This week, we look at the busy afterlives of two canonical characters: Nathalie Olah on Tom Ripley and Emelyne Godfrey on Sherlock Holmes.

'Ripley', on Netflix

'The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The inspiration behind the world’s greatest detective', by Andrew Lycett

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Susan Owens explores the surreal and vivid life of the artist Eileen Agar; and Rosie Goldsmith, curator of the European Writers' Festival, joins us to explain what's on the bill.

'A Look at My Life', by Eileen Agar

The European Writers' Festival, the British Library, London, 18-19 May 2024

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Oxford Professor of Poetry AE Stallings explores the elliptical brilliance of Anne Carson; and an interview with writer, filmmaker and artist Miranda July about her forthcoming novel.

'Anne Carson: The Glass Essayist', by Elizabeth Sarah Coles

'Wrong Norma', by Anne Carson

'All Fours', by Miranda July

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Kathryn Hughes introduces her new book on the cat craze that swept Edwardian England; and she also tells us about an exhibition of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman. Plus a review of Sunjeev Sahota's The Spoiled Heart.

'Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World', by Kathryn Hughes

'Portraits to Dream In', at the National Portrait Gallery, London, until 16 June, 2024

'The Spoiled Heart', by Sunjeev Sahota

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the TLS celebrates all things Shakespeare, Emma Smith goes to see Ian McKellen's larger-than-life Falstaff; plus Rana Mitter on the immense impact and lasting legacy of the Tokyo Trial.

'Player Kings: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2', by William Shakespeare, adapted by Robert Icke, Noël Coward Theatre, London, until June 22, then touring 'Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia' by Gary J. Bass.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, George Berridge is at the theatre to see Brian Cox in a classic role; and Toby Lichtig on a literary scandal with tragic consequences.

'Long Day's Journey into Night', by Eugene O'Neill, Wyndham's Theatre,

London, until June 8

'Bound to Violence', by Yambo Ouologuem, translated by Ralph Manheim

'The Most Secret Memory of Men', by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated

by Lara Vergnaud

'The Extinction of Irena Rey, by Jennifer Croft

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, environmentalist Bill McKibben joins us to talk about the latest in the fight to avert climate catastrophe; and a conversation with the brilliant novelist Hisham Matar about his new novel.

'The Exhausted Earth: Politics in a Burning World', by Ajay Singh Chaudhary

'My Friends', by Hisham Matar

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Suzi Feay sizes up the public intellectuals, deadbeat aristocrats, hedonistic oligarchs and hardened street soldiers of Andrew O'Hagan's panoramic new novel; and Michael Caines on the prolific and endlessly imaginative world of Ray Bradbury.

'Caledonian Road', by Andrew O'Hagan

'Remembrance: Selected Correspondence of Ray Bradbury', edited by Jonathan R. Eller

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Andrew Holter takes us into the extraordinary world of Helen Keller, in her own words; and Peter Maber hails a magnificent retrospective of Yoko Ono's radical art and music.

'Autobiographies and Other Writings', by Helen Keller

'Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind', Tate Modern, London, until 1 September 2024

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Miranda France contemplates the final novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and Nicola Shulman on what women write in their diaries.

'Until August', by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translated by Anne McLean

'Secret Voices: A Year of Women's Diaries', by Sarah Gristwood

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.