Refigure

By Lo Fi ArtsArts

Refigure episodes

June 23, 2020 Refigure Check-in E50 – The Floor Is Lava & The Mystic Pop Up Bar
Welcome to Refigure, Chris and Rifa's continuing home-based bitesize covid-avoiding adventures in the arts, diversity and culture. It's the fiftieth episode of Refigure but we're so hardcore we forgot to even mention it in the show. Yes please to cake, though, if you insist.

This week we binge-watch brainmelting Netflix high concept game show The Floor Is Lava (or 'The Kwiksave Maze') then we dug into South Korean oddball drama series The Mystic Pop-up Bar.

Rifa is playing with Louise Hay's 'Power Thought Cards', while Chris is re-reading Colin Ward's radical little social history book Cotters & Squatters.

Thank you for listening. Please leave a five star review wherever you get your podcasts – and tell your friends about us. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Lots of love. xxx
23 min
June 16, 2020 Refigure Check-in E49 – BlackLivesMatter, Space Force & Da 5 Bloods
Chris and Rifa's continuing home-based adventures in culture, diversity and the arts.

This week we wear masks to a Black Lives Matter protest in Brighton. Then we watch Steve Carrell's new Netflix comedy series Space Force with John Malkovich and Lisa Kudrow, about a Trump-style military run space initiative.

Then we disagree about Spike Lee's new film Da 5 Bloods – also on Netflix – starring Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo, following a group of African-American Vietnam veterans as they return to Ho Chi Minh City to search for the body of a fallen comrade.

In What You Reading For? Rifa is just starting Ta Nehisi Coates' essay collection We Were Eight Years In Power and Chris is reading Bhanu Kapil's poetry book How To Wash A Heart.

Thank you for listening, please leave us a nice review. Find us on Instagram and Facebook.

29 min
June 10, 2020 Refigure Check-in E48 – Queer Eye & Statues
Chris and Rifa's continuing adventures in the arts, diversity and culture.

This week we watch Mark Cousin's epic cinema history series Women Make Film, narrated by Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda and others.

We also binge-watch the fifth series of tearjerking Netflix makeover show Queer Eye.

Then we fall into a difficult, not necessarily successful conversation about the removal of statues of slave traders.

In What You Reading For? Rifa is deep into blogs and information site about supporting #BlackLivesMatter, while Chris is reading Robert Pinsky's writing guide The Sound Of Poetry.

Thank you very much for listening. Find us online at Facebook and on Instagram. Please leave a 5* review and tell your friends about the podcast.
30 min
May 26, 2020 Check-in E47 – Devs and Unorthodox
Chris and Rifa's weekly adventures in arts, diversity and culture.

This week we binge-watched two drama series, doing each complete series in one late night, so we treated them more like a long film. First we watched Alex Garland's sci-fi drama Devs, made by FX but we saw it on BBC iPlayer. Then we did Netflix drama Unorthodox, a German production written primarily in Yiddish, directed by Maria Schraeder.

Rifa is reading some Albert Camus essays, while Chris joined the Poetry Book Society and with his membership got sent Will Harris' debut collection Rendang.

Thank you for listening. Find us on Facebook and Insta.
31 min
May 19, 2020 Check-in E46 – BlackAF, Hollywood and a bit of ballet
Chris and Rifa's weekly adventures in the arts, tech, diversity and culture.

This week we watched Kenya Barris' new sitcom BlackAF co-starring Rashida Jones.

Rifa also watched Ryan Murphy's Hollywood TV series, which Chris couldn't stand. We also talk a bit about watching ballet on the screen.

Rifa is reading Jen Sincero's self-help book You Are A Badass At Making Money, while Chris is reading Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad.

Thank you for listening!
27 min
May 10, 2020 Check-in E45 – Midnight Gospel & Mindy Kaling
Chris and Rifa's weekly home-made adventures in the arts, tech and diversity.

This week we're entranced by Midnight Gospel, Pendleton Ward's philosophical, psychedelic animation series on Netflix.

We also dive into the work of Mindy Kaling, we were meant to be chatting about her new Indian-American teen coming-of-age comedy series Never Have I Ever, also on Netflix, though it got a bit hijacked by binge-watching Kaling's previous (and similarly good but problematic) show The Mindy Project.

Rifa didn't read a book this week, instead she listened to the Dissect podcast series about Beyoncé's Lemonade, while Chris is re-reading David Eagleman's Sum.

Thanks so much for listening! Please leave a five star review and 'like' and subscribe, etc.

You can also find us on Facebook.com/Refigurepod and Instagram @refigureUK.
31 min
April 21, 2020 Refigure Check-in E44 – Quiz and Kingdom
Rifa and Chris continue their bitesize adventures in culture, the arts, diversity and tech.

We watch two seasons of brilliant Korean Netflix historical drama Kingdom, which turns a costume drama of 15th century feudal taboos into a horrifying march of the undead. We also watch the much discussed ITV three-parter Quiz, based on the real-life events around Charles Ingram's infamous attempt to cheat the TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, with Michael Sheen playing Chris Tarrant.

Rifa is reading N.K. Jemisin's short story collection How Long Til A Black Future Month?, while Chris is reading Oliver Gray's latest travel memoir Polly In My Pocket.

Thank-you so much for listening. Give us a 'like', subscribe and please leave a five star rating and a nice review. That stuff makes a huge difference for the show. Find us on Insta and Facebook.
30 min
April 12, 2020 Refigure Check-in E43 – livestream gigs and Kim's Convenience
Chris and Rifa's Refigure Check-in continues our locked down adventures in culture, tech and diversity.

This week we chat about the plethora of livestream performances during the quarantine period. Then we binge-watch the whole of season four of Korean-Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience.

In What You Reading For? Rifa is enjoying Ben Okri's latest short story collection Prayer For The Living and Chris takes a break from Hilary Mantel to dip into Neil MacGregor's compendium for the British Museum and BBC's epic radio series, A History of The World In 100 Objects.

Thank you for listening. Please 'like' and subscribe and leave us a nice five star review. Please tell your friends. We don't have a marketing budget. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
31 min
April 01, 2020 Refigure Check-in E42 – Cake Off, Zoom and fun apps
Refigure returns for series #4, the Check-in Season, several weeks early, as Rifa and Chris find ways to resume our tinkering in the arts, tech, culture and diversity, from the safety of our own house.

This week we binge-watch The Great British Bake Off (the early years) and swap tips for fun apps and games to download and play, while you're quarantining. In What You Reading For? Rifa recommends Shonnetta's Divine Tarot on YouTube, while Chris is having a logistical problem with Hilary Mantel's barnstorming new historical novel The Mirror And The Light. We also loved J.B. Morrison's latest novel A God Awful Small Affair.

Next week we'll talk about the explosion of music and theatre livestreams, plus something else.

Thank you SO much for still listening to us, four series in. It would be lovely to hear from you, find us on Instagram (refigureUK), Twitter (@refigurepod) and Facebook (facebook.com/RefigurePod). Please 'like' and subscribe and leave us a nice five star review. Thankyou!

Refigure is produced by Lo Fi Arts. @lofiarts

32 min
December 31, 2019 Refigure E10 – (A Bit Tipsy) Review Of The Year
Happy new year! Chris and Rifa take one last Prosecco-fuelled look back at 2019 in the arts and culture, chatting over takeout about our favourite books, TV, art and music.

This is the final episode of Refigure Series 3. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. We'll be back in Spring 2020 (if the world is still turning) with a new podcast series for the new decade. Look out for us, wherever you get your pods.

Keep up with our adventures on Refigure Facebook, Refigure Twitter and Refigure Insta.

You can also find us individually: Rifa on Twitter, Chris on Twitter, Rifa's website, Chris on Instagram, Rifa on Instagram.

All the very best to you for a joyful and successful 2020. XXX

22 min

About Refigure

From the publisher's feed

Chris and Rifa sift through their past week in culture and the arts, with a nod to technology and representation. Freshly ground in Brighton on the English south coast.

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