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 ClubDon't forget to "follow" or "subscribe" to receive them every week, automatically! EXCLUSIVE MEDIA & BTS ACCESS The unedited celebrity inter...

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 filmNew Zeal...

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 BharatanatyamWe also hear from Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman about turning her hugely popular comics into a smash Netflix seriesActor Dominic Sessa talks about playing a young Anthony Bourdain in the movie...

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 weekDirector Ridley Scott on his dystopian western film, The Dog StarsFrench pianist sisters, Katia and Marielle Labèque, on 55 years of performing togetherT...

Nikki Bedi speaks to the Oscar winning documentary maker Orlando von Einsiedel about his latest film, The Cycle of Love and discusses this week's cultural highlights with critic Arifa Akbar: Australian star of the excellent medical drama The Pitt, Shabana Azeez on the importance of lunchAmerican author Ruth Ozeki on her early career as a filmmakerTony and Emmy award winning actor Stockard Channing...

Nikki Bedi meets Booker Prize longlisted Mexican American author Chloe Aridjis to discuss her latest novel, The Shadow of the Object British actor James Norton, on joining the cast of the hugely popular Games of Thrones prequel, House of the DragonAmerican star of stage and screen Neil Patrick Harris on his latest film role in Sunny Dancer ... set in a summer camp for teenagers with cancerSwedish...

Nikki Bedi meets Preeti and Kranti - two members of India’s first all-female hip hop collective, Wild Wild Women - to talk about their extraordinary journeys thus farPlus critic Alexandra Steinacker-Clark joins to give her take on the cultural talking points of the week: We hear from Ru Paul from smash TV series Drag Race about his new comedy caper movie STOP! THAT! TRAIN!Luxembourgish German acto...

British actor Samantha Morton on playing Circe in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film, The Odyssey Nikki Bedi meets US comedy star Jay Jurden to talk about his stand-up show ‘Jay Jurden Takes London’ and Karen Krizanovich joins Nikki to reflect on other cultural highlights of the week:American screen star Helen Hunt on tackling Chekhov’s play, The Cherry OrchardThe French director Alain Gomis on...

Actor, writer and director Uzoamaka Power talks about her rom com, Call of My Life, which has been breaking box office records in Nigeria Nikki Bedi reflects on other cultural highlights of the week with critic Zing Tsjeng:The Country-Pop Canadian superstar singer Shania Twain on how she got her big breakIndian director Tarsem Singh on his cult classic film The Fall, two decades onBritish singer-s...

British Argentinian actor Anya Taylor-Joy on playing a con artist in the new TV series, LuckyNikki Bedi meets Portuguese musician Ana Lua Caiano to talk about her music, reinventing Portuguese traditions with electronica and rhythmic experimentation and critic Katie Puckrik joins Nikki to reflect on other cultural highlights of the week:Supergirl! The Australian actor Milly Alcock on DC’s latest b...

Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan and actor Matt Damon talk about one of the year’s most anticipated blockbusters, their movie, The Odyssey Nikki Bedi meets Chilean screenwriter and director Diego Cespedes whose film, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, takes us to an LGBTQ+ community in the Chilean dessert and critic Leila Latif joins Nikki to reflect on other cultural highlights of the w...

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 filmNikki 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 Britis...

Nikki Bedi speaks to Iranian-born director Tina Gharavi about her new film Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day, starring Haley Bennett and Lily AllenZing 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 a...

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 FireSteven Spielberg remembers falling in love with space and how it has inspired Disclosure Day, his new conspiracy thrillerActor Michael Fassbender shares the advice he was given by undercover agents for spy series The AgencyAnd with her latest...

British actor Kristin Scott Thomas, star of the English Patient and Four Weddings and a Funeral, reveals the personal story behind her directorial debut film, My Mother’s Wedding. Nikki Bedi is joined by critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh to discuss My Mother’s Wedding and other cultural highlights of the week Twenty-year-old American you tube star Kane Parsons on Backrooms, the feature film version of hi...

Nikki Bedi meets international bestselling author Tayari Jones whose award-winning novel ‘An American Marriage’ was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her Book Club and was championed by former US President Barack Obama. As an important contemporary voice in American fiction, Tayari is celebrated for writing about race, class, and life in the American South, all of which feature in her latest novel Kin....

Sandra Oh, star of Killing Eve and Grey’s Anatomy talks about making her UK theatre debut, in Martin Crimp’s update of Moliere’s seventeenth century play, The Misanthrope Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk explains his move from comedy to action movies Italian director Damiano Michieletto sheds light on Italian composer Vivaldi, in his film Primavera American avant-garde artist & musician Laur...

Nikki Bedi speaks to the Spanish director of Romeria, Carla Simon. Plus Zakia Sewell – broadcaster and author of new book Finding Albion – joins to discuss the week’s cultural highlights:American country music star Kacey Musgraves on her new albumFilmmaker Warwick Thornton talks about the relationships between Aboriginal Australians and Chinese labourersIndian-born novelist Amitav Ghosh shares his...

Nikki Bedi talks to Oscar winning Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu about his career and discusses the week’s cultural highlights with cultural critic Leila Latif: The American writer and actor Lena Dunham answers the question; will she bring back her groundbreaking hit TV series Girls? Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani talks about her latest movie Calle MalagaDanish novelist Solvej Bal...

Nikki Bedi talks to Jamaican reggae artist Protoje about his new album, The Art of Acceptance, and discusses the week’s cultural highlights with cultural critic Rhianna DhillonMeryl Streep and film director David Frankel talk about making The Devil Wears Prada 2Former British Boxer Tony Bellew on acting in the Creed moviesBleachers frontman Jack Antonoff tells the story behind his latest single, T...

Nikki Bedi speaks to comedian and actor Sindhu Vee about her new stand-up show Swanky. They are joined by William Lee Adams to discuss the week's cultural talking points:Kristoffer Borgli, Norwegian director of The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert PattinsonActor Gugu Mbatha-Raw on her role in new thriller FuzeDerry Girls creator Lisa McGee on her new Netflix series How to Get to Heaven From Belf...

Nikki Bedi talks to Croatian Actor Slavko Sobin about his film, Surviving Earth, and discusses the week's cultural highlights with critic Zing TsjengBritish singer songwriter Harry Styles on his new album, Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally Australian Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett on working with the visionary director, Jim JarmuschBrazilian Montenegrin writer Monika Radojevic on telling h...

Nikki Bedi talks to Nigerian British film-maker Olive Nwosu about her debut feature, Lady, and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with cultural critic Bidisha. Emmy Award-winning American actor Noah Wyle on TV medical drama, The Pitt. Argentinian film-maker and opera director Penny Woolcock on growing up in Buenos AiresChilean Belgian director Felipe Bustos Sierra on his documentary film, E...