Becoming Animal

Belinda Zhawi

Writer and sound artist Belinda Zhawi imagines life as a southern African plains Zebra.

• 14 mins

Becoming Animal

Ned Beauman

Writer Ned Beauman explores the world of the Devon beaver.

• 14 mins

Becoming Animal

Sarah Kosar

Playwright Sarah Kosar flies in the night sky with the soprano pipistrelle bat.

• 14 mins

Becoming Animal

Toby Litt

Writer Toby Litt is inspired by the world of the brown hare.

• 14 mins

Rainsong in Five Senses

India and the Sound of Rain

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain.

• 14 mins

Rainsong in Five Senses

Japan and the Taste of Rain

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain.

• 14 mins

Rainsong in Five Senses

Australia and the Smell of Rain

Nandini Das curates global essays on five different sensory experiences of rain.

• 14 mins

Rainsong in Five Senses

Paris and the Look of Rain

Nandini Das introduces another essay about the global differences in our response to rain.

• 14 mins

Rainsong in Five Senses

England and the Touch of Rain

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on differing sensory responses to rain.

• 14 mins

Shakespeare's Sisters

Maria Anna Mozart

The story of five women whose success was overshadowed by a more famous brother.

• 14 mins

Shakespeare's Sisters

Sarah Fielding

Lucy Powell explores the work of brilliant siblings through their relatedness to genius.

• 14 mins

Shakespeare's Sisters

Fanny Dickens

The brilliant women whose success was often eclipsed by their more famous brothers.

• 14 mins

Shakespeare's Sisters

Katharine Wright

Where is Katharine Wright's place in aviation history?

• 14 mins

Shakespeare's Sisters

Madame E Toussaint Welcome

Lucy Powell remembers one of the first African American film directors.

• 14 mins

John Halifax, Gentleman

2/5 Clare Walker Gore explores how Dinah Mulock Craik subverted Victorian expectations

• 13 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf: Sindhubala

Preti Taneja on the writing and politics of Bengali author and activist Mahasweta Devi

• 13 mins

Books to Make Space For On The Bookshelf: Closer

4/5 New Generation Thinker Diarmuid Hester on the transgressive writing of Dennis Cooper

• 13 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf: There's No Story There

Lisa Mullen looks at depictions of war-time factory workers in the novel by Inez Holden

• 13 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf

The Black Lizard

New Generation Thinker Christopher Harding reads the Japanese equivalent of Conan Doyle.

• 14 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf

John Halifax, Gentleman

Clare Walker Gore explains how Dinah Mulock Craik subverted Victorian expectations.

• 14 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf

Sindhubala

Preti Taneja on the writing and politics of Bengali author and activist Mahasweta Devi.

• 14 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf

Closer

Diarmuid Hester looks at the George Miles Cycle from punk radical Dennis Cooper.

• 14 mins

Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf

There's No Story There

Lisa Mullen looks at the depiction of war-time factory workers in a novel by Inez Holden.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

A Portrait of the Artist

Professor Jerry Brotton explores the darker side of the Italian Renaissance.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Overture

Cellini’s early years are spent training as a musician.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Storming the Capitol

Having built a career as a goldsmith, Cellini becomes a soldier during the Sack of Rome.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Death in Florence

On his return to Florence, Cellini experiences the horrors of the plague.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

The Scorpion

Cellini roams between the great Italian courts, making art and causing trouble.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Crime and Punishment

Cellini is imprisoned for over a year in Rome, enduring various attempts on his life.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Golden Years

Cellini arrives in Fontainebleau to work for Francis I.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Forging the Renaissance

Back in Florence, Cellini works for Cosimo de’ Medici and creates his greatest work

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Sex and Death

Cellini’s misconduct leads him back to jail, where he completes another masterpiece.

• 14 mins

Blood and Bronze

Rebirth

Cellini’s violent life leaves behind a controversial legacy.

• 14 mins

Churchcrawls in Solitude

Illington, Norfolk

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores his life and work through five of Britain's historic churches

• 14 mins

Churchcrawls in Solitude

Wetherden, Suffolk

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores his life and work through five of Britain's historic churches

• 14 mins

Churchcrawls in Solitude

Dunwich, Suffolk

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores his life and work through five of Britain's historic churches

• 14 mins

Churchcrawls in Solitude

Inglesham, Wiltshire

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores his life and work through five of Britain's historic churches

• 14 mins

Churchcrawls in Solitude

St Barnabas Jericho, Oxford

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores his life and work through five of Britain's historic churches

• 13 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Greg Russell

Greg Russell shares a Labi Siffre song with Verity Sharp that’s resonating under lockdown.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Rachel Unthank

Rachel Unthank shares warm family memories of songs she now sings to her own children.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Nathaniel Mann

Nathaniel Mann shares a song with Verity Sharp from his allotment outside Nottingham.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Owen Shiers

Owen Shiers shares a song with Verity Sharp that’s reminding him of his Welsh roots.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Karine Polwart

Karine Polwart shares a song about The Diggers to celebrate getting back to the land.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Fatoumata Diawara

Singer Fatoumata Diawara recalls early experiences that made her the singer she is today.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Chris Wood

Kent-based musician Chris Wood sings about solitude and sofas.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Lisa O'Neill

From her apartment in Dublin, Lisa O’Neill shares songs she’s written in recent months.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Suhail Yusuf Khan

Sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan sings an Urdu poem that’s resonating for him.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Eliza Carthy

From her home in Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, Eliza Carthy shares a timely song.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Kate Stables

Paris-based Kate Stables muses on being a twin and how starting over can bring strength.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Tenzin Choegyal

Brisbane-based Tenzin Choegyal powerfully recalls his Tibetan homeland in song.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Lizabett Russo

From her home in Edinburgh, Lizabett Russo reflects on her roots in Romania.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Falle Nioke

Falle Nioke plays the music of his native Guinea from his current home in Margate.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Peter Broderick

Oregon-born, Galway-based Peter Broderick sings in praise of the blackberry.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Sam Lee

Sam Lee sings of the sun and the moon and talks movingly about love and hope.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Stick in the Wheel

Stick in the Wheel’s Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter celebrate working lives and hard graft.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Germa Adan

At home near Birmingham, Haitian born Germa Adan shares thoughts on identity and belonging

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Julie Fowlis

From her home in the Highlands, Julie Fowlis sings of seals, swans and the otherworldly.

• 14 mins

Folk at Home

At Home with Nancy Kerr

From her home in Sheffield, Nancy Kerr sings of old haunts lost and pastures new.

• 14 mins

New Generation Thinkers: The Feurtado's Fire

Christienna Fryar looks at Caribbean earthquakes and fires and lessons for rebuilding now

• 12 mins

New Generation Thinkers

The Feurtado's Fire

Christienna Fryar looks at Caribbean earthquakes and fires and lessons for rebuilding now.

• 14 mins

Under the Influence

Jon Boden

Jon Boden on the influence of apocalyptic science-fiction on him as a folk singer.

• 15 mins

New Generation Thinkers

The Entrepreneur

Philip Roscoe asks whether our expectations of the lone entrepreneur are unrealistic.

• 15 mins

Under the Influence

Emma Rice

Emma Rice reveals the influences that stamp her work as a theatre director.

• 15 mins

New Generation Thinkers

Parallels and Paradoxes

Shahidha Bari examines the ideas behind the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

• 15 mins

Under the Influence

Shobana Jeyasingh

Shobana Jeyasingh on how different dance traditions inform her choreography.

• 15 mins

New Generation Thinkers

Light in the Dark

Alexandra Harris explores the history of artificial light through literary sources.

• 15 mins

Under the Influence

Tom Hunter

Photographer and artist Tom Hunter on the impact that Vermeer has had on his work.

• 15 mins

New Generation Thinkers

Looking beyond the Dead

Zoe Norridge ask why photos of Africa fix perceptions of the continent at its worst times.

• 15 mins

Under the Influence

Kei Miller

Indian-born choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh reflects on the influences shaping her dances.

• 15 mins

New Generation Thinkers

The Canon of Comics

Jon Adams compares the work of modern comic book enthusiasts to ancient biblical scholars.

• 15 mins