Getting your other half in to Radio 4

[nicholab]

Anyone got any suggestions how to get my wife into radio 4. I love listening to it when I go places. She seem to hate it on in the car when it got such a wide range of programs I don’t know why? Letter from our own correspondent is always so interesting, along with money box and any questions. (I’ll even listen to woman’s hour)

 

I just can’t listen to commercial music stations the whole time. My compromise is the Jeremy vine show on R2 but that does not go down well.

Edited August 29, 2023 by nicholab

[elsiegee40]

You can’t force the issue. I think it’s something you drift into.

 

I became a listener back in the days when Mr gee40 commuted to London by train. I’d be cooking dinner with the radio on and end up listening to PM, the comedy programme, the 7pm news and/or The Archers depending on how bad the trains were.

 

In our case, Mr gee40 started with radio 4 comedy. Looking for something to break up the monotony of long car journeys, I started downloading Just A Minute, I’m sorry I haven’t a clue, The news Quiz and the like to listen to.

 

I have radio 4 on a lot when I’m at home, so when Mr gee40 was working from home (even before Covid) he had to put up with it… and then I realised he was actually listening.

 

So now he’s the one putting on the radio at breakfast time for Today, Saturday Live or Broadcasting House … or at lunchtime for World At One or whatever is on between 12 and 1. Sometimes it’s just on all morning

[DalekSec]

*cough* Listen to Radio X instead *Cough*

[Garacesh]

Why listen to radio when Spotify exists?

 

In general I agree with @elsiegee40 though. People like what they like and don't like what they don't like, there's no real forcing it, and (generally speaking) the more you try and press an issue the more the other person becomes resistant to the idea.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Garacesh

[Norphy]

Somewhere else on the Internet, possibly Reddit, there is a post which says

 

How do I get my husband to listen to more music radio stations? I love listening to music when I'm going to places. He seems to hate it in the car, I don't understand why as there's such a large range of music out there. I'd even listen to Greatest Hits Radio

 

I just can't listen to talk radio all the time. My compromise is the Jeremy vine show on R2 but that does not go down well.

 

You can't impose your tastes on other people, no matter how much you want to. It's not even slightly fair to try. The only real compromise is to rotate what you're listening to; spend half of the journey listening to what you want and half what she wants.

[jmak]

Start 'em young. My first teddy was called Nicholas Woolley (it was knitted and I had no idea about Radio 4 at the time, but that's the level of indoctrination I was exposed to).

 

Comedy is the easy way in - the problem is that the evening comedy is followed by the Archers...

 

You could try picking out programmes from BBC Sounds based on your partner's interests. Or try Feedback - it often has snippets that listeners have written in to recommend that I wouldn't have been aware of and go back to listen to.

 

Failing that: if you're driving, take driver's prerogative and control what's playing and if you're not driving just go to sleep [emoji16]

[psydii]

Does she like audio books? Maybe try some radio plays or similar?

 

I found The World Tonight a good gateway, it is less opinionated than Today. And depending on the newsreader, often quite soporific.

 

The comedy is quite marmite-y, and for some reason I’ve been bouncing of it quite hard recently.

 

 

I would also recommend caution. I have been through a phase of just not wanting the mental burden of having r4 on, and on the occasions I encountered it I found it very stressful. If it were forced upon me I’d not have reacted well.

[nicholab]

I mean even some of the time I would like to listen to Radio 4. I also like audio books and I first head those on Radio 4.

 

I do miss the Jimmy young show on Radio 2.

Edited August 29, 2023 by nicholab

[jthompson]

BBC Sounds might be a place to start, so that you can listen to some comedy or a more podcasty thing together. Intros and trails can begin to grate a bit with too many episodes in one go, though. Even if you just subscribe to a whole load of different programmes, it means that you can dodge the things that are going to be an instant turn off (for me, that would be Beyond Belief, The Kitchen Cabinet, Poetry Pleas and Any Answers) and try to focus on things which are of most interest.

 

Agree that the comedy can be marmitey (musical comedy, yawn) but if Just a Minute works, for instance, there are plenty of series to listen to.

 

On car journeys, I might ask to listen to the news, which on occasions will translate into me getting to listen to PM before switching back.

 

I really like the serendipity of listening to R4, though. I would likely never seek out a radio play based on the imagined diaries of Cheetah the chimpanzee from the Tarzan movies, but when I accidentally listened to it whilst washing up, it was joyous.

[DalekSec]

Missus isn't a huge fan of commercial radio (adverts) which I get. We tend to just jump between artists when in the car, easy when you have Apple Car play! (easier soon with share play coming in iOS 17)

 

But like others have said, you can't force someone to like something. Studies having shown forcing someone to like something will actually make them less likely to like it! (like me and game of thrones...)

[hardtailstar]

As others have said, you cant force.

 

Personally when driving, I only ever listen to music as its something on that I dont have to actually listen to when concentrating on the road.

[Davit2005]

Same here, music is all I listen too. I don't touch the main stream media these days I find the right music much more relaxing.