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Amit Chaudhuri, Pope Benedict XVI Resignation, Robert Lepage, Inside the FCO

Samira Ahmed meets Amit Chaudhuri whose new book is about changing Calcutta, reviews the latest production from Robert Lepage and discusses the unexpected resignation of the Pope.

On Night Waves tonight, Samira Ahmed talks to the novelist, poet and musician Amit Chaudhuri about his latest book which reflects on the changing nature Calcutta and his relationship with it.

Clifford Longley and Peter Stanford discuss the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

Susannah Clapp reviews Playing Cards 1: Spades, the latest production by one of theatre's boldest and most innovative directors Robert Lepage. The play is set at the onset of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and offers a dark exploration of war as it juxtaposes two desert cities, Las Vegas and Baghdad.

Whitehall insider Gill Bennett wants to challenge our view of history with her new book by lifting the lid on how British foreign policy decisions are made, from the Falklands War to Britain joining the EEC. As a historian working in the Foreign office she provided historical advice to Foreign Secretaries and Prime Ministers for more than thirty years, as well as editing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's official history of post-war foreign policy. She offers Samira her view of the decision makers from the inside out, challenging existing interpretations of events.

Available now

45 minutes

Chapters

  • Amit Chaudhuri

    An interview with novelist, poet and musician Amit Chaudhuri about his new book.

    Duration: 13:56

  • Pope Benedict XVI Resignation

    Clifford Longley and Peter Stanford discuss the Pope's unexpected resignaton.

    Duration: 11:33

  • Robert Lepage

    A review of Robert Lepage's latest production, Playing Cards 1: SPADES

    Duration: 07:29

  • Inside British Foreign Policy

    An interview with former Whitehall insider, Gill Bennett, about her new book.

    Duration: 10:57

Amit Chaudhuri

Calcutta: Two Years in the City, by Amit Chaudhuri is published on 14th February by Union Books.

Robert Lepage

Playing Cards 1: SPADES, the first in a series of four planned new works by Robert Lepage, is on at the Roundhouse in London until 2nd March.

Six Moments of Crisis

Six Moments of Crisis: Inside British Foreign Policy, by Gill Bennett is published by Oxford University Press on 14th February.

Broadcast

  • Mon 11 Feb 2013 22:00

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Free Thinking

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