Jonathan Franzen
Friday 6 October 2006 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)
Writer Jonathan Franzen, best known for The Corrections, talks to Matthew Sweet about the culture, history and reputation of that much maligned area of America - the Midwest.
Sir Derek Jacobi in Voyage Round My Father.
Sir Derek Jacobi
Playlist
Derek Jacobi
Matthew Sweet will be talking to the actor Derek Jacobi who is currently starring in 'A Voyage Round My Father' in London's West End.
He'll be discussing his early mentors, Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave and revealing why he doesn't feel ready to take on the role of King Lear - yet.
A Voyage Round My Father is showing at Wyndhams Theatre, London until 16 December 2006.
Jonathan Franzen
The mid-west of America is often referred to as the heartland of the nation.
As novelist Jonathan Franzen makes clear in his new book which describes his mid-western youth, it is the middle of the middle, both geographically and metaphorically.
Matthew talks to him about how much its place in the American mythical landscape as the solid centre offering a reassuring continuity relates to the reality of today and how much it can continue to be thought of as defining America, politically, culturally and imaginatively.
The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History by Jonathan Franzen is published by Fourth Estate.
1946 - 2006
As part of the celebrations to mark the 60th birthday of The Third Programme, the historian Jeffrey Richards will be reflecting on changes in the film industry over the last sixty years.
