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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music

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Kirsty Lang

Andrey Kurkov

Jeffrey Archer

Dymphna Flynn

John Goudie

Front Row: Andrey Kurkov, workplace TV, Australian circus, Jeffrey Archer

Andrey Kurkov, workplace TV, Australian circus, Jeffrey Archer

01/08/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Andrey Kurkov, workplace TV, Australian circus, Jeffrey Archer

Arts news and reviews. Kirsty Lang interviews acclaimed Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov.

Kirsty Lang meets the acclaimed Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov; Australian circus troupes in the UK; two TV series focus on retail workplaces; Jeffrey Archer's Cultural Exchange.

With Kirsty Lang. 

The acclaimed Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov is best known in the UK for his cult novel Death and the Penguin. He reflects on the origins of his new book, The Gardener from Ochakov, a dark satire where a young man can time travel between 2010 and 1957 Ukraine, with the help of a vintage Soviet police uniform.

Two new TV documentary series begin tonight, aiming to reveal what it is like to work in retail and sales at the moment. Channel 4's The Dealership shows Essex car salesmen in action, while BBC Three's Shoplife follows a group of young people who are employed at the Metrocentre in Gateshead. Tiffany Stevenson gives her verdict.

With three Australian circus troupes taking to the stage at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and another currently entertaining audiences in London, Kirsty talks to the creative minds behind two of these shows - Wunderkammer and Limbo - to find out why Australian circus seems to be soaring.

For Cultural Exchange, writer Jeffrey Archer chooses the painting Ecce Homo by the 19th Century Italian artist Antonio Ciseri, which depicts the moment Pontius Pilate presented Jesus to a hostile crowd.

Producer Dymphna Flynn.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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