Best Ian Woolf Podcasts (2025)

1
Review: RSC's The Constant Wife 42:31

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5h ago42:31

42:31

Tom is joined by reviewers Kate Maltby and Stephanie Merritt to discuss Laura Wade's adaptation for the RSC of Somerset Maugham's comedy The Constant Wife. Also Wendy Erskine's Belfast -set novel; The Benefactors. A polyphonic telling of a teenage girl's assault and its aftermath. And Rebecca Lenkiewicz's directorial debut Hot Milk. Based on Debora…

1
Reaction to the Sean 'Diddy' Combs court case verdicts, and Back to the Future at 40 42:39

1d ago42:39

42:39

As the jury in the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs delivers its verdicts, author and cultural critic Mikki Kendall discusses how Americans will react. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of its release, The Independent's chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and Dan O'Brien of the University of Essex discuss Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's infl…

1
Tim Key on his sleeper hit The Ballad of Wallis Island 42:34

2d ago42:34

42:34

Comedian and poet Tim Key on writing and starring in The Ballad of Wallis Island which has become one of the surprise film hits of the year. Novelists Saima Mir and Marcia Hutchinson on setting their stories in Bradford. Playwright Ntombizodwa Nyoni on reimagining the 5th Pan African Congress which took place in Manchester in 1945 for her new play,…

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Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards 42:26

4d ago42:26

42:26

British director Gareth Edwards talks to Samira Ahmed about how his love of the films of Steven Spielberg inspired his new film Jurassic Park Rebirth, the latest chapter in the blockbuster dinosaur film franchise. He also talks about the making of his film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is gaining even more acclaim after the huge success of th…

1
Anomalies, blood and tornadoes

5d ago

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Listen to John August from 2009 talk about travelling in tornadoes. News of mystery radio signals, a hole in the magnetosphere, and artificial blood. Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap MerchandiseBy Ian Woolf

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Review Programme: Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer 42:25

8d ago42:25

42:25

Charlotte Mullins and Katja Hoyer are with Tom Sutcliffe to review The Royal Academy of Arts' Kiefer/Van Gogh exhibition, Nell Stevens novel The Original, and German language film From Hilde, with Love. And Sarfraz Manzoor is on to discuss a new Bruce Springsteen compilation – Tracks II: The Lost Albums Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Claire Bart…

1
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy 42:28

9d ago42:28

42:28

UK Culture Secretary LIsa Nandy talks us through the Government's new Creative Industries Sector Plan which aims to unlock growth and opportunity in culture, media and sport. Last week 27-year-old Scottish author Margaret McDonald become the youngest ever winner of the Carnegie medal for children's writing, for her debut novel Glasgow Boys, a book …

1
Billy Porter on activism and artists 42:18

10d ago42:18

42:18

Billy Porter, famous for his Broadway roles in such shows as Kinky Boots and Grease, and onscreen in Pose and Cinderella is making his directorial debut in theatre with This Bitter Earth. Jesse is an introspective Black playwright and when Neil, Jesse’s boyfriend, who is a white Black Lives Matter activist, accuses him of political apathy, their pa…

1
Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer on F1 starring Brad Pitt 42:25

11d ago42:25

42:25

Samira talks to legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose latest film F1 stars Brad Pitt as a racing car driver. Alistair McGowan and Dr Caroline Potter celebrate the extraordinary music and life of the French composer Erik Satie, whose centenary is marked on Radio 3 on Saturday. Alistair's play about Satie, called Three Pieces in the S…

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Change Your Behaviour

12d ago

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From the Singularity University Summit 2019: Shelley Laslett talks about the neuroscience of changing your behaviour, Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap MerchandiseBy Ian Woolf

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Review Show: Pixar's new film Elio 42:06

15d ago42:06

42:06

Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi talk to tom Sutcliffe about directing Pixar's latest film Elio, about a lonely boy who wants to make contact with aliens. The film is then reviewed by film producer and critic Jason Solomons and art critic and writer Hettie Judah. Tom and guests also discuss a major retrospective of the work of painter Jenny Saville…

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Mercury Prize-shortlisted pianist Fergus McCreadie plays live, plus poet and Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen on his new novel 42:54

16d ago42:54

42:54

On the opening night of the Glasgow Jazz Festival, Mercury Prize-shortlisted pianist Fergus McCreadie performs from his forthcoming album The Shieling live in the Front Row studio. Writer and Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen talks about his debut novel Muckle Flugga – a story of love and family set on a remote Scottish island – and reads from the p…

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The producers of RuPaul's Drag Race, plus pianist Alfred Brendel remembered 43:09

17d ago43:09

43:09

RuPaul's Drag Race producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato join Nick Ahad to talk about their career making making television and movies, ahead of being guests of honour at this year's Sheffield DocFest. Radio 3 presenter Tom Service discusses the life and legacy of Alfred Brendel who was a celebrated author, poet and pianist. Caroline Norbury, t…

1
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland on 28 Years Later 42:24

17d ago42:24

42:24

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tell Tom Sutcliffe about their new film, 28 Years Later; a whole new take on the story which stars Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It's the follow up to their post-apocalyptic fast-paced, gory zombie movies 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. The Rage virus escaped a medical research laboratory and - …

1
Narcissome Bioethics

19d ago

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From 2017: Listen to Dr Ainsley Newson talk about bioethics and personal genomics. News of Gut bacteria for longer life Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap MerchandiseBy Ian Woolf

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Review Show: Pulp's new album More 42:31

22d ago42:31

42:31

Professor John Mullan and writer Lucy O’Brien join Tom to review More, Pulp's first album in nearly 24 years. They also discuss exhibitions by the 20th century British artists Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun which are running in parallel at Tate Britain. Plus they give their verdict on Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, inspired by actual experiences o…

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Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys remembered. 42:17

22d ago42:17

42:17

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys remembered Turner Prize winning artist Rachel Whiteread talks about her retrospective exhibition at the brand new Goodwood Art Foundation in Sussex. We celebrate the centenary of the National Library of Scotland and hear about its plans to send important items from its collection to museums around the country - from N…

1
Was 1975 the best year for music? 42:31

24d ago42:31

42:31

Sarah Moss, the celebrated author of Ghost Wall, discusses her new novel Ripeness, which oscillates between tension-filled contemporary Ireland and a heady summer in 1960s Italy. Dylan Jones discusses his new book 1975: The Year The World Forgot and debates whether this was the best year for music with chief music critic of the Daily Telegraph, Nei…

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Twin Peaks creator plus Ian Rankin on Frederick Forsyth 42:24

25d ago42:24

42:24

Ian Rankin pays tribute to the best-selling thriller author Frederick Forsyth, whose death was announced today. Samira talks to Twin Peaks' co-creator Mark Frost and podcaster Mike Munser about the show's enduring legacy 35 years on, as Twin Peaks is re-released and celebrated at the BFI Film on Film Festival. Playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti talks …

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Tales of Evolution and Quantum Computing

26d ago

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From 2017: From 2017: Professor Stuart Kauffman reads from The surprizing story of Patrick, Rupert, Sly and Gus - evolutionary niches and complexity. News of flashing lights to treat Alzheimer's mice. Quantum computing made simple! Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap …

1
Review show: Paris Lees drama What It Feels Like for a Girl 42:28

29d ago42:28

42:28

Tom and guests review What it Feels Like for Girl, the BBC's coming-of-age drama based on the memoir of Paris Lees; Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel, Atmosphere, set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and new film, Lollipop, about a young woman released from prison battling to regain custody of her children, written and directed…

1
Daisy Goodwin on her play about the late Queen and her dresser 42:30

1M ago42:30

42:30

Daisy Goodwin discusses her debut play, By Royal Appointment, which stars Anne Reid as Queen Elizabeth and Caroline Quentin as her dresser, and which opens this week at Theatre Royal, Bath. The life and legacy of Irish novelist playwright and poet Edna O'Brien is discussed by writer Jan Carson and the director of the documentary Blue Road: The Edna…

1
Nick Mohammed on comedy and improvisation 42:20

1M ago42:20

42:20

Comedian Nick Mohammed on his stand-up show Mr Swallow, and Deep Cover, his action thriller about a group of comedy improvisers. Kate Wasserberg, Artistic Director of Theatr Clywd on the theatre's £50 million redevelopment, and opening the new auditorium with a production of the musical Tick Tick... Boom! Ulrich Birkmaier, senior conservator of pai…

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Fiddler on the Roof returns to the stage 42:17

1M ago42:17

42:17

Samira discusses the Olivier award-winning production of Fiddler on the Roof with its star Adam Dannheisser and director Jordan Fein. Sarah Dunant talks about the women in the Renaissance who became art patrons, as she publishes her novel The Marchesa, about Isabella d'Este of Mantua. Screenwriter Frederic Raphael, whose films include Far From the …

1
Is Life Inevitable?

1M ago

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From 2017: Listen to Professor Stuart Kauffman talk about the origin of life. News that weight lifting is good for your brain. Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap MerchandiseBy Ian Woolf

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Imelda Staunton in Mrs Warren's Profession 42:25

1M ago42:25

42:25

Samira Ahmed and writers Dreda Mitchell and Mark Ravenhill review Imelda Staunton and her daughter, Bessie Carter, in Mrs Warren's Profession. They consider, too, theatre director Marianne Elliott's first foray into film, The Salt Path, based on a Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir of how she and her husband, after they have lost their house and farm…

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Paul Hartnoll of Orbital on the band's Brown album, and a new biography of Muriel Spark. 42:13

1M ago42:13

42:13

Paul Hartnoll of electronic music duo Orbital talks about the reissue of the band's Brown album which was originally released in 1993, with the addition of 23 extra tracks of rarities and previously unreleased material and about the intersection between dance music and politics. Frances Wilson, who has previously published acclaimed biographies of …

1
Alison Steadman live from Hay Festival 42:24

1M ago42:24

42:24

Live from the Hay Festival, Alison Steadman talks to Samira about her career, from Abigail's Party to Gavin and Stacey. Laura Bates and Gwyneth Lewis discuss Arthurian Legends and The Mabinogion. Hisham Matar champions the Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. And transatlantic husband and wife country duo Outpost Drive perform on stage. Presente…

1
Will Butler formerly of Arcade Fire on his play set in a recording studio 42:23

1M ago42:23

42:23

Stereophonic is a play about the creative process, power dynamics and fraught personal relationships of a 1970s rock band. It won a Tony and many other awards on Broadway. Now Stereophonic has come to the West End. Playwright David Adjmi and Will Butler, sometime of Arcade Fire, who has written the music, discuss their own artistic process as they …

1
Chocolate cultured, whole, and traditional

1M ago

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News of healthier, more sustainable chocolate, and chocolate cultured in a bioreactor.Listen to chef and biochemist Galit Segev from 2011, talk about the science of tempering chocolate. Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap Merchandise…

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Mission Impossible & Benicio Del Toro 42:35

1M ago42:35

42:35

Benicio Del Toro talks about playing a business tycoon in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. This aesthetically stylised film, by the director who also made The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, is reviewed by Tom and critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Rachel Cooke. They also give their verdict on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckon…

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Shirley Manson of Garbage 42:18

1M ago42:18

42:18

Frontwoman of Garbage, Shirley Manson talks about the band's latest album Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, which is inspired by contemporary events including the killing of George Floyd in Los Angeles, but which presents an optimistic perspective on a dystopian world. We hear from the winner of the International Booker Prize, which was announc…

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Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé 42:26

1M ago42:26

42:26

Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé. As a huge retrospective of the work of the artist Helen Chadwick opens at The Hepworth Wakefield, art critic Louisa Buck and the exhibition's curator, Laura Smith, discuss why Chadwick should be viewed as the godmother for a golden generation of British c…

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Joanne Harris on the return of Chocolat 42:21

2M ago42:21

42:21

25 years after Joanne Harris introduced readers to the soothing delights of Chocolat, she's released her new book Vianne. It’s the prequel that explains how her heroine found her way into the world of high end French confectionery. A new exhibition at the British Museum sheds light on the provenance of popular images of the Hindu god Ganesha, the B…

1
After AI take our jobs again

2M ago

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From 2017: Paul Mason talks about bots talking jobs, and the future of society. News of vampires switching to human blood. Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying venus flytrap MerchandiseBy Ian Woolf

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Review: Sondheim's final musical Here We Are, The Marching Band, Daniel Kehlmann's The Director 42:31

2M ago42:31

42:31

David Benedict and Viv Groskop review Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, a surreal story of brunch and existential dread; French film about about grassroots music, The Marching Band and Daniel Kehlmann’s new novel, The Director, about a real life German filmmaker navigating the Third Reich. Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Simon Richar…

1
Ocean with Attenborough, Garden Design, Turning Contemporary Politics into Opera 42:43

2M ago42:43

42:43

Colin Bulfield, Executive Producer of the new film Ocean With Attenborough, talks about working with the celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker Sir David Attenborough on his latest project, an exploration of the vital importance of healthy oceans to our planet which is in cinemas around the country now. Current exhibitions at V&A Dundee and the Briti…

1
Morcheeba perform, Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway 100th anniversary 42:22

2M ago42:22

42:22

Novelist Elif Shafak, artist and writer Edmund de Waal and Professor Rachel Bowlby join Samira to discuss the centenary of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. As the Semi Finals of Eurovision start tonight in Basel, Switzerland, Paddy O'Connell talks about this year's contest. Four hundred leading British Artists such as Paul McCartney and Kate Bush hav…

1
Suzanne Vega sings in the studio, P Diddy trial, Mother Courage in County Durham 42:22

2M ago42:22

42:22

Suzanne Vega has just released her first album of all-new material for nearly a decade. "Flying With Angels" continues her folk-influenced sound and introduces influences of soul as well as a song in tribute to Bob Dylan's "I Want You". She performs in the studio with guitarist Gerry Leonard. Sean Combs aka P Diddy is on trial in New York, charged …

1
Frontiers of Science Forum 2025 Q and A - part 2

2M ago

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Listen to part 2 of the audience Question and Answer session of the 2025 Frontiers of Science Forum. Physicist Benjamin Pope, Science Educator Helen Georgiou, Micro-biologist Liz Harry and Chemist Vipul Agarwal answer the audiences' questions. Hosted and produced by Ian Woolf Support Diffusion by making a contribution Support Diffusion by buying ve…

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Review, The Wedding Banquet, Isabel Allende, The Brightening Air 42:34

2M ago42:34

42:34

Authors Matt Cain and Eimear McBride join Tom Sutcliffe to review a new remake of Ang Lee's 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet. They also discuss Isabel Allende's new novel My Name is Emilia del Valle and the play The Brightening Air, on at the Old Vic theatre in London. And the National Gallery is having a re-hang, we speak to Head of the Curatorial…

1
Leni Riefenstahl, Queen Elizabeth Memorial, Keli 42:26

2M ago42:26

42:26

Acclaimed German journalist and film producer Sandra Maischberger talks about her new documentary about Leni Riefenstahl, which re-examines the life and career of the filmmaker and Nazi propagandist who was one of the most controversial women of the 20th century. Art historian and curator Sandy Nairne, a member of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Commi…