Front Row
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
Episodes
Review Show: Rose Tremain’s The Housekeeper, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca
Robbie Collin and Sarah Crompton join Samira Ahmed to review:Rose Tremain’s new book, The Housekeeper, which imagines how Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel, Rebecca, came to be written.Queen at Sea, a film starring Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay, which takes on the moral quandaries that occur with care in the advanced stages of dementia, when someone has lost the ability to make critical decis
The Proclaimers on their new album, You May Offend
Twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged almost 40 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and Top 3 single ‘Letter from America’. The Proclaimers join Kirsty Wark to discuss their new album, the ambiguously titled, You May Offend.Novelist Kate Atkinson won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and today she chats about her latest
Hermione Lee on her biography of the notoriously private author Anita Brookner
Biographer Hermione Lee talks to Tom about her new book Anita Brookner: Art and Life, which explores the career of the famously private art historian and author of 24 novels including the Booker prize-winning Hotel du Lac.Hollywood is enjoying one of its best summers at the box office as a mix of big budget blockbusters and surprise hits by new directors has powered cinema to a record $4.76 billio
The Beatles' early days, Juliette Binoche's directorial debut, Jack Thorne
Samira Ahmed talks to Hunter Davies about his new book Get Back: The Boys Who Became the Beatles, Juliette Binoche about her directorial debut on In-I in Motion, Jack Thorne on his speech arguing for the need to protect writers in the age of AI, and National Short Story Award shortlisted author Lucy Caldwell. Producer: Eliane Glaser
Review Show: Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum
Viv Groskop and Amanda Vickery join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Bayeux Tapestry as it goes on display to the public in Britain for the first time since its creation almost a millennium ago. Taipei Story, the new novel from bestselling literary phenomenon Rebecca F Kuang, author of Babel and Yellowface, about a young Chinese-American woman studying in Taiwan and grappling with ideas of disapora and
Oasis documentary Don’t Look Back in Anger
Music critic Neil McCormick shares his verdict on the Oasis documentary, Don’t Look Back in Anger about Noel & Liam Gallagher's reunion tour. Writer Beth Steel talks about her acclaimed play Till The Stars Come Down. The drama is based around a wedding in Mansfield, East Midlands. Originally a sold-out hit at the National Theatre, the production has had a West End Transfer and been performed
Call My Agent's writer and creator Fanny Herrero on bringing the French sitcom to the big screen
Fanny Herrero, writer and creator of the French sitcom Call My Agent, joins Tom Sufcliffe to talk about how her show about the antics of the cut-throat Paris talent agency ASK became a global hit and why, after a five year hiatus, she’s got the agents back together for their first ever film.This year’s unprecedented extreme heat and lack of rain in large parts of the UK has wreaked havoc with gard
Helen of Troy - a new play by Ava Pickett
Ava Pickett discusses her new play Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the huge success 1536, her Olivier Award-winning play about the Tudors.Louisa Young on her novel The Golden Years, which continues The Cazalet Chronicles, the hugely popular series of books by Elizabeth Jane Howard. With the opening this week of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, Samira
Norman Day special
Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the architecture and culture of Norman Britain as part of a special day of programmes on Radio 4 marking the return of the Bayeux Tapestry.From Durham to Peterborough, Lincoln to Norwich, the Norman invasion shaped British architecture, landscape and culture. Beginning in wood but later cemented in stone, power was expressed in the rounded arches and distinctive or
Review: Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas
Mark Ravenhill and Leila Latif join Tom Sutcliffe to review:Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas, a tragi comedy told across different time frames, and questioning the relationship between reality and fiction in the film industry. Author of best selling The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin's new speculative fiction novel is Under Story, which asks if you could turn back the c
YouTube's Pedro Pina on the future of television, and celebrating Tim Curry
Ahead of her sixth performance at the BBC Proms the mezzo soprano star Joyce DiDonato talks to Kirsty about the explosive potential of her voice. VP Head of YouTube EMEA - Pedro Pina - delivers the flagship address of this year's Edinburgh TV Festival. He gives his perspective on the continuing evolution of tv as we know it. Comedy is at the heart of the Edinburgh Festivals, and today the shortlis
Remembering Dolly Parton, Meg Mason and Notting Hill Carnival at 60
Samira Ahmed spoke to Dolly Parton in 2023. As her death is announced Front Row pays tribute to the star of country music who sold more than 100 million records and wrote over 3,000 songs in a career that spanned six decades. A chance to hear Meg Mason, the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss, about her new novel, Sophie Standing There, which deals with celebrity obsession and the publishing
Review Show: Rachel Cusk's new novel and the return of the Looney Tunes
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and William Lee Adams join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Life of M - the new novel from Rachel Cusk. The book centres on a writer’s attempt to chronicle the life of a globally famous film star, and explores the strangeness of celebrity.Stop! That! Train! - a comedy disaster movie featuring many of the stars from RuPaul's Drag Race.Coyote vs Acme - after a lengthy and tumultuous j
From the Edinburgh Festivals: Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready; founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales; comedian Rosie Holt
Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready on his debut one man show Little Animals, a powerful piece of writing on climate, consumerism and the anxieties of being a Dad in today's world. The founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales on his book The Seven Rules of Trust, an optimistic view of how technology can impact on our lives. Comedian and actor Rosie Holt on her two shows at this year's Edinburgh Festi
The Light opens in Durham, and Iain Stirling on the art of sandscastles
As contemporary art venue, The Light, prepares to open in Durham, its artistic director Tony Guillan, and the art critic Louisa Buck, discuss the new building and its opening exhibition, Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light.Comedian Iain Stirling is known to many for narrating Love Island. He's stepped out from behind the scenes to front new reality tv show Race Against The Tide where par
Joe Lycett on his first solo exhibition, Everything Must Go
The comedian Joe Lycett has long dabbled in art, but it's a serious business now as his first ever solo exhibition ‘Everything Must Go’ has just opened at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. He talks about how this show came together and why its most eye-catching piece is a giant pink and blue woolly mammoth called Martin.Charlotte Higgins talks to Samira Ahmed about her book Ukrainian Lessons,
Review Show: Tony, film about the early life of chef Anthony Bourdain
Academic and critic Maria Delgado and writer and producer Jake Cunningham join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the film Tony, a film about the early career of food writer Anthony Bourdain, who is played by Dominic Sessa. The film also stars Antonio Banderas, who becomes an unexpected mentor for the young chef.They also talk about Death Note: The Musical. Based on the best-selling Manga series of the same
The best theatre at this year's Edinburgh Festivals
Australian writer and performer Hannah Reilly talks to us about her much-anticipated one woman show about sex, power and authenticity, Roleplay, which is produced by the team behind Fleabag and Baby Reindeer and which has sold out in Edinburgh but is heading to London for a run in the autumn. Critic Fergus Morgan talks us through the other shows which are making a splash at this year's Edinburgh
Steph McGovern on how to buy art
Steph McGovern, presenter of new BBC show The Big Deal, is joined by Marie Le Conte to discuss how to buy art.Fleabag actor Sian Clifford on her lead role in "Lady", a new mockumentary film about a fading aristocrat.Why has a new show at Edinburgh about Amanda Knox been so controversial? Tristram Fane Saunders gives his assessment live from the Fringe Festival.And Colin Thubron, both a travel writ
Game of Thrones at the RSC first night review
What's the Royal Shakespeare Company's much anticipated stage adaptation of Game of Thrones like? Critics Boyd Hilton and Kate Maltby give their verdict. Conductor Marin Alsop on what makes American classical music sound American, ahead of her American Classics Prom on 24 August. TS Eliot Prize-winning poet Anthony Joseph discusses his new collection, Haunting the Black Air, which journeys from th
Review Show: Irvine Welsh's new novel and Glenn Close's new film
Suzi Feay and John-Paul Stonard join Samira to review:Can Nothing Save Us?, the new novel from Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, a state-of-the-nation thriller set in the US.The Summer Book, a new film starring Glenn Close and based on the beloved novel by Moomins creator Tove Jansson. And Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam at the Royal Academy, featuring paintings by the 19th century painter who specia
Live from the Edinburgh Festivals: Stockard Channing on directing Krapp's Last Tape
In the first of our special programmes from the Edinburgh Festivals, actress Stockard Channing - star of Grease, Six Degrees of Separation and Practical Magic - joins us alongside her friend, actor David Westhead, to discuss their production of Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, in which a cynical and disillusioned older man reflects on his early life as an ambitious and idealistic writer.Jeff Wh
Magic live in the studio
Samira is joined by two magicians live in the studio, from the stage show "Now You See Me Live". And then she takes part in a trick and is bamboozled!
Jacqueline Crooks' latest novel Sky City follows a young woman and her friends in 1990's London, as they struggle to carve out lives for themselves in the shadow of their pasts. Jacqueline explains why literature is the perfect place to discuss diff
John Hannah on his new comedy crime drama set in Benidorm
John Hannah plays a washed-up former detective who has moved to Spain to run a pub in the new Channel 5 comedy drama Benidorm is Murder. He discusses the appeal of television crime series, and why working-class settings are underrepresented on the small screen.Hull Maritime Museum reopens after a £20 million refurbishment. Director Gillian Osgerby on why this museum is such an important feature o
Review show: Childhood in War, Children of Wolves and kids in Luton
Rhianna Dhillon and Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to review:Childhood in War, an exhibition at the Imperial War Musuem exploring how children have experienced conflict from 1914 to the present day. Ish, the debut feature film from multimedia artist Imran Perretta which follows two boys in Luton as they navigate childhood against a backdrop of political tension and personal loss.And Children o
How the opiod crisis inspired an opera
Composer Missy Mazzoli discusses her opera The Galloping Cure, which fuses a live orchestra with electronic beats and features a charismatic antihero and talking dogs. An allegory for a crisis which has become a worldwide epidemic, the production by Opera Ventures Productions and Scottish Opera receives its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival and is a reimagining of a story by F
Mary Beard reveals the Booker Prize longlist, plus Bill Pullman on taking on Chekhov
Professor Dame Mary Beard reveals the 2026 Booker longlist and how she has found the process of being Chair of the judges.British contemporary pop artist Philip Colbert’s latest installation has just been unveiled amidst the historic ruins of Pompeii. Philip talks to Samira Ahmed about being inspired by an ancient mosaic featuring a lobster, a symbol he frequently includes in his work, and how he
Bill Oddie, remembered by his friend Graeme Garden
Graeme Garden remembers his friend and Goodies colleague, Bill Oddie.Frank Miller reimagined Batman as a tougher, grittier sort of comic book hero: The Dark Knight. He has written a memoir and a guide for fans.The new Children's Laureate, writer Patrice Lawrence tells us about taking on such a prestigious role.And 850 years of the Eisteddfod - Archdruid Mererid Hopwood and Marc Rees discuss the im
Review Show: Trainspotting the Musical, Colson Whitehead's new novel
Hanna Flint and Chris Power join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The new stage musical adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, featuring famous songs from the 1996 Danny Boyle film as well as new compositions to bring Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud to life.On the Sea, a film by novelist and director Helen Walsh about a mussel fisherman in northern Wales and the romance that he kindles with a
Andrew Ridgeley on Wham in China
In 1985, Wham were the first Western pop group to perform in communist China, and the tour changed people's lives. As a new documentary about this landmark moment in pop lands in cinemas - and screens on BBC Two next month - Andrew Ridgeley tells the story.From Merchant Ivory period dramas to Peaky Blinders, the art of costume making is celebrated in a new exhibition - Costume Couture - at Edinbur
Ruth Madeley on new TV drama The Rapture, Nadine Shah on her BBC Prom
Actor Ruth Madeley on starring in new TV drama The Rapture - a psychological thriller where the competing interests of an oil company, a religious cult, a protest group and a disturbed young woman convicted of murdering her mother, are set against a backdrop of climate change. Singer Nadine Shah on her homecoming BBC Prom in Gateshead.After a three year standoff, Northern Ballet reaches an agreem
The first PM with an English degree, plus a new museum of WWII espionage
Trent Park, the House of Secrets is a new museum in north London which explores the story of the secret listeners who eavesdropped on the conversations of German senior military prisoners of war. Samira is joined by Helen Lederer, whose grandfather who served as a WW2 secret listener, and the Chairman of Trent Park, Jason Charalambous.As Andy Burnham becomes the first Prime Minister to study Engli
Review: Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey with Matt Damon and Zendaya
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by film critic Tim Robey and classicist Edith Hall to discuss:Christopher Nolan's much anticipated film version of Homer's epic The Odyssey, shot with IMAX cameras and with a stellar cast which includes Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Samantha Morton.A new production of The Oresteia directed by acclaimed Australian director Simon Stone at the Bridge Thea
Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman
The coming-of-age series Heartstopper has been a phenomenon with young readers and viewers in recent years. Its creator Alice Oseman joins us as the film Heartstopper Forever lands on Netflix, and as the final graphic novel in her series is published. JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is one of the all-time greats of American literature and has inspired many writers including George Saunders, D
Christopher Nolan on his film The Odyssey, Little House on the Prairie, novelist Candice Carty-Williams
British director Christopher Nolan discusses his biggest cinematic blockbuster yet: The Odyssey, which stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and more, in his retelling of Homer’s epic poem about the warrior Odysseus’s battles with ancient Greek monsters like the Cyclops, Circe and the Sirens on his quest to return to his family after the Trojan War.We talk with Tom Kiehl, CEO of the industr
Diane Morgan on playing a robot in TV comedy Ann Droid.
Diane Morgan on her BBC TV comedy series Ann Droid, in which she stars as the eponymous robot helper to Sue Johnston. We pay tribute to actor Sam Neill, who has died at the age of 78. His screen work stretched from blockbusters like Jurassic Park to small independent New Zealand releases.Anna Reynolds, Surveyor of the King's Pictures, on the rehang of Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery. Reopened re
Review Show: The Rolling Stones album Foreign Tongues
Critic and columnist Dr Kate Maltby and author Michael Donkor join Tom Sutcliffe to review Robota, the inaugural large-scale production at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in Oxford. The production explores what happens to humanity when the line between human and machine blurs. They also discuss Country People by Pulitzer Prize nominated author Daniel Mason. The novel explores a year in th
Lynval Golding of The Specials on the band's swansong album
Lynval Golding of two-tone and ska legends The Specials , on the band’s final album, Live from the Cathedral, which was recorded in Coventry Cathedral. and which pays tribute to the band's late frontman Terry Hall. Photographers Tish Murtha and Sandra George, whose work represented disadvantaged and marginalised communities in Newcastle and Edinburgh respectively, were not given the recognition th
Ai Weiwei in Manchester
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has just created his largest site-specific exhibition - Ai Weiwei: Button Up! - which has now opened at Aviva Studios in Manchester. Xiaowen Zhu, Director of esea contemporary art gallery, has been to see the monumental works on show and shares her thoughts on whether in this case bigger is truly better.
Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour on his ground-br
Madonna's Confessions II album, Daphne du Maurier, Sky buying ITV
Confessions II is Madonna's first album in 7 years. Novelist Matt Cain and journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer discuss going back to the dancefloor.Sky TV has offered £1.6 bn pounds for ITV's free to air channel and its streaming platform ITVX. Jake Kanter, journalist for the screen industry website Deadline, considers what it will mean for British television. With a new play about Daphne
Review Show: Penélope Cruz in The Invite, Pride the Musical
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Bidisha and David Benedict to review:The Invite, a new film directed by Olivia Wilde about two couples who join each other for dinner, starring Seth Rogan and Olivia Wilde as hosts and Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz as their guests.Pride the Musical, created by the same team as the hit 2014 film, which tells the true story of a group of LGBT activists who suppor
Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro on his passion for films featuring trains
The acclaimed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro talks about how he went about curating a season of films featuring trains for the BFI - from classics such as Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg and Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express to lesser known gems - and about how trains have inspired his own work - including songs, and his forthcoming novel, Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger. Actresses M
Dave Eggers on his new novel Contrapposto and Supergirl director Craig Gillespie
Author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and The Circle, Dave Eggers is back with a new novel about a young aspiring artist. Contrapposto follows Cricket, an insular smalltown boy, enchanted by drawing, as well as an older girl, and in part draws on Eggers’ on experiences of the art world. Visiting the UK for the first time in over a decade, he speaks to Samira Ahmed in a rare intervie
Penelope Keith tribute, Russell Tovey, Katherine Rundell on fairy tales
We mark the passing of actress Dame Penelope Keith, speaking with John Lloyd and Mel Giedroyc about her long career. Actor Russell Tovey plays a troubled police officer dealing with a late night emergency in The Guilty at The Donmar Warehouse in London.Katherine Rundell on updating Cinderella for a contemporary audience, as part of Radio 4's Once Upon a Time series. We discover the photographic g
Review Show: Frida Kahlo, Mads Mikkelsen in The Last Viking, Museum of the Year
Writer Charlotte Mullins and author Viv Groskop join Tom to discuss the Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern in London. It's the highest pre-selling exhibition in Tate's history, and contains 30 significant works, has her clothes on display, and looks at the artist's life and impact on contemporaries and later generations.They also offer their verdict on the Danish black comedy The Last Viking, w
Lauren Child on 25 years of Charlie & Lola
25 years since she published her first Charlie and Lola book, former Children's Laureate Lauren Child returns with a new friendship-focused series featuring best-friends Lotta and Lola. She joins us to talk about her approach to writing for children and about the importance of reading together as a family. Refik Anadol, one of the creative team behind Dataland, a vast new museum dedicated to AI
Bill Nighy on acting, podcasting and style tips
Bill Nighy joins to talk about his new family drama 500 Miles, where he plays a reclusive painter on the west coast of Ireland who gets an unexpected visit from his two Sheffield-based grandsons. He also discusses his early days in acting, his famous role in Love Actually, and why he's become an agony uncle in a new podcast.
Today, the Carnegie Medal for Writing was awarded to Beth O’Brien for h
Linda Perry sings live, and we celebrate Mel Brooks' 100th birthday
Linda Perry came to fame as lead singer of the all-female band Four Non-Blondes. She went on to be a hugely successful songwriter and producer, writing hits for the likes of Pink and Christina Aguilera, and collaborating with Dolly Parton. She's now released her first solo album for 27 years - Let It Die Here - and a documentary film of the same name. Linda came to perform for Front Row and expla
Review: Anish Kapoor, Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, Toy Story 5
Writer Stephanie Merritt and Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin join Tom to review Anish Kapoor’s immersive exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, which includes huge red sculptures, black holes and boundless mirrors that challenge perspectives. They also discuss The End Of Everything by M. John Harrison, a post-apocalyptic novel where the nature of the crisis remains unclear. And they revi
Katherine Hepburn novel, plus the Obama Presidential Center opens
Priya Parmar's novel The Original tells the story of how actor Katharine Hepburn set out to become one of the true movie icons of the 20th century and succeeded. She's joined to talk about Hepburn's life and career by film historian Pamela Hutchinson. As the Obama Presidential Center opens later this week in Chicago, we hear how its architecture is being viewed in the city, how it compares with
A new Brian Epstein biography and how Estonia is protecting its cultural treasures from potential attack
The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, is widely regarded as the man who helped the band break through. He's inspired plays, films, and even an artistic installation by the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller. He's now the subject of a new biography, Mr Moonlight, by Philip Norman.A Unesco-listed cathedral in Kyiv went up in flames on Sunday night after an intense Russian bombing attack. The U
David Hockney special
Tom Sutcliffe presents a special edition of Front Row on the art of David Hockney. The artists Maggi Hambling and Tacita Dean and Andrew Marr speak to Tom about Hockney's career and innovations.Tom also speaks to art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston and the art critic and author James Cahill, author of The Beverley Hills Housewife: Hockney’s Californian Muse and the World Beyond the Pool, published
Review: Steven Spielberg's alien film Disclosure Day
Film producer Jason Solomons and Guardian columnist Zoe Williams join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day – a film which looks at whether aliens are really out there. John D. MacDonald’s psychological thriller The Executioners has inspired two Cape Fear films and now there’s a 10-part TV series starring Amy Adams and Javier Bardem. Jason and Zoe give their verdicts. The
Scotland's National Poet Peter Mackay honours the country's football team
Scotland's Makar Peter Mackay on his poems honouring Scotland's football team as they head to the FIFA World Cup - one, his own work, the other curated from lines submitted by members of the public. Can they help propel the team to victory in their first tournament in many years? Crime writer Denise Mina tells us about the extraordinary true crime case that inspired her book The Last Drop, now ada
Barry Manilow brings the Manilow magic to Front Row
Barry Manilow on maintaining his musical curiosity as he releases his 33rd studio album, What A Time, and what it's like to have one of his biggest hits, Copacabana, sung by Sabrina Carpenter.With the start of the World Cup this week, sports photographer Tom Jenkins, and Tim Marlow, Director of The Design Museum and one of the judges for this year's Football Art Prize at the Millennium Gallery in
Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, Pan African art and John Tavener's opera Krishna
Samira Ahmed talks to Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter about their new album MirageEkow Eshun, writer and broadcaster, and Polly Savage, Lecturer in the Art History of Africa at SOAS, University of London, discuss an exhibition of Pan African art at the Barbican, Project a Black PlanetFront Row introduces its AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker for 2026, Genevieve Robyn Arkle, who is a Lecturer in Music H
Review: High Society and film Savage House
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Alexander Larman and critic Arifa Akbar to discuss:A new production of High Society, Cole Porter's musical showcase at London's Barbican, starring Call the Midwife's Helen George in the role of the amorously vexed Long Island socialite Tracy Lord who finds her heart pulled in every which direction. Also starring Freddie Fox and Felicity Kendal.The film Savage Hous
Live from the Belfast Book Festival
As the Belfast Book Festival opens Kirsty Wark is joined by a range of guests at the Crescent Arts Centre. She'll be discussing reading and freedom of expression with Hilary McCollum, whose new book As A Lover is inspired by the scandal which followed the publication of Radclyffe Hall's story of lesbian love The Well of Loneliness in 1928, and by novelist and short story writer Lucy Caldwell whose
Rivals writer Sophie Goodhart on new TV series Alice and Steve; depictions of dogs in art
Award winning jazz saxophonist and broadcaster Soweto Kinch and writer and director of new film Köln 75, Ido Fluk, join Tom to explore the importance of Keith Jarrett’s seminal performance at the Cologne Opera House in 1975, and its subsequent album, which became the bestselling solo album in jazz history.Sex Education and Rivals writer Sophie Goodhart on her award-winning comedy-drama Alice and S
Marilyn Monroe at 100
On what would have been her 100th birthday, we look at the enduring popularity of Marilyn Monroe, with film journalist and fan Kim Morgan and reviewer Angie Errigo Sathnam Sanghera talks about the meaning of George Michael.Jazz legend and saxophonist Courtney Pine talks about his career, forty years after his seminal debut album Journey to the Urge Within.And poet Joelle Taylor, author of Maryvill
Review Show: Paul McCartney, Russell T Davies, Maggie O'Farrell
Rachel Lloyd, Deputy Culture Editor of The Economist, and writer Lawrence Norfolk join Tom to discuss Channel 4's new queer drama Tip Toe, which is the latest series by Russell T Davies and stars Alan Cumming as a gay bar owner in Manchester and David Morrissey as his long-standing neighbour whose previously friendly relationship takes a dark turn. They also talk about Paul McCartney’s 18th studio
Ann Patchett, plus why launch an all-male publishing house?
Nashville-based novelist Ann Patchett tells us about her tenth novel, Whistler, in which a chance encounter between a woman and her stepfather after many years leads to unexpected revelations. As a new publisher - Conduit Books - launches with the intention of promoting work by male authors, we discuss why this might be needed, with its founder, the writer Jude Cook, and with Ellah Wakatama, Edito
Jazz legend Miles Davis at 100
Writer and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre, and trumpeter and composer Yazz Ahmed on 100 years of Miles Davis - the musician regarded as the Picasso of jazz.Artist Keith Tyson has just donated a quarter of a million pounds for an astronomy post at Oxford University. He's joined by Professor Ken Arnold, director of the Medical Museum at the University of Copenhagen, to discuss the relationship between
Live from Hay with Jack Thorne and Val McDermid
Live from Hay, celebrating reading and writing in many different forms, Samira is joined on stage by Jack Thorne - multi-award-winning screenwriter of the TV sensation Adolescence and his newest drama Falling, about a nun and a priest who fall in love.Also, Tartan Noir titan Val McDermid speaks about crime fiction and her 40 years of writing.The Ian Fleming estate has granted novelist Vaseem Khan
Review Show: Douglas Stuart's John of John and Cannes Film Festival
Samira Ahmed is joined by writer Matt Cain and critic Suzi Feay to review:Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart's new novel John of John, set on the Isle of Harris. New series The Boroughs, which stars Alfred Molina and Geena Davis in a retirement community, executive produced by Stranger Things' Duffer Brothers. And Holy Pop!, a new exhibition at Somerset House in London tha
Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid
Canadian author Rachel Reid talks to us about the the phenomenon which has followed the publication of her books about the romantic relationship between rival ice hockey players.We speak to author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King, the author and translator of this year's International Booker Prize winning book, Taiwan Travelogue. And Mull Historical Society's latest album In My Mind There’
Winston Churchill: The Painter, and Smoggie Queens creator and star Phil Dunning
The paintings of Winston Churchill are being exhibited at the Wallace Collection in London. Xavier Bray, Director of the Wallace Collection, and Katharine Carter, curator at Chartwell, Churchill’s country house in Kent, discuss what we learn about Churchill from his art.Creator and star Phil Dunning talks about series two of Smoggie Queens, which follows a close-knit group of friends; it’s a celeb
White Lotus and Bridget Jones star Leo Woodall on his new film
Leo Woodall stars in the film Tuner, about a young piano prodigy who turns to crime, in cinemas on the 29th May.The classical music world has been paying tribute to the soprano Dame Felicity Lott, who died on Friday at the age of 79. Critic David Benedict joins us to discuss her life in music.Ronald Firbank is considered a pioneering queer voice of modernist fiction, but he's often overlooked. Sir
Review Show: Rivals and Ian McKellen in The Christophers
Observer Theatre critic Susannah Clapp and Heat's Entertainment Director Boyd Hilton join Samira to discuss The Christophers - Steven Soderbergh’s film about an ageing artist and a young forger hired to copy his work, starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel. They also discuss the second series of Rivals, based on Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster novel which was set in the affluent 80s world of commercial
Mark Cousins on his 16-hour epic documentary
From landmark releases to hidden treasures, director Mark Cousins on his 16-hour epic The Story of Documentary Film, which is screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week. A hundred years since Virginia Woolf published her essay On Being Ill, writer Darcey Steinke is presenting a newly commissioned work in response at the Charleston Festival this week. She joins us alongside poet Jade Cuttle to
The rock star architect of the Baroque age, Sir John Vanbrugh
This year marks the tercentenary of polymath Sir John Vanbrugh, regarded as the rockstar architect of the Baroque era. Art historian Sir Charles Saumerez Smith, co-curator of the Vanbrugh exhibition at the Sir John Soane’s Museum, and Rory Fraser who is writing a biography on Vanbrugh, discuss the man happy creating dramas for the British stage and dramatic buildings on the British landscape.Turne
Highs, lows and naked jet-skiers at the Venice Biennale
Critics Ben Luke and Aviva Dautch bring us all the news from The Venice Biennale.
Following the death of the great Shakespearean actor Michael Pennington, we speak to former RSC Director Gregory Doran about his impact on the stage. A new small exhibition Elizabeth I: Queen and Court Is running in London. It includes rarely seen portraits of The Virgin Queen that are normally held in private coll
Reviewing The Sheep Detectives, Elizabeth Strout and Henry Moore at Kew
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by journalist and podcaster Nick Hilton and writer and historian Catherine McCormack to review a selection of cultural items from this week:They'll look at The Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman, a live-action film in which a group of ovine sleuths attempt to solve the murder of their shepherd. Elizabeth Strout's latest novel, The Things We Never Say, about a Massachus
Author Siri Hustvedt on her memoir, Ghost Stories
Acclaimed author Siri Hustvedt on Ghost Stories, her memoir of her marriage to novelist, poet and filmmaker Paul Auster and her grief following his death in 2024. Following last night's live report on the controversies surrounding this year's Venice Biennale, we are joined by one of the curators of the Ukrainian Pavillion, to hear how a concrete sculpture of a deer rescued from the frontline of th
Antony Gormley in 2D
Antony Gormley joins Samira Ahmed. The sculptor and artist is best known for landmarks such as Angel of the North or the beach figures of Another Place, in Liverpool. But Antony has also been exhibiting drawings since the 80s and with the publication of the book Drawing he tells Samira what this art means to him.After the Devil Wears Prada 2 topped the box office this week, BBC New Generation Thin
Celebrating the art of Illustration, with Sir Quentin Blake and Posy Simmonds
As the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration prepares to open in London, we find out how illustrators are adapting to a changing world.Starting with a rare interview from Quentin Blake, we'll hear how this once undervalued side of the visual arts still creates the defining images of childhoods, whilst also now playing a central role in the visual language of the internet. Featuring voices working
Review: Spanish master Zurbarán at the National Gallery
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by playwright Mark Ravenhill and academic and critic Maria Delgado to review:The first major UK exhibition of Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán at the National Gallery.A new Spanish language series adaptation of Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits on Amazon Prime video.Please Please Me by Tom Wright, a play about manager Brian Epstein and The Beatles at the Kiln Th
Paul Weller on his musical evolution
From the rebellious spirit of The Jam in the 1970s to the soulful sound of The Style Council and mellow ballads as a solo artist, singer-songwriter Paul Weller is about to release Weller At The BBC Volume 2 - a series of session recordings of his classic hits and interpretations of other artists' songs. He .discusses his musical evolution and his influences. She's been rather overshadowed by fell
Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce on the new Children's Booker Prize
Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce launches the Children's Booker Prize and discusses some of the themes of his forthcoming Waterstones Children's Laureate Lecture - The Kids Are Not Alright- which calls for the reading of physical books to made a central part of childhood. Soap writer and aficionado Sharon Marshall on how long-running television dramas are employing bold storytelling techni
The Devil Wears Prada 2, with director David Frankel
The Devil Wears Prada 2 director David Frankel on why it was time to bring the old gang back together again.
David Haig's new play "Magic" imagines the real life friendship between Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
A new play "Stage Kiss" looks at what kissing on stage entails. Playwright Sarah Ruhl and actress Emma Fielding discuss how to do it well (and badly).
And Luke Roberts, lecturer in M
