In art the Greek and Roman body is often portrayed as one of perfection – flawlessly cast in bronze and white marble. But the classicist Caroline Vout tells Adam Rutherford that the reality was very different. In her new book, Exposed: The Greek and Roman Body, she reveals all the imperfections and anxieties, and makes visible those who were regarded at the time as far from perfect – women and servants. The curator and art historian Katy Hessel is also challenging the accepted history in her work, The Story of Art Without Men. She shines a light on women artists, from Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, to the radical Harriet Power in 19th century America, and the women artists working all over the world in the 21st century.  Throughout history the human skin has also been a canvas: permanent markings were discovered on bodies from as early as 5000 BCE. In Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos, Matt Lodder reveals the often hidden artworks – and the people who wore them – to explore a changing world. Producer: Katy Hickman

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In front of an audience at the Hay Literary Festival Adam Rutherford talks to the botanist and Native American Robin Wall Kimmerer. In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass she shows the importance of bringing together indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, to increase understanding of the languages and worlds of plants and animals.  Hugh Warwick is an expert on hedgehogs but in his latest book, Cull of the Wild, he focuses on animals less native, and beloved. From grey squirrels in Anglesey to cane toads in Australia he explores the complex history of species control, and the ethics of killing in the name of conservation. The writer Olivia Laing turns her attention to the efforts to create paradise on earth. In The Garden Against Time she retells her own attempts to restore a walled garden in Suffolk while investigating the long history of gardens – real and imagined, follies and pleasure grounds. Producer: Katy Hickman

Hay Festival: ancient wisdom and ecology

The American author Marilynne Robinson is celebrated as a writer of fiction and non-fiction that raises philosophical questions about how to live an ethical life. In her latest book, Reading Genesis, she explores the stories in the Bible and God’s promise of enduring covenant with humanity. The writer Naomi Alderman grew up with stories from the Old Testament, and although no longer a believer, attests to the power and strangeness of these ancient stories. She wishes they were as popular as the Greek myths. The poet Malika Booker grew up in Guyana where she says the King James Bible was ubiquitous. Its language has influenced her own work, and in recent years she has set herself the task of creolising the Bible, infusing its stories with the cadences of home. Producer: Katy Hickman

Reading the Bible

The National Gallery in London is displaying Caravaggio’s last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (until 21 July 2024), an extraordinary work depicting the violence and intense naturalism of the scene, and the painter’s revolutionary use of dramatic lighting. The curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper says Caravaggio changed the art world in the 17th century. But the painter was as famous for his personal life as his art: he left murder and mayhem in his wake as he attempted to evade the law. For most of its existence The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula languished in private collections and was sold for just £3,500 in the 1970s, with few believing it was by Caravaggio. Now it’s been identified as an original it’s worth millions. The fortunes to be made and lost in the art market, the risks, the greed and the deals are the subject of Orlando Whitfield’s book All That Glitters. He details his friendship with the contemporary art dealer Inigo Philbrick, a young man whose spectacular rise is matched only by his dramatic fall, convicted and imprisoned for fraud owing $86.7 million. The art market is often shrouded in secrecy and is one of the very few unregulated markets left in the global economy. Angelina Giovani-Agha is an art historian who has specialised in provenance research. She understands that each painting has a story to tell and a unique record of acquisition. Her work involves investigating ownership history and highlighting any murky inconsistencies, as well as specialising in looted artworks. Producer: Katy Hickman

Art: market, money and malfeasance

As a new exhibition opens in Liverpool exploring the survival of bees Start the Week takes stock of the life and times of this extraordinary insect. The artist Wolfgang Buttress uses a fusion of art, science and technology to create a sensory experience of the sights and sounds of bees. Bees: A Story of Survival is on at the World Museum, Liverpool until May 2025. They’ve been around for over 120 million years and Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology at Queen Mary University of London, says the thousands of different bee species have evolved a huge diversity of lifestyles and are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. They not only use a symbolic language, can count, use tools and learn by observation, but are now believed to have an emotional hinterland. For millennia, bees have held a special significance in human culture.  Claire Preston, Professor of Renaissance Literature at QMUL, traces the symbolism of bees through historical and literary records, from ancient political analogies to today’s discussions about hive minds. While there are increasing fears about the future of bees as they battle exposure to pesticides, diseases and habitat destruction, Alison Benjamin is one of a growing number of people trying to raise awareness. She is the co-founder of Urban Bees and wants to shift the focus away from farmed hives of honey bees which are growing in popularity in cities, to the protection and survival of wild and solitary bees. Producer: Katy Hickman

Bees – culture and survival

May Day is the title of Jackie Kay’s new collection. The former Makar of Scotland explores a history of political protest, and the cultural influencers of the past, from Rabbie Burns to the poet Audre Lorde and Paul Robeson. She also celebrates the lives and activism of her parents, and grieves for their loss.  The Green MP Caroline Lucas wants to reclaim and rewrite England’s national story in her book, Another England. By exploring its radical tradition through its literary heritage she seeks to foreground the diverse writers and poets who spoke of a shared sense of identity and purpose, and a deep-rooted commitment to the natural world.  The journalist and writer Simon Heffer looks back a century to the interwar period, a time of radical transformation of British society post the Great War, as many of the old attitudes started to be swept away. In his history, Sing As We Go, he shows how the culture of the time both shaped and reflected these changes. Producer: Katy Hickman

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