Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

A MOTHER’S LOVE BY PAUL KENNY

When her son Tony, a comprehensive school Teacher, is sent to prison for abusing one of his 14 year old female pupils, his mother Christine is plunged into a nightmare. Set against the backdrop of her visits and letters post sentence, her confusion soon turns to anger as she is forced to examine her true feelings for her only child as his denial and minimization brings with it a realization that their relationship must change if it is to survive the sentence and beyond…

FLING STORY BY TOM JENSEN

Two lovers meet in a pub and rewind then fast-forward through their doomed affair…

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with NICHOLSON BAKER

Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization is a chronological juxtaposition of discrete moments from 1892 to December 31, 1941, based on accounts from contemporary reports of Britain’s terror campaign of repeatedly bombing German cities even before the London blitz. Known for his original approach to a subject, his first novel, The Mezzanine, recounts one afternoon in the life of a man riding an escalator on his way to buy a shoelace and his second, Room Temperature, is about a father feeding a bottle to his six-month-old daughter, while Vox transcribes a long telephone conversation between two people who meet over a phone-sex call-in line.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

THE POETRY HOUR Vol 17 featuring Chesterton, Cavalier Poets & more

Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise; that opens our eyes and ears to very personal feelings.   Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to school textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today. In this hour we’ll be listening to The Poetry of January, The Cavalier Poets, GK Chesterton and John Keats – A tribute in Verse.

All of them are from a dedicated poetry publisher – Portable Poetry who believe that poetry should be a part of our everyday lives, uplifting the soul & reaching the parts that other things can’t. Their range of audiobooks and ebooks cover volumes on some of our greatest poets to anthologies of seasons, months, places and a range of themes. Check them out at https://www.deadtreepublishing.com/  That’s Portable Poetry – poetry that carries you through!

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with CHIP BERLET

Here at Audiobook Radio we are keen to provide a range of voices – very literally as well as in terms of opinions and views of the world. This strand created by Alternative Radio does just that. We will hear from some of the most informed minds and greatest social activists of our time whose take on justice and power does not chime with those that hold the power and don’t provide justice for all so we rarely get to hear from them in mainstream media. Different opinions always help inform our own and we are always eager to hear from listeners about this or any other strand. Contact us on the tab at www.audiobookradio.net

Today’s talk is given by Chip Berlet,  an investigative journalist and coordinator of the Building Human Rights Network. His byline has appeared in scores of publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Progressive. For many years he served as senior analyst at Political Research Associates.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Eyes of Mr. Leyton’ followed by ‘The Manor House Case.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is JO NESBO.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories. Today’s are Inner Voice by Ben Chapman, The Long Goodbye by David Dobbs and A Fifteen Minute Walk by Ernie Stelzner.

A WORD IN YOUR EAR

Word in Your Ear are a Bath based collective of writers who gather to tell their stories. They liked the way our ancestors enjoyed stories – by listening to them. We totally agree with them so let’s have a listen to Small, Dark and Delicate by Doc Watson and Trog and Kron Almost Get it Right by Phillip Douch.

TAKE FIVE with HUGH HOWEY

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s HUGH HOWEY, nice guy and gifted story teller of bestseller Wool – worth a read before Ridley Scott makes the movie!

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with The Champ

Hollywood is indelibly printed in our minds as a go to place for entertainment and has been for decades. We take you back in time as The Hollywood ringmaster himself, CECIL B DE MILLE unveils The Champ featuring WALLACE BEERY

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – BUCHAN & JACOBS

SHIP TO TARSHISH BY JOHN BUCHAN READ BY IAIN CUTHBERTSON

Before he gained his reputation with thrillers John Buchan had established himself as a writer of short stories. Indeed he began to make his name as an Oxford undergraduate almost 20 years before. His best-known work, The Thirty-Nine Steps was published in 1915, while Ship to Tarshish first appeared in 1927.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE BY W.W. JACOBS READ BY JOANNA DAVID

The doors of a public house swing open and two friends discuss a problem as old as the hills…