Historian Simon Schama wants to make truth sexy again

“I feel like America was an experiment that right now is yielding really hideous, ugly results". In the days after the US election, Lilah explores how divided the US is with artist and activist iO Tillett Wright. iO created the hit true-crime podcast The Ballad of Billy Balls. He just finished a ten-year project travelling to all 50 states to photograph 10,000 queer Americans and has a unique lens on America. They discuss the election, how Americans were taught to hate, the dangers of groupthink, the ebb and flow of the fight for queer rights, this generation’s fight for civil rights and what effective activism looks like.iO's projects:–The Ballad of Billy Balls–His memoir, Darling Days–Self Evident Truths: 10,000 Portraits of Queer America–iO's Ted Talk, 50 Shades of Gay–A conversation between iO and King Princess (Interview Magazine)iO's recommendations:–Rabbit Hole podcast, from the New York Times–The Social Dilemma is on Netflix (here's an FT interview with its director, Jeff Orlowski)–Swindled, a podcast about white-collar crime & corporate greed–A General Theory of Love: a book about the science of human emotions and biological psychiatryAhead of our next episode, three pieces by Simon Schama:–The two Americas: LBJ, MLK and what the dramas of 1965 can teach a polarised nation–Simon Schama: History is better served by putting the Men in Stone in museums–Plague Time: Simon Schama on what history tells us Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Nov 202045min

After a summer defined by protest, we invite on Ai Weiwei, one of the most influential artists and activists of our time, to discuss whether we've changed. Weiwei describes how to protest creatively and powerfully ("you only see your power from your enemy's eye"), the symbolic meaning of this pandemic, and his view on the state of humanity. Plus: FT arts editor Jan Dalley joins Lilah to unpack the conversation and consider where art is going.Links from the episode:—Circa 2020 on Instagram. They're raising money for struggling UK artists with a £100 Ai Weiwei print here through October—Watch Human Flow on Amazon Prime or here—Watch Coronation, Ai Weiwei's most recent documentary, which compiled secret footage of Wuhan during the peak of the Covid crisis, on Vimeo—13 Ai Weiwei works to know (Royal Academy of Arts)—FT piece on the best new operas online (paywall)—Jan Dalley's review of the art world in the 2010sClip credit: AT SEA consists of footage filmed by Ai Weiwei during the making of “Human Flow” in 2016. Since 2015, hundreds of thousands of refugees have attempted the dangerous sea journey trying to reach Europe. Alongside these scenes are shots of physical barriers erected across Europe, the cold response to the plea for safety and shelter from the world’s most vulnerable. Video edited by: Autumn Rin Quotes: The border is not in Lesbos, it is in our minds and in our hearts. – Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist (b. 1957) Music Credit: Karsten Fundal Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Okt 202043min

In this bonus episode, we bring you a conversation between Lilah and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. In her recent memoir, Memorial Drive, Natasha shares the painful story of her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather when Natasha was 19. Natasha was born to a black mother and white father in the Deep South during the civil rights movement. When she was an infant, the KKK burned a cross in her family's front yard. In this interview she speaks to the cyclical nature of history, the disease of racism, and the power of memory. This interview was originally recorded at the FT Weekend Live Festival in early September 2020.Get tickets to the virtual October 22 FT NextGen festival here for free, using the promo code FTPodcast.—Watch this conversation between Natasha and Lilah on YouTube —Read Natasha’s piece for the FT, America the Beautiful: three generations in the struggle for civil rights—Read the FT review for Memorial Drive, written by playwright Bonnie Greer—Read Natasha’s poem, Imperatives for Carrying On in the Aftermath Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Okt 202035min

Miranda July is an artist ahead of her time: a prolific filmmaker, writer, musician, actor and more. Her work deliberately leads us into discomfort – and then hugs us from behind. Her third feature film, Kajillionaire, now on US and UK general release, is an exploration of loneliness and love that feels especially prescient now. Miranda and Lilah discuss what it’s like to release a film during a pandemic, how to make art when we don’t know what we’ll want in the future, and how a weirder world has made her film a lot less weird. Plus: FT writer Harriet Fitch-Little joins Lilah to debrief on the interview and discuss why we all stopped going to digital events.The coronavirus pandemic has broken so much open. And that gives us a very unique chance to reimagine. Welcome to the first of a six-part season. From now to the end of 2020, Lilah will be posing the question “what’s possible now?” to different creators and thinkers, to FT Life & Arts journalists, and to you.What do you think is possible now, that seemed impossible before? Email us at culturecall@ft.com. You can message Lilah on Instagram or Twitter @lilahrap, and find the podcast on Twitter @ftculturecall. We love voice notes – so send those, too.Links from the episode: Our Next Gen virtual festival, hosted by the FT’s young editors, is on October 22! Buy tickets here, and use our discount code, NextGen2020Anthem, by Leonard CohenA deep dive on the line, “There is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in”Lilah’s piece about living through historyHarriet Fitch-Little’s profile of Miranda JulyFT’s Kajillionaire review by Danny Leigh (paywall)Jenny Odell interviews Miranda JulyBehind the scenes of Jopie, Miranda’s crowdsourced film An excerpt of John Giorno’s memoir, Great Demon Kings @newyorknico on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Okt 202052min

The season kicks off on Friday, October 9! With co-host Griselda Murray Brown on maternity leave, Lilah Raptopoulos presents a new series of conversations with creators and thinkers about our radically transformed cultural landscape.We are living through history. The pandemic has exposed deep cracks in our systems, giving us an unprecedented chance to reexamine and upend. This six-episode season is based around the following question: what’s possible now? Join Lilah, star guests and the team behind the Financial Times’ critically-acclaimed Life & Arts journalism to explore how culture is helping us envision what’s next.Want to say hi? Email us at culturecall@ft.com, find Lilah on Instagram or Twitter at @lilahrap, and find the show on Twitter at @ftculturecall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Okt 20202min

The world has changed. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, Gris speaks to Tyler Mitchell, a 25-year-old photographer, filmmaker and political artist who shot to fame when he photographed Beyonce for the September issue of American Vogue in 2018. In his work, Tyler explores what freedom means for black Americans, and all the ways in which it is denied. Gris first spoke to Tyler in early May - three weeks before police killed George Floyd - and they talked again just before this episode was published.This is our finale for Season Two! Thank you for an incredible run. Gris is about to go on maternity leave, but Lilah will be back for Season Three in a few months’ time. In the meantime, you can still always find us talking about culture on Twitter @FTCultureCall or on Instagram at @lilahrap and @griseldamurraybrown, and you can email us at culturecall@ft.com. Links and notes from the episode:–Here is our massive list of listener recommendations for what to watch on streaming platforms. Thanks to all who shared their thoughts! There’s no paywall on this, so you can share it freely: https://www.ft.com/content/87f1f7fe-af30-11ea-a4b6-31f1eedf762e –If you want free access to explore FT journalism for 30 days, sign up to the Coronavirus Business Update newsletter using this special link: https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/coronavirus?segmentId=0d92d58c-2c7d-178e-6aa8-81529dd53b1b –White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (You can also listen to an interview with Robin here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/come-through/articles/5-robin-diangelo)– Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge –The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett –I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel (BBC iPlayer and HBO)–Here’s an excellent recent episode of our sister podcast, Behind the Money, on the history of police funding in America: https://www.ft.com/content/a6d56dd2-fd2c-4047-a502-c6c6d9dc3f90–Tyler Mitchell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tylersphotos–Tyler’s new photo book I Can Make You Feel Good, published by Prestel on July 28: https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/book/I-Can-Make-You-Feel-Good/Tyler-Mitchell/Prestel/e563080.rhd–Inside Tyler’s exhibition I Can Make You Feel Good: https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/12200/tyler-mitchell-photographer-i-can-make-you-feel-good-exhibition-new-york-2020–Photographers who Tyler Mitchell cites as inspirations: Ryan McGinley, Larry Clark, and Petra Collins (who he calls ‘the first internet phenomenon photographer on some level’)–Jeremy O Harris’s tweets on... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Jun 20201h

This week, Lilah talks to Liana Finck, a graphic novelist and New Yorker cartoonist with a fan base on Instagram that’s half a million strong. Liana is known for her funny and astute explorations of what it means to be human. She talks about how to free yourself up to be creative in quarantine, where confidence comes from, the most interesting human expressions to draw and what it’s like to have Ariana Grande slide into your DMs.We also share some of your Netflix recommendations, which we are still collecting to publish! Let us know what we should be watching that the streaming algorithms are hiding from us. Fill out our short form at ft.com/culturecallout, or email us at culturecall@ft.com. If you want to get social, we're on Twitter @FTCultureCall and Instagram at @griseldamurraybrown and @lilahrap.Links and notes from the episode:–A special gift from us to you: sign up to the FT's Coronavirus Business Update newsletter and get free access to our journalism for 30 days https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/coronavirus?segmentId=0d92d58c-2c7d-178e-6aa8-81529dd53b1b About Liana Finck:–Liana's Instagram: https://instagram.com/lianafinck/–Her graphic memoir is called Passing for Human–Some of Liana’s New Yorker cartoons about quarantine: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/some-drawings-from-week-three-at-home–Unpopular likes and unpopular dislikes: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8pSyMMlHcG/–Me/you/us, plotted: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Yy65xlYQB/–Liana’s recommendations for which graphic novels to start with:Everything is Flammable, by Gabrielle BellCan't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz ChastWendy, by Walter Scott –Lilah and listener Martha O’Neill’s film recommendation, Three Identical Strangers, is on Netflix–Martin Wolf video: How might the world be different after the pandemic? https://www.ft.com/video/dafc3578-5c76-412a-8ba3-016495031bd1–Martin Wolf column: Maintaining the lockdown and saving the economy are mutually compatible (paywall) https://www.ft.com/content/e486590e-8539-11ea-b872-8db45d5f6714–Apps about trees: Tree Talk (London) and Leafsnap (US and UK)–Gris' film recommendation, 120 BPM, is on Hulu and available to rent–Listener Victoria Amico's Netflix recommendations are 13th (Ava DuVernay's documentary on racialised mass incarceration in the US) and The Great Hack (on the Cambridge Analytica scandal)–Listener Kana Kamagae's Netflix recommendations are Never Have I Ever (Mindy Kaling’s TV series) and Tigertail Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Mai 202047min

This week, Gris talks to the brilliant 30-year-old playwright Jeremy O Harris about his Broadway sensation Slave Play and his autobiographical "Daddy". This is an interview that will stick with you for a long time. They discuss how black art is re-packaged by white institutions, how black and white audiences respond differently to his work, and how to make theatre more accessible — both for quarantine and for younger audiences (Harris is also an executive producer on Euphoria). Plus: a special appearance from Phoebe Waller-Bridge!As always, we want to hear from you. This week, we'd love to know what gems the Netflix algorithm is hiding from us. What are you streaming that we should be watching? We'll publish your list! Fill out our short form at ft.com/culturecallout, or email us at culturecall@ft.com. f you want to get social, we're on Twitter @FTCultureCall and Instagram at @griseldamurraybrown and @lilahrap.Links and notes from the episode:–A special gift from us to you: sign up to the FT's Coronavirus Business Update newsletter and get free access to our journalism for 30 days! https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/coronavirus?segmentId=0d92d58c-2c7d-178e-6aa8-81529dd53b1b–The recipe for kuku sabzi, a delicious Persian frittata: https://youtu.be/OJFoIfzY7eI–A great piece about Jenny Odell's How To Do Nothing: https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-jenny-odell-interview-how-nothing-20190509-story.html–Wesley Morris on ESPN's The Last Dance https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-last-dance-jordan.html–(More Wesley Morris content) Still Processing dissects Tiger King: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/podcasts/still-processing-tiger-king.html–FT review of Becoming on Netflix (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/e46b7582-8df7-11ea-a8ec-961a33ba80aa–Aisha Harris' review of Slave Play: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/opinion/slave-play-broadway.html–Slave Play's set designer on the choice behind the onstage mirror: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/rihanna-mirrors-and-america-processing-slave-plays-set-design–Genre defying women that Jeremy mentioned: Aphra Behn, Caryl Churchill, Suzan-Lori Parks–Jeremy's recommendation of Perfect Blue by Satochi Kon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Blue–Jeremy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyoharris Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Mai 202059min