“Welcome to Broadcasting House for Sunday the 7th November”

I like to listen to programmes on Radio 4 when they’re meant to be listened to, but being 8 hours ahead of the UK means that programmes broadcast weekly are usually a week old. Listening to Broadcasting House this Sunday morning, with its speculation about the possible release of Aung San Suu Kyi and continued interest in Ed Milliband’s performance at PMQs, I felt something in common with the expats in Maugham or Greene, waiting for regular bundles of letters and newspapers to make the journey upriver to be devoured in the full knowledge that their contents were long out of date. Strange that expectations and possibilities that arise from the internet end up creating the same kind of situation.