You the Jury: Toby Anstis and Neil Gardner

Big Brother's Big Ears

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Toby Anstis and Neil Gardner on the latest radio shows.

The Ping Pong Diplomats on BBC Radio 4 tells the fascinating story of how Graham Steinhoven and his American table tennis team were used as negotiating pawns by Nixon during the Vietnam War, as he tried to avoid any military conflict with China in 1971.

As you'd expect with a Radio 4 documentary, it is a very well-researched piece, with a good balance of narrative and personal anecdotal substance. Some of the original recordings of Nixon and the American ping pong team, such as Connie Saurez, are poor quality and hard to understand and at 27 minutes, the programme feels a bit long. Had it been a TV doc, I'd have been absorbed from start to finish. At times, I struggled to stay with it. But by the end I was glad I did.

It was refreshing to hear Smooth Radio's very engaging take on jazz and blues in Rolling River of Rock, which charts the Mississippi river's musical heritage. Mark Cohn of Walking in Memphis fame navigates a relaxing and interesting programme which stops off at New Orleans to explore the great Louis Armstrong. It then meanders thoughtfully on to the equally legendary Quincy Jones, who has had such a huge influence on so much of today's pop music. I learnt so much in one show and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice one, Smooth Radio, for commissioning something so diverse and different on a commercial radio network.

Big Brother's Big Ears is Channel 4's on-line radio spin-off for Big Brother. Hosted by Iain Lee, whom I'm a big fan of, and his superfluous, slightly tedious, sidekick Gemma Cairney, it's a brand extension too far. The show also sounds like it is broadcast from a shed. Maybe it is - the budget squeeze is on.

Neither of them sounds genuinely interested in BB and Iain sounds too scripted at the start. He's the master of witty, spontaneous ad-lib speech radio and doesn't need a script - or a co-host for that matter. For the Big Brother super fan, surely BB on C4 and E4, Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth are enough. I think the wonderful Claudia Winkleman on BBC2's Strictly sister show each year is proof that one spin-off is sufficient, if it's done well. Reality radio? Noooooo!
Toby Anstis presents on London's Heart 106.2, Mondays to Saturdays between 9am and 1pm

What an interesting mix of styles and content, not to mention broadcasters, I was faced with this week. The first programme was The Ping Pong Diplomats, in which Garry Richardson tells the story of how, in 1971, China invited the United States to play it at table tennis as an opening gambit towards renewed diplomatic relations between the countries.

The programme is filled with vivid archive and some insightful first-person testimony from those involved. Sadly these brilliant stories are frequently underscored by some unfathomable choices in music, including Kung Fu Fighting (surely we're past using this song to represent China?). The other downside is the feeling that Richardson (pictured, top) is merely narrating the piece, rather than presenting. Garry is a talent who shouldn't be hidden.

Second was the first ever independently produced documentary for Smooth Radio, Rolling River of Rock. This first episode of an eight-part series tells the story of the music of the Mississippi, replete with famous names, great musical extracts and an informative script chock-full of facts. We learn about how the word "jazz" came about, Louis Armstrong's career on the riverboats and the musical growth of New Orleans - all fascinating stuff. The documentary has been long missing from commercial radio in the UK, and this series offers a gentle way in to the artform. It would have been nice to hear a format that broke from the BBC tradition and offered something new: an alternative style. Still, good music, and nicely paced.I would enjoy hearing the rest of the series.

My third listen, Big Brother's Big Ears, comes via the internet from Channel 4 Radio. I am a card carrying Big Brother-phobic, but a certified Iain Lee-aholic. Lee and co-host Gemma Cairny provide a mixture of gossip, behind the scenes info, punditry and interviews. The show suffers the usual problem of phone-ins - flat and uninteresting callers. Maybe a bit more prep work before putting them to air would be of benefit?

Big Ears won't win any awards for innovation, but it delivers entertainment and Big Brother-ness in spades. Will I listen again? Occasionally, but mainly to get my Iain Lee fix - he could be yodelling an obscure Chinese opera and I'd tune in.
Neil Gardner is chair of the Radio Independents Group and executive producer at Ladbroke Productions