Dickens readings, Smart Fund, Randall Goosby

Later in his career Dickens toured the country doing hugely popular dramatic readings of his works. For his last tour he added in the scene where Bill Sykes murders Nancy but had concerns about how harrowing the passage was. As an exhibition opens at the Charles Dickens Museum we speak to the curator about how the reading affected both the audience and the author himself.

Technology has transformed the way we consume art and culture – from films to music to art, we use our tech in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few decades ago. After a pandemic year which has seen the work of many terribly impacted, today more than a hundred artists have signed a public letter calling for a Smart Fund which would support artists and creatives for their work through an additional fee on the sale of technology and gadgets. Kirsty is joined by Gilane Tawadross, Chief Executive of the Design and Artists Copyright Society who have proposed and championed this idea.

Randall Goosby is a 24-year-old American violin virtuoso, and his first album was released last week on Decca records. He tells Kirsty about growing up with a violin on his arm, and why he’s chosen the music of African-American composers for his first CD.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson