In Breaks in the Air John Klaess tells the story of rap's emergence on New York City's airwaves by examining how artists and broadcasters adapted hip hop's performance culture to radio. Initially, artists and DJs brought their live practice to radio by buying time on low-bandwidth community stations and building new communities around their shows. Later, stations owned by New York's African American elite, such as WBLS, reluctantly began airing rap even as they pursued a sound rooted in respectability, urban sophistication, and polish. At the same time, large commercial stations like WRKS programmed rap once it became clear that the music attracted a demographic that was valuable to advertisers. Moving between intimate portraits of single radio shows and broader examinations of the legal, financial, cultural, and political forces that indelibly shaped the sound of rap radio, Klaess shows how early rap radio provides a lens through which to better understand the development of rap music as well as the intertwined histories of sounds, institutions, communities, and legal formations that converged in the post-Civil Rights era.

Desmond Barrit stars as Horace Rumpole in this full-cast, feature-length radio drama Rumpole has no special objection to Christmas - except that with the Old Bailey closed, he has no opportunity to exercise his skills in court. But over the course of one unusual holiday, he nonetheless manages to triumph in two very different cases... Dragooned into spending Christmas in Norfolk, at the home of one of Hilda's old schoolfriends, Rumpole is feeling less than festive. Chilly Coldsands Rectory does not offer much in the way of enjoyment - but a trip to the local church and a surprise encounter with an old acquaintance leads to a God-given opportunity to indulge in a little seasonal, charitable blackmail. A New Year outing to see Aladdin also provides more excitement than expected. The traditional British pantomime is one of Rumpole's favourite institutions, but he has a vague feeling that there's something odd about this particular production. A post-panto drink, some overheard remarks and a glance at the programme confirm his suspicions - and put him on the path to solving an audacious crime... Starring Desmond Barrit as Rumpole and Joanna David as Hilda, with Tim McInnerny as Donald Compton and Nigel Anthony as Fred Timson. Written by John Mortimer Directed by Marilyn Imrie Produced by Catherine Bailey Pantomime music written and played by Neil Brand A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4