Front Row Weekly

John Wilson talks to the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop, ahead of this year's BBC Music John Peel Lecture; Simon Schama reviews the National Gallery's new blockbuster exhibition Rembrandt: The Late Works; Bob Geldof talks about re-forming The Boomtown Rats; Gillian Anderson discusses her debut sci-fi novel, A Vision of Fire; Disney chief Thomas Schumacher on creating The Lion King and a stage version of Frozen; Rachel Joyce on how to follow a Booker-nominated, bestselling novel; and Cat Stevens on his newest album, Tell 'Em I'm Gone.

John Cleese talks to John Wilson about his memoir; Tracey Emin makes it clear why she feels motherhood and a career as an artist are incompatible; Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of Genesis discuss a new documentary about the band; Clive Jameson talks to Samira Ahmed about his love of poetry and reads his latest poem Japanese Maple; Phyllida Lloyd on her all-female production Henry IV; actress Sheila Hancock comes in to discuss her debut novel; plus Ed Sheeran considers song-writing as revenge and explains why so many of his lyrics are about drinking.

Dame Hilary Mantel from the BBC Radio Theatre, as Front Row announces the winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2014; Kristin Scott Thomas on playing Electra; a review of the Turner Prize Shortlist; Olivia Harrison on George Harrison's solo work; Stephen Fry on his latest book 'More Fool Me'; Actress Rosamund Pike on her role in the screen adaptation of best selling crime thriller 'Gone Girl'; and a review of 'Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination' at the British Library.

British actor Toby Jones discusses his role in TV drama Marvellous; John Lahr on how he got inside the mind of Tennessee Williams for a new biography; Ricky Tomlinson and playwright Neil Gore talk to John Wilson about United We Stand, a new play which looks at the controversial criminal prosecution that followed the 1972 national building workers' strike; Anselm Kiefer has his first major UK retrospective- the exhibition's curator Kathleen Soriano discusses the themes and the monumental scale of Kiefer's work; Bernard Sumner, one of the founding members of Joy Division and New Order, discusses his autobiography; as two plays about youth activism open, playwrights James Graham and Tim Price discuss portraying political protest on stage; French singer Charles Aznavour, whose hits include the classic She.

Denzel Washington talks about being an avenging angel in his new film, The Equalizer; we get a new perspective on John Constable thanks to a new exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum and there’s existential angst courtesy of actor Mikel Murfi and playwright Edna Walsh, who's new play Ballyturk is at the National Theatre. We get a preview of the British Museum's new exhibition - Ming: 50 years that changed China; folk legend Joan Baez shares her worries about her voice after five decades of singing; top percussionist, Colin Currie, demonstrates how to use his own body as an instrument and best-selling author Kate Mosse tells her about her latest novel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter.