International Playhouse — The Girl with the Botticelli Face — Part one of a play by W.D. Valgardson. Bob, a troubled, middle-aged English professor, is caught up in the bitter turmoil of marital breakdown. His only refuge is a cafe where his table is always waiting. Pachelbel's Canon is always playing, and the waitress with the Botticelli face knows exactly how he likes his cappuccino. The abrupt disappearance of this ministering waitress starts Bob on a search that forces him out of the sanctuary of the cafe to some very painful realities. Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Radio National, Friday, November 11, 8.05pm.
The Goons — The Telephone — For many years young Ned Seagoon had done his work well as Senior Outdoor Post Office Telephone Line-Layer, Uxbridge Area. When Mr Crun's order to install a phone came through, it seemed just another routine job. Unfortunately, Mr Crun had moved to 17a Africa. How Neddie eventually completed his task and what happened to him is disclosed for the first (and last) time in this exciting tale of mystery and adventure. ABC Radio National, Saturday, November 12, noon.
The Best and Worst of British Media — Daily Sport — The last program in the series looks inside the Daily Sport newspaper to see how the most down-market paper in Britain is made. Owned by the porno king of Britain, it boasts a "page three girl" on every second page and is the sister paper of the infamous Sunday Sport. We see how the paper balances titillating stories about sex with serious reports on sexual crimes. We see how the editor chooses themes like "School Girl Week" and how images of women are doctored. A candid look at the trash. ABC Radio National, Saturday, November 12, 3.30pm.
Radio-Eye — Festival Estonia — The smallest of the Baltic republics, with a population the size of Brisbane, is made up of 900,000 ethnic Estonians and 600,000 people of Russian-speaking background. Estonia's path to independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 was called the "singing revolution". Every four years huge festivals of Estonian culture, mainly song, attracted hundreds of thousands of people to celebrate their identity and difference. Many artists became politicians. Rick Tanaka presents a feature recorded during this year's 300,000-strong festival. While there, Tanaka spoke to politicians about post-Soviet culture and other questions. Tanaka discusses his findings with Radio-Eye's Tony Barrel. ABC Radio National, Sunday, November 13, 8.20pm.
Soundstage — Molly Bloom — This week's feature, part of a series of radio monologues, is Molly Bloom's soliloquy from the final chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses. In the hours before dawn following Bloomsday, June 16, 1904, Molly Bloom lies awake next to her sleeping husband. She is an earthy Dubliner, liberated and experienced, but also full of romantic dreams and fantasies. Her nocturnal thoughts revolve around sexual encounters both remembered and hoped for, disappointment and fulfilment, joy and loss. She speaks with a frankness that still seems audacious today. Stars Patricia Leventon. ABC Classic FM, Tuesday, November 15, 8pm.