Speechification - Radio Archive

Speechification is the brainchild of Steve Bowbrick and Russell Davis, with the generous help of Dan Hill, Roo Reynolds and Bobbie Johnson, among others. They specialise in finding and bringing to your attention the arcane glories of UK (and Australian) speech radio.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, I listened to a ridiculously fascinating discussion of the wonders of the footnote, led by Ben Schott and with comments by Terry Pratchett and Lynne Truss. A week ago I listened to a series of four essays by Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy on the relationship between music and maths, (One. Two. Three. Four), and a couple of months ago I spent an hour contemplating a lecture by Oxford Uni ethical geneticist Julian Savulescu advocating for genetically modified human beings, (his point wasn't necessarily that we should go ahead with it, just that the science is nearly in place to make it feasible, and he was really advocating for having the discussion now of whether this is a good idea or not).

These are the kind of shows that air once and then are lost to the ether. The ability to listen to the pieces via the BBC website for a week after airing at least allows us a second chance to catch certain programmes. Speechification is the next step, archived for all time, allowing us to listen when suitable rather than when broadcast, and also, just as importantly, allowing us to recommend programmes to friends. I've listened to considerably more speech radio since Speechification came along - I'm listening to a fantastic programme about the Dundee-based comic publisher DC Thompson as I type - and I can say categorically that Speechification is my favourite website of the moment!