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Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday

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Start the Week: 11/06/2007

Factual

11/06/2007

BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, 11/06/2007

Andrew Marr is joined by Charles Spencer, David Talbot, Shirley Williams and Tim Guest.

Andrew Marr and guests set the cultural agenda for the week.

Prince Rupert, born in Prague in 1619, is described by CHARLES SPENCER as the “poster boy of the Royalist cause”, a brave and charismatic leader who invoked great terror in his enemies. But he also provoked great criticism for his recklessness in battle. He would lead a successful cavalry charge only to squander his advantage. This new biography reveals him as more than just a brave general and dashing cavalier: he was also an adventurer, a scientist, an inventor and a classical scholar. Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

In his latest book, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, acclaimed journalist DAVID TALBOT examines Bobby Kennedy’s secret search for the truth about his brother’s assassination. He explains why Bobby privately dismissed the official report which named Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone killer. David also argues that the brothers were constantly undermined and threatened by forces in the military, the CIA, the Mafia and the Cuban exile community. Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years is published by Simon & Schuster.

The Magna Carta is often invoked yet its freedoms are being violated – that’s according to BARONESS SHIRLEY WILLIAMS. She discusses how proposals by the Home Secretary to tighten anti-terrorist legislation, including extending the period of detention without trial beyond the current 28 days, are in contravention of the rights and liberties laid out in the 13th Century charter between king and citizens. Baroness Williams will deliver the Magna Carta Lecture, in association with the Magna Carta Trust, at Royal Holloway, University of London on 13 June at 5.30pm.

Every week millions of people around the world abandon reality for virtual worlds. In his new book, Second Lives, TIM GUEST explores the phenomenon of the virtual realm where, with the click of a mouse, people can become whomever they want – they can create their own virtual home, business and even an alternative marriage partner. He explains why people are drawn to this world and discusses some of the characters that he met, from J C Soprano, the Mafia don, to Wilde Cunningham, who represents a group of people with severe disabilities. He also reveals that it is a world where the real and virtual world constantly overlap and a world that the big corporations want to be involved in. Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds is published by Hutchinson.

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