This Cultural Life
This Cultural Life is a TV show on BBC4. What fired the imaginations of some of the greatest creative minds? John Wilson speaks to leading names in art and culture about their formative influences and inspirations. The program has been available since 2021. A total of 19 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in May 2024.
Last episode
This Cultural Life
Actor, comedian, presenter and writer Sir Michael Palin talks to John Wilson about his formative creative influences.
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Singer-songwriter Boy George talks to John Wilson about his formative cultural influences.
November 2023
Dame Judi Dench talks to John Wilson about her biggest cultural influence: William Shakespeare.
Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo talks to John Wilson about the formative experiences and cultural influences that have had a profound effect on her work.
John Wilson talks to award-wining author Margaret Atwood about the experiences that shaped her writing.
Actor and film-maker Sir Kenneth Branagh talks to John Wilson about the key influences and inspirations that have shaped his own work.
October 2023
Award-winning artist Jeremy Deller discusses his career and creative influences with John Wilson.
August 2023
TV writer and director Sally Wainwright talks to John Wilson about her formative cultural influences.
June 2023
Glenda Jackson talks to John Wilson about her most important cultural influences, including Peter Brook, Ken Russell, and Margaret Thatcher, who galvanised her to enter politics.
May 2023
Actor Whoopi Goldberg reveals the most important influences and experiences that shaped her own creativity.
January 2023
Director Ken Loach talks to John Wilson about the key moments in his life that have shaped his creativity.
December 2022
Comedian, actor and composer Tim Minchin, the songwriter behind Matilda the Musical, chooses his creative influences and discusses his career.
October 2022
Violinist Nicola Benedetti reveals the influences and experiences that have led her to become one of the world’s greatest classical musicians.
February 2022
The world's leading classical solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie talks to John Wilson about her career and picks out some of the key influences on her artistic path.
Playwright and artistic director of London's Young Vic theatre Kwame Kwei-Armah shares some of the influences that have had a significant impact on his work.
January 2022
Oscar winner Nicole Kidman talks to John Wilson about the influence on her career of working with great film-makers, including Jane Campion, Baz Luhrmann and Stanley Kubrick.
Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta talks to John Wilson about the key moments in his cultural life, from breakdancing in Havana to becoming principal dancer of the Royal Ballet.
December 2021
In a deeply personal interview, artist Tracey Emin talks to John Wilson about the experiences that have shaped her life and career.
Film director Mike Leigh talks to John Wilson about the art and experiences that have shaped his own creative life.