WOMEN OF THE LODGE
Radio 4, 11am
Kate Meynell spends a fascinating half-hour attempting to have her — and our — doubts, fears and queries about Freemasons allayed and answered by some of the thousands of women who belong to their own, gender-specific British lodges. And does she? No, of course not — Masons may tell her more than once that theirs is not a secret society but a society with secrets, but when it get to the crunch the door is shut, politely yet firmly, in her face.
HELLHOUNDS ON HIS TRAIL
Radio 2, 10pm
Paul Sexton’s telling of The Robert Johnson Story is slated to last six episodes — quite a large canvas, one would think, for a portrait of a murky and ill-documented character. But Johnson’s story is as much about myth and superstition — such as the bargain he supposedly struck with the Devil — as established fact. How did he die? Was he poisoned, or did he simply succumb to pneumonia? Is there any significance to his dying at the age of 27, as many more recent pop heroes have? Why, the next six weeks should fly by like a well-crafted middle-eight.