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Available for over a year

Jude Law plays Henry V in the West End directed by Michael Grandage. Matthew Sweet has a first night review from Susannah Clapp. Are we nearing the end of the Grotian Consensus? Turner's maritime paintings are for many the nearest they'll ever get to understanding the sea and the insights they offer are opaque and mysterious. In the 21st century the sea's realities are most often painted as a flat blue space on the map but we turn our faces away from the sea at our peril. Globalisation is encapsulated by the vast freighters which move goods around the world, piracy is on the increase, international maritime boundaries are disputed from the east China Sea to the Arctic, fish stocks are depleted, there is no conservation body exclusively concerned with the health and well being of the oceans and it's predicted that the oceans are ripe for industrialisation. Matthew Sweet talks to maritime geographer Phil Steinberg and expert in international public law , Steve Haines, about what the Freedom of the Seas means now and how maritime governance may develop this century. Langston Hughes' 1961 retelling of the nativity story has now been the inspiration for a musical film starring Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett and Jennifer Hudson with a solo from Mary J Blige. Hughes biographer Bonnie Greer and the writer Fred D'Aguiar have seen the film and talk to Matthew Sweet about Langston Hughes' enduring legacy. Producer: Natalie Steed.