Front Row

Megan Swann is the first ever female President of The Magic Circle, and the youngest ever President at just 28 years old. She tells Tom how she got into magic, and how she uses magic to share an environmental message.Richard Smyth is one of the five authors shortlisted for the £15,000, 16th BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. He tells us what his short story, ‘Maykopsky District, Adyghe Oblast’ and his 2008 appearance on Mastermind have in common.On what would have been her 90th birthday Front Row celebrates the work of the artist Dame Elizabeth Blackadder who died last month. Susan Mansfield, the writer and art critic for The Scotsman, examines one of her paintings - Cat and Flowers (1981) from the Fleming CollectionAward winning film maker Mark Cousins’s new film The Story of Looking is a reflection by the film maker as he waits for an operation to restore his vision on the powerful role that the visual experience plays in our individual and collective lives. Playwright Mark Ravenhil

On 6 October 1941 “The Coventry Telegraph” reported that women of Coventry had sent a message of support to the women of Stalingrad. And so began a relationship that became formalised by twin city status in 1844. Coventry now has 26 twin cities and those connections are celebrated in a new project, Twin Cities: Postcard Poems which paired ten poets from Coventry with poets from across the world. The resulting correspondence led to new poems being written and we hear from two of the poets involved: Emile Lauren Jones – the newly announced Coventry Poet Laureate - and David Morley.Boff Whalley came to public attention as part of the exuberant pop group – Chumbawumba. He joins Front Row to discuss the Belgrade Theatre’s new musical, Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency. It’s a show that he’s written the music for, and which is based on a true housing story that happened in London in the 1970s, Members of the cast of The Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency perform one of the songs in the musical - B.N.V.A. R The T

There's some excitement in the world of English traditional music: Spiers and Boden have reunited, recorded a new album and are embarking on a month long tour. Squeezebox player John Spiers met fiddle player Jon Boden in a pub session twenty years ago and quickly established themselves as a duo playing English music, winning a devoted following and several awards. They formed the hugely successful 11-piece folk big band Bellowhead, but separated in 2014 and didn't play together again until this year. Spiers and Boden talk about their new album, Fallow Ground, explain how they find old tunes, and write new ones. And they play two tunes inspired by ancient English places.A DCMS Report has called for a “complete reset” of the music industry following an investigation into the economics of music streaming services. Reporter Melanie Abbott describes the impact that streaming and new forms of music distribution have had on the earnings of artists and why the Government have accepted the recommendation to refer majo

We announce the winner of the 2021 Art Fund Museum of the Year, the world’s largest museum prize. Front Row broadcasts a special programme from London's Science Museum, reflecting on the resilience and imagination of museums throughout the pandemic.John Wilson will be joined by judges Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate; artist Thomas J Price, Lead of Strategic Projects at Google Suhair Khan and broadcaster Edith Bowman. As well as Director of Art Fund Jenny Waldman.We'll also be exploring the future of museums and galleries with Tilly Blyth from the Science Museum and Sandra Shakespeare from the British Black Museum project.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson

Everybody’s Talking about Jamie is a feature film based on the stage musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the BBC Three documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. It centres on Jamie, a gay teenager from Sheffield who wants to attend his prom in drag. Ellen E Jones reviews.We talk to another of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2021. Rory Gleeson’s story is called The Body Audit and in it a group of teenagers carry out a revealing ritual, with surprising results. Rory Gleeson is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter.Woodcarver Hugh Wedderburn, discusses the genius of this art, Grinling Gibbons, whose tercentenary is celebrated in a new exhibition at Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Main image above: Limewood carvings by Grinling Gibbons Image credit: Abingdon Town Hall

Visible Skin: Rediscovering the Renaissance through Black Portraiture is a new outdoor exhibition across King’s College London’s Strand Campus, showcasing artworks by opera singer Peter Brathwaite. He talks to Tom Sutcliffe about creating the portraits and images, as well as his role in the new opera The Time of Our Singing. Indecent, a play which has just opened at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, explores the origins of the highly controversial 1906 play The God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, and follows the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it. John Nathan reviews.One of the more unusual sights in Coventry City of Culture is a narrowboat that’s a brightly painted floating library of short stories. It’s also an artwork, Small Bells Ring, created by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison of Studio Morison. The boat, RV Furor Scribendi welcomes on board the people of Coventry, works with local libraries and hopes to attract those who might not ordinarily engage with books. Repor

If you go down to the Oastler Centre carpark in Bradford over the next few days, you’re sure of a big surprise because this derelict multi-storey is the venue for a new theatrical production - Peaceophobia - exploring the passions and the lives of three young Pakistani-heritage Muslim men from Bradford as they attend a car meet. Evie Manning is co-director of the show and joins Front Row to explain how Peaceophobia came about.Sam Delaney reviews Jack Thorne's new Channel 4 drama, Help, which is set in Liverpool care home during the pandemic. Georgina Harding is known as an acclaimed novelist for works including Painter of Silence which was shortlisted for what was then the Orange Prize (now Women’s Prize) for Fiction in 2012. She has just been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award for Night Train. It’s the account of a woman’s train journey across Ukraine, striking up conversation with a fellow passenger. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday at 15:30. She talks to Front Row abou

Award-winning author Anuradha Roy crafts pots as well as prose. She joins us live from India to discuss the fusion of ceramics and storytelling, pottery and politics in her new novel, The Earthspinner, a coming of age story set between two continents.At a recent auction some 19th century pottery jugs, expected to fetch £100 or so, sold for £3,000 - £4,000. They were bought by major museums vying to add them to their collections. The jugs' selling point was that they were decorated with anti-slavery images or celebrations of abolition. Clare Durham, ceramics specialist at auctioneers Woolley & Wallis, who sold them, talks to Kirsty Lang about pottery propaganda and the increased interest in such pieces.The British Ceramics Biennial is the largest ceramics event in the UK. Its new artistic director, Clare Wood, joins Front Row to discuss the shortlist for the festival’s contemporary ceramics prize and to reflect on a new artwork that puts slavery on a plate.Nadine Dorries replaces Oliver Dowden as the Secre

The role of Norman, the longsuffering, waspish eponymous dresser in Ronald Harwood's 1980 play, might have been written for Julian Clary. It's about a touring theatre company bringing Shakespeare to the provinces during the Blitz. As all the young actors are away fighting it's a motley crew, led by Sir, a monstrous yet pathetic veteran actor. Sir's mind and his world are crumbling. Only Norman can cajole him onto the stage. Now Julian Clary is playing Norman, in a touring theatre company, during a pandemic. He talks to Kirsty Lang about Norman, his relationship with Sir, and how, now we know more about dementia, this play, considered the best ever about theatre itself, is more pertinent than ever.This week, the Royal Opera House opened to a full capacity audience for the first time since March 2020, with Sir Antonio Pappano picking up the baton in the pit. He tells Kirsty how good it felt to be back, why it’s taken so long for him to conduct Verdi’s popular masterpiece, and why he’s jealous of his continental

Liane Moriarty is the best-selling author of nine novels including, Big Little Lies, and Nine Perfect Strangers, both of which have been adapted for television. Her latest novel, Apples Never Fall, is a mystery wrapped up in a domestic drama which focuses on an Australian family shaped by their passion for tennis.Described as a pianist like no other, Igor Levit describes himself as a citizen and a European before a pianist. He has performed around the world, but when lockdown put a stop to that he took to live-streaming “House Concerts” from his apartment in Berlin. His new album ‘On DSCH’ features music by Shostakovich and Ronald Stevenson. He tells John Wilson why he chose music by those composers, and what he learnt from music in lockdown.Matthew Bourne joins us to discuss his new ballet The Midnight Bell, based on the work of the writer Patrick HamiltonPresenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn

Front Row announces the shortlist for the £15,000, 16th BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. Judge Fiona Mozley, author of Booker-shortlisted novel Elmet, joins us live to discuss the storiesAustralian tenor Stuart Skelton is a fan of a party. And what bigger party in classical music than the Last Night of the Proms?! Stuart will be taking centre stage and singing the traditional ‘Rule Britannia’ as well as a selection of opera arias. He tells John why he’s looking forward to the event, and the all-important outfit reveal.This month Marvel Studios released its first film with an Asian lead – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It’s an origin story that brings together martial arts, Chinese folklore and Hollywood CGI spectacle. Cultural critic Yuan Ren reviews. 25 years since the release of The Spice Girls debut album, more recently the departure of Jesy Nelson from Little Mix saying she found “the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.

Elijah Wood tells Tom Sutcliffe about his new film No Man of God. Elijah Wood plays criminal profiler Bill Hagmaier in a story based on interview transcripts. Hagmaier is sent by the FBI to visit the serial killer Ted Bundy on death row. A fascinating, troubling relationship develops which becomes all the more intense when the date of Bundy's execution is announced. It's just a week away; Bundy agrees to talk, and he has much to confess.As lockdown and the pandemic brought concerts to a standstill, many musicians and comedians turned to online live streaming to perform, entertain and connect with audiences. According to YouTube, 78% of British people watched a live stream over the last 12 months. But now as live events return, and with concerns still over safety, have live streams proven they can coexist alongside in-person concerts as a way to feel part of an experience? Musician Paul Smith from Maximo Park and director and filmmaker Oscar Sansom discussIt’s often said that we’re living in a podcast ‘boom,’

The recent Netflix comedy drama, The Chair, centres on an English professor, played by Sandra Oh who has just been appointed the first female chair of the department and has big dreams about modernising it. Hanna Flint joins us to reviewWe hear live from the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, announced this evening: Susanna Clarke for her novel Piranesi. This year’s chair of judges is Bernardine EvaristoImmersive theatre group Punchdrunk are well known for their imaginative use of unusual locations. They have just announced that they will be establishing a permanent location for future productions – could this mean they’re going mainstream and spell the end of their unorthodox experimentation? We speak with Felix Barratt, Artistic Director and Maxine Doyle, choreographerIt’s time for Front Row’s fifth and final preview of the Art Fund Museum Of The Year nominees. The winner will receive £100,000 and the museums have been spread around the UK. Today’s venue is Timespan in the north eastern Scottis

Iranian-born artist, photographer and filmmaker Shirin Neshat talk to us about her latest work - a feature film entitled Land of Dreams which premiered at The Venice Film Festival last week -and her exhibition at Photo London of still images connected to New Mexico.The last of our Women’s Prize for Fiction-shortlisted authors, Yaa Gyasi, talks to Front Row ahead of the winner’s announcement tomorrow. Her novel Transcendent Kingdom considers big questions of science, belief and addiction in the story of a family.Professor Mark Anthony Neal marks the death of actor Michael K. Williams, best known for playing Omar in the US TV series The Wire. A report today finds that as temperatures rise, dragonflies are thriving here. Insects have long fascinated poets and we hear Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem capturing the beauty, and the life cycle, of the dragonfly - in just eight lines. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

Guitarist Peter Green last performed with Fleetwood Mac, the band he help found, in 1970. Fellow founding-member Mick Fleetwood has honoured Green's legacy in an all-star concert that will be shown in cinemas, celebrating the band's early music. Mick Fleetwood talks to Samira about the early days of Fleetwood Mac, working with Peter, and dreams of a Fleetwood Mac reunion.Filmmaker Cathy Brady has already won international prizes for her short films. Now she’s made her debut feature film, Wildfire. An exploration of the relationship between two sisters in a Northern Ireland town as they try to come to terms with the aftermath of The Troubles they were too young to remember but which had a direct impact on their family.The death of French cinema star Jean Paul Belmondo was announced. He was 88. We speak with Agnes Poirier in Paris about his long career and about what made him such a star. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver JonesMain image: Nora-Jane Noone (Left) and Danika McGuigan in Cathy Brady's f

Irish author Sally Rooney’s third novel 'Beautiful World, Where Are You' has just been released amid a fanfare of publicity and speculation. It follows the runaway success of the TV adaptation of her Booker longlisted second novel, Normal People, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. Essayist and critic Sinéad Gleeson and writer Zing Tsjeng, Executive Editor of Vice UK, join us to review.Film Critic Jason Solomons is Front Row’s correspondent at this year’s Venice International Film Festival. He reports on Spencer, the film portrayal of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as she comes to terms with the end of her marriage; Dune – the sci-fi story that has become a Mount Everest-sized challenge for experienced and novice film directors alike; and festival favourite Pedro Almòdovar’s latest creation Parallel Mothers.Scottish band Mogwai formed 25 years ago in Glasgow, and this year released their 10th album ‘As the love continues’. The album achieved their first number 1 and their first Mercury Prize

When Quentin Tarantino’s debut novel, was published earlier this summer, he gave his only UK broadcast interview to Front Row. Now in a special edition of the programme, Kirsty Lang presents an extended version of that interview. For the subject of his new book, Tarantino turned to his last film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which looked at the Hollywood of the late 1960s, through the relationship between an actor, who fears his career is in decline, and his best friend, his stunt double. The result is a novelisation which harmonises with the story he told on the big screen. In this interview, Tarantino discusses his long career as a filmmaker and his plans for the future.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ekene Akalawu Studio Engineer: Sue Maillot

Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus crime novels, has recently completed a book left unfinished by the father of the ‘tartan noir’ genre William McIlvanney who died in 2015. Ian explains how he pieced together the fragments and notes left by McIlvanney and wrote his own sections of The Dark Remains, a prequel to McIlvanney’s Laidlaw series. He also reveals that the experience of working on the novel may mean a new lease of life for Rebus.With summer music festivals linked to spikes in Covid cases and new pilot data released from the Government’s Events Research Programme, social psychologist Professor John Drury from the University of Sussex explains the risks posed by large crowds and the policy and behaviour changes he believes are needed to ensure live events can continue safely.For the first time in history, 12 violins made by the finest violin maker of all time, Antonio Stradivari, have travelled across the world to feature in a ground-breaking new album with violin player Janine Jansen. She joins

The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent police investigations threw up a lot of questions about institutional racism and corruption within the force. Another enquiry which began in 2006 was led by DCI Clive Driscoll, who decided to go right back to basics and investigate the crime anew. In a new three-part drama on ITV, Steve Coogan plays Driscoll and Hugh Quarshie plays Stephen’s father, Neville. We speak with them both about the murder, the trial, the enquiry and what a drama like this can add to our understanding of a tragedy.Conductor Charles Hazlewood created the Paraorchestra 10 years ago, and in their first year of public performances they already ticked off playing at the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony. It’s the world’s only large-scale ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians, which tackles the traditional and not-so-traditional. Charles Hazlewood and musician Tilly Chester explain the orchestra’s past and future, and why Paraorchestra is such an important ens

Liz Carr's role in Silent Witness was a groundbreaking step in the depiction of disability in primetime TV drama. The actor, comedian and broadcaster, who has used a wheelchair since childhood, looks back at her early years, her law degree, and how that led her to life of activism for disability rights.Liz spent six years playing Clarissa Mullery in the BBC drama series, and she discusses the work she has been offered since she left, with latest projects being a major new Jack Thorne TV drama about disability rights, a new stage version of Larry Kramer's classic 1980s AIDS play The Human Heart at the National Theatre, and her first Hollywood film, Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor.Presenter Elle Osili-Wood Producer Jerome WeatheraldMain image: Liz Carr Image credit: Charlie Carter