Front Row

Comedy giant Steve Martin on making new bluegrass music with pioneering banjo player Alison Brown with their new album, Safe, Sensible, and Sane. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta on her cinematic retelling of Ibsen's classic play, Hedda Gabbler.Sharon Heal, Director of the Museums Association on British industrial heritage emerging from the cultural shadows.Senior curator at the Horniman Museum, Heba Abd el Gawad, and Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price on the enduring influence of Egyptology on culture.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Join Cathy Tyson, a BAFTA-winning actress, as she shares her experience tackling the complex role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She dives into the intimate demands of her performance and the changes made for a Black Martha. Musician Todd Rundgren discusses AI's evolution in the music scene and its implications for live artistry. Author David Szalay reflects on his Booker-shortlisted novel Flesh, exploring its unique narrative structure and the complexities of human relationships.

Guillermo Del Toro talks about his new Frankenstein film and our critics deliver their verdict. Julia Roberts plays a college professor whose career becomes entangled in campus sexual politics, in Luca Guadanino's After The Hunt. Hollie McNish's poetry collection "Virgin" unpicks the meaning of the word and the man-made concept beneath it.Presenter Samira Ahmed Reviewers: Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Lindsay Johns

Richard Ashcroft, former frontman of The Verve, dives into his new album, Loving You, discussing how he uses samples and the emotional impact of human creativity versus AI in music. He reflects on the nostalgia and timelessness of his hit songs while recounting his emotional experience opening for Oasis. James Crawford shares insights into Alfred Buckham's daring aerial photography, and Amina Shah, National Librarian of Scotland, discusses a recent controversy around a centenary exhibition, balancing stakeholder concerns with artistic expression.

Sam Ryder talks to Samira about his career, gaining Eurovision success with Space Man and he performs the song Armour live, a track from his forthcoming album Heartland.With chart topping songs and a global smash hit animated film, directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans talk about creating the phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters.The Pulitzer prize winning African American writer Hilton Als and biographer Miranda Seymour discuss author Jean Rhys.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet

Pianist Lang Lang's 2019 album Piano Book was one of the best selling classical albums that year, with over a billion streams and counting. He’s now followed it up with Piano Book 2, an eclectic selection of 32 short works from both classical and contemporary composers. He came into the studio to talk to us about the album and to play for us.Diane Keaton passed away on Saturday, at the age of 79. She spoke to Front Row in 2017, where she discussed her philosophy around style and fashion. The Booker Prize 2025 is just a month or so away, and we’re talking to all the nominees. Today it's the turn of author Ben Markovits, and his novel The Rest of Our Lives.Rare books are going missing across Europe in what's been described as Europe’s largest book heist since War World Two. Nina Nazarova from BBC Russian has been investigating the story. The third film in the Tron series, Tron Ares, is out now. Guardian writer Steve Rose is on to discuss the prescience of the original, which depicted a new world of cyberspace and big tech.

Alexander Larman and Susannah Clapp join Tom to discuss I Swear, a film which tells the life story of John Davidson MBE who was diagnosed with Tourette's age 15.They also talk about Thomas Pynchon's new novel Shadow Ticket.Booker shortlisted novelist Tibor Fischer assesses the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.As the complete works of Seamus Heaney is published, Owen McDonnell reads the previously unpublished poem Swallow.Plus, Tom and guests discuss Susan Sarandon’s UK debut on stage in Tracy Letts’ play, Mary Page Marlowe.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

Actor Tamsin Greig discusses her role in Sally Wainwright's latest drama series, Riot Women, in which a group of middle-aged women in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, form a band of anarchist rock musicians. Booker Prize-shortlisted author Susan Choi tells us about her sprawling historical epic, Flashlight, set against the backdrop of the shared history of America, Japan and Korea. Conservation specialist Will Palin on the historic refurbishment of a series of magnificent murals by the great artist William Hogarth, which have just gone on display to the public for the first time at Bart's Hospital in London. And one hundred years since its invention, we discuss the history and cultural significance of the analogue photobooth. How did this new technology make photography more democratic and influence major artists? Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Artist Marina Abramović on the world premiere of her largest-scale performance artwork - Balkan Erotic Epic - at Aviva Studios in Manchester. BBC Culture reporter Noor Nanji on the Riyadh Comedy Festival which has divided the comedy world.Poets Max Wallis and Dr Anna Percy on poetry and mental health as their new poetry magazine, The Aftershock Review, makes an impressive debut.Clare Wood, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the British Ceramics Biennial on the festival's new international selection of artists' films centred on clay.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Film director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker. She discusses her new film A House of Dynamite, which also looks at war, with Samira Booker-winner Kiran Desai has been nominated for her new novel - 2 decades in the writing; The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. Islam Issa and Ben Luke join Samira to discuss 'what are the humanities for and where are they headed'? And we pay tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper who has died at the age of 88. We speak to writer and journalist Daisy Buchanan about the “Queen of the Bonkbuster”Presenter Samira Ahmed