Seriously..‪.‬ BBC

Seriously is home to the world’s best audio documentaries and podcast recommendations, and host Vanessa Kisuule brings you two fascinating new episodes every week.

Marie Le Conte explores the shared experiences of people aged 29 to 33, members of the so-called crisis cohort, who have had their adult lives book-ended by the financial crash of 2008 and the huge economic downturn caused by the Coronavirus.

Marie examines what defines this generation of young, or not so young, people and what adulthood means for them. She explores the ways that living through the crises has shaped emotional literacy and economic fortunes.

Finally, she asks how her generation has seen these twin crises shape their values - both politically and personally..

Presenter: Marie Le Conte
Producer: Steve Hankey
Sound Design: Emma Barnaby
Executive Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand focus on the heart, which has been branded the seat of emotion by generations of poets and songwriters.

They find out whether it’s medically possible to die from a broken heart, hear from a woman who lived for 16 months without a human heart, and Xand opens up about how Long Covid is affecting his heart.

Producer: Dan Hardoon
Researcher: Emily Finch
Executive Producer: Kate Holland
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

63 Wycliffe Road is an ordinary house on a quiet South London street, but in 1956, it becomes famous as the site of an alleged poltergeist. The strange events focus around teenager Shirley Hitchings – but is it a haunting or hoax? Ghost hunter Harold Chibbett arrives to investigate.

This series blends drama and documentary to explore an intriguing paranormal cold case. As we hear the original haunting brought to life, host Danny Robins begins his own present-day investigation – what really happened to terrify the Hitchings family 65 years ago?

Written and Presented by Danny Robins, starring Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Toby Jones (Detectorists, Capote), Burn Gorman and Alice Lowe, with original theme music by Mercury-nominated Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier, this gripping 8-part series interweaves a chilling supernatural thriller set in 50s London with a fascinating modern-day investigation into Britain’s strangest ever haunting – a mystery unsolved... until now.

Cast:
Shirley Hitchings........Dafne Keen
Harold Chibbett.........Toby Jones
Wally Hitchings........Burn Gorman
Kitty Hitchings..........Alice Lowe
Ethel Hitchings..........Sorcha Cusack
John Hitchings........Calvin Demba
Mrs Cameroo..........Amina Zia

Written and presented by Danny Robins
With thanks to James Clark, co-author of 'The Poltergeist Prince of London'
Consultant: Alan Murdie
Experts: Ciaran O’Keeffe and Evelyn Hollow
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
Directed by Simon Barnard​

A Bafflegab Production for BBC Radio 4

When Boris Johnson won the 2019 election, he did so pledging to tackle regional inequality and invest in parts of the country that felt left behind .

His desire to 'level up' the UK is not the first attempt by a government to tackle one of the most fundamental problems in the country’s economy. But his plans were quickly derailed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he faces the enormous challenge of delivering tangible improvements to the lives of those who voted for him, while rebuilding the country after successive lockdowns.

Can it be done?

Political journalist Sebastian Payne takes a road trip to speak to business owners, residents and politicians from across the North and the Midlands - from Sedgefield and Liverpool to Stoke-on-Trent.

He mulls over the importance of the 'levelling up' agenda, hearing from key figures like Labour’s Lisa Nandy on the need to broaden the government's focus beyond the cities. He speaks to former chancellor George Osborne about why his Northern Powerhouse agenda was abandoned, and policy makers Rachel Wolf and Diane Coyle about why 'levelling up' is important.

And he asks transport secretary Grant Shapps whether his government’s ambitious plans can be realised.

Presenter: Sebastian Payne
Producer: Ellie Clifford
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Best-selling author Matthew Syed explores the ideas that shape our lives with stories of seeing the world differently.

A criminal walks into a Swedish bank brandishing a machine gun. He takes a handful of bank workers hostage. The police lock the victims and their captors in the vault and then things start to get weird. Despite being held captive and threatened with violence, the hostages side with the criminals.

Stockholm Syndrome is born.

In this episode, Matthew Syed reexamines the birth of this peculiar psychiatric disorder and discovers that all is not what it seems.

Producer: Gemma Newby
Music, Sound Design and Mix: Benbrick
Series Editor: Russell Finch
Executive Producers: Sean Glynn and Max O'Brien

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4