Blueprint For Living - Full program

Breaking news: Vikings enjoyed cinnamon buns Why is vanilla a byword for boring? How did peppercorns end up next to salt on every western table? Did you know the Vikings were rather partial to cinnamon buns? Food writer Eleanor Ford explores the rich history of spices. Can churches solve the housing crisis? The Australian housing crisis rolls on with profound effect. From low-income families, to the elderly, to renters facing rent increase after rent increase. Against this backdrop, we head to Marrickville in Sydney's inner-west where a daring new housing development may provide a path forward. Bruce Pascoe’s object of desire - Nadgee IV Writer Bruce Pascoe shares the many stories that bind him closely to his boat and the river. The magnificence of Broughton Hall It started as a paddock and became a wonderland of terraced botanical displays, intricate parterre, maze-like pathways and spectacular colour. Join Tim Entwisle as he explores the beauty of Broughton Hall.

Your weekly expedition to the heart of modern life through buildings, design, gardens and food.

From ancient Roman aqueducts to futuristic vertical farms, how can we blend historical wisdom and cutting-edge technology to make our cities resilient places to live? What would food writer Hetty Lui McKinnon eat if it was her last day on Earth? And a writer takes us on a tour of his beloved Queensland coastal town.

Stretching for 170 kilometres and soaring 500 metres into the sky, how does The Line rank among the most grandiose architectural efforts in history? The story behind a Vogue editor's beloved Chanel jacket; and who wields the real influence when it comes to the world of social media food influencers?

Re-inventing the suburban backyard with regeneration and community in mind; re-designing the nature strip; Elizabeth David's Gratin Dauphinois and Besha Rodell's love of vintage glassware.

If you are dressed head to toe in black, polyester, nylon or some combination thereof, you may need a dress doctor. Linda Przybyszewski - Dress maker, historian and author of The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish - discusses the history of the dress doctors who helped women design, make and choose clothing for the workplace and home. She explains the design principles that guided the Dress doctors and their legacy in contemporary fashion and design.

Raw meat, egg slonking, seed oil panic and the war on “soy globalism” - welcome to the obscurantist dietary fixations of the alt right. Jan Dutkiewicz, Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at the Pratt Institute, explains how diet became a central issue in the culture war; And by way of counterpoint, chef of the year, Jo Barrett takes us to her Lorne restaurant where she cooks the dish she would make if it were her last meal on earth.

The city of Paris is about to enact an ambitious new climate Plan and we discuss the commitment to building a cyclist friendly urban centre; We also delve into the design history of the bicycle; and visit a man who makes penny farthings.

Internationally renowned designer Bethan Laura Wood is building a library like no other; she gives us a tour of Kaleidoscope-o-rama; Nam Le, award winning author of The Boat, takes us to the two places that shaped him as a writer; and Annie Smithers cooks Elizabeth David's courgettes à la grecque.

Solarpunk's vision for a brighter future, the churn of aesthetic trends online and why we find some foods disgusting.

Besha Rodell casts her gaze back on the food scene that was 2023 and makes her predictions for 2024; Journalist and author Nathan Thrall takes us to the city he calls the most divided in the world – his home city of Jerusalem.

Exposed brick, smashed avocado, hanging Edison bulbs, the patina of industry and reclaimed wood furniture – this is the algorithmic aesthetic writer and critic, Kyle Chayka investigates in his new book, Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. Also, the history of Neturaface, dubbed the gentrification font; and a conversation with Grand Designs Transformations host, Anthony Burke about the relationship between architecture, economic insecurity and home renovation.

Kevin McCloud on the definition of good design, why Grand Designs is such a compelling proposition; Yanis Varoufakis reflects on growing up in the shadow of the Parthenon, on his idyllic childhood and its contrast to the brutal political reality against which it was set; and a new series in which Annie Smithers cooks her way through Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking.

Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen reflects on the contradictions, conflicts and the disordered and divided appetites of the modern individual and Colin Bisset gives a design history of the comfortable chair.

This week, a haunted edition of Blueprint: a meditation, through food, cooking and place, on loss and the insistence of the past.

The settler-colonial project involved the imposition of European conceptions of natural landscape on the one hand, and the built world on the other. Jack Pascoe, Owen Hatherley and Michael-Shawn Fletcher consider the legacy of colonialism - its persistent myths and enduring imprint on the Australian landscape.

From the landlord special - beige-grey laminate, vast empty spaces, and colourless walls - to the neutral-coloured knitwear favoured by todays wealthy elite, we discuss aesthetic conformity and homogeneity in the worlds of fashion, architecture and design.

Professor Laleh Khalili discusses the movement of cargo, capital and cruiseliners across the globe and the human economy and exploitative labour practices upon which it relies.

The polite world of urban planning has become the latest target of conspiracy theorists. In recent weeks, the 15-minute city concept — where neighbourhoods provide life's essentials in 15 minutes by foot or bike — has become a harbinger of big brother in conspiracy-land.

Tamar Adler explains how to use the Marcella Hazan tomato sauce onion and how to talk about no-waste cooking without moralism; Tom Wilkinson discusses the ideological and political context of the contemporary architectural fetish for decay.