Late Junction is a music programme broadcast on three nights a week by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "an eclectic mix of world music, ranging from the ancient to the contemporary",[1] the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear medieval ballads juxtaposed with 21st century electronica, or jazz followed by international folk music followed by an ambient track. Each edition of the programme – which normally starts at 23.00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – runs for 90 minutes.
Late Junction won a Sony gold award in 2003 for Music Programming.[2] The comment made at the time was "A radio jewel. Is there a show like this anywhere else in the radio world? Everyone who hears the show falls in love with it. Surprising, revealing, accessible. Brilliantly programmed - a show where the real star is the music."
The programme's main regular presenters are Fiona Talkington and Verity Sharp; other presenters include Max Reinhardt and Nick Luscombe. While the selection of music to be played in any one programme is the result of a collaboration between producer and presenter, some individual preferences can be detected. Fiona Talkington, for instance, tends to play more conventional jazz and Scandinavian music and Verity Sharp more folk music, especially that featuring fiddle-playing.