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Cultural Exchange

by BBC Radio 4

Creative minds talk about the cultural work that inspires them, an arts project for BBC Radio 4. Each Cultural Exchange podcast contains the curator’s recommendation.

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Episodes

  1. Armando Iannucci

    As the final Cultural Exchange Armando Iannucci chooses the Woody Allen film Stardust Memories. Also there are BBC archive interviews with Woody Allen and Armando Iannucci. Plus, as a bonus, presenters Mark Lawson and John Wilson also reveal their picks for the Cultural Exchange.

  2. Riz Ahmed

    Riz Ahmed chooses the video game Street Fighter II, which was released in arcades in 1991. Plus related clips from the BBC archive, including rapper Bashy joins 1Xtra's J.M.E for a Street Fighter II battle, interviews with games writers Naomi Alderman and Rhianna Pratchett, games designer Paul...

  3. C J Sansom

    C J Sansom - author of the historical crime series Shardlake – picks the first incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who, William Hartnell. Plus archive interviews with Verity Lambert, Tom Baker and William Hartnell's granddaughter Jessica Carney.

  4. Michael Grandage

    Michael Grandage chooses a poem by WS Graham called Dear Bryan Wynter. Plus BBC archive featuring WS Graham, Peter Lanyon and Mark Rothko.

  5. Josie Rourke

    Josie Rourke chooses the 1987 film Broadcast News. Plus BBC archive interviews with actress Holly Hunter and director James L Brooks.

  6. Gemma Chan

    Gemma Chan chooses the film The Princess Bride. Plus archive BBC interviews with William Goldman, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

  7. Cornelia Parker

    Cornelia Parker choose a photograph by Man Ray called Dust Breeding. Plus archive BBC interviews with Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp.

  8. Cerys Matthews

    Cerys Matthews chooses Fanfare Ciocărlia and their album Queens and Kings. Plus BBC archive interviews about gypsy music including an interview with the band.

  9. Jeffrey Archer

    Jeffrey Archer chooses the painting Ecce Homo by the 19th Century Italian artist Antonio Ciseri. Plus BBC archive about Pontius Pilate. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  10. Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman chooses a song by Georges Brassens, called Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète. Plus BBC archive clips about Brassens featuring Quentin Blake, Posy Simmonds and Julian Barnes.

  11. Nicola Benedetti

    Nicola Benedetti chooses Korngold’s Violin Concerto, played by Jascha Heifetz. Plus archive BBC interviews with Itzhak Perlman and Leonard Slatkin.

  12. Richard Rogers

    Richard Rogers chooses the Piazza del Campo, a medieval square in Siena. Plus archive bbc interviews about the Palio horse race. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  13. CE Kamila Shamsie

    Kamila Shamsie chooses the film All About Eve (1950), starring Bette Davis. Plus archive BBC interviews with Bette Davis, Joseph Mankiewicz, and Honor Blackman.

  14. Terry Jones

    Terry Jones chooses Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. Plus BBC archive of Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton. Full details at Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  15. Ruth Rendell

    Ruth Rendell chooses the oratorio Solomon by Handel. Plus archive interviews about Handel with conductors Christopher Hogwood John Eliot Gardiner.

  16. James Blake

    James Blake chooses the film Stalker by Tarkovsky. Plus archive interviews about the Russian film-maker featuring Will Self, Geoff Dyer, Mike Hodges and Werner Herzog.

  17. Cultural Exchange

    Mark Ravenhill chooses Casanova, Dennis Potter's first TV serial. Plus archive BBC interviews with and about Dennis Potter. Go to Front Row's Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  18. Paul Franklin

    The Oscar-winning Visual Effects Designer, Paul Franklin chooses The Thief of Bagdad (1940). Plus archive interviews with Alexander Korda, Powell and Pressburger, Andy Serkis and Paul Franklin himself.

  19. Laura Mvula

    Laura Mvula chooses the song Four Women by Nina Simone. Plus archive BBC interviews with Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading and Billy Bragg.

  20. Paula Milne

    Paula Milne chooses the film Five Easy Pieces, directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson. Plus archive interviews with Nicholson and Rafelson.

  21. Conrad Shawcross

    Artist Conrad Shawcross chooses one of the 250 pictures in the waterlilies series dated after 1916, by Claude Monet. Plus an archive interview with Sir Gerald Kelly who met Monet in 1902 and the English Head Gardener at Monet's house at Giverny.

  22. David Sedaris

    American writer and humorist David Sedaris chooses the TV reality series RuPaul's Drag Race, which aims to find America's next drag superstar. Plus archive interviews Ru Paul, Paul O'Grady and Rex Jameson.

  23. Ian Rankin

    Ian Rankin chooses the album Solid Air by John Martyn. Plus archive bbc interviews with John Martyn, Phil Collins, Ralph McTell and Danny Thompson. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  24. Rankin

    The photographer Rankin chooses the poem Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy. Plus an archive interview with Hardy biographer Claire Tomalin and a visit to Hardy’s house in Dorset.

  25. Pat Barker

    Author Pat Barker chooses Benjamin Britten's song cycle Who Are These Children? Plus archive interviews with Britten and Gladys Parr, a masterclass in performing the piece by Peter Pears - and a recent Front Row discussion with the singer Ian Bostridge and the Guardian columnist Martin Kettle on...

  26. Maggi Hambling

    Artist Maggi Hambling chooses Cy Twombly's Bacchus paintings. Plus archive interviews with Tactita Dean, Louisa Buck, Paul Allen and Maggi Hambling herself. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  27. Penelope Curtis

    Penelope Curtis, Director at Tate Britain, chooses the buildings designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon at the University of Leeds. Plus archive interviews with Dame Judi Dench and architects Peter and Alison Smithson. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  28. Brian Sewell

    Brian Sewell chooses the painting Christ contemplated by the Christian Soul by Velazquez. Plus archive interviews with Richard Griffiths and Carlos Fuentes. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  29. Clarke Peters

    Actor and musician Clarke Peters – best-known for his TV roles in the Wire and Treme – chooses They Came Before Columbus, the bestselling 1970s book by Dr Ivan Van Sertima, that porposed a new interpretation of African American ancestry.

  30. Julia Donaldson

    The former Children’s Laureate and author of The Gruffalo chooses American children’s writer Arnold Lobel whose books include the Frog and Toad series and Grasshopper on the Road. Plus Sam West reads Lobel’s story ‘A List’ and there’s archive from Michael Rosen, Anthony Browne and Anne Fine.

  31. Amanda Levete

    The architect Amanda Levete chooses Casa Malaparte, a house on the Italian island of Capri. Plus archive interviews with Jean-Luc Godard, Charlie Luxton, Prof Richard Burdett and Amanda Levete herself.

  32. Marianne Jean-Baptiste

    Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste chooses Miles Davis' 1959 album Kind of Blue. Plus archive interviews with drummer Jimmy Cobb and trumpeter Henry Lowther and archive features about the Miles Davis' early life and relationship with bebop pioneer Charlie Parker.

  33. Lee Hall

    Playwright and screenwriter Lee Hall chooses Briggflatts, a poem by Basil Bunting. Plus archive interviews with Elton John, Tom Pickard and Basil Bunting himself.

  34. Mitsuko Uchida

    The pianist Mitsuko Uchida chooses The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca. Plus archive interviews with Martin Kemp, Lang Lang and a report into how The Resurrection was saved from destruction.

  35. Brian Aldiss

    The author chooses The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. Plus archive interviews with Doris Lessing, Tanith Lee and Dr Rowan Williams.

  36. Francine Stock

    Broadcaster Francine Stock chooses the Iranian film The Apple. Plus archive interviews with Samira Makhmalbaf and Ali Samadi Ahadi and a clip of John's report from Iran about The Cyrus Cylinder.

  37. Glenn Patterson

    Novelist Glenn Patterson chooses the film Yankee Doodle Dandy.Plus archive interviews with James Cagney and Hal B. Wallis and archive features about the film and its director Michael Curtiz.

  38. Joan Bakewell

    Broadcaster and writer Dame Joan Bakewell chooses the 1963 film The Leopard, directed by Luchino Visconti. Plus archive interviews with Burt Lancaster, Francis Ford Coppola, Claudia Cardinale and Joan Bakewell herself.

  39. Rachel Whiteread

    Turner Prize winning artist, Rachel Whiteread chooses a postcard of Fall by Bridget Riley.Plus archive interviews with Bridget Riley, Sir Anthony Caro and Michael Craig Martin.

  40. Neil Gaiman

    Neil Gaiman chooses a painting by Richard Dadd – The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke. Plus archive interviews with Freddie Mercury and an extract from Angela Carter’s play based on the painting. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  41. Paul Weller

    For the Cultural Exchange, Paul Weller nominates The Zombies' Odessey And Oracle, an album which was indifferently received when it was released in 1968. Plus archive including with The Zombies, Paul Weller and Mark Radcliffe . Full details on Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  42. Gwyneth Lewis

    Poet Gwyneth Lewis chooses the dance routine from Laurel and Hardy’s 1937 film Way Out West. Plus archive from about Laurel and Hardy’s 1932 and 1953 visits to Britain, and Roy Castle on their origins. Plus Gwyneth Lewis reads a poem. Full details on Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  43. Stephen Hough

    Stephen Hough chooses Schubert’s song The Hurdy Gurdy Man, from Winterreise. Plus archive interviews with singers Thomas Hampson and Mark Padmore, and Donald Macleod on Schubert. Full details at Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  44. AL Kennedy

    Author AL Kennedy chooses the 1985 TV drama Hitler’s SS: A Portrait of Evil. Plus archive interviews with Bill Nighy, Oliver Hirschbiegel and publishers and agents discussing the commercial success of books about Nazi Germany. Full details on Front Row's Cultural Exchange website.

  45. Mark Haddon

    Mark Haddon, whose books include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, chooses The Uffington White Horse. Plus archive reports on the myths and legends surrounding the horse. Full details available at Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  46. Colm Tóibín

    Colm Tóibín chooses a poem by Elizabeth Bishop called Poem. Plus archive interviews with Elizabeth Bishop, Lavinia Greenlaw and William Boyd. Full details and images at Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website.

  47. Kwame Kwei-Armah

    Kwame Kwei-Armah chooses Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984), a play by August Wilson (1945 - 2005) and the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, The Pittsburgh Cycle. Presented by Mark Lawson. The interview is followed by selected clips from the…

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  48. Sarah Hall

    Novelist Sarah Hall chooses the film Blade Runner. Plus archive BBC interviews with director Ridley Scott, producer Michael Deeley, composer Vangelis, and author Philip K Dick. Go to Front Row’s Cultural Exchange website for full details.

  49. P. D. James

    P. D. James chooses Philip Larkin's poem The Explosion, published in his final collection of poetry, High Windows. Presented by Mark Lawson. The interview is followed by selected clips from the BBC archive: Philip Larkin reading his poem The Explosion; Mark Lawson reports from Hull as the city...

  50. Highlights from Cultural Exchange so far

    Mark Lawson offers a selection of highlights from the Cultural Exchange project so far. The compilation includes the choices of Tracey Emin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Bernardo Bertolucci. Go to Front Row's Cultural Exchange website for more details.

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Creative minds talk about the cultural work that inspires them, an arts project for BBC Radio 4. Each Cultural Exchange podcast contains the curator’s recommendation.

HOSTED BY

BBC Radio 4

Produced by BBC

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Cultural Exchange have?

Cultural Exchange currently has 76 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Cultural Exchange about?

Creative minds talk about the cultural work that inspires them, an arts project for BBC Radio 4. Each Cultural Exchange podcast contains the curator’s recommendation.

How often does Cultural Exchange release new episodes?

Cultural Exchange has 76 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Cultural Exchange?

You can listen to Cultural Exchange on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Cultural Exchange?

Cultural Exchange is created and hosted by BBC Radio 4.
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