This Cultural Life

Author Sebastian Faulks talks to John Wilson about his influences and formative cultural experiences. Faulks won huge acclaim for his First World War novel Birdsong, which – along with The Girl At the Lion D’or and Charlotte Gray – forms part of a trilogy of historical novels set in France. Since it was first published in 1993 Birdsong has gone on to sell more than three million copies worldwide and is taught in schools and universities on both English and History syllabuses. His other novels include Human Traces, On Green Dolphin Street, Engleby and, most recently, Farewell To Eden. A team captain on the Radio 4 literary quiz show The Write Stuff for over a decade, Sebastian Faulks was made a CBE for services to literature in 2002.
Producer: Edwina Pitman

Cuban performance and conceptual artist Tania Bruguera talks to John Wilson about her career and cultural influences. Her work explores freedom of speech, political oppression and social justice, often encouraging her audiences to become active participants in her performances, blurring the boundaries between art and viewer.
Bruguera has exhibited at international museums including MOMA and the Guggenheim in New York, and at Tate Modern, where she made a major work for annual Turbine Hall commission. A new artwork of hers was in the inaugural exhibition at V&A East. Throughout her career in her homeland, Tania Bruguera has been repeatedly censored, arrested and detained by the Cuban authorities because of her political activism. She now lives in the US where she is senior lecturer at Harvard University.
Producer: Edwina Pitman

The artist and sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor talks to John Wilson about his career and cultural influences. Renowned for his innovative, often monumental works, Kapoor gained international recognition in the late 1980s. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and won the Turner Prize the following year. His public artworks include Cloud Gate in Chicago, the Orbit sculpture next to the London Arena, commissioned to mark the 2012 Olympics, and the 110m-long structure of giant rings and connecting wires known as Temenos in Middlesborough. In 2025 a piece called Butchered, a collaboration with Greenpeace, was installed on to an active Shell oil rig in the North Sea as a protest against the fossil fuel industry. The Hayward Gallery in London is one of several cultural institutions around the world that is hosting major exhibition of the work of Anish Kapoor in 2026.
Producer: Edwina Pitman

The writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and career. He started out as a screenwriter on the television soaps Brookside and Coronation Street, before publishing his debut children's novel Millions in 2004. The book won the prestigious Carnegie Medal and a screenplay version was made into a film by Danny Boyle. He also wrote five films for the director Michael Winterbottom, including Welcome To Sarajevo and Twenty Four Hour Party People. In 2012, Frank renewed his creative partnership with Danny Boyle as the writer of the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. After many bestselling children’s books including Framed, Cosmic and The Astounding Broccoli Boy, in 2024 he was appointed as the Children’s Laureate.
Producer: Edwina Pitman

John Wilson talks to the actor and musician Kiefer Sutherland. The son of Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, he first made his mark in the 1980s and 90s with films including Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, Flatliners and A Few Good Men. His television portrayal of federal agent Jack Bauer in the crime series 24 became his signature role and earned him major awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. He later starred in the political drama series Designated Survivor, playing an American president. Alongside his acting Kiefer Sutherland has also pursued a career as a singer songwriter, releasing a series of country-rock albums and performing live tours.
Producer: Edwina Pitman