Refigure
By Lo Fi Arts
RefigureJun 11, 2019
Refigure Ep 70: Yoko Ono & Shōgun
Refigure podcast with Chris and Rifa returns for a 7th season of the homemade culture review show from the English south coast. This week, we're watching the TV series Shōgun on Disney+ and we went to Tate Modern to see Yoko Ono: Music Of The Mind. In 'What You Reading For?' Chris is reading the new Joel Morris dissection of comedy, Be Funny Or Die and Rifa bought Yoko Ono's little art book Grapefruit.
Thanks for listening.
Refigure VI - Ep 69: Sozzled Review Of The Year
To end 2023, Rifa and Chris reflect on their year in arts and culture, while drinking several glasses of the good stuff.
Refigure VI - Ep 68: Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé
Chris and Rifa talk about Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé. Rifa is reading Angela Davis - Freedom Is A Constant Struggle and Chris is reading Aflo The Poet's new poetry zine Warm Up.
Please send us your questions for next week's Best Of 2023 episode, when we'll try to answer anything you throw at us.
Refigure VI - Ep 67: End Of The World x2
This week Rifa and Chris dug into two 'end of the world' TV things: they watched Sam Esmail's Netflix movie Leave The World Behind, starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke. They also watched the new TV series A Murder At The End Of The World, made by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (creators of The OA) which stars Emma Corrin and Clive Owen. Rifa is reading Sultana's Dream by Begum Rokeya, a classic Indian feminist sci-fi novella from 1905. Chris is reading Isaac Butler's book The Method: How The Twentieth Century Learned To Act.
Hey, dear listener, in two weeks, our end-of-the-year Refigure will include an AMA. So send us your questions and we'll try to answer them. Thank you!
Refigure VI - Ep 66: Squid Game & Women In Revolt
Chris and Rifa are annoyed by the Squid Game gameshow and inspired by Tate Britain's new major exhibition Women In Revolt. In What You Reading For? Rifa is reading Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall, while Chris is re-reading John Higgs' The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned A Million Pounds.
Refigure VI - Ep 65: Our Own Creative Shizzle
We didn't have a chance to review stuff together in the midseason break, so this week we chat about our own recent creative stuff. Chris chats about the minitour playing in the band with Jim Bob, as well as an album he's producing, while Rifa unpacks her current adventures in painting with acrylics. Rifa is reading Katy Hessel's The Story Of Art Without Men and Chris is reading Olga Ravn's short novel The Employees, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken.
Refigure VI - Ep 64: Eye Filmmuseum & Chila Kumari Singh Berman
Chris and Rifa take the ferry to the Eye Filmmuseum in the north of Amsterdam, see an exhibition by film artist Janis Rafa, 'Feed Me, Cheat Me, Eat Me'. They also chat about Chila Kumari Singh Berman's works in neon, including new commission 'The Shining Lights Of Service', which is hung off the side of Brighton's Royal Pavilion. Rifa is reading Travis Alabanza's None Of The Above, while Chris is reading John Robb's The Art Of Darkness, The History Of Gogh.
Refigure VI - Ep 63: Sex Museum & Nan Goldin
Rifa and Chris are in Amsterdam, where they visit the infamous Sex Museum and check out Nan Goldin's major retrospective This Will Not End Well at Stedelijk.
In 'What You Reading For?' Chris is reading Zoe Gilbert's novel Mischief Acts, while Rifa is reading Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
Thank you for listening, it means a lot. If you're enjoying Refigure please tell your friends, or leave a nice review or something.
Refigure VI - Ep 62: Beckham & Rooney
Chris and Rifa dive into two vaguely football related doc series, the Netflix show Beckham and the Disney+ series Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story.
Rifa is reading Regena Thomashaur's book Pussy: A Reclamation, while Chris is reading Ocean Vuong's debut novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and also Vuong's award-winning poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds.
If you're enjoying Refigure, please leave a nice five star review and tell your friends, because we don't have a marketing budget. Thank you!
Refigure VI - Ep 61: Lee Miller & Dreamy Place
A Brighton-heavy episode this week, as Chris and Rifa check out the exhibition Lee Miller: Dressed at Brighton Museum, then hang out at Embodied Realities, at The Old Market, as part of the new Dreamy Place festival. Rifa is reading a book about menopause and Chris is reading Julian Jaynes' classic The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind.
Refigure VI - Ep 60: Turner Prize & Taylor Swift's Eras Film
Weekly bitesize arts and culture chat with Chris and Rifa. This week Rifa and Chris go to Eastbourne for the Turner Prize 2023 exhibition. They watch both Taylor Swift's new Eras Tour concert film and Talking Heads' remastered Stop Making Sense at the cinema. Rifa is reading the Black London guidebook by Avril Nanton and Jody Burton, while Chris is reading Kashmir Hill's investigation into facial recognition tech, Your Face Belongs To Us.
Refigure VI - Ep 59: The Creator & Reservation Dogs
Welcome to Refigure, a weekly arts and culture conversation with Chris and Rifa. This week we saw The Creator in the cinema and also caught up with season two of Reservation Dogs on Disney+ ahead of season three's UK launch in a week or two. Chris is reading Naomi Klein's new book Doppelganger and Rifa is reading bell hooks' The Will To Change about masculinity.
Refigure VI - Ep 58: Past Lives & Jon Amor Trio
Rifa and Chris chat about new Korean-American film Past Lives, the directorial debut of Celine Song, and check out blues-rock band The Jon Amor Trio in a village hall at a birthday party. Rifa is reading the British Museum's picture book Goddess, written by Janina Ramirez and illustrated by Sarah Walsh, while Chris is reading David Graeber's classic social history book Debt: The First 5,000 Years.
Refigure VI - Ep 57: A Strange Loop & Blue Zones
Chris and Rifa discuss the musical A Strange Loop with an annoyed sidebar about the state of The Barbican, and chat about Netflix documentary series Live To 100: The Secrets Of The Blue Zones. Rifa is enjoying coffee table books on the artist Hilma af Klint, while Chris is reading Katherine Rundell's biography of the 17th century poet John Donne, Super-Infinite.
Refigure VI - Ep 56: Tate Britain & Pere Lachaise
Chris and Rifa talk about Tate Britain's permanent collection rehang, visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris and the Black Brighton Market. Rifa is reading Hafsa Zayyan's We Are All Birds Of Uganda and Chris is reading David Grann's The Wager.
Refigure Check-in E55 – The Assistant & The King
Chris and Rifa's weekly review of our adventures in the arts, diversity and culture.
This week we watch unsettling low key film The Assistant, starring Julia Garner, which shows the entertainment industry normalising abuse and suppressing dissent. We also watch Beyoncé's vivid and arresting semi-abstract musical Black Is King on Disney+ made in response to her involvement with The Lion King reboot.
Finally, we venture on our first post-corona trip to a physical exhibition, donning masks for the Prince's Treasure exhibition at Brighton's Royal Pavilion, where priceless items originally bought for the Pavilion by George IV have been loaned back to the building by The Royal Collection.
Rifa is reading Glennon Doyle's memoir Untamed, while Chris is reading Layla F Saad's anti-racism workbook Me And White Supremacy.
Thank you so much for listening. Find us on Facebook and Insta.
Refigure Check-in E54 – Mrs America & Get Shorty
Chris and Rifa's bitesize arts and diversity review show.
This week we watch Mrs America on the BBC iPlayer, starring Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne, set in the 1970s USA, telling the story of the battle for the Equal Rights Amendment. We also bing-watch all three seasons of Sky dramedy Get Shorty, starring Chris O'Dowd as a gangster trying to break into Hollywood.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is still ploughing through bell hooks' trilogy about love, while Chris is revisiting Aldous Huxley's classic Brave New World, ahead of its major new television adaptation.
Thank you very much for listening. Find us on Facebook and Instagram, please leave a nice review and tell your friends.
Refigure Check-in E53 – How Not To Build A Film About A Girl
Welcome to Chris and Rifa's bitesize arts, diversity and culture review show.
This week we watch the third season of Norwegian viking comedy Norsemen on Netflix. Then Rifa has an unexpectedly strong reaction to new film How To Build A Girl, starring Beanie Feldstein, directed by Coky Giedroyc and based on Caitlin Moran's comic fictionalised memoir.
In What You Reading For? Rifa has joined a book club and is reading Season Butler's novel Cygnet, while Chris is reading our old friend Kate Bulpitt's debut novel Purple People.
Thank you very much for listening. Find us on Insta and Facebook – and please leave us a nice five star review and all that jazz.
Refigure Check-in E52 – I May Destroy You
Welcome to Refigure with Chris and Rifa, a weekly podcast about the arts, diversity and culture.
This week we are both blown away by Michaela Coel's acclaimed new comedy-drama series I May Destroy You on BBC iPlayer. We also binge-watch the entire run of Danish/Swedish mystery thriller The Bridge, which we actually paid money for, as Rifa discovers her love for Nordic noir.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is still reading bell hooks' trilogy on love, while Chris is still reading Priyamvada Gopal's Insurgent Empire.
Thank you very much for listening. Find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Refigure Check-in E51 – Iceland & Disclosure
Chris and Rifa's weekly bitesize review of the arts, diversity and culture.
This week we watched Will Ferrell's new comedy Eurovision, which sent us down a rabbit hole of watching Icelandic films and documentaries.
Then we watched the powerful new Netflix documentary Disclosure, about the history of how American TV and cinema has representated transgender people onscreen – and how that has impacted how culture sees trans people.
Rifa is re-reading bell hooks' All About Love (which she may have recommended before on an earlier series of Refigure), while Chris is reading Priyamvada Gopal's history book Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance And British Dissent.
Thank you very much for listening. Please 'like' and subscribe and leave a five star review and tell all your friends about us. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Refigure Check-in E50 – The Floor Is Lava & The Mystic Pop Up Bar
Welcome to Refigure, Chris and Rifa's continuing home-based bitesize covid-avoiding adventures in the arts, diversity and culture. It's the fiftieth episode of Refigure but we're so hardcore we forgot to even mention it in the show. Yes please to cake, though, if you insist.
This week we binge-watch brainmelting Netflix high concept game show The Floor Is Lava (or 'The Kwiksave Maze') then we dug into South Korean oddball drama series The Mystic Pop-up Bar.
Rifa is playing with Louise Hay's 'Power Thought Cards', while Chris is re-reading Colin Ward's radical little social history book Cotters & Squatters.
Thank you for listening. Please leave a five star review wherever you get your podcasts – and tell your friends about us. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Lots of love. xxx
Refigure Check-in E49 – BlackLivesMatter, Space Force & Da 5 Bloods
Chris and Rifa's continuing home-based adventures in culture, diversity and the arts.
This week we wear masks to a Black Lives Matter protest in Brighton. Then we watch Steve Carrell's new Netflix comedy series Space Force with John Malkovich and Lisa Kudrow, about a Trump-style military run space initiative.
Then we disagree about Spike Lee's new film Da 5 Bloods – also on Netflix – starring Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo, following a group of African-American Vietnam veterans as they return to Ho Chi Minh City to search for the body of a fallen comrade.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is just starting Ta Nehisi Coates' essay collection We Were Eight Years In Power and Chris is reading Bhanu Kapil's poetry book How To Wash A Heart.
Thank you for listening, please leave us a nice review. Find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Refigure Check-in E48 – Queer Eye & Statues
Chris and Rifa's continuing adventures in the arts, diversity and culture.
This week we watch Mark Cousin's epic cinema history series Women Make Film, narrated by Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda and others.
We also binge-watch the fifth series of tearjerking Netflix makeover show Queer Eye.
Then we fall into a difficult, not necessarily successful conversation about the removal of statues of slave traders.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is deep into blogs and information site about supporting #BlackLivesMatter, while Chris is reading Robert Pinsky's writing guide The Sound Of Poetry.
Thank you very much for listening. Find us online at Facebook and on Instagram. Please leave a 5* review and tell your friends about the podcast.
Check-in E47 – Devs and Unorthodox
Chris and Rifa's weekly adventures in arts, diversity and culture.
This week we binge-watched two drama series, doing each complete series in one late night, so we treated them more like a long film. First we watched Alex Garland's sci-fi drama Devs, made by FX but we saw it on BBC iPlayer. Then we did Netflix drama Unorthodox, a German production written primarily in Yiddish, directed by Maria Schraeder.
Rifa is reading some Albert Camus essays, while Chris joined the Poetry Book Society and with his membership got sent Will Harris' debut collection Rendang.
Thank you for listening. Find us on Facebook and Insta.
Check-in E46 – BlackAF, Hollywood and a bit of ballet
Chris and Rifa's weekly adventures in the arts, tech, diversity and culture.
This week we watched Kenya Barris' new sitcom BlackAF co-starring Rashida Jones.
Rifa also watched Ryan Murphy's Hollywood TV series, which Chris couldn't stand. We also talk a bit about watching ballet on the screen.
Rifa is reading Jen Sincero's self-help book You Are A Badass At Making Money, while Chris is reading Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad.
Thank you for listening!
Check-in E45 – Midnight Gospel & Mindy Kaling
Chris and Rifa's weekly home-made adventures in the arts, tech and diversity.
This week we're entranced by Midnight Gospel, Pendleton Ward's philosophical, psychedelic animation series on Netflix.
We also dive into the work of Mindy Kaling, we were meant to be chatting about her new Indian-American teen coming-of-age comedy series Never Have I Ever, also on Netflix, though it got a bit hijacked by binge-watching Kaling's previous (and similarly good but problematic) show The Mindy Project.
Rifa didn't read a book this week, instead she listened to the Dissect podcast series about Beyoncé's Lemonade, while Chris is re-reading David Eagleman's Sum.
Thanks so much for listening! Please leave a five star review and 'like' and subscribe, etc.
You can also find us on Facebook.com/Refigurepod and Instagram @refigureUK.
Refigure Check-in E44 – Quiz and Kingdom
Rifa and Chris continue their bitesize adventures in culture, the arts, diversity and tech.
We watch two seasons of brilliant Korean Netflix historical drama Kingdom, which turns a costume drama of 15th century feudal taboos into a horrifying march of the undead. We also watch the much discussed ITV three-parter Quiz, based on the real-life events around Charles Ingram's infamous attempt to cheat the TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, with Michael Sheen playing Chris Tarrant.
Rifa is reading N.K. Jemisin's short story collection How Long Til A Black Future Month?, while Chris is reading Oliver Gray's latest travel memoir Polly In My Pocket.
Thank-you so much for listening. Give us a 'like', subscribe and please leave a five star rating and a nice review. That stuff makes a huge difference for the show. Find us on Insta and Facebook.
Refigure Check-in E43 – livestream gigs and Kim's Convenience
Chris and Rifa's Refigure Check-in continues our locked down adventures in culture, tech and diversity.
This week we chat about the plethora of livestream performances during the quarantine period. Then we binge-watch the whole of season four of Korean-Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is enjoying Ben Okri's latest short story collection Prayer For The Living and Chris takes a break from Hilary Mantel to dip into Neil MacGregor's compendium for the British Museum and BBC's epic radio series, A History of The World In 100 Objects.
Thank you for listening. Please 'like' and subscribe and leave us a nice five star review. Please tell your friends. We don't have a marketing budget. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Refigure Check-in E42 – Cake Off, Zoom and fun apps
Refigure returns for series #4, the Check-in Season, several weeks early, as Rifa and Chris find ways to resume our tinkering in the arts, tech, culture and diversity, from the safety of our own house.
This week we binge-watch The Great British Bake Off (the early years) and swap tips for fun apps and games to download and play, while you're quarantining. In What You Reading For? Rifa recommends Shonnetta's Divine Tarot on YouTube, while Chris is having a logistical problem with Hilary Mantel's barnstorming new historical novel The Mirror And The Light. We also loved J.B. Morrison's latest novel A God Awful Small Affair.
Next week we'll talk about the explosion of music and theatre livestreams, plus something else.
Thank you SO much for still listening to us, four series in. It would be lovely to hear from you, find us on Instagram (refigureUK), Twitter (@refigurepod) and Facebook (facebook.com/RefigurePod). Please 'like' and subscribe and leave us a nice five star review. Thankyou!
Refigure is produced by Lo Fi Arts. @lofiarts
Refigure E10 – (A Bit Tipsy) Review Of The Year
Happy new year! Chris and Rifa take one last Prosecco-fuelled look back at 2019 in the arts and culture, chatting over takeout about our favourite books, TV, art and music.
This is the final episode of Refigure Series 3. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. We'll be back in Spring 2020 (if the world is still turning) with a new podcast series for the new decade. Look out for us, wherever you get your pods.
Keep up with our adventures on Refigure Facebook, Refigure Twitter and Refigure Insta.
You can also find us individually: Rifa on Twitter, Chris on Twitter, Rifa's website, Chris on Instagram, Rifa on Instagram.
All the very best to you for a joyful and successful 2020. XXX
Refigure E09 – A Christmas Carol
Chris and Rifa's latest adventures in culture, the arts, tech and diversity – or in this case, watching a load of festive telly with faces full of mince pies.
This week we watch the BBC's intense, new adult three part re-imagining of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring Guy Pierce, Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy.
We also binge-watch HBO's extraordinary new TV series version of Watchmen. starring Regina King and Don Johnson.
Rifa is reading the collected late blog entries of Ursula K. le Guin, which were published as No Time To Spare. Chris didn't read a book this festive week, instead he played through the 2016 horror platform videogame INSIDE by PlayDead.
Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please leave a nice review and a five star rating. Thank you for listening to us this year.
Refigure E08 – Seven Worlds
Chris and Rifa's weekly bitesize joyride around the arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week we go to the cinema to watch Rian Johnson's acclaimed new whodunnit style movie Knives Out starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig and Chris Pine.
We also watch the latest David Attenborough series on the BBC iPlayer, Seven Worlds One Planet as it increasingly desperately highlights the impact of the climate catastrophe on the world's wildlife.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is enjoying Leonie Dawson's funky entrepreneurial handbook My Shining Year Business Workbook, while Chris is blown away by John McCullough's stunning poetry collection Reckless Paper Birds, published by Penned In The Margins.
Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please leave a nice review and a five star rating – and tell your friends. Thank you for listening!
Refigure E07 – The Mandalorian with Rob Pearson
Chris and Rifa continue their fun weekly dive into arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week Refigure is a lo-fi episode, entirely taped onto iPhone. Back to normal next week.
We watch the second series of Netflix documentary show Abstract, which profiles visionary creatives working in different disciplines of design.
Then we introduce a special guest: our new Star Wars Correspondent, our friend and neighbour Rob 'Robot' Pearson. We go round Rob's house to watch the first two episodes of Disney Plus platform's flagship launch show The Mandalorian, set in the Star Wars universe a few years after the events of Return Of The Jedi.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is reading the Denise Duffield-Thomas money oriented self-help book Get Rich Lucky Bitch. Chris has got his hands on the new issue of Hampshire-based fanzine Weird Walk and also calls for contributors to help write a fanzine about potatoes.
If you're enjoying Refigure, please leave a nice review and a five star rating on whatever system you use. Ta! And you can catch up with us online – and check out some photos of the stuff we talk about on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Thanks a lot for listening. Cheerio.
Refigure E06 – Kara Walker Is My Name
Chris and Rifa's continuing bitesize adventures in the world of arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week our intrepid duo check out the iconic new installation at Tate Modern's enormous Turbine Hall, Kara Walker's powerful reflection on slavery and empire Fons Americanus.
We also watch Eddie Murphy's sweet new Netflix film Dolomite Is My Name – a biopic of blaxploitation / comedy / hip hop pioneer Rudy Ray Moore.
In What You Reading For? Chris is trying to read Under The Radar poetry magazine from Nine Arches Press, while Rifa is digging into Richard Rumelt's business guidebook Good Strategy/Bad Strategy. Though we've mistakenly called him 'Rumlet' throughout the podcast – and even taken the piss out of his name, though it's wrong. Sorry, Richard.
Find us on Insta, Twitter and Facebook. Please give us a nice review and 'like' and subscribe etcetra etcetra.
Refigure E05 – Frankenstein
Chris and Rifa's weekly bitesize review show about the arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week Chris and Rifa argue about the first episode of the BBC/HBO's epic new TV series His Dark Materials, adapted from Philip Pullman's wildly acclaimed kids' fantasy novels.
We also go to the beautiful East Brighton venue The Spire – a spooky deconsecrated church – to check out Truestory Theatre's gothic production of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which runs to the 9th November.
In What You Reading For? this week Rifa enjoys Leonora Carrington's collection of surreal short stories The Skeleton's Holiday published for £1 as part of the Penguin Modern series. Meanwhile Chris is reading a Collins Gem classic mini guide on foraging called Food For Free by Richard Mabey (not Madeley).
Find us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Please leave us nice comments and give us a good rating. You know the drill, you're our marketing team, so please 'like', 'subscribe' and tell your friends if you're enjoying the show.
Thank you! XX
Refigure E04 – Nam June Paik
Rifa and Chris chat about their recent adventures in the arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week we catch up with our own recent projects, including Rifa's latest She Says Brighton event for Brighton Digital Festival, plus Chris going back on tour with his old band lineup, as backing band for Jim Bob from Carter USM.
We also go to Tate Modern to check out the new retrospective exhibition of work by Nam June Paik.
In What You Reading For? Rifa enjoyed the flawed but fascinating memoir by anti-corruption (anti-Brexit) legal campaigner Gina Miller, called Rise: Life Lessons in Speaking Out, Standing Tall and Leading the Way. Chris is reading Richard Powers' acclaimed novel Overstory.
If you're enjoying Refigure please do the usual things: 'like' and subscribe and leave a kind review.
Find us at Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram.
Thank you very much. XX
Refigure E03 –
Chris and Rifa's week in arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week we played indie video game cult hit Untitled Goose Game. We also went to see DIY alt-rock veterans Sebadoh play live.
Rifa is reading Audrey Lorde's iconic essays The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House, while Chris is enjoying rock writer Oliver Gray's music travel memoir Banjo On My Knee.
Visit us on Twitter @refigurepod, Instagram @refigureUK and join us on Facebook.
Thank you very much for listening. We hugely appreciate your support.
Refigure E02 – Jerry Seinfeld
Chris and Rifa return with more bitesize chat about the arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week our heroes discuss everything Jerry Seinfeld has ever done, which they've watched in full over the past two months.
They also get lost in a misty corridor, in Olafur Eliasson's major exhibition at Tate Modern.
Chris is reading TV critic Emily Nussbaum's essay collection I Like To Watch, while Rifa is reading some self-help book or other.
Find us on Facebook – RefigurePod, Twitter – @RefigurePod and Insta – @RefigureUK.
Thank you very much for listening, if you're enjoying our daft show, please leave a nice review and decent rating.
All our love.
XX
Refigure: The Loose Series – E01
Chris and Rifa return with their bitesize weekly review show, covering culture, tech and diversity.
We check out the major retrospective of William Blake's work at Tate Britain and Rifa is down the front row of the cinema for J-Lo's new movie Hustlers.
Chris is reading Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror and also enjoyed John Higgs' William Blake Now. Rifa is reading Poetry Review magazine.
Find us online at: Instagram.com/refigureuk, Facebook.com/refigurepod and on Twitter: @christt I @rifa I @Refigurepod.
Thank you for listening. XX
Refigure E30 – The End 2
It's the season two finale of Chris and Rifa's weekly review of culture, tech and diversity.
For this packed episode, we binge-watch the entire run of HBO's hugely acclaimed multi award-winning political satire Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, to mark the occasion of that show finishing.
We also mooch up to Tate Modern for a preview of Danish/Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's major new solo exhibition 'In Real Life', which, spoiler alert, is sensational.
And on Netflix we check out Aziz Ansari's new stand-up special Right Now, that inevitably reflects on his changed status after last year's accusation against him of sexual misconduct.
Rifa is reading New Philosopher magazine (which she actually bought for Chris), while Chris is reading Benjamin Myers' poetic non fiction work Under The Rock.
Thank you very much for supporting Refigure through our second season. We love you. Refigure will be back in autumn for season three but in the meantime you can still find us at: Facebook.com/RefigurePod, Twitter @RefigurePod and on Instagram @RefigureUK.
Refigure E29 – Glasto & Berry
Nearing the end of season two, Rifa and Chris take their weekly bitesize chunk out of the arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week we cleared our schedules, bought a pile of unhealthy snacks and settled in to spend the whole weekend binge-watching BBC live streams from Glastonbury Festival, enjoying full live sets by more than 25 bands, without the distractions of presenters, acoustic sets or annoying 'atmosphere' video packages over on the 'normal' TV coverage.
Our Glasto conversation ranges from the impressive BBC sound quality; via the improvement of diversity at major festivals; to Stormzy's sensational headline and the state of grime; via the genius of Lizzo, the tears of Idles singer Joe Talbot and the obligatory "oh god, Morrissey" sidebar. Icons as disparate as Sali Hughes and Darren Hayman get brief mentions.
In What You Reading For? Rifa is enjoying Kate Atkinson's Life After Life and Chris is blown away by Robert Macfarlane's Underland.
Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying Refigure please 'follow' us or give us a nice review and star rating on whatever podcast thing you use. You can find us on Twitter: @refigurepod Insta: @refigureUK and Facebook.com/refigurepod.
Next time will be the final episode of season two. XX
Refigure E28 – Television & Reality
Chris and Rifa's weekly bitesize look back at their week in culture, tech and diversity.
This week, we chat about three recent TV drama series that we binge-watched, all of which try to make us think about the state of reality, right now.
We watched season five of Charlie Brooker's Netflix show Black Mirror, Russell T Davies' new BBC series Years & Years and NBC's Chicago legal drama The Good Fight.
In What You Reading For? Rifa talks about the epic blog entry she has written with collaboration from some of Brighton's experts on creativity.
Meanwhile Chris read Jody Rosen's long article in New York Times Magazine about a warehouse fire in 2008 on the Universal Pictures lot, which is now revealed to have destroyed tens of thousands of music's most important audio masters, from the greatest artists of all time.
Thank you for all your support this season. We're on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Refigure E27 – Primavera & Gaudí
Chris and Rifa's weekly bitesize show digging through their favourite arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week is a Barcelona special, mostly recorded at Kino Café outside the Contemporary Art Gallery, over a big pile of patatas bravas. We chat about our weekend at Primavera Sound 2019 music festival, which had a wildly diverse lineup and booked more than 50% women artists.
We also talk about Catalonia's great architect and design genius Antoni Gaudí, walking around Sagrada Família and doing a tour of his extraordinary, unique house Casa Batlló.
In What You Reading For? Chris is reading Tina Jordan's essay in the New York Times about the disappearance of Agatha Christie, while Rifa just finished Toni Morrison's first novel The Bluest Eye, from 1970.
If you enjoy Refigure, please give us a nice review or rating where you listen to pods, consider subscribing – and please tell your friends about us. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram and connect with us on Facebook.
Thanks a lot.
Refigure E26 – Applegate & Saxons
After a mid-season hiatus and a bit of overseas travel, Chris and Rifa return for another bitesize munch on culture, tech and diversity.
This week the show is taped in our Barcelona hotel room. We would've recorded it on the roof terrace but there were noisy Brits. We chat about new Netflix drama series Dead To Me starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini.
We also talk about visiting Brighton Museum's new archaeological gallery, with its excellent exhibition uncovering some of the earliest humans to live in Sussex, including hi-tech facial reconstructions from their original skulls.
It's a quick episode to ease us back into the habit of podding, so expect more soon. Hope you dig it. Find us at Facebook.com/refigurepod and on Twitter @refigurepod and on Insta @refigureUK
Cheerio.
Refigure E25 – Iron & Wine
Chris and Rifa dig into another week of arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This week we're both blown away by Icelandic indie film Woman At War starring Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir.
Chris is also watching Sky Atlantic's sobering true-life 1980s drama Chernobyl about the Soviet Union's great nuclear disaster – and we aren't convinced by buddy comedy Wine Country, directed by Amy Poehler, which is up on Netflix.
We also have starkly conflicting reactions to Malian photographer and DJ Fototala King Massassay's exhibition Iron Men, about iron workers and smelters in Mali's capital city of Bamako, which is at Brighton's Pheonix Gallery this month as part of Brighton Festival.
Rifa gets annoyed with the English edition of Flow magazine from the Netherlands, while Chris loves N J Stallard's short story The White Cat that won the Aleph Prize.
Let us know what you think about all the shiz we discussed over on Facebook and follow us on Insta and Twitter @Refigurepod.
Phew, we packed a lot in this week. Hope you dig it. If you do, please give us a 'like' / a nice review / five star rating, wherever you listen to your podcasts – that sort of stuff hugely helps us, without a marketing budget or anything.
Thank you. XX
Refigure E24 – Thanos & Nwando
Chris and Rifa take a marmalade-fuelled amble through some arts, culture, tech and diversity.
This episode, we go to the cinema with everyone else in the world to watch Avengers: End Game.
We also take part in the opening ceremony of Nwando Ebizie's glorious Distorted Constellations installation / exhibition at Lighthouse, as part of Brighton Festival. And we eat some Divine ginger thin chocolates (sort of biscuits) we got from Oxfam.
Rifa is reading Ruben Pater's The Politics Of Design and Chris is reading Kel Winser's horror/fantasy comic User, based on a screenplay by Anthony Melton, and also J.B. Morrison's as-yet unpublished fifth novel.
As always, thank you for listening. Do come visit us on Facebook and Instagram and follow the pod's new Twitter feed.
Refigure E23 – Vincent & Beyoncé
Chris and Rifa's weekly adventures in culture, the arts, tech and diversity.
This week Chris and Rifa head to Tate Britain to check out hot new exhibition Van Gogh And Britain. They also watch Beyoncé's new concert film Homecoming on Netflix, based on her headline shows at last year's Coachella festival.
Chris is reading Suzannah Evans' first book-length poetry collection Near Future published by Nine Arches Press, while Rifa is reading about the artist Daniel Minter in Womankind magazine.
Thank you so much for listening. If you're enjoying Refigure please leave us a nice review or a rating, it really helps us raise the podcast's profile. You can also visit us at Facebook.com/Refigurepod and follow us on Instagram.
Refigure E22 – Rhodes & Sitcoms
Chris and Rifa swim in the balmy waters of the arts, culture and diversity. This week's episode comes from the Eastern Mediterranean sea shore.
We revisit the three British sitcoms that we reviewed at the start of the season, now they've each finished their six episode run, namely Derry Girls, Home and Fleabag.
We also went to the career retrospective exhibition of iconic Greek realist painter Valias Semertzidis at the Museum Of Greek Modern Art.
Rifa reads a tiny poem she saw on Twitter and Chris is re-reading Robert Macfarlane's Landmarks.
If you enjoy the show, please give us a nice review or leave a star rating or whatever. This stuff hugely helps us, since more reviews means a higher profile on podcast publishers. And share us with your friends.
You can find Refigure on Instagram @refigureuk and Facebook at Facebook.com/Refigurepod. Be lovely to hear from you.XX
Refigure E21 – Queer Eye & Pose
Chris and Rifa take their weekly dip into the choppy waters of culture, tech and diversity.
This week we catch up with two iconic queer TV shows: the second season of makeover reality hit Queer Eye on Netflix and groundbreaking FX drama series Pose, about the underground trans ball scene in 1980s New York, which is on the BBC iPlayer. This expanded into a broader conversation about LGBTQI and QTIPOC representation, privilege and ally-ship.
Chris is reading David Grann's non fiction book White Darkness, about Henry Worsley's solo attempt to cross Antarctica, while Rifa's reading Oprah's new pithy advice quotations book The Path Made Clear.
Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you're enjoying Refigure, please help us grow our audience by leaving a nice review, 'following' us and sharing with your friends. Thanks a lot! We're in Greece right now, so next week's Refigure should have a distinctly mediterranean feel.
Refigure E20 – Cheese & The Multiverse
Rifa and Chris do their weekly dance of near-death with the all powerful octopus of culture, art, tech and diversity.
This week we reflect on Jim Bob's solo show at Shepherds Bush Empire (where Chris was part of the band). We then binge-watch the second series of Brit Marling's brilliant reality-bending mystery TV series The OA, which has gone up on Netflix. Finally we taste-test three different artisan vegan cheeses from Fauxmagerie, the deli in Brixton Market, while arguing if vegan cheese (or even normal dairy cheese) is a Good Thing.
As usual, please give us a 'like' and a 'follow' and leave a nice review, it makes a massive difference to how widely we're heard if you support us. Thanks a lot. Find us on Insta @refigureuk and on Facebook at RefigurePod.