Sunday Morning for Sunday 5 October 2025

8.10 The latest from the UK with Christian Smith 

UK correspondent Christian Smith talks to Jim about the big stories making news in Britain.  This week, changing visa rules and immigration.  

8:25 Sunday Morning Quiz with Jack Waley-Cohen  

Quiz master Jack Waley-Cohen is back with his Sunday Morning quiz. 

Jack is the mind behind the questions on BBC's quiz show Only Connect, known for being both hard — and at the same time totally obvious.     

Wake up your brain and have a go!  

8:40 Michele Allison: tackling Ironman in her 70s 

Athlete Michele Allison has competed six times in the Kona Ironman, the triathlon held annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, which is the most challenging and prestigious long-distance triathlon event in the world. 

 Now in her 70s, Michele is still going strong and will be taking place in this weekend’s event. She joins Jim to talk about what keeps her going, and her window coaching method (look out the window and if it looks good for training, go train). 

9:10 Mediawatch 

The rules are changing for earthquake-prone buildings - but what about seismic safety? Mediawatch also looks at how the media responded to our position on Palestinian statehood and it’s been a year and a half since huge cuts to TV current affairs. What’s left - and what next? 

9:35 Best Song Eva: Tom Sainsbury 

Comedian, actor and writer Tom Sainsbury is hitting the road with his new stand-up show ‘Lessons Not Learnt’ over the next few weeks. He joins Jim to talk about some of the lessons he has—and hasn’t—learned over his four decades on the planet, from cringeworthy life lessons to small-town drama...  and he shares his Best Song Eva. 

10.05 Calling Home: Isobel Ewing from Istanbul, Turkiye 

When Newshub closed, former AM Show newsreader Isobel Ewing made the best of a bad situation and began an epic backpacking journey with her partner Cael. Starting in India, the pair eventually ended up in Turkiye – which is now where they call home.  

Ewing works as a TV presenter for English-Turkish broadcaster TRT World in Istanbul. She joins Jim to talk about life in the Middle East. 

10.40 Is there an advantage to being left-handed? 

With 90 percent of people being right-handed, the left-handed are often left struggling with a world not designed for them. However, in one field they are overrepresented: one-to-one sports, such as tennis, badminton or fencing. 

Dr Tim Simon from the University of Trento joins Jim to discuss the left-handed advantage, and whether it extends to other parts of life. 

11.10 Brigid Delaney: The Seeker and The Sage 

Having piqued the world’s interest in modern stoicism in 2022 with her debut book Reasons Not To Worry, former journalist, lawyer and political speechwriter Brigid Delaney is returning with her new offering The Seeker and The Sage. 

Whereas her first book was a sort of self-help manual, this new book is a work of fiction imbued with stoic principles. Brigid joins Jim to discuss the virtues of stoicism, and how it has changed her life. 

11.40 Mike Seawright: Marking two years of the war in Gaza 

Next week marks two years since the war in Gaza began. The death toll continues to climb, and Palestinian families have nowhere to flee and little access to the basic needed to survive. 

Mike Seawright of ReliefAid joins Jim from Canada, where he is working to gain money to enable the charity deliver life-saving aid to families caught in the conflict.