Natalie Merchant

Sir Antony Gormley, creator of some of Britain’s best loved artworks, including Angel Of The North in Gateshead, talks to John Wilson about his four decades of sculpture-making. Using casts of his own body, and creating monumental metal formations to describe the human form, Gormley has repeatedly asked questions about place and space.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elbow frontman and lyricist Guy Garvey reveals the inspiration behind one of his band’s best loved songs Lippy Kids. He talks candidly about how personal grief and a feeling of frustration at British politics have led to a darker, more introspective elbow album, the forthcoming Giants Of All Sizes. Guy can’t decide which song he wishes he’d written and so John grants him both wishes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With credits including Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and Blackadder, Richard Curtis has written, directed and produced some of the best-loved British screen comedies. Richard discusses the struggle to make Love Actually, his 2004 film featuring an all-star ensemble cast and ten love stories in one movie. He explains why music, not cinema, is his great passion and reveals that Yesterday will be his last ever film, though he admits he’s probably lying. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Prebble discusses her acclaimed play Enron, which dramatised the spectacular rise and criminal fall of a huge American corporation built on bad debt and dodgy hedge funds. She explains how seeing The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, a 2008 play by Stephen Adly Guigis, helped fire her theatrical imagination, and offers an exclusive preview her next play A Very Expensive Poison, about the assassination of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, which will premiere at the Old Vic in August. Lucy also discusses her work as a writer and producer on the brilliant HBO drama series Succession, starring Brian Cox as Logan Roy, an ageing media baron who struggling to decide which of his hand over children should inherit his empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul invites John to his studio, Black Barn, to discuss why – after more than four decades as one of Britain’s greatest singer songwriters - he’s still as excited to be making new music today as when he first started writing songs as Beatles-obsessed teenager. He discusses how his latest album, the acclaimed True Meanings, reflects on age and mortality, and reveals how a battered acoustic guitar provided the totemic inspiration behind some of his best loved songs, from That’s Entertainment to Wild Wood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John meets Hayley in her theatre dressing room shortly before curtain-up to discuss her love of literature, how playing Agent Peggy Carter in the Captain America and Avengers films has helped introduce young Marvel fans to Ibsen, and why – despite claiming to have no pre-stage rituals and superstitions – she won’t say the word MacBeth in a theatre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

World renowned portrait artist Jonathan Yeo welcomes John to his studio to discuss how he gets beneath the skin of subjects. His diverse array of sitters have included Tony Blair, Malala Yousafzai, Dennis Hopper, Cara Delavigne and Prince Philip, and his paintings are in national museums and private collections. Jonny talks about his artistic influences, the genius of Pablo Picasso, how attention deficit disorder helped focus his artistic skills at school, and why new digital technology is offering new opportunities for portraiture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John meets Kwame in a rehearsal room of London’s Young Vic Theatre, where he is artistic director. Although he’s worked as an actor, musician, television presenter and theatre director, Kwame regards himself as a playwright first and foremost. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natalie Merchant made her name fronting American college rock favourites 10,000 Maniacs, launched her solo career in 1993 with Tigerlily and - after seven studio albums - remains one of the most revered singer songwriters of her generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a wonderfully candid conversation Ivor Novello Award winning singer songwriter Tom Odell remembers – and sings – the first song he ever wrote as a child and reveals his latest musical ideas, all recorded on his phone’s Voice Memo. He discusses the influence of his song-writing heroes, Fleet Foxes, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen, and why staring out of windows is the key to lyrical inspiration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.