This Cultural Life

BBC Radio 4
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In-depth conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives across theatre, visual arts, music, dance, film and more. Hosted by John Wilson.

  1. Danielle de Niese

    1 DAY AGO

    Danielle de Niese

    John Wilson talks to the Australian born opera singer Danielle de Niese. A soprano renowned for her vibrant stage presence, she made her professional operatic debut with the Los Angeles Opera at the age of 15 and, and four years later she became one of the youngest singers to perform at Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her international breakthrough came in 2005 at the Glyndebourne Festival, where her performance as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare established her as a major operatic star. Since then she has sung leading roles at opera houses around the world, specialising particularly in Baroque repertoire, and has recorded six studio albums of music by composers including Handel and Mozart. She is the recipient of the 2026 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Producer: Edwina Pitman

    44 min
  2. Don McCullin

    9 APR

    Don McCullin

    Award-winning photographer Sir Don McCullin talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and formative experiences. He started out in the late 1950s documenting the working-class lives in the north London neighbourhood in which he had grown up. Employed by the Observer newspaper, and later the Sunday Times, McCullin photographs captured scenes of struggle, despair and violence. Travelling to the front lines of conflict zones in Cyprus, Beirut, Vietnam, Cambodia, Biafra, Northern Ireland and elsewhere, McCullin earned a hard-won reputation as one of the greatest war photographers of all time. In recent years he has focused his lens on the beauty of the natural world, particularly the landscape around his home in Somerset. His work is held in permanent collections around the world including the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A. He was knighted in 2017 for services to photography. Producer: Edwina Pitman

    43 min
  3. Julian Barnes

    19 FEB

    Julian Barnes

    The novelist, essayist and critic Julian Barnes talks to John Wilson about his career and formative cultural influences. One of the most acclaimed and distinctive British writers of his generation, his early novels, including Metroland, A History Of The World In 10 and a Half Chapters, and Flaubert’s Parrot, established his reputation for blending fiction, factual biography and philosophical reflection. Julian Barnes won the Booker Prize in 2011 for The Sense Of An Ending, and the same year won the prestigious David Cohen Prize for Literature, awarded for a body of work. A famous Francophile, he was given the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of France’s highest cultural honours in 2004. He has said that his latest book, Departure(s) will be his final novel. Producer: Edwina Pitman

    43 min
  4. Imogen Cooper

    12 FEB

    Imogen Cooper

    Dame Imogen Cooper is one of Britain’s most esteemed concert pianists. Having played since the age of five, she was mentored by the great Austrian born pianist Alfred Brendel before making her name internationally with interpretations of works by Schumann, Schubert and Mozart. She is renowned as a reflective, poetic sensitive performer in the concert hall and recording studio. She was made a CBE in 2007, became the first pianist to be awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2020 and, the following year, became Dame Imogen. She recently announced that, at the end of the year long international tour, she would be retiring from live performance in early 2027. Producer: Edwina Pitman Archive used: Face The Music, BBC2, 12 November 1975 Schubert, Allegretto in C minor D915 played by Imogen Cooper at the Wigmore Hall on 18 January 2026

    44 min
  5. Jonathan Pryce

    5 FEB

    Jonathan Pryce

    Award-winning actor Sir Jonathan Pryce talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and career. He made his name with the 1975 Trevor Griffiths play Comedians, his role as a stand-up comic winning him a Tony Award after it moved to Broadway. He won an Olivier Award for a landmark production of Hamlet in 1980, and another Tony for his role as The Engineer in Miss Saigon. His huge and diverse list of film credits include Terry Gilliam’s 1985 dystopian drama Brazil, the musical Evita alongside Madonna and, an Oscar nominated performance as Pope Francis in The Two Popes. And he’s been increasingly prolific in the age of television streaming with acclaim for his roles in Game Of Thrones, The Crown, Taboo, Slow Horses and Wolf Hall. He was knighted for services to drama in 2021. Producer: Edwina Pitman Archive used: Listen With Mother, BBC Home Service, 7 February, 1950 Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?, Whitehall Theatre, BBC1, 1940s Protests on Broadway, 6 April 1991 Comedians by Trevor Griffiths, 2nd House, BBC2, 15 March 1975 Jonathan Pryce in Hamlet, The Southbank Show, ITV, 1988 Brazil, Terry Gilliam, 1985

    43 min
  6. Katie Mitchell

    29 JAN

    Katie Mitchell

    Theatre and opera director Katie Mitchell talks to John Wilson about her career and formative influences. She is renowned for her experimental storytelling on stage, her feminist perspective, and for contemporary reframing of classic plays, she has directed more than 100 productions over more than 30 years. She has worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre, where - as associate director - she staged bold new versions of work by a wide range of writers including Aeschylus, Virginia Woolf, Chekhov and Sarah Kane. For many theatre goers, she is one of Britain’s most important and innovative living directors. Producer: Edwina Pitman

    43 min
  7. Annie Leibovitz

    22 JAN

    Annie Leibovitz

    American photographer Annie Leibovitz talks to John Wilson about her career and cultural influences. For over 50 years she has captured rock stars, actors and politicians in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine, Vanity Fair and in museums & galleries around the world. She is renowned for elaborately designed shoots, sometimes involving multiple celebrity sitters, and creating images that have a cinematic or painterly quality. Her best known photographs include John Lennon just hours before he was murdered, a naked and heavily pregnant Demi Moore – and Queen Elizabeth the second in the state rooms of Buckingham Palace. Producer: Edwina Pitman Archive used: The Rolling Stones at the LA Forum, 1975, BBC Radio 1 Report on the shooting of John Lennon: NBC News, 8 December 1980 Report on the Vigil for John Lennon in Central Park New York: WABC-TV, Channel 7 Eyewitness News, 14 December 1980 Annie Leibovitz photographs Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace: 2 clips from Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work: The State Visit; co-produced by BBC & RDF Media, 26 November 2007, BBC1

    43 min
  8. Guillermo del Toro

    15 JAN

    Guillermo del Toro

    Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences. From his 1992 debut Cronos to his recent big budget spectacular retelling of Frankenstein, del Toro’s 12 feature films mix fantasy, horror and Gothic romance to create modern fairy tales about innocence, brutality and redemption. His movies have won eight Academy Awards including three for Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006, and four Oscars for The Shape Of Water in 2017, plus seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globes. Producer: Edwina Pitman Archive used: Clip from Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, 2006 Clip from Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, 2025 Clip from Frankenstein, James Whale, 1931 Clip from I Confess, Alfred Hitchcock, 1953

    43 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

In-depth conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives across theatre, visual arts, music, dance, film and more. Hosted by John Wilson.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    This Cultural Life

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