Do you like sex and travel, Alexa?

I am regular listener to BBC Radio 3, often from 5.30 in the morning. Starting the day with a bit of Schubert is infinitely preferable to a dose of the Today programme.  But there is an irritation, which is to say the BBC loves repeatedly telling you about forthcoming programmes and all the ways you can access them, as if every listener was a first-time listener who hadn’t a clue there might be more programmes on later in the day. Now there’s a new announcement, which tells you that you can tell ‘Alexa,’ your smart speaker to find these programmes for you. This is pure advertising for the makers of these home spies (it doesn’t really matter who makes them) and I don’t  think it’s any part of the BBC’s job to promote them. If people want to buy a home spy, aka Alexa that’s their choice. It’s no different to the BBC saying ‘we would like you to listen to this programme on your Bush radio.’ But that’s only part of my complaint. These announcements don’t come with a health warning. What am I talking about? This is a good place to find out, if you have five minutes.