Stay ConnectedLife and Art from FT Weekend is the twice-weekly culture podcast of the Financial Times. On Monday, we talk about life, and how to live a good one in one-on-one conversations. On Friday, we talk about ‘art’ – in a chat show. Three FT journalists come together to discuss a new cultural release across film, TV, music and books. Hosted by Lilah Raptopoulos, together with the FT’s award-winning writers and editors, and special guests.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Copyright: © Financial Times
Jazz singer Samara Joy is just 24 years old. She has more than 1.3mn social media followers and three Grammys. Most notably, she won 2023’s best new artist award, only the second jazz musician ever to join that coveted club. Today, Lilah speaks with Samara about her path: discovering jazz, her thought process as she performs, and how she finds new takes on compositions by greats such as Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. They also discuss the challenges and pressure of being singular. Does she want to be considered the artist ‘bringing jazz to Gen Z’?
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Lilah’s HTSI profile of Samara, for which this conversation was recorded, is here: https://on.ft.com/3I9H4Kz
– The music video for Tight is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OkkyRkGSRY
– Samara is on TikTok @samarajoysings and Instagram @samarajoysings. You can see if she’s touring near you at www.samarajoy.com/
-----
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
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This Friday, we explore Jennifer Lopez’s mind-boggling new movie musical ‘This is Me … Now: A Love Story’, which was released alongside an album of the same name. The film, inspired by her marriage to actor Ben Affleck, is a series of music videos, action scenes and therapy sessions. And it was self-funded, for $20mn. What, exactly was J Lo trying to say with this project? Lilah is joined by two special guests, comedians and hosts of the podcast Celebrity Memoir Book Club, Ashley Hamilton and Claire Parker.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– This is Me…Now: A Love Story is out now on Amazon Prime. Jennifer Lopez’s new album is also out on all streaming platforms.
– Ashley and Claire’s podcast is called Celebrity Memoir Book Club. It’s available wherever you listen. Here’s their 2021 episode on J Lo’s memoir: https://podcasts.apple.com/md/podcast/jennifer-lopez-knows-true-love/id1533533467?i=1000530871148
– We also love this FT column by Jo Ellison. Bennifer, the rematch and why love deserves a second chance: https://on.ft.com/48rItHj
More or Less:
– Ashley wants more choreographed dance routines, like in music videos by Tinashe.
– Claire wants more considered writing about the arts, and mentioned the Stephen Sondheim musical ‘Here We Are’. Related, here’s a piece from this weekend’s FT on the meaning of musical memorabilia – and why there’s a boom in the market at the moment.
– Lilah wants more narratives told backwards, like Sondheim’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’, which is playing on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe. The FT’s review of the musical is here.
-----
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
-------
Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner, McMurran and Sam Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sitting too much is terrible for you. It leads to early onset heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and anxiety. To fight the effects of our sedentary lifestyle, regular exercise isn’t enough. Scientists have found that if we want to feel better, and be healthier, we need regular movement breaks throughout our days. Journalist and podcaster Manoush Zomorodi recently challenged her listeners to take these. She tells Lilah about the surprising results and why technology can make it hard to plug into your mind-body connection.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– You can listen to Manoush’s reporting for the Body Electric challenge here and take the movement challenge here.
– Lilah’s column on how to be bored is here: https://on.ft.com/3SzU016
– Manoush is on Instagram @manoushz
-------
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
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode we’re discussing the new novel Fourteen Days. The book is a collaboration by 36 authors including Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Celeste Ng, RL Stine, and Dave Eggers – and part of the experience is guessing who wrote which part. So does the premise work as a novel? What do we want from experimental fiction? And are we ready to revisit the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which the action is set? Lilah is joined by the FT’s acting deputy books editor Andrew Dickson and assistant arts editor Rebecca Watson, author of the novel Little Scratch.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Fourteen Days, edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston, is out now where books are sold.
– The FT’s review of Fourteen Days is here: https://on.ft.com/4bCdRFD
– Rebecca’s novel is called Little Scratch (2021). Her second novel I Will Crash comes out on July 4th.
– Andy recommends novels by Sheila Heti and Jon Fosse for their experimental prose.
– Andy is on X, formerly Twitter, @andydickson. Rebecca is @rebeccawhatsun
-------
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
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today, we talk to the director of the acclaimed documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, Mstyslav Chernov. Chernov’s film is an extraordinary chronicle of Russia’s attack on one of Ukraine’s largest cities in its first days under siege. The city is now destroyed. Mstyslav’s team of journalists were the only press left in the city during those 20 days: the film documents the harrowing experience of residents, from hospital workers to shop owners. It has since won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2023, and it is now up for best documentary at the Oscars and the Baftas. Mstyslav joins Lilah to discuss the documentary, his experience making it, and his hopes for Ukraine.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– 20 Days in Mariupol is available to stream on multiple platforms, including Dogwoof On Demand, Amazon Prime and PBS. The full documentary is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvAyykRvPBo
– The FT’s 5-star review of 20 Days in Mariupol: https://on.ft.com/49MWvED
– An FT profile of a number of Ukrainian documentarians, including Mstyslav, Maciek Hamela (In The Rearview) and Karim Amer (Defiant): https://on.ft.com/3OEQEZA
– You can follow Mstyslav on Instagram @mstyslav.chernov
– His novel is called The Dream Time (2023)
-------
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
-------
Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner, McMurran and Sam Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Let’s get ready to rumble! This week, we’re pregaming this Sunday’s Super Bowl, which could break records as the most-watched television event in US history. The FT’s sports business correspondent Sara Germano and Wall Street reporter / sports fanatic Sujeet Indap join Lilah to set the scene for the Super Bowl as a cultural event: the teams, the history, the drama, the head injuries, the halftime shows, the Taylor Swift conspiracies! Whether you watch football or not, you’ll be ready for Sunday’s game.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– The Super Bowl goes live at 3.30PM PT / 6.30PM EST this Sunday, February 11. You can watch it in the UK at 10.45 PM on ITV.
– Sara is on X @germanotes. Sujeet is @sindap. Both excellent follows.
– You can follow Sara’s sports reporting here: https://www.ft.com/sara-germano. She will be in Vegas covering the Super Bowl over the weekend, so watch this space!
– Sara’s piece on the resurgence of the Detroit Lions is here, co-written with Mark Vandevelde: https://on.ft.com/3SAht2g
– Sujeet’s reporting on Wall Street is here: https://www.ft.com/sujeet-indap
More or less:
– Sara wants more house remixes of Creed. You can check out Book Club Radio here: https://www.youtube.com/@bookclubradio. The ‘One Last Breath’ remix is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdKfaq1YN8
– Sujeet wants more independent news and tough questions. You can read more about the Super Bowl commissioner Roger Goodell avoiding tough questions here: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/roger-goodell-saying-nothing-super-bowl-press-conference-invite-only/
– Lilah wants more funny novels. She has been reading Come and Get It by Kiley Reid, who also wrote Such A Fun Age (2021)
-------
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
-------
Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, and Katie McMurran. Clip courtesy of Pepsi, Sony Music, Weathered and Jojo Lorenzo.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Molly Roden Winter was a frustrated mom of two in Brooklyn when she and her husband decided that they should open their marriage. What followed was a 10-year journey of self-exploration that brought Molly not only into some seedy hotel rooms but also to therapy, back to work, and into other activities that added up to a more fulfilling life. Today Molly is on the show to talk about her memoir More in which she details her journey. She also tells Lilah what polyamory could teach monogamous couples.
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Molly’s book More is out now
– The FT’s review of More, by Rana Foroohar, is here: https://on.ft.com/3UmsdUF
– Molly is on X @mollyrwinter
-------
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
-------
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.
Today we take on ‘Poor Things’, the latest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos. It stars Emma Stone as a Victorian woman whose brain is replaced with that of her unborn baby. She embarks on a sexual journey of self-discovery through Europe and beyond. The film is a critical darling, with 11 Oscar nominations, but unsurprisingly, it left many viewers feeling uneasy. Lilah invites FT arts editor Jan Dalley and HTSI editor Jo Ellison to talk through it: is it an empowering exploration of a woman’s sexual freedom or an uninspiring male gaze fantasy?
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Poor Things is in theatres now
– You can read the FT’s three-star review of Poor Things, by film critic Danny Leigh here: https://on.ft.com/480VjMg
– The FT’s Raphael Abraham also wrote a review of Poor Things – and gave it five stars: https://on.ft.com/49jGnKe
– The article we mentioned, with 14 critics’ perspectives on the film, is here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/24/bound-gagged-poor-things-feminist-masterpiece-male-sex-fantasy-oscar-emma-stone-ruffalo
– Jo is on X @joellison and Instagram @jellison22
More or less:
– Jo wants to see more of Harris Dickinson, who is in The Iron Claw (out now), and Triangle of Sadness
– Jan wants to see more funding for the arts, and for artists to be given more creative freedom
– Lilah wants better, more concentrated travel reviews, and Oaxaca tips! (You can write to her on Instagram)
-------
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
-------
Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clip courtesy of Searchlight
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you have questions about this year's US presidential election, we have answers.
Swamp Notes is a new podcast from the FT News Briefing. Listen every Saturday morning as our journalists analyse and discuss the latest happenings in US politics. We’ll go beyond the horse race for the White House and offer a global perspective on the election.
You can subscribe to Swamp Notes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Restaurant critic Tim Hayward has been writing about food for the FT for years. He also owns a bakery in Cambridge. So when a friend accused him of being a glutton, his reaction was: “Of course I’m a glutton! Do people still think that’s a bad thing?” Today Tim is on the podcast to share his thoughts on how we came to see food through a moral lens. What does it mean to be a glutton in the age of Ozempic? How do we let ourselves enjoy food? And how can we stop judging each other, while acknowledging that some eating habits can be bad for your health?
-------
We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com.
-------
Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Tim’s column on gluttony: https://on.ft.com/3SxE3tz
– Lilah's piece about reviving extinct recipes: http://on.ft.com/3Ojrfo5
– Another Tim column: ‘Should you ever go back to a favourite restaurant?” https://on.ft.com/3Syk9P6
– Tim’s most recent restaurant review on Cafe Kitty in London: https://on.ft.com/3HGk2e1
– Susan Sontag’s ‘Notes on Camp’: https://monoskop.org/images/5/59/Sontag_Susan_1964_Notes_on_Camp.pdf
– Tim is on Instagram at @timhayward
-------
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
-------
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.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
