The Culture Shot

Foreign language film and television has been dominating our screens. With films such RRR (India) making history as the first foreign language film to win the Best Original Song category at this year's Golden Globes, and Parasite (South Korea) scooping up all the major awards in 2020. To talk about the rise in foreign language film and television, filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff joins host Ben Monro-Davies, and shares the fascinating tale of how she brought Sesame Street to post-communist Russia. In the wake of political tensions, she talks about navigating the cultural clashes colouring nearly every aspect of the production and how she adapted the iconic series for Russian audiences. Her new book Muppets in Moscow hits UK bookshelves this month.

What does it take to run a top studio space in the heart of South-East London? In this episode, Loanne Collyer, Consultant at one of London's most versatile production and events spaces, Sugar Studios, speaks to host Ben Monro-Davies to offer an insight into what happens behind-the-scenes. She discusses day-to-day activity, working with a wide portfolio of clients, and trends for the future of studio space

When we think of popular children's literature, the first thing that comes to mind are the characters. From Quentin Blake's unique style as featured in Roald Dahl's books, to David McKee's beloved Elmer the patchwork elephant, through to the classics including Beatrix Potter and Dr Seuss. On this episode, children's author and illustrator Korky Paul, the man behind everyone's favourite witch, Winnie the Witch and her feline companion Wilbur, speaks to host Ben Monro-Davies about the impact of his characters on children's reading. This year marks the 35thanniversary of the iconic series and Korky sheds light on the process behind creating a character much loved by children and adults alike.

Identity in the world of art and culture is reshaping the relationship between spectator and the artist, helping us to gain new perspectives and understanding of other people's lives. On this episode, host Ben Monro-Davies speaks to art curator, Ellen Nash, who's worked with world-renowned artists including Toma Stenko and Georgii Uv. She talks about how identity influences and inspires creativity.

Linguistic diversity is a valuable gift but can sometimes act as a barrier for important knowledge and work to get noticed. On this episode, host Ben Monro-Davies speaks to Bibiana Mas, founder of the revolutionary independent publisher, 3TimesRebel Press. She talks the power of translation in helping minority voices gain the recognition they deserve. In regions where marginalised groups are silenced for speaking their truth, translation can be a lifeline.

What is does the future of art look like in an age of Artificial Intelligence? In this episode, Ben Monro-Davies speaks to Aidan Meller, the creative gallery director behind Ai-Da the robot, world's first humanoid AI robot artist. He shares the story of Ai-Da's early inception, seeing her AI evolve to become a media sensation and tackles the age-old debate of humans' vs robots.

What makes a successful Author? Is it the number of book-sales, notoriety or is it a bit more complicated than that? In this episode, Ben Monro-Davies speaks to the best-selling thriller author CLTaylor, about the challenges of building ‘brand recognition' as an author, especially as the publishing space becomes increasingly crowded with celebrity and influencer authors. She talks about being a female writer in the thriller genre, shifting the narrative in a genre where women have traditionally been accessories to the plot and giving agency back to the female characters in her stories.

To celebrate World Poetry Day, this week we're hearing from Katherine Lockton, an Anglo-Bolivian poet and author of Paper Doll, published by flipped eye. Katherine is also one of the judges of the new competition Poetry for Good and the editor of South Bank Poetry. This is a must-listen for poetry fans!

As Bookshop.org hits £1m generated in profit for independent bookshops in just four months, we sit down with UK MD Nicole Vanderbilt to learn about the story so far, and how the ethical ecommerce platform is changing the game for indie bookshops.

In this week's episode we hear from Janie Brown, author of Radical Acts of Love: How we Find Hope at the End of Life and founder of the Callanish Society, a charity in Canada which helps people with cancer to face death with courage. Brown, who has worked over 30 years as an oncology nurse and counsellor, tells us about a life-changing encounter early in her career, making sense of the end of life and much more.

Today we're joined by David Abulafia, winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2020, to discuss why history matters today, his prize-winning book The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans and what it means to win the UK's most prestigious history writing prize. The Wolfson History Prize is a key date in the literary calendar, it recognises outstanding works of historical non-fiction from the past year and is awarded annually to a work of historical writing that combines excellence in historical research with readability for a general audience. Shining a light on the relevance of history and history writing to society today, the Wolfson History Prize is the most valuable non-fiction writing prize in the UK; £40,000 is awarded to the winner, with each shortlisted author receiving £4,000. The 2021 shortlist of six historical non-fiction books set to be revealed on Wednesday 21 April, and the winner announced on Wednesday 9 June. To learn more about the Wolfson History Prize please visit https://www.wolfsonhistoryprize.org.uk/ or connect on Twitter via @WolfsonHistory / #WolfsonHistoryPrize.

In this week's episode we hear from Thomas Levenson, author and Professor of Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), about his most recent book Money for Nothing: The South Sea Bubble and the Invention of Modern Capitalism, a Financial Times Economics Best Book of 2020. Levenson explains how the "world's first great stock market boom, fraud and bust" is not just the story of a huge scam but is also the story of the birth of modern financial capitalism: the idea that you can invest in future prosperity and that governments can borrow money to make things happen.

For our first episode of the year, we're joined by Özlem Cekic, Denmark's first Muslim MP (2007-2015) and creator of #dialoguecoffee, discussing her inspiring new book, Overcoming Hate Through Dialogue. Tune in for a unique perspective on prejudice, where Cekic shares what it was like being a young Turkish Muslim immigrant growing up in Denmark, getting inundated with hate mail on election and how she coped and confronted the haters.

This week we're joined by one of Britain's most treasured horticulturalists, Monty Don, discussing his latest book American Gardens. Monty takes us on a fascinating journey through gardening culture across the Atlantic that shines a light on the relationship between culture, society and the garden.

This week we're joined by international sports presenter, Alison Bender, as we learn about her 20-year career as a football reporter covering European Championships, World Cups and Champions League Games. As a woman in a male-dominated world, Alison Bender shares how she broke into this hugely competitive industry, and discusses her experiences of sexism in sport.

As we mark Remembrance Day this week, we're joined by Sunday Times #1 bestselling author, Damien Lewis, to discuss his epic new book, SAS Band of Brothers. For twenty years Damien worked as a war and conflict reporter for the world's major broadcasters, winning numerous awards. Band of Brothers continues Damien's iconic WWII elite forces series, revealing previously untold facets of one of the war's most daring SAS missions, exploring its wider ramifications for the war as a whole, and its long-lived and extraordinary aftermath.

Today we're joined by judge turned resilience coach and author, Emma J Bell, discussing her inspirational audiobook, 9 Secrets to Thriving. Taking us on a 35,000 mile journey, Bell draws on insights from 50 inspiring people who have suffered trauma but are nonetheless thriving, identifying the nine secrets any of us can apply to our daily lives to thrive.

In this week's episode we're joined by investigative journalist Geoff White. Having covered technology for BBC News, Channel 4 News, Forbes and many others, Geoff White specialises in examining the impact of tech on our daily lives, from AI to the Dark Web. Discussing his new book Crime Dot Com, we go on a deep-dive into the world cyber crime, predicted to be one of the great themes of the twenty-first century.

In this week's episode we hear from Lola Shoneyin, Founder & Director of Aké Festival, about why the world needs a festival devoted to African and African Diaspora voices now more than ever, and how the pandemic has enabled this year's event to become global, digital and free for all.