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. Robert Icke

    −2 D

    Robert Icke

    Theatre director and writer Robert Icke talks to John Wilson about his formative creative influences. Described by Variety magazine as ‘the great hope of British theatre’ and with his radical new versions of classic plays, Icke has built a reputation for revelatory productions. Born in Stockton on Tees in 1986, he made his name in 2015 with an epic new version of the Greek tragedy Oresteia, which he had adapted himself. It won several awards and, at 29, Icke became the youngest ever recipient of the Best Director award at the Olivier Awards. More acclaim followed for his 2017 production of Hamlet, starring Andrew Scott, his adaptation of the Arthur Schnitzler play The Doctor, and his new version of Oedipus which transferred to Broadway in 2025. His latest West End production is Romeo and Juliet, starring Sadie Sink of Stranger Things fame. Producer: Edwina Pitman

    43 min
  2. David Szalay

    23 APR.

    David Szalay

    Booker Prize-winning author David Szalay talks to John Wilson about his creative influences. His 2009 debut novel London and The South East, based on his experience of working in telesales, won the Betty Trask Award. The author of six books, his work often defies easy classification: his 2016 novel All That Man Is comprises nine standalone short stories which share the overarching theme of masculinity. His 2018 novel Turbulence follows 12 loosely-linked characters on a dozen flights around the world. In 2025 he won the Booker with Flesh, a rags to riches story told across several decades. Producer: Edwina Pitman Archive used: Extract from T S Eliot, Preludes 1, read by Jeremy Irons, BBC Radio 4, 25 December 2021 Extract from T S Eliot, The Waste Land, read by Jeremy Irons, BBC Radio 4, 2 January 2022 Clip from trailer of Downhill Racer, Michael Ritchie, 1969 Clip from trailer of Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, 1976 Extract from David Szalay, Flesh, read by David Szalay Clip from Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick, 1975 Clip from 2025 Booker Prize ceremony

    43 min
  3. Danielle de Niese

    16 APR.

    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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
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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.

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  • Skapad av
    BBC Radio 4
  • Aktiva år
    2021 - 2026
  • Avsnitt
    151
  • Åldersgräns
    Barnvänligt
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Programmets webbplats
    This Cultural Life
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