It's the first every Live Comedy Day, and Live From the UK brings a special, extended episode to the Radio 4 listener.

Angela Barnes is back at the comedy club where she did her first ever gig, the Brighton Komedia. She did a comedy course with comedy guru Jill Edwards, so catches up with her to chat about starting out, and grassroots comedy.

We also tour to all 4 nations of the UK, bringing you insights on a night tour of Edinburgh Zoo, useless stuff you learn in school, nans playing rugby and the dystopian world of fast food restaurants.

Throughout the show, some of the UK's best loved comedians will also pop up to tell you about their first ever gig.

In this episode, you can hear;

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd at the Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh Emer Maguire at the Empire Music Hall, Belfast Carwyn Blayney at the Swansea Grand Seann Walsh at Komedia Brighton

Additional Material by Ruth Husko

Recorded by David Thomas, Sean Kerwin and Davy Neil Sound design by David Thomas Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Executive Producer: Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

As many you know, I was a Vim user for a couple of decades before I found the one true editor. One of the things I miss from Vim is the easy to use repeat command. If you’re in command mode and perform some command, you can repeat that command by simply pressing .. Sadly, Emacs doesn’t have anything similar. There are a couple of repeat commands: one for simple commands and another for “complex” commands but I was never able to internalize them.

Happily, there is repeat mode that allows you to repeat a command by omitting the prefix and pressing the last key. For example, if you want to repeat the command to enlarge a window horizontally (Ctrl+x }) you can simply repeat the } as many times as needed.

As Bozhidar Batsov explains, this doesn’t work with every key sequence but it is easy to add the functionality to multikey sequences. The TL;DR is that you have to provide a special keymap that maps the last key(s) to their action(s). Batsov has a worked example to show you how to do it. It’s not very hard. But, it turns out, it can be even easier. Omar Antolín explains in a comment that there is also a macro, defvar-keymap that abstracts all the boilerplate away and makes it really easy to define and install a new repeat map.

Repeat mode still isn’t as nice as Vim’s repeat but it can reduce the friction of repeating certain commands. Take a look at Batsov’s post for the details.

Update [2026-04-06 Mon 11:05]:

Karthik Chikmagalur has an excellent write-up on repeat mode that shows it’s useful for much more than simply repeating a command. See his comment below.

Speaking from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem explains how Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are all part of a single, interconnected battlefield, a coordinated confrontation between the axis of resistance and the United States and Israel.

That means what happens in Lebanon is directly tied to what happens in Iran, and vice versa.

Despite months of attacks, Hezbollah remains operational and has restored its ability to strike deep into Israel, underscoring that this front is far from contained.

At the same time, the war is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

With no clear endgame and contradictory signals coming from Washington, both sides appear to be embracing escalation, what some describe as a “madman strategy”, signaling they are willing to go to the brink with no limits.

So what happens when multiple fronts become one war?

And what happens when no one is playing by predictable rules?

Support independent media, become a Breakthrough News member today:  Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews

The team tackle Trump's tirades, and very much give the BBC's incoming Director General a problematic in-tray.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig James Kettle Jason Hazeley

Additional Material: Karl Minns Sophie Dickson Darren Phillips Joe Topping Kevin Smith

Investigation team: Cat Neilan Becky Pinnington Emily Channon

Guests: Cariad Lloyd, Simon Munday.

Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.

Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek, from BreakThrough News, reports from Beirut on Israel's territorial expansion into Lebanon, the mass displacement of 20% of the population, & how Israelis running the Gaza playbook yet again. Hot off her viral takedown of Piers Morgan, she breaks down the "will you condemn" double standard, unpacks the diverse opinions Lebanese have about Hezbollah & normalization with Israel, and debunks all the hasbara the Ellisons see fit to print. (Note that this was recorded before AOC statement re no longer supporting Iron Dome funding, and her subsequent reframing that Israel can fund it's own Iron Dome, which she described as "critical to keep innocent civilians safe.")

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

We like to think we vote with our heads. But what if we've always voted with our tribe? Top political comedian Matt Forde convenes his Focus Group in front of a live theatre audience with a razor-sharp panel — former Conservative adviser Salma Shah, ex-SNP MP and broadcaster John Nicolson, and stand-up comedian Pierre Novellie — to ask whether tribal loyalty is the secret engine of political life. From parties haemorrhaging members to rivals, to the flag-wrapped contradictions of nationalist politics, to the question of whether multicultural Britain is importing conflicts it never signed up for, this is an episode about belonging, identity - and the ridiculous places both can lead

This featured episode is The Politics of The Tribe from Series 2 of The Matt Forde Focus Group on BBC Radio 4.

Written and performed by Matt Forde Additional writing from Karl Minns, Ruth Husko and Richard Garvin Producer: Richard Garvin Co Producer: Daisy Knight Broadcast Assistant: Ocean Holder Sound Design: David Thomas Editor Chris Maclean An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4

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Just a reminder: there was too much Iran news to fit into this episode, so we gave it a standalone special you can find here. Otherwise, this week around the world: in Israel-Palestine, the Gaza Board of Peace negotiates a Hamas disarmament agreement (1:54) while the West Bank sees settler violence surge around Nablus (3:35); Pakistan resumes its war with Afghanistan after the Eid ceasefire expires (7:09); Trump reschedules his China trip for May (8:26); in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, RSF and SPLM-N militants seize Kormuk as Chad boosts its border military presence after Sudan spillover violence (11:19); in Ukraine, Russia launches a massive drone barrage as a new offensive begins (14:14), the United States ties security guarantees for Ukraine to territorial concessions (16:04), and Russia reportedly offers to end support for Iran in exchange for the U.S. ends support for Ukraine (19:00); Denmark’s snap election leaves Mette Frederiksen weakened, but still in contention to govern (21:46); Raul Castro joins Cuba’s talks with the United States (23:55); in Ecuador, a U.S.-backed operation reportedly destroys a dairy farm instead of a drug camp (27:12); the UN General Assembly condemns the transatlantic slave trade, the United States votes no (29:56); Trump pays TotalEnergies to halt East Coast wind projects (31:22).

Be sure to check out our new series premiering Tuesday, Marx Prestige. Listen to the trailer here.

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The team launch the Naked Week Investment Portfolio for Hard Done-By Young People and go shipping, shopping and shagg...you know what, never mind.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig James Kettle Jason Hazeley

Additional Material: Karl Minns Viverinne Hopley Jones Cooper Mawhinny Sweryt Darren Phillips Kevin Smith

Investigation team: Cat Neilan Katie Sayer Becky Pinnington Abigail Mableson Mia Jones Ben Stanton Nathaniel Peutherer Cailtin Holtzman Paola Matha

with thanks to Richard Danbury.

Guests: Rosalie Minnitt, Jo Saunderson, and the voice of the Shipping Forecast Amanda Litherland.

Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.

Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

53 year old Slim looks back on his first proper decade of adulthood.

Driving the buses of London in this period leads Slim to reflect on why bus drivers don't get respect. He's also a father of two at this point, and recalls some of his favourite, and least favourite dad duties, and we also hear about his first time in front of an audience.

This is the third episode from the series Slim's Guide to Life. For more episodes, search "Stand-Up Specials" on BBC Sounds.

Written and performed by Slim Script Edited by David Ajao Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Recorded at Up The Creek comedy club by Chris Maclean. Sound design by Chris Maclean Music by Slim

Slim's Guide to Life is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, and is a BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

Chris Maiorana takes a lot of notes. He’s a writer after all. Once he’s taken those notes, he wants an easy and convenient way of viewing them. These days that usually means viewing them as a Web page.

Org mode, of course, has all the machinery in place to do this essentially automatically but Maiorana has some problems with it. He has multiple notebooks and finds it a pain to set up the ox-publish scaffolding for each one.

But this is Emacs so, of course, it’s easy to automate the process. Maiorana did that by writing a simple script, he calls OrgFolio, that

1. Deletes the existing Web content
2. Builds the scaffolding to export the Org files and exports them
3. Copies any static content, such as CSS files
4. Spins up a local Web server to show the content

All of this is kicked off from the command line with a call to Emacs in batch mode. It’s easy and has no overhead. It does require building everything from scratch,. which could be a problem for a large set of notes. That’s one of the reasons that Maiorana keeps a separate notebook for each topic.

I take copious notes about everything but they’re mainly for me so I see no need to export them to HTML. I’m perfectly happy to see them in plain text, just as I wrote them. That said, I do write them—complete with Org markup— as if they were going to be exported.

Still, if you take a lot of notes and would like to consume them as a Web page on your own private Web site, take a look at Maiorana’s post. His Elisp script is easy to read and modify if you want to adjust it for your own needs.

The Naked Week team party like it's the 2003 Iraq War, and then re-enact it with the help of a Viking.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers an topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig James Kettle Jason Hazeley

Additional Material: Karl Minns Ali Panting Helen Brooks Pete Redfern Cooper Mawhinny Sweryt Joe Topping Darren Phillips

Investigation: Cat Neilan

Guests: Rosie Holt, Jimmy The 11th Century Welsh Viking.

Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.

Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

Democracy Now! 2026-03-19 Thursday

• Headlines for March 19, 2026
• "Iran Is Playing the Long Game": Prof. Vali Nasr on What to Expect from Protracted War in Middle East
• The End of the Petrodollar? How Iran War Is Reshaping the Global Economy: Author Laleh Khalili
• From Epic Fury to Epstein Fury: Rep. Ro Khanna on the Betrayals of the Trump Administration

Download this show

Israel has expanded its war across the region, bombing Lebanon and Iran while preparing a potential ground invasion into southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials claim the goal is simply to create a “buffer zone” for security. But many Israeli politicians and commentators are openly discussing something much bigger: territorial expansion to the Litani River and beyond.

This is not about security, it’s part of much longer historical Greater Israel project

On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by historian Zachary Foster to examine the long history of Israeli invasions of Lebanon, the ideological roots of the “Greater Israel” concept, and how the Gaza model of destruction is now spreading across the region.

The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran could send shockwaves through the global economy.

Energy markets, shipping routes, fertilizer supply, and cloud infrastructure are all at risk. Even a short disruption could drive inflation, food shortages, and economic instability worldwide.

Rania Khalek speaks with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Finance Minister of Greece, about why this conflict could become one of the most economically disruptive wars in decades.

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our specials.

Danny and Derek discuss the latest developments in the war in Iran, including the U.S. bombing military targets on Kharg Island; Iran’s retaliation in the UAE and strategy around the Strait of Hormuz; the status of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei after reportedly sustaining wounds; Israel’s possible plan to occupy southern Lebanon and reports of interceptor shortages; China’s muted response to the war; and the U.S. deploying Marines to the region.

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Cariad Lloyd, Steen Raskopoulos, Luke Manning, and Emily Lloyd-Saini embark on a new series of improv mayhem. Host Alasdair Beckett-King presides over a series of games full of emotional butchers, a three-headed movie director, and the inner monologue of a spider trapped in the bath.

"No Script. No Prep. No Clue."

To hear more episode from this series, search "Wing It" on BBC Sounds.

Presented by Alasdair Beckett-King

Devised and produced by Sam Holmes

Executive Producer: James Robinson Production Co-ordinator: Katie Baum Additional material: Ruth Husko Sound Editor: Chris Maclean

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4

Nick sits down with Kat (https://www.instagram.com/kittyinfrastructure) to talk AI

Follow Glenn Greenwald's writing and other journalism at Substack, where you can become a member: https://greenwald.substack.com/

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Danny and Derek speak with Spencer Ackerman, writer of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ newsletter and author of ⁠Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America⁠ about the war in Iran, how it emerges from recent history, its military aspects, and much more.

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The Naked Week team dive into war, flout the law and enjoy a real life Town Crier performing selected highlights from Amol Rajan's Instagram feed.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers an topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig James Kettle Jason Hazeley

Additional Material: Karl Minns Ali Panting Helen Brooks Pete Redfern Cooper Mawhinny Sweryt Joe Topping

Investigations Team: Cat Neilan Emily Channon

Guests: Rachel Parris, Mark Stephens CBE, Alan Myatt.

Production Team: Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, David Riffkin.

Production Coordinator: Molly Punshon Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

I loyally enjoy running Debian Stable. I am with less enthusiasm accustomed to GNOME, after years of habit and customizations on which I have come to rely. But Debian has some disadvantages: for me, it was that (apparently) GRUB was not always configured correctly after installation to a random laptop. Meanwhile Linux Mint (inlcuding LMDE) installs are always solid. And I am too thick to troubleshoot GRUB. I found that I can have the best of both worlds.

Linux Mint is a popular and highly-recommended Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. I avoid Ubuntu, although Linux Mint overcomes many of my objections (by removing snaps and other Canonical transgressions). But there is also a Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) in which Linux Mint user affordances, including its Cinnamon desktop environment, are built atop Debian instead. (For the record, I install Linux Mint on machines that I give to people who want to try Linux. Everything just works, reliably, and Cinnamon is a great entry point for Windows refugees, with a nice familiar look and feel.)

To my surprise, it turns out that it is possible to completely remove Cinnamon and its dependencies from LMDE and replace it with GNOME. The resulting experience is very similar to a Debian GNOME install, with the following differences (that I take to be advantages):

• a new install boots on more of the machines I have lying around
• the repositories curated by the Ubuntu and Linux Mint folks have newer versions (e.g. of GNOME and Emacs) than the Debian Stable repositories.

apt update
apt upgrade
reboot

sudo apt install tasksel
sudo tasksel

Choose software to install:

   [*] Debian desktop environment
   [*] ... GNOME
   [ ] ... Xfce
   [ ] ... GNOME Flashback
   [ ] ... KDE Plasma
   [ ] ... Cinnamon
   [ ] ... MATE
   [ ] ... LXDE
   [ ] ... LXQt

Default display manager:

         gdm3
         lightdm

sudo apt autoremove --purge cinnamon* mint*

Nick and Ciarán speak with Hussein of 10k Posts and Trashfuture about the state of British politics, the internet's role in all this and of course, knowing who protects you.

FIND HUSSEIN ELSEWHERE
https://www.instagram.com/10kpostspodcast/
https://trashfuture.co.uk/