Front Row

This week sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Herman Melville, writer of one of America's greatest novels, Moby Dick. Sarah Churchwell and Richard King discuss the extraordinary tale of Captain Ahab's pursuit of the white sperm whale that had bitten off his leg. The story of Ahab's revenge is famously narrated by Ishmael, who is on his first whaling expedition, with one of literature's most celebrated opening lines : Call me Ishmael. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is reunited with Chris Pine in new TV drama I Am the Night. Set in 1950s America it follows the true story of Fauna Hodel, a young woman in search of her biological family after discovering she’s adopted and not mixed race as she’d been told, but white. Both Fauna, and a down-and-out reporter played by Pine, end up on the trail of famous gynaecologist, Dr. George Hodel who's somehow connected to the gruesome Black Dahlia murder.Is there something to be said for Luddism? The machine-wrecking rebels of the Industrial Revolution are the subject of a new play There is a Light that Never Goes Out: Scenes from the Luddite Rebellion at the Manchester Royal Exchange. Rather than casting The Luddites as history's losers, fighting a doomed battle against the march of progress, it asks whether they were in fact pioneers who paved the way for workers' rights and the welfare state. The creative team James Yeatman and and Lauren Mooney take us through the historic parallels which suggests we too might consider resisting the rise of the machines. Plus, music journalist Neil McCormick reports on the US court ruling that Katy Perry copied Dark Horse from Christian rapper Flame.Presenter : Stig Abell Producer : Dymphna Flynn

American opera singer, Tamara Wilson withdrew from her final ever performance of Aida at the weekend. She was scheduled to be conducted by Placido Domingo at the Arena Di Verona but announced on Instagram that her absence was due to illness. But it comes after her public opposition to the use of ‘blackface’ for the role - heavy "chocolate brown" make-up. Tamara speaks out about the incident and why she feels the industry and Aida needs to change.New Zealand writer Fiona Kidman discusses her new novel This Mortal Boy, based on the true story of a young Northern Irishman, Albert Black, who emigrated to Wellington in 1953 to seek work. Just two years later at the age of 20 he was facing the prospect of execution by hanging after an incident in a café that led him to be described as the ‘Jukebox Killer’.Some people just dread Shakespeare; they never 'bond' with him. Sean Allsop has always felt alienated by The Bard whilst simultaneously feeling that maybe he is missing out. So we sent him along to the home of authentic Shakespeare productions - London's Globe Theatre - to ask the experts and find out how a novice should approach Shakespeare for the first time with a production of Henry IV part 1.Kinetic art pioneer Carlos Cruz-Diez has died in Paris at the age of 95Presenter: Samira Ahmed, Producer: Oliver Jones

Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans, starring Kim Cattrell as Agrippina and Craig Roberts as Emperor Nero, is the first foray into cinema of the popular children’s TV series. Classics author Natalie Haynes gives her verdict. On the 400th anniversary of her birth, we assess the life and work of Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi with Professor Susan Wollenberg and mezzo-soprano CN Lester; who will also perform an excerpt of Strozzi’s work alongside harpist Alison Henry.Playwright and author Barney Norris talks about his latest novel The Vanishing Hours, in which two strangers meet by chance in a bar in a quiet English town, and share their stories. Protest pieces by global activist group Extinction Rebellion have been added to the V&A’s Rapid Response Collecting Gallery. Senior Curator, Corinna Gardner, discusses the cultural importance and impact of the items.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ben Mitchell

Roger and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! is Chichester Festival Theatre’s new summer musical, starring Josie Lawrence as Aunt Eller and Hyoie O’Grady and Amara Okereke as the young lovers. Fiona Mountford reviews. Following violence and verbal abuse directed at ushers, some theatres are issuing them with body cameras, hoping this will deter aggressive behaviour by audience members. Theatre critic Fiona Mountford and Kirsty Sedgman, author of ‘The Reasonable Audience’, discuss the ways audience behaviour is changing and what is acceptable.The shortlist for the Mercury Prize was announced today. Music writer Kieran Yates gives her response to the 12 albums selected by the judges, by artists including Foals, Dave and Little Simz.And sculptor Sean Henry's piece Seated Figure, 2016 has had to be moved from its place on the North York Moors to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park because of damage to the land by so many visitors. The artist speaks to Front Row.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson

Literary critics Arifa Akbar and Toby Lichtig dissect the longlist of the 2019 Booker Prize longlist. For the full list see below.Tea is the most widely-consumed drink after water. Julie Finch, director the Compton Verney gallery, guides Julian May through their new exhibition A Tea Journey: From the Mountains to the Table. The show navigates the cultural history of the cuppa from the delicate bowls of Tang dynasty China to the British builder’s mug as well as new work made by artists in response to this history. Why have Fleabag’s black jumpsuit, the yellow coat from Keeping Faith and Villanelle’s pink dress all become firm favourites on the high street? Fashion historian Amber Butchart examines the long links between fashion houses, TV and Hollywood. Margaret Atwood (Canada) - The Testaments Kevin Barry (Ireland) - Night Boat to Tangier Oyinkan Braithwaite (UK/Nigeria) - My Sister, The Serial Killer Lucy Ellmann (USA/UK) - Ducks, Newburyport Bernardine Evaristo (UK) - Girl, Woman, Other John Lanchester (UK) - The Wall Deborah Levy (UK) - The Man Who Saw Everything Valeria Luiselli (Mexico/Italy) - Lost Children Archive Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria) - An Orchestra of Minorities Max Porter (UK) - Lanny Salman Rushdie (UK/India) - Quichotte Elif Shafak (UK/Turkey) - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Jeanette Winterson (UK) - Frankissstein Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman

Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon star in The Current War, as Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. It's the electrifying story about the race to supply people with electricity and power. The film has had a turbulent production, plagued with unfavourable reviews at 2017 Toronto Film festival premier and then caught up in the scandal surrounding the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Film Critic Tim Robey discusses the changes made to the film since its initial release and the impact of events behind the scenes. Love Island 2019 is in its final week, so we wondered whether or not we can make assessments about the state of modern relationships by how they are presented on the screen? Cultural commentator Louis Wise and YouTube relationship expert Hannah Witton discuss this and ponder which programmes best hold up a mirror to reality, or actually start to shape it?Lucy Ellmann’s new novel Ducks, Newburyport has been attracting headlines and admiration; but not just for its literary qualities. It's 1,000 pages long, most of which is one sentence. And there are other contemporary authors also playing with conventional storytelling form at the moment, including Bernardine Evaristo, Ali Smith, Nicola Barker, Eimear McBride and Mike McCormack. McCormack’s novel Solar Bones, also a single sentence, won the 2016 Goldsmiths Prize, and Evaristo’s latest novel Girl, Woman, Other plays with voice, grammar and text on the page. They talk to Front Row about the freedom of not following the rules.And Cool Culture: as the temperature in much of the UK look set to soar, we wonder about the best places to enjoy culture without meltingPresenter: Stig Abell. Producer: Oliver Jones

To mark the 20th anniversary of her best-selling debut album, Macy Gray performs her smash hit I Try, and talks frankly to Kirsty about the challenges she faced after achieving fame and success. She also sings from her latest album, Ruby. Tomorrow hundreds of Morris dancers will gather outside the Houses of Parliament to protest against the cancellation of next year's early May bank holiday. Gordon Newton, director of the Rochester Sweeps Festival, explains why this decision has so upset traditional dancers, and the impact it will have on events such as the Jack-in-the-Green in Hastings and others, all over the country. After months of protests Essex county council has dropped plans to close 25 libraries. Instead, the council will now invest £3million into the service to make it “fit for the 21st century”. However plans remain in place to hand some branches over to community groups and the results of a public consultation will be made public tomorrow. To discuss what does make a library fit for the 21st century Kirsty is joined by Liz Miles; writer and Save Our Essex Library campaigner, Tim Coates; Former head of Waterstones bookshops and Councillor Susan Barker, Cabinet Member for Customer, Corporate, Culture and Communities.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May

Hip hop pioneer and art lover Fred Brathwaite, aka Fab 5 Freddy, hunts for the hidden black figures of Italian Renaissance art in a new BBC2 documentary, A Fresh Guide To Florence. He reveals some of the ground-breaking images he discovered of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society that have slipped through the cracks of art history.Artist Laurie Anderson discusses her new VR artwork To the Moon, currently at the Manchester International Festival.The author of the bestselling Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams, makes her pick of paperbacks to take on holiday as great summer reads.With the release of the trailers for Cats and the new Top Gun film attracting so much attention on social media, Katie Popperwell considers the importance of the film trailer, and what makes a good one.Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald

Illuminated River is a major new art project on the River Thames claiming to be the world’s longest artwork. 15 bridges across the river will be lit up by a series of LED displays for the next 10 years. Kirsty talks to director Sarah Gaventa and light artist Leo Villareal.Twenty-five years since Disney’s animated film The Lion King broke records and won Oscars, a new live action version is roaring onto the big screen. Director Jon Favreau talks about what he learned from rebooting The Jungle Book and how he used virtual reality headsets to shoot the film.The shortlist for the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK's best new building has been announced today. It includes a whisky distillery, a railway station, an opera house, a social housing terrace, a new gallery and an experimental house made of cork. Architectural critic Oliver Wainwright reports. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser

Karina Canellakis will be launching this year's BBC Proms on Friday, conducting Janáček's monumental Glagolitic Mass. She talks to John Wilson about her approach to this daunting task, why she loves the spiritual drama of the piece and how since early childhood her head has been filled with music. Vicky McClure, Gemma Chan and Samantha Morton star in a series of stand alone television dramas focusing on women under pressure. Created with Dominic Savage, each episode of I am... has been improvised with the themes chosen by the lead actors. These include being in a coercive relationship, a single woman in her thirties facing with pressure to have a child and a single mother struggling to provide for her family. Alison Graham from the Radio Times reviews.In the week that the England men’s cricket team won the World Cup, film director Barney Douglas discusses his new documentary The Edge, about the rise in the rankings for the England team from 2009 to 2013, and the psychological and emotional effect the game had on its players, including Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May