BBC RADIO LEICESTER, THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: MAN OF STEEL

Harry with John Florance at BBC Radio Leicester

A week ago, when I was at BBC Radio Leicester recording Thought for the Day with John Florance. I suggested that he get in my son Harry to fill one of this week's slots, for broadcast shortly before the release of Man of Steel on Friday. John is a fellow comic book fan, so I didn’t have much trouble persuading him, particularly after I referred him to Harry’s blog.

So here we are this afternoon at the station, where Harry is recording his piece, for Jonathan Lampon's breakfast show, Thursday 13 June - and here's how it sounded on the day:

JL: Time now for Thought for the Day; and with his thought for the day, we welcome 13-year old Harry Ballentyne, who blogs on comic books and super heroes.

HB: Good morning.

There’s a lot of excitement gathering about the upcoming Superman movie, Man of Steel., being released tomorrow, on June 14. This is going to be a major film and undoubtedly good for Superman, but what a lot of people don’t realise is: How relevant Superman’s core themes are in our current era.

Cover of Action Comics no. 1 "Superman, Champion of the Oppressed" 

When he first appeared, in 1938’s Action Comics number 1, Superman was quite different from the hero we know today. Before he was taking on powerful super-villains and alien species, Superman was dealing with more recognisably human issues. In fact, in the first issue, Superman deals with exploitative bosses, corrupt politicians and domestic violence, all topics that have returned to the news in big ways recently.

In the new movie, Superman’s father, Jor-El, says: “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will stumble, they will fall; but in time they will join you in the sun.” What this shows is that Superman was sent to save us from all the evil that we create, to teach us to step above all of that, and become good.

That raises the question, do real heroes solve all our problems for us, or do they teach us how to solve them for ourselves? 

Man of Steel is released tomorrow, and with the issues that Superman first fought still with us, maybe it’s time for the last son of Krypton to truly shine again.

JL: And that was today's Thought for the Day with 13-year old Harry Ballentyne, who blogs on comic books and also super heroes.

Follow Harry on Twitter: @CrimsonSquire

Read Harry’s blog about the world of comics, with reviews, interviews and news:  Crimson Squire Comics

Harry's Thought for the Day is available on BBC Radio Leicester's iPlayer Radio (from 42 min 46 sec in), till 12 midnight (GMT+1), Wednesday 19 June.

BBC RADIO LEICESTER, THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: BAHÁ'Í COMMENT ON G8 SUMMIT

 

Early this morning (on the way out to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir on Gipsy Lane to meet up with the Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary) I pop into BBC Radio Leicester to record a Thought for the Day with John Florance.

 

When we met at Cathedral AM last Wednesday, John asked if I would do one of these 90-second spots this week. He told me then that he could trust me to pick my own subject. I asked him which hat he wanted me to wear for this: speaking as a local Bahá'í or as an employee of Leicester Council of Faiths. He said that I'd have been on for the Council of Faiths often recently (which is true) so he asked me to make it on from a Bahá'í perspective. So here it is:

Good morning

Shortly, the G8 summit takes place in Northern Ireland. Leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations will meet to discuss ways to restore strong and sustainable growth to the world economy and mull over how to address the most pressing issues of the day.

The summit takes place under the presidency of the UK. But is it right that we should be concerned with social and economic problems in other countries when there is so much to be fixed here at home?

Bahá'ís would say that it is not only right, but necessary. Indeed it’s a moral and political obligation of the strongest nations to lend a hand to those struggling even more than we are right now.

These increasingly common and frequent summits and conferences represent unsteady, faltering steps toward the realisation of a truth stated by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Bahá'u'lláh said then that, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” This memorable phrase is the foundation of what Bahá'ís believe and the inspiration behind how we work for positive change around the world.

If this Bahá'í could offer a word of advice to the great and the good gathered at the G8 summit next weekend, it would be this quotation from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh: “Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.” If such an attitude informed their discussions, then we might see effective action that brings about genuine change for everyone in our world.

It sounds a bit flat on the first take, so John asks me to read it again, just to vary the tone and put a bit of bounce in it. I don't feel much bounce in myself this morning (probably because I was still up writing this in the wee small hours), but give it another go; it comes out much better the second time.

I arrived at Radio Leicester this morning at the same time as Martin Gage from Christian Aid, who is leading the regional arm of the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign. He's here to record his own Thought for the Day, for broadcast later this week, about the Hunger Summit that precedes the meeting of the G8. Martin is sitting in the small studio with John and me while we record my piece. He offers a helpful comment that would certainly improve it, so I rerecord a couple of sentences, incorporating Martin's suggestion.

After I've done and John is showing me out of the building, I suggest that my son Harry come in and record a Thought for the Day, to be broadcast toward the end of next week, just before the release of Man of Steel. John is a fellow comics fan, so I don't have to work too hard to persuade him.