In the Studio

Ben takes us on the journey of a new poem as it forms in his mind and makes its way to the page. Coinciding with a newly published anthology of his poems, A Fire in My Head, he reflects on the poetry writing process and the role of the poet in the 21st century.

Through a mixture of audio diary recorded in London during lockdown and in conversation with the BBC’s Bola Mosuro, Ben offers an unique insight into his way of bringing one of the most ancient literary forms to life.

As the Mardi Gras season draws near, In the Studio goes behind the scenes with the Krewe of Rex, New Orleans’s oldest parading organisation, to see how the masters of carnival create their mobile sculptures.

New Orleans reporter, Betsy Shepherd follows Rex’s creative team for a year - the length of time it takes to make the ornate floats that are the fixture of Mardi Gras street parades. But 2020 turned out to be anything but typical. She speaks with creative director Henri Schindler and his team of artisans about the history and craft surrounding this most ephemeral of art forms as well as the challenges and delights of building a fantasy world amidst a pandemic.

What will the 2021 Mardi Gras season bring? Join Betsy for a parade of sounds from Mardi Gras’s most ardent practitioners as they work to keep the spirit of carnival alive.

Director Kevin Macdonald and executive producer Ridley Scott on making Life In A Day 2020

Patrick Woodroffe is one of the world’s foremost lighting designers.

He has lit shows for stars ranging from Michael Jackson to Bob Dylan, from Lady Gaga to Elton John, as well as being creative director of the Rolling Stones live shows since 1982.

As Patrick takes charge of the technical rehearsal period for The Last Domino? Tour - the sold-out arena tour that sees the remaining original Genesis band members reform for the first time since 2007 - Grammy Award-winning record producer Steve Levine joins him along with band members, Mike Rutherford and Tony Bank.

Composer Max Richter has created his own genre of classical music. His ground breaking eight-and-a-half-hour concert work SLEEP has been broadcast and performed all over the world, addressing the need to pause and seek a sense of community. Elizabeth Alker now follows Max as he works on one of his most ambitious and profound pieces of music about the human condition. The new piece is based on the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

The Sudanese writer on developing a story about the rebuilding of Khartoum

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author takes on a new, deeply personal challenge

Wallace and Gromit – the eccentric inventor and his loyal dog – are one of Britain’s best-loved comedy duos. Created in plasticine clay by Nick Park of Aardman Animations, their stop motion adventures have won three Academy Awards and a BAFTA.

Eliza Lomas talks to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park about his own childhood dreams of being an inventor, and he opens up his sketchbooks to reveal some very recent, very silly Wallace and Gromit doodles.

Producers: Eliza Lomas and Emma Kingsley for the BBC World Service

AR Rahman is known as the ‘Mozart of Madras’ and for good reason. He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards. Perhaps most incredibly he has crossed film genres, languages, nationality and film industries across the globe, conquering Bollywood, Hollywood and Kollywood. It is 10 years since the debut of Slumdog Millionaire but Rahman’s songs still linger in the imagination.

Rahman is prolific and instinctual; working not just as a musical director but now as producer, director, teacher and visual artist. To each project he brings a touch of magic whether it be his latest virtual reality film Musk, his incredible catalogue of Hindi and Tamil film scores, global pop hits such as Jai Ho or in his superstar collaborations such as Super Heavy with Mick Jagger, Dave Stuart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley.

Lifelong fan, producer and DJ Bobby Friction meets Rahman as he reaches the end of his 2018 US tour in Houston, Texas. We learn how the melodies he creates alone in the quiet of night are recreated by a cast of India’s greatest singers and musicians and performed to entertain thousands across America.

For Rahman, and Bobby, music is God. Spirituality is deeply entwined with the process of composition for both men and together they will explore some of the tracks which resonate with their belief in the true power of music.

Nick Low follows master whisky blender Dr Rachel Barrie on the final year of a three-year journey, as the launch date looms for her new range of whiskies from the Benriach Distillery in the north of Scotland. Her reputation is on the line as she comes up with 10 new whiskies for a range that includes some whiskies which have matured for up to 30 years.

With whisky containing three basic ingredients of water, malted barley and yeast, Rachel explains the process and skill that goes into making her whiskies world-beating, with expressions containing a myriad of flavours. With her own background being in chemistry, we join Rachel in her whisky lab, as she reveals how she puts scientific theories to work on the ancient art of whisky making and the blending of these natural ingredients. She describes the wooden casks and blends of whiskies she uses in the process like a painter’s palette, fine-tuning the flavours, as this precious liquid, stamped with her name, is bottled up and sent to whisky connoisseurs around the world.

Having personally tasted and “nosed” over 150,000 whiskies in her professional life, and become a judge at the World Whisky Competitions, Rachel is one of the most respected blenders in the business. She will give a lesson in whisky tasting with tips of what to look for and how to get all the spectrum of flavours from a sip of “the water of life”.