Romanian History and Literature

Novelists Mircea Cărtărescu and Georgina Harding and historian Philippe Sands on Romania.

• 44 mins

Christopher Logue's War Music

Shahidha Bari and guests read Logue's version of Homer's Iliad and look at its language.

• 44 mins

Toys

How toys are shaped by politics and why they have a spooky side.

• 44 mins

Dürer, Rhinos and Whales

Writer Philip Hoare, curator Robert Wenley, historian Helen Cowie talk celebrity animals.

• 44 mins

Caribbean Art

As a Tate Britain show opens, Shahidha Bari looks at Caribbean post-war writing and art

• 44 mins

The Day of the Triffids

Matthew Sweet and guests re-read John Wyndham's post-apocalyptic novel from 1951.

• 44 mins

The TV Debate

Gore Vidal v William F Buckley Jr, Germaine Greer v Norman Mailer. Have debates changed?

• 44 mins

Witchcraft and Margaret Murray

Matthew Sweet and guests look at 1921's The Witch-Cult in Western Europe and witches now.

• 44 mins

Early Buddhism, Sheila Rowbotham

Two Buddhism scholars and British socialist feminist Sheila Rowbotham join Rana Mitter.

• 44 mins

Colm Tóibín, David Cohen winner, Dullness

Is it a good thing to stand out? Anne McElvoy and guests explore the virtue of being dull.

• 44 mins

Jean-Paul Belmondo and the French New Wave

The French film star who burst onto the scene in 1960 in Godard's Breathless.

• 44 mins

Gloves

From python skin to Nintendo gaming, PPE to vegan materials: how gloves are evolving.

• 44 mins

Appeasement

How does Neville Chamberlain's capitulation to Hitler in 1938 affect politics in 2022?

• 44 mins

Adapting Molière

Liz Lochead is one of Anne McElvoy's guests discussing how to update Molière.

• 44 mins

Mélusine

The mermaid-like figure from medieval folklore is discussed by Shahidha Bari and guests.

• 44 mins

Mind-Altered States

Matthew Sweet and guests knock on the doors of perception.

• 44 mins

Writing Love: Sarah Hall, Monica Ali, Adam Mars-Jones

Shahidha Bari talks to authors about writing love stories set against troubling times.

• 44 mins

Paper

An exploration of the cultural and social history of paper.

• 44 mins

Touki Bouki

A close look at Djibril Diop Mambéty's classic 1973 film with Matthew Sweet and guests.

• 44 mins

Diverse Classical Music

Digging into the music of composers Joseph Bologne, Kikuko Kanai and Julia Perry.

• 44 mins

Yishai Sarid, Marking Holocaust Memorial Day 2022

Anne McElvoy talks to Israeli novelist Yishai Sarid & hears about new historical research.

• 44 mins

Asta Nielsen

Matthew Sweet and guests look at the Danish star of androgynous early romcoms and Hamlet.

• 44 mins

How to Create a Modernist Masterpiece

Will Self, Alexandra Harris, Kevin Le Gendre and Owen Hatherley build up a manifesto.

• 44 mins

Modernism around the World

Rana Mitter looks at Bauhaus in Delhi, Japanese and South African novels and Mexican art.

• 44 mins

Futurism

Matthew Sweet and guests look at the manifesto celebrating youth, technology and violence.

• 44 mins

Diverse Classical Music II

New research into music by Margaret Bonds, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Ali Osman, Isaac Hishow.

• 44 mins

Whale Watching

Rana Mitter dives into the world of whales and examines our relationship to marine life.

• 44 mins

Existential Risk

Planning and creating in the shadow of the doomsday clock with Shahidha Bari and guests.

• 44 mins

Stonehenge History

Anne McElvoy is joined by Neil Wilkin, Mike Pitts, Susan Greaney and Seren Griffiths.

• 44 mins

China, Freud, War and Sci-Fi

From AI and fan fiction to 1930s replica antiquities: new ways of thinking about China.

• 44 mins