logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
42m 19s

Sir Lenny Henry on his new play, music f...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Sir Lenny Henry is making his debut as a playwright for the stage with August in England, a one-man drama about the Windrush scandal. Tom Sutcliffe meets Lenny to discuss his move from stage to page and back again, as he takes on the title role of August at The Bush Theatre in London.

50 years ago, after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the ancient Tashi Lhunpo Monastery relocated to South India, where the exiled monks are dedicated to maintaining the culture and religion of their homeland. Simon Broughton reports from the monastery where he meets some of the monks about to tour the UK performing ritual dance and music. At the Gutor festival he witnesses elaborate masked dances and hears the awe-inspiring sound of Tibetan trumpets - four metres long.

Can books ever be sustainable? How can publishing reach net zero? Children’s author Piers Torday, Chair of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Committee, and commercial publishing veteran Amanda Ridout, CEO of Boldwood Books and Chair of the Independent Publishing Guild’s Sustainability Group discuss the challenges of making the book industry greener.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker

Up next
Nov 20
Review Show: The Death of Bunny Munro; TV adaptation of Nick Cave's novel
<p>Louisa Buck and Robbie Collin join Tom Sutcliffe to review the TV adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel The Death of Bunny Munro with Matt Smith playing a chaotic door to door beauty salesman </p><p>They've visited artist Bridget Riley’s Learning to See exhibition at Turner Contempo ... Show More
42m 32s
Nov 19
Actor Joel Edgerton on his new film Train Dreams
<p>Actor Joel Edgerton on his role as an itinerant lumberjack in 1900s Idaho, in Clint Bentley's Train Dreams, an adaptation of a novel by Denis Johnson which is being tipped for Oscar success.</p><p>The Harris in Preston and Poole Museum in Dorset recently threw their doors open ... Show More
42m 41s
Nov 18
Vince Gilligan on creating Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Pluribus
<p>Screenwriter Vince Gilligan is the creative mind behind the multi-awardwinning television dramas Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. His latest offering is Pluribus - a post-apocalyptic science fiction tale where it's up to the only miserable human being on earth to save the w ... Show More
42m 38s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
Ep411 - George Saunders | The Braindead Megaphone
<p>Acclaimed author George Saunders visits Google to discuss his book "The Braindead Megaphone."</p> <p>"The Braindead Megaphone", George Saunders's first foray into nonfiction, is comprised of essays on literature, travel, and politics. At the core of this unique collection are ... Show More
47m 41s
Mar 2017
Free Thinking - Neil Jordan, Flat Time House, Teletubbies
Worlds within worlds - Matthew Sweet talks to filmmaker and author Neil Jordan about his new novel Carnivalesque, which features a hall of mirrors and stolen children. He makes a tour of Flat Time House in south London and speaks to the Turner Prize-winning artist Laure Prouvost ... Show More
45m 22s
Sep 11
"Nature Is A Sucker For My Soul' -Andrew Zaloumis 158, CEO Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve
We kick off season six with the CEO of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Development Authority, internationally recognized for his pioneering work in conservation and community-driven environmental management. A visionary conservation leader and human rights advocate k ... Show More
54m 20s
Jun 2025
Alan Michelson Talks Dinosaurs, Murderous US Presidents, and Platinum-Gilded Native “Knowledge Keepers”
As a child, Alan Michelson often rode the T past sculptor Cyrus Edward Dallin’s “Appeal to the Great Spirit” (1908) outside the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). He was riveted by the statue’s grand horse and the powerful yet melancholy figure wearing a striking Plains Indian wa ... Show More
52m 19s
Nov 2017
How Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner built and lost a rock and roll empire (Joe Hagan, author, "Sticky Fingers")
Author Joe Hagan talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about his new book, "Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine." In the book, Hagan traces Wenner's rise as an eccentric, spendy and sometimes barbaric media mogul and how Rolling Stone became the ... Show More
1 h
Mar 2025
Remembering The South African Playwright Who Defied Apartheid
Athol Fugard's plays, like Blood Knot and Master Harold and the Boys, were about the emotional and psychological consequences of Apartheid. He also formed an integrated theater company in the 1960s, in defiance of South African norms. The playwright, who died Saturday, spoke with ... Show More
45m 35s
Apr 2025
The role of art and forgiveness in democracy | Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Wendy Whelan
<p>Can art pave the way for a politically divided nation to move forward? Artist, cultural strategist and TED Fellow Marc Bamuthi Joseph reflects on the role of art, forgiveness and remembrance in the pursuit of public healing — especially at a time when trust is contested and co ... Show More
11m 28s
Aug 31
Harry Hill, comedian
Harry Hill is a comedian, writer and broadcaster best known for presenting popular television shows including You’ve Been Framed, Junior Bake Off and the multi award-winning TV Burp.He was born Matthew Hall in Surrey and brought up in Kent. He became a Cub Scout and got a taste f ... Show More
50m 48s