PODCAST

Front Row: Archive 2014

BBC Radio 4

Magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

society & culture

All Episodes

28:23

Peter Jackson; Philip Pullman on William Blake;...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/12/03

Director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens talk to John Wilson about their final instalment of The Hobbit film franchise; the author Philip Pullman reflects on one of his heroes, William Blake, as a new exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford explores his formation as an engraver; and historian Kathryn Hughes makes her selection of biographies and memoirs of the year.

28:27

Sondheim's Assassins, Albums of the year, Jeremy...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/12/02

Suzy Klein, Kate Mossman and Greg James make their picks from pop, classical and alternative for a Christmas wishlist of albums.The artist Jeremy Deller discusses curating an exhibition of work by his artistic heroes - William Morris and Andy Warhol. David Benedict reviews the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins; the darkly comic musical depicting the lives of the 13 people who have tried to assassinate a President of the United States. The Royal Photographic Society was founded in 1853

28:00

St Vincent; Mark Thomas; Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/12/01

Kirsty Lang reviews the film St Vincent, which stars Bill Murray as a reluctant babysitter.She talks to the winners at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards, including Tom Hiddleston and Gillian Anderson.Mark Thomas on his new stand-up show about Surveillance.And Jeff Park chooses his favourite crime books of the year.

28:32

Annie Lennox; James Franco; Philippe Sands; How to...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/28

Annie Lennox talks to Kirsty Lang about her new album Nostalgia, on which she covers songs from The Great American Songbook. Hollywood actor and director James Franco shows Kirsty round his latest art venture Fat Squirrel. The international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands discusses A Song of Good and Evil, a show he developed when he realised that both a Nuremberg prosecutor and defendant shared a passion for Bach. And with the New York Film Critics Circle Awards kicking off the awards season

28:28

PD James Remembered; William Hill Sports Book of the...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/27

Front Row pays tribute the writer PD James who has died aged 94. Fellow crime writer and friend Ruth Rendell reflects on James's life and work and, in a clip from our archive, James describes the four key motives for murder in a good crime story.Rugby player Gareth Thomas, footballer Bobby Moore and ice skater John Curry are among the subjects of the books shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the longest-running prize for sports writing. At the awards ceremony, John Wilson

29:04

Idris Elba; Howard Hodgkin; V&A's Italian Courts

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/26

With John Wilson.Actor Idris Elba discusses his album, mi Mandela, inspired by the experience of portraying Nelson Mandela in The Long Walk to Freedom. He also explains why he won't be reprising his role as John Luther in a forthcoming US remake of the BBC drama Luther.Painter Howard Hodgkin talks to John in his studio about 30 gouaches inspired by India which he painted between 1990-91, and are on show for the first time in London.As the V&A Museum prepare to open the newly refurbished Italian

28:31

Barry Manilow; Diana Souhami; War photography; Jewish...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/25

Barry Manilow talks to Samira Ahmed about his new album, 'My Dream Duets'. It's a collection of duets with artists beyond the grave such as John Denver, Judy Garland and Whitney Houston.Diana Souhami, whose novel Gwendolen imagines life from the point of view of Daniel Deronda's heroine, and Viv Groskop, Artistic Director of the Bath Literature Festival, discuss the trend for novels from the perspective of peripheral characters.David Baddiel and David Schneider unpick the changing nature of Jewish

28:55

Jude Law; David Guetta; Post Pop at the Saatchi Gallery

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/24

Samira Ahmed with Jude Law, who discusses how playing Henry V on stage inspired his role as a desperate, out of work submarine captain searching for Nazi gold in his new film Black Sea.The French DJ and record producer David Guetta discusses his latest album Listen, featuring the vocal talents of Emeli Sandé, Sam Martin, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Nicki Minaj, and explains why he has never felt inspired by French Music. A new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Post Pop: East Meets West,

28:26

Peter Firmin on The Clangers; The forgotten Bronte;...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/21

Kirsty Lang talks to artist and puppet-maker Peter Firmin, whose iconic children's tv characters include Bagpuss, Basil Brush and The Clangers.Robert Edric on his novel Sanctuary, which explores the final months in the turbulent life of Branwell Brontë - brother to the more famous Brontë sisters.Kate Muir reviews the new film from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep, which won the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.And a new exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of

28:45

Dr John; David Hare pays tribute to Mike Nichols;...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/20

Blues legend Dr John talks to John Wilson about his tribute album to fellow New Orleans musician Louis Armstrong, and how the project was the result of a visit from Armstrong in a dream.The American composer John Adams talks about the world stage premiere of his opera The Gospel According to the Other Mary at English National Opera, which tells the Passion story from the perspective of Mary Magdalene.Following the news of the death of director Mike Nichols, best known for his film The Graduate,

28:27

Hugh Bonneville; Mary J Blige; Remember Me

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/19

Hugh Bonneville discusses his role as Mr Brown in the new Paddington film; Mary J Blige on self doubt, soul music and making an album inspired by London; Michael Palin stars in BBC drama, Remember Me - a contemporary ghost story set in Yorkshire. Chris Dunkley joins John to review it. And two of the biggest comedy hit films of the year have been Bad Neighbours and 22 Jump St, but Adam Smith warns the films' stars not to take too much for granted, because as history shows, comedy can be cruel to its

28:18

Costa Book Awards shortlist announced; Meera Syal;...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/18

The shortlisted authors for the 2014 Costa Book Awards are announced. Critic Stephanie Merritt comments on the authors chosen in five categories: novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's fiction.Meera Syal discusses her latest stage role in Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Katherine Boo, about life in the shadow of Mumbai's luxury hotels.The final part of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, has been split in two for the

28:29

The Homesman reviewed; Dave Grohl

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/17

Tonight's Front Row reviews The Homesman - a western directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones - and Dave Grohl talks about Foo Fighters' new album, Sonic Highways.Also in the programme: director Blanche McIntyre on her revival of Emlyn Williams' 1950 play about sex, scandal and blackmail, Accolade - and Cecil Beaton's biographer Hugo Vickers considers a new exhibition of his photography.

28:25

The Drop; Jan Garbarek; Quentin Blake; Assaf Gavron

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/14

Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini star in the thriller The Drop, reviewed by Jenny McCartney. Saxophonist Jan Garbarek and David James discuss the Hilliard Ensemble. Quentin Blake on Paula Rego and Honoré Daumier: Scandal, Gossip and Other Stories at the House of Illustration. And Assaf Gavron on the reality of life in Israel in the 21st century in his new novel, The Hilltop. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

28:18

Richard Ford; William Orbit; Kate Hewitt; Dylan...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/13

Celebrated American writer Richard Ford discusses his new novel Let Me Be Frank With You - which continues the story of his much loved character Frank Bascombe.A notebook of Dylan Thomas's poetry has been rediscovered after 70 years. It offers a unique insight into the creative workings of Dylan during one of his most creative periods. Sotheby's manuscript expert Gabriel Heaton brings the book into the Front Row studio and discusses its importance.Queen Forever is a new album out this week. It's

28:23

Aaron Sorkin; Leighton House; Goldsmiths Prize; Dreda...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/12

The Oscar-winning writer and producer Aaron Sorkin, acclaimed for The Social Network and The West Wing, talks to Kirsty Lang as the final season of The Newsroom airs.Kirsty visits Leighton House in London as paintings from The Pérez Simón Collection, the largest private collection of Victorian art outside the UK, go on display there, including some significant works by Lord Frederick Leighton now returning to the house where they were painted.We speak to Ali Smith, author of How to be Both, the

28:34

Chadwick Boseman on James Brown; Allen Jones

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/11

John Wilson talks to Chadwick Boseman, who plays soul singer James Brown in the Hollywood biopic Get on Up.Sculptor Allen Jones on his retrospective at the Royal Academy.Artist Jonathan Yeo on portraits in the age of the selfie.And Hannah Price from Theatre Uncut on generating dozens of productions of the same 5 new plays in different places around the world this month.

28:31

Bryan Ferry; The Fall; Peder Balke; Revolutionary...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/10

Bryan Ferry talks to Kirsty Lang about his 14th solo album, Avonmore. Professor Chris Rapley, one of the UK's leading climate scientists, has written his first play, 2071, which focuses on climate change, and Molly Davies has drawn on her years working as a teaching assistant to write God Bless the Child in which a group of eight-year-olds rebel against the school system. They discuss how they turned their professional experiences into theatre. Crime writer Stella Duffy reviews BBC crime drama The

29:24

Benedict Cumberbatch; Sumia Sukkar; The looting of...

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/07

Benedict Cumberbatch talks to John Wilson about his role in The Imitation Game. He plays pioneering computer scientist and Bletchley code breaker Alan Turing.22-year-old Sumia Sukkar discusses her debut novel The Boy from Aleppo who Painted the War, the story of a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome, growing up in Syria which has now been dramatised for Radio 4.As concerns over the raiding of Syrian artefacts grow, Front Row hears from academics, investigators and Unesco about how objects are

28:36

Made In Dagenham; Elif Shafak; Gold at Buckingham Palace

Front Row: Archive 2014 ·

2014/11/06

Tonight's Front Row reviews the stage-musical version of the film, Made In Dagenham, starring Gemma Arterton, and Samira Ahmed is given a guided tour around Gold - a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace. Also in the programme: Elif Shafak talks about her latest novel, The Architect's Apprentice, set in 16th century Istanbul - and whether the increasingly popularity of comic books is making them less subversive.

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Front Row: Archive 2014

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