The Wicker Man Verb

To 'earth' us this week, Ian McMIllan invites Owen Sheers, Jason Allen Paisant, Helen Mort, and David Morley to share poems that ground us - including work from the 2026 Laurel Prize for environmental poetry by the winner Fiona Benson.Helen Mort's latest book is 'Stepmother', Jas ...  Show more

Ian McMillan brings you poems and poets to shake up autumn from the Contains Strong Language Festival. Ian's guests, Alice Oswald, Paul Farley, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Liz Berry tread through the mellow fruit of John Keats' Ode to Autumn, but then turn their eyes and ears toward ...  Show more

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of folk horror classic The Wicker Man.

Taking a lead from Confucius - a man who loved a good ritual - Sara Wheeler explores the continuing fascination of rituals. 'Two and a half millennia ago,' writes Sara, 'Confucius famously fiddled about moving his mat so it was exactly straight before he crossed his legs and sat ...  Show more

The witch has held a place firmly in our imagination for centuries – from whispered warnings in folklore to pop-culture driven heights. But what does it mean to be a witch now?Presenter India Rakusen, creator of the podcast 28ish Days Later, is on a journey to find out.Witches se ...  Show more

Nothing like some ritualistic human sacrifice in your podcast mix!Producer - Paul Kobrak Presenter - Neil MacGregorIn Partnership With The British Museum