Episodes
-
Forty years ago Bronski Beat released Age of Consent, a record so loud and proud that it become an era-defining moment of gay liberation. We look back at the record's music, legacy and politics with novelist Matt Cain and Laurie Belgrave, who has produced the new 'The Age of Consent 40' concert at the Southbank Centre. Samira talks to Percival Everett about his Booker-shortlisted James, a potent retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which offers a new voice to the enslaved character Jim. And, we look at how the horror genre has developed on the stage with Jessica Andrews who has adapted Saint Maud for Live Theatre in Newcastle and Matthew Dunster who directed 2:22 A Ghost Story and the recent West End production of The Pillowman.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Ruth Watts
-
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests journalist Stephen Bush and theatre critic Kate Maltby review the latest cultural releases. These include Apple TV's thriller Disclaimer which stars Cate Blanchett and Sacha Baron Cohen, Alice Lowe's comedy sci-fi film Timestalker and Alexander Zeldin's modern reworking of Antigone at the National Theatre, The Other Place. And after today's announcement that Han Kang has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, her former editor at Granta Magazine, the author Max Porter talks about her poetic prose.
Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Paula McGrath and Natasha Mardikar
-
Missing episodes?
-
Booker Prize-shortlisted author Charlotte Wood talks about her novel Stone Yard Devotional.
In the month that marks 100 years since the publication of poet André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism, artist Gavin Turk and art historian Professor Alyce Mahon discuss the significance and impact of surrealism on art over the past century.
And playwright Tim Price on Odyssey '84, an epic retelling of the 1984 Miners' Strike, inspired by Homer's Odyssey, which is being staged at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre.
Presenter: Kirsty WarkProducer: Mark Crossan
-
Rick Astley on his new autobiography, Never, which reflects on hitting the big time twice courtesy of his debut hit single, Never Gonna Give You Up.
The West Wing is 25 - television critic Scott Bryan and columnist Sonia Sodha discuss why the glossy American political drama series continues to inspire politicians worldwide.
Artist Barbara Walker on drawing the Black British experience in her new exhibition, Being Here, at the Whitworth.
Presenter: Nick AhadProducer: Ekene Akalawu
-
Alison Moyet joins us in the studio to talk about her career, from Yazoo to going solo and a new album.
Fashion renegades of the 1980s via Leigh Bowery, Taboo and the Blitz nightclub, we take a look at a new exhibition with Pam Hogg and Sue Tilley.
War Horse composer Adrian Sutton on going back to his classical roots with his latest composition, a violin concerto.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Corinna Jones
-
This week's big cinema release Joker: Folie a Deux is under scrutiny from Tom Sutcliffe's reviewers, broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika and film critic Tim Robey. They have also read Alan Hollinghurst's new novel Our Evenings. Gramophone Artist of the Year soprano Carolyn Sampson performs in the Front Row studio - and on National Poetry Day Tom and the critics pick their favourite poems.
Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Paula McGrath
-
Bestselling writer Paula Hawkins, whose book The Girl on the Train was a publishing phenomenon back in 2015, discusses her latest novel, The Blue Hour, a thriller set in the contemporary art world.
As a new book of photographs of America by Magnum photographers is published, two photographers discuss the role of photojournalism in the contemporary world.
And as three exhibitions of Tape Letters from the British Asian community open, we hear about the little-known custom of conducting conversations via audio cassette between the UK and Pakistan.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
-
Tom presents live from The Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House the BBC National Short Story Award and the Young Writers' Award, now in it's tenth year.
Chair of NSSA judges and presenter of Broadcasting House Paddy O'Connell, and chair of the YWA, Radio 1's Katie Thistleton tell us about this year's entries and announce the winners.We discuss the art of the short story with writers and judges Michael Donkor and Katherine Webber and hear from the first winner of the Young Writers' Award, Brennig Davies.
The NSSA finalists:Will Boast with The Barber of EriceLucy Cauldwell with Hamlet, a love storyManish Chauhan with PiecesRoss Raisin with Ghost KitchenVee Walker with Nice Dog
The Young Writers Award finalists: Basmala Alkhalaf with A Human, a Robot and a Gosling Walk into a Post-Apocalyptic Bar Amaan Foyez with The QuietVivienne Hall with Confession Lulu Frisson with Special Aidan Vogelzang with Nathalie’s Flatmate
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producers: Corinna Jones and Claire Bartleet
-
David Oyelowo talks about playing Coriolanus in the National Theatre's new production. He explains why it's the role he's always wanted to take on - encompassing tragedy, politics and the challenge of stage combat. Dame Eileen Atkins talks about her late friend, the great actress Dame Maggie Smith. We visit the studio of cartoonist Ralph Steadman and get an insight into the range of his work from children's book illustrations to eco-activism. And, what progress has been made to tackle harassment and exploitation in the entertainment industry? Heather Rabbatts has spent three years setting up the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority and Jenny Tingle is from the trade union BECTU and they join Samira to discuss what's happening.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Ruth Watts
-
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Charlotte Mullins and Ryan Gilbey to review Sally Rooney's novel Intermezzo about two grieving brothers and the people they love. The first UK exhibition dedicated to Monet's impressionist paintings of London at The Courtauld Gallery and Francis Ford Coppola's futuristic sci-fi film Megalopolis. Plus Joe Lycett talks about incorporating his art into his comedy as a new book of his work is released.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
-
Poet Kathleen Jamie, whose tenure as Scotland's Makar, or National Poet, recently came to an end, talks about her new collection of poems written in Scots, The Keelie Hawk.
Composer Helen Grime, soprano Claire Booth and author Zoe Gilbert chat about the world premiere of Folk, an orchestral song cycle inspired by Gilbert's book of the same name.
And David Mitchell discusses his role in the new BBC comedy drama Ludwig, about a reclusive puzzle setter who becomes a reluctant detective, following the disappearance of his identical twin.
Presenter: Kate MollesonProducer: Mark Crossan
-
Classically trained pianist and rapper Chilly Gonzales performs from his new album Gonzo, ahead of his Royal Albert Hall gig,
As Hard Times kicks off Radio 4's season of Dickens dramas - what makes a good adaptation? Writer Graham White and Dickens expert Professor Juliet John discuss how the characters and issues like social inequality help to keep the stories relevant to modern audiences.
And what is the enduring appeal of horror films? Director Daniel Kokotajlo's folk-horror Starve Acre was inspired by his admiration for 70s classics like The Wicker Man and Anna Bogutskaya's book Feeding the Monster explores how horror films have evolved, and now often explore people's internal trauma and anxieties.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Paula McGrath
-
John Boorman talks to Samira about his 1974 science-fiction, fantasy film Zardoz as it is screened on its fiftieth anniversary at the BFI and his novel on which it is based is republished. He discusses the craft of film making and reflects on the film he wishes he'd made with Elvis. British artist Anya Gallaccio welcomes us into her London studio as she prepares for three major exhibitions: a major survey at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, a stores she's pained entirely with chocolate in her hometown of Paisley and a permanent AIDS memorial due to be unveiled in London in 2027. And, the folk singer and social media sensation The Halfway Kid, otherwise known as Saeed Gadir, discusses his upcoming album Myths In Modern Life and performs live in the studio.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Ruth Watts
-
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Bidisha Mamata and Ben Luke who will be offering their verdicts on body horror film The Substance staring Demi Moore, a major new Michael Craig-Martin exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Nobel prize winning author Olga Tokarczuk.
Plus BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted author Ross Raisin.
Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Claire Bartleet
-
Screenwriter Jeremy Brock discusses Amazon's A Very Royal Scandal, the second dramatisation this year of Emily Maitlis' 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, which stars Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson.
Mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier and pianist Jonathan Ware perform from the opening event of the Glasgow Cathedral Festival, an exploration of sexuality and seduction inspired by art from the 1920s.
And crime writer Peter May talks about the inspirations behind his latest thriller set on the Outer Hebrides, The Black Loch.
Plus an interview with writer Vee Walker, who is shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
-
David Peace on his new novel, Munichs, about the plane crash that transformed Manchester United.Katie Posner, Co-Artistic Director of Paines Plough theatre company and Daniel Evans, Co-Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company discuss the new plays crisis in theatre.Matt Hemley, Deputy Editor of The Stage, reports on the cancellation of a new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.Artist and author Edmund De Waal, chair of judges for the Booker Prize 2024, reflects on this year's shortlist.Manish Chauhan on his shortlisted story, Pieces, for this year's National Short Story Award.
Presenter: Nick AhadProducer: Ekene Akalawu
-
Edward Enninful, Vogue Global Creative and Cultural advisor has just made a documentary series, In Vogue: The 90s. He discusses the decade that changed fashion forever. Sue Prideaux has just written the first biography of French post impressionist artist, Gauguin, in over thirty years. She argues it is time to reappraise the way we look at the man and his work. American singer Lady Blackbird has been called 'the Grace Jones of jazz' and she discusses her recent rise to fame and plays a song from her new album Slang Spirituals. And, Will Boast is one of five a finalists for this year's BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University and joins Samira to discuss his entry.
Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Ruth Watts
-
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by David Benedict and Catherine McCormack to review Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, the first exhibition the National Gallery has dedicated to the artist. They also discuss The Critic, which stars Ian McKellen as a fearsomely ruthless drama critic and Small Rain by Garth Greenwell, which focuses on the narrator's time and treatment in hospital after experiencing a sudden piercing pain.
Chair of Judges Paddy O'Connell reveals the shortlisted authors for the BBC National Short Story Award 2024 with Cambridge University. The list includes Lucy Caldwell who talks about her short story Hamlet, a love story.
Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Claire Bartleet
-
Dame Jacqueline Wilson talks about Think Again, the long-awaited adult novel which is the sequel to her much-loved Girls series of books.
Actors Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole discuss their roles in BBC One's latest Sunday night drama series Nightsleeper, a thriller in which a night train from Glasgow to London is 'hackjacked'.
And on the eve of the publication of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, the book's two editors talk about dozens of previously unpublished poems.
Presenter: Kate MollesonProducer: Mark Crossan
-
The BBC's Contains Strong Language festival has left British shores for the first time - and Australian arts and culture presenter Michael Cathcart hosts a special Front Row recorded on Gadigal land in Sydney in partnership with ABC and Red Room Poetry.
Known as the Aussie Bob Dylan, singer Paul Kelly performs Going To The River With Dad from his forthcoming album Fever Longing Still.
First nations poet Jazz Money reads from her latest collection Mark the Dawn - inspired by the stories of her Wiradjuri ancestors and her feelings of respect for the country around her.
As Australia prepares to appoint a Poet Laureate, the British poet laureate Simon Armitage reads a sonnet which describes his childhood desire to dig all the way to Australia from his Yorkshire garden.
And lawyer Shankari Chandran - whose novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens won Australia's most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award - reflects on how she draws on her Sri Lankan Tamil heritage to describe the trauma of war and detention of those seeking asylum.
Presenter: Michael CathcartProducer: Paula McGrath
- Show more
