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BBC Radio 4

Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday

  1. 1 day ago

    Retelling history in art and drama

    How do we tell the stories of the past, and whose histories get remembered? On Radio 4’s weekly discussion programme, Adam Rutherford is joined by three guests whose work challenges inherited narratives, recovers overlooked voices, and reimagines history through theatre, art and storytelling. The theatre director Dominic Cooke discusses his new production of Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, a landmark play from 1979 that examines gender, power and the enduring legacies of empire through settings in colonial Africa and twentieth-century Britain. Cloud Nine is on at the National Theatre, London until 13th January 2027. The writer and co-host of the BBC podcast Here for the History, Alice Loxton talks about A History of Britain in 21 Paintings, in which she uses artworks spanning more than a millennium to illuminate key moments in Britain's past and explore the stories behind some of the nation’s best-known myths, like that of St George. Her examples include Stubbs' image of a horse and LS Lowry's Bolton workers The poet and playwright Inua Ellams talks about his award-winning new play Once Upon a Time in Sokoto, an epic drama set in nineteenth-century West Africa that explores friendship, faith, slavery and the forces that shaped the creation of modern Nigeria. Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is touring to Leeds, Brighton, Bristol, Keswick and London until May 2027, presented by Fuel Theatre in association with Touring Together. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

  2. 2 Nov

    Global instability and the end of illusion

    What happens when the certainties that underpinned the post-war international order begin to fall apart? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Naomi Alderman is joined by three guests examining the forces that shape global power and the legacies of conflict. The journalist and author Kim Ghattas discusses The Best Kind of American: Murder, War, and America's Undoing in the Middle East. Through an investigation into the assassination of Middle East scholar Malcolm Kerr in 1980s Beirut, she traces the origins of many of the conflicts and rivalries that continue to define the region today, linking warlords, revolutionaries and political leaders across four decades of turbulent history. Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist at the Financial Times, talks about War is Interested in You: The Breakdown of International Order and the Threat of World War Three. Drawing on discussions with political and intelligence leaders around the world, he argues that an era of relative stability is giving way to a more dangerous and unpredictable age of geopolitical competition and conflict. And the historian and broadcaster David Runciman talks about his Radio 4 series 1956: End of Illusion, which tells the intertwined stories of the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution. Together, these events exposed the limits of British power, challenged assumptions about East and West, and reshaped the global political landscape of the post-war world. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

  3. 26 Oct

    John Berger and another way of seeing

    Can looking differently at the world help us imagine a better future? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by three guests exploring ideas of art, community and social change. The writer and archivist Tom Overton discusses John Berger: From Life, his biography of the influential critic, novelist and broadcaster. Berger was born on November 5th 1926 and died aged 90. Drawing on Berger's archive and their years of friendship and collaboration, Overton examines a figure whose work transformed the way we think about art, culture, politics and the lives of ordinary people. (BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting Seeing John Berger on Tuesday 27th October at 4pm). Berger wrote extensively about the peasantry. The academic Maryam Aslany carries on that tradition in her new book, Peasants: Makers of the Modern World. Combining history, reportage and fieldwork across Asia, Africa and Latin America, Aslany argues that peasants still remain central to the global economy, food systems and environmental sustainability. And the curator of the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow Rowan Bain talks about Morris and his circle and their belief that art and beauty could be agents of social change, offering a radical vision of a fairer and more sustainable society. Their current show Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK looks at a range of artists' houses including Cedric Morris’s Benton End; Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage and William Morris’s Red House. Following its presentation at William Morris Gallery it will tour to Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham (April – September 2027), Blackwell – The Arts & Crafts house, Bowness-on-Windermere (October 2027 – February 2028) and Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh (March – September 2028). Producer: Natalia Fernandez

  4. 19 Oct

    Napoleon’s marshals and President Trump’s civil servants

    What happens when the relationship between leaders and those entrusted to implement policy breaks down? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Adam Rutherford is joined by three guests to explore power, loyalty and the often unseen people who make complex systems work. The bestselling writer Michael Lewis discusses Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State, his account of the civil servants who found themselves resisting attempts by the Trump administration to dismantle parts of the American state. He asks what happens when public service is devalued, and why we rarely notice the institutions around us until they are threatened. Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government reflects on the relationship between politicians and the civil service. Drawing on her experience in government, from HM Treasury and No.10 to DEFRA, she examines why civil servants have increasingly been characterised by some politicians as ‘the blob’, and what that tension reveals about the challenges of governing a modern state. Historian Andrew Roberts discusses Napoleon and His Marshals, about the men who helped build, sustain and ultimately undermine Napoleon's empire. Roberts argues that Napoleon's downfall owed as much to his troubled relationships with his closest lieutenants as it did to military defeat, offering a revealing study of leadership, rivalry and betrayal. Producer: Katy Hickman

  5. 12 Oct

    Inheritance – from stories to genetics

    What do we inherit from the past and what happens when old stories are told in new ways? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Naomi Alderman is joined by three guests exploring the traces the past leaves behind, in memory, mythology and our DNA. The writer Gillian Slovo discusses her new novel Inheritance, in which her protagonist returns home to South Africa after an unexpected legacy uncovers long-buried family secrets. Moving between London and a country still dealing with the horror of apartheid, the novel explores memory, forgiveness and the burdens passed from one generation to the next. The classicist Edith Hall talks about her book Medea: A Life, which reimagines one of mythology's most notorious women. By treating Medea as a historical subject rather than simply a villain, Hall offers a fresh perspective on an ancient story that continues to resonate today. And Pontus Skoglund, geneticist and leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, explains how ancient DNA is transforming our understanding of human evolution, migration and disease. His research, and the Institute's exhibition We Go Way Back (until July 2027), reveal how genetic evidence can uncover forgotten lives and rewrite histories we thought we knew. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

  6. 5 Oct

    Jon Ronson: men unravelling

    From crumbling buildings to collapsing certainties, are we living through an age of unravelling? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by three guests reflecting on the changing cultural forces that shape our sense of self and what happens when those foundations start to fall apart. Jon Ronson discusses The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men, an investigation into the lives of men searching for belonging amid confusion about masculinity, purpose and identity. What begins as a mystery becomes a wider portrait of a changing world and those struggling to find their place within it. Michael Landy's exhibition Future Ruins (at Sir John Soane's Museum,14 October 2026 – 17 January 2027) imagines celebrated buildings, political monuments and personal landmarks reduced to decay. It’s a quarter of a century since Landy’s celebrated art work, Breakdown, in which he systematically destroyed all his possessions. And Roisín Kiberd discusses The Most Normal Woman: Essays on Appearances, exploring the endless pursuit of normality and perfection, and the pressure to conform. Through personal experience and cultural criticism, she examines how standards of beauty are created, enforced and resisted. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Debbie Kilbride

  7. 28 Sept

    Contains Strong Language Festival in Salford

    In front of an audience at the Contains Strong Language Festival in Salford Tom Sutcliffe is joined by three guests to celebrate poetry ancient and new and to explore the latest innovations in hearing the spoken word. The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage discusses his new verse translation of the ancient epic poem Gilgamesh, a timeless adventure story of power, love and loss. The poet and academic Jade Cuttle celebrates found objects - from Mesopotamian tablets to mudlarking treasure troves. Professor Trevor Cox from the University of Salford’s world-renowned Acoustics Innovation Institute explains the latest science behind hearing, listening and making yourself heard. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

  8. 21 Sept

    Carlo Rovelli: complexity and value

    What can we really know about the world around us and our place within it? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Adam Rutherford is joined by three guests who explore the values that shape our lives and the things that still matter even when they cannot easily be counted, explained or priced. The theoretical physicist and internationally acclaimed writer Carlo Rovelli discusses his new book On the Equality of All Things: Physics and Philosophy (translated by Simon Carnell). Drawing on modern physics and philosophical inquiry, he explores the relationships between minds and matter, ideas and objects, and asks us to reconsider how we understand the world and our place within it. The poet and writer Lavinia Greenlaw has drawn on science in her work. She talks about On Difficulty (and Poetry), her exploration of why difficult experiences, ideas and works of art can be so rewarding. She argues that resistance and complexity are not obstacles to understanding but can open up new ways of seeing and thinking. And the award-winning playwright James Graham discusses The Standard of Living, his new play about the economist John Maynard Keynes. Set amid economic crisis and social change, it asks what makes a good life and whether art, love and human connection might matter more than wealth and power. Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

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Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday

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  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2026
  • Episodes
    664
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    Start the Week

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