All Things Considered Radio Wales – Gen Verde On the Other Side
Roy Jenkins interviews the members of the Gen Verde performance group who spent a week with pupils from two secondary schools in Torfaen preparing them for a concert at the Newport Centre on 12th November. Impressive contributions to the programme from the young people about this experience of seeing life from someone else’s point of view. It was a privilege to help organise this fantastic project.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Angela Graham
July 25th, 27th -31st
Podcast: All Things Considered: How To Defend Against Terrorism
BBC Radio Wales 5th July & 9th July; iplayer till 3rd August
With the tenth anniversary of the London bombings being marked this week, the man who ran the Metropolitan police at the time made a stark admission. Lord Blair said he did not believe the west would be able to defeat such extremism in his lifetime.
Meanwhile the defence secretary seeks parliamentary authority to extend to bombing of ISIS targets to Syria, the prime minister speaks of ‘the struggle of our generation’ and the families of 30 British tourists mourn after the massacre on a beach in Tunisia.
What’s at the root of these atrocities? To what extent is this a religious crisis? And what can be done to prevent such things happening again? Continue reading Defence against Terrorism
BBC Radio Wales Sunday 7th December
Unanimous praise for Calvary but disagreement over whether religion has ‘moved to the periphery of Irish life’
Fun being among the reviewers but I found myself at odds with them on this point.
Far from religion being on the side-lines, this film presents it as being so close to Irish hearts that its betrayal by clerical abuse of children results in a seething anger against clerics and the Catholic Church. Religion has failed but faith, in this film, is precious.
My favourite film, Bresson’s ‘Diary of a Country Priest’ is the model here. In both films a good priest is surrounded by embittered, suffering parishioners who taunt and confront him with the monstrosity and absurdity of suffering. There is plenty of jeopardy of the usual who-dunnit type but even more hangs on the risk that the priest will compromise his principles from sheer fellow-feeling.
A key role is that of the newly bereaved French wife whose clear-eyed acceptance of enormous loss proves a touchstone. Integrity, the coherence between what a person believes and what he or she does, is a major theme.
A great cast. Brendan Gleeson and his son, Domhnall are powerful in one of the many one-to-one encounters.
Why do we get angry at suffering as though it is something unexpected? That’s a question I feel this film put in front of me.
iPlayer Radio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04snkt6
Listen Online I devised and presented this documentary on First World War Memorials in Wales
Wales Remembers / Cymru’n Cofio
BBC Radio Wales, Sun 9 Nov 2014 10:30
With Contributions from:
I contribute regularly to several radio shows: BBC RADIO 2 Pause for Thought since 2010, BBC RADIO WALES Weekend Word and Wednesday Word since 2009, All Things Considered and BBC RADIO CYMRU Rhaglen Dei Tomos
Gyda/with Shan Cothi, Bore Cothi
Radio Cymru Ebrill / April 2014
Finalist in the Jerusalem Award for Best Broadcast, Easter 2011. For Pause For Thought, BBC Radio 2