BBC Radio Podcasts from The Cultural Frontline

My art, my community

We meet the artists helping others through their work and activism

Reclaim and resist: Canada's indigenous musicians

The musicians reclaiming suppressed cultures and resisting colonial narratives

Who should fund the arts?

What role should governments have in funding artists?

What the AI revolution means for arts

How is AI changing the world of art, music and theatre? Opportunity or threat?

Ukraine one year on: The artists’ response

Why Ukrainian culture has become a symbol of defiance

Modi's hip-hop nation

Bobby Friction explores what hip-hop means to India’s unheard youth

Fiction and our climate emergency

Can fiction writers change how we think about our global climate emergency?

Inside the rise of LGBTQ+ fiction

Exploring queer fiction as the literary genre faces boosted sales and book bans

Why Indigenous and First Nation stories matter

Indigenous and First Nation storytellers speaking up for their communities

Cate Blanchett: My ‘dangerous’ role

Cate Blanchett on playing a conductor accused of sexual misconduct in the film Tár

Why are guitar bands speaking instead of singing?

Why a new wave of guitar bands are speaking over their songs instead of singing

Brazil’s small utopias

Brazilian artists create utopias in their work to imagine a better future

Her story: Women artists making waves

Rapper Milli on challenging stereotypes to bring change in Thailand

Generations in conversation

Three conversations between different generations of artists

Telling stories in times of conflict

What can stories mean to people living in war? How do storytellers find hope in chaos?

How can art help reconnect us to the missing?

We hear from artists telling the stories of the disappeared

Joyland: Why the Pakistani film caused controversy

How a banned film became Pakistan’s entry for the Oscars

Cultural restitution - who decides?

The future of museums in the era of contested artefacts

Behind the lens of the photojournalist

Photographers telling the stories of their nations

How can art help tackle climate change?

With world leaders at COP 27, we explore the role of art in tackling global warming

The Beautiful Game: Art, football and the World Cup

With the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, we look at the relationship between art and football

Who owns history?

Artists telling stories from a contested past

How artists are changing Sri Lanka

We hear from artists at the forefront of Sri Lanka’s protest movement

Protest songs in Iran

Two Iranian artists on the recent protests

How climate change changed my life

Photographer Norma I Quintana on the wildfires that destroyed her home and studio

The Art of Advertising

How do adverts differ around the world?

Colombia: Culture out of conflict

María Cecilia Botero, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Cristina Bendek and Bomba Estéreo

Melanie C: Creativity and mental health

The Spice Girls star on the costs of fame

How is TikTok changing culture?

We speak to creators about how the platform is changing music, comedy and literature.

On Standing Rock

Nick Rankin examines the cultural fallout from the protests at Standing Rock in 2016

Global artists at the Edinburgh Festivals

William Barton, Odile Gakire Katese, Uma Nada-Rajah and Circus Abyssinia

Salman Rushdie: Is free speech under attack?

What does the stabbing of Sir Salman Rushdie mean for writers?

Storytelling is my activism

Theatre makers reflecting their lives on stage

Jamaica: Telling our own story

Jamaican culture 60 years after independence

Classical musicians in war and exile

Classical musicians from Ukraine, Venezuela and Syria in war and exile

Art of the Queer Diaspora

LGBTQ+ artists on the meanings of home and exile

Musicians championing indigenous languages

Artists campaigning through song for their languages to have a place on the world stage

Inside Norway’s future library

How a forest near Oslo is being transformed into a future library

Hong Kong: 25 years on

Curator Billy Tang, artist Samson Young, film-maker Ching Wong on Hong Kong culture

Simu Liu: Making heroes for us

The new superheroes representing cultures across the world

What next for Afrofuturism?

We meet the next generation of Afrofuturism-inspired artists

Disabled musicians turning up the volume

What’s being done to integrate disabled musicians into the mainstream music industry

Celebrating Commonwealth writing with HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

HRH The Duchess of Cornwall shares her passion for literature

Is comedy a risky business?

Comedians from around the world on the risks involved in telling jokes.

Breaking the boundaries of fiction

Writers in popular genres like crime, horror and fantasy overcoming literary snobbery

The art of memory

How artists are using the stories and hidden memories of the past

How is the arts world responding to the Ukraine conflict?

Sanctions, boycotts, bans, cancellations -how the arts is responding to Russia’s invasion

Making ballet a stage for all

Dancers Mamela Nyamza, Chloe Lopes Gomes and César Morales, tell us their stories

New global art at the Venice Biennale

Alfredo Thiermann and Dominga Sotomayor on recreating the peatlands of Patagonia

What does history sound like?

Can ancient musical instruments help contemporary Mexicans connect with their past?

Sudan: Art and political change

How changes in government, technology and culture are shaping the future of Sudan

Ukrainian artists’ response to the war

How Ukrainian artists have reacted to the war

Afroitalian beats

A journey across Italy through the voices of second generation musicians

Theatre masterclass special

Mark Ravenhill presents a theatre masterclass special in front of a live virtual audience

Two years of Covid: The arts reflect

Documentary maker Matthew Heineman, Andrew Garfield, Ilaria Bernardini on the pandemic

International women in film: Jane Campion, Ari Wegner, Dina Amer and Leah Purcell

Jane Campion and Ari Wegner discuss their multi Oscar nominated film The Power of the Dog

Digital reshaping art: Refik Anadol, the KAWS gallery in Fortnite

AI, data, and digital reimagining art and spaces

Landscapes

Nawal Al-Mughafi explores how artists are responding to the landscape around them

Atelier for exiles

Join us in Paris at the Atelier des Artistes en Exil, a hub for 400+ refugee artists

Art and China's Winter Olympics

Art from Qu Lei Lei, Shuang Wu, Zhao "pandaman" Bandi, Xia Jia, Chen Qiufan & Corsak

Girl bands

The female bands from across the globe, striking a note for gender equality

Emily Ratajkowski and the art of the body

Artists on celebrating, injuring, ignoring and transcending the human body

Art in India's 75th year of independence

Artists looking forwards and back in India's 75th anniversary year of independence

Music, politics and identity

Nikan Khosravi - Iranian heavy metal; Tamer Nafar - Palestinian hip hop; LGBTQ+ rap

Black Speculative Arts

A celebration of the global moment the Black Speculative Arts movement is having

The gift that changed me

Tumi Morake speaks to global stars and listeners about gifts of art that inspired them

International Film: Joana Hadjithomas and Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda on the musical that inspired him

What’s the future for culture in Afghanistan?

The Cultural Frontline asks what’s the future for arts, media and culture in Afghanistan

The air that we breathe: Scent artist Anicka Yi

'Sculpting' air using smells, and how opera is helping Covid patients breathe more easily

Batila and Dandy: Why we make music

How making music helps artists around the world make sense of the societies they live in

Crime Storytellers: Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly on writing his latest crime novel, The Dark Hours

Climate change: Amitav Ghosh, underwater sculpture, Sebastiao Salgado

Writers, artists, and musicians helping us understand climate change

Colombia’s art of migration

After years of conflict, Colombian artists make sense of displacement and migration

Kemka Ajoku: My camera, my vision

Photographer Kemka Ajoku on facing racism and finding joy in Black British storytelling

South African writing: Damon Galgut, Lebo Mashile, and Kaaps

Damon Galgut on his Booker shortlisted novel, The Promise, exploring apartheid’s legacy

Nigeria: Nollywood Star Richard Mofe-Damijo

Nollywood star Richard Mofe-Damijo reflects on his career

Faïza Guène and Omar El Akkad

Author Faïza Guène on her ground-breaking novels about multicultural France

Poetry: The power and the beauty of spoken word

Director Carlos López Estrada on making a film performed in spoken word poetry

Architecture: Yinka Ilori and Murat Tabanlioglu

Designer Yinka Ilori on turning a busy pedestrian crossing into a joyful work of art

Fashion: King of glamour Ali Mahdavi

Fashion photographer Ali Mahdavi on why he’s obsessed with glamour

Theatre: What’s next for the performing arts?

Leading global theatre directors on the future of their industry

Art and disability: Actor Madison Ferris

Broadway star Madison Ferris on taking the big stage in her wheelchair

Photography: Tyler Mitchell and Russel Wong

Life through a lens with some of the world’s most exciting photographers

Literature in lockdown: Meron Hadero and Emilia Clarke

Ethiopian writer Meron Hadero on how she found refuge on the page in the pandemic

Farah Bashir: The art of childhood

Farah Bashir, Bjorn Andresen, Ei Arakawa & Oscar Murillo on art and childhood

Reviving live music: South African cellist Abel Selaocoe

Cellist Abel Selaocoe talks about his upcoming Proms concert, Africa Meets Europe

Japan: Art and the Olympics

We meet Japanese artists who are re-inventing tradition and telling new stories

Water: Malian musician Inna Modja

Meet artists, writers and musicians inspired by water

NFTs: The booming world of digital art

We hear how NFT artworks are selling for big money and shaking up the art world.

Seth Rogen: The book that inspired my comedy

Hollywood star Seth Rogen and the rise of stand-up comedy in China

Film-maker Salomé Jashi and the art of trees

Escape to a forest of arboreal art that looks, listens and even protests with trees

Syria’s Top Goon: Art and the Arab Spring

Artists share their reflections ten years after the Arab Spring.

Beatie Wolfe: Art against climate change

Beatie Wolfe on making protest art using 800,000 years of historic NASA climate data

Mukoma Wa Ngugi: How music inspired my writing

Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Kanya D’Almeida, Art of Change and Joeboy on how home shapes their art

Black Lives Matter: Art after George Floyd

A year since the death of George Floyd, writers and artists reflect upon its impact

Studio Ghibli: The next generation

Studio Ghibli’s Goro Miyazaki on his new film Earwig and the Witch

Emel Mathlouthi and artists of the Arab Spring

Emel Mathlouthi shares how her song became an anthem for change during the Arab Spring

Opera singer Joshua Hopkins: Remembering my sister in song

We speak to Joshua Hopkins, a singer using his voice to call out violence against women.

Experimental theatre in Tokyo

Immersive performances in a pandemic, but can theatre change us and how we see the world?

Alexander Nanau: My Oscar nominated film

We speak to Oscar nominees ahead of the 2021 Academy Awards

Nikita Gill and creative renewal

How poet Nikita Gill rebuilt hope through a daily ritual of writing and sharing

Emilia Clarke: My lockdown discovery

Actor Emilia Clarke on how the work of the writer Jenny Diski inspired her in lockdown

JaQuel Knight: The man behind Beyoncé’s Single Ladies dance

JaQuel Knight, Tishani Doshi and Quang Dang on driving change through dance

The art that changed me during the pandemic

Tumi Morake speaks to global stars about the art that’s inspired them during lockdown

Fatoumata Diawara: music, Mali and migration

We hear from musicians using their music to fight injustice and spark debate

Waad al-Kateab and fearless female storytellers

Ahead of International Women’s Day, we speak to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Waad al-Kateab

Amitav Ghosh and new writing from India and Pakistan

Indian author Amitav Ghosh discusses using verse and folklore in his new book Jungle Nama

Animation: Art, activism and anime

We meet artists redrawing the future of animation

Hao Wu: Wuhan under lockdown on film

We go behind the camera with some of the world’s leading documentary filmmakers

Bisa Butler: Crafting African American stories

We meet the craft makers telling new stories through traditional techniques

Olafur Eliasson: Public art made virtual

Download the imagination of artist Olafur Eliasson on to a street near you

Writing America’s new chapter

Novelists Michael Farris Smith and Zaina Arafat on how they write the American story

Douglas Stuart and fashion for change

Author Douglas Stuart on the transformative power of clothes in life and literature

BTS ARMY: Inside the Fandom

How BTS ARMY is changing the music industry and pop culture

Bulgaria’s art on the edge

Three extraordinary artists blur the lines between cabaret, theatre and real-life

Canine couture: Inside dog fashion

Four-legged fashion – we go inside the exclusive world of designer clothes for dogs

Board games: The politics of play

How do board games encourage players to explore ideas, politics and morals?

Covid-19 and China’s changing club scene

How coronavirus is changing China’s underground electronic music scene.

Songhoy Blues: Mali’s Musical Optimists

Aliou Touré, lead singer of rock revolutionaries Songhoy Blues, discusses their new album

Tsitsi Dangarembga: Writing Zimbabwe’s Women

We celebrate the female writers, artists and performers making their voices heard

New Iranian art and the censors

Meet the Iranians making new art despite the censors

Capturing #endsars on camera

Meet the visionaries, artists and storytellers who capture the world through photography

What’s the future of film?

Tina Daheley hosts a discussion on what’s next for film globally

What’s the future of performing arts?

Tina Daheley hosts a discussion on what’s next for the performing arts globally

What’s the future of visual arts?

Tina Daheley hosts a discussion on what’s next for the visual arts globally

Pedro Reyes: Destroying guns, creating art

Artist Pedro Reyes on why he’s making weapons of war into art

Roxane Gay: Writing the personal and political

The writer Roxane Gay on publishing, cancel culture and Black Lives Matter

Rebeca Omordia: African classical music pioneer

The pianist shares her passion for African and European classical music

TikTok: The app that's transforming social media

How TikTok is changing our culture and storytelling

Sharona Franklin: Making art accessible for all

The Canadian sculptor on exploring disability through her work

Tumi Morake: South Africa’s pioneering comedian

The South African star on using comedy to make her voice heard

Why I Instagram the Hong Kong protests

From a rooftop in Hong Kong, a photographer records a major chapter in his city's history

Black Lives Matter in art and protest

Artists reflect on the death of George Floyd and the protests in America

Manuel Rossner: An artist in a digital playground

German artist Manuel Rossner on the infinite artistic possibilities of the virtual world

Joe Sacco: The political power of the graphic novel

Graphic novelist Joe Sacco talks about his latest work, Paying the Land.

The art of the Vietnam War

The female view of the impact of the Vietnam War via the prism of art

Isabel Sandoval: Finding my place in film

Isabel Sandoval on politics, immigration and filmmaking in the USA

Karen Lord: What makes a great story?

Sci-fi writer Karen Lord on the power of great storytelling.

Nick Ryan: Recording our world under lockdown

The artist Nick Ryan on recording the sounds of the coronavirus lockdown

Chen Qiufan: China’s master of science fiction

Chinese sci-fi writer Chen Qiufan on life imitating art

Ilaria Bernardini: My country under lockdown

Ilaria Bernardini on how Italy is uniting during an uncertain time.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre: From the streets to the stage

Choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung on his new show 13 Tongues

Kitty Green: Film-making in the age of #Metoo

Director Kitty Green on making films in the #metoo era

Sir Steve McQueen: Great British artist

The artist and film-maker Sir Steve McQueen reflects on his life and career

Ana Tijoux: Rapping to change Chile

Hip-hop star Ana Tijoux on politics, protest and rap in Chile

Murad Subay: The walls remember

When war broke out in Yemen, Murad Subay painted murals on the bullet-marked buildings

Meet Dimash, Central Asia’s Biggest Pop Star

We meet pioneering artists who are changing the cultural landscape in their countries

House of Kenzo, Art Collective

The underground dance collective revolutionising nightlife in Texas