Front Row Folgen

Michael Jackson as a visual icon is the subject of a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery which brings together artists inspired by the global star. Art critic Ekow Eshun joins Todd Gray - Michael Jackson's personal photographer at the time of Off The Wall and Thriller - to discuss the star's relationship with his own image.An American podcast, which explores the way humans use music, has investigated the use of pop music by so-called Islamic State to spread terror. John Wilson talks to Pitch producer Whitney Jones.Kynren is a theatrical spectacular - a pageant involving more than 1,000 people telling 2,000 years of English history on an acting area of more than 7 acres, which includes a lake, longboat and working railway. We go behind the scenes in Bishop Auckland to find out how the cast and crew - all local volunteers - manage this extravaganza.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Forty years after forming, two of the original members of the iconic New Romantic band Duran Duran, Roger and John Taylor, talk about their time in the music industry and reveal what inspires them to keep making music together. The annual Bradford Literature Festival is a relatively new addition to Britain's literary landscape, but its junior status hasn't stopped it getting coups such as this year enticing Kate Bush to pay tribute in a public art installation to Emily Brontë. Five years on from the launch of the festival, Syima Aslam, director and co-founder of the Bradford Literary Festival, and Bradford-born crime-fiction writer A.A. Dhand discuss its significance.The artist Brian Clarke has been pushing the boundaries of working with stained glass for the last five decades, commissioned by architects including Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and Renzo Piano. In his studio he discusses the challenges of the art form, and his new exhibition Brian Clarke: The Art of Light at The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich. Today the sun is shining everywhere in the UK (though there is some cloud in Shetland). The poet Alison Brackenbury reflects on the way the warm sunny weather not only makes people happy but, since the English language began to be written, it has inspired poetry.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May.

Australian writer Tim Winton discusses The Shepherd's Hut, his first novel in five years. Set in the parched landscape of his native Western Australia, the young protagonist Jaxie attempts to flee from his abusive father on a journey that takes him to some dark and challenging places.England: Poems from a School is a anthology of poems that has just been published. They were written by school children aged between 11 and 18, most of whom come from migrant families who have settled in the UK. The children attend the comprehensive, Oxford Spires Academy, where the writer in residence is poet and writer Kate Clanchy - she runs workshops there and edited the anthology. Kate joins Sharmaine along with two of the young poets.As Norwich Castle reunites a 17th Century Dutch painting with the treasures and objects that feature in it, curator Francesca Vanke explores the mysteries behind the painting called The Paston Treasure.We return to Thamesmead to see the first performance of Fly by Night, a performance piece created by American artist Duke Riley involving 1500 pigeons. Each bird has a small LED light attached to their legs representing the messages they would once have carried over the battlefields of the First World War. Presenter: Sharmaine Lovegrove Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.