Front Row

Bernardine Evaristo on Girl, Woman, Other - shortlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize For Fiction. As Front Row continues our interviews with writers on the shortlist, the author talks to us about her Booker prize winning novel which follows 12 characters, most of them black British women, on an entwined journey of discovery. Ginette Vincendeau reviews Les Misérables, the French entry for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Its director, Ladj Ly was raised in Les Bosquets, a febrile housing estate in Montfermeil, and documented the 2005 riots there in his film 365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil. Inspired by an act of real police violence Ly witnessed, the film follows the residents of Les Bosquets as tensions between police and local teenagers escalate.The celebrated sitar player Anoushka Shankar on her BBC Proms performance this Friday for which she’ll be collaborating with many contrasting musicians including electronic artist Gold Panda. She also talks about collaborations on her latest EP, Love Letters, a set of intimate songs influenced by the theme of heartbreak. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Giles AspenMain image: Bernadine Evaristo Image credit: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

Gavin & Stacey writer and actor Ruth Jones joins us to discuss her new novel Us Three, which follows the tumultuous friendship of three women over four decades. She shares the inspiration behind the book, how her screenwriting has influenced her novel writing and whether Gavin & Stacey will return to our screens…As many theatres remain shuttered due to Covid-19, those looking to get their thespian fix may find some consolation n the form of virtual reality. Tender Claws, an independent games studio in LA, has created a live VR performance of The Tempest which can be watched using an Oculus Rift or Quest gaming systems. Each performance is interactive, as eight participants are linked up with a live, remote actor playing the role of Prospero, guiding them through a virtual landscape. Entertainment journalist Elle Osili-Wood joins us to review this blend of theatre and gaming.In his new book Expert, Roger Kneebone, Professor of Surgical Education at Imperial College London, makes the case for learning a craft and honing skills – a path that means lacemakers and vascular surgeons have more in common than they might think. He explains the value of expertise in the arts and beyond. Presenter; Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones

Robert Macfarlane walks into the mountains, along ancient paths and down into caves and potholes. He has written beautiful and popular books about these - Mountains of the Mind, The Old Ways, Underland. He is concerned about the depletion of the natural world, and the language we use to speak of it. Landmarks is a lexicon of landscape and nature. When a new edition of a famous children's dictionary left out several common nature words - bluebell, conker, kingfisher - he wrote a series of poems, spells to bring them back to use, and with the artist Jackie Morris created a book. The Lost Words: A Spell Book found its way into half the primary schools in England, and every one in Scotland, and has had a profound impact on the education of children about nature. He worked with several musicians, who set the spells to create an album.Macfarlane is also a campaigner: moved by the felling of trees in Sheffield, and the protests against this, he gave a poem for anyone to use in protests. It has been translated into Telegu and used in India, as well as at HS2 demonstrations. Now Macfarlane is working with the actor and singer Johnny Flynn, writing songs inspired by the oldest known written story, Gilgamesh. In this Gilgamesh takes an axe to a scared cedar grove in the first act of deforestation. In the month when Donald Trump has finalized plans to allow drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, the earliest story, Macfarlane explains, speaks across 4,000 year to us today. Macfarlane talks to Kirsty Lang about books, collaborations and work in progress. He is deeply concerned about our treatment of the natural world, but his writing is charged with joy and, he explains, he his hopeful.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May

British artist Luke Jerram discusses his new work, In Memoriam, a large-scale outdoor installation designed specifically to be presented in large open and windy spaces, constructed from bed sheets flying from tall flagpoles arranged in a 36-metre wide circular formation. It was created as a temporary memorial to honour those we have lost during the Covid-19 pandemic and also in tribute to NHS staff and key workers. The Lying Life of Adults is the much-anticipated new novel from Elena Ferrante, the author of the quartet of books known as the Neapolitan Novels. It’s familiar ground as we follow a teenage girl and her negotiation of life both with her middle-class parents and on the rougher side of town – but will it satisfy the Ferrante fans? Critic and writer Thea Lenarduzzi reviews Love in Colour is the name of a collection of fresh and romantic takes on myths from around the world by self-proclaimed "romcomoisseur" and writer Bolu Babalola. She joins Front Row to talk about decolonising traditional tales and why she believes in the power of love.As Britney Spears continues her legal battle to remove father as her conservator, music journalist Laura Barton explains the latest and considers other examples of parents exerting control over their high-profile offspring. Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker would have been 100 years old tomorrow. He died tragically young at the age of 34 but his genius still exerts a powerful influence over popular music today, including bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers. British alto saxophonist Soweto Kinch is a fan and tells us why Parker is still so important.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald

British composer Errollyn Wallen has been putting the finishing touches to her new arrangement of the Hubert Parry hymn Jerusalem, to be performed as part of a very different Last Night of the Proms. After a public row about whether to drop the traditional favourites that make up the concert's programme, the Proms announced new versions for a smaller, socially-distanced orchestra with no choir. Errollyn joins Samira to discuss the work of arranging well-loved music, her relationship with Jerusalem, and the Proms.As Eastenders returns to our screens, after an unprecedented 3 month hiatus, we speak to the show’s Executive Producer Jon Sen to find out how they’ve been filming with social distancing and how coronavirus has affected the storylines we’ll be seeing on screen.Ryan Gilbey reviews new Netflix psychological horror film I’m Thinking of Ending Things, based on Iain Reid’s book and adapted into a screenplay by director Charlie Kaufman.As Katy Perry makes headlines for her new album Smile and the birth of her first child, Scarlett Russell, Entertainment Editor of The Sunday Times Style, pays tribute to the pop sensation.Producer: Simon Richardson Studio manager: Nigel DixMain image above: Errollyn Wallen Image credit: Azzurra Primavera

Natalie Haynes on A Thousand Ships - shortlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize For Fiction. As Front Row continues our interviews with authors on the shortlist, Natalie Haynes talks to us about her novel which tells the stories of The Trojan War from the perspective of the female characters.Literary critic Alex Clark reviews the winner of the International Booker Prize 2020, which was announced this evening.And Agatha Christie’s lost play, The Lie – a very personal 1920s domestic drama which lay unread until discovered by drama director Julius Green, and which he has turned into a radio play for Radio 4 this weekend. Julius Green joins Tom Sutcliffe to tell us about The Lie and how it came to be abandoned and then rediscovered.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen

As her new drama I Hate Suzie launches, dramatist Lucy Prebble talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her writing career.Prebble is Co-Executive Producer and writer on the BAFTA, Golden Globe and EMMY award winning HBO drama Succession. She was the creator of the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl. She wrote the political thriller A Very Expensive Poison (Old Vic), and before that The Effect (National Theatre), which is a study of love and neuroscience, as well as the hugely successful drama Enron, about corporate fraud, which transferred to the West End and Broadway after sell-out runs at both the Royal Court and Chichester Festival Theatre.Prebble's latest TV show, I Hate Suzie, sees Billie Piper star as a celebrity who has her life upended when her phone is hacked and pictures of her emerge in an extremely compromising position. I Hate Suzie begins on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV on Thursday at 9pm.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon RichardsonMain image: Lucy Prebble Image credit: Robert Viglasky/Sky UK

Following the outcry at shool exam results downgraded by an algorithm and then revised to take into account human teachers expectations instead, we consider how algorithms perform versus humans in creativity in the arts – do they deserve an A* or a fail? What are algorithms used for in the arts? Can they be creative and make good work, or do we need the human touch? We're joined by Marcus Du Sautoy, mathematician and author of The Creativity Code, and artist Anna Ridler, who uses data sets and algorithms in her work.This Friday the 2020 Proms season begins. Despite being held behind closed doors for the first time in its history, the Proms 2020 promises an eclectic programme of live performances. The very first composition will be a specially commissioned piece by the British composer Hannah Kendall titled “Tuxedo: Vasco de Gama”, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She joins us to discuss the piece and what it's like to write it knowing there'll be a socially distanced orchestra and no live audience.A new film coming soon to Netflix has caused controversy - it's about an 11 year old Senegalese Muslim girl who moves to France and decides to join a dance group, in the face of parental disapproval. The poet Daljit Nagra, who curates the poetry programming on Radio 4 Extra, introduces three recently-published poetry books. Rachel Long’s debut collection, My Darling from the Lions; Pascale Petit’s mid-career book Tiger Girl , inspired by her grandmother’s life in India; and the Selected Poems 1965 – 2018 of Jeremy Hooker, who in his eightieth year, is still writing as beautifully and prolifically as ever.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones

Next week finally sees the release of Tenet, the latest big-budget film by Christopher Nolan. For our Friday Review, film critic Ryan Gilbey and novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie give their response to the film, and consider the future of cinema in light of the pandemic. And they’ll be discussing their cultural picks – the TV series Broad City and Lovecraft Country. Algorithm-downgraded A level student Jessica Johnson on her strangely prescient Orwell Youth Prize winning short story about an algorithm that decides school grades according to social class.The British Museum is the UK’s most-visited tourist attraction but during lockdown it’s had no visitors. Now they’re getting ready to reopen with limited numbers. We speak to the director Hartwig Fischer about how the museum has been using the hiatus to rethink the ethos behind displaying its extraordinary collection. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage. While the story of the “Pilgrim Fathers” is well known, the history of the Wampanoag people they met is less so. Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America is a touring exhibition which hopes to change this. This new exhibition is presented by The Box, Plymouth and grew out of a partnership with Wampanoag Advisory Committee to Plymouth 400 and the Wampanoag cultural advisors SmokeSygnals. The wampum belt is a tapestry of tribal history made from thousands of handcrafted beads. Paula Peters, founder of SmokeSygnals and a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Nation, explains.Shedinburgh is an online festival attempting to capture the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by live streaming performances from sheds around the country. Theatre producer, Francesca Moody, who also made Fleabag explains the endeavour.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

The One and Only Ivan is a new Disney film about a 400-pound silverback gorilla called Ivan. He lives in a suburban shopping mall with other animals where they perform in a circus owned by Mack, played by Bryan Cranston. The film is a hybrid of live action and CGI and features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren and Chaka Khan. We speak to the film's director Thea Sharrock.40 years since Willy Russell wrote Educating Rita Stephen Tompkinson stars in an open air production at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Novelist Patrick Gale reviews.How dangerous is singing at a time of Covid-19? Declan Costello, Consultant Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon and an accomplished tenor, has been leading UK research to assess the risks. He joins Front Row to share the results.David Mitchell said of his recent novel Utopia Avenue – about a band - that writing about music is impossible. Former concert violinist now poet Fiona Sampson, novelist and one time cellist Patrick Gale and writer and teacher Jeffrey Boakye, whose book Hold Tight explored grime’s cultural impact, reflect on the premise that writing about music is – as the saying goes - like dancing about architecture. What made them take up the challenge in their different writing forms?Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hannah Robins