In the Studio

Agatha Christie is the world's most translated author, with her work being available in over 100 languages. And one of her most beloved characters, Miss Marple, is about to be resurrected with the help of 12 contemporary authors. In The Studio talks to two of those writers: Dreda Say Mitchell who specialises in a different type of crime story, the gritty gangster genre, and Kate Mosse, who is known for her historical sagas. They reveal how they rose to the challenge of reinventing one of the most famous characters in 20th Century fiction.

Maggie O'Farrell's historical novel Hamnet was published in 2020 to great critical acclaim, winning the Women's Prize. It tells the story of a gifted herbalist, Agnes Hathaway, who is married to a young William Shakespeare. We follow her on her journey as they meet, marry, and later come to terms with the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. Now, the Royal Shakespeare Company is putting Hamnet on stage for the first time in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon. Presenter Dan Hardoon follows the RSC's Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman throughout the rehearsal process. We also hear from award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti on the challenges of adapting the novel for the stage, and from cast and crew as they get ready for opening night.

Beyond Belief - The Life And Mission Of John Hume is a new drama musical about the Irish politician who was one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process. Marie-Louise Muir goes behind the scenes of the production staged in Hume's home city of Derry with its director Kieran Griffiths. She follows his young company of actors rehearsing for a major production which will be streamed live globally on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the historic peace accord, the Good Friday Agreement.

The poet Nikita Gill has written several volumes of poetry, and enjoys engaging poetically with her audience using social media. Her work often explores Greek Myths, and her latest project continues with that theme as she embarks on a series of four books, each one focusing on a single goddess. For this episode of In The Studio, we join her as she starts with Hekate, often known as the Goddess of Witchcraft, and about whom little is known, other than that she was brought up in the underworld by Styx. Nikita describes Hekate as a dark anti-feminine goddess and a protest against what is expected of women which is what appealed to her. But how do you go about creating a life for someone who is so mysterious? And as Nikita will also be illustrating her work, how will she decide how to visually portray her? Follow Nikita across several months as she works towards completing her first draft of this exciting new work.

Nick Duncalf meets artist Theo Jansen at his studio in Delft, as he creates his latest Strandbeests, multi-legged creatures designed to walk the sands of Holland's North Sea coast. Outside his workshop, the grass is littered with bleached plastic pipes; the skeletons of strandbeests past. He has been building these creatures for decades. Each year, new creatures - some the size of shopping trolleys, some the size of cars - are designed, tested, and allowed to run free across the sands. At a battered work table, Theo toils over sections of pipe, heating and bending and attaching pieces of what will become the skeletons of the new beests. In recent years, the Strandbeests have become internet stars, hugely popular on Instagram and Youtube. Theo began this project in 1990, when he was 42 years old. He tells Nick of his annual quest to bring these creatures to life, and to prepare them to battle the elements on the beach. Each year brings new challenges, new dreams, new failures, and new triumphs. Aged 74, Theo will not have another 33 years to continue his work. He is confronting the time limitations of this project, and his own legacy as an artist. There is a renewed sense of urgency in his work, and his boundless energy, enthusiasm and optimism mean that this year's strandbeests will be more ambitious than ever.

Author Sofi Oksanen shares with Olga Smirnova how she begins a new novel. Olga witnesses how Sofi painstakingly gathers details for the lives of her characters, from choosing the colour of their nail varnish, to the perfumes they prefer, and the difference in the smell of Estonian and Soviet women. Olga visits Sofi's writing studio in a bohemian quarter of Helsinki where they both listen to the silence which is so important for Sofi to write. We discover why sometimes kneading dough and chopping carrots or onions can help the process. Having an Estonian heritage, Sofi is fascinated by Soviet history. The theme of war in Ukraine is never far from Olga's conversations with Sofi as they discuss how it impacts upon the writing process.

Faig Ahmed is one of Azerbaijan's best-known contemporary artists, and has won international acclaim for his fantastical woven artworks. Based on Azerbaijan's ancient carpet weaving traditions, his pieces explore the visual language of classic rug design to radical effect. Pieces can distort and bulge, grow deep-tufted pelts or rise off the walls into the gallery space overhead. His work has been described as psychedelic, surreal, even iconoclastic. Speaking from his weaving workshop in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Faig Ahmed talks to broadcaster and artist Bidisha Mamata about the process of making these pieces, working with a traditionally all-female team of carpet-weavers who use centuries-old techniques to create his intricate designs. Ahmed also works in other mediums including painting, video and installation, all fed by a restless curiosity and experimental zeal. So we also hear about one of his current works-in-progress: A large-scale performance piece, through which he is exploring the fundamentals of social interaction.

A poet can't sleep. She sits at a desk in a wooden house at the heart of a palm forest, watching the night sky through the window. The full moon lights up the palm fronds, which dance in the wind. She has been tasked with writing a poem that will be sent into space, to another planet's distant moon. What should she say? What is the message in a bottle that she should launch out into the solar system? How can she begin writing a poem that speaks of the fragile wonders of our home planet? That expresses our hope that there might be other life out there somewhere, in the stars? In the Studio follows US poet laureate Ada Limón as she crafts an original poem dedicated to NASA's Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's icy moon. Her poem will be engraved on the Clipper spacecraft, which will launch in 2024 and travel 1.8 billion miles to reach Europa - a journey that will last six years. We follow Ada's creative process over several months, from her first meetings with the NASA team, through many drafts of the poem and a visit to NASA's jet propulsion laboratory in California to see the Europa Clipper under construction.

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer whose debut novel The Mountains Sing, published in English in 2020, won the International Book Awards in 2021 and was runner-up in the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. It portrays the lives of four generations of a Vietnamese family enduring many hardships, something she understands well from her own upbringing. In conversation with presenter Felicity Finch, Quế Mai shares her writing process as she works on her second novel Dust Child, which is about Amerasians, children of American military men who were abandoned during The Vietnam War. Meetings with her New York publisher and editor Betsy Gleick help guide her through the many months of development as well as her desire to retain the Vietnamese-ness of her prose. This programme was first broadcast in May 2022, but for this version, as dust Child is about to be published, Felicity takes the opportunity to catch up with Quế Mai, to find out how that feels.

Restaurateur Keith McNally is a 71-year-old Londoner, the son of a longshoreman and office cleaner, who moved to New York in 1976. Forty-five years later, he is one of the most celebrated restaurateurs in the city. In 2004, The New York Times dubbed him “the restaurateur who invented Downtown.” In this episode of In the Studio, we get a glimpse into the mind of this unique creative talent, who used his early career in film and theatre to dominate an altogether different stage. The flagship of his New York restaurants is Balthazar, which is packed day and night and has been in operation for more than 25 years. But who is Keith McNally, and how has he created such an iconic success in such a cutthroat business?

Sydney's main public art museum, the Art Gallery of NSW, recently completed Sydney Modern, a massive expansion project ten years in the making. Almost doubling the existing exhibition space, the new building was designed by the Pritzker Architecture Prize winning Japanese firm SANAA. Positioned within verdant parkland, yet a mere stone's throw from the city centre, the new gallery is a series of interconnected glass–encased pavilions that seem to cascade down an incline towards Sydney Harbour. With its landscaped terraces and courtyards, the new gallery almost merges with its surroundings, inviting visitors to experience art as part of the environment. Join Masako Fukui as she follows the final stages of this construction project, and talks to some of the key people who have contributed to the creative vision, including the Director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Dr Michael Brand, the architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, as well as artisans, artists and the structural engineer on the project.

Denise Mina meets comic book artist Frank Quitely in his Glasgow studio. Frank is one of the biggest names in the comic world, responsible for drawing superheroes like Superman and Batman & Robin alongside his latest collaboration with writer Mark Millar “Jupiter's Legacy”. Starting on Scottish underground cult comic 'Electric Soup' he progressed to working for Judge Dredd magazine and then The New X-Men gathering an international reputation. As he completes the final few pages of comic book 'Jupiter's Legacy 2', artist Frank explains his artistic process as he completes the project that took over 3 years of his life. He will explain how he turns the written concepts from writer Mark Millar into a coherent visual story and finally put pencil to paper to painstakingly produce his signature style. Denise follows his pencil strokes as he explains artistic and cultural influence as well as soaking in the landscape and atmosphere of his hometown of Glasgow. A real Superhero master class in storytelling, lines and shapes perspective, space and most importantly colour as he creates these last few pages. They cross to the Glasgow Art Galleries where Frank's career retrospective exhibition is being held and meet up with his writing partner Mark Millar. We'll learn about their working relationship in this competitive industry of graphic storytelling. During the conversation, Frank discusses with Denise the thoughts that go through his mind in these final stages and talk us through the pressures of creating, plus making, and breaking, deadlines.

Since the 1980s, composer Kaija Saariaho has been lauded for her explorations of sound and music, from tape and live electronics mixed with layered orchestral textures, to opera, song cycles and smaller scale pieces. In the BBC Music Magazine's top 20 composers of all time, Kaija Saariaho is the only one alive today; as she moves into her eighth decade, there's no sign that she wants to stop creating the magical sounds she has become known for. Kaija was born in Helsinki in Finland, but since 1982 has spent most of her time living and working in Paris. Keval Shah meets Kaija in Helsinki just as her most recent opera Innocence is having its Finnish premiere - part of her 70th birthday celebrations. But there's not much time for Kaija to rest after the conclusion of this huge, 10-year project. A text message prompts her to start thinking about a new work and a new challenge: a trumpet concerto. We visit jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola on a grey Helsinki day (with plenty of candles) to find out how Kaija's composition process develops through collaboration with the musicians who will be playing or singing her music. And we hear some unexpected trumpet techniques that may find their way into the new concerto - from flap tonguing to what Verneri calls ‘white noise'.

It's estimated that over one billion people worldwide watch the Sydney fireworks display every New Year's Eve. Regina Botros goes behind the scenes of this global event, finding out about the process of putting on an unforgettable light show and the pressures of living up to the expectations of a mass audience. She learns why the team think of the Sydney skyline as their canvas.

Follow renowned theatre and opera director Richard Jones as he creates a brand new production of Handel's magical opera Alcina for the Royal Opera House. When Handel composed this opera, he was inspired not only by the possibilities of a new theatre in the heart of London, but also by his collaborator John Rich, who encouraged him to incorporate magic and dance into this new work. Nearly 300 years on, Richard Jones is also inspired by the possibilities of this opera, and with the opportunities created by his many collaborators too. We join Richard at his home to explore his thoughts on the opera, including his ideas for the set design. Further discussions then follow at the Royal Opera House once rehearsals are underway, and we delve into the changes now being made as this new production comes to life on the stage. Movement director and choreographer Sarah Fahie discusses her intensive collaborative journey in assisting in the creation of this new work, whilst soprano Lisette Oropesa, who sings the title role of Alcina, also chats about working alongside Richard Jones.

David Galullo is the world's leading designer of futuristic workspaces for the forward-thinking tech giants of northern California. But in a post-pandemic world, how will our homes and work co-exist? Nick Duncalf follows Galullo and his team as they create inspirational new work environments that keep pace with our new lives.

Looking back over a year of In The Studio, we consider the role of the artist's muse. Why does one subject suggest itself above all others, how does an artist then go about incorporating that subject into their work, and what, if any, are the pressures they feel? From Nitin Sawney's latest work marking the 60th anniversary of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem; through Sally Beamish, whose Proms composition was inspired by bees; to Yuri Herrera's historical novel about Mexican leader Benito Juarez, and Stephen Page, whose aboriginal-heritage inspired his dance work for Sydney Festival; to Elizabeth McGovern who took Ava Gardner as her muse for her latest theatrical performance. We explore how each of these artists used their muse to create a work of art.

Žygimantas Kudirka is Lithuania's leading spoken-word artist and agent provocateur. A prolific writer and creative artist, he has won Europe's Best Slam Poet as well as multiple hip-hop awards, blending satire and social critique with dystopian and futurist themes. Žygimantas, who goes by the alias MC Messiah, is shaking up the scene with a new libretto for the opera Brave New Body, teaming up with avant-garde composer Arturas Bumšteinas. Kudirka's texts play with the idea of the human body as a machine, not without his trademark satire, and sets them to the sutartinė, an ancient polyphonic form found in Lithuania which has Unesco status. Is it possible to combine centuries-old traditional music with hyper-modern dystopian themes? We sit in on rehearsals with the Lietuva Song and Dance Ensemble leading up to the opera's premiere, commissioned by the Operomanija festival in Vilnius.

Sean Rafferty spends time in the company of the pianist Lang Lang, one of the most famous classical musicians in the world today. He has had a hugely creative, successful and glamorous career, performing all over the world and collaborating with musicians from Herbie Hancock to Sir Simon Rattle. But during his private time, Lang Lang has spent 20 years of deep study and personal reflection on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach's Goldberg Variations is the musical peak that many major pianists have attempted to scale over the course of time. Sean meets Lang Lang at the piano, where he plays and talks about his personal journey towards performing and recording J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations – one of the most mysterious, complex and rewarding pieces in all music. Along the way, Sean meets Lang Lang's wife, Gina Alice, as they perform an informal duet, and Lang Lang opens up about the very personal struggles he faced as a child prodigy, and talks about how the power of music now inspires his work and commitment to young people and music education.

In 2009, Jessie Burton visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where she saw something that went on to transform her life. Petronella Oortman's doll's house became the inspiration for Jessie's debut novel, The Miniaturist, which was published five years later and went on to become an international bestseller. Eight years on from this success, as its sequel is published, Jessie takes Vic James back to the days when she began writing it. A time when she was doing office jobs by day, whilst trying to build a career as an actor by night. She reveals how seeing that doll's house sparked a story that explores feminism, racism and homophobia, in the form of a thriller intricately laced with a bit of magic. And she discusses the development of the key characters within - not least Petronella Oortman, whose doll's house it was.

Production designer Maria Djurkovic takes us behind the scenes of Harry Styles' new movie, My Policeman, which was made in the middle of the pandemic. Lockdown presents a number of challenges, expected ones like social distancing and sick crew members. And unexpected ones, like studios being too full and staff being in short supply because more movies were being made during the pandemic, rather than less. Maria kept an audio diary during these unprecedented times for the British film industry, as she battles with crew shortages, schedule changes and a possible bout of Covid.

What if you could rewrite a part of history? What would you change, and where would you start? For multidisciplinary artist Nazanin Moradi, who was brought up in the Islamic Republic of Iran where women are, “second-class citizens in every sense,” the answer is easy; she would start at the very beginning of “time” to reverse the “unfair” gender roles. In her new project, the multidisciplinary artist challenges male domination and toxic masculinity, within a fragmented historical context where fantasy meets rebellion. She does this by changing the narrative of ancient Mesopotamian mythology, fixating on the legendary battle where the supremely powerful dragon goddess of oceans Tiamat, was killed by the storm god Marduk. Over a period of six months, reporter Sahar Zand spends time with Nazanin at various locations in London to find out how she embarks on the ambitious project, and how it's affected by the protests in Iran, which take place as she nears the end of her work. Through the mediums of textile design, interpretive dance, digital editing, collage, painting and sculpture, Nazanin rebels against social conventions by using her own body through the creative process.

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf takes us behind the scenes of the making of Kandahar, his film about life in Afghanistan that captured the world's attention when President Bush asked to see it after the attacks on 9/11. He reveals how he managed to film on a smugglers' route between Iran and Afghanistan, and how he avoided the attentions of the Taliban. And he also reveals details of the documentary he is currently making about the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan.

Jarvis Cocker, the British indie pop star and frontman of the band Pulp, talks to Miranda Sawyer about his autobiography that's not an autobiography. Good Pop, Bad Pop is an inventory of all the stuff that's in his loft: badges, pencils, photographs, chewing gum, etc. But it's also about the memories that are stirred by those objects and seeing them for the first time in decades. He reveals the process of writing the Sheffield version of A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu.

Agatha Christie is the world's most translated author, with her work being available in over 100 languages. And one of her most beloved characters, Miss Marple, is about to be resurrected with the help of 12 contemporary authors. In The Studio talks to two of those writers: Dreda Say Mitchell who specialises in a different type of crime story, the gritty gangster genre, and Kate Mosse, who's known for her historical sagas. They reveal how they rose to the challenge of re-inventing one of the most famous characters in twentieth century fiction.

On 4 August 2020, a massive explosion destroyed the port of Beirut. It's impact was felt across the city, reaching the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut (AUB). The pressure from the explosion shattered a glass display at the museum holding 74 glass vessels, mainly Roman with a few Byzantine and Islamic. The team at the AUB collected the shards from the floor, separated them and sent eight of the broken vessels to the UK. And so began the journey of collaboration between Lebanon and England to restore these ancient vessels at the British Museum. Janay Boulos, a Lebanese BBC News journalist, follows the journey of restoring these vessels and they become a symbol of Beirut, broken into pieces, scarred, and slowly being restored to its formal glory.

The award-winning South African tenor was a 2014 finalist in the prestigious Belvedere Singing Competition, considered one of the most important global opera showcases. He has since headlined festivals and has worked with many of the world's top opera directors and conductors. For this In The Studio, actor and filmmaker Tara Gadomski is following Khanyiso for two, fast-paced weeks, as he rehearses for his United States' debut, singing the title role in Rossini's Otello at Opera Philadelphia. Discover how he learns the part and takes care of his voice, what it's like to go from practicing on his own to working with the whole opera company and orchestra, not to mention singing the high C notes while still jet lagged!

Glass: a functional material and silent witness to our daily lives, so unnoticed we're usually looking straight through it. But in Venice, glass is an art form, and Ai Weiwei's latest work is designed to make you look. Having mastered many mediums – wood, marble, even social media - the artist-activist is now turning his hand to glass. Through a collaboration with Adriano Berengo, on the glass-making island of Murano, he's creating an immense chandelier, made up of over 2000 glass bones, organs and other surprising objects. Set to be displayed at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, La Commedia Umana is Ai's attempt to “talk about death in order to celebrate life”. Join Alice McKee in Venice, speaking with Ai Weiwei and the Berengo Studios team, as she follows the life cycle of La Commedia Umana, from the furnace to the church.

For decades, illustrator Axel Scheffler has been keeping children and adults around the world entertained with his warm and witty illustrations, from the Gruffalo and Stick Man to worms with attitude, gobbly goats and smart giants. He has published more than 150 books, including collaborations with writer Julia Donaldson that have become modern-day classics, translated into dozens of languages and selling millions of copies. Axel was born in Hamburg in Germany and moved to the UK in his twenties, where he has been based ever since. We join him in his attic studio perched high above a leafy part of west London, where he is hard at work on his latest project. This one centres not on a fantastical creature with terrible teeth and terrible claws, but on a small, slightly scruffy dog who may or may not have played a role in the creation of London's Victoria and Albert Museum. Writer and actor Dame Emma Thompson has conjured up the story and we eavesdrop on a rare conversation between the two - rare because Axel generally doesn't collaborate directly with his writers. Axel also allows us to witness his unique process, from pencil sketch to finished illustration, as he creates a scene from the new book before our ears.

In the Studio follows Grammy-winning American composer Christopher Tin as he embarks on the creation of an ambitious new work. Based on poetry and inspired by folk music, The Lost Birds is a musical memorial to bird species driven to extinction by humankind. Edwina Pitman follows Christopher through his composition process, his collaboration with the prolific British vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The Lost Birds is an elegiac response to the noise of our times and a haunting tribute to those soaring flocks that once filled our skies, but whose songs have since been silenced.

Errollyn Wallen, the Belize born British composer, tells Antonia Quirke about the inspiration behind Lady Super Spy Adventurer, which is receiving its world premiere at the proms this year. And she invites her to the place where the piece was composed, a remote lighthouse on the Scottish coast. Errollyn made history when she became the first Black woman to have a work performed at the Proms. She tells Antonia about breaking down barriers, and how living in a lighthouse has influenced her music, and who exactly is Lady Super Spy Adventurer.

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London was heralded as one of the most spectacular and successful outdoor theatrical events in the world, watched by more than 3.8 billion people. The man behind it was Bradley Hemmings. Bradley is a festival director, and every year is responsible for putting on the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) in London. Now in its 27th year, he tells Anna Bailey about the key elements that make for a great and accessible outdoor event. Follow Bradley as he puts together the line-up for this year's festival and coordinates the opening night. Collaborating with Jenny Sealey, his co-producer of the Paralympic Games, and with Peter Hudson, the artistic director behind Charon, a 32-foot-high rotating zoetrope as seen at The Burning Man Festival in America, and now one of the main attractions for this year's GDIF in London.

Welcome to Cremona - city of the violin. These Italian streets are brimming with horse hairs, varnish and chiselled wood. The central square is lined with storefronts displaying beautifully handcrafted wooden instruments. Braimah Kanneh-Mason, concert violinist and member of the musically gifted Kanneh-Mason family, travels to where the Stradivarius was born. Braimah learns about the techniques used to replicate the world's most famous stringed instruments in the workshop of world-class violin maker Daniele Tonarelli. It was in Cremona, 500 years ago, that Andrea Amati was credited with inventing the “modern” violin. In his footsteps came the likes of Nicola Amati, Guarneri “del Gesù” and, most famously, Antonio Stradivari, who all perfected their craft in this northern Italian city. Daniele is the latest in a long line of Cremonese luthiers. Braimah gets a taste of the age old recipe that created these musical masterpieces hundreds of years ago. It is still used today. Daniele shows Braimah his newest violin – just 20 days old. How does this youthful instrument feel in the young violinist's hands, and – more importantly – how does it sound? Are today's Cremonese luthiers living up to the legacy the great violin makers left behind?

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic music venues in the world. And yet it was also known for less-than-perfect acoustics in the main concert hall. The sound was considered thin and scattered. The problem has taken two years and 150 million Australian dollars to fix, involving 174 tonnes of steel in the roof space alone. Regina Botros joins a team of experts as they enter the final stages of re-tuning the building, ready for an opening night concert where everything has to sound just right. Presented by Regina Botros. Executive produced by Stephen Hughes for the BBC World Service.

We journey with the internationally celebrated operatic conductor Carlo Rizzi as he revives Il proscritto after 180 years of neglect. Mercadante's opera was first performed in Naples in 1842, and centres on a love triangle set in Scotland during Oliver Cromwell's rule. The original cast were stellar performers, having previously taken lead roles in opera premieres by Verdi and Donizetti. The Neapolitans applauded Act One, but the following Acts were indifferently received, and Il proscritto fell into neglect. Complete with a newly edited score and world class performers, Luke Whitlock journeys with conductor Carlo Rizzi, artistic director of Opera Rara, as he prepares Il proscritto to be heard at the Barbican in London, after nearly 200 years of silence. From collaborating on a new performance edition, heading into the studio to record the opera for commercial release, to journeying to London's Barbican to rehearse and perform the work before a 21st-century audience, this creative process has been a labour of love for Carlo Rizzi and Opera Rara. Image: Carlo Rizzi (Credit: Simon Weir)

Frankincense, tonka beans and a steam iron. Just some of the elements that top mixologist Arnd Henning Heissen uses to create his cocktails. Inspired by aromatherapy and the perfumes people wear, he searches the globe for unusual ingredients to recreate that smell in drink form, blending together bark juices and fragrant herbs, working with smell and memories to craft what he calls ‘liquid sculptures.' Lindsay Leonard meets him in Berlin, Germany as he creates new tastes and sensations for his latest menu. Producers: Lindsay Leonard and Andrea Kidd

Composer Sally Beamish tells Anna Bailey why she decided to write a concerto about bees for the BBC Proms. She reveals that Hive was inspired by a ballet that she's collaborating on with her partner, the writer Peter Thomson, who shares her fascination with queen bees. Anna talks to Sally and Peter on a visit to a local beehive and then joins Sally during the first rehearsal with harpist Catrin Finch, who explains why the harp is perfect for capturing the sound of a beehive. Anna captures the buzz as the piece is rehearsed with the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, and finally, the hive of activity that is the world premiere at The Royal Albert Hall. Presented by Anna Bailey Executive produced by Stephen Hughes for the BBC World Service Image Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic courtesy of Sound Festival

James Corner, is the founder of the urban landscape design Field Operations, is best known for his work on the New York High Line - the reclamation of a disused former railtrack in Manhattan. He talks about the transformative impact that the High Line has had on the area into a 21st century city - and about the potential for new urban green space in London as he works on another project with a railtrack at it's heart, the Camden High Line. With the project at an important stage of planning he describes the challenges of creating a green park alongside a rail track which is in everyday use. We meet James on a visit to the site in London and Olivia Reevell meets him in his new offices which overlook New York's Bryant Park - he talks about the importance of urban green spaces in cities, post-pandemic, and the inspiration he draws from the work of Frederick Law Olmsted on the 200th anniversary of his birth - Olmsted was the founder of American landscape architecture and the man responsible for creating New York's central park. James Corner was born in the the North of England in the UK, and draws inspiration from the natural landscape of that part of the world for his urban design work. He founded Field Operations in New York which has a cosmopolitan team of 100 people and he is at work on other major projects including the Presidio in San Franscisco and the waterfront for the city of Seattle. For this programme he describes the qualities and characteristics of his urban green space design work.

The horses are learning their dance routines, the acrobats are perfecting their tumbles and sequins are being sewn onto leotards and leggings - in 2017, In the Studio had ringside seats to the circus. Antonia Quirke met the inner circle of Giffords Circus as they conceived and crafted the show where the theme was the 17th Century Spanish court. The team were led by circus creator Nell Gifford, who left home aged 18 to join her first circus. She then set up her own travelling troupe based in the West of England featuring performers from all over the world. As the circus rides again this summer, Antonia reveals the tragedy that befell the troupe a couple of years after the programme was broadcast.

Chocolat was Joanne Harris's third novel, famously made into a film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, bringing the writer worldwide recognition. Set in Southern France, it's a darkly magical modern folk-tale, in which food, namely chocolate confections, plays a central part. Readers delighted in the story of Vianne Rocher and her six-year-old daughter, Anouk, who set up a chocolate boutique during Lent, right opposite the church, much to the annoyance of the village priest, Francis Reynaud. It's an act that gently changes the lives of many of the villagers. Having recorded the audio book in recent years, Joanne has revisited the novel, and the writing process behind it. In conversation with Dr Vic James, she reveals how she drew inspiration from her French heritage, why the themes of indulgence and guilt, motherhood and patriarchy are so present, and crucially, about the importance of chocolate to the story. They're also joined by Laura Grandi who translated the novel into Italian, and has continued to work with Joanne ever since.

Yuri Herrera is a political scientist, editor, and prize-winning novelist, considered one of the most relevant Mexican writers in the Spanish language. When we meet him he's starting his new novel, which he says will take him in a different direction to his previous books, basing it on Benito Juarez, the first President of Mexico of indigenous origin. What's less known about him is that he was exiled briefly, in 1853, to New Orleans where Yuri now lives. We join him as he walks the streets Benito would have walked, searching for inspiration as he embarks on his writing.

This week, an update on our guest, a Dutch icon - The Night Watch. This masterpiece by Rembrandt is nearly 400 years old and sits centre stage at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where more than 2 million visitors come to see it every year. So when it became clear the painting needed a serious makeover, taking years to complete, the idea of removing it from display was rejected. Instead the museum's Director, Taco Dibbits, decided to make Operation Night Watch accessible to all, by building a specially-constructed glass chamber for restorers, scientists and conservators to work under the public's watchful eye; both in the museum and online. Anik See follows Taco and his team during this key phase of Operation Night Watch, diving into state-of-the-art imaging techniques and discovering the masterpiece's secrets and storied past, to find out why this painting remains so important to us. After her initial report on the restoration process, Anik returns two years later to see what progress has been made.