This Cultural Life

Patricia Cornwell’s books have sold over 120 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She’s authored dozens of New York Times bestsellers. For over thirty years her protagonist, the forensic scientist Kay Scarpetta has been investigating murders across America, tracking down criminals by analysing evidence left on the bodies of victims. Cornwell has won the Sherlock Award, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development. She's also authored two books on the identity of Jack the Ripper. Her latest Kay Scarpetta novel is Unnatural Death.Patricia talks to John Wilson about her challenging childhood and upbringing in North Carolina. She reveals the influence of two works of literature on her own writing; Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an ancestor of Cornwell's; and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. She also talks about her interest in the Parthenon Sculptures and her fascination with the identity of Jack the Ripper.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Andrew Scott won a BAFTA as the evil Moriarty in Sherlock, but is equally loved for a divine television role as the hot priest in Fleabag. A prolific and versatile stage actor, he has starred in many plays by contemporary dramatists, including Port and Birdland by Simon Stevens. He played Hamlet to great critical acclaim and won an Olivier award for his starring role in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter. His latest film role is All Of Us Strangers, in which he plays a single gay man haunted by the death of his parents. Andrew Scott talks to John Wilson about his suburban Dublin childhood and the early creative influence of his mother, an art teacher. After landing a debut role in an independent Irish film called Korea, Andrew gave up a university place studying drama to pursue an acting career. He remembers small parts playing American soldiers in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and the television series Band Of Brothers. He discusses his love of Shakespeare and his approach to playing the role of Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre in London in 2017, and reveals how the music of Pet Shop Boys, and in particular their 1987 album Actually, are a reminder of a formative time of his life.Producer: Edwina Pitman

John Wilson's guest is the violinist Nigel Kennedy. A prodigy whose childhood talents were nurtured by Yehudi Menuhin, one of the greatest violinist of the 20th century, Kennedy himself became an international star in 1989 with his recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It sold over three million copies, topping the UK classical charts for a year and went on to be listed as the biggest selling classical album of all time in the Guinness Book Of Records. An unconventional classical musician from the outset, it wasn’t just his wardrobe, accent and attitude that set him apart. As well as recording all the major violin concertos, his repertoire includes jazz standards, folk tunes and Jimi Hendrix. He remains one of the world’s greatest virtuosos. For This Cultural Life, Nigel chooses his two violinist mentors; Yehudi Menuhin and the French musician Stéphane Grappelli with whom he shared a love of jazz and improvisation. Going to New York to study at the prestigious Juilliard School also proved a turning point for Kennedy, not so much for the teaching he received there, but for the legendary jazz musicians like Jimmy Rowles and Ellis Larkins that he sought out in clubs downtown and in Harlem. Nigel also discusses how being a fan of Aston Villa football club has made him think about crowd dynamics in his concerts and reveals the influence of his dog Huxley on his approach to his career. Producer: Edwina Pitman

Judi Dench, one of the greatest classical actors of our times, reflects on her career playing Shakespearean roles and shares intimate insights into her relationship with the work of William Shakespeare. She discusses her pivotal experiences, including her very first professional stage role as Ophelia in Hamlet, her landmark production of Macbeth, and her experience performing with macular degeneration. Dench also explores the lasting significance of Shakespeare in her life and career, including winning an Oscar for a role in a Shakespearean production.

Werner Herzog, a renowned filmmaker with over 80 films, talks about his impoverished childhood, his inspiration from cave paintings, and capturing the power of the natural world. He shares stories of audacious shoots and working with volatile actor Klaus Kinski. They also discuss walking, the influence of travel writer Bruce Chatwin, a deadly snake bite incident, and the connection between indigenous people and his film. Herzog reflects on his work rate and creative drive.

Lyricist Bernie Taupin is one half of one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of all time. For more than 50 years, he has written the lyrics for Elton John’s songs including Tiny Dancer, Candle In The Wind, Rocket Man, Your Song and hundreds more. Having first met in 1967, after they both answered an advert in the NME placed by a record company seeking new musical talent, Elton John and Bernie Taupin have sold more than 300 million albums globally. Born in Lincolnshire, Bernie Taupin has lived in States since the mid 1970s and became an American citizen in 1990. With the publication of a memoir called Scattershot, he made a rare visit to the UK to look back at his life in lyrics.For This Cultural Life, Bernie Taupin discusses his childhood fascination with narrative poetry and storytelling. Hearing the songs of 1950s American country singer Marty Robbins, which told stories of cowboys and outlaws, was a life changing experience for Taupin. He recalls the impact of seeing the Sam Peckinpah western movie The Wild Bunch in 1969, a film renowned for its violent portrayal of 19th century cowboy life, and how it influenced the themes explored in the lyrics of the third Elton John album, Tumbleweed Connection, in 1970. Bernie Taupin also explores the impact of literature on his lyric writing and how flawed protagonists in novels by W. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene in particular helped inspire the characters and stories in his own songs. He tells John Wilson about the duo's unusual songwriting process in which he sends Elton John completed lyrics, who then composes the songs around the words, a method that they have used throughout their long partnership. Producer: Edwina Pitman

Born George Mpanga, George the Poet is a British spoken-word artist and podcast host. Having started out as a rapper, he made his name as a spoken-word performance poet after leaving Cambridge University. His debut collection Search Party was published in 2015. The same year he was nominated for the Brits Critics Choice Award and the BBC Sound Of 2015 poll. He was also offered an MBE but declined the honour. He launched a genre-defying podcast in 2019, which won a host of prizes including the Peabody Award, a prestigious American prize for broadcasting, becoming the first podcast from outside the States to win it. Have You Heard George’s podcast, as it’s called, interweaves stories of his own upbringing with detailed explorations of contemporary social and political issues. George talks to John Wilson about some of his most formative cultural influences including the grammar school that taught him the essay-writing skills he still puts to use when making his podcast. He reveals how Tupac Shakur’s 1998 song Changes ignited his interest in hip hop, and discusses the impact of rap and grime on his own verse. He also remembers how his local community radio station gave him his first break and encouraged the development as a performer.Producer: Edwina Pitman

One of the world’s most successful living choreographers, Sir Matthew Bourne shook up classical ballet in the mid 1990s with his ground-breaking company Adventures In Motion Pictures, later renamed New Adventures. His breakthrough production, a radical new version The Nutcracker, was followed by a production of Swan Lake where he replaced the traditional female swans with a male ensemble. After initial controversy in the press, it became a massive critical and commercial hit. Since then he’s continued to popularise classical dance with a succession of innovative productions, often drawing inspiration from movies or literature. He’s had hits with the Red Shoes, Edward Scissorhands, Dorian Gray and Lord Of the Flies, and has won Olivier and Tony Awards. Matthew Bourne was knighted in 2016 for services to dance. In This Cultural Life he talks about how his love of classic films musicals started with seeing The Sound of Music as a young boy, and falling in love with Julie Andrews. He recalls his teenage years as one of London’s top autograph hunters meeting the likes of Gene Kelly, Charlie Chaplin and his hero Fred Astaire. He also explains how he was a relative latecomer to ballet and only saw his first ballet - a Sadler's Wells production of Swan Lake - at the age of 18. Matthew Bourne also chooses Powell and Pressburger’s 1948 film The Red Shoes as one of his formative influences.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Renowned for tackling big themes on stage, Lucy Prebble made her name as a playwright in her mid-twenties when she wrote the hugely successful Enron. The play, which premiered in 2009 and explored the collapse of the American energy corporation eight years earlier, transferred to the West End and also played on Broadway. In 2019 she premiered A Very Expensive Poison which dramatized the assassination in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Lucy Prebble has also written for television, she devised and wrote the black comedy series I Hate Suzie with its star Billie Piper. She was also one of the writers of the Emmy, Golden Globes and BAFTA winning Succession, about the ageing media mogul deciding if and how to hand control of his corporate empire to his children. In conversation with John Wilson, Lucy recalls how an early job as an assistant to Nicholas Hytner in his first year as Director of the National Theatre helped her to begin her career as a writer. She reveals how Billy Bragg's song Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards is a continued inspiration in her work as a playwright and the influence that Bob Fosse’s 1979 film All That Jazz had on her TV series I Hate Suzie. She also discusses being part of the team that wrote the hit TV series Succession and what effect the experience has had on her and her work.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Renowned author, poet, and performer Michael Rosen discusses his career, including his popular book 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. He reflects on his upbringing in a book-filled household influenced by his parents' political beliefs and his early inspiration from the painting 'Netherlandish Proverbs'. Michael also opens up about the impact of his son's death and his discovery of his Jewish family's fate during the war.