I heard it on the radio

Despite studying radio for the past three years it is a medium I rarely listened to, until recently.

First of all it started with my boyfriend making us listen to Radio 4 comedy shows. To begin with this experiment did not go well. We had started with I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue which I have listened to several times and it is still a show that somehow goes completely over my head.

Thankfully not all was lost as I found a love for shows like Just a Minute, Another Case of Milton Jones and Museum of Everything and many more. It's silly really seeing as they all involved comedians that I already liked and found funny but had missed half their life's work just because it was on the radio.

Then I listened to Chris Moyles for 52 hours. Well most of it. When Moyles and Comedy Dave decided to do the longest show ever as part of Red Nose Day it was initially interesting to see how long the duo would last on air before sleep deprivation started to get them better of them. Although Moyles can be a bit annoying he has the rest of the team around him to counteract that. Plus of late I have developed a fondness for Car Park Catchphrase and hearing Roy Walker say silly things.

This is why this whole new experience has been great for when I am at work. Although I work in a newsroom for most of the day it is quiet as we focus on writing. Although this should be helpful I find it really awkward, always have. For every exam I have revised for and essay I have written I needed to have some sort of background noise. Even when I am going to sleep there needs to be some sound there otherwise it all just feels too eerie.

So I started listening to the radio at work. It is great getting to pick and choose throughout the day. At the moment I have a regime of Moyles and then Radio 2, which has charmed its way into my life because of the music it plays. Each day I get amazed when it plays a song I love - the other day Steve Wright started his show with a double bill of The Monkees - not joking one of my favourite bands ever.

Also I like to hear what morbidly depressing topics Jeremy Vine can conjure up each day. Once he genuinely discussed people seeing their family members commit suicide in front of them.

But Radio 4 has also earned a special place in my heart - I should listen to The Today Programme really but I am far more interested in Woman's Hour. Before Christmas they tried out cooking along on air which became a bit innuendo filled, as my friend Tim Johns pointed out.



I was also obsessed with comedy shows Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off - if you ever get the chance to listen to the episode the Festival of Yumsk do. I had to work hard to suppress my laughter when that episode was in fear of sounding like a lunatic in the office.

And so I started to find my own radio shows that I could tell my boyfriend about to listen to. And along the way I have learnt more about radio as well. When even semi-serious documentaries on Radio 4 can use songs like Banana Phone to illustrate their point then frankly you can do whatever you want.

  Photo: Philedmonds via Flickr