Arts & Ideas

With the death of Glenda Jackson announced here's a conversation she recorded last year

As the NPG re-opens we look at portraiture in art, photography, documentary & oral history

Gavin Francis on Thomas Browne, Polly Morland on John Berger, Matt Smith on mental health

From the East India Company to Silicon Valley: the big ideas in his tercentennial year

Novelist R F Kuang, Dr Kerry McInerney, Ghislaine Boddington and MIT's Daron Acemoglu

Matthew Sweet on the French actor who worked with Buñuel, Varda, Ferreri and Godard.

Rana Mitter looks at fens, flatlands, wild swimming and a little-changed Bulgarian valley

Ece Temelkuran, Ben Judah, Misha Glenny and Timothy Garton Ash with Rana Mitter at Hay

As an Imperial War Museum show opens, Anne McElvoy and guests discuss art and the Troubles

From Montaigne on sneezing to losing the sense of smell & historians using their noses.

Julia Pascal, Rachel Lichtenstein, Linda Grant and curator Alex Cropper + John Gallagher

Shahidha Bari looks at sea creatures and a Caribbean re-telling of The Little Mermaid.

Looking beyond the stereotypes of the county that's often described as 'much maligned'.

Shahidha Bari is joined by Louise Creechan, Joan Passey and Paul Baker

NoViolet Bulwayo's We Need New Names on stage plus "enfant terrible" Dambudzo Marechera

More than just a fear of going out - the history & lived experience of a phobia explored.

Rachel Hewitt has been researching the pioneering Irish climber Mrs Aubrey Le Blond.

Shahidha Bari hears about two inspirational medieval women mystics who wrote about faith

Anne McElvoy looks at royalty, pomp and glory in opera, ancient Persia and Tudor England.

Matthew Sweet and guests consider the career of the Bahamian-American actor (1927-2022)

Matthew Sweet finds out how extreme temperatures changed Erland Cooper's music

Rana Mitter talks to the author about her life & the art of writing historical biography.

Shahidha Bari and guests on a Royal Collection exhibition and the new Bridgerton spin off

From outfits which double as tents to material and algae: Lucy Orta and Monica Buchan-Ng

The spiritual paintings of the Swedish artist are discussed by Matthew Sweet and guests

Tartan at V&A Dundee, RL Stevenson's Kidnapped on stage, the Highland Book prize 2022

Trans narratives in pre-Shakespearian drama plus Twelfth Night and the First Folio.

Exploring the flow of cultural influences in both directions across the Atlantic.

Jim Scown on the links between Goethe, George Eliot and the storming of the US Capitol

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the Hollywood star's dancing, comic timing and "sass".