Our First BBC Radio 4 Doc – The Etymology Of Entomology!

The Etymology of Entomology aired last Saturday 9th March and was our first documentary for BBC Radio 4!

Presented by zoologist and broadcaster Dr. George McGavin and produced by Andrea Rangecroft, the half hour programme looks at the unusual and often very funny names that scientists give to insects.

From a rare Australian horse fly named after the singer Beyonce to a trio of slime mould beetles called Agathidium bushi, Agathidium cheneyi and Agathidium rumsfeldi after the Bush administration, we met the entomologists behind the names and found out from the organisation that lays down the rules, the ICZN, just why these strange names can’t be changed.

Max Barclay and Dr. George McGavin in the Natural History Museum’s entomology collection

Folded Wing and George went on a journey across the UK to capture content for the documentary. We started at the Natural History Museum in London where we met Max Barclay, the Curator of Beetles and True Bugs. Max showed us the tiny beetle named in honour of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s as well as the largest beetle in the world, Titanus giganteus.

Titanus giganteus

George worked at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History for 35 years so we went down there next to talk to his former colleague Darren Mann about some of their specimens. Darren showed us the oldest pinned insect in the world, the Bath White butterfly, as well as some dung beetles with names like sordidus and putridus. He and George then compared the number of insects they’ve got named after them. (George has five!)

The Bath White butterfly (centre)

Darren Mann shows Dr. George McGavin insects specimens in the Hope Entomological Collections at Oxford

At London Zoo we were introduced to the Head of Invertebrates, Dave Clarke, who told us about the importance of correctly identifying the right hissing cockroach when it comes to conservation. Have a listen to find out what a hissing cockroach sounds like.

I think the highlight for George was going down into the strong room in the basement of The Linnean Society in London to see the original collections and personal library of the great Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. Here we met Mike Fitton who looks after the insect collection. Mike pulled out some specimens that were pinned by Linnaeus himself in the 1700s and showed us Linnaeus’ own copy of his seminal work Systema Naturae, the book that laid down the system of classification that we still use for all living organisms today.

Mike Fitton and a first edition of Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae

We’re really pleased that the programme has been chosen as Radio 4′s Documentary of the Week which means that it will still be available to download for a week after it comes off of the iPlayer.

We have also had some great press around the programme including being chosen as Radio Times’ top 5 shows of the week and being used as an example of how speech radio has grown more intelligent in The Sunday Times!

The BBC’s own Science and Environment online section featured an article on the topic and we also had write ups in The Saturday Times, The Daily Mail and The Metro. Not forgetting a whole host of blog posts from our contributors including Quentin Wheeler from International Institute For Species Exploration, a brilliantly detailed blog by Beulah Garner at the Natural History Museum in London and a piece by Rachel Parle at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History as well as a post on their Hope Entomological Collections blog.

Team Insect (L-R – Dr. George McGavin, Ian Parkinson, Andrea Rangecroft, Micky Curling)

Thanks to everyone who was involved in the programme.

Watch this space for future Folded Wing documentaries on BBC Radio 4.

Behind The Scenes Of Ed Banger

Folded Wing’s next documentary ‘D.A.N.C.E.O.N – The Story of Ed Banger Records’ is aired next Monday 17 September at 9pm on BBC Radio 1.

Before then we thought we’d let you see behind the scenes of the making of the documentary. We went to Paris to meet Ed Banger’s founder Pedro Winter, aka. Busy P, to find out the real story behind the label.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

At the offices we also met Ed Banger’s DJ Feadz who let us in on some secrets about his ex-girlfriend and label mate Uffie.

Ed Banger’s Art Director So-Me drew a great piece of artwork exclusively for the programme in his usual colourful style.

Then to round up the visit in true Ed Banger style, we went to a club night called Reverie where Ed Banger DJs Mr Oizo and Feadz battled it out with Boys Noize Records.

The next day we caught up with Radio France’s Laura Leishman to find out her anecdotes from the club night.

The Story of Ed Banger Records is presented by Annie Mac and produced by Andrea Rangecroft. It also features interviews with Erol Alkan, Todd Terry, A-Trak and Sebastien Tellier.

As well as the documentary, Annie Mac has an Ed Banger minimix from Busy P on her show this Friday.

You can also listen to clips from the documentary below.

Get the inside story of Gangs On Film

Folded Wing’s next documentary for BBC Radio 1Xtra airs on Sunday 8^th July at 9pm.

With the Olympics drawing ever nearer in East London, Gangs On Film delves into the grimy side of the area to look at the portrayal of gangs on TV and in films.

The ‘hood’ genre has been particularly popular in productions such as ‘Top Boy’, ‘Sket’ and ‘Anuvahood’ in recent years. In this programme, Twin B explores the major themes of this genre such as drug culture, girl gangs, riots and football hooligans and asks whether these films give a realistic portrayal of gangs.

Gangs on Film is produced by Rachel Essien and features Plan B, Ashley Walters, Noel Clarke and Adam Deacon among others.

Here is a taster clip from the documentary.

Hoop Dreams: The unsung heroes of documentary

Eliza Lomas from Folded Wing shares her recent influence:

“Looking back on some of the best film releases of 2011, the real winner for me was the documentary Senna. This was a hugely moving film about Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the world championship three times before his death aged 34. As someone who pays little interest to the world of sport, especially that of Formula One, I was surprised to find how much it affected me – driven mostly by the charisma of Senna and the effort on behalf of the producers, trawling through hoards of archive footage to find some beautiful clips of Senna’s interviews and races.”

“As the Oscar nominations were put forward last month, it was massively disappointing to see that Senna wasn’t put forward in any of the categories. Film critics seem to be in unanimity that this was in very bad taste, and they likened it to a similar scenario in 1994 with Steve James’ documentary Hoop Dreams. Never having heard of this early 90s doc, I was inspired by everyone’s huge passion for it, and rented it out that week.

Hoop Dreams follows the lives of two African American boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional. The boys are of different ages, but very similar inner-city Chicago impoverished backgrounds. Again, it’s an unlikely choice for a sport-unenthusiast, but equally like Senna, Hoop Dreams tapped into the core elements of an amazing documentary, with beautiful footage and insight into the lives of real people with super-human ambition and talent. The creators of Hoop Dreams worked for years to follow the journey of two guys who would have seemed very ordinary to the normal eye, but it’s a perfect example of how dedication and immense effort can provide wonderful results.”