Julian the Apostate

We examine Rome's last pagan ruler via Ibsen's drama to apostasy in contemporary politics.

• 44 mins

Dystopian thinking

As Kay Dick's They opens at MIF, Matthew Sweet and guests trace the history of dystopias.

• 44 mins

A lively Tudor world

From needlework to marriage portraits to depicting music on the page.

• 44 mins

Liverpool Biennial and art at MIF

Catherine Fletcher talks to three artists with new works at the Liverpool Biennial.

• 44 mins

South Asia: poverty and princes

Historians Joya Chatterji and Tripurdaman Singh, plus the novels of Kamala Markandaya.

• 44 mins

Childhood and play

The V&A has re-opened its museum of childhood as Young V&A plus how kids learn to speak.

• 44 mins

Oxford Philosophy

The influence of JL Austin, Gilbert Ryle, Elizabeth Anscombe, and later, Derek Parfit.

• 44 mins

Rock Follies

The groundbreaking 1970s TV drama reassessed with guests including actor Rula Lenska.

• 44 mins

The Wolfson Prize 2023

Rana Mitter talks to the six authors shortlisted for the UK's main history writing prize.

• 44 mins

Queer history, new narrative in San Fransisco

Diarmuid Hester & Dodie Bellamy tell Naomi Paxton about a 70s experimental writing group.

• 44 mins

The Red Shoes

Ahead of a BFI festival, Matthew Sweet and guests discuss Powell and Pressburger's film

• 44 mins

Black Atlantic

Artist Jaqueline Bishop and curator of an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge.

• 44 mins

Why go into space?

Christopher Harding investigates the history, culture and science of space exploration.

• 44 mins

Notebooks and new technology

Authors Jonathan Coe, Roland Allen, Lesley Smith and art book maker Gill Partington.

• 44 mins

Betty Miller and Marghanita Laski

Howard Jacobson, Lara Feigel and Lisa Mullen with Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Childbirth and parenthood: Contains Strong Language

Testament, Hannah Silva, historian Jessica Cox and Thackray museum curator Laura Sellers.

• 44 mins

Hobbes and New Leviathans

John Gray on why rereading Hobbes can help us understand contemporary politics.

• 44 mins

Slavic culture and myth

Matthew Sweet looks at the origins of creatures like Baba Yaga, Banniks and Rusalkas.

• 44 mins

Refuge and National Poetry Day

Poets Momtaza Mehri, Julianknxx and historian Jesús Sanjurjo join Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Faith, consciousness and creating meaning in life

Philosophers Daniel Dennett, Philip Goff, podcaster Liz Oldfield & a faith museum curator.

• 44 mins

Art, Kew, a symphony and nature

Artist Mat Collishaw, composer Jimmy López Bellido, academics Vid Simoniti and Sarah Casey

• 44 mins

The Frieze/Radio 3 Museum Directors Debate 2023

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery, London and MACBA, Barcelona join Anne McElvoy

• 44 mins

Being Blonde

Matthew Sweet and Professor Lynda Nead explore links between Diana Dors and Ruth Ellis.

• 44 mins

Victorian colour, jewellery and metalwork

Nandini Das visits Colour Revolution at the Ashmolean in Oxford and talks to a jeweller.

• 44 mins

Humours and the body

From mitochondria and 16th-century cancer treatments to breath, blood and Bach cantatas.

• 44 mins

Valis and Philip K Dick

A weirdly autobiographical science fiction novel from 1981, inspired by hallucinations.

• 44 mins

Sankofa and Afrofuturism

Curator Ekow Eshun, academic Sarah Jilani and sculptor Zak Ové with Shahidha Bari.

• 44 mins

Sleep

John Gallagher gets sleeping tips from research pioneers and early modern history

• 44 mins

Eliza Flower and non-conformist thinking

Matthew Sweet hears about research into the singer and friend of JS Mill feat. live songs!

• 44 mins

Robert Aickman

On Halloween, Matthew Sweet & guests discuss supernatural fiction, conservation and canals

• 44 mins