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Front Row

BBC Radio 4

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music

society & culture

All Episodes

42:30

Director Coralie Fargeat on The Substance, Josephine...

Front Row ·

2025/02/04

Coralie Fargeat has been nominated as best director for her film The Substance which stars Demi Moore. She tells Samira about her inspiration for the satirical horror about a Hollywood star who takes a dangerous drug to create a younger version of herself. Josephine Baker’s memoir has been translated into English for the first time, fifty years after the death of the iconic performer. Cultural historian Dr Adjoa Osei and translator Anam Zafar discuss Baker's incredible life and legacy. The story

42:22

Review: Mike Leigh's Hard Truths, Inside No. 9 on...

Front Row ·

2025/01/31

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Dreda Say Mitchell and critic Scott Bryan to assess the week's cultural releases, including a new stage version of the hit TV series Inside Number 9. They've also been watching Mike Leigh's first film in 6 years, Hard Truths, which has reunited him with Marianne Jean-Baptiste who was nominated for an Oscar in his hit film Secrets and Lies. Finally they review Saturday Night, the new film about the beginnings of the cult TV series Saturday Night Live which launched

42:12

The Great Gatsby centenary, The Testament of Gideon...

Front Row ·

2025/01/29

We celebrate the centenary of the publication of F Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel The Great Gatsby, with Fitzgerald experts James West and Sarah Churchwell, Writer and performer Matthew Zajac talks about his new theatre production The Testament of Gideon Mack, based on James Robertson's acclaimed book about a Minister who doesn't believe in God, but then meets the Devil, And news of a new prize for contemporary dance productions, from SIr Alistair Spalding of Sadler's Wells, and one of the judges

42:22

Jane Austen's sister, artist Chila Kumari Singh...

Front Row ·

2025/01/28

As new BBC One drama adaptation, Miss Austen, shines fresh light on Jane Austen's sister Cassandra, Gill Hornby, who wrote the eponymous novel on which Miss Austen is based, and Claire Harman, author of Jane's Fame, How Jane Austen Conquered The World, discuss how perceptions of Cassandra's burning of her sister's letters have been changing.Paris-based journalist and cultural critic Agnès Poirier reports on President Macron's announcement at the Louvre.Artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman reflects on

42:22

25 Years of 21st Century: Music

Front Row ·

2025/01/27

Front Row looks at how culture has changed in the first 25 years of this century, starting with Music. Samira is joined by Radio 4's Add to Playlist hosts Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, music journalist Kitty Empire and former Spotify exec Will Page. They discuss how transformations in technology have impacted what we listen to and what music is being written, and what genres of music have come to the forefront in the last 25 years. Pete Waterman, one of the judges on the original Pop Idol, talks

43:21

Review: supernatural thriller film Presence, Edmund...

Front Row ·

2025/01/23

Rowan Pelling, journalist and founding editor of the Erotic Review, and the film critic Tim Robey join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the Oscar nominations and review Edmund White's The Loves of My Life, Steven Soderbergh's supernatural horror thriller Presence and Brazil! Brazil! a major exhibition featuring 20th century artists at the Royal Academy in London. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

42:23

James Graham on Brian & Maggie, The Merchant of...

Front Row ·

2025/01/22

Writer James Graham on his Channel 4 drama Brian & Maggie, which stars Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter, and which tells the story of a hard-hitting interview between broadcaster Brian Walden and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which helped precipitate Thatcher's downfall in the early 1990s, John Douglas Thompson talks about playing Shylock in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as a black actor, in a production by Theatre for a New Audience which is at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, And live

42:19

Anora director Sean Baker, Caryl Phillips's new...

Front Row ·

2025/01/21

Anora is one of the leading contenders in the current film awards season - and its star Mikey Madison looks likely to get an Oscar nomination too. Its director Sean Baker explains how he uses both violence and comedy to explore the story of a son of a Russian oligarch who becomes entangled in the world of a sex worker in New York. Caryl Phillips talks about his new novel, Another Man in the Street about a young Caribbean man's search for a new home in 1960s London and the other people, all migrants

42:21

The Brutalist director Brady Corbet and star Adrien...

Front Row ·

2025/01/20

The Brutalist's director Brady Corbet and star Adrien Brody talk about making the hotly anticipated film. With a season of Sidney Poitier's films underway at the British Film Institute and a play about a key moment in his early, Retrograde, transferring to London's West End in March we discuss the legacy of the great actor with - writer, Ryan Calais Cameron and programmer, Jonathan Ali. Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal discusses the cultural elements of the 47th President's inauguration

42:17

Review: Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, TS Eliot...

Front Row ·

2025/01/16

Lemn Sissay and Rhianna Dhillon review the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet, the TS Eliot Prize-winning poetry collection Fierce Elegy by Peter Gizzi and the Italian language film, Vermiglio set in a remote Alpine village during World War Two.We pay homage to David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive. Plus Mark Savage gives the latest on the feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and DrakePresenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

42:41

Franz Ferdinand play in the studio, Richard Price on...

Front Row ·

2025/01/15

Franz Ferdinand play live from their new album The Human Fear, eleven songs which explore deep-set human anxieties and how overcoming and accepting them drives and defines our lives. Richard Price - the author of Clockers, and a writer on The Wire, talks about his latest novel, Lazarus Man, a chronicle of New York life set in the aftermath of a destructive explosion. Plus a response to this year's BAFTA nominations, which were announced today, from film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. Presenter:

42:51

Vivaldi's Four Seasons reimagined, impact of L.A....

Front Row ·

2025/01/14

Sir Michael Morpurgo and violinist Daniel Pioro discusss reimagining Vivaldi's Four Seasons for a recording with the Manchester Camerata featuring new poetry by Sir Michael and improvisations by Daniel.Pat Saperstein, Deputy Editor of Variety, and Peter Bowes, BBC Correspondent in Los Angeles reflect on the impact of the L. A fires on the film, television, music and visual arts worlds.Leigh Whannell, the co-creator of the blockbuster Saw horror film franchise, talks about his new film Wolf Man,

42:23

Michael Sheen, Matthew Bourne on Oliver! and...

Front Row ·

2025/01/13

Actor Michael Sheen explains how he was rehearsing his role as the creator of the NHS, Nye Bevan when he heard about the demise of National Theatre Wales and decided to make plans for a new organisation, using some of his own money. Matthew Bourne talks about his new stage production of the musical Oliver! and the 30th anniversary tour of his groundbreaking version of the ballet Swan Lake. The society of authors has asked for Ghostwriters to be recognised, particularly when celebrities are involved

42:33

Review: Angelina Jolie's Maria, AL Kennedy's novel...

Front Row ·

2025/01/09

Viv Groskop and David Benedict join Tom Sutcliffe to talk about Maria, the Maria Callas biopic staring Angelina Jolie. They also review Alive in the Merciful Country by A.L. Kennedy and Architecton, a study of concrete and stone from the Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky. Plus Jeremy Treglown, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, who talks about the changes that are happening within the organisation.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

42:21

Asif Kapadia's dystopian film 2073, anthology comic...

Front Row ·

2025/01/08

Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Fiona MacLellan

42:33

Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin on their film A Real...

Front Row ·

2025/01/07

Tom Sutcliffe talks to Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin about their new film A Real Pain - in which they play mis-matched cousins touring Poland to honour their grandmother. Can you teach someone to look at art intelligently? Oxford University is about to start a 3 year study on visual literacy – assessing how much looking at art can impact young people’s social and academic outcomes. Art historian Alison Cole, specialist primary school art teacher Mandy Barret and Professor Robert Klassen who’ll

42:08

Nicole Kidman on Babygirl, Brian Eno on art and Herod

Front Row ·

2025/01/06

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson talk about their award-winning new film Babygirl, where she plays a married mum and high powered tech CEO who begins an affair with a young intern at her company after he realises she has sexual desires that she's not been able to embrace before.Novelist Tayari Jones and literary scholar Dr Deborah G. Plant discuss The Life of Herod the Great by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. Published for the first time, the manuscript was saved from being burnt

42:21

Review: Nosferatu, Lockerbie, Nickel Boys

Front Row ·

2025/01/02

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by the critics Bidisha and Peter Bradshaw to review the highlights of the week:Nosferatu - Robert Eggers' remake of F.W Murnau's 1922 silent vampire classic, which was itself based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. Nickel Boys - the Golden Globe nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's novel about two African American boys sent to reform school. Lockerbie - Sky's miniseries about the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the subsequent search for truth, starring Colin Firth

41:51

Front Row on the Shipping Forecast, at the Cutty Sark

Front Row ·

2025/01/01

Samira Ahmed presents Front Row's contribution to Radio 4's New Year's Day celebration of the Shipping Forecast, marking a century since the BBC began broadcasting it. This edition of the arts programme explores how the Shipping Forecast inspires musicians, writers, artists of all kinds, and how it has become a powerful presence in the psyche of the nation, even among people with no connection to the sea. There is an irony here: the forecast is factual, devoid of metaphor, yet it moves millions

42:26

Front Row Hogmanay live from Glasgow

Front Row ·

2024/12/31

Kirsty Wark hosts a Hogmanay edition live from Glasgow. Featuring performances by The Bluebells and piper Malin Lewis. Plus Alan Cumming; Scotland's new Makar, Peter Mackay; and an exploration of representations of New Year in cinema, literature and poetry.

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