Joining Stuart Maconie for this week's Loose Ends are Professor Alice Roberts with her book Domination, which takes a deep dig into the heart of the Roman Empire.

Comedian and poet Rob Auton is about to tour with his show CAN: The Story of a Man Called Can...he's here to tell us all he can about that.

Actor Amir El-Masry is starring in the new film Giant as the boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, and he joins Loose Ends to talk technique, training and working with Pierce Brosnan and Sylvester Stallone.

The comedian Esther Manito drops into the studio mid-tour to bring her humorous take on what she calls a "very undignified period of life".

And there's music from Cast who are about to release their new album Yeah Yeah Yeah at the end of January.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie