Front Row

Award-winning author Anuradha Roy crafts pots as well as prose. She joins us live from India to discuss the fusion of ceramics and storytelling, pottery and politics in her new novel, The Earthspinner, a coming of age story set between two continents.At a recent auction some 19th century pottery jugs, expected to fetch £100 or so, sold for £3,000 - £4,000. They were bought by major museums vying to add them to their collections. The jugs' selling point was that they were decorated with anti-slavery images or celebrations of abolition. Clare Durham, ceramics specialist at auctioneers Woolley & Wallis, who sold them, talks to Kirsty Lang about pottery propaganda and the increased interest in such pieces.The British Ceramics Biennial is the largest ceramics event in the UK. Its new artistic director, Clare Wood, joins Front Row to discuss the shortlist for the festival’s contemporary ceramics prize and to reflect on a new artwork that puts slavery on a plate.Nadine Dorries replaces Oliver Dowden as the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. BBC Arts Correspondent Vincent Dowd discusses the implications.Main image: A plate from Jacqueline Bishop's History at the Dinner Table exhibition. Image credit: Jenny Harper

The role of Norman, the longsuffering, waspish eponymous dresser in Ronald Harwood's 1980 play, might have been written for Julian Clary. It's about a touring theatre company bringing Shakespeare to the provinces during the Blitz. As all the young actors are away fighting it's a motley crew, led by Sir, a monstrous yet pathetic veteran actor. Sir's mind and his world are crumbling. Only Norman can cajole him onto the stage. Now Julian Clary is playing Norman, in a touring theatre company, during a pandemic. He talks to Kirsty Lang about Norman, his relationship with Sir, and how, now we know more about dementia, this play, considered the best ever about theatre itself, is more pertinent than ever.This week, the Royal Opera House opened to a full capacity audience for the first time since March 2020, with Sir Antonio Pappano picking up the baton in the pit. He tells Kirsty how good it felt to be back, why it’s taken so long for him to conduct Verdi’s popular masterpiece, and why he’s jealous of his continental counterparts.And on the day that the Booker Prize shortlist is announced, we’re joined live in the studio by Horatia Harrod, member of the judging panel and an editor at The Financial Times Weekend, to discuss the six novels in the running for this year's £50,000 award.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones

Liane Moriarty is the best-selling author of nine novels including, Big Little Lies, and Nine Perfect Strangers, both of which have been adapted for television. Her latest novel, Apples Never Fall, is a mystery wrapped up in a domestic drama which focuses on an Australian family shaped by their passion for tennis.Described as a pianist like no other, Igor Levit describes himself as a citizen and a European before a pianist. He has performed around the world, but when lockdown put a stop to that he took to live-streaming “House Concerts” from his apartment in Berlin. His new album ‘On DSCH’ features music by Shostakovich and Ronald Stevenson. He tells John Wilson why he chose music by those composers, and what he learnt from music in lockdown.Matthew Bourne joins us to discuss his new ballet The Midnight Bell, based on the work of the writer Patrick HamiltonPresenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn

Front Row announces the shortlist for the £15,000, 16th BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. Judge Fiona Mozley, author of Booker-shortlisted novel Elmet, joins us live to discuss the storiesAustralian tenor Stuart Skelton is a fan of a party. And what bigger party in classical music than the Last Night of the Proms?! Stuart will be taking centre stage and singing the traditional ‘Rule Britannia’ as well as a selection of opera arias. He tells John why he’s looking forward to the event, and the all-important outfit reveal.This month Marvel Studios released its first film with an Asian lead – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It’s an origin story that brings together martial arts, Chinese folklore and Hollywood CGI spectacle. Cultural critic Yuan Ren reviews. 25 years since the release of The Spice Girls debut album, more recently the departure of Jesy Nelson from Little Mix saying she found “the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard." And this week, the announcement of the death of Girls Aloud member, Sarah Harding. Dr Julia Downes, who edited Women Make Noise: Girl Bands from Motown to the Modern, shares her thoughts on the girl band.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

Elijah Wood tells Tom Sutcliffe about his new film No Man of God. Elijah Wood plays criminal profiler Bill Hagmaier in a story based on interview transcripts. Hagmaier is sent by the FBI to visit the serial killer Ted Bundy on death row. A fascinating, troubling relationship develops which becomes all the more intense when the date of Bundy's execution is announced. It's just a week away; Bundy agrees to talk, and he has much to confess.As lockdown and the pandemic brought concerts to a standstill, many musicians and comedians turned to online live streaming to perform, entertain and connect with audiences. According to YouTube, 78% of British people watched a live stream over the last 12 months. But now as live events return, and with concerns still over safety, have live streams proven they can coexist alongside in-person concerts as a way to feel part of an experience? Musician Paul Smith from Maximo Park and director and filmmaker Oscar Sansom discussIt’s often said that we’re living in a podcast ‘boom,’ with increased investment from technology giants and big name celebrity signings. But how diverse is the industry itself? The Equality in Audio Pact, launched in 2020, aims to tackle some of the systemic barriers to entry in radio and podcasting for people from under-represented backgrounds. Imriel Morgan is the Founder and CEO of podcast marketing agency Content is Queen- a signatory to the pact- and she’s also an award-winning host of the Wanna Be Podcast. She joins us to give her assessment of diversity and inclusion in the audio industry today.

The recent Netflix comedy drama, The Chair, centres on an English professor, played by Sandra Oh who has just been appointed the first female chair of the department and has big dreams about modernising it. Hanna Flint joins us to reviewWe hear live from the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, announced this evening: Susanna Clarke for her novel Piranesi. This year’s chair of judges is Bernardine EvaristoImmersive theatre group Punchdrunk are well known for their imaginative use of unusual locations. They have just announced that they will be establishing a permanent location for future productions – could this mean they’re going mainstream and spell the end of their unorthodox experimentation? We speak with Felix Barratt, Artistic Director and Maxine Doyle, choreographerIt’s time for Front Row’s fifth and final preview of the Art Fund Museum Of The Year nominees. The winner will receive £100,000 and the museums have been spread around the UK. Today’s venue is Timespan in the north eastern Scottish Highlands in Helmsdale, a village of just 800 people. We talk to Sadie Young, the only fulltime member of staff.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah JohnsonMain image above: Sandra Oh in Netflix's The Chair series Image credit: Eliza Morse/Netflix 2021

Iranian-born artist, photographer and filmmaker Shirin Neshat talk to us about her latest work - a feature film entitled Land of Dreams which premiered at The Venice Film Festival last week -and her exhibition at Photo London of still images connected to New Mexico.The last of our Women’s Prize for Fiction-shortlisted authors, Yaa Gyasi, talks to Front Row ahead of the winner’s announcement tomorrow. Her novel Transcendent Kingdom considers big questions of science, belief and addiction in the story of a family.Professor Mark Anthony Neal marks the death of actor Michael K. Williams, best known for playing Omar in the US TV series The Wire. A report today finds that as temperatures rise, dragonflies are thriving here. Insects have long fascinated poets and we hear Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem capturing the beauty, and the life cycle, of the dragonfly - in just eight lines. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

Guitarist Peter Green last performed with Fleetwood Mac, the band he help found, in 1970. Fellow founding-member Mick Fleetwood has honoured Green's legacy in an all-star concert that will be shown in cinemas, celebrating the band's early music. Mick Fleetwood talks to Samira about the early days of Fleetwood Mac, working with Peter, and dreams of a Fleetwood Mac reunion.Filmmaker Cathy Brady has already won international prizes for her short films. Now she’s made her debut feature film, Wildfire. An exploration of the relationship between two sisters in a Northern Ireland town as they try to come to terms with the aftermath of The Troubles they were too young to remember but which had a direct impact on their family.The death of French cinema star Jean Paul Belmondo was announced. He was 88. We speak with Agnes Poirier in Paris about his long career and about what made him such a star. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver JonesMain image: Nora-Jane Noone (Left) and Danika McGuigan in Cathy Brady's film Wildfire Image credit: Modern Films

Irish author Sally Rooney’s third novel 'Beautiful World, Where Are You' has just been released amid a fanfare of publicity and speculation. It follows the runaway success of the TV adaptation of her Booker longlisted second novel, Normal People, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. Essayist and critic Sinéad Gleeson and writer Zing Tsjeng, Executive Editor of Vice UK, join us to review.Film Critic Jason Solomons is Front Row’s correspondent at this year’s Venice International Film Festival. He reports on Spencer, the film portrayal of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as she comes to terms with the end of her marriage; Dune – the sci-fi story that has become a Mount Everest-sized challenge for experienced and novice film directors alike; and festival favourite Pedro Almòdovar’s latest creation Parallel Mothers.Scottish band Mogwai formed 25 years ago in Glasgow, and this year released their 10th album ‘As the love continues’. The album achieved their first number 1 and their first Mercury Prize nomination. Guitarist Stuart Braithwaite joins John to talk about the band's history, future, and how much the nomination means to them.In St Just this weekend performances will begin of the Cornish Ordinalia - a medieval three-play cycle - Origo Mundi (The Creation of the World), The Passion & The Resurrection. It’s a vibrant drama and also a key text in the history of the Cornish language. To coincide with the performances, for the first time in centuries the manuscripts of the Ordinalia are on display in Cornwall at Kresen Kernow, Cornwall’s archive centre. Matthew Rogers attended rehearsals, spoke to those involved and heard more about the text. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Harry Parker

When Quentin Tarantino’s debut novel, was published earlier this summer, he gave his only UK broadcast interview to Front Row. Now in a special edition of the programme, Kirsty Lang presents an extended version of that interview. For the subject of his new book, Tarantino turned to his last film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which looked at the Hollywood of the late 1960s, through the relationship between an actor, who fears his career is in decline, and his best friend, his stunt double. The result is a novelisation which harmonises with the story he told on the big screen. In this interview, Tarantino discusses his long career as a filmmaker and his plans for the future.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ekene Akalawu Studio Engineer: Sue Maillot