Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, will be one of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme guest editors over the Christmas period.
Malkinson will use his programme to explore the psychological impacts of wrongful detention, the barriers to education in prison and how his passion for science and astronomy helped him while he was incarcerated.
The singer Ellie Goulding and the former Top Gear presenter James May are among the other guest editors. Nasa’s head of science, Dr Nicola “Nicky” Fox, will kick off the schedule by looking at science education and the influence of outer space on music.
The guest-edited series, to run from Saturday 23 December to Monday 1 January, will feature seven prominent figures who will each take over an episode of the news and current affairs programme.
The author and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi will use his Boxing Day programme to mark one year since he suffered a severe fall in Rome in which he sustained life-changing injuries. He will explore the impact his injuries have had on his family and how they have changed the way he writes.
The former Top Gear star May will take the helm on 27 December, dedicating his time to discuss the future for autonomous cars and whether hobbies can improve health and wellbeing.
Goulding, a musician and UN global environment ambassador, will look at climate and nature and what is being done to make the music industry more sustainable.
Prof Jason Arday, who was this year named one of the youngest people to be appointed to a professorship at Cambridge University, will take the reins on 30 December. The sociologist and writer was diagnosed at the age of three with global development delay and autism and learned to speak at 11 and to read and write at 18. His programme will address the stigma and shame associated with low literacy in adults as well as looking at 1990s culture.
Dame Emma Walmsley, the chief executive of the global biopharma company GSK, will end the run on New Year’s Day in a programme that will examine how people, business and society can become healthier in the UK.
The editor of the Today programme, Owenna Griffiths, said: “Over the past 20 years, the guest editors on Today have become a highlight of the Christmas period. This year is no exception.”
