Letters to Artists

Dear Picasso

Ian Sansom asks Picasso about his mid-life crisis.

• 14 mins

Letters to Artists

Dear Julia Margaret Cameron

Ian Sansom pens a missive to Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

• 14 mins

Letters to Artists

Dear Frida Kahlo

Ian Sansom wonders how Frida Kahlo feels about her merchandise.

• 14 mins

Letters to Artists

Dear Caravaggio

Ian Sansom corresponds with Caravaggio on the links between fine art and violence.

• 14 mins

Contagious Cities

HIV AIDS in Nairobi: Polly of Kinshasa Street, by Okwiri Oduor

Five international writers consider an epidemic from the viewpoint of their own city

• 20 mins

Contagious Cities

Polio in New York, by Dava Sobel

Five international writers consider an epidemic from the viewpoint of their own city.

• 20 mins

Contagious Cities

Zika in Maceio, North East Brazil by Debora Diniz

Five international writers consider an epidemic from the view point of their own city.

• 20 mins

Contagious Cities

London and TB. TB Stories by Frances Wilson

Five international writers consider an epidemic from the view point of their own city

• 20 mins

Contagious Cities

SARS in Hong Kong, by Dorothy Tse

Five international writers consider an epidemic from the viewpoint of their own city

• 20 mins

The Lost World of the LP

Episode 1

David Hepworth discusses the golden age, and recent resurgence, of vinyl records.

• 14 mins

The Lost World of the LP

Episode 2

David Hepworth discusses the golden age, and recent resurgence, of vinyl records.

• 14 mins

The Lost World of the LP

Episode 3

David Hepworth reflects on the golden age, and recent resurgence, of the vinyl album.

• 14 mins

The Lost World of the LP

Episode 4

David Hepworth discusses the golden age, and recent resurgence, of vinyl records.

• 14 mins

The Lost World of the LP

Episode 5

David Hepworth discusses the golden age, and recent resurgence, of vinyl records.

• 14 mins

Writing Music

Hermione Hoby on Steve Reich

Author Hermione Hoby reveals how Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians helps her write.

• 14 mins

Writing Music

Minoo Dinshaw on Mendelssohn

Minoo Dinshaw questions identity by tuning in to Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Third Symphony.

• 14 mins

Writing Music

Barbara Trapido on Stravinsky

For Barbara Trapido, nothing is as it seems in Stravinsky’s ballet, Pulcinella.

• 14 mins

Writing Music

Hannah Beckerman on Brahms

For Hannah Beckerman, Brahms's Second Piano Concerto is a masterclass in storytelling.

• 14 mins

Writing Music

Preti Taneja on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Author Preti Taneja mediates on a Sufi devotional song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

• 14 mins

Weird England

Tar Bar'l

Novelist Naomi Booth is drawn to the fiery energy of Allendale’s New Year festivities.

• 14 mins

Weird England

Weird England: Hunting the Earl

Poet Elizabeth-Jane Burnett sets out to Hunt the Earl of Rone in Devon,

• 14 mins

Weird England

Weird England: Bonfire

Writer David Barnes is immersed in history and myth at Lewes Bonfire.

• 14 mins

Weird England

Snatch Valentine

Writer Laura Joyce follows Jack Valentine down the streets of Norwich.

• 14 mins

Weird England

Horn Dance

Poet Lila Matsumoto visits Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire and the ancient Horn Dance.

• 14 mins

King Raedwald

Martin Carver on the inhabitant of the magnificent Sutton Hoo ship burial

• 15 mins

Cuthbert

Historian Tony Morris explores the life of Cuthbert, the popular saint of the Northeast/

• 15 mins

Eadfrith the Scribe

Richard Gameson explores the literary, historical and artistic legacy of scribes..

• 15 mins

The Beowulf Bard

The late Seamus Heaney's exploration of the great bard of the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf.

• 15 mins

Bede, the Father of English History

Scholar of the Anglo Saxons Lilian Groves explores the life and times of St Bede.

• 15 mins

Alfred the Great

Michael Wood discusses Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and king of the Anglo-Saxons.

• 15 mins