TODAY’S RADIO

MEET DAVID SEDARIS 7AM, 5PM, RADIO 4 EXTRA

★★★★ David Sedaris, the American humorist who nobly spends much of his spare time picking up litter thrown by drivers as they speed through the lovely Sussex countryside, reads some more of his comic writings in this first of a six-part series. Droll, funny and often – hooray – in the worst possible taste.

CROSSING CONTINENTS 11AM, RADIO 4

★★★★

They’ve got ants in their pants in Korea. Koreans just can’t seem to take it easy – ever. They work and study longer hours than any other nation, sleep far less, and have worryingly high rates of suicide and depression. Se-woong Koo reports from the restless streets of the capital, Seoul,

where sleep clinics and sleep cafes have become big business, and Buddhist monks are turning their temples into sleep retreats.

THE EXPLODING LIBRARY 11.30AM, RADIO 4

★★★★ Jean Rhys’s 1939 novel Good Morning, Midnight tells of a heartbroken woman who’s given a fur coat and a one-way ticket to Paris by a friend. Against a soundscape of songs of heartbreak, Josie Long shares favourite passages from this strange and wonderful work, taking us into a world of gigolos, artists and mysterious exiles. A finely crafted piece of radio.

RADIO 2 IN CONCERT 7PM, RADIO 2

★★★★★ Simon Le Bon and the rest of Duran Duran are the first act in a very long time to be on stage in the small but perfect BBC Radio Theatre, playing to a select audience of lucky fans. They go back to the early days for this hour-long show, playing some of their many hits and giving us tracks from their new album, Future Past, released 40 years after their first. SJ