Meridian: The Copland Years (9.05 am, repeated 7.05 pm World Service). Leonard Slatkin on American music during Copland’s 90 years. The first of four programmes. (See also Friday Nov 10.)
Thinking Allowed (4.00 R4). Laurie Taylor’s guests this week include Oxford’s Felipe Fernandez-Armesto who will talk about his new book Civilisations.
Tomorrow’s World (7.00 BBC1). New treatment for breast cancer; new firefighting foam, etc. Visit the Tomorrow’s World website.
The Money Programme (7.30 BBC2). "The Last Oil Shock". How much oil is left in the world, and what happens when the wells run dry? More at the Money Programme website.
Do Animals … Feel Pleasure? (10.50 am BBC Knowledge, repeated 1.50, 4.50, 7.50, 10.50).
Twenty Minutes: Thomas Hardy (8.45 R3). Especially the house that he built for himself in Dorchester. With Bournemouth University radio specialist (and poet) Sean Street.
Laboratories of Power (9.00 R4). About the International Panel on Climate Change – the first of three programmes on scientists who may have political influence, presented by Richard Black. Subsequent programmes deal with the World Health Organisation and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (the global authority on what’s safe to eat).
A History of Britain by Simon Schama (9.00 BBC2). Part 7, "The Body of the Queen": Mary (of Scotland) and Elizabeth … After this, the Schamathon pauses before returning with further episodes in the New Year. Find out the latest at the BBC History website.
Night Waves (9.50 R3). The politics and ethics of present-day archaeology: from looting and illicit trading to the question of (for instance) returning the Elgin Marbles.
Rebel Yell (10.00 R2). A six-part history of the protest song, with Tom Robinson. It begins in America with Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and the Weavers – from this we might infer that the legacy of British industrial folk song is going to be ignored …