Slow Radio

Get surrounded by nature - birdsong, rustling leaves and the stillness of the forest.

The music of typewriters, steam engines, foundries and looms. These previously-familiar, now long-forgotten sounds transport us back in time, evoking memories, and creating a strangely meditative effect. Composer Iain Chambers creates a radiophonic sequence from the huge recording archive of the pan-EU Sounds of Changes project, a collaboration between 6 major European museums to document the huge...

Writer Chris Stewart takes us to meet some shepherds in the mountains of Alpujarras, plus introduces us to some of his own sheep. Featuring music from Nathaniel Mann.

The woods are the setting for a magical late night duet between a musician and a nightingale. Verity Sharp eavesdrops on shakuhachi player Clive Bell and an unseen yet vocal co-performer.

Nick Luscombe heads out for a late night trip across ‘sleepless town’, Tokyo’s ancient entertainment district, known for it’s bright lights, late night drinking dens and seedy back streets. Armed with his recorder and a local friend for guidance, Nick captures the sound of an all night batting range, late night video game parlours, robot restaurants and Tokyo’s underground as well as the odd chara...

Renowned artist, field recordist and environmentalist Jana Winderen has returned to record natural sounds in this area for many years. In this recording you can hear her capture an icy, dripping brook and hibernating tadpoles beneath the snow. Originally broadcast on Late Junction on BBC Radio 3.

A hyper-real sonic journey through Japan's multifaceted soundscapes. With recordings of the natural environment, human activity, domestic sounds and noisy video arcades plus many of the wonderful ceremonies that are intrinsic to modern Japan. All captured by Nick Luscombe over 20 years.

In 1705, a young composer embarked on an epic journey to meet his musical hero. Johann Sebastian Bach was just 20 years old when he set out on foot to walk the 250 miles to Lübeck, home to the great composer and organist Dietrich Buxtehude. Horatio Clare retraces the young composer’s steps in an immersive episode of BBC Radio 3’s Slow Radio podcast. This episode of Slow Radio is adapted from Bach...

People with dementias and their carers talk movingly about their everyday lives. This edition of our podcast is a collaboration with Wellcome Trust’s Created out of Mind - an interdisciplinary team of scientists, artists, musicians, broadcasters and clinicians. The voices were originally recorded by Susanna Howard as part of a series of podcasts called Talking Life.

The poet Helen Mort and her friend Andrew walk from The Old Dungeon Ghyll - a famous hikers and climbers pub in Great Langdale - up to Raven Crag where they climb Middle Fell Buttress on a very wintery day at the end of July.

The sounds of a walk along Offa's Dyke, with Horatio Clare.

Sounds of the sacred from around the world, introduced by Neil MacGregor.

A 20-minute watery odyssey - idling down the Tennessee River with the best thunderstorm in a tin shack you are ever going to hear... and some frogs… In the company of Betty Goines, who grew up on a shanty boat during the depression, Wes Modes takes his recreated shanty out on to the river, to gather stories for his Secret History of American River People project, and to live a life under the cosy...