Radio broadcasts

Rebecca also writes for radio.

Scroll down below to listen to some of her nine-minute pieces for BBC Radio Four's A Point of View, amongst some other work.

The transcript of her broadcast on her family’s Kenwood mixer, a homage to her mother's gritty resilience in times of trouble, was published on the BBC News website. It got scores of people talking on Twitter and Facebook about Kenwoods and their own steely mothers. Meantime Kenwood sent her a brand new top of the range, rose-gold mixer as a token of thanks for the free publicity. She gave it to her daughters because she still prefers the original one.

You'll also find Rebecca's Private Passions episode here too. A kind of Desert Island Discs without the Desert Island.... and with the extraordinary composer Michael Berkeley in the interview seat.

Listen to broadcasts

A Mozart vinyl

Private Passions - Rebecca Stott

BBC Radio 3, 25 Nov 2018

In Private Passions, Rebecca tells the story of how her family escaped from the Exclusive Brethren, and how the outside world flooded in.

A black and white photo of a person shhing

A Point of View - On Holding Forth

BBC Radio 4, 7 April 2019

"There's one thing I can't bear", writes Rebecca Stott, "and that's being talked AT". In this episode she reflects on the art of good conversation.

Statue outside a museum

A Point of View - What Would Darwin Do?

BBC Radio 4, 05 May 2019

Rebecca imagines a conversation with Darwin about our current environmental concerns. What would he think and do?

Plants reclaim a concrete building

A Point of View - Nature Red in Tooth and Claw

BBC Radio 4, 25 Aug 2019

Rebecca argues that we need to rethink our relationship with nature - and see ourselves as part of nature, not outside of it.

Abandoned Pripyat in Ukraine

A Point of View - On Ghost Cities

BBC Radio 4, 01 Sept 2019

Rebecca discusses her fascination with abandoned or ruined cities, such as Pripyat in Ukraine and Centralia in Pennsylvania, USA.

A taxidermy polar bear

A Point of View - The Consolations of Taxidermy

BBC Radio 4, 29 Dec 2019

Rebecca explains why - after many years - she's made her peace with the art of taxidermy - stuffing and mounting the bodies of dead animals.

A grey seal in the dunes

A Point of View - Getting Close to Nature

BBC Radio 4, 05 Jan 2020

Rebecca talks about how and why she decided to become a seal warden...and discusses how the job is rather different from what she was expecting.

An unfinished jigsaw

A Point of View - On Not Finishing

BBC Radio 4, 19 April 2020

With the help of Leonardo da Vinci, ‘a notorious non-finisher,’ Rebecca ponders the meaning of our imperfect and incomplete projects.

unsplash-image-F-PJ9hl6J3I.jpg

A Point of View - Waiting

BBC Radio 4, 31 May 2020

Via Samuel Beckett, a walk in Norfolk and a discussion of the three stages of twilight, Rebecca reflects on the waiting of lockdown.

A hazy, misty winter view

A Point of View - A Hazy Shade of Winter

BBC Radio 4, 24 July 2020

Rebecca tells how modern science has explained the events of 536 AD when the sun 'disappeared' and a devastating pandemic followed.

A wall-mounted clock

A Point of View - The Power of Slow Storytelling

BBC Radio 4, 22 Jan 2021

Rebecca on why stories told over time seem so fitting for lockdown, and why she is enjoying slow stories so much (including The Archers!).

Pink cake mixture on an electric whisk

A Point of View - Reflections on My Mother's Kenwood Mixer

BBC Radio 4, 09 April 2021

Rebecca relives memories of her 1970s childhood with one kitchen device taking centre stage.

Brutalist concrete buildings against a blue sky

A Point of View - On Concrete

BBC Radio 4, 21 May 2021

With concrete responsible for 8% of the world's carbon emissions, Rebecca argues that we need to find alternatives - perhaps our ancestors can help?

Wildfire burning at dusk

A Point of View - The Rhetoric of the Climate Crisis

BBC Radio 4, 20 August 2021

Rebecca responds to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and explores how our ancestors faced similar challenges.

Silhouette of a cross

A Point of View - Suffer the Children

BBC Radio 4, 03 Oct 2021

Rebecca ponders the tension between defending the right to religious freedom and defending the rights of the child.

A pile of university papers

A Point of View - Leaving the Ivory Tower

BBC Radio 4, 28 Jan 2022

As she leaves academia, Rebecca ponders how audit culture is stifling universities.

Russian buildings

A Point of View - There Are No Words

BBC Radio 4, 11 March 2022

Rebecca reflects on her friendship with Veronika, a Russian national living in the UK, and explores how recent events have deeply affected her.

Ukranian flag

A Point of View - On Rubble

BBC Radio 4, 27 May 2022

Rebecca imagines a day in the future when Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities can be rebuilt.

A hand reaching out in the dark

A Point of View - Darkness Made Visible

BBC Radio 4, 28 Oct 2022

Rebecca explores the power of our ancient and deep-rooted dread of darkness.

The view from a city apartment

A Point of View - On Communal Living

BBC Radio 4, 27 Jan 2023

Rebecca ponders if more communal living could be key to solving some of our most pressing problems.

A very dusty room

A Point of View - Dust to Dust

BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2023

Whilst restoring an old house, Rebecca ponders the nature and creation of dust, and all of the history and stories it brings with it.

A Point of View - Midsummer & The Mysteries of Colour

BBC Radio 4, 16 Jun 2023

Rebecca reflects on the colours of Midsummer as she attempts to find a paint for the hall in her new home.

Children out on a walk

A Point of View - On the Curiosity of Children

BBC Radio 4, 01 Dec 2023

Rebecca reflects on her upbringing and discusses the importance of nurturing curiosity in children

A Point of View - Down the Rabbit Hole

BBC Radio 4, 16 Feb 2024

Is ‘going down the rabbit hole’ always a bad thing? Rebecca ponders why sometimes it’s exactly what we need.

Apples on a tree

A Point of View - Apple Days

BBC Radio 4, 10 May 2024

Rebecca embarks on a quest for a decent-tasting apple and questions why, as a nation with thousands of varieties, we have so few available in the shops.

Nightingale in a tree

A Point of View - Nothing but Nightingale

BBC Radio 4, 07 Jul 2024

Rebecca considers the theory of ‘unselfing’ and leaving our egos behind - what can it do for us in the current political climate?