Arts & Ideas

British TV and film producer Tony Garnett is in conversation with Matthew Sweet about a career which straddles the Wednesday Play and the many films he worked on with Ken Loach for the BBC in the 1960s, including Up The Junction and Cathy Come Home through the late 1990s series This Life to Between the Lines and a forthcoming drama about police infiltration of British activist groups. Tony Garnett's memoir is called The Day The Music Died. Producer: Fiona McLean

Anne McElvoy evaluates the first major English edition of short fiction by the great German critic and essayist, Walter Benjamin with the translator and scholar Esther Leslie and the critic, Kevin Jackson. Also in the programme a guide to the Soviet Superwoman courtesy of curator Elena Sudokova and Dolya Gavanski -- the moving forces behind the GRAD gallery show devoted to women in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991.And as Peter Watkins' critically acclaimed film based on the life of Edvard Munch is re-released New Generation Thinker Leah Broad considers the Norwegian painter's achievement and the art of biography.Fay Bound Alberti's cultural history of the body completes the programme - why do we talk of the heart as the seat of our emotions and where would you expect to find someone's "mind" ? This Mortal Coil by Fay Bound Alberti is published by Oxford University Press.The Storyteller by Walter Benjamin is published by Verso on 23rd June.Superwoman: Work, Build and Don't Whine is on at GRAD in Little Portland Street in London from 18 June -17 SeptemberEdvard Munch - a 1974 biographical film about the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch, written and directed by Peter Watkins, has been re-released on DVD by Eureka.Leah Broad's research at the University of Oxford is focused on Nordic modernism. She is editor of The Oxford Culture Review and winner of the Observer/Anthony Burgess prize for the best arts journalism essay in 2015 for her reappraisal of the Finnish composer Sibelius.Producer: Zahid Warley

Philip Dodd debates "Universities - therapy or learning?". New Generation Thinker Dr Seán Williams looks at the history of the university as a space for thought, considering the arguments put forward by Frederick Nietzsche. Dr Seán Williams is at the University of Sheffield's School of Languages and Cultures. He is an expert on German and Comparative Literature and is currently researching a cultural history of hairdressing.Dr Matt Lodder, Lecturer in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture at the University of Essex and Dr Joanna Williams, education editor of Spiked Online and former Director of the Study for Higher Education at the University of Kent discuss what is happening in academia and what it means. Dr Shahidha Bari reviews Omer Fast's film of Tom McCarthy's novel Remainder. And Adam Mars Jones joins her to discuss the place for experimentation in the arts today.

Psychoanalyst Darian Leader's new book looks at the culture and psychology of the human hand. He joins Matthew Sweet along with art historian Lisa Le Feuvre, currently curating an exhibition on sculpture and prosthesis at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, and robotics scientist Thrishantha Nanayakkara from King's College London, who works on the problem of engineering a functioning hand from scratch.'The Anatomical Venus' looks at another point where physiology and art meet, in waxwork anatomical models. The book's author Joanna Ebenstein joins Matthew along with the curator of the Barts Pathology Museum Carla Valentine.And, one of this year's New Generation Thinkers, Seb Falk, unveils his work on the history of science. Seb Falk is at the University of Cambridge and blogs at http://astrolabesandstuff.blogspot.co.uk/ New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. Find out more from our website and hear them introducing their research in the programme which broadcast on May 31st - available as an arts and ideas podcast.The Body Extended: Sculpture and Prosthetics runs at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds from 21st July 2016 - 23rd October 2016Robotics Open Day 2016 runs 11am to 4pm King's College London on Sat 25th June. You can hear more about The Robots Are Coming at Southbank's Power of Power Festival debates on Saturday 25 June Producer: Luke Mulhall

Anne McElvoy is joined by curators and artists and an audience at Nottingham Contemporary to discuss the life of an artist today as Tate Modern opens its new wing. Her panel is Elizabeth Price - winner of the Turner Prize in 2012 and curator of a new touring exhibition Alice Channer - a sculptor who graduated from the Royal College in 2008 Sam Thorne Director of Nottingham Contemporary and former Artistic Director of Tate St Ives Ann Gallagher who holds responsibility for building Tate's collection and archive of British art In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and You Were Full of Joy curated by Turner Prize-winning artist Elizabeth Price is at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Presenting a vast repertoire of seminal artworks and historical objects, it explores the psychological and affective power of the horizontal. It runs from June 10th to October 30th and then moves to the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea. Nottingham Contemporary is hosting exhibitions this summer displaying the work of Michael Beutler and Yelena Popova 16 Jul 2016 - 25 Sep 2016. The largest ever exhibition in the UK of the works of Simon Starling – the Turner Prize winner in 2005 runs until June 26th. Tate Modern's new ten-storey Switch House opens 17 June 2016. It gives Tate Modern 60% more space for displays and opens with a focus on the work of Louise Bourgeois in the Artist Rooms. Works by Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin and Henri Matisse join new acquisitions from Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition runs from June 13th to August 21st. Producer: Torquil MacLeod.

Philip Dodd talks to Emma Cline whose first novel about teenage girls and the Charles Manson cult and our third 2016 New Generation Thinker Louisa Uchum Egbunike marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Efuru by Flora Nwapa - the first novel written by a Nigerian woman to be published. She's joined by editor and critic Ellah Allfrey to look at African writing today. Plus Dark Money - New Yorker writer, Jane Mayer examines how money has changed American politics. And she's joined by Professor Gary Gerstle and Dr James Boys to discuss the tensions between free speech and big donors, populists and libertarians. Emma Cline's first novel The Girls is out now.Jane Mayer's book is called Dark Money: How a Secretive Group of Billionaires is trying to buy political control in the USLouisa Uchum Egbunike is at Manchester Metropolitan University. Louisa co-convenes an annual Igbo conference at SOASNew Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. Find out more from our website and hear them introducing their research in the programme which broadcast on May 31st - available as an arts and ideas podcast.Producer: Ruth Watts

Artist Dorothy Cross, author Joanna Kavenna, the cosmologist Jo Dunkley and our second 2016 New Generation Thinker historian Edmund Richardson from Durham University join Matthew Sweet for a programme recorded in Oxford exploring mysticism and its role in a timeless search for reality.Joanna Kavenna's novel A Field Guide to Reality is published at the end of June.Dorothy Cross is displaying art as part of Mystics and Rationalists - it runs from June 11th to August 7th as part of the Kaleidoscope series celebrating 50 years of Modern Art Oxford.Edmund Richardson has published Classical Victorians: Scholars, Scoundrels & Generals in Pursuit of Antiquity.New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. Find out more from our website and hear them introducing their research in the programme which broadcast on May 31st - available as an arts and ideas podcast.Producer: Jacqueline Smith

As two major archaeological exhibitions open in the UK featuring discoveries from underwater excavations off Egypt and Sicily, Rana Mitter hears from historian and archaeologist, Alexandra Sofroniew, exhibition curator of Storms, War and Shipwrecks at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum about a British pioneer of underwater excavations, Honor Frost, and discusses why underwater sites make the difficulties and challenges worthwhile with Damian Robinson, Director of Centre for Maritime Archaeology at Oxford University and contributing archaeologist to the British Museum's Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds.Joining them to discuss the changing story of archaeology itself in this country and abroad, Raimund Karl, Professor of Archaeology and Heritage at Bangor University who has done two continent-wide surveys on the state of the profession in Europe while continuing to dig, study and develop the ever changing story of the Celts, and Susan Greaney, who works for English Heritage presenting interpretations of sites from Stonehenge to Tintagel to the public when she's not digging in Orkney and pursuing her PhD on Neolithic ceremonial complexes. Storms, War and Shipwrecks: Treasures from the Sicilian Seas is at the Ashmolean Museum 21 June 2016 – 25 September 2016 Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds is at the British Museum from May 19th - November 27th 2016.Producer: Jacqueline SmithGuests: Alexandra Sofroniew, exhibition curator Storms, War and Shipwrecks, Ashmolean Museum Damian Robinson, Director, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology Raimund Karl, Professor Archaeology and Heritage, Bangor University Susan Greaney, English Heritage

Moral philosopher Peter Singer is in conversation with Philip Dodd. His essay Famine, Affluence and Morality was first printed in 1972 in the journal Philosophy and Public Affairs. It has now been republished with a foreword by Bill and Melinda Gates. Peter Singer's book is called Famine, Affluence and Morality Producer: Ruth Watts

Icelandic writer Sjón talks to Matthew Sweet about fiction, poetry and making music with Björk. Curator Sacha Llewellyn explores the art of Winifred Knights, Katie Roiphe looks at writers dying and in the first of our commissioned columns from 2016 New Generation Thinkers - Sarah Jackson from Nottingham Trent University explores touch and frostbite. Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón was named Best Icelandic Novel of 2015. The English translation which is out now is from Victoria Cribb. Winifred Knights (1899-1947) is the first major retrospective of the award-winning Slade School artist which will display all her completed paintings for the first time since their creation, including the apocalyptic masterpiece The Deluge, 1920. It runs at the Dulwich Picture Gallery from June 8th to September 18th 2016. Katie Roiphe's new book The Violet Hour considers the deaths of six literary figures Susan Sontag, Sigmund Freud, John Updike, Dylan Thomas, Maurice Sendak and James Salter. Sarah Jackson from Nottingham Trent University is one of the 2016 New Generation Thinkers and a poet whose collection Pelt was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. Find out more from our website and hear them introducing their research in the programme which broadcast on May 31st - available as an arts and ideas podcast. Producer: Fiona McLean.

Philip Dodd is joined by art historian Devika Singh to consider the art of Bhupen Khakhar and the subjects he explored including class difference; desire and homosexuality; and his personal battle with cancer.Also, Saskia Sassen, Jane Morris, David Anderson and Pat Kane discuss the emergence of London as a global city and what the economic and cultural ramifications might be for the rest of the UK.Bhupen Khakhar is on show at Tate Modern from June 1st to September 6th.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Lionel Shriver, Marlon James and Steve Jones join Rana Mitter for a Free Thinking discussion about inheritance recorded at this week's Hay Festival. The discussion ranges from family relationships to the planet we are leaving for future generations, from money to morality, genius to ideas about goodness and evil. Lionel Shriver's latest novel called The Mandibles depicts a family living in a near future America where the dollar has crashed and food is scarce. She is also the author of We Need To Talk About Kevin, Big Brother and A Perfectly Good Family. The biologist and geneticist Steve Jones' latest book No Need For Geniuses looks at Paris at the time of the French Revolution, when it was the world capital of science. Marlon James won the Booker Prize for his most recent novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. His other books include Crow's Devil and The Book of Night Women.

Find out who have been named as the 10 New Generation Thinkers for 2016 as they join Rana Mitter to share interesting facts from their research with the audience at this week's Hay Festival. Topics include the history of the hairdresser to the search for Alexander the Great's missing tomb; why Sigmund Freud detested the telephone to the complex relationship between the USSR and its historic churches.New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. You can hear more from the New Generation Thinkers who will be appearing on Free Thinking throughout June and find out more from our website. The New Generation Thinkers 2016:Leah Broad, University of Oxford Leah Broad’s research is on Nordic modernism, exploring the music written for the theatre at the turn of the 20th century, taking her to Finland and Scandinavia to search out scores which have not been heard since the early 1900s. As a journalist Leah won the Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism in 2015. She is the founder of The Oxford Culture ReviewKatherine Cooper, University of Newcastle Katherine Cooper is working on a project exploring the ways in which British writers including H.G.Wells, Graham Greene and Margaret Storm Jameson helped in the escape of fellow writers facing prosecution and imprisonment under fascist governments in the period between WW1 and WW2..Victoria Donovan, University of St Andrews Victoria Donovan’s is a historian of Russia whose research explores the complex and contradictory relationship between the Soviets and their religious heritage. Her new project is looking at the significance of patriotism in contemporary Putin’s Russia. She has worked on topics including Soviet and contemporary Russian cinema, socialist architecture and the connections between South Wales and the Eastern Ukraine.Louisa Uchum Egbunike, Manchester Metropolitan University Louisa Uchum Egbunike’s research centres on African literature in which she specialises in Igbo (Nigerian) fiction and culture. Her latest work explores the child’s voice in contemporary fiction on Biafra. She co-convenes an annual Igbo conference at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) and is curating a ‘Remembering Biafra’ exhibition to open in 2018.Seb Falk, University of Cambridge Seb Falk is a medieval historian and historian of science whose research centres on the scientific instruments made and used by monks, scholars and nobles in the later Middle Ages. His research has led him to made wood and brass models of the instruments he studies. His new project will be an investigation of the sciences practised by medieval monks and nuns.Sarah Jackson, Nottingham Trent University Sarah Jackson’s current research explores the relationship between the telephone and literature from the work of Arthur Conan Doyle to that of Haruki Murakami. The project involves research at the BT Archives which hold the public records of the world’s oldest communications company. She is also a poet whose collection Pelt won the prestigious Seamus Heaney Prize in 2012. Christopher Kissane, London School of Economics Christopher Kissane is a historian working on the role of food in history exploring what we can learn about societies and cultures through studying their diets. His book, which will be published later this year, examines food’s relationship with major issues of early modern society including the Spanish Inquisition and witchcraft. Anindya Raychaudhuri, University of St Andrews Anindya Raychaudhuri is working on the way nostalgia is used by diasporic communities to create imaginary and real homes. He has written about the Spanish Civil War and the India/Pakistan partition and the cultural legacies of these wars. He co-hosts a podcast show, State of the Theory, and explores the issues raised by his research in stand up comedy.Edmund Richardson, University of Durham Edmund Richardson is working on a book about the lost cities of Alexander the Great and the history of their discovery by adventurers and tricksters rather than scholars. His first book was on Victorian Britain and the ‘lowlife’ lived by magicians, con-men and deserters. His latest project is on Victorian ghost-hunters and their obsession with the ancient world which led Houdini to fight against the con-artists making a fortune from fake ‘spirits’.Sean Williams, University of Sheffield Sean Williams is currently writing a cultural history of the hairdresser from the 18th century to the present day exploring their role as ‘outsiders’ in society. As a lecturer at the University of Berne in Switzerland he taught German and Comparative Literature and wrote articles on flatulence in the 18th century and contemporary satires of Hitler.Producer: Fiona McLean

Rana Mitter rereads The Tale of Genji. Sometimes called the world's first novel it was written in the early years of the 11th century and has been credited to the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. This year's Bradford Literature Festival is focusing on the modern translation from Dennis Washburn, Professor at Dartmouth College (USA). Dennis Washburn joins Rana along with Jennifer Guest and Christopher Harding. Also in this programme, Brian Christian, co-author of new book 'Algorithms to Live By' on how maths helps us make decisions, and clinical psychologist Rasjid Skinner on Islamic approaches to psychology. Richard Bowring, Dennis Washburn, Juliet Winters Carpenter discuss The Tale of Genji at the Bradford Literature Festival on Saturday, 28th May 2016 | 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm Hadj Abdur Rasjid Skinner presents Islamic Approaches to Psychology at the Bradford Literature Festival on Saturday, 28th May 2016 | 10:30 am - 1:00 pm Brian Christian is the author of Algorithms to Live By and of The Most Human Human. Producer: Luke Mulhall

Prize winning Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vasquez, Argentinian playwright, journalist and leading crime writer Claudia Pineiro join Philip Dodd for a programme exploring fiction and fact in Latin America. There's also journalist Alex Cuadros who chronicles his years covering the rise and fall of Brazil's plutocrats. And a consideration of Eric Hobsbawm's Viva La Revolucion from Dr Oscar Guardiola-Rivera from Birkbeck College in London. Claudia Pineiro's most recent thriller is called Betty Boo, translated by Miranda France. Vásquez won the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award, for The Sound of Things Falling and his most recent book to be translated by Anne McLean is Reputations. Brazillionaires is by Alex Cuadros 40 years of writing about Latin America is brought together posthumously in Eric Hobsbawm's Viva La Revolucion Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is the author of What If Latin America Ruled the World? Producer: Ruth Watts

Matthew Sweet joins curator Katy Barron and three photographers, Wolfgang Suschitzky, Dorothy Bohm and Neil Libbert, all now over 75, to explore a show that offers an account of the twentieth century seen through their eyes. Still image then gives way to the moving image as Matthew considers what the much heralded new Carry On film may have to offer and what the original films tell us about the historical and social context from which they emerged. To ponder both the old and the new in Carry Ons he's joined by actress Jacki Piper, film historian Graham McCann and screenwriter David McGillivray. And author and former editor of the Catholic Herald Peter Stanford considers the role of relics as a bone fragment believed to come from St Thomas Becket travels from Hungary to be displayed at Canterbury.Unseen London, Paris, New York 1930s-60s: Photographs by Wolfgang Suschitzky, Dorothy Bohm and Neil Libbert is at the Ben Uri Gallery in London from May 20th to August 27th. Dorothy Bohm also has work on show at the Jewish Museum in London looking at Sixties London from 28 April - 29 August 2016Between 1958 and 1992 there were 31 Carry On films made. Plans have been announced at Cannes to make a series of new films. The fragment of bone is the centrepiece of a week-long pilgrimage in London and Kent. Peter Stanford is the author of books about Judas, the Devil, Cardinal Hume, Catholics and Sex, Heaven, A Life of Christ. Producer: Zahid Warley

Anne McElvoy talks to Dame Fiona Reynolds about a career spent defending the beauty of the British landscape, and considers an exhibition of English beauties at the Bowes Museum. She is also joined by former minister The Rt Hon David Willetts, media executive Charles Brand and Marc Stears head of the New Economics Foundation to discuss the role of the state in the 21st century, and ahead of Sunday's Drama on 3 she explores literary depictions of the city of Venice with David Barnes. Dame Fiona Reynolds' book is called The Fight For Beauty: Our Path to a Better Future English Rose Feminine Beauty from Van Dyck to Sargent runs at the Bowes Museum from 14 May - 25 September 2016 and if you're in Liverpool there's still a couple of weeks to catch the Walker Gallery show of Pre Raphaelite beauties Pre-Raphaelites: Beauty and Rebellion which runs until June 5th David Willetts is the author of The Pinch. David Barnes' book is called The Venice Myth: Culture, Literature, Politics, 1800 to the Present. Naomi Alderman's imagining of the story of Jessica from the Merchant of Venice is being broadcast on Sunday night on Radio 3 at 10pm and there's an introductory animation on the Radio 3 website and a link to Professor Jerry Broton's Sunday Feature investigating the Venice Ghetto. Producer: Eliane Glaser

Recorded before an audience at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff before the premiere of Iain Bell's opera inspired by the poem Philip Dodd presents a Landmark edition of Free Thinking devoted to David Jones' epic In Parenthesis. The discussion hears from the composer Iain Bell, the writer, Iain Sinclair, one of the librettists Emma Jenkins and Paul Hills, curator of a touring exhibition of Jones' pictures and the co-author with Ariane Bankes of the most recent book about the artist.Iain Bell's In Parenthesis is at WNO in Carcdiff from 13th May -3 June, in Birmhingham on 10 June and then at the Royal Opera House in London from 29 June -1 July It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on July 2nd. David Jones's In Parenthesis is published by Faber David Jones - Vision and Memory - is at the Djanogly Gallery in Nottingham until 5 June. It was previously on show at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. His art is also on show at the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff in May and June.

Neil Bartlett discusses Victorian cross-dressing performer Ernest Boulton with Matthew Sweet. Thomas Thwaites explains why he decided to try to live as a goat to explore the difference between humans and animals. Colin Gale from the Bethlem Museum of the Mind and historian Sarah Wise talk about perceptions of mental illness in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Poet Fiona Sampson on the relationship between poetry and health.The world premiere of Neil Bartlett's play Stella is at the Brighton Festival on May 27th and 28th. Thomas Thwaites has written GoatMan: How I Took A Holiday From Being Human Fiona Sampson's latest collection of poetry is The Catch Sarah Wise is the author of Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England

Crime writer and former newspaper editor Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin is being made into a TV series by Tom Tykwer. Neil MacGregor has now left the British Museum to work with the Humboldt Forum to create a new German cultural centre in Berlin. Simon Stephens has written a new translation of Brecht's Threepenny Opera for the National Theatre. The production will star Haydn Gwynne. Philippe Sands has written about the Nuremberg Trials - as has A.T. Williams. They join Anne McElvoy for a programme exploring diverse aspects of German culture. Neil MacGregor's book Germany: Memories of a Nation is now out in paperback. Threepenny Opera runs at the National Theatre from May 19th in rep through to September. Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher translated by Niall Sellar is out in English now. Philippe Sands is professor of law at University College London. His book East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity is out now. He has also made a documentary film My Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did A.T. Williams' book A Passing Fury: the story of the Nuremberg Trials is also out now Producer: Ruth Watts

Rana Mitter is joined by the historians Frank Dikötter, Patricia Thornton and Kerry Brown, and by the writers Xinran and Xiaolu Guo, to revisit the Cultural Revolution 50 years on. On 16th May 1966, Mao Zedong initiated a mass movement aimed at purging all "capitalist" and "traditional elements" from the Chinese Communist Party, and from Chinese society as a whole. This initiated the 10 years of social and political turmoil known as the Cultural Revolution. There are no plans to publicly mark the anniversary of these events in China, but elsewhere this troubled period of Chinese history is being re-examined. Frank Dikötter is the author of The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976, the final instalment in the People's Trilogy Producer: Luke Mulhall

Journalist Paul Mason and graphic novelists Mary and Bryan Talbot discuss Louise Michel, the revolutionary feminist anarchist dubbed 'The Red Virgin of Montmartre', who fought on the barricades defending the Paris Commune in 1871. UC Berkeley psychologist Dr Dacher Keltner explores what he calls the power paradox.The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia by Bryan and Mary Talbot is out now. The Power Paradox by Dacher Keltner is out now. Producer: Jacqueline Smith

Anne McElvoy invites three novelists into the studio to discuss Love - the theme of each of their new novels. A L Kennedy's Serious Sweet examines love in later life, Tahmima Anam explores different aspects of young love in The Bones of Grace and Alain de Botton says no-one lives happy ever after, we should talk a lot more about what comes next - hence the title of his book The Course of Love. Aside from whether Romanticism is plague or blessing, the writers also discuss whether writers themselves make good lovers and the challenge of making life choices in an increasingly mobile and crowded world.Presenter: Anne McElvoyGuests: A L Kennedy 'Serious Sweet' is out at the end of May 2016 Tahmima Anam 'The Bones of Grace' is out at the end of May 2016 Alain de Botton 'The Course of Love' is out nowProducer: Jacqueline Smith

Philip Dodd talks to the artist Olafur Eliasson who famously created artificial sunlight in the Weather Project at Tate Modern. He's also been responsible for engineering four man-made waterfalls in New York, founded a company producing solar powered LED lights, and has just published a cook book. The Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov discusses his latest, The Bickford Fuse, an allegorical study of the Soviet soul set between the end of World War 2 and the fall of communism. And to consider the Russian soul today, Philip is joined by columnist and Russian commentator, Mary Dejevsky, and novelist Zinovy Zinik. The Kitchen by Studio Olafur Eliasson and Unspoken Spaces by Olafur Eliasson are out now. Andrey Kurkov's The Bickford Fuse is published on the 6th of May. Zinovy Zinik's latest novel, Sounds Familiar or The Best of Artek, is published now.Producer: Craig Smith

Author Marina Lewycka discusses Lubetkin's social housing with Matthew Sweet in a programme which considers concrete homes past and present. Curator Helen Pheby describes transporting a former council house which has been turned into a kind of blue grotto by artist Roger Hiorns as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park hosts an exhibition on the theme of Home. Lynsey Hanley talks about the experience of growing up on a Birmingham council estate and the powerful connections between concrete and class. And architecture historian Barnabas Calder invites us to look again at the beauty of brutalism.Marina Lewycka's novel is called The Lubetkin Legacy At Home at the Bothy Gallery at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park runs from 19.03.16 - 03.07.16 Lynsey Hanley's book is called Respectable: The Experience of Class Barnabas Calder has written Raw Concrete Producer: Ruth Watts

Playwright Howard Brenton and director Adrian Noble discuss stage plays drawing on the life of TE Lawrence. Journalist John Preston has explored MP Jeremy Thorpe's downfall. And Philip Dodd is joined by Chris Bryant for a wider discussion about privacy in public life. And Mary Beard joins us to discuss another imperial endeavour, Rome. Howard Brenton's new play Lawrence After Arabia runs at the Hampstead Theatre from April 28th to June 4th. Adrian Noble is directing Terence Rattigan's play Ross at Chichester Theatre from 3rd to 25th June. John Preston's book is called A Very English Scandal. Mary Beard's Rome: Empire without limit continues on BBC 2 at 9pm on Wednesday 5th May Producer: Ruth Watts

“To unpathed waters, undreamed shores” Matthew Sweet discusses The Winter’s Tale, written just 6 years before Shakespeare died and still regarded as one of his most intriguing works. With actor Samuel West, and scholars Michael Dobson(University of Birmingham) and Carol Rutter( University of Warwick) joining Matthew in Stratford-upon-Avon in the Radio 3 prop up studio at the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Other Place theatre as part of Radio 3's Sounds of Shakespeare season.The Winter's Tale is being broadcast as the Drama on 3 this Sunday May 1st.Producer: Zahid Warley

Rana Mitter is joined by Edith Hall, Nandini Das and Beatrice Groves to explore the books which inspired Shakespeare from the Bible and classical stories to the writing of some of Shakespeare's contemporaries.Edith Hall is Professor in the Classics Department and Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London. Her most recent book is Introducing The Ancient Greeks. Nandini Das is Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool. She is also a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.Beatrice Groves is Research Lecturer in Renaissance Literature at the University of Oxford and her books include Texts and Traditions: Religion in Shakespeare 1592-1604 The programme was recorded in front of an audience in BBC Radio 3's pop-up studio as part of Radio 3's Stratford residency at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Producer: Torquil MacLeod

As Sicily: culture and conquest opens at The British Museum, Anne McElvoy gathers three experts round the Free Thinking table - the historian of Sicily, John Julius Norwich, Helena Atlee who approaches the island from the point of view of its legendary citrus fruit and Anna Sergi, a criminologist at the University of Essex who explains how Cosa Nostra reflects much of the closed culture of the modern island. Tom Stoppard drops by to celebrate The London Library at 175 and as the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death gathers pace, New Generation Thinker Sarah Peverley reveals her latest research on John Hardynge, the English soldier who lived through the Wars of the Roses and wrote a chronicle that may be an important source for the Bard's History plays. Presenter: Anne McElvoySicily: culture and conquest runs at the British Museum from 21 April – 14 August 2016Guests: Helena Atlee: The Land Where Lemons Grow John Julius Norwich: Sicily A Short History from the Greeks to Cosa Nostra Sarah Peverley: John Hardyng, Chronicle: Edited from British Library MS Lansdowne 204. Edited by James Simpson and Sarah Peverley Anna Sergi Tom StoppardProducer: Jacqueline Smith

Slavoj Zizek is in conversation with Philip Dodd. The title of the latest book from the Slovenian philosopher, cultural critic and Marxist scholar is 'Against the Double Blackmail: Refugees, Terror and Other Troubles with the Neighbours'.Producer: Laura Thomas

In a special Landmark edition, Matthew Sweet discusses Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker with the director Sophie Fiennes, the journalist Konstantin Von Eggert, whose family knew Tarkovsky, film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, the writer Geoff Dyer, and the academic and former tour guide in the Chernobyl Zone Dr Nicholas Rush Cooper from Durham University. Stalker tells the story of three men - Writer, Professor, and Stalker. We are never quite sure who Stalker is, or what he represents, but it's his job to lead Writer and Professor on a journey into a mysterious region called The Zone. At the heart of The Zone is a room in which all wishes come true.Based on the novel Roadside Picnic, by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, Stalker is a kind of Science Fiction film with all the Science Fiction stripped out. Geoff Dyer notes that "Stalker has always invited allegorical readings, and since the film has something of the quality of prophecy, these readings are not confined to events that had occurred by the time the film was made." Is Stalker about the end of Communism? Does it prefigure the Chernobyl disaster? There are many possibilities, but the film remains mysterious.Producer: Laura Thomas

Anne McElvoy talks to Syrian architect Marwa Al-Sabouni about her country's built environment its impact on the behaviour of the people who live there. Also the politics of judging book prizes is debated by Professor Geoffrey Hosking, emeritus professor of Russian history, School of Slavonic & East European Studies, University College London and Fleur Montanaro, Administrator of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Writers Lasha Bugadze and Aka Morchiladze discuss Georgian literature past and present. The Battle for Home: The Memoir of a Syrian Architect by Marwa Al-Sabouni is out now.The winner of the 2016 Pushkin House Russian Book Prize is announced on April 25th. These are the shortlisted books Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St James's 1932-43. Gabriel Gorodetsky, editor (Yale University Press) Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator. Oleg Khlevniuk, translated by Nora Seligman Favorov (Yale University Press) Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia. Dominic Lieven (Penguin) Russia and the New World Disorder. Bobo Lo (Brookings Institution) Stalin and the Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia. Alfred Rieber (Cambridge University Press) The End of the Cold War: 1985-1991. Robert Service (Pan Macmillan)The winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2016 will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 26 April, the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. These are the shortlisted books Mercury by Mohamed Rabie A Sky Close to our House by Shahla Ujayli Numedia by Tareq Bakari Praise for the Women of the Family by Mahmoud Shukair Guard of the Dead by George Yaraq Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba by Rabai al-MadhounProducer: Torquil MacLeod.

Philip Dodd is joined by artist Bruce McLean and critic Sarah Kent to consider the history and politics of British Conceptual Art on show at Tate Britain. Also Richard Nisbett gives his view on how "smart thinking" can help us improve our lives. Richard Nisbett is Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology and Co-director of the Culture and Cognition program at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He is cited by Malcolm Gladwell as an influence and is the author of a book called "Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking" Conceptual Art in Britain 1964–1979 runs at Tate Britain from 12 April – 29 August 2016 The exhibition includes works by Keith Arnatt, Art & Language, Conrad Atkinson, Victor Burgin, Michael Craig-Martin, Hamish Fulton,Margaret Harrison, Susan Hiller, John Hilliard, Mary Kelly, John Latham, Richard Long, Bruce McLean, David Tremlett and Stephen Willats. Producer: Laura Thomas

Jonathan Coe, author of books including The Rotter's Club, What a Carve Up and his most recent novel Number 11, joins playwright Richard Cameron and presenter Matthew Sweet in a programme recorded in front of an audience at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.Jonathan Coe's 2001 novel, The Rotter's Club, depicts teenage life in Birmingham in the 1970s, against a backdrop of strikes at the local car factories. It's been adapted for the stage by Richard Cameron - whose other plays include The Glee Club and Can't Stand Up For Falling Down. They discuss the difference between page and stage, assess the sexual and racial politics of the time and consider the cultural influence of Britain's second city.Producer: Craig Templeton Smith.

Anne McElvoy looks at current debates about economics, British manufacturing and entrepreneurialism talking to Juliet Michaelson from the New Economics Foundation, the politicians Liam Byrne and John Redwood and entrepreneur Luke Johnson. They also consider the arguments in new books from Yanis Varoufakis and Thomas Piketty. The panel is joined by theatre critic Matt Wolf who'll be reflecting on the way business and economics are represented on stage reporting on recent openings on Broadway and looking ahead to the UK premiere of The Invisible Hand by Pulitzer Prize–winner Ayad Akhtar at London's Tricyle Theatre. Liam Byrne is the author of Turning to Face The East: How Britain Can Prosper In The Asian Century and Dragons: 10 Entrepreneurs Who Built Britain Chronicles by Thomas Piketty is out now. And the Weak Suffer What They Must? by Yanis Varoufakis is out now. The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar runs at the Tricycle Theatre in London from May 12th to July 2nd. Producer: Eliane Glaser.

Rana Mitter talks to playwright Anders Lustgarten whose latest work is set in a small village in China, Rotten Peach Village, over 60 years. Communism arrives and the villagers embrace it. Lustgarten has also written a new play partly inspired by the painter Caravaggio which opens at the RSC at the end of this year. Also a consideration of the satirical short stories about Edwardian England published by Saki - the pen name of Scottish author Hector Hugh Munro (1870 - 1916). Rana is joined by the novelist Naomi Alderman and Saki expert Nick Freeman.Cartoonist Riad Sattouf describes his graphic novel memoir, The Arab of the Future. And Rana gets to grip with what we could possibly mean by a thing, with philosopher Guy Longworth The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie by Anders Lustgarten runs at the Arcola Theatre in London 7 – 30 April before opening the 10th High Tide festival of new writing in Suffolk in September. The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf is out now. Producer: Luke Mullhall

A celebration of Evelyn Waugh to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Matthew Sweet is joined by two writers who are long term admirers - Adam Mars-Jones and Bryony Lavery and by Waugh's latest biographer, Philip Eade and his grandson and editor, Alexander Waugh. Brideshead Revisited - adapted by Bryony Lavery - runs at York Theatre Royal from Fri 22 Apr - Sat 30 Apr and then goes on tour to Bath, Southampton, Cambridge, Malvern, Brighton, Oxford, Richmond.Evelyn Waugh - A Life Revisited by Philip Eade will be published in JulyProducer: Zahid Warley.

In a programme exploring light, Anne McElvoy is joined by Ann Wroe - who has walked the South Downs for her latest book considering painters including Ravilious and Samuel Palmer. Prof. Lucie Green has written a journey to the centre of the sun. The fluorescent creations of Dan Flavin the post war American artist go on show at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery curated by director Jonathan Watkins. And in Blackpool - home of the Illuminations - the Grundy Art Gallery is adding to its collection of light works – curator Richard Parry explains. Dan Flavin: It is What It Is and It Ain't Nothing Else runs at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham from 13th April to 26th June.Six Facets Of Light by Ann Wroe is out now. She is also the author of Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man.15 Million Degrees - A Journey to the Centre of the Sun is written by Dr Lucie Green, solar physicist at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Jerry Brotton talks to Rana Mitter about the links between Elizabethan England and the Islamic World. They're joined in studio for a conversation about the history and growth of nationalism around the world by the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, by Professor John Breuilly from the London School of Economics and by the novelist Gillian Slovo - who has written a thriller inspired by the Tottenham riots and a verbatim drama based on interviews asking why young Muslim men and women from across Western Europe are leaving their homes to answer the call of Jihad. This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World by Jerry Brotton - Professor of Renaissance Studies in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London is out now and is being read on Radio 4 as this week's Book of the Week. The Radio 3 Sunday Feature he presented on The Venice Ghetto is available on the iPlayer or as a download from Radio 3's website. Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State written by Gillian Slovo and directed by Nicolas Kent is at the temporary space at the National Theatre from 9th April to 7th May. Gillian Slovo's novel is called Ten Days. Professor John Breuilly is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism which is out in paperback in April. Elif Shafak's most recent novel is The Architect's Apprentice. Producer: Ruth Watts

Anne McElvoy is joined by New Generation Thinker Shahidha Bari to explore the history of the suit as the Jewish Museum in London opens an exhibition on men's fashion. American playwright Neil LaBute is the author of plays including The Shape of Things, Bash, The Mercy Seat and Fat Pig. He discusses happiness as he follows up Reasons to be Pretty with a new drama called Reasons to be Happy. Moses, Mods and Mr Fish: The Menswear Revolution runs at the Jewish Museum in London from March 31st - June 19th 2016. Reasons To Be Happy runs at the Hampstead Theatre from March 17th to April 16th. Producer: Ruth Watts

Rana Mitter considers the myth of the Green Man and our relationship to Nature, talking to George Monbiot, writing at the interface of politics, equality and nature, Nina Lyon whose exploration of Green Man rising takes her from Wales to London and american novelist Charlie Jane Anders whose sci-fi story takes in wicca magic and technological uber-geekiness. Joining them in the studio, Kate Maltby, expert in renaissance literature and political commentator.All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders is out now. Uprooted: On The Trail of the Green Man by Nina Lyon is out now. How Did We Get Into This Mess? by George Monbiot is out April 22nd.Producer: Jacqueline Smith

Ahead of a major retrospective at the British Film Institute, Matthew Sweet shines a light on the career of director Alan Clarke with filmmaker Clio Barnard, his daughter Molly Clarke, and actor Phil Davis, who appeared in The Firm alongside Gary Oldman. Ken Loach pays tribute to Barry Hines, the Yorkshire writer behind one of his most memorable films, Kes. The American cartoonist Daniel Clowes talks about his latest graphic novel, Patience. The Alan Clarke BFI retrospective runs from March 28th to April 30th and includes the newly discovered director's cut of The Firm, David Bowie in Baal, three previously-thought-lost TV episodes from 1967-68 and footage from an unfinished documentary project. It includes screenings and events at London's South Bank, at 9 mediatheques around the UK and DVD releases. Patience by Daniel Clowes is out now. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

Anne McElvoy and Julian Barnes discuss images of Russian cultural figures on display at the National Portrait Gallery. Director Roxana Silbert and playwright Suhayla El-Bushra discuss putting Russian satirical dramas on stage in Britain. And Soumaya Keynes from teh Institute of Fiscal Studies, journalist Ann Treneman and journalist and director of the Institute for Government Peter Riddell discuss the theatre of the budget. Russia and the Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky runs at the National Portrait Gallery from 21 April - 24 July Meanwhile Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery hosts Elizabeth to Victoria: British Portraits from the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Julian Barnes' most recent novel The Noise of Time is inspired by the life of Dmitri Shostakovich. Roxana Silbert is directing a version of Gogol's The Government Inspector written by David Harrower which is on stage at Birmingham Rep in association with Ramps on the Moon. It runs from March 19th to 26th. It then tours to New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich 6-16 April West Yorkshire Playhouse 20-30 April Nottingham Playhouse 4-14 May Theatre Royal Stratford East 18-28 May The Everyman, Liverpool 1-11 June Crucible Theatre, Sheffield 17-25 June Suhayla El-Bushra has written an adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide which is being directed by Nadia Fall at the National Theatre in London. It runs in rep from April 6th. Producer: Eliane Glaser.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the state of academic philosophy in the UK today. It’s often thought of as being difficult, abstract, and far-removed from the concerns of every-day life. It even came up recently in the US Presidential campaign, when Republican hopeful Marco Rubio claimed America needs fewer philosophers and more welders. So what is the place of philosophy in today’s universities? And what role can it play in wider culture? Few people in the UK have done more to help philosophers reach a wider audience than Bryan Magee, whose TV interviews with leading philosophers were prime-time viewing in the 1970s and '80s. As Magee publishes a new book, Ultimate Questions, Matthew and his guests discuss his legacy as a broadcaster who interpreted philosophy for a wider audience. With with philosophers MM McCabe, Lucy O'Brien, Nigel Warburton and Constantine Sandis.Ultimate Questions by Bryan Magee is out now from Princeton University Press.Producer: Luke Mulhall.

Martin Parr has curated an exhibition bringing together views of the UK taken by international photographers including Tina Barney from the USA. Both join Philip Dodd, plus journalists Tim Stanley and Ben Judah, and philosopher Mahlet Zimeta to examine what British identity looks like in 2016. Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers runs at the Barbican 16 March 2016 - 19 June 2016 Unseen City: Photos by Martin Parr City of London photographer-in-residence since 2013 runs at the Guildhall Art Gallery, 4 Mar–31 Jul 2016. This is London: Life and Death in the World City by Ben Judah is published by Picador. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

Rana Mitter reads a new history of the Holy Roman Empire written by Chichele Professor of History Peter H Wilson and discusses Christianity today with the religion editor of the TLS Rupert Shortt and Professor Janet Soskice. Iranian artist Reza Derakshani is presenting new work including paintings from his ongoing Hunting series, which draws on traditions of Persian miniature painting and upon the American Abstract Expressionist movement which he encountered while living in exile in New York. The exhibition is the first to be staged at a new gallery in London specialising in contemporary art from the Middle East founded byVassili Tsarenkov, Lali Marganiya and Lili Jassemi. The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History by Peter H. Wilson is out now. Rupert Shortt's book is called God is No Thing: Coherent Christianity Reza Derakshani: The Breeze at Dawn runs from 9 Mar - 23 Apr 2016 at Sophia Contemporary, 11 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair. Producer: Eliane Glaser

In a programme exploring Spanish culture and politics, Philip Dodd is joined by the influential novelist, columnist and translator Javier Marias - author of 16 books and former winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Also, following the opening of a new musical version of Don Quixote at the Royal Shakespeare Company, what is the the influence of Cervantes 400 years after his death? Ben Okri has been to Stratford and joins Javier Marias to discuss Cervantes. Plus, as the country's political future hangs in the balance, Sirio Canos Donnay, spokesperson for Podemos London, and journalist Jimmy Burns consider what's next for Spain. Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias is now published in English in the UK. Don Quixote, adapted by James Fenton from the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, directed by Angus Jackson, with songs by James Fenton and Grant Olding, is at the Swan Theatre in Stratford 25 February - 21 May 2016 Ben Okri is taking part in Cervantes and Shakespeare 400, a project marking the anniversary of both authors. Events are happening at the Hay Festival and at the British Library on Tuesday April 12th when the anthology Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories After Cervantes and Shakespeare, featuring new work from 12 contemporary international authors is being unveiled. The British Library has a free display of illustrated editions of Don Quixote in the Treasures Gallery running until May 22nd. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

Performance poet Hollie McNish has written a book and a series of poems about motherhood. Composer Emily Hall has been commissioned to write a childrens' opera for Hull 2017. Scientist Helen Pearson has researched and written about the longest runnning study of human development. Edwina Attlee is a writer with an interest in launderettes, sleeper trains, fire escapes, greasy spoons, postcards, and the working lives of women. She'll be sharing audio tales from the National Life Stories Archive at the British Library, where women talk about working lives spent on oil rigs, in steel plants, and a host of other places. Ailsa Grant Ferguson has studied Dorothy Leigh's 'Mother's Blessing', which was the bestselling book by a woman of the 17th century. They join Anne McElvoy for a programme for International Women's Day which looks at the ways in which everyday experiences in the lives of women feed into creativity. Helen Pearson is the author of The Life Project: The extraordinary story of 70,000 Ordinary Lives. Hollie McNish is the author of Nobody Told Me: The Poetry of Parenthood. You can find more on her website Holliepoetry.com Emily Hall's compositions include the operas Folie a Deux, Sante and a children's opera for Hull 2017. Song Cycles including Love Songs and Life Cycle and a whole range of compositions for chamber ensembles, string quartets, orchestras and soloists. http://www.emilyhall.co.uk/ Producer: Jane Thurlow

As a best-selling German biography of Hitler is published in English Anne McElvoy explores the way German historians view Hitler now talking to Volker Ullrich and historian Richard J Evans from the University of Cambridge. New Generation Thinker Catherine Fletcher reviews Botticelli Reimagined at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Botticelli Reimagined runs at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from 5 March - 3 July 2016. Hitler by Volker Ullrich is now published in English. Catherine Fletcher is the author of The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de' Medici which is published in April. Producer: Luke Mulhall

In the year that John Osborne's Look Back In Anger turns 60 Philip Dodd considers the eruption of rage in the recent politics of the US and India with Jonah Goldberg, Kit Davis, Pankaj Mishra and Sunil Khilnani.Pause for a moment and you realise it's impossible to ignore the Black Lives Matter protests or the urgent polemics of the writer and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose passionately angry new book about race in the US, The Beautiful Struggle, comes out this week. It's difficult to turn a blind eye to the rearguard action that's being fought by Indian writers and intellectuals such as Arundhati Roy, targeted by Hindu nationalists determined to seize control of the political agenda on the Subcontinent.Who is angry with whom and why; and what about the populist anger that seems to be propelling Donald Trump towards the Republican presidential nomination and the White House. Join Philip Dodd and his guests as they search for the answers.Sunil Khilnani is the author of Incarnations: India in 50 Lives. He is currently presenting a series based on the book on BBC Radio 4. Pankaj Mishra is the author of several books including From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia. The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates is out now.