Podcasts Culture Front Row: Archive 2012 Rapper Ice-T, Monica Mason's farewell to the Royal Ballet, Tom Hanks' new online project

Rapper Ice-T, Monica Mason's farewell to the Royal Ballet, Tom Hanks' new online project

Published: July 19, 2012, 6:55 p.m.

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With Kirsty Lang.

American musician and performer Ice-T has directed a cinema documentary Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap in which he talks to leading performers including Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Eminem about the culture of hip-hop. Ice-T discusses the origins of the music, and its continuing influence.

Tom Hanks, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry King are just three high-profile entertainers who have launched new online film and video projects. Boyd Hilton considers the growing phenomenon of big stars creating productions solely for the internet.

On the eve of her retirement Monica Mason, director of The Royal Ballet Company, reflects on her 54 years with the company which she joined as a 16 year old dancer in 1958. She recalls working with stars such as Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev, becoming a muse to the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and why, as a young dancer, she was terrified of Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

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