Front Row

The coming-of-age series Heartstopper has been a phenomenon with young readers and viewers in recent years. Its creator Alice Oseman joins us as the film Heartstopper Forever is released.
JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is one of the all-time greats of American literature and has inspired many writers including George Saunders, Dave Eggers and Sally Rooney. On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the book's publication, the author's son Matt Salinger talks to us about the universal appeal of the novel, the protagonist Holden Caulfield and his father's reputation as a recluse.
And prog rock gets the Proms treatment! As a Prom this Saturday evening at the Royal Albert Hall sees work by Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Genesis' Jethro Tull; Mike Oldfield and Renaissance performed by a full-scale orchestra, Stuart Maconie, who is hosting the concert, and founder member of ELP Carl Palmer disccuss prog rock's significance and legacy.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan

British director Christopher Nolan discusses his biggest cinematic blockbuster yet: The Odyssey, which stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and more, in his retelling of Homer’s epic poem about the warrior Odysseus’s battles with ancient Greek monsters like the Cyclops, Circe and the Sirens on his quest to return to his family after the Trojan War.
We talk with Tom Kiehl, CEO of the industry body UK Music, about the government’s recent announcement of plans ‘to turn up the music business,’ with new powers and investment. Is it something new or a rehash of old ideas?
A new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder has just been released on Netflix. Samira is joined by author Tracy Chevalier and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s biographer Pamela Smith-Hill to discuss the series and the enduring appeal of the stories.
Candice Carty-Williams' breakthrough 2019 novel Queenie became a bestseller, made the publishing industry sit up and was adapted into series for Channel 4. Now she is back with her trademark blend of comedy and politics with Queenie is Working on It, a sequel which explores topics of fertility, sex and body image for a young black woman in contemporary Britain.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Andrea Kidd

Diane Morgan on her BBC TV comedy series Ann Droid, in which she stars as the eponymous robot helper to Sue Johnston.
We pay tribute to actor Sam Neill, who has died at the age of 78. His screen work stretched from blockbusters like Jurassic Park to small independent New Zealand releases.
Anna Reynolds, Surveyor of the King's Pictures, on the rehang of Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery. Reopened recently, it has doubled the number of stunning works on display to the public; from Vermeer to Stubbs to Canaletto.
Saxophonist Emma Rawicz won UK Jazz Act of the Year at 2026 Jazz FM Awards. She's currently touring with a range of projects, which includes her 20-piece Jazz Orchestra, which she manages as well as composing and arranging original music.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Critic and columnist Dr Kate Maltby and author Michael Donkor join Tom Sutcliffe to review Robota, the inaugural large-scale production at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in Oxford. The production explores what happens to humanity when the line between human and machine blurs.
They also discuss Country People by Pulitzer Prize nominated author Daniel Mason. The novel explores a year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown.
And talk about Foreign Tongues the 25th studio album by the Rolling Stones.
Plus, as the 2016 global hit Moana is turned into a live action film, critic Larushka Ivan- Zadeh assesses why Disney remakes films and whether they are any good.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet

Lynval Golding of two-tone and ska legends The Specials , on the band’s final album, Live from the Cathedral, which was recorded in Coventry Cathedral. and which pays tribute to the band's late frontman Terry Hall.
Photographers Tish Murtha and Sandra George, whose work represented disadvantaged and marginalised communities in Newcastle and Edinburgh respectively, were not given the recognition they deserved in their lifetimes. Now with major exhibitions at Baltic Gateshead and City Art Centre in Edinburgh, we discuss the significance of their work.
David Thomson is renowned as the doyen of film criticism, but his latest book - A Sudden Flicker of Light - is billed as a revisionist history of the movies and asks us whether the film industry has given us false expectations of life. He speaks to us from California.
And we're joined live in the studio by the artist who's won an international competition to create a permanent memorial to author Dame Muriel Spark in Edinburgh, the city of her birth.
Presenter : Kirsty Wark
Producer : Mark Crossan