Categories: uncategorized
Date: 01 June 2007 10:32:16
I have a friend who makes an annual pilgrimage from his dwelling place of Germany to his family and friends in Britain. We are priviledged to be one of his resting places.
His first action upon getting back in his car when they dock at Reigate is to turn the radio to Radio 4. Where it remains for the weeks he's here. He sits back and drinks in deep draughts of mind-expanding knowledge.
Yesterday whilst spending eight hours on the road, I managed to hear a three-quarters of an hour long discussion on William of Occam (medieval philosopher/theologian, famous for his razor); and physicists mulling the possible existence of a 'multiverse' instead of a universe. Very interesting. I feel illuminated.
For me, Radio 4 is the greatest thing in broadcasting.
It's the last refuge of the vision of broadcast media as a tool in the war on ignorance.
It's the final bulwark against the bozo celebrity culture.
It radiates the belief that tolerance can be furthered by exchanging ideas.
Above all, it delights in knowledge; and values knowledge as an end in itself.
Its days in its current form are probably numbered, as the law of the lowest common denominator will surely water it down one day. But for now, let's rejoice in still having a channel that sharpens rather than dulls our minds.