Front Row

Biographer Hermione Lee talks to Tom about her new book Anita Brookner: Art and Life, which explores the career of the famously private art historian and author of 24 novels including the Booker prize-winning Hotel du Lac.
Hollywood is enjoying one of its best summers at the box office as a mix of big budget blockbusters and surprise hits by new directors has powered cinema to a record $4.76 billion in global ticket sales, a 25% increase on the year before. Tim Richards, the CEO of VUE Cinemas, and Clarisse Loughrey, the chief film critic at The Independent, discuss what’s happening and how it is reshaping the films you see.
Echo & the Bunnymen’s lead singer Ian McCulloch talks about the band’s latest album Apples for Isaac, their first new release for over a decade.
And author Cherise Saywell on her story Ditto, set in a small town in Australia, which has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Andrea Kidd

Samira Ahmed talks to Hunter Davies about his new book Get Back: The Boys Who Became the Beatles, Juliette Binoche about her directorial debut on In-I in Motion, Jack Thorne on his speech arguing for the need to protect writers in the age of AI, and National Short Story Award shortlisted author Lucy Caldwell.
Producer: Eliane Glaser

Viv Groskop and Amanda Vickery join Tom Sutcliffe to review:
The Bayeux Tapestry as it goes on display to the public in Britain for the first time since its creation almost a millennium ago.
Taipei Story, the new novel from bestselling literary phenomenon Rebecca F Kuang, author of Babel and Yellowface, about a young Chinese-American woman studying in Taiwan and grappling with ideas of disapora and identity.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans, the debut narrative feature from filmmaker Grant Gee which looks at the life of the legendary jazz musician Bill Evans.
And as the BBC National Short Story Award returns, Tom announces the shortlist live - and talks to one of the shortlisted authors.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Tim Bano

Music critic Neil McCormick shares his verdict on the Oasis documentary, Don’t Look Back in Anger about Noel & Liam Gallagher's reunion tour.
Writer Beth Steel talks about her acclaimed play Till The Stars Come Down. The drama is based around a wedding in Mansfield, East Midlands. Originally a sold-out hit at the National Theatre, the production has had a West End Transfer and been performed globally. Beth talks to Samira Ahmed about the show making its regional premiere at the Nottingham Playhouse.
This Friday, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be marked by solemn commemorations in the United States. Since 2001, many writers, artists and filmmakers have created work in response to the attacks, and tonight we speak to historian and writer Simon Schama and to film critic and curator Hugo Emmerzael about how cultural responses have helped shape our understanding of what happened that day and in the aftermath – from Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to the films of Kathryn Bigelow and the music of avant-garde composer William Basinski.
And Henry Ward, artistic director of the Freelands Foundation discusses their new £100,000 awards for projects around the country which engage communities with art in interesting ways, including a horse box from the Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford in North Devon which takes art into schools.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Fanny Herrero, writer and creator of the French sitcom Call My Agent, joins Tom Sufcliffe to talk about how her show about the antics of the cut-throat Paris talent agency ASK became a global hit and why, after a five year hiatus, she’s got the agents back together for their first ever film.
This year’s unprecedented extreme heat and lack of rain in large parts of the UK has wreaked havoc with gardens big and small. How have the historic landscapes, parks and gardens coped? Historic England and The Heritage Fund have worked together on a report to offer guidance to those who care for them on how to adapt and prepare for our changing climate.
Maria Friedman's latest role is in the musical Kimberly Akimbo. She explains what's it like to play a teenager with a rare genetic condition that causes her character to age rapidly, giving her the appearance of an elderly woman.
As the Scottish Government announces a minimum income scheme for artists, which will be piloted during the current Parliament, we ask Cleo Goodman, co-founder of the Basic Income Conversation project, what it might look like, how much people can expect, and how ‘artists’ will be defined in the application process.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet