Front Row: Archive 2013

With Mark Lawson. Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, a new exhibition at Tate Britain, compares Lancashire born artist L S Lowry with the French tradition of the time and argues for his pre-eminence as a painter of the industrial city. Rachel Cooke reviews.The writer Jonathan Dee, whose novel The Privileges was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, discusses his latest work. A Thousand Pardons explores what it means to apologise and the tradition of apology and forgiveness in public life. Jonathan Dee talks about receiving an angry e-mail from a reader shocked by the novel's dramatic twist.This is the End is the latest collaboration from Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, following Superbad and Pineapple Express. It's set at a glamorous party, where James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill play versions of themselves, with cameos from stars including Rihanna and Emma Watson. The festivities are in full swing when the apocalypse arrives. Viv Groskop reviews.The writer Brian Aldiss, best known for his s