麻豆社

Libby Purves meets cartoonist Steven Appleby; folk singer and Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee; broadcasters Des Lynam and Christopher Matthew and spider expert Jan Beccaloni.

Jan Beccaloni is the curator of arachnida and myriapoda at the Natural History Museum in London. The class arachnida includes a diverse group of arthropods: spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and their cousins. Jan is the conservation officer for the British Arachnological Society.

Folk musician Sam Lee has been nominated for this year's Mercury Prize for his debut album 'Ground of Its Own'. The album is made up of traditional material, largely discovered through Sam's extensive research and exploration of long forgotten songs. He sourced most of his material direct from English gypsy and Irish and Scottish traveller communities. 'Ground of Its Own' is released on The Nest Collective label.

Steven Appleby is a cartoonist and illustrator. His new book 'Guide to Life' is a collection of his strip Loomus which appears in the Guardian newspaper. From dodgy Christmas presents to born-again nudists, his cartoons provide an idiosyncratic guide to everyday family life. 'Guide to Life - the collected Loomus cartoons' is published by Guardian Books.

Broadcasters Des Lynam OBE and Christopher Matthew present the series Touchline Tales on 麻豆社 Radio 4. In the programmes they visit sporting venues around the country to observe, reminisce and simply trade tales about some of the greatest pleasures in their lives. A CD 'Best of Touchline Tales' is available and a new series begins in November.

Producer: Paula McGinley.