Arts & Ideas Folgen

Two new dystopian novels by the scientist Susan Greenfield and academic Martin Goodman give Matthew Sweet the chance to ask whether dystopias ever really go away, and even if they don't do they ever say anything constructive about the future? Henry Gee joins the discussion. Director Ben Wheatley's latest work A Field In England sits squarely in the middle of the honourable tradition in British cinema of horror films set in the country. Wheatley joins Matthew along with the writer Iain Sinclair to discuss the genre. And Matthew reviews the Royal Academy's latest exhibition 'Mexico: A Revolution in Art,1910 - 1940,' with Sarah Kent and Amanda Hopkinson.

Rana Mitter talks to Washington insider Vali Nasr about his new book 'The Dispensable Nation - American Foreign Policy in Retreat.' The reputation of Alfred Russel Wallace, co-founder with Darwin of the Theory of Natural Selection, has now regained its former lustre. Rana and guests discuss why one of Victorian Britain's greatest scientists fell into obscurity. Ibrahim El-Salahi has a major retrospective at Tate Modern and exhibition curator, Salah Hassan explains the Sudanese artist's crucial role in the evolution of the reputation of African Art. Mount Fuji has finally gained World Heritage Status - Martin Dusinberre explains its central role in Japanese culture.

With Anne McElvoy, including an interview with the best-selling american novelist Claire Messud about her latest book The Woman Upstairs featuring a narrator consumed with anger. David Runciman, Michela Massimi and Matthew Taylor join Anne to examine the genesis of "Progress", the idea and the extent to which it remains persuasive, despite the setback of the 20th Century. Adam Mars Jones reviews a new biopic written and directed by David Mamet in which Al Pacino plays the music producer Phil Spector. And Joshua Oppenheimer reflects on his gripping but chilling documentary The Act Of Killing.