Life and Art from FT Weekend

The Sympathizer, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Robert Downey Jr and Sandra Oh, is one of the top-watched show on HBO right now. But before it was a television series, it was a novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Both the book and the series tell the story of the Captain, a communist mole in South Vietnam who comes to the US as a refugee as the Vietnam war is ending. On today’s episode, Lilah talks to Viet about the themes of The Sympathizer, and what it was like to help reimagine his book for a TV series. -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends!-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – The Sympathizer, starring Robert Downey Jr and Sandra Oh is available on HBO–You can find Viet Thanh Nguyen’s book The Sympathizer and its sequel The Committed wherever books are sold– Lilah’s interview with Nguyen about his recent memoir A Man of Two Faces was published as a Lunch with the FT: https://on.ft.com/3UtjDlm-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandartRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com

In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter Jame Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the ground? A 6-part series looking at China’s tech industry.Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

One of the hallmarks of humanity is our ability to pass down cultural information and knowledge over thousands of years. Philosopher and author Martin Puchner says the lifeblood of culture lies in how we take pieces of information and combine them into new ideas and ways of inhabiting the world. Martin talks with Lilah about how that culture is formed, and how he sees the emergence of generative AI as a new tool for remixing cultural ideas from human history. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the FT Weekend Festival in Washington, DC. -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email the show at lifeandart@ft.com.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Martin’s custom GPTs where you can chat with Socrates or the Buddha, and more: https://www.martinpuchner.com/custom-gpts-and-online-education.html – Martin’s book on culture: https://www.martinpuchner.com/culture-story-of-us.html – The FT’s John Thornhill on Martin’s work: https://on.ft.com/3JQEf29-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Chef Fadi Kattan does something that usually isn’t done in the West Bank of Palestine: he cooks seasonal, locally sourced dishes for a dining experience meant to rival the world’s best restaurants. Born and raised steps from the Church of the Nativity, Fadi has also been documenting the recipes he grew up with. His new cookbook is called Bethlehem: a Celebration of Palestinian Food, and in today’s episode he tells Lilah why talking about food and culture is especially important in a time of war.-------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends!-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Fadi’s book Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food” is out this month in the US and the UK– HTSI recently featured Fadi, his book and his London restaurant Akub: https://on.ft.com/3JFHfhs – Fadi is on Instagram @fadifkattan and on X @FadiKattan-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandartRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Is the buzzy new film Challengers about tennis, sex or just hitting middle age? This week, Lilah invites the FT’s resident film buff and our US sports expert to talk through it. The film stars Zendaya, is directed by Luca Guadagnino, and features a love triangle, a low-level tennis tournament and three sweaty bodies. Our guests today are the FT’s deputy arts editor Raphael Abraham and US sports business correspondent Sara Germano.-------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And do share this episode with your friends!-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Challengers is in cinemas now. Here’s the FT’s review by Danny Leigh: https://on.ft.com/44pYpcs – Raph Abraham’s recent interview with 22-year-old Italian tennis sensation Jannik Sinner: https://on.ft.com/4dhKxoN – Sara Germano’s piece, ‘Taylor Swift, the NFL, and a new wave of female sports fandom’: https://on.ft.com/3wg8PPu – Sara Germano is on X @germanotesMore or Less: – Sara recommends Inside the NBA, hosted by Shaq and Charles Barkley on TNT. – Raph wants more original content. Here’s an FT Weekend piece on poptart film Unfrosted: https://on.ft.com/4aUu7kT – Lilah wants less worrying about small talk. Here’s Jo Ellison’s column which that she mentions: https://on.ft.com/3Wk5Vnv -------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandartRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com

This week, we’re discussing Taylor Swift’s new album 'The Tortured Poets Department', which is already the most-streamed debut in Spotify history. Lilah is joined by music critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and life-long Swiftie Taylor Nicole Rogers to discuss their picks for best and worst songs, whether Swift’s personal life gets in the way of the music, and where she’ll go next.  -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple, Spotify etc.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is available now on all streaming platforms. – Ludovic’s four-star review of the album is here: https://on.ft.com/4bf6289 – Listen to our episode on the Eras tour, ‘Can Taylor Swift get any bigger?’ here or by searching in this feed. – Jo Ellison’s column from 2023, ‘Why I believe in Taylor Swift’: https://on.ft.com/49S6Xdh More or Less:– Ludovic wants more rap beef, like the one happening between Drake, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar and more. You can read his article about the rap beef here. – Taylor wants to see more summer pop bangers. Keep an eye out for Ludovic’s review of Dua Lipa’s upcoming album ‘Radical Optimism’, which lands next Friday.  – Follow Lilah on Instagram for some great springtime content.-----The FT Weekend Festival is coming back, and will be in Washington on May 4. Speakers include Nancy Pelosi. To book tickets, go to ft.com/festival-us and use our exclusive discount code: weekendpodcast. Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart—Clips this week are from Republic Records. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Spring is upon us, which means a bounty of fresh, green seasonal vegetables, from asparagus to artichokes to ramps. To help inspire us to make our own spring feasts, Lilah invites Ayesha Nurdjaja into the studio. Ayesha is the executive chef and partner at Shuka and Shukette, two beloved New York restaurants. Shukette has been called “a Middle Eastern party”, both for its open kitchen and bountiful meals, and for its energy. Visitors are encouraged to mix and match kebabs, breads, herb-covered fish and more in an approach Ayesha calls the “rip and dip”. She shares tons of tips and recipes for spring, and talks about growing up in a household of great global cooks – where her mother’s Italian-American food melded with her dad’s Indonesian cooking. -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple, Spotify, etc.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Ayesha is on Instagram @ayesharare– Her restaurants in New York are Shuka (in SoHo), and Shukette (in Chelsea)– Last year we talked to Ayesha about balancing and building flavour for our food and drinks series. You can check out that conversation here: https://on.ft.com/3Up7mQe-----The FT Weekend Festival is coming back, and will be in Washington, DC, on May 4. Speakers include Nancy Pelosi. To book tickets, go to ft.com/festival-us and use our exclusive discount code: weekendpodcast. Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandartRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com

This week, we talk about the new film ‘Civil War’, directed by Alex Garland, which depicts a future US that’s divided and decimated. It stars Kirsten Dunst as a veteran photojournalist, who is on a road trip with a ragtag group of colleagues. They’re driving through the war-torn north-east to reach the White House before it is stormed by rebel forces. The film has been highly praised as well as highly criticised. What is it trying to say about the state of America? Is it a war film, a political film, or both? The FT’s politics columnist Stephen Bush and US executive producer of audio Topher Forhecz join Lilah to discuss.-------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Danny Leigh’s review of Civil War (he liked it less than we did): https://on.ft.com/4aTzD6P – FT critic Leslie Felperin’s interview with Alex Garland: https://on.ft.com/3W03lmt – You can get a free trial of Stephen’s political newsletter Inside Politics – which includes a daily cultural recommendation – by clicking here– Stephen Bush on X at @stephenkb.– Listen to our episode ‘How to process the news when it all feels bad’, with FT foreign editor Alec Russell. You can find it in our feedMore or Less:– Topher wants to see more interesting landmarks used in films, as in ‘North by Northwest’ and ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’– Stephen wants to see no more ‘Ghostbusters’ ever. Here’s the FT’s 2-star review of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’: https://on.ft.com/4aVOEot – Lilah wants fewer menus. She recommends 15 Fox Place in Jersey City, and Osteria 16 in Copenhagen-----The FT Weekend Festival is coming back, and will be in Washington on May 4. Speakers include Nancy Pelosi. To book tickets, go to ft.com/festival-us and use our exclusive discount code: weekendpodcast. Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart—Clips this week are from A24Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com