Only in UK

I'm a big Radio 4 fan. Start stereotyping ... here I listen to NPR, drive a Prius, vote Democratic ... it's pretty easy to extrapolate what I'd do if I was a subject of the crown.

One thing Radio 4 has mastered that really doesn't exist here is the panel discussion. Sure, there are politics shows that have a couple of liberals and a couple of conservatives in the studio and they let them go at each other. I'm not talking about that. I'm thinking of specifically, Start the Week (STW) and Midweek: Diverse Conversation.

These shows are fantastic. Midweek, hosted by Libby Purves and STW, with Andrew Marr, both round up a random group ... say a novelist, an actor, a natural scientist and an NGO official recently back from some wartorn country. All four participants read the writer's book, go see the actor's play, learn about the scientist's achievements and read the memoirs of the NGO person.

The result is the opposite of what you get when you have an actor spouting off about hunger in Africa or something. They sort of interview each other, with the host acting as the guide -- and the segues and connections can often be stunning.

I urge you to podcast these two shows immediately.