Front Row

The Legend of Ned Ludd - writer Joe Ward Munrow and director Jude Christian discuss their new play at the Liverpool Everyman theatre which explores the changing nature of work over the centuries and around the world in the the face of automation.The shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction was announced today - journalist Jamie Klingler assesses the selection.As the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool prepares to show off its latest acquisitions, curator Kate O'Donoghue explains what the their new Degas and Monet works will bring to their collection.Artist Mohammad Barrangi discusses his new installation - One Night, One Dream, Life in the Lighthoue - at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery in Leeds University, inspired by his residency at the university's Special Collections. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

The British Library isn’t all books; it has a huge sound archive, one of the largest in the world. It has drawn on this for Beyond the Bassline, the first major exhibition to documenting Black British music. Curators Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley guide Shahidha Bari through the 500-year musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain.Emily Henry is a giant of the Beach Read: indeed one of her best selling novels is literally called that. With her forthcoming Funny Book, she is joined by author of The Garnett Girls Georgina Moore to discuss what goes into an ideal summer book.And on Shakespeare's birthday, we discuss the women who made him as well as his female contemporaries with Charlotte Scott, from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Rami Targoff author of Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the RenaissancePresenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Taylor Swift returns with The Tortured Poets Department, a surprise double album that features 31 tracks that fans are saying is her most intimate and lyrically revealing yet. Joining Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the work are Times music writer Lisa Vericco and Satu Hameenho-Fox, whose new book Into The Taylor-Verse is out next month.The Intercity 125 train, the Kenwood mixer, the Morphy Richards iron, the Wilkinson triple razor, bus shelters, the black cab, and the Parker 25 pen all have one thing in common – they were designed by Sir Kenneth Grange. As a new book about his life and work comes out, we went to his house to meet him. Hettie Judah joins us fresh from the famous international cultural exhibition, the Venice Biennale, now in it’s 60th year. She’ll be reviewing the highs and lows.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May

Knife is Salman Rushdie’s memoir about surviving a near-fatal knife attack in August 2022 and the long, painful period of recovery that followed. Ben Power’s adaption of the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend – London Tide – which features songs that he co-wrote with PJ Harvey, has just opened at the National Theatre in London. Baby Reindeer is a new Netflix drama written by and starring Richard Gadd who drew directly on his own shocking experience of being stalked. All three are reviewed by Tahmima Anam and John Mullan.We also hear from tenor Ian Bostridge on mobile phone use in concert halls and why he stopped a performance of Britten's Les Illuminations with the CBSO last night.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones

Lionel Shriver on her latest novel Mania, in which she creates an alternative USA where the Mental Parity Movement insists that everyone is equally clever. Can a friendship between two women survive when they hold polarised views on this particular “culture war”? Why are universities all over the country closing arts courses and cutting jobs? Front Row investigates and considers the consequences.Playwright Tyrell Williams talks about his acclaimed play Red Pitch, about three young lads dreaming of football stardom. But what happens when their local football pitch is under threat, as a result of gentrification? Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May

Lord Byron died 200 years ago on Friday. Lady Caroline Lamb described him as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. Fiona Stafford has edited Byron's Travels, a new selection of his poems, letters and journals. He was only 36 when he died, but had written seven volumes of verse, thirteen volumes of journal and thousands of letters. The poet A. E. Stallings, who lives in Greece, where Byron died while supporting the Greek struggle for independence - and Fiona Stafford, join Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate this great, scandalous and very funny Romantic poet.We talk about the sped-up music phenomenon, and what it tells us about the constantly evolving relationship between the music industry and music fans. Music business writer Eamonn Forde and singer-songwriter Fiona Bevan are in the Front Row studio.And artist Sir John Akomfrah joins us from the British Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale where he is representing the UK, with his exhibition, Listening All Night To The Rain.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters

British director Jeymes Samuel discusses his new film The Book of Clarence, a Biblical comedy about a down-on-his-luck young man who tries to escape from a debt by pretending to be a messiah like Christ.Sonali Bhattacharyya on her new play Liberation Square, which just opened at the Nottingham Playhouse and explores the lives of three young Muslim women who find themselves caught up in the state surveillance ‘Prevent’ programme.With the hit Belfast-set drama Blue Lights returning to BBC One for its second season tonight, Kathy Clugston reports on Northern Ireland booming film industry. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Paula McGrath

Back to Black is the Amy Winehouse biopic out this week and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. James is Percival Everett’s retelling of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, narrated by the enslaved Jim. The Wallace collection spotlights Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and the treasure trove of weapons that kept him in power. Writer Dreda Say Mitchell and journalist and broadcaster Bidisha join Tom Sutcliffe to review. We also look at the BAFTA games awards with scummy mummy and gamer Ellie Gibson.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones

Anna May Wong was an international star who appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies in a career that spanned from the silent films of the 1920s, through the advent of talkies in the 30s, to television in the 1950s, despite all the obstacles in her path. A new biography, Not Your China Doll, examines how against all the odds Anna May Wong found international fame and became a trailblazer for Asian American actors. The English folk singer and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson performs material from his new album - his 24th - Skydancers. The title track, commissioned by naturalist Chris Packham, highlights the plight of the Hen harrier. Simpson talks about his love of birds, of traditional song, of writing his own, the influence on him of American music, and a lifetime playing the guitar and banjo. Some leaders of classical music organisations say that the attitude to funding by the Arts Councils in England and Wales is undermining excellence, and putting inclusion before professionalism. We hear from a range of voices, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Opera House; John Gilhooly, director of the Wigmore Hall and chair of the Royal Philharmonic Society; Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and a former music director at Arts Council England; and Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and former Executive Director of the Arts Council Northwest. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May

Nathan Hill talks about his new novel Wellness, the follow-up to his acclaimed debut The Nix.Maggie Rogers, the singer-songwriter whose career was launched by a student performance for Pharrell Williams that went viral, talks about her latest album Don't Forget Me.Romesh Gunasekera discusses the novels on the International Booker Prize Shortlist, announced today. And Melanie Abbott reports on how the BBC and Netflix’s disability partnership is progressing over two years on from its much heralded launch.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham