Nick visits Scarborough and talks to Sir Alan Ayckbourn as he rehearses an old play - Things We Do For Love - and looks forward to the staging of his 90th play - Show and Tell. Turner prize winning Artist Jeremy Deller, whose public artworks include We're Here Because We're Here to commemorate the Battle of the Somme, reveals his plans for a new cr…

Harvey Keitel stars in The Tattooist of Auschwitz - a six-part Sky Atlantic series based on the best-selling novel by Heather Morris, inspired by the real-life story of Holocaust prisoners Lali and Gita Sokolov. Marc Quinn’s exhibition Light into Life is at Kew Gardens from Saturday (4th May) until Sunday 29 September 2024. The Fall Guy, directed b…

Award winning director behind Les Miserables John Caird and co-writing partner Maoko Imai talk about adapting the iconic Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away for stage, as it arrives at the London Coliseum from Japan. Two new documentaries are exploring how dignity, beauty and even joy can be found following a terminal diagnosis. Simon Chambers and Kit…

Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon and art curator Kate Bryan discuss Michelangelo: the last decades, a major new exhibition at the British Museum which focuses on the last thirty years of Michelangelo’s life. Reece Shearsmith discusses the ninth and final series of the BAFTA award winning Inside No. 9. Written with Steve Pemberton, the six episodes wil…

Hanif Kureishi has joined forces with Emma Rice to adapt his 1990 novel The Buddha of Suburbia into an RSC production that’s just opened at the Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. Kureishi discusses what it feels like to see himself and his fictionalised family onstage, why his first novel remains painfully relevant and how he has been able to conti…

The Pet Shop Boys are the most successful duo in UK music history. Forty years after their first hit West End Girls they are about to release their new album Nonetheless. Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant join Samira Ahmed to talk about making sense of life through culture, their music being used in hit films like Saltburn and All of Us Strangers and the…

The Legend of Ned Ludd - writer Joe Ward Munrow and director Jude Christian discuss their new play at the Liverpool Everyman theatre which explores the changing nature of work over the centuries and around the world in the the face of automation. The shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction was announced today - journalist Jamie Klingler assesse…

In this episode, Grayson Hill joins the show to discuss our totally not real NBA end-of-season awards for the 2024 season. We also discuss the playoffs briefly and predict our NBA Finals teams and winner. *NOTE: This podcast was prerecorded on Monday, April 15th, 2024, which was the day after the regular season ended. Some of the information/data m…

The British Library isn’t all books; it has a huge sound archive, one of the largest in the world. It has drawn on this for Beyond the Bassline, the first major exhibition to documenting Black British music. Curators Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley guide Shahidha Bari through the 500-year musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain. Em…

Taylor Swift returns with The Tortured Poets Department, a surprise double album that features 31 tracks that fans are saying is her most intimate and lyrically revealing yet. Joining Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the work are Times music writer Lisa Vericco and Satu Hameenho-Fox, whose new book Into The Taylor-Verse is out next month. The Intercity 125…

Knife is Salman Rushdie’s memoir about surviving a near-fatal knife attack in August 2022 and the long, painful period of recovery that followed. Ben Power’s adaption of the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend – London Tide – which features songs that he co-wrote with PJ Harvey, has just opened at the National Theatre in London. Baby Reindeer is a new …

Lionel Shriver on her latest novel Mania, in which she creates an alternative USA where the Mental Parity Movement insists that everyone is equally clever. Can a friendship between two women survive when they hold polarised views on this particular “culture war”? Why are universities all over the country closing arts courses and cutting jobs? Front…

In this episode, Grayson Hill drops by for our annual NBA end-of-season awards show. Grayson is no stranger to this podcast or watching the NBA so we had a great time discussing the awards. Let us know your NBA award winners in the comments below! Grayson's Socials: https://twitter.com/grayson_hill https://twitter.com/TheTenONine https://thetenonin…

Lord Byron died 200 years ago on Friday. Lady Caroline Lamb described him as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. Fiona Stafford has edited Byron's Travels, a new selection of his poems, letters and journals. He was only 36 when he died, but had written seven volumes of verse, thirteen volumes of journal and thousands of letters. The poet A. E. Stalli…

British director Jeymes Samuel discusses his new film The Book of Clarence, a Biblical comedy about a down-on-his-luck young man who tries to escape from a debt by pretending to be a messiah like Christ. Sonali Bhattacharyya on her new play Liberation Square, which just opened at the Nottingham Playhouse and explores the lives of three young Muslim…

Back to Black is the Amy Winehouse biopic out this week and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. James is Percival Everett’s retelling of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, narrated by the enslaved Jim.The Wallace collection spotlights Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and the treasure trove of weapons that kept him in p…

Anna May Wong was an international star who appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies in a career that spanned from the silent films of the 1920s, through the advent of talkies in the 30s, to television in the 1950s, despite all the obstacles in her path. A new biography, Not Your China Doll, examines how against all the odds Anna May Wong fou…

Nathan Hill talks about his new novel Wellness, the follow-up to his acclaimed debut The Nix. Maggie Rogers, the singer-songwriter whose career was launched by a student performance for Pharrell Williams that went viral, talks about her latest album Don't Forget Me. Romesh Gunasekera discusses the novels on the International Booker Prize Shortlist,…

Artist Yinka Shonibare talks about his new exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, which explores the legacy of Imperialism. Guitarist Sean Shibe performs early Scottish lute music and previews a new classical guitar concerto live in the Front Row studio. And film experts Stephen McConnachie and Inés Toharia explain how fast changing technology and d…

Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter - Netflix drama Ripley starring Andrew Scott - Io Capitano, the Oscar-nominated movie about teens in Senegal in search of a better life - all reviewed by film critic Leila Latif and music writer Jasper Murison-Bowie. And novelist and critic John Domini remembers the American novelist (and his former teacher) John B…

Almost 50 years to the day when ABBA's Waterloo triumphed at Eurovision, ABBA specialist Carl Magnus Palm and Millie Taylor, professor of musical theatre, discuss how the song became such an all-conquering hit. A visit to Harewood House to see a new exhibition, Colours Uncovered, which tells the story of this stately home through the prism of colou…

In this episode, Ethan Alsobrooks joins the podcast to preview and predict the Final Four. We also do a draft to build the best team we can with just players who are age 24 years old or younger in the NBA. Let us know your thoughts on who's team is better in the comments or on social media! Support Ethan: https://beacons.ai/bothbasketballs https://…

Actor Dev Patel joins to talk about his directorial debut Monkey Man, a movie inspired by the Indian legend of Hunaman that tells the dark and brutal story of a young man in Mumbai out to avenge the life of his mother. As exam season approaches we ask which books are currently being taught in our schools, and why? We speak to Kit de Waal, whose bre…

The National Gallery opened its doors on 10th May 1824. The public could view 38 paintings, free. Now there are more than 2,300, including many masterpieces of European art by geniuses such as Rembrandt, Turner and Van Gogh. It is still free. The gallery's director, Gabriele Finaldi, guides Samira Ahmed through the collection. Artists Barbara Walke…

Peaky Blinders' writer Steven Knight's new drama, This Town, is out this week. Author Daniel Rachel and art historian Sarah Gaventa review. We'll also review a landmark exhibition on the Italian designer Enzo Mari which opens at the Design museum, showcasing his infinite calendar, self assembly book cases and beautiful children’s books. We take a l…

Camilla Whitehill on her new Channel 4 sitcom Big Mood, starring Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West, which explores the lives of Millennials. Gareth Malone and Hannah French celebrate Bach's St John Passion, which was first performed in Leipzig 300 years ago this Easter. Joel Morris, author of Be Funny or Die, discusses how comedy works and what makes …

In this episode, Michael DeRosa makes his debut appearance on the show to discuss his thoughts on the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and preview and predict the Sweet Sixteen. We also dive into a little bit of the Big East offseason for programs like DePaul, Butler, and Georgetown. Support/Follow Michael DeRosa: https://twitter.com/MDtheDr…

Norah Jones discusses her new album, Visions, and reflects on the song, Come Away With Me, that made her name along with a special performance in the Front Row studio; Sir Ian McKellen and theatre director Robert Icke on tackling one of Shakespeare's greatest characters, Falstaff, in their new production Player Kings; and Keisha Thompson on how her…

Nikki Giovanni is one of only a handful of poets whose work has been published as a Penguin Modern Classic in their own life time. A key figure of America's Black Arts Movement as both a writer an activist, she speaks to Tom about her life and career. A well-known actor, Andrew Buchan has now turned to writing with Passenger, the new ITV crimes dra…

The Independent’s chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and the Telegraph’s film critic Tim Robey review the Oscar-nominated animation Robot Dreams which follows the friendship of a dog and a robot - can their bond survive Robot being locked up on Coney Island beach, after his joints rust over following a paddle in the sea? They also give their verdi…

Writer Kazuo Ishiguro and jazz musician Stacey Kent talk about collaborating on their new book of lyrics, The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain. What’s the significance of the hare in art and mythology? To mark the season of the March hare, writer Jane Russ, sculptor Sophie Ryder and musician Fay Hield explain. And following the British Board of…

In this episode, Trevor provides every pick of his 2024 March Madness bracket. He breaks down every single game he picked in every region from the Round of 64 down to the Final Four and National Championship game. Find out who he believes will cut down the nets in Phoenix this year! Comment your Final Four and National Championship picks! House of …

Marjane Satrapi is best known for being the cartoonist and film maker behind Persepolis. She talks to Samira Ahmed about her new book - Woman, Life, Freedom - which she has created with 17 Iranian and international comic book artists. It documents the story of the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a woman detained for allegedly not prope…

Daniel Libeskind, the architect best known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the World Trade Centre masterplan in New York, talks about designing a building to house Einstein’s archive in Jerusalem. As Germany celebrates the 250th birthday of the painter Caspar David Friedrich with three major exhibitions, art historians Louisa Buck and Waldemar …

Labour leader Keir Starmer joins to discuss his party's new arts strategy, which he unveiled this morning, aiming to boost access to the arts and grow the creative industries. Writer and theologian Professor Tina Beattie and critic and broadcaster Matthew Sweet review Marilynne Robsinson’s new book Reading Genesis which offers a fresh look at the s…

Paul Theroux discusses his new novel, Burma Sahib, about George Orwell’s formative years as a colonial police officer in what is now Myanmar. Voice expert Professor Patsy Rodenburg quit her job over fears that actors’ traditional “craft” skills are being lost, as screen acting overshadows theatre work. Sam Lee, Bernard Butler and James Keay perform…

Historical novelist Philippa Gregory talks to Nick Ahad about writing her first stage play, Richard, My Richard, for Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot. Unlike Shakespeare's, Gregory's play is a tender, passionate, portrait of man in his time, surrounded by the women who influence his fate. With Marvel, DC and Sony superhero films boring fans a…

Beth Ditto talks to Tom Sutcliffe about reuniting with her band Gossip for their first new album in nearly a decade. Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke discuss collaborating as a husband and wife team on their new film, Drive Away Dolls. Michael Donkor discusses his new novel Grow Where They Fall, about a young British Ghanian teacher exploring his sexual…

The up'n'coming Scottish country singer performs songs from his debut album It Is What It Is ahead of his debut solo performance at the Country To Country Festival in London this weekend. Plus, Susannah Clapp, the theatre critic for the Observer, and Boyd Hilton, the entertainment director of Heat Magazine, join to review the new play Nye at the Na…

In this episode, Trevor discusses his picks in wave one of "The Jerome" and the reasoning behind them. Then, he converts last year's NBA championship contenders tiers blog into podcast form. He discusses where he has all thirty NBA teams ranked related to their chances to win the title this season. Follow the host Trevor Everette on X for his writt…

Ava DuVernay talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her latest film, Origin. It stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, following her journey as she researches her best-selling book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents while dealing with personal tragedy. Gabriel García Márquez’s final novel Until August is bei…

The acclaimed English folk singer-songwriter Kate Rusby performs live and chats about her new Singy Songy Session Tour. Theatre critic Michael Billington celebrates the life and legacy of the provocative British playwright Edward Bond, whose death was announced today. Dr Stacy Smith, and film data researcher Stephen Follows, discuss Dr Smith's rece…

Ray Winstone, star of Sexy Beast and Nil By Mouth, talks about new Netflix series The Gentlemen brought to television screens by director Guy Ritchie. K Patrick’s in the studio to read from their first collection of poetry Three Births, which explores nature, contemporary queer experience and pop-culture icons like Catwoman and George Michael. And …

This week sees the release of the much anticipated Dune part 2, the sequel to 2021’s part 1, a series based on Frank Herbert’s 1960’s sci fi classic. We also look at Marius von Mayenburg’s play Nachtland directed by Patrick Marber at the Young Vic in London and Angelica Kauffman: the Swiss artist finally gets a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy …

Kate Molleson talks to Kaouther Ben Hania about her Oscar-nominated documentary Four Daughters, which explores the impact of two sisters fleeing to join Islamic State, by bringing in actors to play them alongside the rest of their family in Tunisia. We look at two new plays about British composer Benjamin Britten and the light they shed on a life s…

In this episode, Tyler Metcalf of SB Nation's Canis Hoopus and No Ceilings NBA joins the show for the first time to break down the success of the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. We discuss what makes this year's team so legit as a contender, Anthony Edwards's ascension to superstar status, and much more! Support Tyler: https://twitter.com/tmetc…

Channel 4’s new reality TV series, The Jury: Murder Trial features a real-life murder case, re-run in front of two juries who are unaware of each other’s existence. Its creator Ed Kellie and BBC News' former legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman discuss what the TV experiment tells us about how emotions can be swayed in the courtroom - and whet…

In an exclusive for Front Row, Sheridan Smith performs Magic, a song from her new musical Opening Night, which is directed by Ivo Van Hove, with music from Rufus Wainwright. They discuss creating the new musical, which is based on the 1970s film and follows an actress going through a breakdown as she prepares to open a new show on Broadway. Journal…

Minority report, the Sci-Fi classic by Philip K Dick, has already been adapted for film and television and now it’s a stage play that employs an innovative mix of technology, stagecraft and live performance. As it opens at the Nottingham Playhouse, Mark Burman talks to some of the creatives involved. We review Wicked Little Letters, a black comedy …

Wim Wenders on his new Oscar nominated Japanese language film Perfect Days, about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo as he goes about his work. Koji Yakusho won the Best Actor Award when the film premiered at this year’s Cannes film festival, and the film has been dubbed ‘slow cinema’. Len Pennie came to prominence as a poet on social media during the Covid…