Last night I caught most of a documentary on Radio 1 about veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The show doesn’t cover the rights and wrongs of the wars but instead focuses on the soldiers themselves. Elisabeth Mahoney writing in the Guardian has a nice overview of the programme:

Two things especially distinguished this programme. Jacobs has a fine talent for using sympathetic music to yoke together an hour’s worth of testimonies. As we heard what it’s actually like to find yourself in battle (“you feel invincible, the adrenaline takes over your body”), the backing track changed to a metallic, industrial, pulsating interlude that deftly underscored the words.

And, importantly, there was space for the words to add up to a meaningful story from contributors. We got to know them, just for a while. That’s a real achievement with so many voices, so many experiences, to include.

It’s well worth a listen and shows exactly the kind of thing the BBC does that commercial broadcasters neglect.