Free Events

Loose Ends producers Clive Anderson and Andrew O’Neill bring the chat and laughs of Radio 4’s top entertainment show to the Hay Festival. Guests are Simon Day, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Joseph Coelho and Dr Ranj, with music from Sweet Baboo and Panic Shack

Join Andy Zaltzman for a recording of Radio 4’s flagship topical comedy show as he grabs the week’s headlines and hurls them at four of the nation’s best comedians and journalists.

Hear Dr Sian Williams talk to people who have lived through extraordinary events that have set their lives on an entirely different course. Life Changing is all about the human experience, how people deal with obstacles that turn their lives upside down. The journeys are not always straightforward and there are often some remarkable discoveries along the way.

Westminster journalists are the ultimate insiders, with privileged access to the Houses of Parliament and the people running the country. Do they work to hold the powerful to account? Or is the Lobby an opaque and cosy club that sometimes fails democracy? Katie Razzall is joined by a panel of Westminster insiders to discuss.

Guto Harri is a former Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street. His new podcast, Unprecedented, tells the story of the final months of Boris Johnson’s administration. Ian Dunt is a columnist at the i Newspaper and author of How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't; Caroline Wheeler is Political Editor at The Sunday Times and Eleni Courea is Deputy Editor of POLITICO London Playbook.

Danny Robins is joined by writer and comedian David Baddiel for a thrillingly spooky live recording of the hit BBC podcast, investigating real-life stories of the paranormal.

Join BBC Radio Wales’ enthusiastic book club members as they review their latest read.

BBC Radio 4’s Saturday morning show with Nikki Bedi and Huw Stephens brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people, live from Hay.

Enjoy this half-hour open air performance between events. Formed from a group of community choirs spanning the Midlands, Got 2 Sing Choir perform contemporary, uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter. The choir want to share their passion of singing with everyone – if you’re interested in joining, visit got2sing.co.uk.

BBC Culture announces the results of a new poll into the best works of fiction written for young people around the globe. Michael Rosen, Jeffrey Boakye and Julia Eccleshare will discuss the findings, and the role of children’s literature in the 21st century.

Enjoy this half-hour open air performance between events. Formed from a group of community choirs spanning the Midlands, Got 2 Sing Choir perform contemporary, uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter. The choir want to share their passion of singing with everyone – if you’re interested in joining, visit got2sing.co.uk.

Enjoy this half-hour open air performance between events. Formed from a group of community choirs spanning the Midlands, Got 2 Sing Choir perform contemporary, uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter. The choir want to share their passion of singing with everyone – if you’re interested in joining, visit got2sing.co.uk.

Dr Michael Mosley reveals his favourite dietary top tips from his hit podcast Just One Thing, with a special guest, the UK’s leading scientist researching how food can boost your health, Professor Tim Spector. If you were going to change what you eat in one way, what should you do to improve your health and your life?

Classicist and reformed stand-up comedian Natalie Haynes explores the wider resonance of a life from the ancient world: funny, irreverent, erudite and full of fire.

You’re Dead To Me is the award-winning, chart-topping BBC Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. After a riotously successful outing at Hay Festival last year, host Greg Jenner returns with two exciting new guests – a top comedian and an expert historian – to explore another fascinating topic from world history.

The show is 90 minutes long, may contain adult language and is not suitable for children.

Classicist and reformed stand-up comedian Natalie Haynes explores the wider resonance of a life from the ancient world: funny, irreverent, erudite and full of fire.

As they embark on the third series of this popular podcast, Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken (Operation Ouch!) reflect on what they have learned about their relationship to food, to each other and themselves. They have both changed dramatically – so what have they learned about the process of change itself? It’s time to take stock…

A round up the best of the Welsh contemporary arts scene.

Compelled by his own experience of a mental health crisis, writer Horatio Clare is joined by psychiatrist Femi Oyebode to explore some of the key debates in contemporary psychiatry. Together they interrogate the different types of treatment we have and to what extent they work. They navigate the sometimes polarised yet intertwined worlds of psychiatry and psychology to discuss what could be done to improve outcomes. With the numbers of people seeking treatment for mental health disorders on the rise this is an urgent assessment of where we’ve been and where we should go next.

In his latest book, “The God Desire”, David Baddiel suggests that we do - we have a need to believe in a higher being. And that is why, he says, he’s been led to a kind of “reluctant atheism”.

Aleem Maqbool spoke to David Baddiel about his faith and the journey that led to this point.

Beyond Belief is the Radio 4 show that takes a personal story and explores what this tells us about the way faith shapes our world. In this special episode, recorded at The Hay Festival, BBC Religion Editor, Aleem Maqbool, brings together a panel of writers, poets and thinkers to discuss one of the biggest questions of our existence. Why do humans believe in God? Is it something that is hard-wired into human nature? Is the fear of oblivion a driving force in religious belief? Or is it all just a product of our imagination?