Front Row Folgen

Playwright David Hare talks to Samira about his latest television drama Collateral, a series that begins like a police procedural but drifts into a state-of-the-nation thriller. Carey Mulligan stars as a police detective whose investigation into the shooting of a pizza delivery man has spiraling repercussions. Carmen is opera's greatest femme fatale, the sexually liberated cigarette factory worker killed by her spurned lover. Opera critic Alexandra Coghlan and opera historian Flora Willson discuss how we view Carmen in the 21st Century, as two new productions - at the Royal Opera House and in Florence - re-interpret this mythic heroine. John Burningham, author and illustrator of Mr Gumpy's Outing, and Helen Oxenbury, the illustrator of We're Going on a Bear Hunt, have been announced as the joint winners of the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award. Their books are family friends to many children - and adults. They talk about how they work, their distinctive styles and the secrets of their long marriage.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman

Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz on their new film The Mercy, which tells the true story of the ill-fated attempt in 1968 by the amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst to become the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world.Vaseem Khan discusses his latest Inspector Chopra novel, about an Indian detective with a baby elephant as his sidekick, which he has written as a Quick Read.As Irish and Northern Irish women poets campaign for greater recognition in their home country, we discuss the gender battle currently taking place in Irish literature, with campaign co-founder Mary O'Donnell, playwright Rosemary Jenkinson and novelist John Boyne. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser.

As artists back photographer Nan Goldin's call to hold arts patrons the Sackler family to account over the US opioid crisis, we discuss the ethics of funding the arts. Soul singer Mica Paris talks about her current projects exploring the life and work of legendary jazz pioneer Ella Fitzgerald, and performs live in the studio.Jim Crace has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. He talks to John about his new novel The Melody. Set in an unnamed town on the Mediterranean, its main character is a composer facing loneliness as a recent widower. The novel, Jim Crace says, has its roots in seeing child foragers on a rubbish dump in India. And to mark the centenary of some women being granted the vote in 1918 we hear the poem Suffragette written by Jan Dean. It's from the anthology Reaching the Stars which contains poems about extraordinary women and girls.Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.