Northern Ireland

Anne McElvoy marks the 1921 creation of Northern Ireland with historians and writers.

• 44 mins

Samuel Johnson's circle

Patience Agbabi's novel time-travels back to 18th-century London. So do we.

• 44 mins

Napoleon the Gardener and Art Thief

Ruth Scurr, Emma Rothschild and Natasha Pulley look at French history with Rana Mitter.

• 44 mins

Alison Bechdel

American graphic novelist Alison Bechdel talks mushrooms, therapy and Adrienne Rich.

• 44 mins

Marlon James and Neil Gaiman

Two weavers of fantastical fiction sift through myths with Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Archiving, curating and digging for data

Behind the scenes at the Hepworth Wakefield, the Barbican and the Alan Turing Institute.

• 44 mins

Lost cities, 20s divas and 2011 uprisings

Anne McElvoy explores the past and present of the transcontinental nation of Egypt.

• 44 mins

The Wolfson History Prize 2021

Rana Mitter meets the six authors shortlisted for the UK's most prestigious history prize.

• 44 mins

Ghosts of the Spanish Civil War

Rana Mitter talks to documentary makers, a novelist and historian about breaking silences.

• 44 mins

Who Needs Critics?

Matthew Sweet questions the critic's role while Vid Simoniti looks at algorithms and art.

• 44 mins

Novelist Tahmima Anam, plus was Nero a ruthless tyrant?

Was Nero really a victim of plots? Bulgaria's hidden past. And a novel about startups.

• 44 mins

Fashion, Art and the Body

Olivia Laing, Charlie Porter and Ekow Eshun join Shahidha Bari.

• 44 mins

Wittgenstein's Tractatus at 100

Can you solve all the problems of philosophy in one book? Shahidha Bari and guests debate.

• 44 mins

The Botanical Past

From paintings to the gardens of Kew, how a new plant collecting history is being written.

• 44 mins

Alice and Dreaming

Salman Rushdie is one of Matthew Sweet's guests for a conversation about the imagination.

• 44 mins

Can Artists Help Save the Planet?

From ice photos by Wayne Binitie to 140 ideas from artists collated by Hans Ulrich Obrist

• 44 mins

Women's Art

Jennifer Higgie, Adjoa Osei, Veronica Ryan, and Lydia Yee talk to Shahidha Bari.

• 44 mins

Beryl Vertue

Matthew Sweet meets the Sherlock producer and ex-agent of Tony Hancock who has turned 90.

• 44 mins

How anthropology helps us understand the world

Economist Gillian Tett is one of Anne McElvoy's guests.

• 44 mins

Nadifa Mohamed, Gentle/Radical, Dylan Thomas

The work of Turner prize nominees, a Tiger Bay murder story, Under Milk Wood on stage.

• 44 mins

Displacement

Edmund de Waal and Frances Stonor Saunders discuss uncovering Jewish family stories.

• 44 mins

Masks

The role of masks in African traditions, Greek tragedy and Covid conspiracies

• 44 mins

Building London

Eric Parry and Alison Brooks; writers Fiona Mozley and SI Martin and pianist Belle Chen.

• 44 mins

Mid Century Modern

Shahidha Bari and guests look at labour saving devices and revamping the 1950s home.

• 44 mins

World's Fairs and the Future

Owen Hatherley, Emily MacGregor and Paul Greenhalgh go back to the future.

• 44 mins

Cornwall and Coastal Gothic

From crumbling tin mine towers to second homes: Laurence Scott on art, fiction and film.

• 44 mins

The Innovative Shape of Poems

Sandeep Parmar talks to poets Kayo Chingonyi, Paisley Rekdal and Dr Nasser Hussain.

• 44 mins

Glenda Jackson on filming Sunday Bloody Sunday

Matthew Sweet and guests including Glenda Jackson on John Schlesinger's love triangle film

• 44 mins

The English country house party

Why does the grand country house party hold such power over the English imagination?

• 44 mins

Epic Iran, Lost Cities and Proust

Rana Mitter and guests explore the art and culture of Iran, and why people abandon cities.

• 44 mins