Front Row

Rapper Wretch 32 discusses his new memoir, Rapthology. Part autobiography, part guide to creativity and part cultural history, Rapthology unpacks the songs that have shaped him over the last 30 years, from gospel music to dancehall anthems, offering a portrait of his life through his best-known works.

Two cinema chains have pulled the film Blue Story, about a violent street rivalry in south London, from its screens. The decision came after a violent brawl at a Birmingham leisure complex and, according to Vue Cinemas '25 significant incidents' in the film’s opening weekend. Dr Clive James Nwonka discusses the cinema chains’ decision, which has been criticised by some as an overreaction, and discusses the historical context of reactions to Black British Urban cinema.

Tim Ecott visits the Faroe Islands where the local theatre company has just put on its first production of Hamlet which the director has reinterpreted, strengthening the female roles and emphasising the role of death and funerals in the story.

Presenter Samira Ahmed

Coldplay's new album Everyday Life is released today after a performance at sunrise in Jordan this morning. Also out is Leonard Cohen's posthumous album Thanks for the Dance, completed by his son Adam. Kieran Yates reviews.

The controversial comedian Roy Chubby Brown is at the centre of a row in Middlesbrough, as Mayor Andy Preston has sanctioned the booking of the entertainer and the Head of the Town Hall Lorna Fulton resigns, reportedly in protest. Stig is joined by Andy Preston and Philip Bernays, chief exec of Newcastle's Theatre Royal Trust, who banned the comedian from the City Hall last year.

To celebrate the centenary of the birth of the County Durham artist and miner Norman Cornish, the Bowes Museum is holding the first major retrospective of his work, including his drawings of mining community life. William Feaver, who has written about ‘pitmen painters’, discusses his art and career.

This week literary agent Clare Alexander and publisher John Mitchinson have been reflecting on aspects of how the publishing industry works from the power of Amazon to the boom in independent publishing. In their final discussion they consider the changes and challenges that lie ahead.

Presenter: Stig Abell

The story of the slave abolitionist Harriet Tubman has finally made it to the big screen where she is played by Cynthia Erivo. Gaylene Gould reviews.

After France’s President Macron was reportedly “shaken by the accuracy” of new French film Les Misérables, depicting life today in the deprived outer suburbs of Paris, French critic Agnès Poirier joins us to discuss modern attitudes toward social realist cinema in the UK, France and elsewhere.

The Christmas sales are the most important time in the publishing industry as sees a number of companies go from the red into the black. As they continue their reflections on how the book industry operates, literary agent Clare Alexander and publisher John Mitchinson consider the nature of risk, and whether it pays to be one of the big conglomerates or a small independent outfit.

And Jonathan Moberly explains how the Weavers Community Action Group commissioned street artists — calling themselves the Columbia Road Cartel — to combat drug dealing in their local area.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

Idina Menzel, famous for singing Let It Go from the film Frozen, provides the voice once more of Elsa, now Queen of Arendelle and still with magical powers, in the sequel Frozen 2. The singer discusses the early concept for her character in what became the biggest-grossing animated film of all time, and how Elsa has grown up in the years since the original.

The new Frozen 2 film has been long awaited but does the plastic merchandise brought out to accompany the film line up with its environmental concerns? Environment journalist Lucy Siegle takes stock.

The first UK retrospective of the work of Dora Maar opens at Tate Modern today. The artist, who died in 1997 aged 89, was best known for her provocative photographs and her surrealist photomontages, as well as her productive eight-year relationship with Picasso. Jacky Klein reviews.

Literary agent Clare Alexander and publisher John Mitchinson continue their discussions on how the publishing industry works, focusing today on where the power lies. There's no denying the influence of Amazon, but that's far from the whole story.

Presenter Kirsty Lang

RJ Palacio’s first novel Wonder has been published in 45 languages, sold 5 million copies worldwide and been made into a film starring Julia Roberts. We speak to RJ about her new graphic novel White Bird which tells the back story of the classroom bully from Wonder, Julian, whose Jewish grandmother fled from the Nazis.

A row involving Taylor Swift and her former record label has been resolved - for now. Music industry lawyer Duncan Lamont explains whether the company has the right to block Swift performing her old songs, and if this might be a landmark case for songwriters.

Britcar Endurance Championship winner Sarah Moore dreams of successfully taking part in Le Mans, the iconic 24 hour French competition. She gives a racing driver's view of new film Le Mans '66 as it tears up the American box office.

Publishers are now approaching the most important time of the year with Christmas sales, and all this week we're investigating different aspects of the books business. Today, agent and former publisher Clare Alexander, and John Mitchinson, co-founder of the crowdfunding publisher Unbound and former Marketing Director of Waterstones, consider the biggest change to have happened to publishing in the last 25 years – the arrival of Amazon.

The artist Nan Goldin is well known for her protest against the corporate sponsorship of the arts by the Sackler Trust who own companies connected to the opioid crisis in America, and her new deeply personal show discusses her own addiction. And the Baltic in Gateshead are hosting the biggest show of Judy Chicago's work ever seen in the UK, but the exhibition omits her most famous piece, The Dinner Party. Emily Steer, Editor of Elephant magazine reviews both shows.

Presenter: John Wilson

Dear Evan Hansen is the Tony award winning musical about a socially anxious teenager who, via a web of lies, gets caught up in social media adulation following a classmate’s suicide. As the musical opens in London’s West End amidst much anticipation, co-creator Steven Levenson talks about turning such a sensitive story into a life affirming show.

We speak to former child soldier, Sudanese hip-hop star Emmanuel Jal, about his fifth album, Naath, a collaboration with his sister who lives in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Emmanuel performs a track from the album which combines afrobeats with folklore offering an alternative perception of life in South Sudan.

As the busiest month of the publishing calendar begins, two seasoned insiders will be giving us their perspective on the state of the book world every day this week, from the arrival of Amazon in 1995 to the continuing popularity of the printed page in the digital age. Today, agent and former publisher Clare Alexander, and John Mitchinson, co-founder of the crowdfunding publisher Unbound, consider how feasible it is to make a living as a writer today.

And we pay tribute to Terry O'Neill, the photographer whose iconic images documented the fashions, styles, and celebrities of the 1960s, hearing from O'Neill himself in an interview with John Wilson from Front Row in 2010.

If you've been affected by any issue raised in this programme, information and support can be found on this website:

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Presenter: Samira Ahmed

As Northern Ballet reaches its half century, the company's Artistic Director David Nixon discusses his love of telling stories through Dance.

Ever fancied sleeping in an artwork? Soon you’ll be able to do exactly that at the Art B&B – a new hotel in Blackpool which has commissioned 30 artists to turns its rooms into works of art. Michael Trainor, Creative Director of the Art B&B explains the vision for the hotel, and Arts journalist Laura Robertson shares her thoughts on the new establishment after getting an early preview.

When the African-American cellist Seth Parker Woods came across a photograph taken in the 1970s of the avant-garde cellist Charlotte Moorman - nude and playing a cello made from ice, the image stayed with him. Charlotte’s performance was in part a feminist statement but Seth and his partner in this project, Spencer Topel, have reimagined the work as a statement on race. As they prepare Iced Bodies for its UK premiere at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival they discuss fusing art with activism.

Presenter: Keisha Thompson

With Italy set to declare a state of national emergency in Venice after the Unesco world heritage site was engulfed by a 6ft 'acqua alta', flooding its historic basilica and many other sites of great historic interest, art critic Jonathan Jones discusses the cultural significance of the imminent threat from flood and fire and what is being done to protect the city’s invaluable architectural and artistic heritage. And John Wilson talks to artist Katie Paterson about the metaphorical representation of environmental disasters in art and the responsibility amongst artists in raising awareness of current climatical concerns.

On Saturday the world’s largest galleries devoted to the history of medicine open at the Science Museum in London. Surprisingly, perhaps, there is a lot of art involved in medicine, with imaginatively-designed sculptural devices and equipment. Major new artworks have been commissioned for the new galleries too. John Wilson talks to the artists Marc Quinn, Studio Roso and Eleanor Crook, as well as Sir Ian Blatchford, the Science Museum’s director.

Tom Rosenthal is the musician whose songs are used on the new Radio 4 podcast Tunnel 29, the extraordinary true story of the escape tunnel dug under the Berlin Wall in 1962. Tom performs How This Came To Be live and discusses building a successful pop career outside of the mainstream music industry.

Presenter John Wilson

This edition of Front Row has a regal air. As the third series of The Crown airs next week, with Olivia Coleman taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth from Claire Foy, Stig Abell talks to Tobias Menzies about the challenges of playing Prince Phillip, previously Matt Smith's part. Covering the years 1964 – 1977, in this series the Royals have all four of their children and are more settled in their domestic lives. But events in the wider world are making their impact, from the election of Harold Wilson as Prime Minister to the Apollo moon landing.

Six is a musical about the wives of Henry VIII which started out as a Cambridge student production in 2017 and is now a transatlantic phenomenon, about to tour the UK and open on Broadway. Professor of Musical Theatre Millie Taylor reviews.

Shiro’s Story was a series of three videos telling the story, partly in rap, of a young man caught in a world of violence and retribution. Each amassed over 7 million views and Jay-Z was a fan. Their creator, Rapman, has now made a full length feature film, Blue Story, about the gang wars he witnessed while growing up in South London. Will his YouTube audience follow him to the cinema? He joins Front Row to talk about who gets to tell stories in film.

And news of the winner of the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize for fiction that "opens up new possibilities for the novel form", announced this evening.

Presenter: Stig Abell

Portrait painter Lorna May Wadsworth has forged a remarkable career with subjects including David Tennant, Michael Sheen, David Blunkett and Baroness Thatcher. As a major retrospective of her work - Gaze - opens at the Graves Gallery in her home town of Sheffield, Lorna May Wadsworth talks about the importance to her of the “female gaze."

Marriage Story is the new film from director Noah Baumbach, well known for relationship dramas like The Squid and the Whale and Greenberg. Starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, it’s a comedy telling the story of the disintegration of a marriage. Simran Hans reviews.

Charlotte Keatley’s 1987 play My Mother Said I Never Should tells the stories of four generations of women, spanning the 20th century. The play is performed all over the world and has been translated into 32 languages. The most recent is British Sign Language, for a production in Sheffield with a cast of three deaf actresses and one hearing. Samira is joined by director Jeni Draper and actress Lisa Kelly.

A production of West Side Story is due to open on Broadway without one of the most popular numbers in the show. I Feel Pretty has been dropped by the controversial director Ivo van Hove. How will audiences react to the loss and is it part of a wider movement of reinterpreting classic musicals? Samira talks to critic Matt Wolf.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed