The week in audio: The Gift; Political Currency; When It Hits the Fan; Newscast – review

‘The right mixture of serious and light’ Jenny Kleeman, presenter of Radio 4’s The Gift. Photograph: Nina Raingold

The Gift (BBC Radio 4) | BBC Sounds
Political Currency (Persephonica) | Apple Podcasts
When It Hits the Fan (BBC Radio 4) | BBC Sounds
Newscast | BBC Sounds

Here’s a show that couldn’t have been made even a few years ago: Radio 4’s The Gift, an engaging six-part series that examines what can happen when someone gets given a DNA kit, from 23andMe or Ancestry, as a present for Christmas or a birthday. We can all guess where this is likely to go – a friend of mine happily did one such test and the result sent the whole family into a tailspin (their father was not their father, many complications arising) – and, yep, the first show concerns fatherhood. But the story was weirder and, really, much more serious than you might expect.