The Arts Hour

This podcast has now moved. To listen to The Arts Hour after broadcast, search for "Artists at Work" wherever you get your podcasts from - where you'll also be able to get other great programmes from the BBC World Service, In The Studio and World Book Club Don't forget to "follow" or "subscribe" to receive them every week, automatically!

Nikki Bedi speaks to German director Joscha Bongard about his film, Babystar and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh: Australian movie star Hugh Jackman on starring in his latest film, The Death of Robin Hood, a gritty incarnation of the well-known folklore hero Japanese British Nobel Prize winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro on what makes a good train film New Ze...

Nikki Bedi and Rhianna Dhillon chat about the week’s big film release, Practical Magic 2 – is it bewitching or cursed? Plus, Indian dancer Radhe Jaggi joins to discuss the enchanting art of Bharatanatyam. We also hear from Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman about turning her hugely popular comics into a smash Netflix series. Actor Dominic Sessa talks about playing a young Anthony Bourdain in the mo...

Nikki Bedi’s interview guest, Kanan Gill, is one of the biggest comedians to come out of India. He talks about his global tour with the show, Not This Again, and critic Bidisha joins them in conversation about other cultural highlights of the week Director Ridley Scott on his dystopian western film, The Dog Stars French pianist sisters, Katia and Marielle Labèque, on 55 years of performing togethe...

Global superstar Madonna talks about her new album, Confessions II and her relationship with dance Nikki Bedi meets Italian Director Francesco Sossai to discuss Italian masculinity in his film, The Last One for the Road and critic Bidisha joins Nikki to reflect on other cultural highlights of the week: Australian dancer and choreographer Meryl Tankard on reviving a 1978 Pina Bausch dance piece wit...

Nikki Bedi speaks to fresh new voice in Indian cinema, the director Rohan Kanawade, about his groundbreaking Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda). The first Marathi-language film to premiere at the Sundance Festival, it was also the first drama from India to win an International Grand Jury Prize. Kanawade reflects on growing up in a Mumbai slum with parents who accepted his sexuality, and how he drew on the...

French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski tells Nikki Bedi about directing Oscar winning actor Jodie Foster in Vie Privée (A Private Life), her first starring role in a French language film Nikki is joined by critic Rhianna Dhillon to reflect on the top cultural talking points of the week: American director Andrew Stanton and actor Greta Lee on the making of of Toy Story 5, The Toys Are Back In Town Brit...

Nikki Bedi speaks to Iranian-born director Tina Gharavi about her new film Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, starring Haley Bennett and Lily Allen Zing Tsjeng joins as cultural critic to give her take on some of the highlights of the week: Kiefer Sutherland on his career playing bad guys, from Stand by Me to the genre-defining series 24. Adam Lambert on following in the footsteps of Freddie Mercury...

Nikki Bedi speaks to the internationally acclaimed French-Moroccan author of Lullaby about the final part of her historical family trilogy, I’ll Take The Fire Steven Spielberg remembers falling in love with space and how it has inspired Disclosure Day, his new conspiracy thriller Actor Michael Fassbender shares the advice he was given by undercover agents for spy series The Agency And with her lat...

Nikki Bedi introduces the Arts Hour podcast. Your weekly cultural companion, featuring guests and opinions on what's happening in art, theatre, film, TV, music and more. Find us at bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.