Actor Hilary Swank

On The Arts Hour this week: Oscar winning actor Hilary Swank talks about how she prepared for her role as an astronaut in her timely new Netflix drama Away; Writer Afua Hirsch explores the history of how the British spun an idealised stereotype about their Empire through film propaganda; and
French director Ladj Ly on Les Miserables, his Oscar-nominated depiction of the Parisian suburbs that has caught the attention of President Macron.

Singer Miley Cyrus pays homage to Billie Eilish and how young singers are inspiring a new generation with their music and activism, plus sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar plays from her latest work Love Letters, an EP inspired by heartbreak.

Nikki Bedi’s guests this week are the godfather of computer gaming Sid Meier, who will be talking about his life in games and his most popular creation the game Civilisation, and film curator and producer Nadia Denton.

Produced for the BBC World Service by Edwina Pitman.

(Photo: Hilary Swank. Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)