Life and Art from FT Weekend - podcast cover

Life and Art from FT Weekend

Financial Timeswww.ft.com
Life and Art from FT Weekend is the twice-weekly culture podcast of the Financial Times. On Monday, we talk about life, and how to live a good one in one-on-one conversations. On Friday, we talk about ‘art’ – in a chat show. Three FT journalists come together to discuss a new cultural release across film, TV, music and books. Hosted by Lilah Raptopoulos, together with the FT’s award-winning writers and editors, and special guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

Food & Drink mini-series: Andy Baraghani on finding your home cooking style

Welcome to our summer Food & Drink-themed mini-series! Every Wednesday for the next four weeks, an expert will teach us something new. Lilah’s first guest is the chef and well-known food writer Andy Baraghani, who recently came out with a cookbook called 'The Cook You Want to Be'. He teaches us how to take the food that excites us, the food we grew up on and the food that we like now, and build it all into a personal home cooking style. -------------- Want to stay in touch? We love hearing f...

Jul 27, 202213 min

Why are tennis players fixing matches?

This week, we look at the dark side of professional tennis, where underpaid players are selling matches just to break even. Ranked around 200th in the world, a player named Nicolás Kicker was found guilty of match-fixing in 2018. His story reveals a lot of systemic problems within the sport. Then, we hear about the phenomenon of 'vice signalling' from columnist Stephen Bush. It’s similar to 'virtue signalling,' but instead of publicly gesturing towards altruism the vice signaller panders by prom...

Jul 23, 202229 min

Martin Wolf on how to change one's mind

This week, Lilah talks to Martin Wolf about having the confidence to change your mind. Martin is our chief economics commentator and one of the most influential economics journalists in the world. He reflects on how he forms a worldview, and how his opinions have shifted over the past half-century. Then, we hear about the 'gentle parenting' craze on Instagram from Washington correspondent Courtney Weaver. There are no punishments, no bribes, and it encourages your child to have big feelings. But...

Jul 16, 202229 min

Our summer books and films special: what to read and watch

This week is our summer books and films spectacular, full of recommendations of things to read and watch. First, Lilah is joined by literary editors Fred Studemann and Laura Battle to explore the FT's Summer Books special. They suggest a range of light summer reads, sharp non-fiction, deep dives, thrillers and classics to take on your summer holiday, and talk trends in book publishing. Then, deputy arts editor Raphael Abraham recommends the top films to look out for this summer. After watching 2...

Jul 09, 202231 min

How to live forever

This week, we return to one of our favourite episodes to ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Houlding tells us about his terrifying family holidays, scaling vertical cliff-faces with his two young kids. We also explore radical life extension with science writer Anjana Ahuja. How close are we scientifically to extending the human lifespan to 150 or 200? What are the implications when we get there? And do we really want to live forever?  Links from the episode:...

Jul 02, 202228 min

A Strange Loop, the Tony-winning queer black best new musical

This week we speak with Michael R. Jackson, playwright of A Strange Loop , which just won the Tony award for Best Musical and Best Book. Jackson is a queer, black writer whose musical is about a queer, black writer writing a musical about a queer, black writer.. Hence the strange, but incredibly entertaining loop. Then, we learn about the dark side of Copenhagen's world-famous fine dining restaurant scene from Imogen West-Knights. Denmark seems to be turning a blind eye to abuses in its hottest ...

Jun 25, 202232 min

What Warhol’s Marilyn tells us about the art market

Last month, Andy Warhol's "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" sold for $195mn, making it the second most expensive piece of art to sell at auction, ever. And as prices keep going up, the art market — auction houses, gallerists, dealers, collectors — want to keep it that way. On the heels of a ‘stonking’ art season, we invite two heavy hitters into the studio to walk us through it: arts editor Jan Dalley and art market columnist Melanie Gerlis. Then, Christie's head of 20th- and 21st-century art, Alex Rotte...

Jun 18, 202233 min

The rich interior lives of pigs

This week, we explore new scientific research behind: pigs! They have far more sentience and complexity than we give them credit for. Chief features writer Henry Mance joins to discuss how pigs and other animals think and feel, and the bigger questions around how we farm and eat them. Then, we look at a New York City architectural phenomenon: skinnyscrapers. Architecture critic Edwin Heathcote tells us about these new, super-thin towers that shoot up more than a quarter of a mile into the sky. H...

Jun 11, 202230 min

Introducing: Hot Money

A bonus episode! We’ve just launched a new podcast on porn, power and profit. When FT reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, she and her editor, Alex Barker, reveal who is behind it and much more. This eight-part investigative podcast reveals the secret history of the adult business and the billionaires and financial institutions who shape it. Brought to you by the Fin...

Jun 08, 202233 min

Tina Brown and Simon Schama on the royal family

This weekend, we're marking the Queen's Platinum Jubilee with a spirited discussion on what’s next for the Windsors. Tina Brown, author The Palace Papers , speaks with historian Simon Schama and HTSI editor Jo Ellison about the state of the royal family. As Britain celebrates 70 years of Elizabeth II on the crown, what will the royal family look like over the next decade? We bring you this conversation from the recent US FT Weekend festival stage. -------------- Want to say hi? We love hearing f...

Jun 04, 202225 min

The story of a stolen cookbook. Plus, Elizabeth Strout

In the 1930s, Alice Urbach wrote a beloved cookbook in Vienna. But during the Holocaust it was stolen: Aryanized, peppered with Nazi ideology and republished under someone else's name. The publisher refused to change it back for more than 85 years. Alice got her intellectual rights restored by her granddaughter Karina Urbach, a historian, who joins us to tell the story.  Afterwards, we bring you a conversation with Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, from our recent US FT Wee...

May 28, 202228 min

Why US abortion rights are under attack

It’s about to become much harder to find safe abortion care in America, in a country where some states already make it almost impossible. This week, we make sense of what’s happening and how we got here. Lilah speaks with Rhiannon Hamam, a Texas public defender and host of the popular show 5-4 (“a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks”) to make sense of Roe vs Wade, the seminal law that is expected to be overturned. Then, we pass the mic to three people providing abortion services in th...

May 21, 202232 min

Behind the Money is back!

Behind the Money is back with all-new episodes! From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. The podcast returns May 25. You can follow the show now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....

May 18, 20221 min

How Shakespeare gave actor Michael Patrick Thornton his life back

This weekend, Lilah talks to actor Michael Patrick Thornton, who appears in the buzzy new Broadway production of Macbeth . When Michael was 24, he had a series of spinal cord strokes. Reciting Shakespeare's sonnets taught him how to breathe and speak again, and continue his career. Michael is at present the only actor on Broadway who uses a wheelchair. We ask him about the power of language and his role in the play (which also stars Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga). Then, we learn about Britain's to...

May 14, 202232 min

'Everything Everywhere All at Once' with Daniels

This week, Lilah interviews Everything Everywhere All at Onc e directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also known as Daniels. Their film, starring Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, has received rave reviews for successfully combining genres from indie comedy to sci-fi to kung fu. Then our colleagues Leo Lewis and Eri Sugiura join us from Tokyo to explain Japan's succession crisis. Small and medium-sized companies employ 80 per cent of people in the country, but many owners’ children do not...

May 07, 202231 min

Morality in the Twitter era. Plus: China’s language revolution

This weekend, we think about morality in the age of social media. According to writer Dan Brooks, we're great at pointing out where good is missing, but we’ve forgotten how to be good people. Then, Yale professor Jing Tsu tells us the story of how China standardised its complex language of 80,000 characters into something that could fit on a keyboard. It wasn’t easy, but it helped make the country the global digital superpower that it is today. -------------- Want to say hi? We love hearing from...

Apr 30, 202230 min

The good life, with chefs Daniel Humm and Alice Waters

This weekend we’re returning to the first-ever episode of the FT Weekend podcast, from September. Lilah talks to Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm and Chez Panisse’s legendary Alice Waters to discover how the world’s top chefs are finding purpose beyond their restaurants. Humm created a buzz in May when he announced that his world-famous restaurant would be going entirely plant-based. Has that risk paid off? And what does it mean to do good as a chef?   Plus: the FT’s design critic Edwin He...

Apr 23, 202225 min

The story behind one of reggae’s most sampled songs

This week, we bring our classic Life of a Song series to your ears, with the dramatic story behind 'Bam Bam', Sister Nancy's reggae dancehall classic. Despite being one of the most sampled reggae tracks of all time, it didn't make Sister Nancy a penny for more than 30 years, Alice Kemp-Habib tells us. Then, undercover economist Tim Harford teaches us how to think about failure. What can we learn from an early 2000s Broadway flop that went on to win a Tony award? -------------- Want to say hi? We...

Apr 16, 202232 min

How Cameo is changing celebrity. Plus: designing your home

This weekend, we delve into the world of celebrity via the app Cameo. What does it mean that we can now pay celebrities to send us personalised video greetings? And how has our interaction with famous people shifted over the last decade? Lilah talks to gaming critic Tom Faber about the ethics and absurdities of fame in 2022. Then, interior design columnist Luke Edward Hall gives us his top tips on making your home really feel like yours. -------------- Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. E...

Apr 09, 202225 min

Introducing Tech Tonic: The US/China Tech Race

A new six-part series of Tech Tonic brings you stories from the frontlines of the battle between the US and China for global technological supremacy. At stake is the future of technologies that will shape all our lives, from the way the internet is used to the way we govern our societies. Join the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge as he charts China’s dramatic transformation into a global tech superpower, sparking rivalry with the US over who controls our technological future. Hosted on Acast...

Apr 08, 20222 min

Poet Maria Stepanova. Plus: Inside the FT newsroom

This week, guest host Marc Filippino discusses the FT's war coverage in Ukraine with our Editor, Roula Khalaf. How does a news organisation make decisions during wartime? Then Marc talks with Maria Stepanova, author of In Memory of Memory, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize last year. Maria tells us why so many intellectuals are leaving Russia and what it’s like to be Russian and against the war. —------------- Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to...

Apr 02, 202230 min

Art in times of war, plus: Anish Kapoor

This weekend, guest host Taylor Nicole Rogers talks to Ukrainian filmmaker Iryna Tsylik, director of the documentary The Earth is Blue as an Orange . It won a major directing award at Sundance in 2020 and has now become one of the films being used to explain the current war in Ukraine around the world. The film was shot in 2017 in a disputed area of eastern Ukraine, and focuses on a family making home movies during the conflict. Iryna reflects on the power of art now that she’s had to flee her o...

Mar 26, 202229 min

This is how Russia weaponizes disinformation

This weekend, we discuss the power of disinformation, and how Russia has been using it in Ukraine. We are joined by Natalia Antelava, who has reported in Ukraine and Eastern Europe for years. Natalia is editor-in-chief of the popular news website called Coda Story, which focuses on global digital crises, and has been closely covering Putin’s disinformation machine in Ukraine and beyond. We step back and examine the narratives Russia has used since 2014 to confuse, distort, and spread lies. -----...

Mar 19, 202232 min

Understanding Ukraine’s identity. Plus, the Oscars

This weekend, we speak with Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk, who is currently in western Ukraine. Olga reflects on how Ukrainians forged the resolve they are showing now in the fight against Russia. She shares how Ukraine’s identity has shifted and strengthened over the past 30 years since its independence, especially in the seven years since the Maidan revolution. Then, FT film critic Danny Leigh joins us to discuss this year's Oscars nominees, from ‘Power of the Dog’ to ‘Don't Look Up’. Wit...

Mar 12, 202234 min

The stories we tell, with Elif Shafak

This week we bring you one of the most popular episodes from our archive: a conversation with Elif Shafak, the most widely read woman novelist in Turkey. She and Lilah discuss national identity, the generational pain of conflict, and writing in countries that don't have freedom of speech. This conversation feels especially poignant today, as the war in Ukraine becomes even more devastating. This episode also features columnist Enuma Okoro on loving our cities, and economist Tim Harford on feelin...

Mar 05, 202230 min

The international mystery of the 'Hum'

Russia has invaded Ukraine. We begin this episode with a visit from FT Weekend editor Alec Russell, a week after he joined us to discuss his years covering the fall of communism in eastern Europe. How can we make sense of this? Then, we go searching for the Hum, a mysterious noise that has plagued the residents of Halifax, West Yorkshire. It’s an uncomfortable, low-frequency sound that has also been heard in towns across the world, from New Mexico to Ontario to Scotland. The FT's Imogen West-Kni...

Feb 26, 202237 min

Lea Ypi talks capitalism and freedom

This weekend, FT Weekend editor Alec Russell brings us to Albania for Lunch with the FT. He sits down with writer Lea Ypi, whose memoir ‘Free’ documents her childhood there, both under communism and after its fall. Ypi, a political theorist at the London School of Economics asks: does capitalism make us free? Plus: European tech correspondent Madhumita Murgia explores how science fiction shapes our attitudes towards the future, and how that translates across different cultures.  -----------...

Feb 19, 202232 min

Will Silicon Valley ruin Miami?

Miami is hot right now. In the pandemic, more people moved to Florida than to any other state by a long shot. Chief among them were the tech elite, who have made Miami—one of America’s most diverse cities—their next big conquest. But what happens when Silicon Valley falls in love with a place with such a singular culture? Will a new tech migration help Miami, or hurt it? We go to Miami with writer Joel Stein to meet the people investing in 'Miami 2.0', from A-Rod to Mayor Francis Suarez to its n...

Feb 12, 202225 min

Does Peloton trick us into working out?

This weekend, we look at the Peloton phenomenon. Is it a failing fitness cult or a lasting way to stay healthy? Lilah and San Francisco correspondent Patrick McGee explore the behavioural science behind why we don’t exercise and the tech that tricks our brains into doing it anyway. Then, management editor Andrew Hill tells us why so many bad business books exist at the airport, and what makes a good one -------------- If you want to explore the FT, use this link for special discounts for listene...

Feb 05, 202230 min

Treasure hunting on the Thames, with Jo Ellison

This week, we look at two things that connect us to human history. First, How To Spend It editor Jo Ellison takes us mudlarking — sifting through low tide for treasure — to find remnants of ordinary life from hundreds of years ago. Licensed mudlark Lara Maiklem teaches us how. Then we explore the staying power of games: why do we love them? Why have we been playing some for more than 7,000 years? Our gaming critic Tom Faber joins us to discuss.  -------------- If you want to explore the FT,...

Jan 29, 202227 min