Clive Anderson is joined by comedian Jason Byrne who returns to Edinburgh for his 28th consecutive Fringe with No Show, a performance that will be totally new each night. Playwright and actor David Ireland’s award-winning plays Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American have had success across the world. His latest play The Fifth Step stars Jack Lowden and Sean Gilder as they navigate the road to recovery. Shetland comedian Marjolein Robertson’s show titled O is full to the brim with blood as she explores her fascination with her own funeral and her near death experience. My English Persian Kitchen is the true story of losing a homeland, and building a new life and community around the tastes and aromas of an Iranian kitchen. Isabella Nefar chats about starring in the play, and cooking on stage. With music from Scottish violinist and composer Catriona Price and Two Hearts, AKA New Zealand's hottest comedy pop-music duo Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Caitlin Sneddon

From the Edinburgh Festivals, Clive Anderson and Michelle McManus talk to actor, comedian and family favourite Bobby Davro about his beginnings in TV entertainment, his acting journey and finding comedy through tough times – something he explores in his show Everything is Funny...If You Can Laugh at It. Lara Ricote, a former winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer prize, chats about her Fringe run of Little Tiny Wet Show (Baptism) which looks at the complexities of relationships. Plus Australian actor, writer, and director Virginia Gay – she's a familiar face on the small screen down under, and makes a return to Edinburgh with her gender-flipped version of Cyrano. With music from critically-acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter Hamish Hawk, and a performance from gig-theatre production A Giant on the Bridge – featuring Jo Mango and Louis Abbott (of Admiral Fallow), alongside fellow Scottish musicians Raveloe, Solareye and Goodnight Louisa. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Caitlin Sneddon

This week Stuart is joined by Jon Holmes who's producing a new play at the Edinburgh Festival - which explores what happens when the camera moves on from a relationship forged on a Love Island-style reality show.And there are definitely some strained relationships in the second series of House of the Dragon - but they're more the kind that result in being run through with a sword. Breakout star Ewan Mitchell tells us about working on the blockbusting Game of Thrones spin-off. Julia Fordham joins to perform for us and share some of her insights into the relationships that are meant to last - and Kym Marsh talks about bringing a classic Disney villain to the stage in a touring production of 101 Dalmations. Presented by Stuart Maconie Produced by Kev Core

Clive Anderson and Emma Freud present Loose Ends from Latitude Festival in Suffolk. They'll talk to the actor-turned-musician Damian Lewis who will discuss his latest album Mission Creep and why he's chosen to go back to his musical roots when he could have rested on his Hollywood laurels as the star of Homeland and Billions. The UK's favourite choirmaster Gareth Malone on a new tour of Sing-Along-A-Gareth and his special connection to Latitude. The director Rachel Ramsay on her Grierson award shortlisted documentary - The Lost Lionesses - about the 1971 unofficial Women's World Cup which was watched by record audiences but subsequently largely erased from sporting history. And the comic Elf Lyons who studied at a Parisian clown school where she learnt the fine art of "bouffon" - a performance style based around mockery - that she works into stand up shows that have been hailed as "unhinged brilliance". Plus, as we're recording at the BBC Introducing stage, we have fresh new music from Indie pop sibling duo Esme Emerson and from Americana led singer-songwriter Gia Ford. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Olive Clancy

Clive will talk monkeys, masks and improvisation with comic Nina Conti who is honing a brand new show Whose Face is it Anyway? and about to release her directing debut a feature film called Sunlight; Chef Tom Kerridge's been on a culinary tour of the UK for a new cookbook and TV show and has plenty to say about our food, farming and how to pronounce "scone"; Actress Samantha Spiro stars in an acclaimed new RSC production of "Shakespeare's sitcom" - The Merry Wives of Windsor - where the women get the last laugh; Best selling crime writer Donna Leon on her much-loved detective hero Commissario Brunetti and why she's been moved to become an "eco-detective" herself. With music by Braimah Kanneh-Mason and Plínio Fernandes ahead of their appearance at the BBC Proms and from That Woman, aka Josie from Oh Wonder who is realeasing a solo album. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Olive Clancy

The actor, producer and now memoirist Griffin Dunne on growing up in Hollywood in a family of literary stars including his aunt Joan Didion, on his own screen success opposite Madonna in Who's That Girl and in After Hours and the real-life tragedy that changed his life forever. Soft Cell front man Marc Almond on his early days as a subversive performance artist, mellowing into music that showcases his voice and his trip to the palace to get his OBE. In the decade since publishing her first psychological thriller, Ruth Ware's become an international best-seller, with her stories optioned for Hollywood movies and published in 40 languages. Now she's curated Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and has plenty to say about new trends, the enduring popularity of the genre and the forthcoming Netflix movie of her book The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Kiera Knightley. The comedian, Taskmaster champion and Celebrity Mastermind Sophie Duker advocates self delusion in her new show - But Daddy I Love Her - arguing that we should all opt for hot fantasy rather than cold hard reality. How will that work? Plus music from Tyneside singer-songwriter Nadine Shah's album, Filthy Underneath. Presented by Stuart Maconie Produced by Olive Clancy

Stuart is joined in the Salford Loose Ends studio by the Welsh Sprinter Iwan Thomas, who held the UK 400m record for 25 years. His new memoir 'Brutal', tells his story - one of speed, the drive to succeed and an extremely high tolerance for pain. . Comedian Chloe Petts is gearing up for the Edinburgh Fringe, and in perhaps the ultimate highbrow/lowbrow combination; she's just presented a series on Radio 4 on the history of the toilet. Raghu Dixit is an independent Indian artist, soundtrack composer and former Microbiologist. His new album 'Shakkar' has been inspired by his personal struggles, but spreads a message of joy and kindness. Kiiōtō is the new project by singer songwriter (and former Lamb vocalist) Lou Rhodes and musician and songwriter Rohan Heath, formerly of the Urban Cookie Collective. They are just about to release their debut album 'As Dust We Rise'. Anna Ptaszynski joins us for some sport fact ephemera and Lottie Gross talks about where to take your dog on holiday. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen and Kev Core

An eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy

Joining Stuart in our Salford studio are Charlie Higson. After writing several books in the bestselling 'Young Bond' series, Charlie has written his first Bond for Adults. Stand up Bilal Zafar's new show 'Imposter' is about a once harmonious house-share that goes very wrong and Pravesh Kumar has written 'Frankie Goes to Bollywood', a new musical about an everyday girl from Milton Keynes plucked from obscurity to live the life of a bollywood star.Music this week comes from English Teacher, dubbed 2024's hottest new guitar band, and tik-tok sensation, classical guitarist Alexandra Whittingham.Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica TreenCHARLIE HIGSON Charlie Higson is an author, actor, comedian and writer for radio and television. He is the author of five beloved Young Bond books, starting with Silverfin in 2005. He’s also the author of the ‘Enemy’ series of Young adult Zombie adventures and the crime thriller ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night’. He’s also one of the brains behind one of the best comedy series of the 90’s, ‘The Fast Show’, which recently completed a 30th anniversary tour.A New Bond for a new Monarch, Charlie Higson’s first ‘Adult’ Bond – On His Majesty’s Secret Service was written in double quick time for the coronation and is inspired by researching his history podcast. Higson’s Bond is very much a man of 2023 – he’s in tune with his gut biome, but he’s still got the car, the gadgets and the girl.ENGLISH TEACHER Leeds based ‘English Teacher’ have been hailed as 2024’s hottest new guitar band, but they’ve spent time honing their craft - they’ve been playing together since meeting at the University of Leeds at 2018. In April they released their debut album, This Could Be Texas. Fresh from from touring America, they are vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden.PRAVESH KUMAR Back in the year 2000 armed with a credit card, Pravesh Kumar started the Rifco theatre company with an aim to tell accessible stories about British Asian communities like the one he grew up in in slough. Rifco’s shows include the musical Britain’s Got Bhangra, The Deranged Marriage and the film Little English. Along the way, Pravesh was awarded an MB for his contribution to British Theatre. His latest musical is ‘Frankie Goes to Bollywood’ – the story of Frankie, played by Laila Zaidi, a normal girl plucked from obscurity in Milton Keynes to be the latest Bollywood star. Frankie is taken in by the glamour, a romance with leading man Raju King and a rivalry with a fellow Bollywood actress no longer deemed young enough.ALEXANDRA WHITTINGHAM Manchester-born Guitarist Alexandra Whittingham started with humble beginnings performing covers of Avril Lavigne and auditioning for Blackpool’s Got Talent. Since then she has become a viral sensation through videos of her performing breathtaking classical arrangements on her guitar.Fresh off of signing with a major music label, Decca, she’s here to tell us about her journey to becoming a revered guitarist and why it’s important that classical music is accessible to everyone.BILAL ZAFARSharing a house can be an unpredictable experience, we’ve all heard about ‘nightmare’ housemates. In Bilal Zafar’s new show ‘Imposter’ he tells the story of his old housemate, a story of compulsive lying, escalating threats and minty hot chocolate. Bilal is a ‘wry storyteller’; his previous shows are ‘Zafarcakes’, about a joke on twitter that got out of hand, and the people who couldn’t take a joke and ‘Care’, about looking after wealthy residents in a care home, for minimum wage. He’s also active on the Twitch streaming platform where he plays a manager from the game Pro Evolution Soccer 5 to an enthusiastic audience of ‘Assistant Managers’. Bilal won the new act of the year award in 2016 and was nominated for best Newcomer at the Edinburgh comedy awards

The comedian Paul Sinha is a man of many careers - from working GP to sucessful stand up to his role as "The Sinnerman" in ITV's quiz show The Chase. He joins Clive to talk about his new autobiogaphy - Once Sinha Lifetime - charting his extraordinary Bengali family background through the peaks and troughs of his own working life to his recent medical diagnosis. Tara Fitzgerald is an actor with a career that encompasses both film classics like Brassed Off and I Capture the Castle as well as new hits like Game of Thrones and Waking the Dead. Now, to celebrate 125 years since the birth of Noel Coward, she stars in a triple bill of his less performed plays – Suite in Three Keys. We'll ask what Coward has to offer today's audiences. And forget about five a day, the TV Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says we should be eating thirty a week and what's more its really not that hard to do. Plus music from singer songwriter Bess Atwell's third album Light Sleeper, produced by The National's Aaron Dresser who also works with Taylor Swift. Plus comedy performance from Jazz Emu, the alter-ego of comedian Archie Henderson and his hilarious band The Cosmique Perfection. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Olive Clancy