Arts & Ideas Folgen

The Mark Rothko Arts Centre has opened its doors for the first time and some of his paintings return to his birthplace in Daugavpils, Latvia. Philip Dodd journeys there to speak to curator, for whom the project has been a labour of love, and Rothko's children about their father's memories of the city. John Beddington is the former chief scientific advisor to the government. He’s represented the interests of the scientific community to Whitehall during an era of massive cutbacks in public spending. He talks to Philip about what role scientists play in the big decisions of public life?

Rana Mitter talks to the playwright Peter Nichols as his 1981 Passion Play opens again in the West End with Zoe Wanamaker as the betrayed wife Eleanor. In his latest book Strictly Bipolar, psychoanalyst Darian Leader looks at the cultural setting for bipolar disorder, and suggests a new way of making sense of the condition. And the architect Sunand Prasad and critic Rowan Moore discuss meaning in architecture and the role of the audience - or the public as we call them when discussing buildings rather than plays - in creating that meaning.

Matthew Sweet talks to actor, writer and international screen star Terence Stamp as a season of his films re-examines his career at London's British Film Institute.