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Front Row: Jonathan Coe, Johnny Flynn on Magnitsky the Musical, Selena Gomez album reviewed

Jonathan Coe, Johnny Flynn on Magnitsky the Musical, Selena Gomez album reviewed

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Jonathan Coe, Johnny Flynn on Magnitsky the Musical, Selena Gomez album reviewed

Jonathan Coe, winner of the Costa Novel Award 2019, discusses Middle England

Jonathan Coe on his novel Middle England, which has won the Costa Novel Award 2019. Plus Selena Gomez album Rare reviewed.

Jonathan Coe talks about Middle England which has won the Costa Novel Award 2019. Set in the outskirts of Birmingham where car factories have been replaced by pound shops and in a London beset by riots and Olympic fever, it’s a state of the nation novel that tries to make sense of our times, with characters from both sides of the EU referendum divide. 

Pop megastar Selena Gomez releases her 3rd studio album Rare.  She’s been through an emotional rollercoaster in recent years, including an emergency kidney transplant, mental health struggles and public break-ups with Justin Bieber and The Weeknd - all inspiration for the album, which she describes as her most honest yet.  Sophie Harris reviews.

Johnny Flynn was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in Jerusalem and won acclaim for his score for the BBC 4 series Detectorists. For BBC Radio 3 he has co-written the strange tale of a tax adviser’s struggle to uncover Russian tax fraud, his imprisonment by the authorities, and an American financier’s crusade for justice. Flynn tells us about Magnitsky The Musical, which tells the story of the origins of the Magnitsky Act which allows governments to sanction those whom they see as offenders against human rights.  

And as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex indicate that their roles will be changing,  Jan Dalley comments on royal patrons in the arts. 

Presenter: Stig Abell
Producer: Sarah Johnson

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