BBC Radio 4 Podcasts

A lecture to be delivered at the Watershed in Bristol today, by the cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling, is to look at the Spaghetti Westerns which transformed movie music. Sir Christopher Frayling and Debbie Wiseman, a film composer, analyse the future of music in film.

Is the moral outrage against bankers justified? Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee and the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association Angela Knight discuss.

What needs to be done to help elderly people get through the winter? Reporter Nicola Stanbridge speaks to Nancy, a 89-year-old who is fighting the cold without the aid of central heating. And Mervyn Kohler, an advisor to Age UK, explains what can be done to save lives.

Eight days ago, Stephen Hester,the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland,was given a bonus. Shares worth just under a million pounds. Five days ago, he renounced his entitlement to it. The public and political pressure got to him. The inside story of the bonus that was never paid has not been told, Mr Hester has a lot to be getting on with in simply running the bank. But the chairman of RBS Sir Philip Hampton spoke to us

For some time now, farce has been theatre's poor relation. Largely unloved and ignored, the genre almost disappeared from the stage. But now it's back with a vengeance. Later today, one of Britain's leading companies, the Old Vic, will announce that its farce "Noises Off" is going to the Novello Theatre -- it's the first time one of their productions has transferred to the West End. Our Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, has been speaking to the writers and performers of farce to find out the pitfalls and problems.

New data based on a full year of patient records, confirms the picture that you have a higher chance of dying if you are admitted to a hospital at the weekend in England.

The age-old pantomime of Punch and Judy is being recreated at the Barbican theatre in London, 350 years after the first recorded reference of the puppet show in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. Julian Crouch, director of The Devil and Mister Punch, and John Styles, who has an MBE for his "services to the arts: especially Punch and Judy", discuss the show's lasting influence.

Scientists at the University of Warwick have analysed the carcass of a deer found in the National Trust-owned Woodchester Park near Stroud in Gloucestershire to see if they can find any traces of feline DNA. Fears were raised after the dead deer was found with wounds which some thought could have been caused by a large predator. West of England Correspondent Jon Kay has been to Woodchester to investigate. This is an extended version of the broadcast item.

A report by the Inspectorate of Constabulary has found that the undercover policeman, Mark Kennedy, whose actions led to the collapse of a trial of environmental protestors, had "defied" management instructions and was inadequately supervised. Environmental activist Ben Stewart, one of the defendants in the Ratcliffe-on-Soar case whose conviction was overturned, and Bob Quick, former Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, debate the value of undercover operations targeting protest groups.

Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones reflects on the significance of Facebook selling shares for the first time. And Mariana Mazzucato, professor in science & technology at the University of Sussex on a study into the UK's financial sector which has concluded that growth prospects are being damaged by many common financial practices within companies and markets.

President Obama's former special envoy on the Middle East has said more pressure should be put on Iran to stop it taking the next steps towards making nuclear weapons. In his first British interview since stepping down, Dennis Ross talks about the challenges facing diplomacy in the region.

Scientists believe the first step has been taken towards hearing imagined speech using a form of electronic telepathy and hope that in the future, it may be possible to "decode" the thoughts of brain-damaged patients who cannot speak. Bob Knight, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, explains how it works.

Was it the right decision to strip the former chairman of RBS, Fred Goodwin, of his knighthood? Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon MP and former chancellor Alistair Darling discuss the implications for singling out Fred Goodwin, while Sir Jackie Stewart, a friend of the former RBS boss, explains why he thinks it was the wrong move.

Former trade minister Lord Digby Jones on news that the former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin is to be stripped of his knighthood. And Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, explains why the website TripAdvisor been ordered to rewrite some of its marketing claims.

As part of World Book Day 2012, a competition is being launched to find the UK's "Storytelling Superstar". Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, reflects on what makes a good storyteller. And she tells John Humphrys about two of her favourite storytelling moments.

A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to end its three-day visit to Iran. Iran's foreign minister has offered to extend the UN nuclear inspectors' visit, hoping its findings would help ease tensions, despite international claims that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Conservative MP John Baron and Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation programme at the the International Institute for Strategic Studies, discuss what should happen next.

Thousands of vocational courses are to be excluded from school league tables in England because the government says under-performing schools are relying on subjects of "little academic worth". Christopher McShane, head teacher of Winton School in Hampshire, explains why vocational qualifications should have equivalent value to academic ones. David Blunkett, former education secretary, and Professor Alison Wolf, author of the government's review into vocational education, discuss the measures.

John Whiting, of the Chartered Institute of taxation on filling out your self assessment tax returns. And Alan Miller, founder of SCM Investment, and Gary Shaughnessy, UK Managing Director of Fidelity World Wide Investment on calls by Investment fund managers for new industry standards to regulate charges that are costing savers and investors as much as £18.5 billion a year in hidden fees.

The MP for Tottenham David Lammy has said parents in his constituency were confused about the law on smacking and "live in fear of social services turning up on their doorstep". And he said lots of middle class parents "have never met social services in their lives and can't understand that fear". Cindy Butts, adviser on the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident, and Sunny Hundal, Guardian writer and editor of left wing blog Liberal Conspiracy, discuss whether working class parents are more reluctant to smack their children than middle class parents.

Germany's vice chancellor and economy minister has said Greece must surrender control of its budget policy to outside institutions if it cannot implement reforms attached to eurozone rescue measures. Michael Fuchs, deputy parliamentary leader from the governing CDU party in Germany, and Yanis Varoufakis, economist at the University of Athens, discuss the viability of the plan.