Putin & the US Christian right; Pope and Poetry; Covid Day of Reflection

Ronald Reagan, Republican president and hero of right wing cold warriors, once famously described the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire. Today many conservative Christians on America's political right apparently admire the current Kremlin regime and, indeed, its leader Vladimir Putin. We have had to come to terms with all sorts of ideological summersaults during the crisis over Ukraine over the past couple of weeks, and this one is surely among the most bewildering and disorientating. To help us understand it, Edward is joined by Dr Katherine Kelaidis, author of Holy Russia, Holy War.On the National Covid Day of Reflection, Edward speaks to actress Sophie Myles about losing her father in the early days of the pandemic and how she'll remember him.The Pope may have been recovering from pneumonia in hospital but he's still managed to publish a book on his love of literature. 'Viva La Poesia' has come out in Italy. We hear from Italian writer Alessandro Zaccuri(The Windhover is read by Catherine Philips from Downing College, Cambridge and taken from 'In Our Time' on March 21st 2019 )