Have You Eaten Grandma?

This witty and unexpected show brings you toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang and Greek gobbledegook. Find out the meaning of words like giff-gaff, knock-knobbler and buckfitches; the difference between French marbles, French velvet and the French ache; hear the glorious poetry of the English language, as practiced from writers varying from William Shakespeare to Vanilla Ice; and spend time laughing and learning with some of the finest Wordaholics in the business. 

Sophie still lives at home with her mum in Hull. They make a living doing car boot sales at the weekend. Except they don't really make a living because her mum can't bear to get rid of any of their junk. Plus, they don't have a car. As their house gets more cluttered, Sophie feels more trapped. She dreams of moving to London to meet her dad and to become a famous actress. Will this dream ever come true?

On June 17, 2013, Gyles Brandreth delivered the Baggs Memorial Lecture at the University of Birmingham - an annual conference on the theme of happiness and how it can be achieved. His speech was met with thunderous applause and a widespread demand to know more about the secrets of being happy, so he set about writing this poignant book of truths, sprinkled with British wit and humor throughout. With extensive research backing him, Brandreth travels the world over and meets numerous luminary figures, asking the questions: What is happiness?

The aim of this audiobook is entertainment - and surprise - but there will be a fair bit of erudition and incidental education along the way. We discover the oldest words, the newest, the longest, the shortest, the most frequently used, the costliest (yes, words can come with prices attached), the funniest, the most fatal, the most unusual...From the words Shakespeare gave us to the latest in sexting, the best and the worst, the most amusing and amazing words are here.

The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places is Neil’s very personal account of what makes these islands so special, told through the places that have witnessed the unfolding of our history. Beginning with footprints made in the sand by humankind’s earliest ancestors, he takes us via Romans and Vikings and the flowering of religion through civil war, industrial revolution and two world wars. From windswept headlands to battlefields, ancient trees to magnificent cathedrals, each of his destinations is a place where, somehow, the spirit of the past seems to linger.  

If you had told Roger McNamee three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund's bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn't. 

It's not what you know but who you know that matters...and, indeed, how well you know them. The show is a bit like ‘Mr and Mrs’, except that it's not played by husbands and wives. Instead, panellists can pick anyone they like: dad, cousin, best friend, mother-in-law. What is Bridget Christie's worst fear? Or Ainsley Harriott's worst habit? Or Seann Walsh's worst gig? All these burning questions, and more, will be answered in this BBC comedy panel show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.

Nine short stories written and read by comedians, recorded live in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Dot's had quite enough of making tea in the Cabinet War Rooms. When she finds a cryptic message in the newspaper she enlists the help of her gals - will this be the big break Dot's been waiting for? Follow Dot as she gets squiffy over Agent Bertie Whiff-Whaff, concocts stirring yet pithy slogans for the war effort and goes on a mission to St Horribly Vulture’s School for Boys to enlist a teacher for...'shhhh...Bletchley Park!' Dot will do her bally utmost for King and Country in these spiffing tales of derring-do (and, occasionally, derring-don’t), whether investigating suspicious deaths, outwitting dastardly spies or helping the Prime Minister with his French vocab.

When Jo Brand hosted Have I Got News For You late last year, her calm explanation of the effects of sexism on women to a bemused all-male cast turned into a viral phenomenon. There has been a whole tradition of books over hundreds of years where a father shares his wisdom with his son - started by Lord Chesterfield in the 18th century - while women have been silent (aka bullied into thinking their advice wasn't worth writing down). This book puts a stop to all that.  

Will Self takes a 1,000-mile tour of the UK by bus and coach, exploring urban Britain and British identity at a time of flux. Bus and coach windows afford him a different perspective on the nation. He eschews the bright lights of the big cities, heading instead for smaller urban centres. His objective is to speak to Britons about how they view their cities and themselves in 2018. Over 10 programmes, Will's trip takes him to Plymouth, Swansea, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Preston, Middlesbrough, East Kilbride and Derry-Londonderry. 

In this complete collection of episodes from series 82 of Just a Minute, Nicholas Parsons invites guests to try to speak for 60 seconds on a variety of subjects such as George V, favourite breakfast eateries, canals, bad apples and pasta. With panellists including Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Jan Ravens, Tony Hawkes, Gyles Brandreth and Zoe Lyons, this series shows just why Just a Minute has been entertaining generations of listeners since its first series in 1967. Who can talk for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation from the subject? Find out as we play Just a Minute!

The format is simple: there isn't one. Instead, each of the panellists brings their own round for the others to play, meaning that each show is unique, untried, and unpredictable. In each episode, four top comedians will battle it out to see who gets to be champion. Angus Deayton is the host, valiantly trying to make sure everyone comes out of it with their reputations intact. The panellists trying to beat each other at their own games include Miles Jupp, Sara Pascoe, Andy Parsons, Rebecca Front, Russell Kane, Josie Long, Tim Key, Micky Flanagan, Bridget Christie, Alan Davies, Roisin Conaty, Sandi Toksvig, Clive Anderson, Will Self, Gyles Brandreth and Alex Horne.

In On This Day in History, Dan Snow, Britain's favourite historian, tells the story of an important event that happened on each day of the year. From the signing of the Armistice treaty at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 to Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat on 1 December 1955, our past is full of all kinds of fascinating turning points. 

In this memoir, murder case lawyer William Clegg revisits his most intriguing trials, from the acquittal of Colin Stagg to the shooting of Jill Dando, to the man given life because of an earprint. All the while he lays bare the secrets of his profession, from the rivalry among barristers to the nervous moments before a verdict comes back, and how our right to a fair trial is now at risk. Under the Wig is for anyone who wants to know the reality of a murder trial. It has been praised as 'gripping' by The Times, 'riveting' by the Sunday Express and 'fascinating' by the Secret Barrister, who described the author as 'one of our country's greatest jury advocates.'