,300 ideas sent in from around the UK, and this week they present their results in front of an audience at the British Science Festival in Birmingham.

The finalists are: Ruth Brooks, aged 69, a retired special needs tutor from Devon, whose experiment is intended to establish the homing distance of the garden snails (Helix aspersa) which decimate her plants; Sam O'kell, aged 35, a croupier from Manchester, who is testing his theory that the greatest crowd density at a gig is 6-10 ft from the front; Nina Jones, aged 17, an A-level student from Milton Keynes, who wants to find out what makes up a typical Facebook profile picture; and John Rowlands, aged 41, an aerial photographer from Anglesey who is investigating the frequency and brightness of noctilucent (polar mesospheric) clouds.

Making the final decision about the winning amateur scientist is the judging panel, made up of Professor Tanya Byron, clinical psychologist, author and broadcaster; Mark Henderson, science editor of The Times; and Professor Trevor Cox, acoustic engineer and Engineering And Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) media fellow.

Presenter/Quentin Cooper, Producer/Michelle Martin

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

SEPTEMBERFEST
5 Live Breakfast

Thursday 16 September

6.00-10.00am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Nicky Campbell presents 5 Live Breakfast live from the A&P Shipyard on the banks of the river Tyne, Newcastle, in the opening programme of BBC Radio 5 Live's annual Septemberfest.

5 Live Breakfast aims to take a snapshot of the economic story of the North East, once a booming industrial heartland but now heavily reliant on public sector employment, which could be disproportionately affected by the cuts in government funding.

Nicky meets A&P workers and tours what is one of the few remaining working shipyards in the North East, boasting the largest dock on the East coast of England. Through diversification, A&P survived the demise of the shipbuilding industry and the more recent recession.

Meanwhile, Shelagh Fogarty is in Edinburgh ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to the UK.

BBC Radio 5 Live's Septemberfest is in Newcastle and Gateshead from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 September with programmes broadcasting live from Newcastle city centre, a series of off-air interactive activities in the 5 Live Igloo on Gateshead quayside and live coverage of the 30th Great North Run.

Over the four days 5 Live will broadcast many of its programmes live from Newcastle, some in front of local audiences, including the Kermode And Mayo Film Review and Fighting Talk. For more details visit bbc.co.uk/5live.

Presenters/Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty, Producer/Scott Solder

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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SEPTEMBERFEST
Gabby Logan

Thursday 16 September

12.00noon-2.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Gabby Logan broadcasts live from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in Newcastle, as part of BBC Radio 5 Live's Septemberfest.

Sir Bobby, the former Newcastle and England manager, who died last year, fought cancer five times in the 17 years following his first diagnosis. In the final 18 months of his life, he established the charitable foundation to help fund the early detection and treatment of cancer.

Gabby is live at the foundation to hear about the work they do, with Newcastle legend Alan Shearer and members of Sir Bobby's family, including his three sons.

Presenter/Gabby Logan, Producer/Heidi Dawson

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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SEPTEMBERFEST
Richard Bacon

Thursday 16 September

2.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Richard Bacon presents his afternoon show live from the Centre For Life in Newcastle as part of BBC Radio 5 Live's annual Septemberfest.

Richard is joined by a local audience and special guests, including comedian and actor Les Dennis; Dani Harmer, the star of CBBC's Tracy Beaker; and local band Maximo Park.

Presenter/Richard Bacon, Producer/Robin Bulloch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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SEPTEMBERFEST
Tony Livesey

Thursday 16 September

10.30pm-1.00am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Tony Livesey is joined by an invited audience and special local guests for late-night entertainment and chat, live from South Shields as part of BBC Radio 5 Live's Septemberfest.

Presenter/Tony Livesey, Producer/Jonathan Aspinwall

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Shaun Keaveny is joined live in the studio by Matt Everitt for an irreverent take on the day's music news, and by comedy legend Charlie Higson, a man who not only released two singles on The Specials' Two Tone label with his band The Higsons, but who once plastered Fry and Laurie's house and wrote and produced The Fast Show, Down The Line and Bellamy's People.

Presenter/Shaun Keaveny, Producer/Lisa Kenlock

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins chooses the tracks for this week's lunchtime playlist on Nemone's early afternoon show.

Edwyn is back with his seventh solo album, Losing Sleep, the first to be fully written and recorded since his stroke in 2005. It features a star-studded line-up, including Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, Magic Numbers' frontman Romeo Stodart, the Cribs' Ryan Harman, Brooklyn band the Drums and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Aztec Camera's Roddy Frame also appears.

Presenter/Nemone, Producer/Jax Coombes

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Thursday is Roundtable day on Steve Lamacq's show and he welcomes comedian Jeremy Hardy, TV and radio presenter Matthew Wright and Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, into the studio to chat about some interesting new releases.

Listeners can comment on the tracks by entering the Listeners' Roundtable via the BBC 6 Music website.

Presenter/Steve Lamacq, Producer/Paul Sheehan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer Richard Hawley

Marc Riley is in London village tonight and has Richard Hawley along for company.

Richard is a long time friend of the show, with numerous Riley sessions to his name. He even sat in Marc's chair once when the presenter was away. When he's not hanging around the 6 Music studio he records acclaimed solo albums, usually named after lost corners of Sheffield. His sixth, Truelove's Gutter, came out last year.

Richard has also collaborated with Elbow and the Arctic Monkeys and co-produced and co-wrote Tony Christie's 2008 album Made In Sheffield.

Presenter/Marc Riley, Producer/Michelle Choudhry

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Gideon Coe get his hands on archive concerts from American heroes the Byrds and electro-pop group Blancmange.

There's also a selection of sessions from C86 cuties Tallulah Gosh, recorded in exactly 1986, and an XTC session from 1982 recorded for David Kid Jensen. Rock pioneers Led Zeppelin are also featured from Top Gear, circa 1969.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

BBC 6 Music Publicity