Suggestions for decent radio progs to entertain of an evening.

[LastSeenWanderingVaguely]

Hi,

I've recently got a job which requires me to sit still from about 7-10 of an evening. I usually listen to fivelive in the day but i'm not sure i've ever listened to radio during those times.

If i get fed up of my music i'd love something with interesting articles / chat / debate. Not really sport etc.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

[mumblechum]

We record quite a lot of stuff on Radio 4 and listen to it in the evenings, eg. the afternoon play (2.15 to 3pm), the book at bedtime (think it airs at 10.45 ish) and book of the week (mornings). The latter two are 15 mins each so we tend to record a weeks worth and listen to them all in one go.

[LastSeenWanderingVaguely]

Mumble - that sounds good. How do you record them? sorry a bit dim.

[mumblechum]

We have a digital radio (Pure). I don't do it, let dh do all the fiddling about but it looks pretty straightforward.

[extremelychocolateymilkroll]

Do you have access to the internet and could listen again to programmes? Or if not podcast progs you might be interested in listening to?

[WebDude]

LSWV - if you prefer 'talk radio' but will have already listened to FiveLive during the day, you might try LBC (calling itself "London's big conversation") though sometimes it is a bit London-centric (I'm in N Wales).

LBC is available on DAB, but how you listen and choices will depend a bit on what you have available and where you are - FM choices may be limited, for example

Sky has radio channels even if most people think of it only for TV... similarly many stations on Freeview and FreeSat if Sky isn't something you have already.

Not much chat, but more newsy, and variable, might be "Up All Night" (FiveLive show from 0100 to 0500, though the last hour is often a rehash of the first, where they replay chatter with the night editor of about what will be in today's paper).

As for recording - again depends what you have to hand - cassette players are not really around these days (stares down at 'boom box' cassette/radio and know I have some Memorex C90 tapes in the garage - time to clear out garage). MiniDisc never took off.

If you have MP3 player then recording on your PC might be simple option. I've recorded with Total Recorder from both RealPlayer and using PC "line in" socket (with a lead from the DAB 'headphone' socket to link them). At $17.95 it should not "break the bank".

Getting the upgrade to the Professional version for another $18 allows option for scheduled recordings (and lots more options). (At current exchange rate, 10 quid is about $16, but you can just download to see if you get the hang of using the basic version, before spending anything at all)

Have just seen that they now include recording of video - had not known that!

There may be other, better, recording software. I bought a copy some years ago, and they're up to version 7.1 now, so looks like I have a lot of catching up to do! Fortunately they let you upgrade to latest version for free.