Anna May Wong was an international star who appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies in a career that spanned from the silent films of the 1920s, through the advent of talkies in the 30s, to television in the 1950s, despite all the obstacles in her path. A new biography, Not Your China Doll, examines how against all the odds Anna May Wong found international fame and became a trailblazer for Asian American actors.
The English folk singer and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson performs material from his new album - his 24th - Skydancers. The title track, commissioned by naturalist Chris Packham, highlights the plight of the Hen harrier. Simpson talks about his love of birds, of traditional song, of writing his own, the influence on him of American music, and a lifetime playing the guitar and banjo.
Some leaders of classical music organisations say that the attitude to funding by the Arts Councils in England and Wales is undermining excellence, and putting inclusion before professionalism. We hear from a range of voices, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Opera House; John Gilhooly, director of the Wigmore Hall and chair of the Royal Philharmonic Society; Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and a former music director at Arts Council England; and Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and former Executive Director of the Arts Council Northwest.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Jeremy Deller, Scarborough Spa Orchestra
The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Marc Quinn at Kew, The Fall Guy,
Spirited Away at London Coliseum, Eurovision build-up, terminal diagnosis films
Michelangelo exhibition at British Museum, Jembaa Groove perform, Inside Number 9
Hanif Kureishi, Ingrid Persaud, Arts Council funding
Pet Shop Boys, review of Challengers film and Expressionists exhibiition
The Legend of Ned Ludd, Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist, Mohammad Barrangi
Women and Shakespeare, best beach reads, Black British music exhibition
Designer Sir Kenneth Grange, Taylor Swift's new album, Venice Art Biennale
London Tide with music by PJ Harvey, Salman Rushdie's story of survival: Knife and tenor Ian Bostridge
Lionel Shriver's new book Mania, Tyrell Williams on Red Pitch
Sir John Akomfrah, bicentenary of Byron's death and sped-up music
The Book of Clarence, Liberation Squares, Northern Ireland's filming boom
Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Percival Everett's James reviewed
Nathan Hill, Maggie Rogers, International Booker shortlist
Yinka Shonibare, Sean Shibe, cinema and digital decay
Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter, Netflix drama Ripley, Io Capitano movie reviewed
50 years of ABBA’s Waterloo, Harewood House exhibition, Trevor Griffiths remembered, the rise of eco fiction and drama
Dev Patel on Monkey Man, which books are on the curriculum?
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