Pick of the Week - 21/11/2010

Val McDermid makes her selection from the past seven days of BBC Radio Story is what comes first for crime writer Val McDermid. And this week on Pick of the Week, stories are flying thick and fast. There's a celebration of the BBC National Short Story Award, a probing of the secret stories that lurk in family histories and an exploration of the way we find stories to explain our darkest instincts. From the sublime to the ridiculous, from the harrowing to the heartwarming, from the bizarre to the brilliant, all human life is here. BBC National Short Story Award - Radio 4 The Impossible Life of Jacques Cousteau - World Service Marching Into History - World Service Oh what A Lively War - Radio 4 Lives in a Landscape - Radio 4 All The Blood In My Veins - Radio 4 What I Don't Know About Animals - Radio 4 Jazz Frenzy - Radio 4 Exchanges at the Frontier - World Service Taking A Stand - Radio 4 Shimmer and Dazzle - Radio 4 Guerrilla Gardeners - Radio 4 Dave Podmore's History of the Ashes in 100 Objects - Radio 4 Words and Music - Radio 3 PHONE: 0370 010 0400 FAX: 0161 244 4243 Email: [email protected] or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/potw Producer: Cecile Wright.