Podcast appearances and mentions of Christopher Frayling

The 1964 spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars turned Clint Eastwood into a star. He had a famous squint in his closeups, but he told Terry Gross in 1997, it wasn't necessarily character driven. "They bombed me with a bunch a lights, and you're outside and it's 90 degrees, and it's hard not to squint." We'll also hear from Eastwood's co-star in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Eli Wallach, who went on to play a bandit in several Westerns. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling tells us how the Italian director Sergio Leone broke the conventions of the Hollywood Western, and stuntman Hal Needham describes his most daring feats.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The 1964 spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars turned Clint Eastwood into a star. He had a famous squint in his closeups, but he told Terry Gross in 1997, it wasn't necessarily character driven. "They bombed me with a bunch a lights, and you're outside and it's 90 degrees, and it's hard not to squint." We'll also hear from Eastwood's co-star in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Eli Wallach, who went on to play a bandit in several Westerns. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling tells us how the Italian director Sergio Leone broke the conventions of the Hollywood Western, and stuntman Hal Needham describes his most daring feats.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Great American Western is having a resurgence - from Yellowstone and Bass Reeves on TV, to Beyoncé's acclaimed country album Cowboy Carter. Kevin Costner is back in the director's saddle too, with his Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 - the first in a planned series of epic Westerns - recently riding into cinemas.But has the cinematic Western adapted to the modern age or is it trapped in a one-sided history of the past? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode examine the enduring popularity of a genre that refuses to die.Mark speaks to cultural historian and Spaghetti Western obsessive Christopher Frayling about the genre's 19th century roots, and about the impact of films like The Searchers and The Wild Bunch. And he talks to prolific independent director John Sayles, whose 1996 film Lone Star was nominated by the American Film Institute as one of the Fifty Best Westerns of all time. Meanwhile, Ellen explores the history of Black cowboys on screen with Mia Mask, author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western. And she speaks to Jeymes Samuel - the galvanising force behind films like recent biblical epic The Book Of Clarence and 2021's all-Black, all-star Western, The Harder They Fall. Jeymes tells Ellen why he was drawn to the genre - and why Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained might be due a reassessment.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ahead of International Workers' Day, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how the struggle for workers' rights and other movements for change have been depicted on screen. Ellen speaks to artist Jeremy Deller, who in 2001 restaged and filmed perhaps the most pivotal and violent event of the 1984/85 miners' strike - the confrontation between police and picketing miners in South Yorkshire, which has come to be known as the Battle of Orgreave. She also talks to cultural historian Christopher Frayling about some of the most interesting films about the labour movement to emerge in the UK, from The Proud Valley to It's All Right, Jack. And Mark investigates how activism is depicted on screen in the present day, speaking to How To Blow Up A Pipeline director Daniel Goldhaber, and activist Megan Kapler, whose work with advocacy group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now was recently portrayed in documentary All The Beauty And The Bloodshed. This week's Viewing Note comes from film director Lizzie Borden, who shares her favourite recent activist documentaries. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Most of us are familiar with the figure of Bambi - the wide-eyed young fawn at the centre of Walt Disney's heart-warming 1942 animation, who finds love and friendship in the forest as he comes to terms with growing up. However, few people are aware of Bambi's roots - as an unflinching and grisly parable about the violence of nature and the cruelty of man, which has more in common with Animal Farm than with Dumbo. It is a work red in tooth and claw, where animals discuss the experience of "being born to be killed". It is also largely forgotten. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling travels to Vienna to tell the true story of Bambi. Disney's Bambi was based on the 1928 American translation of Austrian writer Felix Salten's Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest, originally published in Vienna in 1922. This translation toned down the darker aspects of Salten's story, to turn Bambi into a children's book about furry animals and their friends. This may have been an astute commercial move, but latest research suggests that Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest, in its original form, was an allegory of the persecution of Jews in Europe. Over 100 years on from the publication of Salten's book, it is time to tell the true story of Bambi. Interviewees: Dr Marcel Atze - archivist, Vienna City Library Dr Brigitte Timmerman - historian, Vienna Walks and Talks Prof Jack Zipes - translator of Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest Readings: David Ashton Tallulah Bond Douglas Clarke-Wood Film clips: Bambi (1942) dir. David D. Hand, James Algar, Sam Armstrong, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield & Norman Wright Walt Disney Productions Producer: Jane Long Sound: Jon Calver A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate one of the great doyennes of Hollywood in what would have been her centenary year. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling joins Mark to revisit the rare career retrospective interview he conducted with Day in 1989. And Ellen speaks to Queer cinema expert Emma Smart and singer Rufus Wainwright about the importance of both Doris Day and Judy Garland, who would also have turned 100 in 2022, to LGBTQIA+ communities. Plus actor and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman shares her favourite Doris Day film in Viewing Notes. Screenshot is Radio 4's guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore festive screen favourites for Christmas Eve. It's the 75th anniversary of a beloved film that has come to dominate our screens over the holiday period - director Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.  Like James Stewart's George Bailey, who is shown what the world would look like without him by guardian angel Clarence, Ellen learns what subsequent screen culture would look like without It's A Wonderful Life. Cultural historian and fellow fan Christopher Frayling - who is the same age as the film - takes the role of a cinematic Clarence, guiding her through It's A Wonderful Life's lasting impact on movies and TV. Meanwhile, Mark talks to Olivier award-winning playwright turned filmmaker debbie tucker green about her haunting alternative nativity story, 2014's Second Coming starring Nadine Marshall and Idris Elba. And throughout the show, Ellen and Mark are joined by guests, including Gillian Anderson and Greg Proops, who share their all-time favourite Christmas movies and TV. Screenshot is Radio 4's guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

"Design research" means different things to different people. This episode illuminates the three faces of design research: research for, into, and through design.https://designdisciplin.com/the-three-faces-of-design-research# Related Books, Links, and Resources- Christopher Frayling speaking at the Research Through Design 2015 Conference: https://vimeo.com/129775325- Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley: https://geni.us/creative-confidence- Design Research Through Practice by Ilpo Koskinen et al.: https://geni.us/design-research-thr- Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler: https://geni.us/designing-brand- Detail in Typography by Jost Hochuli: https://geni.us/detail-in-typography- Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann: https://geni.us/grid-systems- How To by Michael Bierut: https://geni.us/how-to-dd- How to Fly A Horse by Kevin Ashton: https://geni.us/how-to-fly-a-horse- Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara: https://geni.us/making-and-breaking- Research in Art and Design by Christopher Frayling: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/384/3/frayling_research_in_art_and_design_1993.pdf- The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman: https://geni.us/art-of-innovation- The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman: https://geni.us/ten-faces- Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton: https://geni.us/thinking-with-type-dd# Connect with Design Disciplin- Website: http://designdisciplin.com​- Podcast: http://podcast.designdisciplin.com​- Instagram: https://instagram.com/designdisciplin/​- Twitter: https://twitter.com/designdisciplin/​- YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCtXM3JdnERaNOiFKaHZJL_w- Bookstore: http://designdisciplin.com​/bookstore# Episode Bookmarks00:00 Intro04:32 Research in Art and Design by Christopher Frayling06:30 Research for Design12:53 Research into Design15:31 Research through Design20:20 Closing Remarks

Writer Christopher Frayling joins Marty ?from his home in the Burren to talk about his friendship with Morricone, musical influences and many other things!

Nouvelle diffusion de notre spéciale sur le réalisateur et scénariste italien Sergio Leone pour les 30 ans de sa disparition et les 50 ans de la sortie du film "Il était une fois dans l'Ouest" en 2018. À cette occasion, Gian Luca Farinelli et Christopher Frayling publiaient le livre "La révolution Sergio Leone" (La Table Ronde) et la Cinémathèque française organisait une exposition et rétrospective « Il était une fois Sergio Leone ». On en parle avec Jean-François Rauger, directeur de la programmation à la Cinémathèque française de Paris.

En 2018, on célébrait les 30 ans de la disparition du réalisateur et scénariste italien (Pour une poignée de dollars, Le Bon, la Brute et le Truand, Il était une fois dans l'Ouest, etc.), figure majeure du western spaghetti. On en parle avec Jean-François Rauger, directeur de la programmation à la Cinémathèque française de Paris. Les sorties BD avec Xavier Vanbuggenhout : - « Mes plus grands succès » de Stéphane Trapier (Casterman) - « L'Automne dans le pantalon » de Ralf König (Glénat) - Stanley Greene une vie à vif de JD Morvan et Tristan Fillaire (Delcourt) - Et puis la réédition de petits formats chez Casterman : « Blankets » de Craig Thompson, « Polina » de Bastien Vivès, « L'Autoroute du soleil » de Baru ou « Le piano oriental » de Zeina Abirached Nouvelle diffusion de notre spéciale sur le réalisateur et scénariste italien Sergio Leone pour les 30 ans de sa disparition et les 50 ans de la sortie du film "Il était une fois dans l'Ouest" en 2018. À cette occasion, Gian Luca Farinelli et Christopher Frayling publiaient le livre "La révolution Sergio Leone" (La Table Ronde) et la Cinémathèque française organisait une exposition et rétrospective « Il était une fois Sergio Leone ». On en parle avec Jean-François Rauger, directeur de la programmation à la Cinémathèque française de Paris. La « Bagarre » s'agrandit au cinéma et à la littérature et on vous propose aussi un petit quiz musical et de culture générale. Avec Xavier Vanbuggenhout et Sébastien Ministru. Le double "Boing Boum Tchak" de Sébastien Ministru : "Un mariage en dix actes" de Nick Hornby (Stock) et "Citizen. Ballade américaine" de Claudia Rankine (Éditions de l'Olivier). "Un mariage en dix actes" : Chaque semaine, Tom et Louise se retrouvent dans un pub londonien dix minutes avant leur session de thérapie de couple. Le choix du pub n'a rien d'anodin : il offre une vue imprenable sur la porte de la thérapeute et leur permet d'observer et de commenter allègrement les allées et venues des autres patients. Quarantenaires, mariés depuis des années, Tom et Louise pensaient leur couple stable et leur vie familiale sans vague... jusqu'à ce qu'un léger incident de parcours précipite le couple au bord de l'implosion. D'où leur décision de consulter, mais était-ce vraiment une bonne idée ? Autour d'un verre - ou deux - Tom et Louise n'esquivent aucun sujet (le mariage, le sexe, les enfants, la politique, le Brexit, le politiquement correct...) et rejouent en dix actes leur vie conjugale, faisant apparaître, avec humour et vivacité, les fissures de leur relation. "Citizen. Ballade américaine" : " À terre. À terre tout de suite. J'ai dû aller trop vite. Non, tu n'allais pas trop vite. Je n'allais pas trop vite ? Tu n'as rien fait de mal. Alors pourquoi me contrôlez-vous ? Pourquoi suis-je contrôlé ? Fais voir tes mains. Les mains en l'air. Lève les mains. " L'attaque est préméditée, assumée, d'une violence intolérable. Ou bien c'est simplement la langue qui fourche sans qu'on s'en rende compte, et le racisme parle à travers notre bouche. Citizen est un livre sur les agressions racistes. Pour dire cette réalité, Claudia Rankine choisit une forme qui n'appartient qu'à elle : tour à tour poésie, récit ou pamphlet, Citizen décrit les expériences les plus intimes, les plus ténues pour y greffer ce que dépose en nous le flux de la vie quotidienne - propos saisis dans le métro, conversations, blagues, coupures de journaux, captures d'écran -, dans un vaste collage d'images et de voix. Une symphonie parfois dissonante où les mots les plus simples sont portés par une extraordinaire énergie poétique.

Hilary Mantel's new novel - The Mirror and The Light - is the final part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. The previous two parts have sold millions of copies worldwide and garned prizes from all quarters. Can this one compare? The Mikvah Project is a new play at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. Two Jewish men meet every Friday for ritual cleansing and a close friendship develops. Sulphur and White is a new British film which tells the true story of a highly successful banker who suffered repeated sexual abuse as a child and how this drove him to seek justice for all abused children A new exhibition at The Hayward Gallery in London - Among The Trees - looks at the crucuial role that trees play in our lives and imaginations Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Abigail Morris and Catherine O'Flynn. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations: Catherine - The National Telephone Kiosk Collection in Bromsgrove and the 1972 film La Cabina Christopher - Who's Afaid of Virginia Woolf at The Tobacco Factory in Bristol and Prints by Norman Ackroyd at Watts Gallery near Guildford Abigail - Carravagio in Rome and Bonus Family on Netflix Tom - English Monsters by James Scudamore Main image: Terraza Alta II, 2018 by Abel Rodríguez Acrylic and ink on paper © the artist and Instituto de Visión 2020

Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound is a documentary looking at (and listening to) the work of sound designers in film. What do they do and how do they affect the viewer? The Antipodes the latest play by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Annie Baker. Set in a brainstorming meeting for some undisclosed creative company, the tensions of office relationships and the need to be imaginative lead to tensions Hanne Orstavik's novel Love unfolds in a village in far northern Norway. Jon is a young boy, looking forward to his birthday tomorrow, always thinking of his mother even though the attention isn't reciprocal The BBC has a brand new version of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. It's been a book, a BBC Radio play, a film and now a TV adaptation. How does the small screen incarnation fare? Joy Labinjo is a young Nigerian/British painter who has an exhibition of her work at The Baltic in Gateshead. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Christopher Frayling and Kathryn Hughes. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations: Ellah: Media Democracy podcast Christopher: The Dublin Murders and Paolozzi exhibition at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert in London Kathryn: The Reinvention of Humanity by Charles King Tom: Guilt on BBC2 and The CryptoQueen podcast Main image: Dafne Keen Photo credit: Bad Wolf/BBC One/HBO

MK3D Live! with Jessica Hynes and Sir Christopher FraylingWant to come to a recording of a Mark Kermode Live in 3D show at the BFI Southbank in London?You can book tickets to next month’s MK3D here:https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=9FD162DC-3C10-43AB-ADCC-31364C1822AE&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=9F31E26A-0485-48B9-B9CB-4BA957BE7942If it says it's sold out - don’t despair, there are often returns so check again nearer the time.Follow Mark @KermodeMoviewww.markkermode.co.ukKermode On Film is produced by HLA Agency and Hidden Flack LtdProducers Hedda Archbold, Nick Freand Jones and Tom Whalley See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Matthew Sweet talks Spaghetti Westerns and Sergio Leone with Christopher Frayling and Samira Ahmed. They also look at the film worlds of Stanley Kubrick as an exhibition runs at London's Design Museum. Plus magic, mind games and the role of the magician's assistant. New Generation Thinker Naomi Paxton and Gustav Kuhn from Goldsmiths, University of London bring their conjuring tricks into the studio. You can hear Christopher Frayling with Brian Cox and the actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood discussing Kubrick's 2001 here https://bbc.in/2H8q76p Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition runs to 15th September 2019 at the Design Museum in London. Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic runs at the Wellcome Collection in London until 15th September 2019 including performances of magic by Dr Gustav Kuhn and a Friday Late on May 10th. Experiencing the Impossible by Gustav Kuhn is published by MIT Press.

Nicholas Hytner's new production at London's Bridge Theatre is Lucinda Coxon's play Alys Always, based on Harriet Lane's novel. A journalist decides to set her sights on a joining the exalted circle of a grieving best-selling author. Ray and Liz is the debut film from photographer Richard Billingham; weaving a story from his 1996 collection of autobiographical portraits of his hard-drinking and hard smoking parents living on the margins of society in a Black Country council home. Max Porter's new novel Lanny is a follow-up to his much-lauded debut Grief Is The Thing With Feathers. A magical child communicates with the present and a mysterious past Photographer Martin Parr has an exhibition. Only Human at London's National Portrait Gallery combining old and previously unseen works. ITV's police drama The Bay is set in the picturesque surroundings of Morecambe, Lancashire. Might it become the new Broadchurch? Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Charlotte Mullins and Emma Jane Unsworth. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations: Christopher: If Beale Street Could Talk and Moonlight. Also The Salt Path by Raynor Winn Emma-Jane: The Good Immigrant USA by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman Charlotte: Studio Voices by Michael Bird and The National Sound Archive Tom: the disputed Caravaggio at the Colnaghi Gallery

Avec Liv ULLMANN, Marc CARO et Jean-Pierre JEUNET, Christopher THOMPSON, Douglas TRUMBULL et Grégory WALLET, Christopher FRAYLING, Jean-François STEVENIN et Jerry SCHATZBERG N'oubliez pas de vous abonner ! 

Pieter-Dirk Uys, a leading satirist in South Africa, has spent his career poking fun at politicians. In a new show, The Echo of a Noise, he looks back at his life. As audience members, how does our relationship with the arts change as we age and in what way is that represented by the industry? Journalist and presenter Joan Bakewell and former Chairman of the Arts Council Christopher Frayling discuss the different ways in which older people consume the arts and the issues that it raises.Gaël Faye grew up in Burundi, the son of a Rwandan mother and a French father, and witnessed the horrors of the Rwandan civil war and genocide. He has now reflected upon that in his debut novel, Small Country, told from the perspective of 10-year-old Gabriel who desperately tries to cling onto his childhood despite what's happening around him. Gaël tells John how his experiences have shaped his work as a writer and musician.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson.

A bilingual production of Moliere's Tartuffe at Theatre Royal Haymarket, written by Christopher Hampton and updated to a setting in contemporary Los Angeles sounds like a winning formula. It has had some damning reviews elsewhere in the press; what will our reviewers make of it? Francois Ozon's newest film L'amant Double deals with a Hitchcockian plot line involving twin psychiatrists both treating the same beautiful young woman who is having emotional and relationship problems. They also both happen to be sleeping with her too. It's very slick, stylish and French but is it any good? A final collection of short stories by acclaimed Irish writer William Trevor, who died in 2016, has just been published. We discuss "Last Stories" Animals and Us is the latest exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate; it reflects on the relationship between humans and other animals. How well does it deal with such a gargantuan subject? Elmore Leonard's book Get Shorty was made into a successful film in 1995 and is now a TV series starring Chris O'dowd. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Rebecca Stott and Tiffany Jenkins. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Journey's End opened as a play in 1928. Set in the trenches of the First World War, there's a new film version which will hold a different resonance for modern viewers as for those theatre-goers 90 years ago . The horrors of war never really change, how do artists successfully interpret it anew? The latest production at London's Bridge Theatre is of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. There have been a lot of recent productions -what do our reviewer think makes this one special? Julian Barnes new novel -The Only Story - is about an affair between a young man and an older woman in 1960's Home Counties suburbia; an affair whose effects are reflected upon over the years. An exhibition of works from the collection of Charles I which were sold off and dispersed by Oliver Cromwell have now been gathered together for the first time in centuries, at the Royal Academy in London A new ITV drama - Trauma - starring Adrian Lester and John Simm begins on ITV. A trauma surgeon must face the reality of a bereaved father Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Bridget Minamore and Bidisha. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Fiona Sampson, Daisy Hay, Christopher Frayling and David H. Guston join Matthew Sweet to discuss Mary Shelley's story in film, fiction and the view of AI scientists now.In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by the poet and writer Fiona Sampson is out now.Christopher Frayling has published Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred YearsDr Daisy Hay is Senior Lecturer, English Literature and Archival Studies at the University of Exeter and a BBC Radio 3 and AHRC New Generation Thinker who will be publishing later this year a book on The Making of Frankenstein. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Annotated for scientists, engineers and creators of all kinds edited by David H. Guston, Ed Finn and Jason Scott Robert Late Junction tonight is looking at music and AI, asking can we create a digital version of the ideal Late Junction collaborator using computer code alone?The Radio 3 Sunday feature Select, Edit, Paste presented by Clemency Burton-Hill has been exploring new technologies and the arts. Producer: Zahid Warley

Kay Mellor discusses her new ITV drama, Girlfriends, about three women in their late 50s, early 60s, and reveals how closely she's drawn on her own life and friends to write it.Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published on New Year's Day 1818. Christopher Frayling, author of Frankenstein The First Two Hundred Years, joins Janet Todd, the biographer of Mary Shelley's mother Mary Wollstonecraft, to discuss how we read Frankenstein in our era of genetic engineering and artificial intelligence and how we view Mary Shelley herself.Upcoming film Swimming With Men, starring Rob Brydon and Daniel Mays, tells the true story of a group of middle-aged men who make it to the World Synchronised Swimming championships. It was shot earlier this year in Basildon swimming pool masquerading as Milan, Stig visited the set to meet Rob Brydon and the synchronised swimming trainer, Adele Carlsen.

Blade Runner 2049; 35 years after the original cult film, Denis Villeneuve directs the sequel starring Ryan Gosling. How can anyone follow up such a classic? James Graham's comic play Labour of Love tells the story of The Labour Party over several elections in the same fictional constituency somewhere in the north Midlands. starring Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig Halloween may be a few weeks away but Saturday Review is getting in early with two books - Eight Ghosts, commissioned by English Heritage (8 short stories by a range of exciting authors set in their properties) AND Ghosts :A Cultural History by Susan Owens Timewasters is a comedy series beginning on ITV in which a bunch of young present day black Britons find a time machine and head back to 1920s London. The British Library has a new exhibition celebrating 140 years of recorded sound Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Charlotte Mendelson, Tracy Chevalier and Christopher Frayling. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Crafts Editor talks to historian, writer and award-winning broadcaster Sir Christopher Frayling about his book 'On Craftsmanship' (published by Oberon books).

The RSC is staging Shakepeare's Roman plays, beginning with Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra - how have they made them chime for today's audiences? The debut film from American director Nicolas Pesce The Eyes of my Mother is a black and white gothic tale of murder, home-invasion incest, necrophilia, abduction, imprisonment, involuntary surgery..I could go on, but I think you've probably got the idea by now. Is it any good? David Vann's new novel is Bright Air Black, a poetic prose retelling of the Medea story. BBC TV had adapted Evelyn Waugh's Decline & Fall as a 3 part series starring Jack Whitehall - do our reviewers think a good job has been done with a classic novel? Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Kathryn Hughes and Alice Jones. The producer is Oliver Jones.

On the day of the Oscar nominations, Matthew Sweet is joined by critics Dana Stevens and Ryan Gilbey and writer Christopher Frayling to survey the last year in film. Also, does T2 make any sense if you haven't see the original Trainspotting? Young journalist Stevie Mackenzie-Smith reports back. And Deborah Lipstadt, the American historian who took on the Holocaust denier David Irving in a landmark court case, discusses its retelling in Denial, a new film starring Rachel Weisz. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith.

Tom Ford's new thriller film Nocturnal Animals stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal A revival of terry Johnson's play Dead Funny opens at London's Vaudeville Theatre; does it live up to its name? David Olusoga presents BBC TV's Black and British part of a season of programmes under that title Naomi Alderman's novel The Power imagines a world in which women can conjure electrical charges from their hands - how does it change the gender power balance? Emma Hamilton - Seduction and Celebrity is a new exhibition in Greenwich looking at the life and career. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Rowan Pelling, Christopher Frayling and Helen Lewis. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Christopher Frayling, Guest Curator of this year's Widescreen Weekend festival at the National Media Museum, and the filmmaker Mike Figgis, famed for his technologically ground-breaking films such as Timecode, discuss the possibilities of the latest cinematic evolution - Virtual Reality. Samira hears from director Phyllida Lloyd about the final production in her trilogy of Shakespeare plays with all-female casts and set in a prison - The Tempest - with Harriet Walter playing Prospero and with Shakespeare's songs newly set by Joan Armatrading.A new exhibition of Pablo Picasso's portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London is the first time in 20 years that so many of his representations of his family and friends have been brought together and, as the curator Prof Elizabeth Cowling explains, it reveals his wit, humour and passion as well as the extraordinary range of styles and media he employed during his life.As a child Simon Gronowski was pushed from a moving train by his mother. Her actions saved his life as the train was bound for Auschwitz, where she died along with his sister. Now his extraordinary story has been transformed into an opera by composer and librettist Howard Moody, and is being performed as part of the ROOT 1066 festival in Hastings.Presented by Samira Ahmed Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

Portuguese film director Miguel Gomes has created a trilogy based on The Arabian Nights. We've watched the first volume of the 6 hour epic The Flick is a transfer from Broadway to London's Dorfman Theatre. Set in a rundown movie theatre, it explores the dynamics of the relationships among an increasingly unmotivated staff Garth Greenwell describes his novel What Belongs To You like this; "I'm a queer writer writing in the queer literary tradition for queer people". Is it a straightforward book? The British Museum in London has a new exhibition: Sicily, Culture and Conquest. It looks at the island at the toe of the boot of Italy, whose strategic position and rich soil means that - over the centuries - it has been ruled by many different nations and absorbed many different cultures BBC TV's All The World's a Screen is an Arena special on the global history of Shakespeare's work as seen on the silver screen Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Christopher Frayling, Helen Lewis and Lynn Nead. The producer is Oliver Jones.

The Creative Economy: Angela McRobbie, Professor of Communications at the Goldsmiths, questions what's at stake in the new politics of culture and creativity. Talking to a range of artists, stylists, fashion designers and policy makers, she considers if the new 'creative economy' is a form of labour reform which accustoms the young, urban middle classes to a world of work which lacks the security of previous generations. She's joined by Christopher Frayling, Chancellor of the Arts University, Bournemouth and former Chair of the Arts Council England. Grudge spending: Ian Loader, Professor of Criminology at the University of Oxford, explores how we feel about buying security, compared to more enjoyable forms of spending. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Angela Carter's work was described by Salman Rushdie as 'without equal and without rival'. The award winning author of novels including The Bloody Chamber, Wise Children and Nights at the Circus was a pioneer of English magic realism who re-imagined fairy tales and explored boundary breaking and rebelling against the confines of society. Her non- fiction book The Sadeian Woman explored the ideology of pornography. Thirteen years after her early death, the novelists Joanna Kavenna and Natasha Pulley join Angela Carter's literary executor Susannah Clapp and her friend the cultural critic Christopher Frayling to discuss Carter's writing and influence with Free Thinking presenter Philip Dodd. The readings are performed by Emily Woof. Christopher Frayling is the author of Inside the Bloody Chamber: on Angela Carter, the Gothic, and other weird tales which draws on the letters he and Carter exchanged. Joanna Kavenna is the author of five novels including Come to the Edge. In 2013 she was included in the Granta List of 20 best young writers. Natasha Pulley is the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and a graduate of the creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia. Susannah Clapp is the author of A Card from Angela Carter and Theatre Critic for The Observer. Recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival Sage Gateshead. Producer: Zahid Warley

From TV talent contests such as The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing to the pressures of school exams and job interviews – competition is at the heart of the way we live our lives. What can we learn from sports stars whose lives are geared to cultivating a healthy competitive instinct? Is the desire to be successful bringing out the best in us - or the worst?Constructively and co-operatively arguing with Free Thinking presenter Anne McElvoy are:Margaret Heffernan, entrepreneur, CEO and author of A Bigger Prize: Why Competition isn't Everything and Wilful BlindnessMatthew Syed, former England Table Tennis number one and Times columnist and author whose books include Bounce: The myth of talent and the power of practice and, most recently, Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth about Success.Cath Bishop, Olympic medallist and World Champion rower, worked as a British diplomat specialising in conflict issues, working in Bosnia and Iraq and is now a leadership speaker specialising in topics relating to high performance and resilience.Christopher Frayling, author and broadcaster, former head of Arts Council EnglandRecorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. Producer: Luke Mulhall

Harriett Gilbert talks about favourite books, including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, with award-winning screenwriter Abi Morgan and cultural historian Christopher Frayling. His choice is The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, a collection of short stories in which he actually features.. And Harriett has recently discovered the darkly comic Mortdecai novels, including the first one, Don't Point that Thing at Me, by Kyril Bonfiglioli.

On our 200th episode we look at Sergio Leone's epic Western, Once Upon a Time in the West. Released in 1968, the film was a follow-up to his "dollars trilogy" and hailed as many as one of the best Westerns ever made.

A Landmark edition recorded in front of an audience at the British Film Institute as part of the Sound of Cinema season: Matthew Sweet is joined by the film's stars Peter Wyngarde and Clytie Jessop, psychoanalyst Susie Orbach, writer and critic Christopher Frayling and stage and screenwriter Jeremy Dyson to examine the British horror classic The Innocents. They explore how the combination of cinematography, the script of William Archibald and Truman Capote and Georges Auric's original music and the direction of Jack Clayton created a masterpiece that terrified even the critics.

On Start the Week, Andrew Marr explores how Britain trains the artists and designers of the future. Christopher Frayling and Sarah Teasley celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Royal College of Art, the world's oldest art and design school. But one of its former teachers, the industrial designer Ron Arad argues for a broader arts education which doesn't split sculpture from painting, architecture from design. And the artist Antony Gormley redefines the limits of sculpture and building. Producer: Edwina Pitman

Christopher Frayling: As Time Goes By - Dooley Wilson; Reasons to be Cheerful - Ian Dury

Christopher Frayling and Nikki Bedi talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love.

Danny Boyle and Nick Dear talk to Christopher Frayling about adapting Frankenstein for the stage.

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Professor Sir Christopher Frayling the Rector of the Royal College of Art and a champion of popular culture. He was born into an affluent family living in London. His father, Major Arthur Frayling, was a successful furrier, and his mother was fascinated by the arts and cars - she won the RAC Rally in 1952. At six he was sent to boarding school, which he hated, and it was there that he developed his life long love of film acting and design. He studied history at Cambridge and did a doctorate on Jean Jacques Rosseau and the French Revolution. He fought his father's ambitions for him to enter advertising and chose an academic career path, becoming a lecturer at the Universities of Exeter and Bath in the 1970s. At that time he worked on the programme The World at War and he's since become an accomplished broadcaster known for his work on Radio 4. He won an award at the New York Film and Television Festival for a six-part Channel 4 series about advertising called The Art of Persuasion. He's published 13 books to date with an eclectic range of titles from spaghetti westerns to The Face of Tutankhamun and Clint Eastwood - a critical biography. As well as being Rector of the Royal College of Art, Sir Christopher is also the longest serving Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum and is Chairman of the Design Council. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Il Triello by Ennio Morricone Book: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Luxury: V & A Museum

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Professor Sir Christopher Frayling the Rector of the Royal College of Art and a champion of popular culture. He was born into an affluent family living in London. His father, Major Arthur Frayling, was a successful furrier, and his mother was fascinated by the arts and cars - she won the RAC Rally in 1952. At six he was sent to boarding school, which he hated, and it was there that he developed his life long love of film acting and design. He studied history at Cambridge and did a doctorate on Jean Jacques Rosseau and the French Revolution. He fought his father's ambitions for him to enter advertising and chose an academic career path, becoming a lecturer at the Universities of Exeter and Bath in the 1970s. At that time he worked on the programme The World at War and he's since become an accomplished broadcaster known for his work on Radio 4. He won an award at the New York Film and Television Festival for a six-part Channel 4 series about advertising called The Art of Persuasion. He's published 13 books to date with an eclectic range of titles from spaghetti westerns to The Face of Tutankhamun and Clint Eastwood - a critical biography. As well as being Rector of the Royal College of Art, Sir Christopher is also the longest serving Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum and is Chairman of the Design Council. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Il Triello by Ennio Morricone Book: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Luxury: V & A Museum

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths and harsh reality of the 19th century American pioneers. In 1845 the editor of The New York Morning News wrote that it was the "manifest destiny" of the United States "to overspread and to posses the whole of the continent which providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us." With such phrases ringing in their ears the pioneering wagon trains rolled west into the uncharted wilderness of the American continent. Thus began the wagon trails that cut a path beyond the frontier to California and Oregon, a path soon to be followed by gold prospectors, entrepreneurs, cowboys and finally the US army itself. But what propelled them all to go? Was it an "experiment of liberty", or the promise of a better life? Does the story of the frontier help us to understand the American psyche and do our ideas about the American West owe more to the mythology of John Wayne movies than to the history of the real trailblazers? With Frank McLynn, Visiting Professor in the Department of Literature, University of Strathclyde; Jenni Calder, Author of There Must Be a Lone Ranger: The myth and reality of the American Wild West; Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths and harsh reality of the 19th century American pioneers. In 1845 the editor of The New York Morning News wrote that it was the "manifest destiny" of the United States "to overspread and to posses the whole of the continent which providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us." With such phrases ringing in their ears the pioneering wagon trains rolled west into the uncharted wilderness of the American continent. Thus began the wagon trails that cut a path beyond the frontier to California and Oregon, a path soon to be followed by gold prospectors, entrepreneurs, cowboys and finally the US army itself. But what propelled them all to go? Was it an "experiment of liberty", or the promise of a better life? Does the story of the frontier help us to understand the American psyche and do our ideas about the American West owe more to the mythology of John Wayne movies than to the history of the real trailblazers? With Frank McLynn, Visiting Professor in the Department of Literature, University of Strathclyde; Jenni Calder, Author of There Must Be a Lone Ranger: The myth and reality of the American Wild West; Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art.