Life and Art from FT Weekend

In the second episode of our special mini-series on travel, Lilah talks with Jessica Nabongo. Jessica is one of the few people, and the first black woman on record, to have visited every country in the world. Her book, The Catch Me If You Can, was published by National Geographic earlier this year. Jessica tells us about acts of kindness in Iraq, Zanzibar’s beaches, the food in Senegal, and more stories from some of the 195 countries she’s visited. She also gives us tips for where to go and how to travel well.--------------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.--------------Links:Jessica’s travel blog: https://thecatchmeifyoucan.com/ Her list of destinations: https://thecatchmeifyoucan.com/destinationsJessica is on Instagram @thecatchmeifyoucan and Twitter @thecmiyc-------------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50 per cent off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------This episode was produced by Zach St Louis. Mixing and sound design by Tommy Bazarian.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we meet Swedish film director Ruben Östlund. His new movie Triangle of Sadness won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palm D’Or, and is one of the most talked-about releases of the year. It seems like an ‘eat the rich’ story, but Ruben disagrees. He says it’s a critique not just of the wealthy, but of all of us. Then, we take a tour of first-class airplane food. After losing nearly $200 billion during the pandemic, airlines are pouring money into high-end meals. Journalist Kitty Drake did a taste test, and came away with bigger questions around what we look for from luxury.-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– Triangle of Sadness is out now in all US and UK theatres – The FT’s review of Triangle of Sadness: https://on.ft.com/3FHKlkw – Arts editor Jan Dalley wrote about rich-bashing, featuring Triangle of Sadness: https://on.ft.com/3fyXTUK – Kitty’s article on plane food: ‘The airline industry is in trouble. Is bottomless caviar the answer?’ https://on.ft.com/3DCkc3M – Kitty is on Twitter @kitty__drake.-------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------If you want to try FT Edit (8 stories a day, hand-picked by senior editors), it’s available in the iOS app store here: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ft-edit/id1574510369-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the first episode of our special mini-series on travel. Every Wednesday, a different expert will teach us something new. Today, Lilah talks with the editors of FT Globetrotter, Rebecca Rose and Niki Blasina. Globetrotter is home to our journalists’ guides on what to do in cities around the world. Rebecca and Niki give us tips for planning, but not overplanning, your next trip.--------------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.--------------Links to a few recent highlights from FT Globetrotter:– FT Globetrotter is on Instagram @ftglobetrotter. Rebecca is on Instagram @rebeccarosegoes and Niki is on Instagram and Twitter @nikiblasina– You can explore FT Globetrotter at www.ft.com/globetrotter. Most pieces are behind the paywall, but below are a few free articles:– Doing karaoke in Tokyo with your boss: https://on.ft.com/3TX7NOR– Where to drink coffee in Miami: https://on.ft.com/3DrZPq7– Lilah on New York’s Korean food scene: https://on.ft.com/3zyMeMz-------------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50 per cent off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast--------------This episode was produced by Zach St. Louis. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we talk about the Hollywood blockbuster The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. It's an epic that features a group of women warriors fighting for the kingdom of Dahomey—and it's got a lot of Oscar buzz. Lilah goes behind the scenes with Academy-Award winning producer Cathy Schulman to discuss what it took to get it made. Then, we look into what happened to plant-based meat. A few years ago, it was all over the news—but the hype died down. Has it been absorbed into our diets, or was it just a fad?-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– The Woman King is available to watch in cinemas now across the UK and US.– Cathy's handbook on advancing gender parity in Hollywood: https://bit.ly/3NgKWeA – The FT’s review of The Woman King: https://on.ft.com/3DdbKI6– A profile of director Gina Prince-Bythewood by FT film critic Danny Leigh: https://on.ft.com/3DlUArE– Emiko’s piece on how inflation will affect plant-based meat: https://on.ft.com/3sGJNDI – Emiko’s Big Read on whether the appetite for plant-based meat has peaked: https://on.ft.com/3U4cKVN -------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------If you want to try FT Edit (8 stories a day, hand-picked by senior editors), it’s available in the iOS app store here: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ft-edit/id1574510369-------Clips courtesy of Sony and Burger King.Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two hundred years after Jane Austen’s novels were published, adaptations are still going strong. This summer saw the release of Fire Island, a gay adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and the Netflix original, Persuasion. Brooke Masters, our US investment and industries editor and a lifelong Jane Austen fan, and University of Maine literature professor Caroline Bicks, join Lilah to talk about the novelist’s enduring appeal. Then, the Boston Marathon has a new non-binary gender category. This is one of three approaches to trans inclusion that elite sports have taken so far. Lilah invites US sports business correspondent Sara Germano on to discuss.-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– Brooke is on Twitter @brookeamasters. Sara is on Twitter @germanotes – The FT’s review of Fire Island: https://on.ft.com/3gtH11R and Netflix’s Persuasion: https://on.ft.com/3MTbB0X – A recent FT Magazine piece by Sara: ‘What next for Brittney Griner – and for women’s sport?’ https://on.ft.com/3eUMbDG– To stay up to date on the business of sports, you may like the FT newsletter Scoreboard: https://www.ft.com/scoreboard-------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Clips courtesy of Paramount, SearchLight Pictures, Sony Pictures, Miramax and Universal.  -------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we speak with Shirin Neshat, one of the most famous contemporary artists from Iran, about the protests in her home country. Shirin’s work focuses on the lives and struggles of Iranian women. The protests have been raging for a month, which, as Shirin says, makes them the longest-running demonstrations since the 1979 Islamic revolution. We talk about what they mean, why this time they’re different, and her art, some of which has been recently projected on buildings in London and Los Angeles. Then, we hear about a new trend in drug research. Scientists can now grow entire human mini-organs in labs. Could that lead to a world without animal testing? The FT’s Clive Cookson and Hannah Kuchler join us to discuss.-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– Shirin Neshat is on Instagram at @shirin__neshat– Shirin’s video installation Turbulent, 1998: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAssCuOGls– Some photos of Shirin’s Women of Allah series: https://www.matronsandmistresses.com/articles/2021/4/29/shirin-neshat– Baraye, by Shervin Hajipour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPyHuCZzsVA– An interview with Shirin in the FT from September 2021: https://on.ft.com/3zVaVk8– How science is getting closer to a world without animal testing, by Clive, Hannah and Joe Miller: https://on.ft.com/3SPlFuA– Hannah is on Twitter @hannahkuchler, and Clive is on Twitter @clivecookson-------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weekend, we discuss Industry on HBO with chief features writer Henry Mance. The show is part of a trend: like Succession and Euphoria, it depicts a pretty harsh version of the world we live in. So why do we keep getting sucked in? Then you'll hear a conversation between star psychologist Esther Perel and FT contributing editor Lucy Kellaway from the FT Weekend Festival. They discuss how remote work might change us, whether TikTok is teaching kids to be anxious, and more. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or at ft.com/ftweekendpodcast.-------Here’s the link to leave us a message for our listener callout: https://sayhi.chat/6gci2What’s a topic people would find boring, but you think we could make interesting on the podcast? Challenge us!-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– The entire Esther Perel and Lucy Kellaway conversation is here: https://youtu.be/BjdvwbJyyxo– Henry on Industry Season 1: Has TV finally captured the reality of the City in BBC series Industry? https://on.ft.com/3yn8MPu – Henry writing about being on Industry: https://on.ft.com/3ypgl8n – Lucy Kellaway writes about her conversation with Esther: https://on.ft.com/3ynuGlM  – Esther’s podcasts are called Where Should We Begin? And How’s Work?– Henry is on Twitter @henrymance. Lucy is on Twitter @lucykellaway. Esther is on Instagram and Twitter @estherperelofficial and @estherperel-------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Jamaica Kincaid is one of the best known writers on race and colonialism in the US. Her writing is biting and fearless, and she’s been a keen observer of her native Antigua and the US since publishing her first essay in 1973. This week she joins Lilah together with the FT’s Enuma Okoro in a recording made at the recent FT Weekend Festival in London. Then we share some conversations we had in person with listeners during the festival.-------Here’s the link to leave us a message for our listener callout: https://sayhi.chat/6gci2We’re challenging you to challenge us with a topic that most people would think is boring, and that you want us to make interesting on the podcast!—---- Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– Full recording of the conversation with Jamaica and Enuma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOB10hGIhwM&t=2s-Jamaica’s classic book A Small Place about Antigua: https://tinyurl.com/mshm32ha-A great recent essay by Jamaica Kincaid on gardening: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/07/the-disturbances-of-the-garden-Enuma’s essay on pleasure: https://tinyurl.com/59eda3vm-And another on how our spaces shape us: https://tinyurl.com/ycxt2uv4 -------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NFTs were a big sensation, but the market for them has crashed. This week, we invited a crypto-sceptic, FT columnist Jemima Kelly, to answer all the questions you were afraid to ask. What are NFTs exactly? What happened with them? And have they changed the way we think about art? Jemima hosts the latest season of our FT podcast Tech Tonic, which is all about the cult of crypto.-------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode:– Tech Tonic is available wherever you listen to your podcasts, or at www.ft.com/tech-tonic. The episode on NFT mania is here– Jemima’s most recent column, ‘Don’t believe the maximalists: bitcoin can’t be separated from crypto’: https://on.ft.com/3SaAAia – Jemima is on Twitter @jemimajoana-------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we discuss how young people view the late Queen Elizabeth with journalist Imogen West-Knights and our own producer Lulu Smyth. For many Millennials and Gen Zers, the first royal succession in 70 years is also the first time they’ve considered their stance on the monarchy more broadly. And it’s eliciting some mixed feelings. Then, we explore how we’re spending money on culture now. The FT’s US business editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson explains all the ways our post-pandemic restlessness is colliding with growing inflation. It turns out we’re now more discerning in how we stay in and how we go out.Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.-------Links and mentions from the episode: Imogen’s dispatch from Buckingham palace: https://on.ft.com/3eVMr50  The FT Weekend essay this week, ‘King Charles and the future of the monarchy’: https://on.ft.com/3qPsVcM  Edge and Lilah’s conversation on Instagram live: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ch20tSdJQ8v  Imogen is on Twitter @ImogenWK. Edge is on Twitter @Edgecliffe. -------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.