Life and Art from FT Weekend

Today, we’re taking on the much-hyped film adaptation of the musical smash Wicked. Starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Goldblum, the story is a loose prequel to The Wizard of Oz, following its two star witches before they become Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. Why is this film such a big deal? How does it hold up to the Broadway show? And what makes a musical work well onscreen? Lilah is joined by the FT’s Anna Nicolaou and Eric Platt, who attended the New York premiere together, to discuss. ------- The show is ending, and we’re collecting your cultural questions. We have access to critics, reporters, producers and experts. What’s rolling around in your head? Let Lilah know by email at lilahrap@ft.com or on Instagram @lilahrap. And – thank you. ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – The FT’s four star review of Wicked is here: https://on.ft.com/3CDHvgW – Anna is listening to The Good Whale, a New York Times podcast about the whale from Free Willy – Eric does not recommend the show House of Villains – available on E! and Hayu – but Lilah and Anna think it sounds pretty good – Anna Nicolaou is on Instagram @annanicolaou. Eric is on Bluesky, Instagram and X @EricGPlatt ------- Original music by Metaphor Music. Clips copyright Universal Pictures Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You probably noticed by their clothes: this summer, men just wanted to have fun. Crop tops, short shorts and even kilts and skirts were in. Long sleeves, and long inseams, were out. Today, two FT men’s fashion experts, Robert Armstrong and Eric Platt, join us to discuss how and why this happened, and what the rise of skimpy menswear tells us about masculinity today. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and email at lifeandart@ft.com. ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Rob’s latest style column is here: https://on.ft.com/3xWm8pa – Rob is on X @rbrtrmstrng. Eric is on X @EricGPlatt – Here’s the GQ piece we mentioned, called “Why is everyone on steroids now?” https://www.gq.com/story/why-is-everyone-on-steroids-now ------- 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re talking about Anora, the new critical darling about the whirlwind romance between a Brooklyn sex worker and the hell-raising son of a Russian oligarch. The film follows the couple’s chaotic week together, their impulsive marriage, and what happens when the oligarchs hear the news and demand an annulment. It’s directed by Sean Baker, known for The Florida Project and Tangerine. It won the Cannes prestigious Palme d'Or award and is tipped as an Oscar winner. Who holds the power in the film? And why do people love it? FT film critic Danny Leigh and deputy news editor India Ross join Lilah to discuss. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Danny Leigh’s interview with director Sean Baker is here: https://on.ft.com/3YJXqBF – His five-star review of Anora is here: https://on.ft.com/40PEFzc – Danny recommends Andrea Arnold’s Bird and the documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d'etat. India mentioned the film American Honey – Look out on the FT for Lilah’s piece about the Met’s employee art show – FT subscribers can share your suggestions for Woman of the Year 2024 in the comments here, before November 25. Who has had a big year, in your industry and elsewhere? Who has earned accolades, accomplished remarkable things, made huge strides, produced important work or set records? Who has shaped this year? ------- Clips copyright Neon and FilmNation Entertainment Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you are someone who has or wants to have wine at your house, this episode is for you. Whether you’re looking to buy a few bottles you’ll drink in the next few months, or you’d like to start collecting and ageing wine for years to come, we’ve got you covered. FT wine editor Jancis Robinson, author of the Oxford Companion to Wine, talks us through what wines we should be on the lookout for and how to make sure they blossom into something better over time. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Earlier this year, Jancis wrote articles about building a cellar on a budget. These included advice on how to store wine properly and an overview of how to build an affordable cellar. She also wrote regional guides for collecting Italian wines, wines from the Americas, and beyond. – You should also check out Jancis’s site JancisRobinson.com, which has daily updates on the latest wine news, as well as guides for wine novices and seasoned enthusiasts – You can follow Jancis on X @JancisRobinson Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we explore how to discover new music. Despite having access to more music than ever before, many of us are still falling back on the same old stuff. The algorithms may be pushing us toward uniformity, but how do we break out of the echo chamber? FT pop critic Ludo Hunter-Tilney and music and culture writer Arwa Haider join Lilah to share advice for finding new artists, and recommend new music that they love. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – You can find all of the artists mentioned today in this playlist we made for you here. – Arwa Haider’s playlist is here. – Ludo Hunter-Tilney’s latest review of the electronic music duo Xeno & Oaklander’s new album, Via Negativa, is here. We also love his interview with Irish-language hip-hop band Kneecap. – Here’s Arwa’s interview with Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora. – You can follow Ludo on X @ludohunter. Arwa is on Instagram @arwa.haider and X @ArwaHaider ------ Original music by Metaphor Music. Music clips from Asylum, Abu Recordings and Felukah, Speedy Wunderground / PIAS, Defjam Recordings / Polydor Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Critics have been warning about the death of photography as an art form for years. Smartphones were going to lead to its demise by making everyone a photographer. Then came warnings about AI, which can create photographic images without a human actually being present at a given time and place. But, the FT’s US art critic Ariella Budick argues that instead of dying, the medium has evolved. She joins us to discuss how it has changed from its purest form in the 1950s to today. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. Get in touch this week if you have questions for the great wine critic Jancis Robinson, who'll be answering them on our next Monday episode. ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Lilah’s profile of the Bronx Documentary Center is here: https://on.ft.com/3NQeAZe – Ariella’s most recent review is of the exhibition We Are Here at the International Center of Photography: https://on.ft.com/48BeUof – She’s also recently written about Robert Frank at the MoMA: https://on.ft.com/3ArjnNH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we head to Rutshire, to take a crack at the frothy, riotous TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1980s romance novel, Rivals. The eight-episode series follows a cluster of posh English country-dwellers – including TV executive Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and local heartthrob Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) — as they bonk and bust their way around the Cotswolds. Shoulder pads, extramarital affairs and messy dinner parties abound. But what is the show really about: Class? Sex? The 80s? Lilah is joined by the FT's Robert Shrimsley and Harriet Fitch Little to discuss. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Rivals is out now on Disney+ in the UK, and Hulu in the US. You can read the FT’s four star review here: https://on.ft.com/40sqQa6 – Robert Shrimsley’s column, ‘Were the 80s as much fun as Jilly Cooper says?’ is here: https://on.ft.com/4f5PcL8 – We also love Jo Ellison’s recent column, ‘Jilly Cooper’s Britain: the bad sex world capital’: https://on.ft.com/3Uvj0Zt – Robert is on X @robertshrimsley. Harriet is on X @HarrietFL and Instagram @huffffle ------- Original music by Metaphor Music. Clips copyright Disney. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Historian Sir Simon Schama is one of the most influential public intellectuals of our time. So when he replied to our invitation to come on the show ahead of the US presidential election by saying he wanted to talk about “the unprecedented collapse of truth”, we immediately said yes. It’s been a disorienting presidential campaign. For many Americans, it’s hard to understand how statements which are so clearly untrue – such as the government controls the weather, and sent hurricanes to Republican-leaning states – are working on voters. On today’s show, Simon tells us why the current state of misinformation is unprecedented in American history, and what he thinks can be done to reverse it. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Simon’s latest piece in the FT on the fight over American patriotism, written in September: https://on.ft.com/48iEHSd Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we are pulling on our striped demon ghost suits for a special Halloween episode: a deep-dive on Tim Burton’s 1988 classic, Beetlejuice. It persists in our cultural memory, remade as an animated series, a theme park ride, a musical, and as of last month, a legacy sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. We talk about why it’s endured with such ferocity, how the sequel compares, and whether films like it even exist anymore. We also share our own, and listeners’, top Halloween films. Lilah’s joined by FT horror movie superfan Topher Forhecz and political columnist, film buff and Beetlejuice hater Stephen Bush. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Clips this week courtesy of Warner Bros Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In recent years, critics and jaded diners have deemed the multi-course tasting menu dead. It’s gotten repetitive, the argument goes, with chefs serving luxury courses like caviar at the expense of any point of view. But recently, our host Lilah Raptopoulos had a meal that felt extremely alive, at Victoria Blamey’s restaurant Blanca, in Brooklyn. Victoria is from Chile and worked at Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe before becoming Blanca’s executive chef. Today, she tells us what she’s doing differently (“We want to slap someone's face, like hey, wake up!”) and why restaurants should take bigger risks. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – For some background on the current state of fine dining, listen to our interview with restaurant critic and chef Tim Hayward, which we called “Why fine dining isn’t fine”: https://www.ft.com/content/4ad8f359-396c-4867-af42-5a11d770f3ef – Victoria is on Instagram at @victoriablamey ------- 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 The discount code for Banking Summit is BTM20 for a 20% discount (applicable on all ticket types): https://banking.live.ft.com/home?promo=BTM20 ------- Original music by Metaphor Music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re talking about the HBO finance drama Industry, which follows the lives of London bankers as they navigate frantic careers and make chaotic life choices. The third season is out, and snidely pokes at greenwashing and how the corporate world pretends to do good. What is this show reflecting about how we feel about money? Does it take any sort of moral stance on banking? And how well does it land with actual banking and political Financial Times journalists? Lilah invites financial journalist Alice Ross and chief features writer Henry Mance to talk through it. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Alice’s review of ‘Industry’ season 3 is here: https://on.ft.com/487NcPE – You can read Henry’s 2022 interview with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay here: https://on.ft.com/4eLO1Ab – Here’s our episode from 2022, where Henry talks about playing himself on the show – Alice’s book on climate change is called Investing to Save The Planet: How Your Money Can Make A Difference – Henry is on X @henrymance and Alice is on X @alicemross ------- 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 The discount code for Banking Summit is BTM20 for a 20% discount (applicable on all ticket types): https://banking.live.ft.com/home?promo=BTM20 ------- Original music by Metaphor Music. Clips this week courtesy of HBO & The BBC Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before she was the editor of our luxury magazine HTSI, Jo Ellison was features editor at British Vogue, which means that throughout her career she’s had a front-row view of the fashion industry’s love of thinness. In recent years, fashion began to embrace more diversity in body shapes and sizes. But with the rise of Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, Jo is seeing the industry fear fat again. She worries that as Ozempic becomes more mainstream, fashion will come full circle, back to placing a premium on rail-thin bodies and judging those who don’t conform. Today, she talks about what this could mean for beauty standards, and how it may trickle down to the rest of us. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Jo’s column about the silence around weight loss in fashion is here: https://on.ft.com/3ZWoDDq – Check out our colleague Brooke Masters’ recent column on how GLP-1 drugs are changing gym regimens and food industry planning: https://on.ft.com/4050Cdl – Jo is on Instagram @jellison22 ------- 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. Clips this week courtesy of Capitol. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re sexy, confident, intelligent, heaven-sent – and taking on Katy Perry’s disastrous new album, 143. Featuring the lead single ‘Woman’s World’, this album has gone viral for all the wrong reasons: a muddled feminist message, a slew of publicity gaffes and even a government investigation. What makes the album so disappointing? And why do people care so much about a Katy Perry flop? Lilah is joined by two excellent guests who bring expertise in celebrity culture and music: Anne Helen Petersen hosts the Culture Study podcast, and Ludovic Hunter-Tilney is our pop critic of almost 25 years. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Ludo’s one-star review of 143 by Katy Perry is here: https://on.ft.com/4gTRSga. Here’s the “Woman’s World” music video, so you can decide what it means for yourself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVIJUH29pjU – Anne Helen Petersen hosts the Culture Study podcast. Listen to her conversation with Lilah about cooking in the age of infinite recipes here, or by searching “Culture Study” wherever you listen – Anne is on Instagram @annehelenpetersen. Her newsletter is here: https://annehelen.substack.com/ – Ludo is on X @ludohunter ------- 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. Clips this week courtesy of Capitol. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The FT’s innovation editor John Thornhill writes a lot about the dangers of artificial intelligence, but when he recently saw a movie about the musician Brian Eno, created with the help of an algorithm, he liked it. Or, better put, he liked the version he saw: the documentary has 52 quintillion variations. A new take on the film comes together each time it is played. Eno gives us a sense of what AI can do for creativity, finding links and patterns where the human mind does not see any. On today’s show, John tells us about the film, and what makes AI appealing for artists. ------- Want to stay in touch? Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. We’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – John’s column about watching Eno is here: https://on.ft.com/3TVG0R2 – And here is his recent review of several books that warn AI’s ability to provide us with more information than ever does not mean we will be better informed: https://on.ft.com/3zXTsge – John is on X @johnthornhillft ------- 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we are stopping time to discuss Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola's controversial passion project, which took him 40 years to make. The film was entirely self-financed for $120mn and has an all-star cast, including Adam Driver, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, but it has fiercely divided viewers. Is this Coppola’s worst film, or are critics being too harsh? What is it actually about? And are we glad it was made? Lilah is joined by the FT's film critic Danny Leigh and independent film critic Nicolas Rapold to talk about the film's highs and lows. ------- Want to stay in touch? Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. We’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Danny’s review of Megalopolis is here: https://on.ft.com/3YcfpSo – Nicolas Rapold is on X @NicolasRapold. Follow him and his podcast The Last Thing I Saw, here: https://rapold.substack.com/ – Raph Abraham’s one-star review of Megalopolis, from the Cannes Film Festival, is here: https://on.ft.com/3ZUAulz – Danny wants to see more three-star reviews. Here are his three-star reviews of The Substance and Will & Harper – Nic is reading Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa ------- 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 Megan Park’s new film ‘My Old Ass,’ a teenager named Elliott (Maisy Stella) meets her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) on a mushroom trip. The experience gives young Elliott perspective: her “old ass” tells her to wear her retainer, and be nice to her family before leaving for college. But it’s the older Elliott who gets the bigger lesson, on the stories we tell ourselves about the past. Today, Megan joins Lilah to discuss the concept of the film, and what it was like to work with a crew of mostly Gen Z actors. ------- We love hearing from you! Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and email at lilahrap@ft.com. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we discuss the author Sally Rooney. Her new novel Intermezzo was published this week – causing queues outside bookstores, launch parties everywhere and a flurry of praise from critics. Does Intermezzo live up to the hype? Why has Rooney become the voice of the millennial generation? Lilah is joined by the FT’s deputy books editor Laura Battle and Griselda Murray-Brown, the FT Magazine commissioning editor and her former co-host of Culture Call. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Intermezzo by Sally Rooney is out now, published by Faber and Faber. – The FT’s review of Intermezzo is here: https://on.ft.com/3XGoelV – Griselda’s interview with Sally Rooney from 2018 is here, or you can search: ‘Life and Art bonus: Normal People author Sally Rooney’ wherever you listen. – Gris is on X @griseldamb and Laura is on X @battlelaura ------- 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 bring you a special conversation with Jan Dalley, who has just retired as the FT’s arts editor after almost 20 years. When Jan stepped into her job, terrestrial TV ruled, podcasts didn’t exist and the art world wasn’t quite so luxe. And video games? Newspapers didn’t review video games. She joins Lilah in the studio to reflect on how the arts have changed over these two decades (“beyond recognition!”), divulge what the art world is really like (“gruelling”) and share some excellent advice for exploring culture. ------- Stay in touch! Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap talking to listeners about culture, and on email at lilahrap@ft.com. We love hearing from you. ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Jan’s Lunch with 83-year-old artist Michael Craig-Martin is here: https://on.ft.com/4d9rQCF – A recent profile of artist Tracey Emin: https://on.ft.com/3XPBaa6 – And here’s a column of hers that we love, on the immersive Van Gogh exhibit: https://on.ft.com/4ey7eVt Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Apple TV+ show Slow Horses is a critical darling; it has received rave reviews since it first came out in 2022, and with season four in full swing, some critics are begging you to watch. But does this season deserve the hype? Or has the show’s premise run its course? The series, an anti-James Bond drama starring an unkempt Gary Oldman as the head of MI5’s flunky spy department, is based on the Mick Herron spy novel series, Slough House. Lilah is joined by a diehard fan of the novels, FT columnist and executive editor Robert Shrimsley, and the FT’s chief features writer Henry Mance. ------- Want to stay in touch? Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Dan Einav’s review of this season of Slow Horses: https://on.ft.com/4dhrPfM – Henry interviewed one of the show’s stars, Kristin Scott Thomas, for our Lunch with the FT series: https://on.ft.com/4dbTCyj. – Robert is on X @robertshrimsley. Henry is @henrymance, though he’d like you to quit the platform and meet him on BlueSky at @henrymance.bsky.social – Here’s Henry’s round-up of great Lunches: https://on.ft.com/3TAEzXP ------- Special FT subscription offers for podcast listeners 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.

Asma Khan breaks a lot of fine dining’s unspoken rules. She is the chef and owner of London’s beloved Darjeeling Express, an Indian restaurant whose entire kitchen is staffed by women. Her kitchen has no hierarchy, and her chefs were trained as home cooks. Asma’s advocacy for women has won her a spot on Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list, and her kitchen has been widely profiled and acclaimed. Yet she remains extremely candid about her industry’s problems, speaking out about bullying, sexism and racism in the world’s top kitchens. Today, we bring you Lilah’s conversation with Asma, which was recorded live onstage during the recent FT Weekend Festival in London. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends! ------- Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Check out Asma’s ode to the dried red chilli in the FT here: https://on.ft.com/3XtemvF – Asma Khan is on X @Asma_KhanLDN and Instagram at @asmakhanlondon – You can learn more about her in Season 6 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table ------- 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.