Boris Vian, Arne NΓ¦ss, Karl Ove KnausgΓ¥rd, Javier MarΓas, Nawal El Saadawi, Tale of Genji. All of these programmes are available as Arts and Ideas podcasts via the Downloads tab.
From Dickens & wartime defences to Doctor Who, Matthew Sweet explores the Thames estuary
With Icelandic writer SjΓ³n, the career of Winifred Knights and an exploration of touch.
Rana Mitter discusses The Tale of Genji, sometimes called the world's first novel.
Philip Dodd explores Latin America with writers Juan Gabriel Vasquez and Claudia Pineiro.
Anne McElvoy explores Germany with Neil MacGregor, Volker Kutscher and Haydn Gwynne.
Philip Dodd talks to artist Olafur Eliasson and novelist Andrey Kurkov.
Architect Marwa Al-Sabouni talks to Anne McElvoy about Syria's built environment.
Philips Dodd explores Spanish culture and politics and is joined by novelist Javier Marias
Karl Ove Knausgard talks to Philip Dodd in a programme exploring Scandinavia today.
Philip Dodd with Howard Jacobson and Karen Leeder. Plus sculptor Michael Sandle.
Anne McElvoy discusses what happened to the Arab Spring five years on.
Margaret Atwood, Arnaldur Indriadason and MJ McGrath talk about crime fiction and cold.
Philip Dodd reviews the newly translated novel from Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.
Including Italian author Umberto Eco in conversation with Matthew Sweet.
With writer Nawal El Saadawi on protest, Lord Browne on business, and IS and Arabic poetry
