Front Row

The drag girl band Denim was Cambridge University's first drag troupe when they formed in 2010. Now, they're back in Edinburgh and for Front Row perform a song from their Reunion Tour and discuss how their drag comes with a political and uplifting message.Author Maggie O'Farrell talks about the art of writing life stories as her own memoir I Am, I Am, I Am tops the bestseller charts, structured around 17 moments in her life when death came terrifyingly close.Two new plays, Angry Alan and User Not Found, focus on online identities - with Angry Alan already winning a Fringe First prize. Writer Penelope Skinner and creator Terry O'Donovan talk to Kirsty about dramatizing online experiences and legacies.Presenter : Kirsty Lang Producer : Jerome Weatherald.

Rosie Jones, a stand-up comedian whose material plays on her experience of living with Cerebral Palsy, discusses defying expectations - both onstage and off. Her one woman show is Fifteen Minutes.Janeane Garofalo is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on The Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and Saturday Night Live, and has appeared in more than 50 films. She discusses her Edinburgh show, Put A Pin in That.Jenni Fagan reads from her latest collection of poetry, There's a Witch in the Word Machine ahead of her appearance at the Edinburgh International Books Festival. Plus, we get under the skin of the Festival Fringe with two talent scouts, asking is Edinburgh still the place to make your name as a comedian?Presenter : Viv Groskop Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

The identity of the 'dark lady' of the Shakespeare's sonnets has mystified academics for years. As the Globe stage a new play about Emilia Bassano, one of the main candidates, Shakespearean academics Germaine Greer and Will Tosh consider how likely it is that Emilia is the dark lady and what we know about the real Emilia Bassano- a writer herself. Denzel Washington discusses starring in his first ever sequel, The Equalizer 2. He returns as the mysterious and elusive Robert McCall, who delivers vigilante style justice for those people who can't do so for themselves, using any means necessary.As part of our Inspire season, poet Imtiaz Dharker explains why walking through the city streets in the early hours gives her inspiration.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn.

Disenchantment, Netflix's new animated series set in a fantastical medieval world from The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening is released this week. TV critic Andrew Collins and comedy writer Natasha Hodgson discuss whether the fantasy series has brought some Simpsons' magic to Netflix. Alan Garner's debut novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, is regarded as one of the great 20th century works of children's literature. It was inspired by the Cheshire landscape he grew up in, like many of his other novels like The Owl Service. His new memoir, Where Shall We Run To?, is a series of recollections of his wartime childhood but it's far from nostalgic. The Oscars have just announced the introduction of a new award category for outstanding achievement in popular film, making superhero films like Black Panther more likely to win an Oscar. Film critic Anna Smith comes into talk about the repercussions.Plus author and creative expert Dave Birss gives us his tips and tricks on how to improve our creativity.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kate Bullivant.

Sharks have long held a prominent place in mythology, the imagination and even religion for centuries. As The Meg, a thriller about a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark, hits cinema screens nature writer Philip Hoare and film critic Isabel Stevens discuss the ways in which sharks have been represented in the arts. How much is the cultural representation of these 400 million year old mysterious creatures of the deep a reflection of our own human fantasies and anxieties?This year the distinguished composer Thea Musgrave celebrated her 90th birthday. The event is being marked with a series of special performances including Turbulent Landscapes, her sequence of movements inspired by the land and seascapes of JMW Turner, at the Edinburgh Festival. She talks to Front Row about her career: her work, her teachers, her inspirations and why she puts drama at the heart of her work.Award winning mentalist and illusionist Derren Brown reveals what it is that inspires his work on stage and screen and the art he creates in his spare time as both a painter and street photographer.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins.

The mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly is an opera star, singing the big roles at La Scala, The Met, Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House. Her latest project is much more modest yet very ambitious; 'Come to Me in My Dreams' is a CD of songs and poems, mostly English - Shakespeare, Blake, Housman - set by composers all of whom studied or taught at the Royal School of Music. She talks to Morgan Quaintance about the attraction of simply singing, how she found the material - which includes two settings by Benjamin Britten never before recorded - and what connects these works that span a dozen centuries. Dame Sarah and accompanist Joseph Middleton perform a song from the album for Front Row ahead of a Prom performance on Monday.As part of Front Row's Inspire season we set three artists, the poet Alison Brackenbury, crime writer Vaseem Khan and rapper and playwright Testament, a challenge: to seek out inspiration, act on it and over the next six weeks create an original piece each, which they will perform live in the programme on 7th September. The three artists talk about their hopes and ideas.'The Producers', Mel Brooks' classic comedy musical film and Broadway show, whose hit song and dance number 'Springtime for Hitler' features Nazis doing the can-can is 50 years old. Critics Angie Errigo and Matt Wolf consider its virtues, foibles and if, given the political state of the world now, such a film could be made today.Presenter: Morgan Quaintance Producer: Julian May.

Craig and Charlie Reid, better known as The Proclaimers, are live in the Front Row studio playing the title track of their new album Angry Cyclist. They discuss passing the 30 year landmark as professional musicians, seeing their music inspire a theatre production and a film, and why the idea of an angry cyclist seemed for them the perfect way of capturing the current political mood.Two new productions inspired by Gulliver's Travels open this month in Bolton and Edinburgh. Their respective directors - Elizabeth Newman and Dan Coleman - discuss the appeal of Jonathan Swift's classic novel, and how their respective versions celebrate and challenge different aspects of this 18th century story. Continuing Front Row's Inspire season, Drew Hemment, artist and founder of the FutureEverything Festival, and Lesley Taker, Exhibitions Manager at FACT - the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, discuss how the internet has inspired artists. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ekene Akalawu.

The Artist's Way is a creative self-help book that has sold over 4 million copies and garnered dedicated fans around the world. As part of Front Row's Inspire season we speak to its author Julia Cameron who explains the philosophy behind her 12 week programme and answers listener's questions. Stephen Mangan stars as an online therapist in new Channel 4 comedy Hang Ups, loosely based on US series Web Therapy starring Lisa Kudrow. Mangan, co-wrote and produced the series, which also features Katherine Parkinson, David Tennant, Charles Dance and Celia Imrie. Critic Emma Bullimore reviews. As part of the 2018 BBC Proms, yesterday saw Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos - each with their own different and distinctive orchestration - performed alongside six newly commissioned companion works. Music journalist and critic Alexandra Coghlan has the Front Row verdict. To mark Jamaican Independence Day, award-winning poet Kei Miller chooses his favourite piece by poets from his home country.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Jack Soper.

Yesterday we launched our new season Inspire. Today we ask the key question: what is inspiration? The poet Kei Miller, the composer Philip Venables, the novelist Stella Duffy, the artist Aowen Jin and the philosopher Julian Baggini join Front Row to share their thoughts on the line between a magical moment and hard graft.On Monday Aurora Orchestra return to the BBC Proms to perform Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony entirely from memory. We're joined in the studio by the orchestra's principle cellist Torun Stavseng and concert pianist and music writer Susan Tomes to explore the opportunities and limitations of performing classical music without a score.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hilary Dunn.

We explore the natural landscape as artistic inspiration from three locations around the country. Writer Tracy Chevalier and artist Gayle Chong Kwan join John Wilson in Epping Forest to discuss why forests and trees have sparked ideas for them, composer Brian Irvine and broadcaster Marie-Louise Muir consider the art made about the sea and coastline from Helen's Bay, County Down and poet Kenneth Steven and critic Hannah McGill explore lochs, mountains and islands as a theme from the shore of Loch Lomond.Tonight's programme is the launch of Front Row's Inspire season. We'll be finding out what artistic inspiration is - how do you define that moment when an idea strikes, and where artists find it - the natural world, their dreams, their muse, their Gods. But most importantly, we want to inspire you at home, by speaking to creativity experts and finding out the best tips and tricks to spark your own ideas. The season runs throughout the summer and concludes in September.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins.