Friends and pod peeps. Last Nov, the FT canned my pod column after ten years (a good innings for any column, tbh). Happily, BBC Culture has decided now is a good time to start running pod reviews, so here they are and here I am. Hurrah! Pls do share to get the word out. www.bbc.co.uk/culture/arti...

The Book Club to Get Birding with Sean Bean: Eight of the best podcasts of 2026 so far

From a new literary discussion show to a Games of Thrones star waxing lyrical about our feathered friends, we pick the best new podcasts for you to listen to and watch.

bbc.co.uk

If, like me, you're feeling the commentary around the Epstein files has depressingly shifted focus away from the crimes against women and girls, and the gross misogyny of powerful men, this piece by Helen Rumbelow sets things right. Free to read. www.thetimes.com/article/3c43...

I studied the latest Epstein files. As a woman, this is what I felt

They show a hidden world oiled by porn-saturated misogyny. I spent two days reading them

thetimes.com

Wrote this about the craggy stars of 1970s and 80s cinema having a second wind on the small screen. Appearing on TV was a step down for the stars of Old Hollywood - remember Charlton Heston on the Colbys? - but there's no sense of them slumming it now. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It’s the Hollywood sensation we’re all enjoying: cinema megastars lured to a TV screen near you | Fiona Sturges

The stars get big audiences and complex characters to develop. We’ve lucked out in this golden age of streaming shows, and so have they, says arts writer Fiona Sturges

theguardian.com

Today's Film & Music cover! My interview with the incomparable Emmylou Harris: we talked about dogs, Gram Parson, Dolly, Pete Seeger, the strain of writing a memoir and why she's embarking on her European farewell tour. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

‘There’s serendipity to my story’: Emmylou Harris on Gram Parsons, her garlanded career – and her dog rescue centre

Ahead of her final European tour, the US songwriter discusses her unlikely life as a country star, seeking advice from Pete Seeger – and why retirement isn’t on the cards just yet

theguardian.com

My rules for superior arts experience in 2026: *Don't let musicians go bankrupt making/playing the music WE love *Cinematographers! Turn the lights up! *Stop paying celebs stupid ££ to pretend to be children's authors *Enough with the shit biopics And so on.... www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Thou shalt say no to AI! Ten commandments for a superior arts experience in 2026

From banning bad music biopics to making TV shows we can actually see without squinting, Fiona Sturges has devised a new set of rules for the year ahead

independent.co.uk

Asking people, again, to pay me for the work that was commissioned, written and published in November. It’s illegal to make us wait this long and I‘m too old to be begging like this. So if anyone dares to give writers shit for monetising their Substacks - it’s better than begging the broadsheets…

In today's @guardian, I had a little grumble about the audio-visual podcasts that are forgetting – or have ceased to care – about the experience of listeners. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

‘Painful to hear!’ How podcasts’ rush to video is turning them into dreadful listens

From Joe Marler’s visual-only stunts to the incomprehensible shuffling sounds Steven Bartlett recently subjected headphone users to, dodgy audio experiences are on the rise

theguardian.com

Just putting a seasonal hex on those publications who haven't yet paid their October/November invoices. Merry Christmas, especially to all the struggling freelancers! 🎄🫠

In today's Guardian, I interviewed 1980s punk pioneer Lesley Woods about rebooting the Au Pairs, industry sexism, her 35 years as an immigration lawyer and how, as a musician, she still has more to do ("I don’t think I’ve given the best of me yet"). www.theguardian.com/music/2025/d...

Au Pairs frontwoman Lesley Woods: ‘We were the antithesis to all that boy-meets-girl stuff’

Her post-punk trailblazers were a key influence on riot grrrl. Now, after decades working as a lawyer, she is taking the name – though, contentiously, not the rest of the band – back on the road. ‘I h...

theguardian.com

Another piece from the weekend: I interviewed Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe about playing Salieri and Mozart, respectively, for the upcoming reboot of Amadeus. It's GREAT (the series, I mean, though the piece ain't bad either). www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

‘It’s fun to go to war with God’: Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany on their sweaty, sacrilegious take on Amadeus

Last time the fierce enmity between Mozart and Salieri was adapted for the screen, it won a best picture Oscar. Now a new TV version turns up the temperature several notches – but will its stars devel...

theguardian.com

For this long read in @theguardian.com, I visited a Threshold Choir - people who sing to those on their deathbeds - and interviewed the choir's leader, Nickie Aven, who has turned her experiences of grief into something beautiful. Please give it a read if you can. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

‘He was struggling with his breath. I sat beside him and sang’: the choir who sing to people on their deathbeds

Just as lullabies send babies to sleep, so songs can help those at the other end of life on their way. The leader of a Threshold Choir reveals what they do – and the personal tragedies that convinced ...

theguardian.com

My memoirs & biogs of the year in @theguardian.com. It's never easy to whittle it down and you always mourn the books you can't include for reasons of space/variety. 2025 has been a punishing year for those in the creative industries but a great one for readers. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

The best memoirs and biographies of 2025

Anthony Hopkins and Kathy Burke on acting, Jacinda Ardern and Nicola Sturgeon on politics, plus Margaret Atwood on a life well lived

theguardian.com

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

For today's @the-independent.com, I put my Catholic education to good use and pondered the new Rosalía album and the blossoming relationship between the Vatican and pop culture. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

The Vatican has given Rosalía its blessing – is papal finger-wagging over?

The pop star’s experimental, religious new album has found an unlikely fan in the Vatican, writes Fiona Sturges. Could this signal a new era of papal-pop culture diplomacy?

independent.co.uk

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on an immersive and gripping new series about the real-life family who were shipwrecked in the Pacific for 38 days. www.ft.com/content/0fd9...

Adrift is the nail-biting story of a fight for survival at sea — podcast review

A family’s voyage around the world that went disastrously wrong is documented with verve and skill

ft.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A View from a Bridge, the compelling and sometimes profound audio spin-off of the hit Instagram series in which strangers on bridges stop, pick up a phone receiver and tell stories from their lives. www.ft.com/content/715d...

Strangers share their hopes and fears in A View From A Bridge — podcast review

In producer Joe Bloom’s new series, passers-by and the occasional celebrity tell personal stories over the phone

ft.com

Me on Patti (again) and her new memoir, Bread of Angels, in today's @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/culture/book...

At 78, Patti Smith is still rock's renaissance woman

Her poetic and immersive fourth memoir 'Bread of Angels' is both a prequel and a sequel to the bestselling 'Just Kids'

inews.co.uk

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Becoming Meg Dashwood, a pacy, racy spin-off of Sense & Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Erin Doherty. Sadly, the column is ending later this month after 10 glorious years, so read it while you still can. www.ft.com/content/a6eb...

Becoming Meg Dashwood podcast review — Emma Thompson stars in racy Jane Austen spin-off

Dramatisation based on Sense and Sensibility becomes a story of sexual liberation in Soho

ft.com

For @GuardianBooks, I reviewed Debsey Wykes' Teenage Daydream, a memoir/coming-of-age tale about her adventures as singer and bassist in the early 80s post-punk band, Dolly Mixture. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Teenage Daydream by Debsey Wykes review – coming of age in an all-girl guitar band

Dolly Mixture’s singer and bassist looks back on their time chasing mainstream success and facing down outrageous sexism

theguardian.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Ill-Advised with Bill Nighy, in which listeners send in their quandaries for the great man to answer. Problem-solving may be the pretext of this pod but it's really about the (excellent) company. www.ft.com/content/4ed5...

We’ve reached peak celebrity-podcast — but an exception must be made for Bill Nighy

The irresistibly mellow actor dispenses advice on shirt collars, small talk and how to avoid parties in new series ‘Ill-Advised’

ft.com

And from the weekend, I wrote this for @theipaper on the new Harper Lee collection The Land of Sweet Forever. What should we make of it when the publisher of a cherished writer who is clear about having said all she wanted to say releases two more books under her name? inews.co.uk/culture/book...

Harper Lee's short stories are charming - but what if she never wanted them published?

The Land of Sweet Forever is the work of a young writer still feeling her way

inews.co.uk

It's Monday so here's my @FT column on an epic new podcast on Fela Kuti, hosted by Jad Abumrad, which examines the Afrobeat pioneer's life, loves, sounds and politics. The series is vast and wide-ranging and, after 12 eps, I still didn't want it to end. www.ft.com/content/2737...

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man podcast review — epic portrait of the Afrobeat pioneer

Wide-ranging new series explores the Nigerian musician’s life, loves and rebel politics

ft.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on WTF with Marc Maron, the final ep of which is out today after a remarkable 16 years. Today's podcasting landscape looks very different to how it did then - and some of that is down to Maron. www.ft.com/content/b596...

Marc Maron changed the podcasting landscape — now he’s hanging up his headphones

‘WTF with Marc Maron’ comes to an end after 16 years with a deeply personal address to listeners

ft.com

Another piece (the last for a few days, I promise): I spent an entertaining couple of hours with Evan Dando, who is one of the most unfiltered and bracingly honest interviewees you could hope for. We talked drugs, music, drugs, memoirs and more drugs. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando: ‘Some people were supposed to take drugs – and one of them was me’

He was the darling of early-90s alt rock, but success came with the kind of rock’n’roll excess that many of his peers did not survive. Now, having finally quit heroin, he’s back with a new album, a me...

theguardian.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Coining It with @lewisgoodall.com, which tells the brilliant, bonkers story of a fiftysomething man who discovered a glitch in a bitcoin website, made a fortune and decided to share his newfound wealth with his neighbours. www.ft.com/content/8a20...

Coining It is a gripping new podcast about a crypto Robin Hood — review

Series presented by Lewis Goodall tells the story of a Blackpool man living in poverty who became a millionaire through bitcoin fraud

ft.com

In today's FT, I interviewed the wildly articulate and charismatic Neko Case about making music in the age of streaming and AI, the wonder of growing older and coming to terms with her extraordinary (and extraordinarily difficult) past. www.ft.com/content/c9ae...

Musician Neko Case: ‘The thing nobody tells you is that at 55 you’re going to feel excellent’

The singer-songwriter is on a roll with an unflinching memoir, a new solo album — and a ‘Thelma & Louise’ musical in the works

ft.com

I really wanted to like Ben Elton's new memoir, What Have I Done?, detailing his 40-year career as a writer, comic and occasional actor, not least because I loved The Young Ones, Blackadder & his stand-up (Double Seat!). But, well, he doesn't make it easy. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

What Have I Done? by Ben Elton review – a curious mixture of insight and rampaging ego

The Young Ones and Blackadder creator is sharp on the workings of the comedy industry – and not shy about listing his celebrity admirers

theguardian.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on the return of Heavyweight, one of my all-time faves, which brings back a familiar voice: Gregor. Gregor's elderly parents need to downsize but they can't part with their belongings. Can host Jonathan Goldstein help? www.ft.com/content/a158...

Heavyweight, one of podcasting’s greatest creations, is back — review

Jonathan Goldstein’s series returns with a story about love, death and our attachment to material objects

ft.com

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A Dose of Dandy, a lifestyle series hosted by two influencers who enjoy the finer things in life and seemingly want to live their lives as if in a PG Wodehouse novel. But is this satire or are they for real? www.ft.com/content/09b2...

A Dose of Dandy podcast revels in strenuous elegance — but is it satire?

Show in which two young men wax lyrical about tweed and tulips combines Instagram influencer energy and old-world gentility

ft.com

Slightly more cheery: as part of the @FT's Life of a Song series, I wrote about the dark mysteries at the heart of the gorgeous Irish lament, She Moved Through the Fair. www.ft.com/content/10dd...

She Moved Through the Fair — the folk ballad with a dark mystery at its heart

An illustrious array of artists has covered the enigmatic song, perhaps most memorably Sinéad O’Connor

ft.com