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Last broadcast on Mon, 16 Mar 2009, 21:15 on BBC Radio 3.
Synopsis
Rana Mitter talks to Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek, nicknamed 'the Elvis of cultural theory' because his writings mix political analysis, pop culture and flamboyant delivery. He responds to criticism accusing him of being an apologist of Stalinism and an anti-Semite.
Slavoj Zizek
Rana Mitter talks to the ebullient philosopher Slavoj Zizek, the man once dubbed ‘the Elvis of cultural theory’. Born in Slovenia, Zizek has written on subjects from Alfred Hitchcock to the Iraq war, from Lacanian psychoanalysis to Chairman Mao. He talks to Rana about why he still believes that love is evil and that communism remains the way forward.
The Essential Zizek by Slavoj Zizek is being republished in four volumes by Verso
Computer Games
Enthusiasm for computer games in Britain has now hit a record high with computer games now outselling DVDs. But can the games ever be truly educational or are they another example of a consumer society creating an expensive way to waste time? To find out, Rana is joined by Angela MacFarlane, Professor of Education at the University of Bristol and by Steven Poole, the author of Trigger Happy, a book about video games.
V&A Theatre and Performance Galleries
This week V&A opens its new Theatre and Performance Galleries – exhibits will include costumes from award winning productions, designers’ models of productions including one from 1793 and specially commissioned films of playwrights, directors and actors. Critic Paul Allen has been to see the show and lets us know what he thinks.
Il Divo
Francis Stonor Saunders reviews the new bio-pic of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti who served seven times between 1972 and 1992 and who faced numerous charges and allegations of links with the Mafia. The film, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, won the Prix du Jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
Il Divo opens on the 20th March
Arabic Literature
As Yusuf Zaydan is announced as winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction we talk to one of the judges of the prize Rasheed el Enany about why we can't yet read the novel in English and why so little Arabic literature is available in translation.
Beezlebub by Yusuf Zaydan is published by Dar al Shorouk
Broadcast
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Mon 16 Mar 200921:15
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