Front Row

Tracy K. Smith has just completed her time as the Poet Laureate of the United States and published Eternity, her selected poems. For Front Row she reads poems reflecting the variety of her work: the story of a clandestine border crossing; a poem linking David Bowie with the cosmos; another that she did not write so much as discover, a letter to Abraham Lincoln from a mother appealing for the release of her son from the Union army in the American Civil War. Political commentator Helen Lewis joins Front Row to look at what the Tory leadership election might mean for the arts, considering the arts track records of the remaining candidates and exploring the value of a cultural hinterland in modern politics. Today sees the release of new albums by Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. Kate Mossman reviews Western Stars and Madame X, as well as the posthumous new album Tim by Avicii.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Sarah Johnson