Front Row

Tom Sutcliffe with reviewers Bidisha and Caroline Frost discuss the TV adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the cringe comedy film Friendship, starring Paul Rudd, and the wedding comedy Till The Stars Come Down, which has transferred from The National to London's West End. Also the latest advance in AI; beyond the uncanny valley

As a new exhibition of Ikea textiles opens, we discuss the impact of Scandinavian design concepts on our homes, with curator Anna Sandberg Falk of the Ikea Museum in Sweden and designer Anna Campbell Jones. Bestselling author John Niven talks about his latest novel The Fathers, an exploration of contemporary fatherhood and masculinity which is set in Glasgow. And we hear how social media influencers are shaking up the world of art criticism. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Former footballer Edgar Davids and artist Paul Pfeiffer on creating a new work for the Manchester International Festival. As four new twenty minute operas are premiered at the Buxton International Festival, Helen Goodman, artistic manager at the festival, and Hannah Ellis Ryan, artistic director of theatre company, HER Productions, discuss how short plays and operas can lead the way for change.Jo Callaghan has an AI detective at the centre of her Kat and Lock crime fiction series. Ajay Chowdhury uses digital technology in his crime fiction. They discuss the impact developments in the tech world are having on their genre.Presented by Nick Ahad Produced by Ekene Akalawu

We mark Bastille Day with a dive into President Macron’s cultural policy for France. And we revisit the dark heart of filmmaking with two people who were there during the making of Apocalypse Now and Fitzcarraldo. Documentaries made about both films have been re-released - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse, about Apocalypse Now is in cinemas, and Burden of Dreams about Fitzcarraldo is streaming. Kasim Ali on his new novel about young British Pakistani men and gang culture. And Errolyn Wallen on composing for the First Night of the Proms.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Graham

Nancy Durrant and Boyd Hilton join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Moisturizer, the second album from the female English indie rock duo Wet Leg. Their self-titled debut reached number one on the UK charts. They also assess Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, directed by Hollywood star Johnny Depp. The film is Depp's first since 1997 and it covers 72 hours in the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, played by Riccardo Scamarcio. Plus they have been to see More than Human at the Design Museum in London - an exhibition which explores how how to design with, and better understand, the living world. Finally, as part of our occasional Bugbears series, the comedian, broadcaster and events producer Hatty Ashdown makes the case for supporting live comedy.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

Bestselling novelist Kate Mosse - much of whose historical fiction is set in medieval France - reacts to the news that the Bayeux Tapestry is to go on display at the British Museum in London next year. Comedian and actor Kat Sadler on her BAFTA-winning sitcom Such Brave Girls, which is set in a dysfunctional single parent family.Sitar virtuoso Nishat Khan tells us about his debut opera Taj Mahal which is being performed at Grange Park Opera this week. And artist Lindsey Mendick whose work often focuses on powerful historic women, tells us about Wicked Game, her installation at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, which commemorates a historic visit by Elizabeth I 450 years ago and which takes the form of a fragmented chess board. Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Mark Crossan

Superman is back on the big screen for the first time in nearly a decade, we speak with director James Gunn. We preview a season of films at the BFI, starring pioneering black film star Dorothy Dandridge. Best known for Carmen Jones, (her performance made her the first African American to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar) she died aged just 42 Cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe on Hercules, the newest Disney stage musical, inspired by his drawingsPresenter Samira Ahmed

Author Raynor Winn is accused of fabricating parts of her memoir The Salt Path, which she denies. We ask Alexandra Pringle, former Editor in Chief at Bloomsbury, how publishers respond when a book's authenticity is called into question. Oasis are performing together for the first time in 16 years, kicking off in Cardiff at the weekend. Music journalist Ted Kessler was there. Sadler's Well has team up with Pete Townshend to turn Quadrophenia into "A Mod Ballet". Director Rob Ashford talks about bringing this story, complete with stylish suits designed by Paul Smith, to a new generation."It's the 80th anniversary of An Inspector Calls. Critic Michael Billington and cultural Historian Irene Lofthouse discuss J. B. Priestley's cultural legacy.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Graham

Tom is joined by reviewers Kate Maltby and Stephanie Merritt to discuss Laura Wade's adaptation for the RSC of Somerset Maugham's comedy The Constant Wife. Also Wendy Erskine's Belfast -set novel; The Benefactors. A polyphonic telling of a teenage girl's assault and its aftermath. And Rebecca Lenkiewicz's directorial debut Hot Milk. Based on Deborah Levy's novel, it stars Fiona Shaw and Emma Mackey. And we discuss the impact on music festivals and live broadcasts of last weekend's Glastonbury incident

As the jury in the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs delivers its verdicts, author and cultural critic Mikki Kendall discusses how Americans will react. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of its release, The Independent's chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and Dan O'Brien of the University of Essex discuss Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's influential film Back to the Future.Egyptian artist Wael Shawky talks about his operatic films which reframe Middle Eastern history from an Arab perspective. And we bring you news of the Grand Egyptian Museum a vast, state-of-the-art space close to the Pyramids in Giza, which is home to 100,000 artefacts. 60% of the museum is now open to the public, but the official opening ceremony this week has been postponed due to tensions between Israel and Iran.Also, we hear about a new collection, Nature Matters: Vital Poems from the Global Majority, from the editor Karen McCarthy Woolf and the featured poet Nick Makoha, who will be talking about his own collection The New Carthaginians at this year's Ledbury Poetry Festival.Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Mark Crossan