This Cultural Life Folgen

In a special edition of This Cultural Life from the Hay Festival, Dame Jacqueline Wilson is John Wilson's guest with an audience of readers young and old. One of the best-loved children's writers of all time, she has written more than a hundred books, including The Story of Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather, both of which were adapted as hugely popular CBBC series. The childhoods depicted by her are usually far from rosy - she's tackled divorce, depression, death, bullying, abuse, abandonment and homelessness. Despite their themes, or maybe because of them, they are huge bestsellers. She reveals the film, play and places that have inspired her work.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah JohnsonPhoto credit: Tricia Yourkevich

Writer and director Armando Iannucci reveals the most important artistic influences and experiences that have shaped his own work. Armando was the creative force behind Radio 4’s news satire series On The Hour, which moved to television as The Day Today and launched the career of Alan Partridge. He wrote and directed the political comedy series The Thick Of It, and the long-running American TV series Veep. His big screen credits include In The Loop, The Death Of Stalin and The Personal History Of David Copperfield. Armando recalls his Italian-Scottish family upbringing in Glasgow, where his lifelong love of classical music was first forged in Hillhead Public Library. A fan of radio comedy from a young age, he talks about the impact of hearing the 1978 radio comedy The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, whose central character Arthur Dent is, like many of Iannucci’s own comic creations, a man way out of his depth as events spin out of control. The 2003 invasion of Iraq is chosen by Armando as an event that had a big influence on his decision to create political satires The Thick Of It and its big screen spin-off In The Loop, in which government ministers and their advisors struggle to navigate a political path littered with inconvenient facts and rules. Reflecting on his work as a director, Armando Iannucci cites the American filmmaker Sidney Lumet as another major inspiration, with movies including Network, Dog Day Afternoon, Twelve Angry Men and The Verdict.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar tells John Wilson about the most significant cultural influences and experiences that have shaped her own artistic life. Taught in the Indian classical tradition by her father, the legendary musician Ravi Shankar, Anoushka is renowned as one of the world’s greatest living sitarists. She has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and, as a composer, has worked in a diverse array of genres, including jazz and electronica, and films scores.Anoushka talks about the huge musical influence that her father had on her. As a child, she went to his concerts not knowing he was her father until her parents began living together when she was seven. He gave her her first sitar and took her on as his pupil amongst the many others that came to their house for his teaching. She describes how seeing Akram Khan’s dance production Kaash - a collaboration with composer Nitin Sawhney and artist Anish Kapoor - inspired new ways of composing. She recalls how the rape and murder of a 23 year old girl in Delhi in 2012 led to her revealing that, as a child, she had been abused by a family friend. Anoushka also explains how the TimesUp movement, campaigning for workplace equality, made her reassess the role of women within music, and inspired the 2020 album Love Letters, which was made with an all-women team of musical collaborators.Producer: Edwina Pitman