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Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly, 100 years of Art Deco, Jonathan Pie

Peter Mullan on playing Bill Shankly, 100 years of Art Deco, Tom Walker on new Radio 4 series of Call Jonathan Pie, and Radio 3 broadcaster Tom McKinney on the music of birdsong.

The actor and director Peter Mullan talks about taking on the role of Bill Shankly in the new theatre production in Liverpool, Red or Dead, about the much-loved Liverpool football club manager.

In April 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a seven-month exhibition of contemporary design, opened in Paris. Arts Décoratifs’ was soon shortened to Art Deco, and a movement was born. A century later Art Deco is being celebrated across the UK. Professor Bruce Peter, author of new book Art Deco in Scotland :Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, and Dr Rachael Unsworth, who leads tours in Leeds that look at art deco buildings in the city, join Nick to discuss Art Deco and its legacy.

Art Deco in Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, is also accompanied by an exhibition at the Glasgow School of Art in April 2025. There are also a range of commemorative events in Liverpool this weekend organised by the Art Deco Society UK.

A decade ago, the comedian Tom Walker created the character of the roving news reporter Jonathan Pie, and his creation became an internet sensation, with the New York Times among his many fans. When he brought Jonathan Pie to Radio 4 with the radio phone-in comedy, Call Jonathan Pie, the critics were universal in their praise and it quickly became a podcast hit. As Call Jonathan Pie returns for a second series, Tom discusses creating a show that merges the personal and the political.

And to mark the first week of Spring, musician and broadcaster Tom McKinney, who will be taking on the Radio 3 Breakfast Show, asks for us to listen properly to the music of birdsong.

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu

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