Front Row: Archive 2014

With Mark Lawson.

Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas, who came to worldwide recognition with his controversial novel The Slap, discusses his follow up, Barracuda, the story of a young man with the potential to become an Olympic swimming champion and his struggle with self-acceptance.

Violinist Maxim Vengerov, who is performing a series of concerts at London's Barbican this year, discusses the challenges of the more demanding elements of the repertoire, how he responds to different audiences, and how he alters his playing technique to suit the acoustics of a venue.

Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring, reviews a new documentary film Tim's Vermeer, in which inventor Tim Jenison attempts to understand and recreate the painting techniques used by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer.

Two American cop shows begin on TV this week. Mob City, created by Oscar-nominated writer Frank Darabont, is a neo-noir drama looking at the LAPD in the 1940s. Brooklyn Nine-Nine won two Golden Globes at this weekend's ceremony and takes a comic look at the exploits of a contemporary Brooklyn police department. Crime fiction expert Jeff Park delivers his verdict on the two shows.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

With John Wilson.

The Coen brothers discuss their latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, which follows a young folk musician, played by Oscar Isaac, as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961 trying to make it as a solo artist. Ethan and Joel Coen, whose directorial repertoire includes No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski, explain how far the characters in their latest work are inspired by the real musical figures of this folk period, and the casting challenges for a film which features full live performances by its actors, who include Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Justin Timberlake.

Leonardo DiCaprio won a Golden Globe this week for his performance as real-life rogue trader Jordan Belfort in The Wolf Of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese. Critic Catherine Bray delivers her verdict.

The Pass is a topical new play about homosexuality and homophobia in football, centring on the complicated relationship between two Premier League players. John talks to its writer John Donnelly.

The T S Eliot Prize for Poetry will be awarded this evening to the author of the best new collection of poetry published in the UK or Ireland. This year's shortlist includes 90-year-old Dannie Abse for his collection Speak, Old Parrot, 28-year-old Helen Mort for Division Street as well as Daljit Nagra for his re-telling of the Ramayana. John Wilson talks to the winner, live from the ceremony.

Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

With Kirsty Lang.

Colin Firth talks about his new film, The Railway Man, a true story in which he plays Eric Lomax, a British Army officer who is tormented as a prisoner in a Japanese labour camp during World War II. Decades later, Eric learns that the Japanese interpreter he holds responsible for much of his treatment is still alive, and sets out to confront him. Colin also considers the fine art of pretending to be patrician - and Paddington Bear as Mr Darcy.

Es Devlin is a stage designer whose work has ranged from west end theatre productions, to designing the London Olympics closing ceremony, and creating tour-sets for artists including Kanye West, Pet Shop Boys and Take That. Es takes Kirsty around her studio where she is preparing work for Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House, Harry Hill's new musical I Can't Sing and Miley Cyrus's upcoming tour. She discusses working in genres as diverse as opera, theatre and pop music, and why she feels stage directors should get more credit.

Singer Sam Smith is tipped for success after winning BBC's Sound Of 2014; previous winners include Adele, Jessie J and Haim. Smith, who topped the charts in 2013 with his Naughty Boy collaboration, La La La, is also the winner of the BRIT Critics' Choice. He talks to Kirsty about his reaction to receiving both awards and his plans for the year ahead.

Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson.

As part of Radio 4's MINT Season, John reports on the arts and culture of modern Istanbul.

Turkey's most famous cultural figure, the Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, has created a museum full of objects from his latest novel, the Museum of Innocence. He takes John round this museum and discusses the huge changes taking place in Istanbul.

Magnificent Century, a television drama about Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, has become Turkey's most successful cultural export, with 200 million viewers in 45 countries. John meets Selin Arat from production company Tims at Topkapi Palace, the epicentre of the Ottoman Empire for over 300 years and the setting for the show.

John talks to Azize Tan, Director of the Istanbul International Film Festival, about the films that top the Turkish box office, including a stand-up show by the comedian Cem Yilmaz, and reports on the controversy surrounding Turkey's oldest cinema which was knocked down last year after 3 years of protest.

Baba Zula is Istanbul's most popular alternative music act. John meets founder Murat Ertel, who plays an electric version of the traditional Turkish plucked instrument the Saz.

Producer: Timothy Prosser.

With Mark Lawson.

The Bletchley Circle, a drama about a group of women who worked at Bletchley Park during WWII, returns to our screens this week. It stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachael Stirling, Sophie Rundle and Julie Graham as former code-breakers turned detectives who have uncovered a conspiracy. The writer and creator of the series, Guy Burt, on imagining post-war life for the Bletchley code-breakers.

Author Donal Ryan discusses his second novel, The Thing About December. Donal discusses his love of exposing his characters' interior monologues and explains how his day job as an Employment Inspector helps impose a discipline on his writing.

Molly Dineen reviews two documentaries released this week. Kiss the Water is a poetic biography of Megan Boyd, who spent her life in the remote Scottish Highlands making anglers' flies so unique that they were desired all over the world, whilst The Square documents the ongoing struggles of the Egyptian Revolution through the eyes of the activists involved in the conflict.

As part of Radio 4's MINT season, Front Row has been investigating arts and culture in the emerging economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. Tonight, Nigerian film maker Obi Emelonye discusses the rise of the multiplex in Nigeria.

Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was one of the surprise hits of last year and has been published in more than thirty countries. The protagonist Don Tillman - a socially-awkward professor who may be on the autistic spectrum - has devised a questionnaire to ask women, in his quest to find love. Graeme Simsion explains how the book started life as a screenplay, and talks about writing a romantic novel from an unexpected perspective.

Delivery Man stars Vince Vaughn playing another slacker character. This time he's an under-achiever who finds out that his donations to a fertility clinic have resulted in his fathering over five hundred children, with 142 of them legally trying to find out their father's identity. Journalist and broadcaster Katie Puckrik reviews.

The artist Jeff Koons broke the record for the highest price paid for a work of art by a living artist, when his Balloon Dog (Orange) sold at auction for $58,405,000 last year. A major retrospective of Koons's work is opening at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York in 2014. Jeff Koons talks to Mark about whether the vast prices paid for his art affect his work, and explains why we should not be afraid of contemplating contemporary art work.

As part of Radio 4's MINT Season, looking at the world's new group of emerging economies, Front Row is exploring the cultural life of the four MINT countries. Today we move to Indonesia: arts and culture critic Amir Sidharta tells Mark about the rising trends in Indonesian standup comedy and popular music.

Mark asks some of Front Row's 2013 People Of The Year about their plans for 2014. David Suchet discusses whether he will play King Lear, and Eleanor Catton talks about the film of her Booker Prize winning novel, The Luminaries.

Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson

Front Row announces the category winners for this year's Costa Book Awards. The director of the Costa Book Awards, Bud McLintock, announces the winners of the novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book categories and literary critic Sam Leith discusses the judges' choices.

Steve McQueen discusses 12 Years A Slave, a film which tells the true story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film has already seen McQueen named Director of the Year at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and is hotly tipped for Oscar success. With previous films including Hunger and Shame, McQueen explains what attracts him to projects, and why the subject of slavery needed to be tackled.

As part of Radio 4's MINT season, Front Row begins a short series of discussions and interviews looking at the cultural life of the MINT countries. Today the focus is on Mexico: film critic Fernanda Solórzano tells Mark about the current state of Mexican cinema.

Mark hears from some of Front Row's People of the Year 2013 about their plans for 2014, and their upcoming projects in the next year. Film director Clio Barnard discusses working with a writer for the first time to adapt a novel for the screen, and actress Olivia Colman talks about learning to salsa with Nick Frost for her next film.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson.

Naomie Harris talks about playing Winnie Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Harris discusses taking on the part without realising the crucial role that Winnie Mandela played in forming the modern South Africa, researching her life and relationships and meeting Winnie Mandela herself.

Nigella Lawson is one of three judges in new cookery show The Taste. Part Masterchef, part The Voice, the programme, which has already been a hit in America, involves judges eating just one anonymous spoonful of each dish, and judging on taste alone. Boyd Hilton discusses the increasing number of fusion TV formats.

John talks to the Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, who in 2011 gave the first solo harpsichord recital at the BBC Proms, and who is now releasing his debut CD featuring sonatas by CPE Bach, son of JS Bach.

Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in literature and art. Alex Clark discusses the books that are likely to make an impact this year and Rachel Campbell-Johnston previews the exhibitions to look forward to.

With John Wilson.

Last Vegas stars Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kilne as a group of sixty and seventy somethings throwing a stag do for their old friend Billy, played by Michael Douglas. The film, which has been described as The Hangover for the older generation, explores issues of retirement and bereavement against the backdrop of the excesses of Las Vegas. Antonia Quirke reviews.

The novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, known for her best-selling series about the lives of the Cazalet family, has died at the age of 90. In interviews previously recorded for Radio 4, we hear from Elizabeth Jane Howard and her step-son, Martin Amis.

Sculptor Tom Price talks about a new exhibition of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. His bronze sculptures of contemporary figures were initially inspired by the expressions on people's faces as they watched a performance piece by Price in which he spent a week licking a gallery wall. Tom Price discusses the legacy of the YBAs and using dentists' tools to create the fine detail on his sculptures.

Jarvis Cocker and Martin Wallace talk about their film The Big Melt which was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of stainless steel production in Sheffield. Created from archive from the British Film Institute and set to a score composed by Cocker and performed by Sheffield musicians, the film tells the story of steel and of Sheffield's past.

Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in the world of pop music. Music journalist Kitty Empire discusses the musicians that are likely to dominate the next twelve months and which artists are likely to release new albums.

Producer: Olivia Skinner.