Episodes

  • Guy Garvey

    Guy Garvey
    Sep 18 2019
    Elbow frontman and lyricist Guy Garvey reveals the inspiration behind one of his band’s best loved songs Lippy Kids. He talks candidly about how personal grief and a feeling of frustration at British politics have led to a darker, more introspective elbow album, the forthcoming Giants Of All Sizes. Guy can’t decide which song he wishes he’d written and so John grants him both wishes.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    38 mins
  • Lucy Prebble

    Lucy Prebble
    Aug 7 2019
    Lucy Prebble discusses her acclaimed play Enron, which dramatised the spectacular rise and criminal fall of a huge American corporation built on bad debt and dodgy hedge funds. She explains how seeing The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, a 2008 play by Stephen Adly Guigis, helped fire her theatrical imagination, and offers an exclusive preview her next play A Very Expensive Poison, about the assassination of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, which will premiere at the Old Vic in August. Lucy also discusses her work as a writer and producer on the brilliant HBO drama series Succession, starring Brian Cox as Logan Roy, an ageing media baron who struggling to decide which of his hand over children should inherit his empire.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    48 mins
  • Paul Weller

    Paul Weller
    Jun 19 2019
    Paul invites John to his studio, Black Barn, to discuss why – after more than four decades as one of Britain’s greatest singer songwriters - he’s still as excited to be making new music today as when he first started writing songs as Beatles-obsessed teenager. He discusses how his latest album, the acclaimed True Meanings, reflects on age and mortality, and reveals how a battered acoustic guitar provided the totemic inspiration behind some of his best loved songs, from That’s Entertainment to Wild Wood.

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    26 mins
  • Kwame Kwei-Armah

    Kwame Kwei-Armah
    Jun 18 2019
    John meets Kwame in a rehearsal room of London’s Young Vic Theatre, where he is artistic director. Although he’s worked as an actor, musician, television presenter and theatre director, Kwame regards himself as a playwright first and foremost.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    33 mins
  • Natalie Merchant

    Natalie Merchant
    Jun 18 2019
    Natalie Merchant made her name fronting American college rock favourites 10,000 Maniacs, launched her solo career in 1993 with Tigerlily and - after seven studio albums - remains one of the most revered singer songwriters of her generation.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    26 mins