Afterwords: Susan Sontag

A fragmentary look at the writer Susan Sontag through her own words and those of her peers

• 44 mins

The Victorian Queens of Ancient Egypt

Samira Ahmed on the women who brought ancient Egypt to Britain’s industrial north.

• 44 mins

A History of The Tongue

A succulent and mouthwatering portrait of one of the body's least talked about organs.

• 43 mins

A History of the Tongue

A succulent and mouthwatering portrait of one of the body's least talked about organs.

• 44 mins

My Trouble with Classical Music

David Baddiel is on a quest to like classical music.

• 44 mins

Into the Eerie

Will Abberley explores the recent interest in the eerie within English culture.

• 44 mins

Jazz Japan

An exploration of the rich and surprising history of jazz in Japan.

• 44 mins

Gabriel Prokofiev - My Family and Russia

The shifting relationship between Russian music and the state across three generations.

• 44 mins

The Deluxe Edition

Sean Williams takes a first-class journey through the enduring contradictions of luxury.

• 44 mins

Harmony of the Spheres

Going in search of the music at the centre of our cosmos: the Harmony of the Spheres.

• 44 mins

The Actors' Guide to the Emotions

Shahidha Bari traces the changing portrayal of emotions on the stage.

• 44 mins

John Ashbery - Portrait in a Convex Mirror

Colm Toibin presents an intimate portrait of American poet John Ashbery, who died in 2017.

• 44 mins

Hotel Genius

Sally Marlow uncovers the creative legacy of residents at the Institute for Advanced Study

• 44 mins

Haus Work: Women of the Bauhaus

Olivia Horsfall Turner tells the story of the women of the radical Bauhaus school.

• 44 mins

Waterlog

Wild swimming enthusiast Alice Roberts examines the legacy of Waterlog by Roger Deakin.

• 44 mins

Alexander Korda - Producer, Director, Exile, Spy

Matthew Sweet unearths movie mogul Alexander Korda's wartime role as a British agent.

• 44 mins

Robinson Crusoe Road-Trip

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe marks its 300th anniversary but does it have a future?

• 44 mins

Literary Pursuits - Golding's Lord of The Flies

Golding's classic novel was saved from being rejected by Faber by the luckiest of chances.

• 44 mins

Cristiani and Her Cello

Dr Kate Kennedy explores the life and journeys of pioneer cellist Lise Cristiani.

• 44 mins

The Art of Rowing with Mary Wollstonecraft

Making waves - how did travelling as a single mother inspire Mary Wollstonecraft?

• 14 mins

A Unicorn Quest

Short feature about unicorns from Hetta Howes one of the 2019 BBC New Generation Thinkers.

• 14 mins

Cold War in Full Swing - Louis Armstrong in the GDR

Kevin Le Gendre discovers how Louis Armstrong came to play jazz in communist East Germany.

• 44 mins

Everybody Likes Music, Don't They?

To many, music is indispensible. But what if it has no place in your life?

• 44 mins

Judy Punches Up

Punch and Judy - unexpected feminist icons?

• 14 mins

Al-Andalus: the Legacy

Andrew Hussey journeys through Spain in search of the legacy of Al-Andalus.

• 44 mins

Moral Machinery: The Invention of Mental Healthcare

How one individual led a revolution in care for the mentally ill.

• 14 mins

Plot 5779: Unearthing Elizabeth Siddall

Actor Lily Cole plays Elizabeth Siddall who climbs out of her grave to tell her own story.

• 44 mins

The Hidden Reservoir

Carlo Gebler on the role of the arts in healing and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

• 44 mins

Power Plays

How theatre challenged the East German government - but was swept aside as communism fell.

• 44 mins

Poles Apart

The unknown tale of cold war communist Poland's unlikely love affair with electronic music

• 44 mins

A Racist Music

Challenging the legacy of composer and racist ideologue John Powell (1882-1963).

• 44 mins

Rewiring Raymond Scott

Ken Hollings assesses the legacy of the American electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: Glitter and Villainy

Glitter and Villainy: Camp performance and dressing to kill.

• 14 mins

Gentileschi's Revenge

Painter Caroline Walker explores the life of Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi.

• 44 mins

The Emergency - Creative freedom in wartime Dublin

Regan Hutchins tells the story of bohemian Dublin in World War II.

• 44 mins

The Lonely Death of Stanley Bate

Simon Heffer explores the tragic life of Stanley Bate, enigma of English music.

• 44 mins

Shades of Black: The Art and Genius of Archibald Motley Jr

How the artist Archibald Motley Jr captured the politics of skin tone in Jazz Age Chicago.

• 44 mins

In search of Arabic classical music

Kate Molleson travels to Cairo to discover a lost aural music tradition.

• 44 mins

The East Speaks Back

Jerry Brotton celebrates the world of Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi.

• 44 mins

Queen of Technicolor

Maureen O'Hara's journey from the Dublin suburbs to star of Hollywood's golden age.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: The Air that I Breathe

New Generation Thinker Alun Withey reflects on our desire for clean air.

• 14 mins

Literary Pursuits

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

Sarah Dillon reveals a tale of money and passion behind Dickens's Great Expectations.

• 45 mins

Literary Pursuits

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

Sarah Dillon explores the arduous composition of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.

• 45 mins

Literary Pursuits

Jane Austen's Persuasion

Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, was written.

• 45 mins

Literary Pursuits

James Joyce's Dubliners

Sarah Dillon recounts James Joyce's epic struggle to publish his first book, Dubliners.

• 45 mins

Literary Pursuits

Literary Pursuits: EM Forster's Maurice

Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story, Maurice.

• 44 mins

Literary Pursuits

Literary Pursuits - RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde

Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.

• 44 mins

Literary Pursuits

Les Miserables

The story behind the writing of Victor Hugo's book is one of adultery, intrigue and exile.

• 44 mins

Literary Pursuits

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

How a murder in Kansas prompted Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: The Endless Demise of the High Street

Dr Jade Halbert ponders the veracity of the long-running warnings of high street demise.

• 14 mins

Wordsworth - Poet of the People

On Wordsworth's 250th, Jenny Uglow sets the poet in contrast to the economist Adam Smith.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: Short Feature

New Generation Thinkers test their theories in the real world.

• 14 mins

New Generation Thinkers: The Crankiness of CW Daniel

Dr Elsa Richardson explores the impact and legacy of radical publisher CW Daniel.

• 14 mins

Electronic India

Musician Paul Purgas investigates the lost history of India’s electronic avant-garde.

• 44 mins

Writing Across Distance

Writing Across Distance. New Sunday Feature from BBC Radio 3.

• 44 mins

Afterwords: Toni Morrison

Reflections on American writer Toni Morrison in her own words and those of her peers.

• 44 mins

Silent Witness - John Cage, Zen and Japan

How American experimental composer John Cage came to write his infamous silent 4’33”.

• 44 mins

The Kershaw Tapes - Andy's Kitchen and On the Road in Africa

Andy Kershaw introduces rare recordings from his personal archive.

• 44 mins

The Kershaw Tapes - Andy's Kitchen and On the Road in the Americas

Andy Kershaw introduces rare recordings from his personal archive.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: Sloe Time

Nature's barbed wire - and giver of a fruit that creates a delicious warming tipple.

• 14 mins

Cave Life For Beginners

Down down, deeper and down - Ben Cottam overnights in a cave in search of inspiration.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: Short Feature - COVID and the Black Death; the imperfect fit

Dr Seb Falk challenges the repeated pandemic comparison of Covid-19 with the Black Death.

• 14 mins

Tate Modern - Exploding the Canon

For Director Frances Morris, there is an urgency to make Tate Modern fit for the future.

• 44 mins

Curves and Concrete

How did a maverick Scottish architect revolutionise the design of UK skateparks?

• 44 mins

The Silence of My Pain

Hannah French explores an often hidden disability for many musicians: chronic pain.

• 44 mins

Our Birmingham Fathers

Three people meet to share experiences of grieving for their musician fathers.

• 44 mins

The Myth and Mystery of Anja Thauer

Uncovering the tragic story of a lost cellist, once known as Germany’s Jacqueline du Pré.

• 44 mins

The Fake Poet

Why does the image of the forlorn and abandoned poet Thomas Chatterton haunt us today?

• 44 mins

Dissecting Beethoven

Neurosurgeon Henry Marsh and Georgia Mann dissect Beethoven.

• 44 mins

New Generation Thinkers: A Passion for Annotations

Dr Kylie Murray explains her fascination for annotation.

• 14 mins

The Robots Are Us

Ken Hollings explores a century of R.U.R., Karel Capek's staged robot revolution.

• 44 mins

The Apple and the Tree

Carlo Gébler, son of Edna O’Brien, asks why the children of writers often become writers.

• 44 mins