Front Row

Samira is joined by two magicians live in the studio, from the stage show "Now You See Me Live". And then she takes part in a trick and is bamboozled!
Jacqueline Crooks' latest novel Sky City follows a young woman and her friends in 1990s London, as they struggle to carve out lives for themselves in the shadow of their pasts. Jacqueline explains why literature is the perfect place to discuss difficult themes.
We look at the French government's multi-million euro national security plan to beef up museum security, following a spate of audacious robberies across the country.
Tribute bands generate millions of pounds, playing live each year in the UK; from The Bootleg Beatles to Oasish. We speak with two tribute acts 'with a twist', about the flourishing facsimile pop scene.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Rhianna Dhillon and Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to review:
Childhood in War, an exhibition at the Imperial War Musuem exploring how children have experienced conflict from 1914 to the present day.
Ish, the debut feature film from multimedia artist Imran Perretta which follows two boys in Luton as they navigate childhood against a backdrop of political tension and personal loss.
And Children of Wolves, the new novel from Lawrence Osborne (Ballad of a Small Player), about a private investigator sent to Turkey to find a 27-year-old woman who has disappeared.
Plus Laura Barton discusses this year's Mercury Prize shortlist.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Tim Bano

Composer Missy Mazzoli discusses her opera The Galloping Cure, which fuses a live orchestra with electronic beats and features a charismatic antihero and talking dogs. An allegory for a crisis which has become a worldwide epidemic, the production by Opera Ventures Productions and Scottish Opera receives its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival and is a reimagining of a story by Franz Kafka.
Artist Joyce W Cairns is one of Scotland's most renowned painters, and in 2018 she was elected the first President of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture. She talks to us about making the move from mythological to autobiographical painting and about how she was inspired to create her impressive War Tourist series of paintings - drawn from research in Normandy and Tunisia - after inheriting a suitcase of her father's World War II memorabilia.
And as the heatwave continues across parts of the UK and Europe, we ask how cultural institutions are responding. Is the closure of galleries due to uncomfortable temperatures going to become the norm?
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan

Professor Dame Mary Beard reveals the 2026 Booker longlist and how she has found the process of being Chair of the judges.
British contemporary pop artist Philip Colbert’s latest installation has just been unveiled amidst the historic ruins of Pompeii. Philip talks to Samira Ahmed about being inspired by an ancient mosaic featuring a lobster, a symbol he frequently includes in his work, and how he adapted his process for the UNESCO heritage site.
Hollywood actor Bill Pullman, known as the fictional US President Whitmore in Independence Day, Meg Ryan’s spurned beau in Sleepless in Seattle and many more roles, is currently appearing at the RSC in Stratford in a production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. He talks with Samira about his work on stage in the UK and the US, his favourite film roles and why he feels uniquely qualified to be playing Gayev in this production.
As reports say that around half of all new music uploaded to streamers is made with A.I., music economist Will Page discusses what this means for the music industry and for listeners who may not know that they're listening to something that wasn’t made by a real person.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Andrea Kidd

Graeme Garden remembers his friend and Goodies colleague, Bill Oddie.
Frank Miller reimagined Batman as a tougher, grittier sort of comic book hero: The Dark Knight. He has written a memoir and a guide for fans.
The new Children's Laureate, writer Patrice Lawrence tells us about taking on such a prestigious role.
And 850 years of the Eisteddfod - Archdruid Mererid Hopwood and Marc Rees discuss the importance of this centuries-old Welsh celebration of music, poetry, art literature.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed