Arts & Ideas

Frederick Forsyth discusses spy fiction and fact as he publishes his memoirs and Matthew Sweet explores our emotions with New Generation Thinker Dr Tiffany Watt-Smith, Thomas Dixon and Susie Orbach. Also a review of portraits chosen at the National Portrait Gallery by Simon Schama

South African artist William Kentridge discusses making animated films, drawings and directing the opera Lulu. William Boyd's latest novel Sweet Caress traces the life and work of a photographer. Philip Dodd talks to him about viewing 20th century history and news events through the lens of a fictional photo journalist. New Generation Thinker Zoe Norridge, documentary photographer Anna Fox and Eam...

Anne McElvoy discusses heroic triumph and failure with a trio of eminent historians

Philip Dodd discusses Camelot: The Shining City and reviews the new Harper Lee

Anne McElvoy on French intellectual traditions & rom-com; prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer

Philip Dodd discusses Legal Aid, Law, Language and Gore Vidal v William F Buckley Jr

Matthew Sweet on Jaws and the film-maker's role in creating the myth of a man-eating machine. Good or bad for the shark? Gareth Fraser, Ian Hunter, Will Self and Fiona Tan discuss.

Tariq Ali discusses Satyajit Ray's 1955 film Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) 60 years on. Rana Mitter is also joined by novelist Sunjeev Sahota and Neil Bartlett.

Anne McElvoy at Tate Modern with the Museum of the Year finalists.

The links between dance, art and the brain and the meaning of "the public"

Matthew Sweet on worrying - Joseph Cornell - Spy Fiction and the First film.

Anne McElvoy discusses the ways Scottish writers negotiate what it means to be Scottish with Janice Galloway, Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay and Murray Pittock.

Philip Dodd discusses community and talks a poet Claudia Rankine.

Matthew Sweet is in Cardiff to examine the role of the Left in Welsh politics and its bearing on today's debate about nationalism hearing from In Cardiff Matthew Sweet is joined by Professor Daniel Williams and Sir Deian Hopkin to discuss the role of the Left in Welsh politics and its bearing on today's debate about nationalism. He also talks about the Bardic tradition with the writers, Gwyneth Le...

Rana Mitter talks to Laurence Scott about living in a digital world Channel 4's Humans and explores the writing of Muriel Spark with Dr Sarah Dillon as Spark's novel The Driver's Seat is adapted by Laurie Sansom for The National Theatre of Scotland. 2015 New Generation Thinker Sandeep Parmar discusses diversity in contemporary British poetry and the shortlists for this year's Forward Prizes. Paint...

Geoff Dyer reviews Milan Kundera's first novel in 12 years The Festival of Insignificance. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks talks to Philip Dodd about confronting religious violence

Director John Boorman talks to Matthew Sweet about his new film Queen and Country and its place in a career that includes Deliverance and Excalibur as well as Hope and Glory

Poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger reflects on his writing, and German history, in his latest book New Selected Poems. New Generation Thinker Danielle Thom and the historian and columnist Tim Stanley, join Anne McElvoy to discuss Tate Britain’s exhibition of history painting from the eighteenth century to present day. Plus writer Lindsay Johns reviews the first night of a new RSC production of Othello...

Martin Amis, Zachary Leader and Sarah Churchwell join Matthew Sweet to discuss Saul Bellow and his masterpiece, Herzog with readings by Kerry Shale.

Matthew Sweet has a go on Carsten Höller's slide at the Hayward Gallery with arts critic Charlotte Mullins and discusses freaks and fairgrounds with Dr Helen Davies, Vanessa Toulmin, Director of the National Fairground Archive and performance artist Martin O'Brien

Anne McElvoy discusses maths and music with Mathematician Eugenia Cheng. Susan Abulhawa talks about her latest book The Blue Between Sky and Water. And, New Generation Thinker Gregory Tate shares his research into the way British writers were inspired by the figure of Napoleon.

Rana Mitter talks to Kate Grenville, one of Australia's leading novelists, about depicting the history of white working class Australia and thinking herself into her mother’s life to write 'One Life: My Mother's Story'.

'One Man, Two Guvnors' playwright Richard Bean and novelists Steve Tolz and AD Miller join Matthew Sweet to discuss male friendships. Also filmmaker Johanna Hamilton on her new documentary - 1971, focusing on the events of March 8th that year when eight people broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania leading to embarrassing revelations for the agency.

BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council run a scheme to find the best young academics able to turn their research into radio. We meet some of this year's winners.

Rana Mitter and guests New York Times journalist David Brooks, the Iranian novelist Azar Nafisi and historian Tom Holland discuss the concept of humility. Vice or virtue? (Recorded earlier this week at the Hay Festival 2015)