How has the music industry changed over the past decade? The FT’s business and media reporters tell the dramatic tale, and introduce us to the most powerful exec in the business: Universal Chief Sir Lucian Grainge. Then, ethical philosopher Julian Baggini questions what our bookshelves say about us, and Work & Careers editor Isabel Berwick, a Duolingo master, makes the case for learning a new language from scratch. This weekend, we explore the forces that shape our cultural habits: how we listen to music, how we learn languages, and how we read. 

Listeners: what are you reading, watching, eating, doing, that is making you happy? We want your recommendations, to use in a future episode. Write us, or record and send us a voice note at [email protected]. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. 

Links from the episode:

—Profile of Sir Lucian Grainge, the last music mogul, by Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Anna Nicolaou: https://www.ft.com/content/ae259b02-67a1-4eec-848c-7dc739efa910 

—Julian Baggini on why we should get rid of our books: https://www.ft.com/content/3aac4854-997e-4391-b7e0-627142ba00e4

—Isabel Berwick on being a Duolingo champion: https://www.ft.com/content/872f057e-ec37-4f93-b72a-03e83ec107a4 

––FT review of Ride Upon the Storm, one of the Danish shows Isabel loved (the other is called Rita): https://www.ft.com/content/f1ad0fda-1e5e-11e9-b126-46fc3ad87c65 

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Sound design and mixing is by Breen Turner, with original music by Metaphor Music. 

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