Red’s Objects Dialogue

Almost exactly fifteen years ago, on 10th April 2010, the Thai military opened fire on pro-democracy red-shirt protesters in Bangkok. The Museum of Popular History is commemorating the anniversary of the crackdown with an exhibition of red-shirt memorabilia, which opened on 29th March at the Kinjai Contemporary gallery in Bangkok.

The exhibition, Red’s Objects Dialogue (เสื้อตัวนี้สีแดง), runs until 10th April, the date on which the army launched their assault. Red’s Objects Dialogue has been conceived as an interactive exhibition, with visitors encouraged to share any memories of the protests prompted by the items on display (including an impressive collection of hand-clappers, t-shirts, and VCDs).

Red’s Objects Dialogue includes several notorious items that were banned by previous governments: calendars issued in 2016 and 2019 by Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, flip-flops featuring images of Abhisit Vejajjiva and Suthep Thaugsuban, and a Pheu Thai promotional water bowl. The bowl and calendars were previously displayed at the Never Again (หยุด) exhibition in 2019. One of the most intriguing exhibits is a transistor radio (a generic design, sold in Thailand as a Tanin TF-268) which has been rebranded a “RED RADIO”.

The tragic events of 10th April 2010 have also been commemorated in several previous exhibitions: Khonkaen Manifesto (ขอนแก่น แมนิเฟสโต้) and Amnesia in 2019, Future Tense in 2022, and 10 April and Beyond last year. They are also referenced in Pisitakun Kuantalaeng’s album Kongkraphan, Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s short film Two Little Soldiers (สาวสะเมิน), and in the poetry collection ลุกไหม้สิ! ซิการ์ (‘burning cigar!’).

A book commemorating the victims of the massacre, วีรชน 10 เมษา (‘heroes of 10th April’) by Ida Aroonwong and Warisa Kittikhunseree, was published in 2011. There are also plans to publish a book based on visitors’ responses to the artefacts on show at Red’s Objects Dialogue. Like the Museum of Popular History, the National Library of Australia also has an archive of red-shirt ephemera.

“Why bother with a milkshake whenyou could get some battery acid?”

UK police are investigating comedian Jo Brand following a comment she made on the BBC Radio 4 programme Heresy. After reports of milkshake being thrown at Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, Brand joked: “Why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?” After sustained laughter from the studio audience, she immediately qualified herself: “I’m not gonna do it. It’s purely a fantasy.”

The programme was broadcast on 11th June, though it was deleted from the iPlayer streaming service last night. Brand’s comment was played on Radio 4’s 6pm news bulletin yesterday, and on this morning’s midnight news. It was also played yesterday on Sky News. Scotland Yard announced that they had “received an allegation of incitement to violence” on 13th June.

Archive on Four

Yesterday's episode of the BBC Radio 4 series Archive on Four was a documentary marking the fiftieth anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey, "the most influential science-fiction movie ever made, and a film whose deeper meaning is still being actively debated." The programme was presented by Christopher Frayling (author of The 2001 File), who visited the Stanley Kubrick Archive and interviewed Pier Bizony (author of The Making of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey). There have been two previous BBC radio documentaries on 2001: Landmarks and The Film Programme have both broadcast episodes about the making of the film.

BBC Radio

I have been speaking to more BBC radio stations today, discussing the bombing at the Erawan Shrine that took place in Bangkok yesterday. Last night, I spoke to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire and another local station, BBC Hereford and Worcester. Tonight, I spoke to the regional BBC WM and the national BBC 5 Live.

BBC Local Radio

I have been speaking to two BBC local radio stations today — BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, and BBC Hereford and Worcester — discussing the bombing at the Erawan Shrine that took place in Bangkok this evening. I previously appeared on BBC WM in 2011.

Gone With The Wind: A Legacy

Gone With The Wind has been the subject of two recent BBC radio documentaries. Gone With The Wind: A Legacy, part of Radio 4's Archive On 4 series, was broadcast on 14th December. An episode of the World Service's Witness series, about the film's Atlanta premiere, was broadcast yesterday.

Both documentaries are largely based on interviews with several Gone With The Wind cast and crew members, recorded by Barbra Paskin in 1981. Paskin herself presented the short Witness episode, though the longer Archive On 4 programme was hosted by Diane Roberts. The documentaries don't include any dialogue clips from the film, presumably for copyright reasons. Like Steve Wilson's book The Making Of Gone With The Wind, they mark the film's seventy-fifth anniversary.

The Lost Tapes of Orson Welles

The Lost Tapes Of Orson Welles was broadcast on the BBC World Service on 30th November, as part of the series The Documentary. It will be repeated tomorrow, and it was first broadcast in two episodes on Radio 4 last year (episode one on 19th December, and episode two on 26th December).

The programme was presented by Christopher Frayling (author of numerous books, including The 2001 File, Ken Adam Designs the Movies, Ken Adam and the Art of Production Design, Spaghetti Westerns, Once Upon a Time in Italy, and Something to Do with Death) and featured extracts of conversations between Orson Welles and Henry Jaglom. The recordings were made at the LA restaurant Ma Maison, between 1983 and 1985 (the year Welles died).

The tapes were also transcribed in the book My Lunches with Orson, and the programme includes interviews with Jaglom and the book's editor, Peter Biskind. The book’s release led to a debate about how much consent Welles had given to the recording or publication of the tapes, though the programme doesn’t address that issue. In fact, the background to the tapes is presented in a surprisingly cliched, simplistic way: “Jaglom met Orson... and the pair soon became firm friends”.

The Jaglom tapes have a predecessor with a more reliable provenance: tapes recorded by Peter Bogdanovich, who interviewed Welles from 1969 onwards. The Bogdanovich tapes were released on four audio cassettes in 1992, and transcribed in the book This Is Orson Welles; they were edited with Welles’s co-operation, and some material was redacted at his request. In contrast, Welles had no control over the Jaglom tapes after they were recorded, and therefore they offer a more candid portrait of the director.

The Film Programme

This afternoon's episode of The Film Programme on BBC Radio 4 was a special edition devoted to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which presenter Francine Stock visited the Kubrick Archive. The programme also included an interview with Piers Bizony, author of the limited edition book The Making Of Stanley Kubrick's 2001. There have been several previous 2001 documentaries, notably A Look Behind The Future (produced by Look magazine, 1967) and The Making Of A Myth (Channel 4, 13th January 2001).

Castles, Candles, & Kubrick

Castles, Candles, & Kubrick is a radio documentary about the making of Barry Lyndon. The programme interviews several of the film's cast and crew, who discuss Kubrick's decision to shoot the film in Ireland and the IRA threats issued during the production.

The documentary was produced by Pavel Barter, and was first broadcast on the Irish radio station Newstalk on 19th October last year. It was repeated the next day, and was broadcast again yesterday. An episode of the Italian TV documentary series Stanley & Us (A Lume Di Candela, 1999) also covered the making of Barry Lyndon.

BBC Radio WM

I appeared on the Mornings show hosted by Joanna Malin on BBC Radio WM today. As this weekend is Christmas, the show was about families separated over the festive season. (I have previously appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live.)

Life On Air

Life On Air: A History Of Radio 4, by David Hendy, is a meticulous and thorough history of BBC Radio 4. I only started listening in the 1990s, so I was most interested in Hendy's final chapter (covering 1997 onwards). The Pleasures chapter, which discusses the station's most popular programmes, is another highlight.

A voix nue

Last month, the French radio station France Culture broadcast five episodes of A voix nue, directed by Manoushak Fashahi and featuring Stanley Kubrick. Each episode, transmitted daily from 21st to 25th March, was an extract from interviews with Kubrick recorded by film critic Michel Ciment.

Ciment interviewed Kubrick in 1975, 1980, and 1987, and they discussed Kubrick’s films Barry Lyndon, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket. The interviews were originally published in the French newspaper L’Express, and subsequently in Ciment’s book Kubrick.

BBC Radio 5 Live

I appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, for the second time this year. (The first was on 27th February.) I also appeared on the station twice in 2003: on Edwina Currie’s show on 28th April, and on Late Night Live on 7th December.