Colombian film Birds of Passage explores the emergence of illegal drug trading in the 60s and 70s  and it's ghastly effects and lasting legacy on family.
Corporate black comedy White Pearl has opened at London's Royal Court. About 6 Asian women in an office in Singapore who try to fix a problem when their advertisement goes viral by mistake. And then things spiral out of control.
New novels from Thomas Harris -  Cari Mora: set in Miami, monsters lurk in the crevices between male desire and female survival. And also from  Denise Mina - Conviction: about a woman whose complicated secret past begins to catch up with - and then threatens to overtake - her.
A Tale of Two Empires at Birmingham's Barber Institute looks at the coins from the same period of Rome and Persia. Also we take a look at their permanent art collection. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Tom Holland, Arifa Akbar and Danielle Thom. The producer is Oliver Jones. Podcast Extra recommendations: Tom H: Linda Grant - A Stranger City and Game of Thrones.
Arifa: Rejoicing at her Wondrous Vulva, the Young Woman Applauded Herself at The Oval House and Whatever Happened to Interracial Love by Kathleen Collins.
Danielle waxed lyrical about the joy of mending and making things by hand and of psychogeography. Also the imminent Secret Rivers Of London exhibition at The Museum of London.
Tom S: The Longdrop by Denise Mina and Years and Years on BBC1.

Birds of Passage, White Pearl, Thomas Harris/Denise Mina, Tale of Two Empires

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe and guests offer sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

The Nest is the new Sunday night drama on BBC1 that raises questions around the ethics of surrogacy as a wealthy couple invite a young woman whose past is not known to them into their lives.
The Truth is a French/Japanese production directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2018 for his film Shoplifters.  It stars Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in the story of an ageing actress who publishes her memoirs and is confronted by her daughter.
Evie Wyld was named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2013.  Her new novel, The Bass Rock, tells the story of three generations of women whose fates are linked.
Two exhibitions at Compton Verney that have sadly had to close because of coronavirus are kept alive by our critics:  Cranach:  Artist and Innovator and Fabric:  Touch and Identity.
And we suggest some culture that might already be on your shelves or on a screen near you to enjoy if you're stuck indoors.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests this week are Charlotte Mullins, Bob and Roberta Smith and Laurence Scott. Podcast Extra recommendations
Bob:  Paul Klee, On Modern Art
Certain Blacks, album by The Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Letters of Van Gogh Charlotte:  The Gallery of Lost Art - as she explains, what's left of it can be found at galleryoflostart.com and via Tate website
The West Wing Laurence:  Star Trek: the Next Generation, all 7 seasons  Tom:  Contagion and, as always, Call My Agent Presenter:  Tom Sutcliffe
Producer:  Sarah Johnson Image: Emily (SOPHIE RUNDLE) in The Nest
Credit: Mark Mainz / Studio Lambert / BBC

The Nest, The Truth, The Bass Rock, Cranach at Compton Verney and Home Entertainment Recommendations

Misbehaviour is a new film about the 1970 Miss World pageant which saw the first black Miss World and was also disrupted by the nascent Women's Liberation movement who threw flour bombs at host Bob Hope
Sebastian Barry's play On Blueberry Hill is set in a prison cell where two men's stories of how they got there become intertwined.
Abi Daré's novel The Girl With The Louding Voice is the tale of Adunni, a fourteen year old Nigerian girl who has to go into domestic service in Lagos but is determined to better herself
A new retrospective of the work and life of Andy Warhol has just opened at Tate Modern in London, including many works never previoulsy exhibtited in the UK before 
Two new TV comedies with impeccable pedigrees  - ITV's Kate and Koji (written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin - who wrote Outnumbered) and Breeders (co-produced by Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell) on Sky TV -  have just started. Theyre very different.. are they very funny? Tom Sutcliffe guests are Sara Colllins, Alex Preston and Tiffany Jenkins. The producer is Oliver Jones    Podcast Extra recommendations:
Sara: Toni Mossion: The Pieces I Am + Fons Americanus  by Kara Walker at Tate Modern
Alex: The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins 
Tiffany: Music Clubs - Spin in OXford and House Concerts @42 in Edinburgh 
Tom: James Shapiro: Shakespeare In a Divided America Main image: Abi Daré © Alero Marcel

Misbehaviour, On Blueberry Hill, Abi Dare, Warhol, Breeders and Kate+Koji

Hilary Mantel's new novel - The Mirror and The Light - is the final part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. The previous two parts have sold millions of copies worldwide and garned prizes from all quarters. Can this one compare?
The Mikvah Project is a new play at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. Two Jewish men meet every Friday for ritual cleansing and a close friendship develops.
Sulphur and White is a new British film which tells the true story of a highly successful banker who suffered repeated sexual abuse as a child and how this drove him to seek justice for all abused children 
A new exhibition at The Hayward Gallery in London - Among The Trees - looks at the crucuial role that trees play in our lives and imaginations Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Abigail Morris and Catherine O'Flynn. The producer is Oliver Jones    Podcast Extra recommendations: 
Catherine - The National Telephone Kiosk Collection in Bromsgrove  and the 1972 film La Cabina 
Christopher - Who's Afaid of Virginia Woolf at The Tobacco Factory in Bristol and Prints by Norman Ackroyd at Watts Gallery near Guildford
Abigail - Carravagio in Rome and Bonus Family on Netflix
Tom - English Monsters by James Scudamore Main image: Terraza Alta II, 2018 by Abel Rodríguez
Acrylic and ink on paper
© the artist and Instituto de Visión 2020

Hilary Mantel, The Mikvah Project, Sulphur and White, Among The Trees

The newest film by French director Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Girlhood) is Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. An 18th century painter is commissioned to paint a bride-to-be's wedding portrait and falls in love with her subject
Women Beware Women is a play by Middleton just opened at The Globe Theatre in London. How do you navigate a society in which women are consciously and unconsciously commodified, coerced and controlled?
Australian author Christos Tsiolkas came to international attention with his best-selling novel The Slap. His latest  - Damascus - retells the story of St Paul's conversion.  
Leon Spilliaert was a Belgian painter in the early 20th century whose work often reflected his insomnia and seaside settings. A new exhibition at London's Royal Academy brings this lesser-known artist into the spotlight
Malorie Blackman's successful Noughts and Crosses novels have been adapted for TV and they're coming to BBC1 at the beginning of March Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Sathnam Sanghera, Muriel Zhaga and Susan Jeffreys. The producer is Oliver Jones  Podcast Extra recommendations:
Sathnam - Jay-Z on Spotify
Susan - Choirs and singing by candlelight
Muriel - making Delia Smith's marmalade and rewatching Friends
Tom - A.N. Wilson's The Mind of the Apostl e Main image © 2020 Curzon Artificial Eye

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Women Beware Women, Christos Tsiolkas, Leon Spilliaert, Noughts and Crosses

Mexican documentary Midnight Family follows a family-run private ambulance in Mexico City racing to the scenes of accidents in order to earn a living
Masculinities:Liberation Through Photography, is a new exhibition at The Barbican in London, about how masculinity is experienced, perfomed, coded and socially constructed.
Actress is the latest novel from Irish author by Anne Enright. A daughter looks back at her sometimes fractious relationship with her famous mother
A revival of Caryl Churchill's 2000 play Far Away has just opened at London's Donmar Warehouse
Teenage existence is never easy and having superpowers can only make it even more so. I Am Not Okay With This on Netflix is a new series with an adolescent female lead... Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Blake Morrison, Amber Butchart and Stephanie Merritt. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations: Stephanie: The Laramie Project
Amber: We Will Walk at Turner Contemporary in Margate. And the sauna on Margate Beach
Blake: When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann
Tom: Midsommer  Main image: Taliban portrait. Kandahar, Afghanistan. 2002 © Collection T.Dworzak/Magnum Photos

Birds of Passage, White Pearl, Thomas Harris/Denise Mina, Tale of Two Empires

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