Feedback

Roger Bolton asks if BBC journalists should describe political parties as "populist", discusses soft power with the head of BBC Arabic and finds out about the return of comedy to Radio 1 after more than a decade. In the wake of success for the Five Star movement and the Italian League in the Italian elections, listeners have been reacting to the BBC's description of them as "populist". Some consid...

Roger Bolton hears listener views on a shocking death on The Archers, Brexit, Breakfast- and a radio classic gets rebooted. Nic Grundy's sudden death from Sepsis has shocked the residents of Ambridge and Archers' fans. Some have taken issue with how it was handled, but most have been queuing up to praise the powerful storyline. The show's acting editor Alison Hindell joins Roger to answer listener...

Is it impossible to cover Brexit impartially? What goes into a hit detective radio drama? And why has Quentin Letts decided to quit listening to the Today programme? Roger Bolton returns with a new series of Feedback and starts by hearing listeners weigh in on the ongoing row over equal pay at the BBC. Chris Morris sits down with Roger to answer listener concerns over his programme Brexit: A Guide...

Roger Bolton with a round up of listener views on the big BBC radio stories of the year. Following our interview with Sarah Sands, the then-new Editor of the Today programme, we hear from one listener about how she is getting on. How does Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music strike a balance between too much and too little Christmas music? Jeff Smith, the Editor of Music for both networks explains. Listeners...

Roger Bolton with listener views on BBC radio programmes. The way in which we listen to radio is radically changing. On Monday this week, the BBC launched its first full voice app for voice recognition speakers. Editor of Voice Mukul Devichand describes how the new way of listening works, demonstrating how this technology will allow greater access to the BBC's range of live radio stations and podc...

Roger Bolton with listeners' views on a range of BBC radio programmes. When iPM broadcast an interview with a sex offender at length, some listeners wrote to tell us they disagreed that a convicted criminal should have been given such a platform. Listener Catherine Jackson tells us why she thought this was inappropriate and expresses her concern about the impact on his victims. And just how much o...

Roger Bolton with listeners' views on BBC radio programmes. Earlier this week Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement, followed by their first joint interview with the BBC presenter Mishal Husain. But should the presenter have highlighted Ms Markle's mixed race background? We hear your views on the royal engagement coverage. In a fast-moving situation, how do you discover what is...

Roger Bolton with listener views on BBC radio programmes. Following a series of misogynistic and anti-semitic tweets, Josh Rivers was sacked from his position as editor of Gay Times and PM ran a 20 minute interview with the former editor. It was much to the consternation of some Feedback listeners who took issue with the amount of airtime Rivers was allowed and the way in which the interview was c...

Roger Bolton speaks to Jon Manel about his series The Adoption and to Sioned Wiliam, Commissioning Editor for Comedy on Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra. This week, the 17-part series that followed two young children through the UK adoption process drew to a close. Listeners wrote in to tell us of their interest and commitment to the series - with some expressing concern about the intrusive nature of the...

Roger Bolton speaks to two listeners with opposing views on The Archers and we speak to Sam Wolfson about declining Radio 1 listener figures. Following the release of the latest RAJAR figures, which measures radio listening habits, Nick Grimshaw's Radio 1 breakfast show has seen the lowest reach since RAJAR records began. We speak to the network's target audience at a college in Warrington to find...

Roger Bolton hears a range of listener views on the Today programme's 60th anniversary live edition. Did some of the presenters bray over gags about sexual harassment and assault? To kick off the new series of The Moral Maze, Radio 4 has been working in partnership with Dundee University to trial a new piece of technology that aims to help the listener become a more effective debater. Roger gives...

Roger Bolton with listener views on BBC radio. The World at One has courted controversy by dedicating a whole show to the topic of abortion, marking 50 years since the passage of the 1967 Abortion Act. Some listeners found the coverage upsetting, while others were annoyed that one subject had been allowed to take over what they see as, first and foremost, a news programme. But some listeners say t...

Roger Bolton airs listener criticism of a Today programme interview with the director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders on sexual harassment. A record number of sex offenders have been brought to justice in England and Wales and convictions for both rape and other sexual offences have risen sharply. But despite topping the news agenda, some listeners were not happy with John Humphrys' tone an...

The Editor of PM defends his programme against listeners' accusations that presenter Eddie Mair's interview with Home Secretary Amber Rudd was hostile and biased. Roger Sawyer discusses the presenter's robust style of interviewing and sets out his editorial stance on the presentation of this and other items on the programme. When Amber Rudd sought to bring the focus of the interview back to the po...

The new Editor of Today defends her programme against listeners' accusations that coverage is no longer focused on the news. Sarah Sands addresses concerns that 'softer' features have taken priority, discusses the future of the presenting team and sets out her vision for the future of Today. When the programme ran several items on Fashion Week, a long interview with actress Judi Dench and on-locat...

In the last programme of the current series, Roger Bolton digs in to controversy about climate change, hears listener response to the BBC's Gay Britannia season and discusses Jim Al-Khalili's broadcasting career. Well known climate sceptic and former Chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson was invited onto Radio 4's Today programme to discuss the economics of climate change recently, following up an earlier...

Roger Bolton presents a special edition of the programme, exploring science on the radio. Are BBC science programmes just "jocular froth"? That's the view of one listener, who speaks for many as he puts his point directly to Deborah Cohen, the Editor of Science Radio. Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of The Life Scientific, discusses the scientific consensus around man-made climate change and how that sh...

Roger Bolton asks if Radio 5 Live was right to interview a controversial columnist, discusses BBC plans to reinvent audio, and finds out how to relax a Prom. Kevin Myers was the subject of enormous public backlash after he published a column in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times that many saw as anti-semitic. So should Radio 5 Live have invited him onto Emma Barnett's 5 Live daily for an interv...

Roger Bolton looks at the BBC's coverage of Donald Trump, the Dead Ringers team reveal what spurred them on in their latest popular series, and listeners react to the news that Saturday Review has been granted a late reprieve. At a press conference shortly after his inauguration, Donald Trump referred to the BBC's Jon Sopel as "Another beauty". On this week's Feedback, the beauty himself joins Rog...

As parliament starts the summer recess, the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith looks back at a tumultuous few months in Westminster, talking with Roger Bolton about the challenges of working under intense scrutiny and accusations of bias from MPs and on social media. This week, the BBC released its annual report, including the names and wage brackets of 96 of its on-air talent who are a...

Roger Bolton investigates audience responses to BBC radio programmes. A number of listeners were shocked to hear description of an act of torture and murder on Radio 4's lunchtime series Cold War: Stories from the Big Freeze and considered it overly graphic for the time of day. Should listeners have been given more warning about the unsettling nature of the story? And was the station right to broa...

In the past two weeks, former party leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Ed Miliband have been taking turns replacing Jeremy Vine on his Radio 2 show. But why did they say yes to this risky venture? And what did they learn from spending time on the other side of the microphone? Ed and Iain join Roger Bolton to look back at their time on air. The BBC has, for the first time, published an annual plan that...

As Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen has one of the BBC's most difficult, and often dangerous, jobs. He sits down with Feedback's Roger Bolton to reflect on his career and his Radio 4 series, Our Man in the Middle East. Last week, Ed Miliband impressed listeners with an assured week sitting in for Jeremy Vine. This week it's been the turn of former conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith. Feedback li...

Ed Miliband has spent the week in an unfamiliar position; sitting in for Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. Iain Duncan Smith, the former conservative leader, has his turn next week. So far, most listeners are loving the experiment. Roger Bolton sits down with programme editor Phil Jones to get his take on how his new presenter has performed, and to ask why Radio 2 felt using politicians instead of more expe...

Roger Bolton explores whether recent major incident coverage has been too graphic and intrusive and why the BBC is making signing in to iPlayer Radio compulsory, and also goes behind the scenes at Dame Hilary Mantel's Reith lectures. In the light of major terror attacks in London and Manchester, followed by the tragic fire in West London, listeners give their reactions to the BBC's coverage. Did t...