Audio

Shakespeare & Company: Author Jonathan Coe On His New Book ‘Bournville’

Jonathan Coe

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Middle England comes a profoundly moving, brutally funny and brilliantly trueportrait of Britain told through four generations of one family

In Bournville, a placid suburb of Birmingham, sits a famous chocolate factory. For eleven-year-old Mary and her family in 1945, it’s the centre of the world. The reason their streets smell faintly of chocolate, the place where most of their friends and neighbours have worked for decades. Mary will go on to live through the Coronation and the World Cup final, royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and Covid-19. She’ll have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, as modern life and the city crowd in on their peaceful enclave.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

This week: uproar over the National Gallery in London’s building plans—is it a sensitive makeover or like “an airport lounge”?

We talk to the director of the National Gallery, Gabriele Finaldi, about the gallery’s controversial plans for changes to its Sainsbury Wing, and to Rowan Moore, architecture critic at the Observer, about his views on the designs by the architect Annabel Selldorf, and how they respond to Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s original Post-Modern building.

Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, the director of Art X Lagos, tells us about the contemporary art scene in Nigeria’s most populous city, and how the fair is addressing the climate emergency, as devastating floods wreak havoc in West Africa. And this episode’s Work of the Week is Marc Chagall’s The Falling Angel (1923/1933/1947), the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.Art X Lagos, Federal Palace, Lagos, Nigeria, 5-6 NovemberChagall: World in Turmoil, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany, until 19 February 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Headlines: Germany’s Olaf Scholz Visits China, Russia Set To Abandon Kherson

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz visits China, the first leader of a liberal democracy to do so since the coronavirus outbreak. Plus: reports that Russian troops are ‘likely’ to abandon a city in Kherson, the business news and Andrew Mueller’s weekly round-up.

Opinion & Analysis: A Low Price Bar For Britain, Risky Bidenomics, Iran’s Women

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Rishi Sunak’s promise of stability is a low bar for Britain, (10:35) the risks of Bidenomics and (18:20) will Iran’s women win? 

Headlines: Putin Speech, Ukraine, Brazil Election, Northern Ireland Vote

Monocle 24’s Carlota Rebelo joins us from her reporting trip to Kyiv. Plus: Brazil heads back to the polls on Sunday, Northern Ireland politicians miss the deadline to form an executive power and restore the government, and Andrew Mueller’s weird and wonderful wrap up of the week.

News: Russia’s ‘Dirty Bomb’ Ploy, Israel Balances U.S. & China Ties, Sunak’s Team

What is a ‘dirty bomb’? We explore the claims made by Russia to the UN that Ukraine is preparing to use one. Plus: Israel’s balancing act between the US and China, a flick through the day’s papers and the latest business headlines.

News: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Rebuilding Ukraine, Malaysia Votes

We report on Rishi Sunak becoming the next UK prime minister. Plus: global efforts to reconstruct Ukraine, Malaysia prepares to go to the polls, and Booker Prize winner George Saunders on his new collection of short stories.

Opinion: A Global House Price Slump, Xi Jinping Era Untied, Antidepressants

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the coming house-price slump, why Xi Jinping has no interest in succession planning (10:10) and how to make better use of antidepressants (19:29).

Sunday Morning Stories: News Headlines From London, Athens & Istanbul

Emma Nelson, Charles Hecker and Terry Stiastny unpack the weekend’s biggest talking points. Plus, Tyler Brûlé in Athens, Hannah Lucinda Smith in Istanbul and Monocle 24’s Andrew Mueller with a Eurovision update.