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The poet laureate Simon Armitage challenges himself to write a new poem to capture the spirit of an animal and to see if he can bring it closer to the human world. For a new 10-part series, My Poetry and Other Animals (on BBC Radio 4 at 1.45, from December 23rd), he is guided by his fellow poets as he experiences a series of close encounters – looking into the eye of a tiger, tracking a fox and standing amongst a room full of spiders. Elizabeth Bishop and Feargal Sharkey are Simon Armitage’s guides to the world of fish. But the science writer Amorina Kingdom wants everyone to listen more closely to what’s happening underwater. In her book, Sing Like Fish, she traces how sounds travel with currents; the songs, clicks and drumming that help sea creatures to survive, and how this musical landscape is being affected by human noise.If humans could finally grasp what animals were communicating to each other, could it enable us to join in the conversation with animals? The behavioural ecologist, Professor Christian Rutz, from the University of St Andrews, is a specialist in the different behaviours of crows. He believes that with recent breakthroughs in AI and data collection, talking with animals might be closer than ever.Producer: Katy Hickman

Tom Sutcliffe explores the importance of acoustics and the evolution of building design in the enjoyment of music. The academic Fiona Smyth tells the story of the groundbreaking work undertaken by scientists, architects and musicians, who revolutionised this new science in the 20th century, in her new book Pistols in St Paul’s. Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford, updates the story, revealing the very latest scientific breakthroughs and why certain music venues capture the purity of sound. And the saxophonist Jess Gillam gives a personal view on what playing with different acoustics entails. Gillam is playing in two Christmas concerts, 19th + 20th December, with the CBSO at Symphony Hall, Birmingham – one of the best-designed music venues in the country. Producer: Kay Hickman

Sir Alex Younger is the former head of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service. He assesses the evolving security risks facing Britain in the 21st century, and how the country continues to build strategic partnerships and intelligence agreements in a fracturing world. Younger ran MI6 during President Trump’s first administration and reflects on prospects for ‘the special relationship’ in the second.With tensions between the US and China, increased economic protectionism and the war in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, the Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House, Armida van Rij, believes European security and economic prospects appear fragile. And this comes at a time of political polarisation throughout the continent.After Britain finally left the EU in 2020 following the Brexit vote it was feared that it would be Britain that was isolated and vulnerable. Not so, claims the journalist Ross Clark, in his forthcoming polemic, Far From Eutopia: Why Europe is failing - and how Britain could do better (published 23rd January 2025). Clark pinpoints the absence of economic growth and huge disillusionment about high migration throughout Europe, and how Britain is surpassing many of its former continental partners. But questions still remain about how Britain will fare – on its own – on the global stage.Producer: Katy Hickman