Midweek: Diverse Conversation

This week Libby Purves is joined by Runa Khan Marre is winner of a Rolex Award for Enterprise, for preserving the unique cultural heritage of Bangladeshi boat-building; conductor Charles Hazlewood has created an orchestra from scrap for a BBC Four documentary, 'Scrapheap Orchestra'; chroeographer Matthew Bourne's ballet company New Adventures' returns to Sadler's Wells this Christmas with their much loved production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker!; and Gebisa Ejeta is one of the world's leading scientists who has been developing drought-resistant crops for Africa and is in conversation for the BBC World Service's 'Exchanges at the Frontier' at the Wellcome Collection.

This week Libby Purves is joined by extreme fisherman Jeremy Wade on his book 'River Monsters'; Jacqui Thompson, widow of an RAF Reservist killed in Afghanistan; Chris Mullin, former MP on the play 'A Walk On Part' based on his diaries; and Professor Roger Kneebone who is presenting 'Professor Kneebone's Incredible Inflatable, Pop-Up Anatomy Lesson' at the Wellcome Collection as part of the Performing Medicine season.

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Warwick Davis who is currently starring in the new BBC observational comedy 'Life's Too Short'; Sheena Byrom has written 'Catching Babies' which tells of her 35 years working as a midwife; Bass-baritone Sir Willard White is performing Bach's St Matthew Passion at Ambika P3, a disused concrete factory under London's Madame Tussauds for the charity Vocal Futures; and Sierra James is founder of Ba Futuru, a grassroots charity in Timor Leste which works with children, helping them with conflict resolution through art/creative therapies.

This week Libby Purves is joined by choirmaster Gareth Malone from BBC2's The Choir: Military Voices; Stella Duffy, the novelist and playwright, who is directing 'TaniwhaThames', a new play about home and belonging at the Ovalhouse Theatre, South London; Reginald D Hunter, the American born, stand-up comedian on his new DVD; and Jessica Douglas-Home on her book 'A Glimpse of Empire' about her grandmother's journey to India for the 1911 Great Delhi Durbar.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Simon Clothier, the ukelele playing builder; Max Zachs who is appearing in the Channel 4 series 'My Transsexual Summer'; Antonio Carluccio who is championing beetroot in the 'The Great British Food Revival' on BBC Two; and Arlene Phillips on her book 'Dance to the Musicals'.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Ceri Levy, a film maker and co-curator of an exhibition, 'Ghosts of Gone Birds' which features work by famous artists of extinct or endangered species; actor Rita Tushingham on the 50th anniversary of her breakthrough movie, 'A Taste of Honey'; Gillian Lynne, the former ballerina and renowned choreographer, on her memoir 'A Dancer in Wartime'; and Gisli Örn Gardarsson, an Icelandic actor and director who is directing 'The Heart of Robin Hood' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford.

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Richard Rycroft who is appearing in The Office Party at the Pleasance Theatre; Sir Terry Wogan on his book, 'Wogan's Ireland'; Matt Croucher, a recipient of the George Cross on his book 'The Royal British Legion - 90 Years of Heroes'; and Kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh who is performing at the Nour Festival of Arts.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Gloria Elliott, Chief Executive of the Noise Abatement Society and daughter of its founder, John Connell; stand-up comedian Des Bishop on his book and show 'My Dad Was Nearly James Bond'; Michael Morpurgo, the children's author on a new exhibition at the National Army Museum, 'War Horse: Fact & Fiction'; and celebrity booker Stanley Jackson on his book 'Get Me A Celebrity'.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Dr David M Wilson on his book 'The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott'; Fred Baier, the British maverick furniture maker who has an exhibition at the Craft Centre in Farnham, Surrey; Buddy Greco, the legendary singer and pianist who has just released the album Live At The Sands (recorded in Las Vegas in 1967); and Kathryn Tickell, a folk musician who is touring with her new show "Northumbrian Voices".

This week Libby Purves is joined by Peter Brookes, the political cartoonist for The Times on his new book 'Hard Times'; writer Alexandra Fuller on her new book 'Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness'; Albie Sachs, former high-court judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa on his book 'The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter'; and actor Niamh Cusack who is playing Widow Quinn in 'The Playboy of the Western World' at The Old Vic.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Angie Beasley, Director of the Miss England beauty pageant and a former Miss Cleethorpes; Neil Powell works with dogs - in mountain rescue, drowned victim recovery and drug detection; Muyiwa is a gospel singer and radio presenter of Premier Gospel radio station; and professional storyteller Hugh Lupton.

This week Libby Purves is joined by skydiver Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld; Imran Khan, former cricketer and captain of Pakistan, now politician; Freer Spreckley, a former pupil at Summerhill, a progressive school in Suffolk; and columnist and agony aunt Virginia Ironside.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Carol Mellin, a sheep dog trainer who is competing in the World Sheep Dog Trials; Steve Walker, a former addict and dealer who now works as Programme Director of the Ley Community, a successful drug rehabilitation centre; Lucy Bailey is joint Artistic Director of the Print Room, a converted warehouse - turned theatre; and aspiring chef Molly Birnbaum tells how she lost her sense of smell in a road accident.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Laura Whitfield who is appearing in the Channel 4 observational documentary series, 'Seven Dwarves', which follows the lives of seven dwarf actors as they live together and perform in pantomime; Alastair Hignell, former BBC rugby commentator on his book 'Higgy - Matches, Microphones and MS'; Matteo Pistono, writer and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism on his book, 'In the Shadow of the Buddha'; and actor Nigel Havers on his new comedy play 'Basket Case'.

This week Anita Anand is joined by structural engineer Jane Wernick, who is involved in 'Living Architecture', a not-for-profit organisation which designs and builds houses of outstanding architectural merit around Britain; Douglas Edwards, Google's first director of consumer marketing and brand management on his book, 'I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59'; Professor Gordon Turnbull, recognised as one of the UK's leading practitioners in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), on his book 'Trauma'; and Anne Hunter talks about growing up in care, pegged to a new play 'Where's Your Mama Gone? at the New End Theatre, Hampstead.