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Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

By Country & Town House

Country & Town House’s culture editor, Ed Vaizey, and associate editor, Charlotte Metcalf discuss the week’s cultural offerings with a brilliant edit of what you should be watching, reading, listening to, booking and visiting each week. Their roster of high profile guests adds illuminating insight to the current cultural landscape.
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Episode #07 - Going Local

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town HouseJun 08, 2020

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29:02
138. A Joyful Musical Christmas - with choir masters Ben England & Mark Strachan

138. A Joyful Musical Christmas - with choir masters Ben England & Mark Strachan

In this final edition, we’re talking to two of the Britain’s most passionate advocates for singing in a choir.  Ben England and Mark Strachan collaborated during the pandemic on the Self-Isolation Choir when thousands joined online from round the world to sing.  Both were awarded British Empire Medals as a result. 

Today they tell us about Choir of the Earth, which grew out of the Self-Isolation Choir, and all the Christmas festive singing you can join in with. Looking ahead to next year, we hear about the 24-hour Handel’s Messiah in St. George’s Hanover Square and the 24-hour Mozart’s Requiem at St. Gabriel’s Church in Pimlico.  Anyone is welcome to drop in and sing for a small fee to raise money to help rebuild St. George’s crumbling portico and for the Pimlico Music Foundation which encourages children from all backgrounds to sing.  Mark and Ben have gathered a raft of exceptional musicians and conductors, including John Rutter and Laurence Cummings, to join them on these two marathon events.

We also hear about Game Choir, set up my Mark to encourage gamers to sing and we’re treated to a snippet of Game Choir singing ‘Sweden’ from Minecraft, arranged by St. George’s brilliant organist Richard Gowers. This will raise money for Specialeffect to help people with physical disabilities continue to play video games.  

Don’t fail to tune into this fascinating discussion about the cultural significance of gaming and the glories and benefits of singing and what Mark and Ben have planned to delight us all this Christmas. 

Dec 15, 202335:21
137. Dreamland - A new exhibition exploring fame at the Maddox Gallery with artist Russell Young and curator Maeve Doyle
Dec 08, 202320:49
136. Gainsborough, Gillray & more - with Rebecca Salter and Tim Clayton

136. Gainsborough, Gillray & more - with Rebecca Salter and Tim Clayton

This week we’re at Gainsborough's House in Sudbury, Suffolk. We’re always delighted to discover a true gem away from London and this most certainly is one. Housed in the home where the great 18th century portrait and landscape painter artist Thomas Gainsborough grew up, this is now Suffolk’s largest art gallery and a global study centre for Gainsborough’s work. The house has recently opened its new wing with three new superb and spacious exhibition spaces. 

We’re talking to Rebecca Salter, the President of the Royal Academy (and the first ever woman to hold the role) about her exhibition of beautiful Japanese-inspired works on show there.   We’re also talking to Tim Clayton, the award-winning historian and broadcaster, who has curated a second exhibition on Gainsborough’s contemporary, James Gillray, ‘father of the political cartoon’. Tim is also Gillray’s biographer and has lots of fascinating insights into Gillray’s life and work.

The historic house itself is beautifully restored to give an insight into how Gainsborough lived.    There’s a beautiful garden, complete with ancient mulberry tree (given Sudbury is the home of silk), a print workshop, a café and a very good shop.  Plus, there’s a top floor studio to the new wing with panoramic views over the garden and Sudbury. With this meticulously curated collection of Gillray’s prints and Rebecca’s beautiful,  meditative, calming paintings on show, it’s truly worth a visit.

In View:  Rebecca Salter until 10th March

James Gillray: Characters in Charicature until  10th March 

Dec 04, 202323:46
135. Edward VIII Reassessed - with Jane Marguerite Tippett

135. Edward VIII Reassessed - with Jane Marguerite Tippett

We talk to the young American archivist and writer who stumbled across hitherto unused material from Edward VIII’s personal archives and autobiographical notes, including his scribbled opinions about Wallis Simpson.  

Jane Marguerite Tippett’s  new book about, ‘Once a King: The Lost Memoir of Edward VIII’ has been published to much acclaim, for being beautifully written, immaculately researched and for drawing timely parallels between the situations of Edward and Wallis and Harry and Meghan. She’s also ruffled the feathers of more established biographers of Edward VIII for being the first to recognise that pencil notes in the Charles Murphy Archives at Boston University and in the Royal Archives had not been mined before.  Coming across it changed the direction of the book she set out to write and she says the newly discovered material speaks for itself, presenting Edward VIII in a new light.  Listen in to find out how.

Nov 24, 202330:34
134. WOMEN IN REVOLT! Tate Britain’s new exhibition with curator Linsey Young and artist Marlene Smith
Nov 17, 202324:18
133. Beyond Theatre - with Robert Bathurst and Trish Wadley

133. Beyond Theatre - with Robert Bathurst and Trish Wadley

We’re at The Coach and Horses in Soho with actor Robert Bathurst, much loved for his roles as David Marsden in Cold Feet, and Mark Taylor in Joking Apart, and with theatre producer Trish Wadley.  Robert is reprising his title role in Keith Waterhouse’s Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell and tells us what fun it is to perform in the very venue where the late Jeffrey Bernard spent much of his later years propping up the bar.

Trish Wadley has long championed immersive theatre, staging the Tennessee Williams hotel plays in three different rooms in a Holborn hotel before transferring them to the Langham Hilton.  She’s the first producer ever to stage a play inside London’s Natural History Museum and persuaded them to build a 350-seat venue for a play about Charles Darwin.  She also staged Insignificance, about an imaginary meeting between Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein in a Fifth Avenue hotel - in a Fifth Avenue hotel room.  Ever inventive, her company Trish Wadley Productions has just produced a lean, mean, fast and furious version of Othello with Iago’s complex and conniving character played by three actors on the stage at the same time.

Trish and Robert enthuse about how liberating and interesting it is for audiences and performers alike to be outside the restrictions of conventional theatre.  And if Robert’s stories are anything to go by, playing Jeffrey Bernard in The Coach and Horses has its fair shares of excitements and hazards too.

Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell plays at the Coach and Horses until 21st November http://www.defibrillatortheatre.com

https://trishwadleyproductions.com

Nov 10, 202325:18
132. William Boyd
Nov 06, 202336:52
131. A Disappointing Issue - Why do black Britons feel misrepresented, side-lined and let down by our culture? With Maggie Semple and Nels Abbey
Oct 27, 202330:31
130. ‘Hamnet’ with Maggie O’Farrell
Oct 20, 202329:32
129. THE HYPOCHONDRIAC and THE INTERVIEW - Roger McGough and Jonathan Maitland tell us about their new plays

129. THE HYPOCHONDRIAC and THE INTERVIEW - Roger McGough and Jonathan Maitland tell us about their new plays

We talk with two renowned playwrights about their new plays – both on for a short run and neither of them to be missed.   

Roger McGough, the much-loved author, Mersey poet and presenter of BBC Radio Four’s ‘Poetry Please’, has adapted Molière’s ‘The Hypochondriac’ for The Crucible in Sheffield. It’s already opened to rave reviews, with Edward Hogg starring as Argan. Jonathan Maitland, journalist and broadcaster turned playwright, has written ‘The Interview’, a play about Princess Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir, which opens on 27th October at The Park in London for a short run.

Roger McGough tells us how he came to adapt Molière’s 17th century classic and transform it into a comic delight for contemporary audiences. He also looks back at his time with The Scaffold, his fellow Mersey Poets, Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henri (‘The Mersey Sound’ has sold over a million copies) and regales us with tales of working on the script of ‘Yellow Submarine’.  

Jonathan Maitland, who shared an office with Martin Bashir at ITV for six years, tells us why now why is such a good time to examine Princess Diana’s legacy afresh and look again at our very polarised, if not frenzied, reactions to Martin Bashir and the way the now notorious interview, watched by over 23 million in the UK alone, came about. 

The Hypochondriac’ at The Crucible, Sheffield:  until 21st October

‘The Interview’ at The Park: 27th October till 5th November

With thanks to Lomi for supporting us over the last six episodes.  You can advantage of their  offer to get £50 off a Lomi by going to uk.lomi.com and using promo code breakout at the checkout.


Oct 13, 202324:30
128. Stone, paint and the landscape - with Emily Young and Francis Hamel

128. Stone, paint and the landscape - with Emily Young and Francis Hamel

This week we’re talking to two artists inspired by the nature.   

Emily Young, hailed as Britain’s greatest living female stone sculptor, specialises in using materials from abandoned quarries and Francis Hamel is known for his portraiture and landscape paintings. 

Emily lives and works mostly in an isolated part of Tuscany, where she free carves in reclaimed uncut natural stone, often found in abandoned quarries. She evokes beautiful ancient figures from an unknown mythology.   Her main objective is to explore the relationship of humankind and the planet through her interaction with stone.  Her 25 new works in stone are being exhibited at Richard Green on Bond Street, in association with Willoughby Gerrish Ltd.   

Francis has lived and worked for over 25 years at Rousham, one of England’s most prized historic house and gardens. He explains how the garden at Rousham became the starting point for his exhibition when he was seeing it afresh during lockdown.  From there he went on to paint some of Britain’s best-known gardens including Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Sezincote, and Stourhead, as well as some private ones designed by renowned gardeners like Sarah Raven, Arthur Parkinson and Tom Stuart-Smith. His exhibition of garden paintings launches at his Oxfordshire home of Rousham before moving to John Martin on London’s Albemarle Street.  

Together they talk about how they work, what inspires them and what they set out to achieve. It’s a fascinating conversation about the artistic process and highlights their similar and different approaches to stone and to paint.

Emily Young: Pareidolia in Stone from 25th October to 10th November

Richard Green https://www.richardgreen.com

Francis Hamel: Thirty Gardens from 12th to 27th October

John Martin https://www.jmlondon.com

 

This episode is brought to you with the kind support of support of Lomi, makers of ‘smart waste appliances’ that transform food waste into plant food.  Go to Lomi’s website at uk.lomi.com and use promo code breakout at the checkout for a £50 discount.

Oct 06, 202322:50
127. The Joys of the Piano: The Eighth London Piano Festival with Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen

127. The Joys of the Piano: The Eighth London Piano Festival with Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen

Acclaimed pianists, Charles Owen and Moscow-born Katya Apekisheva, started the London Piano Festival at Kings Place in 2016 as a way of bringing together pianists from around the world.  Pianists tend to practice and play in isolation so it can be a lonely profession and this is a much-loved opportunity for them to come together and share their passion for their instrument and its music.

Between 5th and 8th October this year’s festival is celebrating the 150th birth of Rachmaninov and the centenary of the less well-known but hugely significant and ground-breaking Hungarian musician, Gryorgy Ligeti.  

We hear about Rachmaninov’s lasting legacy - Katya and Charles will perform his major two piano works - and Charles and Katya will be joined by dazzling British musicians Danny Hammond and Clare Driver for ‘Ligeti 100: The Devil’s Staircase’. 

Charles and Katya tell us about other performances in store, including jazz with Polish phenomenon Leszek Motżdżer and a portrait of Rachmaninov in exile by Lucy Parham, narrated by Tim McInnerny. The master pianist and extraordinary, original showman from Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko, will perform work by Liszt, Beetoven, Adès and the Ukrainian composer Silvestrov.

What comes through our conversation is the palpable joy and exuberance that Katya and Charles feel when playing the piano and we have a fascinating conversation about how strong their hands have to be and much more.  For all music lovers this is a festival not be missed.

We also round up what’s happening in the art world – Marina Abramović’s astonishing show at the Royal Academy, cementing her reputation as the greatest and most courageous performance artist alive today, Sarah Lucas’s new show ‘Happy Gas’ at Tate Britain and ‘Celebrating Picasso Today: Infinite Modernism’, a show of new and modern works at London’s Almine Rech Gallery to honour Picasso 50 years after his death.

The London Piano Festival:  Kings Place from 5th to 8th October

https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/london-piano-festival/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpc-oBhCGARIsAH6ote_SpwZbkOqCM2s7QO4fhXoL2ggg1UzdDQcd_-U5Ro-A-VP2VFC6bA4aAolkEALw_wcB

This episode is brought to you thanks to our sponsor, Lomi, the compact, countertop ‘smart waste’ appliance that can process food waste into plant food.  Go to uk.lomi.com to receive a discount of £50 by entering the code breakout at the check-out. 

Sep 29, 202329:37
126. Scottish Renaissance - The New Scottish Galleries at the National with Sir John Leighton

126. Scottish Renaissance - The New Scottish Galleries at the National with Sir John Leighton

We talk to Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, about Edinburgh’s superb new Scottish Galleries at the National, which will open on September 30th after £38.62 million worth of investment.

The ten, light-filled rooms, offering majestic views over Edinburgh, will showcase 130 works of historic Scottish art by artists ranging from the Glasgow Boys, William McTaggart and Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Anne Redpath to lesser-known artists like Phoebe Anna Traquair. 

Sir John describes how many of these major beautiful works of art have been given new life by being moved out of a dingy, uninspiring basement into these contemporary galleries. We have a fascinating conversation about what it means to be a Scottish artist and how the new hang will redefine Scottish art and underline the importance of Scottish painters’ contribution to British art overall.

Today’s episode is brought to you thanks to our sponsor, Lomi, the compact, countertop ‘smart waste’ appliance that can process food waste into plant food.  Go to uk.lomi.com to receive a discount of £50 by entering the code breakout at the check-out. 

Sep 22, 202326:50
125. The Heroic Hedgehog with Sarah Sands

125. The Heroic Hedgehog with Sarah Sands

We talk to Sarah Sands, the journalist and former editor of The Evening Standard and BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. She’s just released her new book ‘The Hedgehog Diaries, A Story of Faith Hope and Bristle’.  

The humble hedgehog turns out to be a symbol of the doughty survivor in politics and in battle – particularly in Ukraine’s war with Russia.  It’s also the symbol of NATO.  Not just that, but numerous famous people from Rory Stewart to Samuel Beckett, have understood the significance and spiritual appeal of the hedgehog as an intriguing, Tolkein-like, mystical little figure. 

The hedgehog gave Sarah great emotional comfort as she faced the death of her father and then afterwards her beloved brother, the cabaret artist Kit Hesketh-Harvey and her ex-husband Julian Sands, who died on a remote mountainside.

This is a charming book, full of wisdom, anecdotes and stories about this ancient, small but surprising creature which has inspired Sarah to take on a conservation project her brother Kit started before he died.  

Today’s episode is brought to you thanks to our sponsor, Lomi, the compact, countertop ‘smart waste’ appliance that can process food waste into plant food.  Go to uk.lomi.com to receive a discount of £50 by entering the code breakout at the check-out. 

Sep 15, 202327:30
124. The glories of the V&A - Coco Chanel, David Bowie & more with Nicholas Coleridge

124. The glories of the V&A - Coco Chanel, David Bowie & more with Nicholas Coleridge

As he steps down after serving two full terms as Chair of the V&A, Nicholas Coleridge looks back on ten years of prodigious expansion under his watch and looks ahead to tell us all about the hugely anticipated Chanel show which opens on 16th September. 

He recounts how V&A Dundee is bringing new life to the city and explains how the transformation of the former Museum of Childhood into Young V&A has given thousands of young people and children an exciting new destination in East London.  We hear about securing David Bowie’s priceless archive, what to expect from V&A East and the vast reserve collection that will be on display to all in the stunning new V&A Storehouse.  

This is Nicholas at his most knowledgeable and amusing as he regales us not just with a fascinating outline of the V&A’s glittering success but also with a delightful sprinkling of personal anecdotes and  stories.

Sep 08, 202336:32
123. Exhibitions in Beautiful Gardens - With Pippa Shirley and Lorraine Lecourtois

123. Exhibitions in Beautiful Gardens - With Pippa Shirley and Lorraine Lecourtois

On our last podcast of the summer, we’re talking to Pippa Shirley, Director of Waddeson Manor and to Lorraine Lecourtois, Head of Public Exhibitions at Wakehurst, about two of Britain’s most beautiful outdoor spaces, both showcasing some wonderful art.

 Waddesdon Manor is the Renaissance-style chateau built in Buckinghamshire by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1874, with extensive Victorian-style gardens, a parterre and a Rococo-style aviary and woodland. The two major artists exhibiting there are the British artist Catherine Goodman, who also co-founded the Royal Drawing School with King Charles III, and the celebrated Portuguese artist, Joanna Vasconcelos.  

Joanna has installed a 12-metre-high sculptural pavilion called ‘Wedding Cake’ next to the 19th century dairy, clad entirely in colourful ceramic tiles.  Joanna describes this beautiful architectural folly and sculpture, her most ambitious commission to date, as ‘a temple to love’. It’s fully immersive and you can walk around it – and even get married in it.  Meanwhile, Catherine Goodman is showing her paintings inspired by the beautiful olive trees in the Rothschild estate in Corfu and by Ovid’s ‘Metmorphoses’.

The wild botanic garden of Wakehurst, which is part of Kew, has over 500 acres in Sussex of diverse landscape and is home to the Millennium Seed Bank.  There’s the epic ‘Planet Wakehurst’, the UK’s largest art installation, by Catherine Nelson and a new exhibition ‘Rooted’, showing Chila Kumari Burman’s largest neon work to date (ten metres high) and works by Joseph Hillier, Little Lost Robot and Geraldine Pilgrim. There’s also an audio work from Hidden Orchestra and Tim Southern that promises to bathe people in calming sounds. 

We’ll be back in September. Have a great summer.


Jul 14, 202329:51
122. DEAR EARTH: Artists respond to the Climate Crisis at London’s Hayward Gallery With curator Rachel Thomas and artists Ackroyd & Harvey

122. DEAR EARTH: Artists respond to the Climate Crisis at London’s Hayward Gallery With curator Rachel Thomas and artists Ackroyd & Harvey

 ‘Dear Earth’ is the show at the Hayward Gallery on London’s south Bank that represents a coming together of 15 global artists who are responding to the crisis our planet is facing.  

We talk to Rachel Thomas, the chief curator and two of the artists exhibiting there, Ackroyd & Harvey.  Ackroyd & Harvey have contributed a series of portraits of environmental activists made from seedling grass.

Rachel tells us about the other exhibits there, including the moving and enchanting film ‘The Future: Sixes and Sevens’ by Cornelia Parker, depicting small children talking about their fears and hopes.  Other works include photographs and film of the devastated Kichwa Territory in Peru by Richard Mosse, John Gerrard’sSurrender’, a digital installation of a flag which heralds visitors into the show, Jenny Kendler’s large scale sculpture of birds’ eyes – many of the birds are in danger of extinction or already extinct -  and the five-metre-high ‘Living Pyramid’ at the show’s heart by 93-year-old Agnes Denes.

We also hear about the Hayward’s beautiful roof garden created by Grounded Ecotherapy, set up to help recovering addicts, alcoholics and people with mental health problems.  The garden was commissioned 11 years ago and now contains 250 species of wild indigenous plant – more than any other roof terrace in the world. 

It's a devastating but beautiful exhibition, conceived to convey hope, start conversations and explore solutions via the artists’ lens.


Jul 07, 202325:35
121. Summer At The RSC - With director Erica Whyman and actress Tanya Katyal

121. Summer At The RSC - With director Erica Whyman and actress Tanya Katyal

We’re chatting about the Royal Shakespeare Company’s summer programme with Erica Whyman, who was Acting Artistic Director of the RSC till June, the director of the smash hit play ‘Hamnet’ and the Lead Judge of the specially commissioned 37 plays.  We also talk to Tanya Katyal, playing Rani, in the new production at the Swan of Tanika Gupta’s ‘The Empress’.  

We also hear about the new production of ‘As You Like It’ starring Geraldine James as Rosalind along with a cast of older actors – mostly over 70.  Erica also tells us about working with Lolita Chakrabarti to adapt Maggie O’Farrell’s novel ‘Hamnet’, which transfers to the Garrick Theatre in the West End in the autumn.

The RSC has celebrated 400 years since the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio by commissioning 37 new plays from all over the UK.  The competition was open to all and Erica, as the Lead Judge, tells us about the winning entries – some came from writers as young as six. We also hear about the RSC’s valuable work with schools across the UK.


Jun 30, 202327:12
120. Summer Festivals - with Jo Bausor, Otto English and Harry Hoblyn

120. Summer Festivals - with Jo Bausor, Otto English and Harry Hoblyn

We pick out the best of the summer’s festivals, including Byline  Festival, Charleston’s Festival of the Garden, Cheltenham Music Festival, Henley Festival and The Idler Festival.

Jo Bausor, who’s been at the helm of Henley Festival for over a decade, tells us about the impressive line-up at Britain’s only boutique black tie festival. Acts performing include Boney M, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Rag n’Bone Man and Westlife.  There’s a fabulous line-up of comedians too, like Jo Brand, Marcus Brigstocke, Jack Dee and Adam Kay.  Expect floating stages, fine riverside dining and fireworks and much more besides.

Political journalist, Otto English, tells us about the Byline Festival in collaboration with Dartington Trust. Taking place at Dartington Hall in Devon, the festival aims to change the world with its big, challenging ideas and is guaranteed to spark controversy and robust debate.   Speakers include Lord Victor Adebowale, Dawn Butler MP, Bonnie Greer, Rosie Holt, George Monbiot and Peter Oborne.

Finally, Harry Hoblyn, head gardener gives us the lowdown on the Festival of the Garden at Charleston, rural retreat of the Bloomsbury set and famously home to Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.  Celebrating communities who care about plants and the land, the festival will include butterfly walks and garden tours.  Speakers include Isabel Bannerman, Edmund de Waal, Jake Fiennes and the Antiguan-American novelist, Jamaica Kincaid.

Byline Festival, 14th to 16th July, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon

Charleston Festival of the Garden, 13th to 16th July, Charleston, East Sussex

Cheltenham Music Festival:  8th to 15th July, around Cheltenham

Henley Festival:  5th to 9th July, around Henley

The Idler Festival : 7th to 9th July, Fenton House, Hampstead, London

Jun 23, 202324:26
119. This is Not Fiction - with Dave Johns and Davey Nellist

119. This is Not Fiction - with Dave Johns and Davey Nellist

We’re talking about the first ever stage adaptation of Ken Loach’s and Paul Laverty’s multi-award winning 2016  film  I, Daniel Blake. The production, which is touring the UK, opened at Northern Stage Newcastle to rave critical reviews and passionate audience reactions.  

Dave Johns, who adapted it for the stage, played Daniel in the original film, winning Best Actor at the British Independent Awards and Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards for his performance. Davey Nellist, who plays Daniel in this new stage version, is best known for his roles as Mike Stamford in Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and more recently in the TV series Stonehouse with Matthew McFadden.  

Dave and Davey tell us how the play is deliberately being hailed as non-fiction and a very real story about poverty and homelessness in Newcastle today.  The city had one foodbank in 2016 but now has seven. Dave also tells us how he landed the part in the movie, having been a comedian and formerly a bricklayer.

I, Daniel Blake tours  till mid-November to Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter, Liverpool, Durham, Leeds, Oxford, Edinburgh, Stratford, Northampton, Coventry and Guildford, before returning to Northern Stage in September. For dates and full details see here.


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Jun 16, 202325:43
118. Summer Books - Louise Minchin and Irenosen Okojie on the Women’s Prize for Fiction

118. Summer Books - Louise Minchin and Irenosen Okojie on the Women’s Prize for Fiction

We’re talking to Louise Minchin, Chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and one of her five co-judges, the Nigerian-born, award-winning novelist Irenosen Okojie MBE. Louise is an endurance triathlete and the well-known journalist, who presented BBC Breakfast for 20 years and was one of BBC News 24’s main anchors. 

Now in its 28th year and started by Kate Mosse OBE, the prize aims to encourage and award the finest women writers around the world. Louise and Irenosen talk us through the six finalists who stand to win the coveted prize of £30,000.   Their enthusiasm for the shortlisted books makes this a fun, lively and highly enjoyable listen.  

The shortlisted books are:

Fire Rush’ by Jacqueline Crooks, a state-of-the nation portrait of black womanhood

Trespasses’ by Louise Kennedy, set during the Belfast Troubles

‘Demond Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver, David Copperfield reimagined for today 

‘Black Butterflies’ by Priscilla Morris Priscilla Morris, set against the siege of Sarajevo

‘Hamnet’ by Maggie O’Farrell, the story of Shakespeare’s son 

‘Pod’ by Laline Paull, about a dolphin saving her pod

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 14th June

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Jun 09, 202330:15
117. The Radical Rossettis - with Carol Jacobi, Curator at Tate Britain

117. The Radical Rossettis - with Carol Jacobi, Curator at Tate Britain

We’re talking to curator Carol Jacobi about ‘The Rossettis’, an exhibition of over 150 works at Tate Britain, celebrating the romance and radicalism of Dante Gabriel, Christina and Elizabeth née Siddall.  It’s the first ever retrospective of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at the Tate and the largest exhibition of his work in two decades, as well as being the first retrospective of Elizabeth Siddal for 30 years.

The exhibition sets out to shed light on just how ground-breaking the Rossetti family’s work was, from Christina’s poetry (first published when she was just 16) to their paintings and even their designs for clothing and interiors.  Carol convinces detractors that the Pre-Raphaelite movement marked a significant shift towards depicting more intimate and personal subject matter, and argues that a reappraisal of them as highly talented and extraordinary radicals is long overdue.

‘The Rossettis’ runs at Tate Britain until 24th September

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Jun 02, 202329:11
116. How Design can save the world - with Victoria Broackes, Director of the London Design Biennale

116. How Design can save the world - with Victoria Broackes, Director of the London Design Biennale

We’re discovering what’s on at London’s Design Biennale which opens on the 1st June at Somerset House.  Now in its fourth edition, the Biennale sets out to celebrate and showcase innovation in design that has the power to make our world a better place.  Victoria Broackes, the Director, explains that this year’s title and theme, which is ‘The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations’. 

Victoria tells us about the 40 exhibitors coming together from around the world – including from Ukraine. We discuss the global issues - migration, climate change and the impending impact of AI and technology that designers are collaborating to confront and find solutions for.  Ai-Da, the robot artist, will be at the fair and Victoria tells us what to expect from her.

The London Design Biennale is now in its fourth edition and has become a mandatory fixture in the international cultural calendar. The world needs a truly innovative and collaborative approach to addressing all the current crises we face, so this is fascinating and optimistic listening.

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May 26, 202330:24
115. From Asylum Seeking to Cricket – with Hassan Akkad, Shomit Dutta and Andrew Lancel

115. From Asylum Seeking to Cricket – with Hassan Akkad, Shomit Dutta and Andrew Lancel

We talk to Hassan Akkad, who came to the UK as an asylum seeker from Syria and who earned a BAFTA for his BBC documentary ‘Exodus: Our Journey to Europe’, which used real footage from his journey from Syria.  Hassan tells us about his short film, ‘Matar’, which tells the story of a day in the life asylum-seeker Matar as he tries to survive in London without being able to work legally or have a bank account.  


‘Matar’ stars Ahmed Malek, who recently starred in ‘The Swimmers’, the feature film about the Mardini sisters escaping war-torn Syria.  Both superb swimmers, the sisters sought asylum in Germany and Yusra Mardini went on to earn an Olympic gold medal.  Hassan also tells us about projecting his short 90 second message ‘Led by Donkeys’ onto the White Cliffs of Dover. 


We also talk to Shomit Dutta, who wrote the play ‘Stumped’ about an imaginary game of cricket between Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett, and to Andrew Lancel, who plays Pinter in the play. Who knew that Beckett, played in ‘Stumped’ by Stephen Tompkinson, is the only Nobel Prize Winner to have an entry in Wisden?  Shomit and Andrew discuss the joys of cricket and the dramatic opportunities the game offers to explore the friendship between two of the greatest dramatists of our time.


‘Matar’ can be viewed free here at Waterbear.com.

‘Stumped’ plays at Theatre Royal Bath between 23rd and 27th May, at Cambridge Arts Theatre between 5th and 10th June and finally at the Hampstead Theatre in London between 16th June and the 22nd July. 


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May 19, 202325:43
114. England’s Last Hurrah - with legendary photographer Dafydd Jones

114. England’s Last Hurrah - with legendary photographer Dafydd Jones

Dafydd Jones’s photographs of Oxford’s ‘bright young things’ catapulted him to fame and earnt him a global reputation for capturing the essence of   a riotous world of upper-class decadence during the Thatcher era. Tina Brown was quick to scoop Dafydd up when she was editor of Tatler, and on today’s podcast he talks about his new book ‘England: The Last Hurrah’ and describes what it was like to break into a world that revolved around glamorous parties in stately homes and annual events like the Oxbridge May Balls and the 4th June at Eton

His satirical but beautiful black and white photographs lend an elegiac nostalgic quality to what Tina Brown describes in her introduction to the book as ‘whimsey and frolicky romance’.  Dafydd captured some of the most iconic images of our age, including a lonely, hunted Diana Spencer facing a barrage of press photographers at the Sandown Park race meeting in March 1981.  

Listen in to hear what it was really like for Dafydd to be at all those uproarious parties, then go home to his family and hang his dinner jacket up in the yard to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke.  Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline. Unmissable listening. 

An exhibition of Dafydd’s photographs runs at The Centre for British Photography on 49 Jermyn Street, London until the beginning of June.


May 12, 202324:27
113. For 24 Hours Only - Ruth Wilson on her upcoming, epic, one-off, marathon performance

113. For 24 Hours Only - Ruth Wilson on her upcoming, epic, one-off, marathon performance

We’re excited to tell you that this week’s guest is Ruth Wilson, the multiple-award winning British actress who’s about to star in an extraordinary theatrical event at The Young Vic on 19th May. ‘The Second Woman’ is going to incorporate one electrifying 24-hour performance, involving one scene, one woman and 100 men.  Ruth plays Virginia and will be on stage for a full 24 hours as 100 different men star opposite her while she performs over and over again a scene between a man and woman in a failing relationship. You can buy a ticket for the full 24 hours or just stay a few minutes. 

Listen in to hear what made Ruth take on this role and how she’s preparing herself for this epic marathon performance. We also find out about her new TV series that will be out in the autumn.


May 07, 202333:13
112. The Art of Collecting with Guy Salter, Tomasz Starzewski and Nazy Vassegh

112. The Art of Collecting with Guy Salter, Tomasz Starzewski and Nazy Vassegh

We’re talking about the burgeoning opportunities for new and established collectors of beautiful rare objects, looking forward to London Craft Week, with Guy Salter, the fair’s founder.  

Now in its ninth year and dubbed ‘the most luxurious craft fair in the world’, the fair spreads right across the capital, incorporating Acton and Park Royal as Creative Enterprise Zones for the first time. There will be exciting events and exhibitions celebrating the Coronation and London Craft Week will also showcase the work of over 700 artists, designers and makers from across the world and include four international pavilions from Austria, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan.  

We also talk to Nazy Vassegh, founder of the boutique art platform Eye of the Collector.  The third edition of The Eye of the Collector fair is running between 17th and 20th May at Two Temple Place, the majestic 1892 Neo-Gothic building, commissioned by William Waldorf Astor, on London’s Strand.  Of the 120 works for sale, many will be of museum quality or by huge names including Frank Auerbach, Barbara Hepworth and Bridget Riley but will there will also be 60 new works, aiming to shine a light on emerging artists and designers and overlooked talent. 

Our third guest is celebrated couturier and interior designer Tomasz Starzewski, who’s now collaborating with the specialist ceramics and craft auctioneers Maak to curate an installation of exquisite pieces from the collection of the late Victoria Lady de Rothschild. The installation is now open in Buckinghamshire, at Ascott House, the home Lady de Rothschild shared for over a decade with her husband Sir Evelyn

Victoria Lady de Rothschild designed Ascott House, alongside Renzo Mongiardino and it’s now the beautiful setting for 118 carefully chosen and placed objects that she collected on her travels for over 20 years.  They will be displayed throughout the house until September when Maak will auction them.

London Craft Week:  throughout the capital from Monday 8th to Sunday 14th May

The Eye of the Collector: at 2 Temple Place from Wednesday 17th to Saturday 20th May

Highlights from Victoria Lady de Rothschild’s Collection: at Ascott House until September


Apr 30, 202328:15
111. Creating Superstars: Geoffrey Marsh on David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane and Dave Robinson on Bob Marley’s Legend

111. Creating Superstars: Geoffrey Marsh on David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane and Dave Robinson on Bob Marley’s Legend

We talk to Geoff Marsh, one of the curators of a new exhibition about the 1973 album Aladdin Sane and to Dave Robinson, aka ‘Robbo’, legendary co-founder of Stiff Records

Geoff tells us how photographer, the late Brian Duffy, created the lightning flash image of David Bowie.  That album cover has gone on to remain one of the world’s three most instantly recognisable images - the other two are John Pasche’s Hot Lips logo for the Rolling Stones and Hipgnosis’s cover for Dark Side of the Moon.  

Aladdin Sane: 50 Years, which runs at Southbank until the 28th May, celebrates the anniversary of this important cultural icon. Accompanying the exhibition are talks, live music, two nights of joyous club music and poetry.

Meanwhile, Dave Robinson, who created hits for Madness, Tracey Ullman, Elvis Costello, Ian Drury, The Pogues and many more, regales us with tales of being in America as Jimi Hendrix’s tour manager and putting together Bob Marley’s greatest hits to create Legend, the best-selling reggae album of all time. 

You can hear Dave telling his highly entertaining and improbable but true stories on his tour, We Came, We Saw, We Left – The Horse Speaks, which he’s taking around the country until 15th May.  

An extraordinary opportunity to listen to this conversation about the music that has survived half a century and continues to influence and inspire millions worldwide.


Apr 23, 202330:27
110.Souls Grown Deep and Berlusconi the Musical: with Curator Raina Lampkins-Fielder and Producer Francesca Moody

110.Souls Grown Deep and Berlusconi the Musical: with Curator Raina Lampkins-Fielder and Producer Francesca Moody

We’re talking to curator Raina Lampkins-Fielder about ‘Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers’, the ground-breaking exhibition at the Royal Academy, showcasing the collective creativity of black artists from the American South.   Most of these powerful works, many made from reclaimed materials, have never been seen outside America’s so-called ‘Black Belt’ that encompasses Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, a region associated with slavery and racial oppression.  This is any eye-opening exhibition representing the triumph of artistic expression and hope over appalling discrimination and persecution.

On a much lighter note, we also talk to Francesca Moody, the award-winning producer of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’sFleabag’, about her new venture ‘Berlusconi the Musical’, on for a short run at Southwark Playhouse. It’s guaranteed to be a highly entertaining tragi-comic rollercoaster about Silvio Berlusconi’s life as a media tycoon, politician and Italian Prime Minister, a life extraordinary enough to defy belief. 


Apr 16, 202328:53
109. Why Invest In a Print? - With Helen Rosslyn, director of the London Original Print Fair

109. Why Invest In a Print? - With Helen Rosslyn, director of the London Original Print Fair

The London Original Print Fair is London’s longest running art fair and now in its 38th year. This year it runs at Somerset House from 30th March till the 2nd April and brings together over 40 top international print dealers, publishers and studios, spanning six centuries of printmaking.

We talk to Helen Rosslyn, who’s been director of the Fair since 1987.  She explains why prints are so much more than mere copies and therefore such popular and safe investments. With knowledge and enthusiasm, she walks us through this year’s show, with all its exciting highlights, from works by David Shrigley and Tracey Emin to those by Royal Academicians and Old Masters like Dürer and Hogarth.

One of this year’s highlights is a Special Tribute Exhibition in honour of Andrew Edmunds, print dealer and famed restaurateur and a founding committee member of the fair.  Andrew sadly died last autumn but to honour him his son Milo and art historian Tom Clayton, have curated a personal collection of his 18th century prints by the artist and satirist James Gilray, including some works that have never been seen in public before as well as some impressions of his best-known prints.

Tune in to know exactly how to find your way around the fair and what to look for.


Mar 26, 202323:12
108. Grenfell: The Play Shining a Light on the Truth - With Co-Writer and Director Nicolas Kent and Anthony Biggs of the Playground Theatre

108. Grenfell: The Play Shining a Light on the Truth - With Co-Writer and Director Nicolas Kent and Anthony Biggs of the Playground Theatre

On this week’s episode we’re celebrating the power of ‘activist culture’ and the critically acclaimed play, ‘Grenfell: System Failure’.  The play follows on from ‘Grenfell:  Value Engineering’ and is based entirely on the words of those involved in last year’s final phase of the Inquiry into the tragic and avoidable fire that killed 72 people.  

The play has been performed at The Playground Theatre and The Tabernacle, both almost within a stone’s throw of Grenfell Tower, and is now at the new Marylebone Theatre for a final week. To discuss it with us are Anthony Biggs, Artistic Director at The Playground Theatre, and Nicolas Kent, who directed the play and co-edited the transcripts with Richard Norton-Taylor.  

This is a brilliantly illuminating play on a tragic, complex subject and a superb example of how culture at its best can make sense of a mass of data, allowing audiences to access the most significant evidence and make their own minds up as to how this terrible fire happened.  Every single word is taken from the enquiry and the reality is undoubtedly as shocking than anything anyone could make up.   It’s a dramatic often hard-to-believe account of heinous buck-passing and systematic failure, which meant numerous urgent safety warnings were simply brushed aside or ignored.  Tune in to hear how this play has moved the dial in terms of public and private responses to this lamentable tragedy.


Mar 19, 202327:05
107. David Hockney: Full Immersion - with Richard Slaney of Lightroom

107. David Hockney: Full Immersion - with Richard Slaney of Lightroom

On this week’s episode we’re talking about the exciting new exhibition of David Hockney’s work, ‘Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)’.  It’s the first show to be staged at Lightroom, a brand new, vast space in London’s Kings Cross that uses revolutionary technology to create something entirely different.  The show has been four years in the making, and Lightroom’s CEO Richard Slaney is on the podcast to tell us all about what to expect.

The immersive show is made up of ‘chapters’ and throughout you hear Hockney’s voice, giving unprecedented access into his imagination and artistic process.  This is the first time that a living artist’s work has been exhibited in this way and so it’s not to be missed. It runs until 4th June. Tune in to find out more.

Mar 12, 202324:33
106. Celebrating P.G. Wodehouse - and Women: with writer William Humble, actor Robert Daws and director Jude Kelly

106. Celebrating P.G. Wodehouse - and Women: with writer William Humble, actor Robert Daws and director Jude Kelly

On this week’s podcast, we’re celebrating International Women’s Day on the 8th March and also talking about the great P.G. Wodehouse with William Humble, who’s written a new one-man play, called ‘Wodehouse in Wonderland’, a one-man show, touring Britain until the end of April. It stars Robert Daws, also on the podcast, as Wodehouse.

In Britain Wodehouse is feted and loved for his quintessentially English comic characters Jeeves and Wooster, but he was enormously famous in America too, where the play is set, for being a talented Broadway lyricist, contributing to 25 hit musicals, including ‘Anything Goes’.

William and Robert reveal less known fascinating sides to Wodehouse’s character, shedding light on his notorious Berlin broadcasts, which were manipulated by the Nazis for their propaganda and caused him great shame.

We also talk to Jude Kelly about the WOW Festival (Women of the World Festival) now in its 13th year and taking place at London’s Southbank between 10th and 12th March.  Jude set up the Festival in 2010 to celebrate the achievements of women and girls and confront global gender injustice, and it now it takes place in 30 countries.  Jude gives us the highlights of the London festival including a special screening of the play ‘Prima Facie’ starring Jodie Comer, followed by a discussion, and appearances by the American writer Roxanne Gay and  former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Mar 05, 202332:51
105. Standing at the Sky’s Edge - with Artistic Director Rob Hastie

105. Standing at the Sky’s Edge - with Artistic Director Rob Hastie

This week we’re talking about the award-winning musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge, which finally transferred from Sheffield to The Olivier at London’s National Theatre.  It’s based on the music and lyrics of songwriter, guitarist and producer Richard Hawley who’s known both as a solo artist and for his work with the bands Pulp and The Longpigs.  He collaborated with the award-winning playwright, lyricist and theatre-maker Chris Bush who deftly wove Richard Hawley’s music into this compelling story.

The musical tells the story of one flat in Park Hill, Sheffield’s notorious brutalist housing project and moves from the early sixties, when Park Hill first opened, to today.  Chris Bush intertwines three tales of the characters who lived there: an idealistic young couple seeing Park Hill as a step up, three asylum seekers escaping the Liberian war and finally a young middle-class woman from London fleeing a broken heart.

It’s directed by Rob Hastie the Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres and he tells us about how this extraordinary project came about and why what happened to Park Hill is so symbolic of recent British history, from post-war socialist optimism, via the decline of our major industries, to today’s attempts to regenerate our cities. It’s had rave reviews, and if you like Richard Hawley’s poetic music, you’re in for an absolute treat.  It’s fast-becoming the most talked-about play, so listen in to find out more.

Feb 26, 202326:38
104. This Year’s Best Movies - with Krish Majumdar, Chair of BAFTA

104. This Year’s Best Movies - with Krish Majumdar, Chair of BAFTA

As the BAFTA winners are revealed on Sunday 19th at a ceremony hosted by Richard E. Grant and Alison Hammond, we talk to the Chair of BAFTA, and a producer himself,  Krish Majumdar.  He runs us through the process of picking winners – quite a task when 214 were nominated for the Best Film Award alone. Krish gives us the lowdown on the top nominations from ‘All Quite on the Western Front’, with an astonishing 14 nominations, to ‘The Banshees of Ineshirin’, ‘Living’, ‘Tár’, ‘Aftersun’ and many more.

He also tells us about the prestigious EE Rising Star Award, celebrating its 18th year, and the only award at BAFTAs voted for by the British public.  The nominees this year are Naomi Ackie, Sheila Atim, Aimee Lou Wood, Emma Mackey and Daryl McCormack.

Krish’s enthusiasm for cinema as a treasured part of our culture is infectious. Anyone who likes movies or wants to feel inspired about what to see next should listen in and then head straight out to the cinema.

Feb 19, 202328:24
103. CONFESSIONS OF A POSH BROADCASTER - with ED STOURTON

103. CONFESSIONS OF A POSH BROADCASTER - with ED STOURTON

On this week’s episode, we’re delighted to be chatting with the eminent broadcaster and much-loved presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme for ten years, Ed Stourton.  Having worked in radio and television for 40 years, Ed’s now written a memoir called ‘Confessions: A Life Re-Examined’.  He tells us about looking back on his life, a process which he has referred to as a ‘reawokening’, re-assessing it in the light of today’s prevailing culture.

When he was sacked suddenly from Today, it was assumed it was because he was too posh, and now he puts the record straight.  He is a delightful story and regales us with tales from  his time as a student at Cambridge, becoming a newscaster and the perils of broadcasting live. He also describes having to reappraise his time at Ampleforth after the sex scandals emerged.  Finally, he talks movingly and candidly about living with cancer and how his life has been made richer and happier by his faith.

Feb 12, 202327:55
102. TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES: Director Dominic Cooke on his production of ‘Medea’ starring Sophie Okonedo – and a tribute to Kit Hesketh-Harvey

102. TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES: Director Dominic Cooke on his production of ‘Medea’ starring Sophie Okonedo – and a tribute to Kit Hesketh-Harvey

The acclaimed theatre, television and film director, Dominic Cooke, chats to us about his new production of Euripides’s classic tragedy, ‘Medea’, starring Oscar-nominated Sophie Okonedo as Medea, spurned wife of Jason, hellbent on brutal and bloody revenge.  Dominic explains why all the male parts are being played by Ben Daniels and tells us why he decided to stage it at Soho Place, the first new purpose built theatre in the West End for 50 years.

Most people will know the devastating, bloody climax to the story, and Dominic tells us why he wanted to direct such a harrowing play and elaborates on what Sophie Okonedo brings to the role.

We finish this episode with a tribute to Kit Hesketh-Harvey, the brilliant, wickedly funny entertainer, writer who has died suddenly. Kit and McConnel, his regular cabaret act with musician James McConnel, has been delighting and outraging audiences here and abroad for many years.   As our guest twice, we celebrate Kit’s extraordinary career and treat you to a clip of him talking to Ed and me about the joys – and importance -  of pantomime and playing King Rat in Dick Whittington.

Feb 05, 202328:01
101. WHAT ARE MUSEUMS FOR? - Esme Ward, Director of the transformed Manchester Museum, has the answers.

101. WHAT ARE MUSEUMS FOR? - Esme Ward, Director of the transformed Manchester Museum, has the answers.

If anyone can persuade you how crucial a museum can be to the wellbeing of a city, it’s this week’s guest Esme Ward. In 2018 she was the first woman to be appointed as director of Manchester Museum, which re-opens on the 18th February after a £15 million overhaul.  Esme is on a mission to make the 130-year-old museum more ‘inclusive, caring and imaginative’. The highlight is a new South Asia Gallery, in partnership with the British Museum, which is the first permanent gallery in the UK dedicated to the communities, experiences and histories of the South Asian diaspora.

The South Asia Gallery has been co-curated by 30 different community leaders, artists, historians, journalists and musicians of South Asian heritage and Esme passionately believes that its new immersive exhibits at the museum will give the community a strong sense of belonging - indeed there is a new Belonging Gallery.

As debate rumbles on about the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece, Esme talks convincingly about the multiple benefits of sending back some of their ceremonial items to Aboriginal groups, and the museum now boasts its first ever Curator of Indigenous Perspectives. 

Esme’s conviction of a museum’s power to spread a sense of well-being, alleviate loneliness and to act as a vibrant, unifying, cultural hub for the entire city is inspiring.  With infectious enthusiasm, Esme will eradicate any lingering doubt anyone might have about culture’s role in making society a better place.

Jan 29, 202325:38
100. THE DALAI LAMA AND HOPE FOR 2023 - With Josef O’Connor

100. THE DALAI LAMA AND HOPE FOR 2023 - With Josef O’Connor

We’re celebrating our 100th episode of Break Out Culture by talking about hope to Josef O’Connor, the young Irish-born artist and curator who’s on a mission to use art to spread a sense of optimism globally.

In October 2020 Josef launched CIRCA (the Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts) as a platform to showcase digital art with a purpose in the public sphere, starting with Piccadilly Circus’s famous lights screen.

Every night at 20:23 throughout 2023, Piccadilly Circus, and other screens around the world, will show newly commissioned work by artists on the subject of hope. The film will change every month.  January’s film is slightly longer, at three and a half minutes, because it contains a recorded message from the His Holiness the Dalai Lama– which you too can hear by tuning into the podcast.  He talks about the oneness of humanity in turbulent times and a three-minute animated film has been made with CIRCA to accompany his message.

£150 buys you a screen print of ‘The Art of Hope’ by the Dalai Lama till the end of 2023 and proceeds go to Tibet Hope Centre and to the #CIRCAeconomy.  What we also discover on the podcast is that subscribers to CIRCA will receive an original framed print monthly for just £1,000 a year.

Listen in to find out how Josef O’Connor is radically changing the way art can be distributed and hear about the success he’s had so far, working with artists ranging from Ai Weiwei and David Hockney to Patti Smith and Yoko Ono.

Jan 22, 202325:39
99. WE ARE FAMILY: With psychotherapists Julia Samuel and her daughters, Emily and Sophie

99. WE ARE FAMILY: With psychotherapists Julia Samuel and her daughters, Emily and Sophie

Happy New Year and welcome back to Break Out Culture. Given it’s January and we’re all trying to give ourselves a fresh start, we’re kicking the year off with a free therapy session, talking to Julia Samuel MBE, acclaimed psychotherapist, grief counsellor and author. In the wake of her popular podcast Grief Works, Julia launched Therapy Works last September, with her two psychotherapist daughters, Emily and Sophie. It’s already essential listening for anyone interested in finding ways of facing and dealing with life’s daily struggles, whatever they are.

The podcast’s guests have included Helena Bonham Carter, Alastair Campbell, Minnie Driver, Kate Ferdinand and Richard E. Grant, along with a range of lesser-known people and all display remarkable honesty as they discuss the issues they’re tackling, ranging from divorce, domestic violence, step-parenting, sexual abuse and miscarriage to addiction, sexuality, identity, grief, a life-changing accident, toxic masculinity and war.  It’s fascinating hearing Julia, Sophie and Emily discuss their different approaches to tackling their guest’s difficulties.  It’s a reminder that however insurmountable the obstacles in our lives seem, there are ways of dealing with them.

Jan 15, 202330:54
98. Mandela the Musical: With Kwame Kwei-Armah

98. Mandela the Musical: With Kwame Kwei-Armah

This is our last podcast of the year so we’re going out on a high by talking to Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director at The Young Vic, about staging the world premiere of ‘Mandela the Musical’, set to become the most talked about show of the next few weeks.  Mandela is played by Michael Luwoye, who played both the title role and Aaron Burr in Hamilton.  Winnie Mandela is played by Scottish actor Danielle Fiamanya who played Elsa in ‘Frozen’.

The musical has been staged with the full cooperation of Mandela’s family so listen to Kwame tell the story of how it came about and why he took the plunge to shape this well-known resistance story as a musical.  It covers the 30 years from the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 to Mandela’s release from prison in 1990.

We’ll be back on air again on Sunday 15th January but meanwhile, thank you to all our listeners for staying with us over the last three years and we wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Dec 11, 202228:21
97. The Art of Dining: Christina Makris on restaurants with great art collections

97. The Art of Dining: Christina Makris on restaurants with great art collections

This week we’re celebrating the festive season by talking to Christina Makris about fabulous places to eat out.  Christina, an art and wine writer, a doctor of philosophy, an art collector, and a philanthropist, has scoured the world to find the best combination of art and food.  She’s traveled to 100 cities over six continents and come up with a list of 24 – all collated in a beautiful new illustrated book called ‘Aesthetic Dining, The Art Restaurant Around the World’.  She’s dedicated a section of the book to talking to artists, alongside Tim Marlow of The Design Museum, where you can read what artists like Ai Weiwei Anthony Gormley, Conrad Shawcross, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, David Hockney, Maggi Hambling, Julian Schnabel, Michael Craig-Martin, Peter Blake and Tracey Emin think about food.

We talk to Christina as she’s about to have lunch at The Gunton Arms in Norfolk, owned by the art collector turned restaurateur Ivor Braka.  She describes the art there and the glorious, enticing atmosphere, which guaranteed The Gunton Arms made it into the book.

The London restaurants are Langans, The Ivy, Mr. Chow, Scott’s, Hix, Sketch and the members’ club Groucho, now owned by Hauser & Wirth.  This is a riveting listen about the best combinations of art and food across the globe from Sydney and Cairo to Zurich and Tuscany and we discuss everything from Peter Langan’s legacy in London to her favourite spots to eat from La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul de Vence in Provence to Kronenhalle in Zurich.

Dec 04, 202229:50
96. Britain’s Most Beautiful Building: With Norman Foster and Stephen Bayley

96. Britain’s Most Beautiful Building: With Norman Foster and Stephen Bayley

This week we’re talking to Britain’s most revered architect, Lord Foster, and to the design guru and co-founder of the Design Museum, Stephen Bayley, about their quest to put beauty back at the heart of contemporary building.    The registered charity, the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, which Stephen chairs, staged its first ever Building Beauty Awards on Monday 21st November at the Stirling Prize winning Bloomberg building in the City – which Norman Foster designed. We discuss the winners across four categories:  building, engineering, public spaces and little gems, the last designed to cheer residents and bring pride to a built neighbourhood.

This is a rare chance to hear two such prominent figures from the world of architecture and design discuss what constitutes beauty in new building today.  Building beauty reaps rich award – the winners received £10,000, the joint biggest prize in architecture and a Portland stone rhodium-plated trophy created by the jeweller Theo Fennell – who was also one of the judges.

Tune in to find out who the winners of the prize were and to hear about the first Royal Fine Art Commission Trust International Building Beauty Prize at World Architecture Festival in Lisbon next week.

Nov 27, 202225:09
95. Picture Perfect Christmas Theatre - New plays inside The National Gallery and at The Globe: with Hannah Khalil, Clare Arouche and Francesca Reid

95. Picture Perfect Christmas Theatre - New plays inside The National Gallery and at The Globe: with Hannah Khalil, Clare Arouche and Francesca Reid

This week we’re talking to Clare Arouche, Head of Hospitality and Events at The National Gallery, about an exciting festive initiative to stage a play inside the gallery called ‘Picture Perfect Christmas’. The play is inspired by one of the Gallery’s paintings, a  17th Century Dutch Old Master A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle’ by Hendrick Avercamp. It’s directed by Francesca Reid of Boo Productions, who tells us how she’s re-imagined the skating scene as a delightful, immersive, upbeat show for the family.

We also talk to Writer in Residence at The Globe, Hannah Khalil, about adapting Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Fir Tree’ in the open air, complete with puppets, carol singing and tree decorating, directed by the Globe’s Artistic Director Michelle Terry.  Hannah goes on to tell us about her other play there, ‘Hakawatis:  Women of the Arabian Nights’, her take on the story of Scheherazade.

We also fill you in on this year’s offerings of ‘A Christmas Carol’ at The Old Vic with Owen Teale and the RSC with Ade Edmonson, and there’s also a fun new play at its heart by Piers Torday, Wind in the Willows Wilton’s, at Wilton’s Music Hall.

Nov 20, 202222:56
94. Photographs That Change the World: with Maryam Eisler, Mahaneela and Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti

94. Photographs That Change the World: with Maryam Eisler, Mahaneela and Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti

This episode we’re looking at how photography has the power to change attitudes and is increasingly blurring the lines between fashion and art.  We talk to two young photographers. Mahaneela and Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti, exhibiting at The New Black Vanguard, which runs at the Saatchi Gallery till late January.  The exhibition is curated by writer, critic and editor, Antwaun Sargent, is sponsored by Burberry and focuses on fashion portraiture that celebrates black culture.

We chat to Maryam Eisler, the Iranian-born photographer whose exhibition ‘If Only These Walls Could Talk’ is at the Alon Zakaim Fine Art Gallery on Cork Street.  Her photographs are set in the gorgeous, world-famous hotel Nord-Pinus in Arles in the South of France, which she’s used as a beautiful and glamorous setting to celebrate the beauty and sensuality of the female form.

We discuss both exhibitions and have a fascinating conversation about the responsibility that photographers feel to document political shifts and current affairs and celebrate the power photography has, particularly via social media, to shift perceptions and ultimately change the world.

Nov 13, 202229:10
93. NIL BY HAND, ALL BY MOUTH: THE ART OF SARAH BIFFIN with Alison Lapper, Philip Mould and Ellie Smith

93. NIL BY HAND, ALL BY MOUTH: THE ART OF SARAH BIFFIN with Alison Lapper, Philip Mould and Ellie Smith

Today we’re talking about Sarah Biffin, the Victorian artist who became a successful miniaturist and portraitist, after overcoming being born without arms.  We talk to gallerist Philip Mould and curator/researcher  Ellie Smith about the exhibition of her work at Philip Mould’s gallery on Pall Mall.  It’s called ‘Without Hands’ and runs till mid-December.

Also on the podcast is the artist Alison Lapper, who was born 180 years later than Sarah Biffin, with exactly the same condition.  She too paints by mouth and was an advisor on  ‘Without Hands’. Alison famously became the focus of an enormous amount of public attention in 2005 when her friend Marc Quinn sculpted her pregnant for Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth.

Alison tells of her own challenges of becoming a successful artist and sheds light on just how courageous and determined Sarah Biffin must have been to go from being a fairground attraction, as documented by Charles Dickens, to being a well-respected society portrait artist and miniaturist. Alison also describes just what an extraordinary feat it was for Sarah to paint feathers, for which she was known, of such exquisite delicacy, using only her mouth and shoulder. Listen in to find out more about this fascinating and inspiring breakthrough exhibition.

Nov 06, 202227:23
92. POETRY: A FRIEND FOR LIFE With poet Pelé Cox and mental health campaigner Rachel Kelly

92. POETRY: A FRIEND FOR LIFE With poet Pelé Cox and mental health campaigner Rachel Kelly

This week we talk to the poet Pelé Cox and best-selling author Rachel Kelly about the power of poetry to comfort and support us.  Rachel’s new book, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone: Poems for Life’s Ups and Downs’ is far more than an anthology – it’s a practical guide to how to use poetry as a tool to help us cope with our daily lives.

Rachel Kelly is a tireless mental health campaigner, following the success of her memoir ‘Black Rainbow’.  Black Rainbow was about depression and how reading poetry helped her to recover. She’s remained a passionate advocate for the therapeutic power of poetry ever since. Pelé Cox is a poet, poet, dramaturgist and literature tutor and was one of the first poets to be accepted into Andrew Motion’s Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia.  She’s been Poet in Residence at the Tate and Royal Academy of Arts, among other institutions.  She’s also made a widely acclaimed film about Keats starring Damian Lewis and Nicholas Rowe.

Listen in to a fascinating conversation about what poetry can bring to all our lives and hear how Rachel constructed her book to cover every season so there are poems to help in the depths of winter gloom and others to celebrate the joys of summer.

Oct 30, 202227:13
91. Artist in Residence: reopening LEIGHTON HOUSE with Curator Daniel Robbins and artist Shahrzad Ghaffari

91. Artist in Residence: reopening LEIGHTON HOUSE with Curator Daniel Robbins and artist Shahrzad Ghaffari

This week we’re talking about two of London’s most magnificent Victorian houses, Leighton House and Sambourne House in Holland Park.  Leighton House, studio-home of the eminent Victorian artist Frederic Lord Leighton, has just reopened after an £8 million redevelopment along with nearby Sambourne House, the family home of Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne.

We talk to Daniel Robbins, Senior Curator of both houses and to the Iranian artist Shahrzad Gaffari, who’s hand-painted an 11-foot high textured mural around the curved wall of Leighton House’s brand new helical staircase.  Shahrzad tells us that her mural is inspired by the 13th Century poet Rumi and, with its bright turquoise motifs which echo the tiles in the Arab Hall, the work represents the present and future of the house, continuing to deepen our knowledge of and understanding of eastern culture.

A new exhibition  space in Leighton House is now showcasing the work of the Holland Park Circle of artists, to which Lord Leighton belonged,  while the new basement has a display of Leighton’s exquisite drawings – there are 700 belonging to the house. You can see Leighton’s studio exactly as it would have been, as well as the Arab Hall and the other public areas, full of mosaics, tiles, pottery and artefacts which he brought back from his travels in Egypt, Turkey and Syria.

Walking into Sambourne House is to be fully immersed in a Victorian family home while Leighton House is now a lively destination and gathering point with a new café overlooking the garden. Both are well worth a visit so listen in to hear about what’s in store at both of these great historic homes.

Oct 23, 202223:45
90. Celebrating the glories of Cezanne with Natalia Sidlina and Michael Raymond

90. Celebrating the glories of Cezanne with Natalia Sidlina and Michael Raymond

This week Ed and I are celebrating our hundredth episode together since starting as Lock Down Culture in April 2020. We’re also celebrating Cezanne, one of the world’s most popular but enigmatic artists. A new show The EY Exhibition: Cezanne at Tate Modern has opened with 22 works never seen in the UK before, including some dazzling still lives that he’s loved for the world over.  We talk to Natalia Sidlina, who’s worked at Tate Modern as Curator of International Art since 2016, and Assistant Curator Michael Raymond.

Natalia and Michael throw light on Cezanne’s early life in Paris, why he hid Paul, his beloved son and his mother, Marie-Hortense, from his father and why he gained such a reputation for being a taciturn loner. Unpicking the myths that have grown up around him, they explain why his work is of such enduring importance and revered and sought after by major artists from Gauguin and Monet to Matisse and Picasso. It’s a wonderful exhibition and Natalia and Michael persuade us why this is an unmissable chance to see so many of his best-loved paintings together, from his landscapes of Mont-San-Victoire and iconic apples to his bathers, that proved to have such an influence of generations of artists to come.

Oct 16, 202227:18
89. Opera and dance take on Peaky Blinders, Football and It’s a Wonderful Life With Annilese Miskimmon, Helen Shute and Steven Knight

89. Opera and dance take on Peaky Blinders, Football and It’s a Wonderful Life With Annilese Miskimmon, Helen Shute and Steven Knight

This week we’re talking about the exciting opera and dance coming up in time for Christmas.  Annilese Miskimmon, Artistic Director at ENO (English National Opera), tells us about re-imagining Frank Capra’s enduring and much-loved 1946 Christmas movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ as an opera, which opens on 25th November at the Coliseum. Adapted by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, George Bailey, the down-on-his-luck banker so memorably played by James Stewart in the film, is played by Frederick Ballentine but Clarence the Guardian Angel now becomes Clara, played by soprano Danielle de Niese. Other than the gender swap, the opera is otherwise remarkably faithful to the beloved film and is certain to be a festive treat.

In the world of dance, Rambert is already wowing audiences with its adaptation of Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, which opened at the Birmingham Hippodrome and is now on tour and in London at Troubador Wembley Park till 6th November.  We’re thrilled to be talking to the creator, writer and Executive Producer of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight, alongside Helen Shute of Rambert.  We find out that Steven’s always loved ballet and so it was a natural progression to ask him to adapt his multi-award-winning series into a dance theatre show.

Tune in to hear how the opera and dance worlds are bursting with innovation and new ideas, including the first-ever football opera Gods of the Game at the Theatre in the Woods at Grange Park Opera, complete with a chorus made up entirely of footy fans who’ve been trained to sing.

Oct 09, 202226:36