Podcasts Culture Front Row Philip Pullman on Northern Lights 25 years on, Mrs America reviewed, Simon Schama

Philip Pullman on Northern Lights 25 years on, Mrs America reviewed, Simon Schama

Published: July 9, 2020, 7 p.m.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the publication of Northern Lights, the first novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy that introduced Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon to the world. It\u2019s been announced that a previously unseen short story by Philip Pullman about a teenage Lyra, Serpentine, will be published in October. He joins Front Row live to talk about its place in the series and what the novels and last year\u2019s TV dramatisation have meant to so many.

Mrs America stars Cate Blanchett as conservative political activist Phyllis Schlafly who in 1970s opposed the implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment and the Women\u2019s Liberation movement that supported it. American novelist Meg Rosoff and journalist Elle Osili-Wood consider how the drama portrays real historical events and how relevant the battles depicted in the TV series seem to young women today.

Simon Schama talks about his new BBC Radio 4 lockdown series The Great Gallery Tour. He was inspired to make the series because he is badly missing the joy of museums and galleries and he will be exploring some of his favourite treasure-houses of great art around the world: the Prado, the Rijksmuseum and the Whitney. He begins with the Courtauld Gallery in London.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed\nProducer: Hilary Dunn\nStudio manager: Nigel Dix\nImage: Philip Pullman\nImage credit: Roberto Ricciutti/Getty Images