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James Nesbitt, Gemma Arterton, Tim Peake, Laura Whitmore and Rick Astley

Chris is joined by superstar actors James Nesbitt, Gemma Arterton, Laura Whitmore, Tim Peake plus there's live music from Rick Astley.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • Bryan Ferry

    Let's Stick Together

    • Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music - Street Life.
    • Eg.
  • U2

    Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way (Beck Remix)

    • (CD Single).
    • Island.
  • KISS

    God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II

    • (CD Single).
    • Interscope.
  • Dua Lipa

    Be The One

    • (CD Single).
    • Warner Bros.
  • The Smiths

    This Charming Man

    • The Smiths - The Very Best Of.
    • WEA.
    • 2.
  • Oasis

    She's Electric

    • What's The Story Morning Glory -Oasis.
    • Creation Records.
  • Deva Mahal

    Snakes

    • Run Deep.
    • Motema.
  • Status Quo

    Rockin' All Over The World

    • Whatever You Want - V.Best Of Status.
    • Polygram Tv.
  • T. Rex

    Jeepster

    • Electric Warrior (Deluxe Edition).
    • A&M.
    • 3.
  • Alice Cooper

    School's Out

    • Sounds Of The 70's (Various Artists).
    • Warner E.S.P..
  • Black Sabbath

    Paranoid

    • Million Sellers Vol.18 - The Seventie.
    • Disky.
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience

    Crosstown Traffic

    • The Jimi Hendrix Collection.
    • Universal.
  • Rainbow

    All Night Long

    • Rainbow - The Very Best Of Rainbow.
    • Parlophone.
  • George Ezra

    Paradise

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • Pharrell Williams

    Happy

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA.
  • Pratt & McClain

    Happy Days

    • Television's Greatest Hits Volume 3 70s & 80s.
    • Silva Screen Records Ltd.
  • Snow Patrol

    Empress

    • Wildness.
    • Polydor.
  • Cher & Andy Garc铆a

    Fernando

  • Sheryl Crow

    Wouldn't Want To Be Like You (feat. St. Vincent)

    • Threads.
    • The Valory Music Co..

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

From Writer Abdul-Rehman Malik:

Chris, I confess, summer鈥檚 never really been my season and while none of us asked for this uncomfortably hot weather, for big guys like me, there鈥檚 just a lot more to keep cool. 听It鈥檚 with good reason that beach holidays never really appealed to me. Why would I want to bake on hot sand for hours? After all, I鈥檝e got a natural tan already.

Then there鈥檚 the ocean. The ocean is beautiful, but the few times I鈥檝e swum in it, I鈥檝e been reminded of its unpredictable power.

So, when on a beach in Maui a few weeks ago, I saw my 7 year-old son and my 74 year-old father disappear under a crashing six-foot high wave, my heart stopped for a second. When they emerged a few moments later from the foaming water, I was relieved and anxiously called them back ashore. They laughed and gleefully ignoring me they ran right back into the water 鈥 ready to bodysurf the next break.

By his own admission, my father hasn鈥檛 gone swimming for a quarter century. The last time he got sunburned was when he hitchhiked across Europe in 1969. Yet for the two weeks we were in Hawaii, he was a fish and he was fearless. When I saw him cliff jumping into the swirling ocean pool, I couldn鈥檛 help but think of James鈥檚 title character from Lucky Man. My father felt a bit invincible.

And my son followed suit. The two of them braved blowholes, snorkelled in the open seas, dodged sea turtles and got knocked out by more waves than I care to count. It was like two ends of the human life 鈥 childhood and the golden years 鈥 were bending to meet each other. My father is old enough to be fearless and my son鈥檚 young enough to be reckless.

鈥淲e are very afraid of being powerless,鈥 says the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. 鈥淏ut we have the power to look deeply at our fears, and then fear cannot control us.鈥

It鈥檚 good not to be foolhardy, but fear prevents us from experiencing the beautiful life Rick so exuberantly sings about. True joy is to experience the gifts of life in the moment 鈥 with people we love. Even if it means working on a tan I already have.

Broadcast

  • Fri 20 Jul 2018 06:30

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

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