Radha Blank, Chuck D, Dramas The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Comey Rule reviewed

Radha Blank won the Directing Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for her debut film, The 40-Year-Old Version. She also wrote and stars in the movie which is inspired by her own experiences as a Black New York based playwright and rapper approaching her 40th birthday and frustrated at the lack of creative opportunities. It’s been praised as astute and funny and it’s filmed in black and white echoing many iconic New York films. She joins u to talk about the making of the movie.

We talk to Chuck D, the frontman and lyricist of pioneering hip hop group Public Enemy. More than 30 years on from their debut, the group's new album 'What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?' addresses contemporary American issues, including the Coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter.

Novelist Lionel Shriver and journalist Michael Goldfarb make up our Friday Review Panel. They’ll be discussing two new US political dramas: The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin’s film about the prosecution of Vietnam War protesters in 1969, and Sky Atlantic drama The Comey Rule, based on the memoir of the FBI boss James Comey that he wrote after being sacked by Trump, starring Brendan Gleeson as the President.

This week the Governor of California declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Shasta counties because of devastating wildfires. Dana Gioia, who was the Poet Laureate of California until last year, lives in Sonoma, on a wooded hillside, in a wooden house. He reads the piece he has written especially for Front Row about trying to live and work as a poet while the country around you is in flames and, at any moment, you might have to flee.

Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Matilda Macari