Front Row

Sienna Miller discusses her latest role as a mother whose daughter goes missing, in her new film American Woman, directed by Jake Scott. Our latest Front Row Booker Prize Book Group puts its questions to shortlisted author Elif Shafak about her novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World which tells the story of Leila, a woman whose body has died, but whose mind has a precious ten minutes to reflect on the joy, pain and injustice of her life as a prostitute in Istanbul.Giri/Haji, which translates as Duty/Shame in English, is a new drama produced by the BBC and Netflix, about a Tokyo detective who travels to London in search of his presumed deceased brother. The script for the series is written in both Japanese and English. Kate Taylor-Jones reviews.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald

Mary Beard meets the acclaimed Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood. As her sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale – The Testaments – is published, in a wide-ranging encounter Mary talks to her about how Gilead has changed almost 35 years on from the original book; how the cloak which features in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale has become a symbol of protest around the world; about her responses to the current political climate; about the accusation that she is a ‘bad feminist’; and about the hype surrounding the release of this new book.

The Swedish Academy today announced the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Winners, not winner, because, embroiled in a scandal over allegations of sexual assault by the husband of one of its members, the Academy delayed last year’s prize until today. The 2019 winner is Austrian writer Peter Handke, a controversial figure, one of whose early plays was called Offending the Audience, and 2018's winner Olga Tokarczuk is a leading Polish novelist who won the Man Booker International Prize last year for her book Flights. Front Row has the only UK interview with Olga Tokarczuk today and the critic Arifa Akbar considers the work of the winners and the implications of these awards. Goldie, real name Clifford Price, is a musician, actor and artist whose career lifted off with the '90s Drum and Bass boom. The frenetic, high-tempo sound which has played a key role in the evolution of dance music is celebrated on a new 60-track collection compiled by Goldie – a former graffiti artist who became the celebrity pos

The latest Front Row Booker Prize Book Group features Salman Rushdie answering listeners’ questions about his shortlisted novel Quichotte, a satire on current politics, the opioid crisis and the influence of popular culture that’s also been praised for its touching study of family relationships. Playwright Katori Hall, whose previous plays include Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and The Mountaintop, on a new production of her 2010 play Our Lady of Kibeho at Theatre Royal Stratford East. In 1981 at Kibeho College in Rwanda, a young girl claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary who warned her of the unimaginable: Rwanda becoming hell on Earth. She was ignored by her friends and scolded by her school but then another student saw the vision, and another, and the impossible appeared to be true. Hailed as one of 'the 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century' (The Guardian) and 'the most important play of the year' (The Wall Street Journal, 2014), this vibrantly theatrical meditation on faith, doubt and mira

The dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo grew up dancing to Michael Jackson songs on the streets of Soweto. She later trained as a ballerina and contemporary dancer. Now she creates very modern takes on classical ballets. Her reworking of Swan Lake tackled homophobia and AIDS in South Africa. Her Giselle, traditionally the tragic story of a girl who dies after being betrayed by a man, has been seen as a feminist tale of revenge for the #MeToo generation. As she begins a UK tour, Dada Masilo tells Front Row about street dance, growing up in Soweto and shaking up classical dance.Extinction Rebellion protestors - described by the Prime Minister as ‘Crusties’ living in ‘hemp-smelling bivouacs’ – have included different types of performance as they blockade areas of central London, from dancing and chanting to yoga sessions, drumming and mime. Is this ‘open-air theatre’ as Charles Moore describes it in The Telegraph, providing an easy target for its critics? Musician Sam Lee, who led a folk dance on London Bridge

Following a Best Director win at Sundance, Joe Talbot discusses his film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, along with its star Jimmie Fails. Based on Jimmie Fail's own life, it's about his attempt to reclaim the house his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. At the busiest time in the publishing calendar with Frankfurt Book Fair just around the corner, agent Clare Alexander and Unbound publisher John Mitchinson discuss the economics of the publishing industry, from huge advances to the impact of Amazon.Oxford Professor Alain Goriely thinks that the repetitive rhythm in Ravel's Bolero might have been influenced by the composer's early dementia. He talks to Kirsty ahead of his lecture at King's Place in London, in conjunction with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser

Our latest Front Row Booker Prize Book Group puts its questions to shortlisted author Chigozie Obioma about his book An Orchestra of Minorities, the story of chicken farmer Chinonso whose aspirations lead him to leave Nigeria for Cyprus – a decision that brings momentous consequences. Drag star Ginger Johnson reviews RuPaul's Drag Race UK on BBC Three. With contestants such as Baga Chipz and Sum Ting Wong, how does the drag reality competition compare to the multi-Emmy-award-winning US version?Kurt Weill's The Silver Lake is about to tour the UK for the first time. English Touring Opera’s director James Conway discusses the satirical opera which was banned by the Nazis weeks after its first performance in 1933. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Edwina Pitman

Debbie Harry is one of the defining musical artists of her age, known of course for her work with Blondie crafting and performing hits such as Heart of Glass, Dreaming and One Way or Another. As her memoir Face It is published, she talks to Front Row about the highs and lows of her professional and personal life, from writing her most successful lyrics to the double-edged sword of her looks, and her experience of drugs and sexual violence. The first-ever exhibition devoted to the portraits of Paul Gauguin opens at the National Gallery this week. Waldemar Januszczak reviews the show, which focuses on how the artist used portraiture primarily to express himself and his ideas about art, from the years he spent in Brittany and then French Polynesia towards the end of his life.And at a time when, despite the gravity of the situation, politics in the UK and the US has become more entertaining than ever, Caroline Crampton recommends some of the best political podcasts offering alternative takes on the news.

Director Rupert Goold discusses his new film Judy. Starring Renée Zellweger as legendary singer Judy Garland, the movie examines the final year of the star's life when, despite struggling with ill health, she was forced to take a demanding five week gig at a London nightclub in order to pay her debts. Kara Walker’s 13 metre high statue is unveiled in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall today. Critic Asana Greenstreet reviews Fons Americanus which comments on British responsibility for slavery.Bernardine Evaristo is the latest of our listener book groups where readers meet each of the authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019. Evaristo's novel Girl, Woman, Other is told in a poetic form with little punctuation and follows 12 characters, most of them black British women. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hannah Robins

Five authors have been shortlisted for the 2019 BBC National Short Story Award and the Young Writers' Award, the winners of which will be announced in front of a live audience in the BBC Radio Theatre.Lucy Caldwell, Lynda Clark, Jacqueline Crooks, Tamsin Grey and Jo Lloyd are competing for the NSSA whose former winners include Lionel Shriver, Sarah Hall and Kate Clanchy.John Wilson is joined by judges of both awards, as well as the Chair of the NSSA Judges, Nikki Bedi.Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald

Helen Mirren discusses taking on the role of notorious Russian empress Catherine the Great, Russia’s longest-ruling female leader for a new TV miniseries. She talks about the preparation for the role, her habit of binge-watching TV and why she admires Madonna.Joker, the new film exploring the origins of DC comic book villain The Joker, Batman’s nemesis, is proving controversial before it’s even opened. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips, the movie has already been deemed ‘problematic’ by some. Critics Isabel Stevens and Mark Eccleston discuss whether a backstory for a villainous character excuses or explains them.Mary Shelley takes centre stage in a new production of Frankenstein where the action of the Gothic masterpiece unfolds around its creator. Playwright Rona Munro explains why she wanted to foreground the 18-year-old Shelley who was totally in control of her creative powers.Presenter: Nikki Bedi Producer: Timothy Prosser

Stig Abell talks to John Godber, one of the most-performed playwrights in the English language and somebody who has been interpreting the city of Hull in his plays for over thirty years, from Bouncers to Up and Under. His latest work This Isn’t Right tells the story of Holly Parker who is rediscovering Hull after three years at University in London. When a young woman disappears her already over-protective Dad goes into over-drive. Earlier this year the poet and performer Zena Edwards wore a grass coat to Tate Modern to mark the launch of a movement drawing attention to climate change - Culture Declares An Emergency. For Contains Strong Language she’s performing a newly commissioned piece called Rallying Cry. She'll perform and talk to Stig Abell about putting the joy into the poetry of protest. We'll hear a world premiere performance of a Jodie Langford poem specially commissioned by BBC Humberside. She's a rising star of the spoken word scene and one of 12 poets chosen by BBC local radio stations to “challe

Front Row begins a series of unique book groups with each of the authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019. Today novelist Lucy Ellmann, whose epic 1000 page novel Ducks, Newburyport is told in a stream of consciousness. Ellmann is joined by a group of Front Row listeners who get to quiz her on her book. Waldemar Januszczak discusses the work of painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, whose oil portraits depicting black figures are on show at the Corvi-Mora gallery in London and who will be the subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain next year. Derek Paravicini, a blind autistic savant pianist with an extraordinary ability to play by ear and improvise, performs for us ahead of his concert at the Tetbury Music Festival in Gloucestershire. We also hear from his teacher Adam Ockelford. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser

Brittany Howard is the frontwoman for the phenomenally successful American blues rock band Alabama Shakes. She joins us to discuss her first solo album, Jaime, which is dedicated to her sister who died at a young age. Brittany talks about the inspirations behind the album: from her sister’s memory to an appalling racist attack that happened to her family when she was only a few weeks old. Malory Towers, Enid Blyton's series of novels about the boarding school her own daughter attended, was published 70 years ago, but how accurate is its portrayal of boarding school life? Novelists William Boyd and Robin Stevens - both of whom went to boarding school and have written stories set in them - talk to Stig Abell about the way boarding schools have been presented in literature and in film. On Bear Ridge is a new play set in the Welsh mountains near Swansea, where an old butcher and his wife struggle to survive after some kind of catastrophe has affected the wider world. Its a co-production between National Theatre

Antony Gormley’s new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London features a series of new artworks which are monumental in size, scale and weight, from a 5000kg suspended piece of iron to a gallery flooded with 33,000 litres of seawater, weighing 56 tons. Idoya Beitia, the Royal Academy’s Head of Exhibitions Management, discusses the greatest logistical challenge the gallery’s ever faced.From Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee, Nip/Tuck and Pose, now comes The Politician. Karen Krizanovich reviews the Netflix drama, set in a super-rich California, which follows Payton Hobart in his ambition to become US President, but first he must win his High School election where all the candidates will do anything to win. The show stars Dear Evan Hansen’s Ben Platt alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Bette Midler.Actor and writer Dolly Wells discusses directing her first feature film Good Posture, and working with her long-time collaborator and best friend Emily Mortimer, with whom she also made the hit HBO TV series Doll & Em.

Writer Peter Bowker discusses his epic new drama World On Fire, which follows the first year of World War II told through the intertwining fates of ordinary people drawn from Britain, Poland, France, Germany and the United States as they grapple with the effect of the war on their everyday lives. The BBC One Sunday night series stars Sean Bean, Helen Hunt and Lesley Manville.It was another great night for the British television industry at last night's Emmy Awards. The streaming giants Netflix and Amazon have pushed the industry to produce ever more brilliant dramas and comedies. But as Apple, Disney and NBC prepare to join the market what are the unintended consequences on the industry here? Radio Times TV critic David Butcher examines the changing television landscape.Today is the autumn equinox, the point of the year when the hours of daylight and darkness are the same before the days get shorter. BBC Radio 4 is marking the occasion with broadcasts of poetry with a seasonal theme throughout the day, and p

The Farewell, a film about an American family who return to China to visit their dying grandmother, has been a surprise box office hit in the US and is winning critical acclaim. John talks to the writer and director Lulu Wang, who based it on her own family story.Jessie Burton, author of the best-selling novel The Miniaturist, discusses her latest book The Confession – an exploration of childhood abandonment and the search for a missing mother. And Kevin Le Gendre discusses the music of Dave, the rapper who last night won this year's Mercury Prize.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser

We look at rotters in fiction: do women have equal status with men when it comes to being bad in books? Rotters have populated the novel since Robert Lovelace first appeared in Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa nearly two centuries ago. But what exactly is a rotter, how do rotters differ from cads and, when women are rotters, are they given equal treatment by both their writers and their readers? John Mullan, Professor of Literature at UCL and critic Alex Clark discuss the rotter's progress.“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun…”It is 200 years, to the very day, since John Keats wrote To Autumn, distilling the sights, sounds, even smell of the season and capturing its essence in three carefully crafted stanzas that are among the best-loved in the language. We hear a reading and Alison Brackenbury explains how the poem works and her response to it as a poet.The Science Museum and BBC Radio 4 have been collaborating on an exploration of the relationship between art and scie

Saxophonist Soweto Kinch has curated this year’s Koestler Arts exhibition, Another Me, featuring 150 artworks by inmates from a number of prisons and secure units across the UK. Kinch discusses the works, and performs a piece from his forthcoming album The Black Peril.As plans are unveiled for Galway’s year as 2020 European Capital of Culture, John talks to film producer Arthur Lappin and creative director Helen Marriage.Sam Fender’s album is set to be number one this week. The 25-year-old from North Shields won the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award last year, and talks to John Wilson about combining lyrics about domestic violence, male suicide and white privilege with an hypnotic electric guitar rock aesthetic drawing on his musical hero Bruce Springsteen.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn

A solid gold toilet reputedly worth £4.7 million has been stolen from Blenheim Palace. It's part of the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's new exhibition Victory is Not an Option which remains open and combines a retrospective of his work along with some new pieces made especially for the Palace. Art critic Jacky Klein reviews and reports on the latest from the theft.Brad Pitt stars in the film Ad Astra as an astronaut on a mission to Neptune in order to save the planet from destruction. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews this epic space odyssey.It's believed that John Milton's personal, annotated copy of an early Shakespeare folio has been discovered. The folio includes sophisticated marginalia that could shed light on the development of Milton as a poet and academics say it could be one of the most important literary discoveries of modern times. Cambridge University fellow Dr Jason Scott-Warren explains his astonishing find. As the Rugby World Cup heads to Japan, we get a personal introduction to current Japanese