Life and Art from FT Weekend

While the Life and Art team takes a break for Thanksgiving, we’re sharing an episode of Working It, the FT’s workplace podcast hosted by Isabel Berwick. 

Here’s what it’s about: Do you ever find yourself lost for words? Or maybe you have too much to say? This week’s episode features a masterclass in chit-chat from Matt Abrahams, a lecturer in communications at Stanford University, podcast host and author of the book 'Think Faster, Talk Smarter'. Good conversation is an essential tool of self-promotion in the office. So what do we make of Matt’s advice here at the FT office? Host Isabel Berwick gets the views of award-winning FT columnist Pilita Clark and Stephen Bush, who writes the FT’s daily Inside Politics newsletter.  

If you’re an FT subscriber, you can find Isabel’s newsletter at https://www.ft.com/newsletters

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected].

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.  

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

Robin Lane Fox is one of the foremost gardening experts in the world. He’s been the FT’s gardening columnist for 53 years. And he joins us today to talk about what to do with your plants in winter. As it gets colder and darker, what should we do to keep our plants happy, indoors and out? The conversation is a delight. We’ve shared all of his recommendations below.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected].

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Robin’s recommendations (all FT links get you past the paywall):

–Robin’s public gardens, ‘the kissing fields’, are the gardens he runs at New College, Oxford. Here’s a video of him giving an exclusive tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae1lCrnsm3k

Robin’s outdoor winter suggestions for the UK are: the winter flowering cherry tree (Prunus subhirtella autumnalis). He also recommends the family of flowering Viburnum shrubs (Viburnum x bodnantense 'dawn' is pink, and 'Deben' is white), and above all, his best tip: hellebores, especially the Ashwood hybrids, and the Harvington hybrids.

Here’s Robin’s column on November flowers: https://on.ft.com/3uiNPWW

Robin’s book suggestion for Japanese gardening is My World of Hepaticas by John Massey

For indoor plants in cold regions, try Phalaenopsis orchids. If you have too many orchids, here are some other options: Cyclamen, azaleas, poinsettia, and white jasmine.

Robin’s current bestselling book is Homer and His Iliad.

Robin’s selection from last year of Christmas gifts for gardeners is here: https://on.ft.com/3ucX6j9

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

This Friday, we’re talking about the deification of Dolly Parton, or, as we like to call her, Saint Dolly. Her new release Rockstar comes out today – a 30-track rock album that features duets with artists such as Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John and Stevie Nicks on cover versions of their classic songs. The album feels a bit like a karaoke album, but we had a lot of fun listening to it – partially because Parton is so easy to love. So how did Parton become such a cultural icon? What does she represent? And why do we want a Saint Dolly? Lilah is joined by US media correspondent Anna Nicolaou and FT Magazine’s food and drink editor (and long-time Dollyhead) Harriet Fitch Little. 

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected].

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): 

– Rockstar by Dolly Parton is available to stream now, on all music streaming platforms. 

– Here’s the FT’s review of Rockstar, by our pop critic Ludo Hunter-Tilney: https://on.ft.com/3ufuiql 

– Harriet unpacks the history of Parton’s hit ‘9 to 5’ for the FT column Life of a Song: https://on.ft.com/49F9Uiz

– Anna is on X @annanicolaou, Harriet is on X at @HarrietFL and Instagram at @huffffle

More or less: 

– Harriet recommends Jury Duty, available to stream free on Amazon Prime

– For great local-feeling restaurants in New York, Lilah has a hundred recommendations, but here are three: Claud, a wine bar in the East Village, Names in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and (the classic) Frankie’s in Carroll Gardens

– Here’s the article Harriet mentioned, ‘The UK’s 19 cosiest winter restaurants – according to FT writers’: https://on.ft.com/3MNmZwy

– Anna hates grey wood floors

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clips courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

This week, as it gets colder and darker, we discuss cosy, warming winter recipes that don’t rely on a big hunk of meat. Bestselling cookbook author Hetty McKinnon joins us to talk plant-based winter cooking, from ways to use kale and broccoli, to layering flavour, to her favourite spices and herbs. Hetty’s newest cookbook, Tenderheart, came out this spring.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram and X @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected]. 

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Links: 

– Hetty’s kale and orzo recipe can be found in Tenderheart. Her other bestselling cookbook is called To Asia With Love

– Hetty is on Instagram at @hettymckinnon. She also has a newsletter, To Vegetables With Love

– Here’s a delicious winter lentil stew from the FT Weekend Magazine recipe columnists, Honey & Co: https://on.ft.com/3ujlPCk

– And a piece Lilah recommends from Laila Gohar about winter cabbage: https://on.ft.com/3MEv2vp

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

For our first Friday culture chat, we talk about the new cringe-drama-comedy show The Curse, which dropped on Paramount Plus today. Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone play a couple who are making a problematic reality TV show, Flipanthropy, whose goal is to “ethically gentrify” an American neighbourhood. When they’re cursed by a child, their lives are turned upside down. Lilah’s joined by FT columnist Stephen Bush and assistant arts editor Rebecca Watson to talk about the show and how prestige TV is changing comedy. Why are we laughing less, and cringing more? And why is comedy so complicated right now? 

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected].

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): 

– The Curse can be streamed on Paramount Plus and Showtime in the US from November 10. It airs on Paramount Plus in the UK from November 11

– The other shows we discussed are Nathan For You (2013-2017) and The Rehearsal (2022)

– Look out for the FT’s review of The Curse. TV critic Dan Einav’s review of The Rehearsal is here: https://on.ft.com/3SASwFM 

– Rebecca Watson’s novel is called Little Scratch. She’s on X at @rebeccawhatsun

– Stephen Bush’s daily UK politics newsletter is called Inside Politics. You can trial it for free here. He’s on X at @stephenkb

– Stephen recommended, as films where children act like children, the new British film Scrapper and the 2021 Belgian film Playground. Rebecca added the 2022 film Aftersun

– Lilah recommended the comedian Rachel Kaly

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

In our inaugural episode of Life and Art from FT Weekend, we go to Athens. The FT’s Greece and Cyprus correspondent Eleni Varvitsioti is a lifelong Athenian, and for the past 16 years she has lived in the centre of town, in the shadow of the Acropolis. But as Athens has become more popular with tourists, the centre has become less and less livable. This week, Eleni tells us what exactly is causing the congestion, and what should be done about it. She and Lilah also suggest alternate Greek itineraries, from coastal day trips within an easy drive from Athens, to their favourite islands.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram and X @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected]. 

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Links: 

– Eleni’s essay on living in Athens’ city centre: https://on.ft.com/3QJo373

Greece recommendations:

– From Athens, Eleni suggests you drive 15km-20km along the coast to around Cape Sounio, where there are beautiful beaches. Visit the Temple of Poseidon and visit a taverna underneath it.

– Lilah recommends Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, about 500km north of Athens. There are two perfect restaurants for sit-down gyros and soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs): Diagonios and Diavasi.

– Eleni suggests, if you’re visiting Thessaloniki, to also visit Vergina, which is the tomb of Philip II of Macedon (Philip the Great).

– For islands, Eleni recommends Sifnos. Lilah recommends Skopelos, and the much less discovered southern coast of Crete.

– Other recommendations that we didn’t have space for in the episode: Eleni suggests taking a drive from Athens down along the coastlines of the Peloponnese, or to visit the northwest of the country, Ioannina, if you like nature and hiking. Lilah recommends climbing Mount Olympus, which is an actual thing you can do (you can take day hikes or stay overnight at the peak), and visiting Meteora, a complex of 14th century monasteries built precipitously on the tops of immense towering rocks.

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clip courtesy of Sony Pictures.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Starting Monday we will be bringing you a whole new show! It’s called Life and Art, from FT Weekend. Join host Lilah Raptopoulos for two new episodes each week right here in this feed. 

On Mondays, we’ll talk about life and how to live a good one. We’ll chat about food, creativity, travel and more. 

On Fridays, Lilah will host a roundtable that will dive deep into a piece of culture that’s in the air right now. Every week, we’ll invite two colleagues from around the FT for the conversation.

So don’t go anywhere! Life and Art from FT Weekend debuts this Monday November 6.

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

We’re entering Halloween weekend, so today we’re bringing you a special episode about why we like to be scared, and what scares us! We are dissecting the 1978 horror classic Halloween, by John Carpenter. This week marks its 45th anniversary. The film follows a masked serial killer, Michael Myers, as he returns to his hometown on a killing spree, and is 19-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis’ debut. It’s become one of the most popular horror franchises in history. But how does it hold up now? We’re joined by FT magazine editor/scary movie aficionado Matt Vella, and executive audio producer/occasional horror fiction writer Manuela Saragosa to talk about the film and what makes a horror film work. They also try to convince Lilah that horror films are, indeed, important and good. Be sure to listen to the intro for a special announcement!

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We love hearing from you. You can email us at [email protected]. We tweet @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links: 

– Manuela’s short story appears in ‘Six Scary Stories selected by Stephen King’ (2016). 

– You can find Matt and Manuela on X, formerly Twitter, @mattvella and @manuelasaragosa 

– Our film review of Dr Jeckell: https://on.ft.com/3Q9oBBD 

– FT’s video interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, ‘A Life in Acting in a Changing Hollywood’ (May): https://on.ft.com/3QdBJWl 

– Check out Luke Edward Hall’s column on how to host a pagan Halloween party (2021): https://on.ft.com/3QwpoxI  

– This isn't halloween related, but we loved this recent piece on how to cook a six-dish autumn feast (the formatting of the recipes really makes it easy to throw a dinner party): https://on.ft.com/3rXgzE0 

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clip courtesy of Sony Pictures.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

This week, we’re talking about the show, and pop star, of the century: Taylor Swift just released the film version of her Eras concert in theatres, and it’s already breaking records. Lilah hosts a roundtable on both the film and the Taylor phenomenon with HTSI Editor Jo Ellison and US media correspondent Anna Nicolaou. How did we all get wrapped up in the hype? Is there anywhere else for Swift to go? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or at http://ft.com/ftweekendpodcast.

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We love hearing from you. You can email us at [email protected]. We tweet @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links: 

– the FT’s review of the Taylor Swift concert documentary: https://on.ft.com/46Hl0lh

– Anna has been writing about the Taylor Swift phenomenon for years, including here and here

– read Jo's column on seeing Taylor, which came out the day this episode dropped. You can find Jo on Twitter and Instagram at @jellison

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

This week, we bring you a conversation about food memoirs from the recent FT Weekend Festival. Cooking and eating are two of the most sensory and universal experiences we have, which makes food an excellent vehicle for stories. And food memoirs have become an extremely popular genre. Lilah speaks about it with three food-based storytellers: chef and FT columnist Ravinder Bhogal; 19-year-old baker and Instagram star Kitty Tait, who wrote a book about how baking bread saved her life; and Angela Hui, who wrote a popular memoir about growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales.

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We love hearing from you. You can email us at [email protected]. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links: 

-Ravinder’s most recent recipe is here: https://on.ft.com/3ZVQiCz

-Angela’s book is called Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood behind the Counter

-Kitty’s book is called Breadsong: How baking changed our lives

-Kitty is on Instagram @kittytaitbaker

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Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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