Historian Simon Schama wants to make truth sexy again

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.--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. —--------Links and mentions from the episode: –Key coverage of the war in Ukraine is free to read: https://www.ft.com/content/77ab8dcf-cb02-4e57-aff0-85c8a84f5a1f –Coda Story, Natalia’s news website: https://www.codastory.com/-Coda’s Disinformation Matters newsletter: https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/disinfo-matters-newsletters/– Natalia is on Twitter @antelava. You can also keep up with FT coverage by following @financialtimes on Instagram and Twitter.--------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC. To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 10% off.—------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen TurnerClips this week from Euronews, CNN and the BBC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Mar 202232min

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’. With a drop in viewership over the years, it seems the Academy is scrambling to make us care. But should we? Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC. To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 10% off.--------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Key coverage of the war in Ukraine is free to read: https://www.ft.com/content/77ab8dcf-cb02-4e57-aff0-85c8a84f5a1f –Olga is on Twitter @olgatokariuk. You can also keep up with FT coverage by following @financialtimes on Instagram and Twitter.–Mary Elise Sarotte on Ukraine’s history since 1991: https://www.ft.com/content/742f15fc-675a-4622-b022-cbec444651cf –Danny’s roundup of this year’s Oscars nominees: https://www.ft.com/content/d9000eb2-11ec-40af-aa8f-2e5f654bde4e –Danny’s review of Power of the Dog: https://www.ft.com/content/8f2af17e-cad5-4fc6-9ea7-68e5402dda5d –Lilah made a Hark list of some of our favorite moments from the show so far, which you can listen to here https://short.harkaudio.com/3pwwAMH--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Hannis Brown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Mar 202234min

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 feeling less pressure to get everything done.We’ll be back with a new episode, on the cultural side of the war in Ukraine, next week.--------------We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Links from the episode:––Key coverage of the war in Ukraine is free to read: https://www.ft.com/freetoread. You can also keep up with FT coverage by following @financialtimes on Instagram and Twitter.—Enuma Okoro’s love letter to New York City: https://www.ft.com/content/e2507d84-9a12-4755-a9c7-41c9ea116947 —Lilah’s piece about visiting Armenia: https://www.ft.com/content/2e2f38b0-e7a1-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6ea3 —Review of Elif Shafak’s novel, The Island of Missing Trees: https://www.ft.com/content/1a064a06-bd19-43c7-8237-38931853d0e2 —Tim Harford on to-do lists: https://www.ft.com/content/06ffe40d-fdcc-4be8-b536-810cedce7ed1 —Oliver Burkeman on how not to waste your life (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/dd0d477b-c1f7-4d74-af68-c1ef1692566c--------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC. To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 10% off.--------------Sound design and mixing is by Breen Turner, with original music by Metaphor Music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Mar 202229min

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-Knights tells us that it's mostly heard by middle-aged women. So is it a real noise, an imaginary illness, or both? --------------Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We are on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC. To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 10% off.--------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Imogen West Knights on the mystery of the hum: https://on.ft.com/3pe43ve –The FT’s key coverage on the war in Ukraine is free to read: http://ft.com/freetoread – Here’s the piece Alec mentioned, ‘The road to war: how Putin wrote the requiem for peace’, by Mary Sarotte: https://on.ft.com/3HqSO8F – Alec’s lunch with Lea Ypi: https://on.ft.com/3GHmi1J –Alec is on Twitter at @AlecuRussell, and Imogen is on Twitter @ImogenWK –Rob Armstrong’s profile of Larry Gagosian: https://on.ft.com/3ImMiBr --------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing, sound design and sleuthing by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

26 Feb 202237min

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. --------------Do you want to read the Financial Times? We have special discounts for listeners here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Exciting news! Lea Ypi will be speaking at the first FT Weekend Festival to be hosted in the US. To attend (virtually or in person) go to http://ft.weekendfestival.com – with 10% off using the discount code FTFriends2022. It’s on Saturday May 7th at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Alec Russell’s Lunch with Lea Ypi: https://on.ft.com/3GHmi1J –FT review of Lea Ypi’s memoir Free: https://www.ft.com/content/b5455f0f-33a9-480e-9027-6884cc25faa4 –Madhu on how science fiction shapes our attitudes to the future: https://www.ft.com/content/2f35be37-9da8-4cf6-89b2-8488b36c5a63 –Madhu recommends the book Exhalation by Ted Chiang–Chen Qiufan’s latest book is caled AI2041: Ten Visions for ur Future, co-authored with Kai-Fu Lee – This weekend’s Lunch with the FT, with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas: https://www.ft.com/content/098ba985-1284-46c6-9abe-f626fa9e47f0– Lunch with the Financial Times, edited by Lionel Barber, a selection of classic lunches: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309/309448/lunch-with-the-ft/9780241400685.html Alec is on Twitter at @AlecuRussell, and Madhu is at @madhumita29."Long Live Enver Hoxha!" copyright Believe Music and UMPG Publishing. "Astroboy" Copyright Tezuka Productions Co. Clip: AP Archive--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design is by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Feb 202232min

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 newest residents. We also hear from Miamians who have lived there for decades.--------------Do you want to read the Financial Times? We have special discounts for listeners here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------To attend the first US FT Weekend Festival in the US (virtually or in person) go to http://ft.weekendfestival.com – with 10% off using the discount code FTFriends2022. It’s on May 7th at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Joel Stein on how Miami became the most important city in America: https://on.ft.com/3LsiMfy –Alec Russell’s Lunch with Lea Ypi (ahead of next week’s episode): https://on.ft.com/3GHmi1J –Joel Stein is on Twitter at @thejoelstein--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design is by Breen Turner. "Miami" by Will Smith. Copyright Sony Music Entertainment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Feb 202225min

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 listeners: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Patrick McGee on how connected fitness became the new obsession: https://on.ft.com/32YplFd–Andrew Hill: ‘Pulp non-fiction: the worst business books of 2022’: https://on.ft.com/34ao7Hz –All the winners and shortlisted books for FT and McKinsey's best business books of the year award https://ig.ft.com/sites/business-book-award/ –If you want to read more about the culture of Peloton, here’s ‘This is your brain on Peloton’, by Amanda Hess (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/arts/peloton-cody-rigsby-content.html –Anne Helen Peterson is the unofficial internet scholar on Peloton celebrity: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/towards-a-unified-theory-of-peloton --------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design is by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Feb 202229min

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, use this link for special discounts for listeners: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: – This week’s How To Spend It cover story and photoshoot: ‘Tide and seek: the hidden treasures of low tide’ https://www.ft.com/content/44a1a5be-d0de-4a5a-a02b-1386e0b7c84f –Lara Maiklem’s books are called ‘Mudlarking’ and ‘A Field Guide to Mudlarking’–Last time Jo went mudlarking was with jeweller Ruth Tomlinson for this November 2021 article: ‘Why I’m throwing my jewellery into the Thames’: https://www.ft.com/content/aacc19ef-d397-4c15-b943-a029a4954ca1 –A great piece Lilah recommends on mudlarking by novelist Daniel Wallace: https://gardenandgun.com/feature/daniel-wallace-explores-the-art-of-mudlarking/ –Tom Faber on the transformative power of games: https://www.ft.com/content/c2f8b5b6-1f30-48cc-a098-71484ded9a00 –Tom also wrote a great piece this week about the Cameo app and celebrity culture: https://on.ft.com/3FIF7kF --------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design is by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Jan 202227min