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Front Row

Alison Steadman, Anders Lustgarten, History of art A-level

Duration: 30 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW

Available for over a year

As Alison Steadman wins the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film at the British Independent Film Awards, and the BFI announces a season dedicated to her TV work in the New Year, we speak to the actress about her career.

What links baroque bad-boy painter Caravaggio and a present-day retired docker from Merseyside? Compassion, according to Anders Lustgarten's new play The Seven Acts of Mercy. Kirsty talks to the playwright and political activist about his latest work for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

After news in October that AQA, the last exam board in England offering History of Art A-level, was dropping the subject from 2018, the schools standards minister, Nick Gibb, has announced that a new A-level in art history is being developed by the Pearson exam board for teaching from September 2017. Artist Cornelia Parker and Griselda Pollock, Director of the Centre for Cultural Analysis, Theory & History at Leeds University, give their reaction.

The Top 40 Singles chart this week includes The Weeknd's Starboy (featuring Daft Punk), Sia's The Greatest (featuring Kendrick Lamar) and Jonas Blue's By Your Side (featuring Raye). Music writer Ben Wardle has spent decades glued to the radio, and he's got a bit of an issue with this increasing use of the F-Word - 'Featuring'.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Ella-mai Robey. Show less

Contributors

Presenter:
Kirsty Lang
Interviewed Guest:
Alison Steadman
Interviewed Guest:
Anders Lustgarten
Interviewed Guest:
Cornelia Parker
Interviewed Guest:
Griselda Pollock
Interviewed Guest:
Ben Wardle

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More