This Cultural Life
Episodes
Shirin Neshat
22 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Shirin Neshat is the world’s foremost Iranian-born artist. Best known for her black and white portraits of veiled women, often with hands and faces ...
Ken Loach
15 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over six decades, Ken Loach has forged a reputation as Britain’s foremost politically-engaged filmmaker, exploring issues of social justice, freedom...
Es Devlin
08 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Es Devlin is the world’s foremost set designer, having conceived stage sets for superstar musicians including Beyoncé, Stormzy, Kanye West, U2 and ...
Glenda Jackson
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Actor and former MP Glenda Jackson reveals the influences and experiences that inspired her work on stage and screen. One of the greatest actors of he...
James Corden
24 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Actor, writer and comedian James Corden reveals the most important people, events and cultural works that inspired his own creativity. He’s now prob...
Michael Morpurgo
17 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Author, poet and playwright Michael Morpurgo reveals the most important people, events and cultural works that inspired his own creativity. Michael is...
Abdulrazak Gurnah
10 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah talks to John Wilson about the people, events, and cultural works that have inspired his creativity. Bo...
Nicola Benedetti
03 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Violinist Nicola Benedetti reveals her most important cultural influences and experiences that have inspired her to become one of the world’s greate...
Norman Foster
27 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Norman Foster discusses the key cultural influences and experiences that led him to become one of the world’s most important living architects. Baro...
Kate Mosse
20 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The author of the multi-million-selling Languedoc trilogy, set amidst religious wars in south-west France and beginning with the bestselling Labyrinth...
Goldie
13 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Born Clifford Joseph Price, Goldie was brought up in care homes and with foster families in the west Midlands. After establishing himself as a graffit...
Eileen Atkins
18 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With a career spanning eight decades, Dame Eileen Atkins is one of the most acclaimed British actors. She is a three-time Olivier Award-winner and has...
Jed Mercurio
11 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Jed Mercurio, the creator of hit television series including Line Of Duty and Bodyguard, talks to John Wilson about the cultural influences and...
Jacqueline Wilson at Hay
04 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a special edition of This Cultural Life from the Hay Festival, Dame Jacqueline Wilson is John Wilson's guest with an audience of readers young and ...
Armando Iannucci
28 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and director Armando Iannucci reveals the most important artistic influences and experiences that have shaped his own work. Armando was the cre...
Anoushka Shankar
21 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar tells John Wilson about the most significant cultural influences and experiences that have shaped her own a...
Jarvis Cocker
14 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Musician and lyricist Jarvis Cocker talks to John Wilson about the most important influences and experiences that shaped his own creativity. He explai...
Penelope Lively
07 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Penelope Lively, now 89 years old, is the author of more than 30 books for children, six short story collections and 17 novels. Shortlisted three time...
Inua Ellams
30 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Inua Ellams, the Nigerian-born, award-winning poet, playwright and performer, talks to John Wilson about the most important influences and experiences...
Hannah Gadsby
23 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hannah Gadsby, the Emmy-winning stand-up comedian and writer, talks to John Wilson about the most significant influences and experiences that have sha...
Neil Tennant
16 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Neil Tennant, singer and songwriter with the Pet Shop Boys, is one half of the most successful British pop duo of all time, having sold 100 million re...
Ali Smith
09 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning novelist, playwright and short story writer Ali Smith is the author of 12 novels, three of which have been nominated for the Booker Priz...
Aaron Sorkin
02 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As one of the most successful screenwriters of modern times, Aaron Sorkin is renowned for his quickfire, rhythmic dialogue in films and television dra...
Tamara Rojo
26 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Spanish ballet star Tamara Rojo has enjoyed a 20 year stage career, in which she starred in all the greatest classical ballet roles to both critical a...
Brian Cox
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Olivier and Emmy-winning actor Brian Cox is best known these days as Logan Roy, the tyrannical media mogul and disappointed father in the hit series S...
Maggi Hambling
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Maggi Hambling is a painter known for evocative portraits, and powerfully energetic seascapes of the Suffolk coastline where she grew up. She’...
Joyce DiDonato
05 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato talks to John Wilson about the works and events that have made her the performer she is. A Grammy and ...
Akram Khan
26 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dancer and choreographer Akram Khan is one of the world’s most acclaimed and influential figures working in contemporary dance today. Born in London...
Max Richter
19 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
German-born British composer Max Richter tells John Wilson about his earliest musical influences, including the revelatory experience of first hearing...
Nicole Kidman
01 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since her breakthrough in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm, Nicole Kidman has played a hugely diverse array of roles - in arthouse films like Lars Von Trie...
Sting
25 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As leader of rock band The Police, and as a multiple-Grammy winning solo artist, Sting has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide over his four d...
Víkingur Ólafsson
18 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Víkingur Ólafsson tells John Wilson about the experiences and influences that have had a major impact on his life as one of the world’s foremost c...
Douglas Stuart
11 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Author Douglas Stuart talks to John Wilson about some of the aspects of his life that inspired him to write his multi award-winning debut novel Shuggi...
Kwame Kwei-Armah
04 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kwame Kwei-Armah shares some of the influences that have had a significant impact on his career in the theatre. He became a household name playing par...
Evelyn Glennie
27 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Musician Evelyn Glennie talks to John Wilson about her career and some of the key cultural turning points of her life. From growing up in rural Aberde...
Caitlin Moran
20 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Author and columnist Caitlin Moran talks to John Wilson about some of the works and events that have had the biggest influence on her writing career.T...
Carlos Acosta
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta talks to John Wilson about some of the key moments of his cultural life. He discusses the influence of his father, his...
Mike Leigh
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Film-maker Mike Leigh talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and some of the moments that have had an impact on his creative life. He reve...
Tracey Emin
30 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Tracey Emin talks openly and honestly to John Wilson about her controversial career and her life, including her experiences of cancer and abort...
Paul McCartney
23 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Paul McCartney talks to John Wilson about his key influences and inspirations. In a candid conversation, in which he discusses his relationship with J...
Bernardine Evaristo
16 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Author Bernardine Evaristo talks to John Wilson about the formative experiences and cultural influences that have had a profound effect on her work. S...
Kenneth Branagh
09 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Actor and filmmaker Sir Kenneth Branagh talks to John Wilson for the first of a new series of interviews in which the world’s leading cultural figur...
Welcome to This Cultural Life
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Candid conversations with the world’s leading cultural figures about what has fired their imagination and sparked their creativity.