Halle Berry's assertion that her daughter is black brought the best out of Nicky Campbell ? and his callers
Nicky Campbell (5 Live) | iPlayer
The Truth About the Roma (Radio 4) | iPlayer
The Call (Radio 4) | iPlayer
Song Stories: Without You (Radio 2) | iPlayer
An interesting discussion on Nicky Campbell's Your Call phone-in show on Thursday last week kicked off with actor Halle Berry's assertion that her daughter is black. Berry herself has a white mother and a black father; her daughter's dad is white. She has said that she subscribes to the "one drop theory" ? the idea that if even one drop of your blood is black, you identify as black.
My default setting to phone-in shows is "off" ? I can't bear the callers' mouth-frothing, how the opportunity to speak seems to turn off their powers of understanding ? but this was good stuff. We heard from the white British mother, married to a black Jamaican, who called her child brown; from a black mother of mixed race children who disagreed with the idea of "shading" (that you're less likely to be discriminated against if you have lighter skin); from a father who said he had six kids, two white and the rest black. "And you're white?" asked Campbell. No, said the caller, he was black ? and so were his children, despite their appearances. The mothers both kicked off.
Campbell is very good at this ? nipping in, establishing the facts, getting to the point. His professionalism means it's impossible to tell his own point of view, which is both refreshing and frustrating: he's such a debater, you feel he'd argue the toss with the devil, just for the sport. Anyway, what was great about this debate was its cheerfulness: people were disagreeing, but without rancour or racism.
There was both, however, tucked away within tidy wheelie bins, in Jolyon Jenkins's even-handed Radio 4 programme, The Truth About the Roma. This boasted at least two enlightened policemen ? "with the Roma people unfortunately, some people have a negative viewpoint," said one ? plus some muddle-headed liberals, giving a convicted gangmaster his job back when he came out of prison. Despite assumptions, eastern European Roma can't claim UK benefits unless they've worked continuously for 52 weeks, and we heard some desperate stories: a family trying to feed six children, including a three-month-old, on one carrot and half a loaf.
The Call, also on Radio 4, is more upbeat, telling the full tale of one dramatic phone call. This week's was a lifesaver: a call from a sinking boat in the Caribbean to Alex, a young man in Aberystwyth. Alex wrote down latitude and longitude and asked for the name of the vessel. "Titanic," was the reply. It was 31 March. Alex briefly wondered about April fool, but luckily the panic in the caller's voice convinced him.
Song Stories on Radio 2 was the tale of "Without You", the pop pomp classic by Badfinger made famous by Harry Nilsson. An interesting, if oft-told tale ? the two writers of the song, Pete Ham and Tom Evans killed themselves ? and Pete Waterman was an engaging presenter. But, at an hour, even as epic a story as this one begins to drag (the tag-on ending with X Factor winner Alexandra Burke was just dreadful), and Waterman clearly did none of the interviews. Grrr. Can't it be written into a presenter's contract? Do the work!
Tricia Helfer Elena Lyons Brooke Burns Lena Headey Ali Larter
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