This week, David Gallagher remembers Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa; and Laurent Binet whisks us to 16th-century Florence to explore the world of his novel Perspectives.

'Perspectives', by Laurent Binet, translated by Sam Taylor

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Peter Holland treads the boards in Elizabethan London in search of Shakespeare before the Globe; and Muriel Zagha on a captivating tale of cheese-making in the Jura.

'The dream factory: London’s first playhouse and the making of William Shakespeare', by Daniel Swift

'Holy Cow', a film by Louise Courvoisier

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Margaret Drabble explores how Dickens drew on his love of the macabre and grotesque to create literary magic; and Norma Clarke takes a tour around the British coast.

'Dickens the enchanter: Inside the explosive imagination of the great storyteller', by Peter Conrad

'The restless coast: A journey around the edge of Britain', by Roger Morgan-Grenville

'Seascape: Notes from a changing coastline', by Matthew Yeomans

'The Shetland Way: Community and climate crisis on my father’s islands', by Marianne Brown

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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Caroline Moorehead salutes the energetic brilliance of singer Josephine Baker; and Aaron Peck on the past, present and future of the avant-garde.

'Fearless and free: A memoir', by Josephine Baker, translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis

'Josephine Baker's secret war: The African American star who fought for France and freedom', by Hanna Diamond

'What art does: An unfinished theory', by Brian Eno and Bette A.

'How to be avant-garde: Modern artists and the quest to end art', by Morgan Falconer

'The uncanny muse: Music, art, and machines from automata to AI', by David Hajdu

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, we're joined by Harriet Baker, winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award; and Helen Scales tunes into the sonic marvels beneath the surface of the sea.

'Rural Hours: The country lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann', by Harriet Baker

'Sing Like a Fish: How sound rules life under water', by Amorina Kingdon

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, novelist Damon Galgut remembers the ground-breaking South African playwright Athol Fugard; and Michael Caines on two very different approaches to the Danish prince.

'Grand Theft Hamlet', on Mubi

'Hamlet', by William Shakespeare, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon- Avon, until March 29 

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Larry Wolff immerses himself in a bold operatic vision of Melville's classic; and Travis Elborough on a boosterish attempt to rescue Croydon from its knockers.

'Moby-Dick', composed by Jake Heggie, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, until March 29

'Croydonopolis: A Journey to the Greatest City that Never Was', by Will Noble

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Toby Lichtig chats to Sam Leith about formative literature at Jewish Book Week; and David Horspool meets Sue Prideaux, winner of this year's Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize.

'The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading', by Sam Leith

'Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin', by Sue Prideaux

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Michael Caines interviews the men behind the Royal Shakespeare Company's thrilling new production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II; and Nat Segnit finds Pico Iyer's journeys to a Californian monastery a welcome retreat from the world.

'Edward II', by Christopher Marlowe, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until April 5 2025

'Learning from Silence: Lessons from More Than 100 Retreats', by Pico Iyer

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Edith Hall finds herself mesmerised, entranced and perplexed by Sophocles; and Barnaby Phillips on a bizarre imperial incursion in 19th-century Africa.

'Oedipus', by Sophocles, Old Vic until March 29

'Electra', by Sophocles, Duke of York's Theatre until April 12

'A Training School for Elephants', by Sophy Roberts

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