Night Waves is a radio programme

Radio programming

Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....

 broadcast on BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...

. The BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 describes it as "Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme".

The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

said in May 2010 "...the king of radio arts programmes is undoubtedly Night Waves, a programme so clever that it regularly makes me stand still and listen, usually halfway to the dishwasher with a plate in my hand...It's the desire to untangle arguments, to lift up their corners and see what lurks there. There's a gleeful range of references too...and a relish for intelligent debate."

It is broadcast every Monday to Thursday evening, except during the Proms season

The Proms

The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...

. Programmes usually include a mix of interviews, reviews, previews, discussions, commissioned writing and reports. Some episodes include a single interview with a prominent figure in the worlds of arts or ideas. A monthly edition discusses a cultural landmark.

The programme's presenters are Matthew Sweet

Matthew Sweet (writer)

Matthew Sweet is a British writer, journalist, and BBC broadcaster. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University on the sensation fiction of the 19th century, Wilkie Collins in particular...

, Philip Dodd

Philip Dodd

Philip Dodd is a British broadcaster, writer and editor. He is chairman of the creative industries company Made in China.-Early career:...

, Rana Mitter and Anne McElvoy

Anne McElvoy

Anne McElvoy is a British journalist for The Economist and Evening Standard, and a Radio 3 presenter.-Early life:McElvoy attended St Bede's RC Comprehensive School in Lanchester, County Durham and read German and Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford...

.