Pick of the Week, Radio 4
Saturday with John Toal, Radio Ulster
There are golden nuggets on the sound waves and sometimes the best way to come upon them is Pick of the Week – available on both the BBC and RTÉ and worth a listen for the weird and wonderful moments you may have missed.
One of these has to be the intrepid musician playing a cello that is home to 400,000 bees. Rather her than me.
Claudia Hammond was in the driving seat for this Radio 4 pick.
As well as the cello, there was a dive into the rich archives of Abba as a method to teach English in the 1970s in a programme with the catchy title “Pedagogical Pop”.
We have the lyics: “When you’re gone, how can I even try to go on… “
Then we get a look at the verbs involved: “He’s going, he’s leaving her, he’s not staying… you don’t stop, you go on.” Bizarre.
One of the most interesting picks came from Young Again, where Kirsty Young asks probing questions – like listening in on a therapy session.
Comedian Sara Pacoe was the guest and the question was about what’s off limits when it comes to her stand-up.
From her own life, it seems almost nothing, but when it comes to family, she has had to draw boundaries. She has hurt both her parents, she said.
Young picked up on a story Pascoe told about her pregnant mother confronting her father over his infidelity.
“Why did you lie to me (about having an affair),” she asked.
“I didn’t lie, I wasn’t having an affair. I was having seven,” came the alleged reply.
Pascoe said it was a family joke – something their mother told them that their father had said.
“I don’t think my dad has any memory of saying it…” she said. “My dad might tell you that it didn’t happen.”
Now she’d never talk about her mother in her stand-up comedy and she realises that she hurt her dad accidentally too. Regrets, we all have a few.
Meanwhile, Martin Waddell, the award-winning and best-selling children’s writer, was interviewed by John Toal after he won the An Post Irish lifetime achievement award.
His picture books have been translated into German, Swedish, Polish and Catalan.
They are loved by millions and not all children… a magical listen.