Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, it's a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that at some level of genius. It also helps

that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream

van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC sounds.

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On tonight's programme, L.S. Lowry has finally made it into the Tate, a one-person exhibition.

But is he the painter of the industrial landscape of working-class life that the curators claim?

I talk with one of them, T.J. Clark soon.

And a rare revival of the runt of Benjamin Britain's operatic family. Happy. Happy.

That was Philip Langridge, as Essex in Britain's Gloriana, performed by the Welsh National Opera in 1993.

We review a new Covent Garden production later, plus a new academic journal devoted to pornography has created a ruckus.

Tonight we debate what stance we ought to take towards pornography.

But first, over the years, L.S. Lowry has been noticeable by his absence at the Tate, even though it owns a fair few of his paintings. A couple of years ago, Ian McKellen fumed against the museum for hiding their liaries,

saying perhaps they ought to give them to somewhere that would value them.

Well, now the Tate seems to be redeeming itself with the one person show

whose pre-bookings are the largest in its history.

Lowry may be known for his northern industrial landscapes and his matchstick men,

but the curators of the exhibition want to make a claim that he is Britain's most unremitting

examiner of modern life, this man born in 1887, son of an estate agent, an aspirant concert pianist.

When I met Tim Clark, one of the curators earlier,

I asked him why Lowry now, both for the museum and for him?

Now for me, because Larry was an artist I took for granted for a long time.

You know, I grew up part of my life,

...