I’ve done it! I’ve switched to Radio 4 in the morning!

[greengreyblue]

Does this mean I have finally grown up aged 53? I’ve been listening to Radio 2 for years . Couldn’t face Zoe so tried Greatest Hits- can’t bear the ads. Tried Virgin but Chris and crew were too much. Now Scot Mills is in place I just give up!
Still love Liza Tarbuck on radio 2 but for my daily news and calm start to my day it’s radio 4 all the way. What can I look forward to? Any particular shows I should listen out for? I can listen before 8.30 and after 4pm in the week.

Sorry it's Thinking Allowed - new series started on 21 Jan. Loads of episodes on Sounds.

I'm 50, R4 has been my go to for the last couple of decades, mixed with some R2, 5 Live, occasionally Times Radio, and NPR when we lived in the States.
I always start the day with the Today prog, and the early hours with the World Service progs, the Shipping Forecast and Farming Today were a reassuring comfort through caring for my mum during a short, brutal illness then deep grief after she died mid last year. I enjoy Woman's Hour, The Archers, Desert Island Discs, World at One, You&Yours, The Kitchen Cabinet, Just a Minute, I'm Sorry..., Front Row. R4 is the soundtrack to my day.

I always listen to the Today Programme and to PM (even though I find Evan Davis extremely annoying).

I also tend to skip most of the 6:30 comedies, although I don't mind Just A Minute and will always listen to It's a Fair Cop whenever it's on!

Especially for the breakfast show with Greg James who is just brilliant

This is pretty much how I feel about R4 now. Its quality has gone very downhill over the last few years with endless repeats and dumbed-down programmes. They're clearly trying to save money and targeting a (much) younger audience than they probably have.

I find it totally depressing: every 50 words you'll hear the words 'rape', 'sexual abuse', etc. It's a total misery-fest and I'm increasingly switching it off.

I love you and yours!
It sees me through my driving each day.
Especially love the scam investigations.
Money Box,
It's All In The Mind
File on 4
All good too.

I’ve loved radio 4 for the last 30 years. Today! Women’s hour! Shipping forecast! And every thing in between! There’s nothing like it. It get’s me through work every day.

I've been listening to radio 4 since I was a kid. Have a look on BBC sounds for podcasts of different programs.
I wake up to Today. I also enjoy:
Sliced Bread
More or Less
Curious Cases (Hannah Fry & Dara O'Briain)

Then there are loads of interesting series that pop up. I loved 'The Gift' about unexpected surprises people discovered after taking a DNA test (Ancestry etc.)

Enjoy!

Does anyone here listen to Rewinder with Greg James on Radio 4? It's like The Archive Hour for young people discovering Radio 4 and is often amusing.

It's like an antidote to the 6.30 comedy slot. I used to listen to that every weekday but now I rarely do.

Farming Today if you get up early enough. Money Box.
Woman’s Hour hasn’t been worth listening to for decades.

Not old enough for Radio 4???!!! I've been listening since childhood!

i also like liza tarbuck radio 2
i got used to zoe ball but then she left so havent put myself through scott mills as i couldnt bear him as steve wright's replacement

but radio 4 in the morning although not keen on Emma Barnett and i miss Mishal Hussain,
and on the way home catch a bit of Evan Davies
also enjoy Paddy O'connell sunday morning

will read this thread for ideas

oh yes, I like Farming Today

You're dead to me is good
Life Changing i also recommend

Not old enough for Radio 4?

I’ve been a R4 listener since before I was born. It’s been a constant companion through tiny childhood (Listen with Mother), boarding school, university, first profession, travel (the joy of catching The Archers on a borrowed laptop in the middle of a vast Wyoming ranch), good times and bad. It’s been a third parent and guiding light.

Hasn’t stopped me listening to billions of hours of R1, or countless operas and new music on R3.

(Apart from a brief period in the late 70s, R2 has never really existed for me.)

I've been listening to R4 since I was in the womb, (so not always out of choice,) and I'm now in my 50s.

I often don't turn it on till 9am, because I like getting up in calm quiet, though I recognise this is only an option because I live by myself. And I usually watch TV in the evenings, so I miss many of the repeats. It was R4 repeats in the '80s that finally persuaded my mother that we should get a TV, when I was 14, so it's nothing new.

They do do great comedy, but they don't always do great comedy. A lot of it is down to personal taste. I even know someone who inexplicably doesn't like Cabin Pressure. Likewise drama etc can be really good, but there are also rubbish things. I usually love programmes like In Our Time. Programmes like Y&Y or WH which are magazine style, i.e. a variety of short articles, often have interesting things, but not always - it's just we'll find different things interesting.

I always viewed it as radio retirement.

I think my favourite R4 programme is Add to Playlist. Perhaps ironically, about music - but mainly talking about it. As a musician I really appreciate the engaging discussions of musical features and contexts of the songs/pieces - insightful but accessible without talking down to the listener- And they are all having such a good time as they do it.

ISIHAC rarely disappoints, and Just a Minute is a fun listen. I like Dead Ringers but hated that recent one they just launched - can't remember the title. The News Quiz is very good lately - usually manages to pitch things just right.

I very much enjoy Archive on 4 on Sat evenings (or on Sounds). A thoughtful dive into eclectic subjects.

I don't bother with Any Questions any more as they seem to have an ever diminishing roster of people on and seem to have decided a businessperson needs to be on every edition. Business is great, but I listen(ed) for political debate.

Another huge fan of It's a Fair Cop.

Oh OP, you and everyone else on this thread have inspired me to go back to Radio 4! I started having Radio 2 on almost all day when I began mainly wfh (about 12 years ago) because I do love music so much. But I now find all the presenters very grating - with the exception of Liza and Romesh - and I keep on getting up to turn the radio off when I'm irritated. I also can't abide Gary Davies so that means Radio 2 is off limits to me for hours of the day .

I'm going to retune to R4 today after Romesh and then back to R2 for Liza tonight. Rest of the week I probably won't miss it at all. I'm going to get back to listening to CDs on my CD player - yes, I am that old!

I love radio 4 now. Much less drivel than on Radio2 or 1.
My favourites
Desert island discs - doesn't matter if I know them or not something about listening to people reflecting on their lives is fascinating. Some are much more interesting than others Ian Wrights will have you bawling, Gareth Southgate not so much

Young again - famous people talking about the advice they would give to their younger selves.

Sliced Bread - a consumer program but looks at whether or not claims made by products is a load of bullshit

It's a fair cop - former policeman talks through old cases in a funny way an audience. It's captivating.

Dead ringers and just a minute good light relief

I like Romesh too. Didn’t mind Gary. He would’ve been so much better than Scott Mills as a Steve replacement . I do wonder what intel Scott Mills has on the execs at The. Beeb.

I commute at different times if the day if I'm working (I'm on bank, so ad hoc), but I have recently lost patience with R2 as I can't bear any 'public interaction' stuff.

DJ: 'Hi Serena, where are you travelling to?'
Serena: 'Um, I'm here with my gorgeous hubby and our our two fur-babies travelling from Grimsby to Clacton!'
DJ: 'And what's your gorgeous hubby called, Serena?'
Serena: 'Um, Shane'
DJ: 'Hi Shane! Keep your eyes on the road, Shane!' And who are your fur-babies, Serena?'
Serena: 'Um, Sheba, a rescue collie we got from a shelter in Accrington, and Bella who's really my cousin's dog'
DJ: 'Ooh, tell us about Bella!'
....etc

No, DON'T, play some effing Dire Straits or something! We don't care about Serena and Shane's DOGS and you haven't even STARTED on why they're going to Clacton ('to celebrate my bestie's partner's 43rd birthday'- 'What's his name?', 'How long have they been together?').

No.

Oh yes @nauticant , I only recently discovered Rewinder with Greg James and I binged all of them- absolutely brilliant bringing back some lovely memories and had me howling with laughter at times too!

I discovered Radio 4 while staying in a chalet in a very wet Essex with my mum & dad. I was about 9 and the radio was set on R4. I found it fascinating and I am still listening at 62. I can’t stand DJs on music shows that waffle on between the records so if I’m in the car I have Spotify or R4 on.

My husband hates it when he gets in the car and it’s tuned into R4. 😁

R4 is the station of choice for me yet it winds up DH, so he retunes to R3. I hate most classical music. I think we must be deeply incompatible, but we have been married almost 40 years.

Double posted, so edited to delete.