Simon Schama, Siri Hustvedt, Catherine Fletcher at Hay.
Arts & Ideas
BBC
4.2 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2019
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How does writing about art help us embrace a new way of seeing the work ? Rana Mitter is joined at the Hay Festival by the novelist and art essayist Siri Hustvedt , the writer and broadcaster Simon Schama and, marking the 500th anniversary of the Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci, the Radio 3/AHRC New Generation Thinker and historian of Renaissance and early modern Europe Catherine Fletcher.
Siri Hustvedt’s books include her novels What I Loved, The Summer without Men and The Blazing World and her essays on paintings, Mysteries of the Rectangle and Living, Thinking, Looking. Simon Schama is the author of Rembrandt’s Eyes, Landscape and Memory and The Power of Art. Catherine Fletcher’s work includes Our Man in Rome: Henry VIII and his Italian Ambassador and The Black Prince of Florence. She teaches at Swansea University.
Producer: Fiona McLean
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | 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, 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 is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:36.9 | Hello, I'm Ron Amitter, and thanks for downloading the Arts and Ideas podcast. |
| 0:41.5 | This is the place to be if you're looking for artists, writers, and people who make you see the world in a whole new way. |
| 0:47.5 | So sit back and get ready for another sparky episode, right after this. |
| 0:52.5 | Hello, I'm composer Michael Barkleyay and I just want to let you know |
| 0:55.7 | about my podcast, which I think you might enjoy. It's called Private Passions. Every week a different |
| 1:01.9 | guest chooses the classical music they're passionate about. People like Alan Bennett, Jan Ravens, |
| 1:07.5 | Grayson Perry. And what I love about it is how much people reveal of themselves when they're talking about |
| 1:13.5 | and listening to the music which moves them. |
| 1:16.6 | Just search for private passions in BBC Sounds. |
| 1:20.3 | Download the free app now. |
| 1:33.4 | Art has always been a presence here at the Hay Festival, and writing about art has an even longer history. |
| 1:40.5 | Hey, even Plato and Pliny got in on the act. But what does writing about art do to how we see the art? |
| 1:45.3 | Well, we've rounded up three authors with an abiding interest in the visual, and what a palette we've mixed for you today. Simon Sharma is Professor of History and Art History at Columbia |
| 1:49.8 | University, author of numerous books, including Citizens and the Embarrassment of Riches, and presenter |
| 1:54.6 | of major television series, most recently Civilisations. Siri Hustvet is a multiple award-winning |
| 2:00.3 | novelist, |
| 2:01.0 | poet, and essayist. |
| 2:02.6 | And her most recent novel is Memories of the Future, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.