The You Do You Show

My guest this episode is writer, director and producer Danielle Dash. You may know her from her award winning 2012 web series Dear Jesus, her incisive pull-no-punches culture writing, and her Twitter, a platform she uses to raise her voice about pop culture she cares about, work she supports, and GIFs that deserve our attention. We talk about the gospel music that makes her feel uplifted and hopeful, the relationship she forged with her school friends through storytelling, Twitter as a portal to new friends connected by mutual love and admiration, and Real Housewives.

This week I went round to Gabriel Bisset-Smith's house to have a cup of tea and a chat. Gabriel is a writer, actor and director – his first short film, THRUSH, won the Vimeo Best Narrative award, he's been named a Dazed Visionary by Dazed and Confused, and he was nominated for a BAFTA for The Last Hours of Laura K, a twenty-four-hour long piece he directed and co-wrote. Right now he's in the final stages of prep for bringing his new play Whitewash to Soho Theatre, a semi-autobiographical play about London, family, and the intersection between race and class. We talk about the experiences that inspired the play, as well as his childhood obsession with ghost-adjacent pop culture, the song that reminds him of his best friend, and a compelling theory he has about the viewership of reality TV.

This week I had the absolute pleasure of going round to have a coffee with writer and actor Milly Thomas. She's written a whole host of plays but it's Dust - a really frank, portrait of suicide and what comes after it - that we talk about most during our conversation. We also discuss portrayals of mental health in pop culture, the music that's guaranteed to make her cry in a Pret, and the Gordon Ramsay one-liners that make her spit tea at her laptop. Extremely mixed genres there but it works.

My guest this week is the poet and author Andrea Gibson, whose writing and performance explores love and loss and anxiety and gender amongst so, so much besides. We talked about Andrea's forthcoming tour and recent book, Lord of the Butterflies, how they found their way to the stage through watching jazz in New Orleans and longing to perform while simultaneously gripped by stage-fright, the concept of kindness as coolness, and Harry Styles! Perfect combo.

This week my guest in Charlie Craggs, founder of Nail Transphobia, an organisation that sees Charlie tacking trans issues through conversation, education and manicures. She's also the Editor of To My Trans Sisters, a collection of letters written by trans women in which they share their stories. We talk about everything from Charlie's early obsession with Posh Spice to the music that made her feel a sense of community during a really difficult time at school, to dealing with the concept of ‘cool' as an adult, looking back on how that's changed since her teenage years.

My guest this week is illustrator and mental health advocate, Venus Libido. Her art reflects life in 2019 – messy and complicated, a constant balancing act between self-love and self-doubt. Though her pieces are often tongue-in-cheek, lots of them shine a light on issues of mental health. It's something we talk a lot about throughout the episode, as well as its intersection with the act of creating work, social media and, of course, pop culture from the music of Michael Jackson (featuring a discussion of the recent HBO/Channel 4 documentary Leaving Neverland) to It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. First though, Venus tells me a little bit about how she started out as an illustrator…

Gina's a force of nature online and off, and it was such a pleasure to talk to her about everything she'd achieved over the last few years. After 18 months of solid campaigning, this January Gina succeeded in making upskirting a criminal offence. She'd been upskirted herself at a Killers gig in the summer of 2017 and learned then that what had happened to her was not a specific offence. She shared a facebook post about it which went viral, before a petition was launched to have her case reopened. It gained so much traction that, along with lawyer Ryan Whelan, she was eventually able to bring a private members' bill backing the creation of a specific law to make upskirting an offence. It clearly was not easy, particularly when the bill was blocked in the Commons by Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope – a moment which Gina talks about really movingly in this episode – but she didn't back down and eventually she achieved what she set out to. We talk about how she did what she did, how pop culture was a port in the storm for her through the worst moments, and how she harnessed it to serve the campaign.

Eliza Hopewell is an artist best known for her candid unapologetic plate paintings. Her work is hugely popular, but its that very popularity that forced Eliza to stop what she was doing in the middle of last year and take stock. We talk about how, since then, she's reframed her work, her prices, and ultimately, her self-worth, as well as her early obsession with PJ Harvey, the song that got her through a difficult breakup, and her current fixation on the sublime simplicity of the work of Alex Katz.

My guest this week is Katy Hessel, the creator of The Great Women Artists, an Instagram account that celebrates all the female artists it's very likely you've never heard of. Katy believes that art should be for everyone, and that's just that bit harder to affect if the vast majority of the art we see if by men. We managed to cover a lot of ground, from what inspired her to start The Great Women Artists, to Skins-era new rave to the feminist advice she'd give to her younger self.

My guest this week is the culture writer Simran Hans. As a film critic for the observer Simran has led me to see so many films I might otherwise not even have heard of, let alone been inspired to watch. Even over the course of this interview, she made a couple of incredible viewing recommendations that I scrambled to write down in the edit and am planning to watch over the next couple of days. As a fan of her fluid and engaging writing I've wanted to get Simran on the show for ages but how great a guest she would be on You Do You was made all the more stark when I listened to her chatting as a guest on the final episode of one of my favourite podcasts SRSLY just before Christmas. On the show, she provided an in-depth analysis of the merits of my most beloved Nancy Meyers' film, The Holiday. Based on that analysis alone, I thought it was pretty likely that we would get on. We get through a lot in this episode from the inexplicably enduring allure of The OC's Seth Cohen to the perceived unattainable cool of early seasons of Channel 4's Skins, to our mutual recent experience of a 1975 gig. Let's get into it! 

My guest this week is Zing Tsjeng, UK Editor of Broadly and author of Forgotten Women, a four-part series published in 2018 by Octopus Books, covering the lost histories of influential artists, leaders, scientists and writers. I visited her at the Vice offices and we ended up talking about her early love of X-men, the poignancy of an overwrought emo-anthem to naval-gazing noughties teens everywhere, and the striking ability of our fave Dua Lipa – who Zing recently interviewed for British Vogue -- to simplify complex themes into culturally incisive pop songs. 

This week my guest is audio-visual artist Mira Calix who joined me to chat about the influence of Bowie's multi-disciplinary approach to his work on her own practice, the importance of dance and physical movement to feeling alive, and to give me a parting (very convincing!) analysis of the disquietingly positive reception towards Joe Goldberg in You. 

This week I had the great pleasure of heading East to visit one of my favourite artists, Babak Ganjei. Lots of Babak's work centres around pop culture from sitcoms, bands, film. In 2014 he sold 6 twigs on eBay for £62 having ensured the prospective buyers that each one had their own personality 'like the Spice Girls' and, more recently, Rough Trade has published a book of film ideas, many of which he pitched to some Hollywood producers who followed him on Twitter after Rob Delaney retweeted him. We chatted about everything from a quite specious claim of a rivalry between Wet Wet Wet and Bros, to finally getting the recognition he deserves from Rough Trade after having been in bands for years, to the impact of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana on pretty much everything.

This week I'm super excited to have got the chance to sit down and chat with Emma Low, the genius behind smash-hit tit pot business Pot Yer Tits Away Luv. Although she does make and sell pre-made pots, her biggest business is in creating hand-made personalised pots, which she moulds from photographs her commissioners send into her. She's a one-woman show so they're not easy to come by — I've got my notifications on for her next shop update. We try to start off every conversation point with pop culture, but each time we found ourselves somewhere incredibly different in about 5 minutes flat. A conversation about football turned into one about the communities built by women, and one about her a favourite song morphed into a discussion of performative identity and the male gaze. Oh well!

This week Anna had the great pleasure of meeting the artist, director, writer and actor Adébayo Bolaji at his studio to talk about his first pop culture obsessions, the effects the pivot from walkman to iPod to streaming services has had on the way we find our music, and the expectations placed on teenage boys to keep their inner lives buried, versus the way Ade lives his life now.

This week I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with one of my favourite writers of 2018, Philip Ellis. I started reading his work after a friend sent me one of his articles entitled “If Online Dating Is No Longer Taboo, Why Is Online Friendship?” I not only massively related to what he wrote but also totally fell for the way he wrote it. Since then I've made sure to keep an eye out for Philip's pieces. In this episode, we chat about Star Trek, Cruel Intentions, and the rom-com.

This week Anna sits down with Derek Owusu, the co-host of her favourite literature podcast Mostly Lit and editor of the forthcoming anthology Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. They get through a lot from the ever-inflating ego of Will Smith, to Derek's teen obsession with serial killers - so ahead of his time in terms of the true crime craze — and the writers he believes embody the concept of 'cool'.

This week Anna chats with journalist and author Lauren Bravo whose first book, What Would The Spice Girls Do?: How The Girl Power Generation Grew Up felt to Anna like it was written just for her. They talk about their mutual appreciation of the Spice Girls (obvs), Lauren's teen obsession with The Strokes (shout out Fabrizio), her enduring idea of cool, and our favourite Food Channel shows. 

A few weeks ago, Anna met up with writer and illustrator Natalie Byrne and the co-founders of Break The Habit Press, Becca Souster and Kezia Bayard-White, to talk about Natalie's book Period, a manual for parents, kids, uterus-owners and non-uterus-owners alike. There's still so much stigma surrounding menstruation and that's why this book exists - to dispel myths and to get us talking. It's safe to say there was absolutely no shortage of talk when these four got together...

This week Anna chats with Musical Director and session drummer William Bowerman. Over the course of his career William has worked with the likes of La Roux, Jason Derulo and Marina and the Diamonds, and for the last three and a half years has been Music Directing and drumming for one of the most successful new pop acts in recent years, Dua Lipa. William was also in two bands Anna really loved growing up, I Was A Cub Scout and Brontide, so they had a *lot* to talk about.

This week Anna caught up with award-winning director and writer Sara Dunlop. Strangely, although the two had never met before recording the podcast, Anna had actually worked for Sara before in her previous life sourcing the music for Sara's critically-acclaimed short film Dreamlands! Over a bottle of wine, they discuss John Hughes' sometimes problematic presentation of teenage romance, the strange sexiness of Prince, and the importance of extreme kindness in Queer Eye. 

In this episode, Anna chats to Mayanne Soret and Elise Bell of her favourite online collective, Tabloid Art History. Along with their third member, Chloe Esslemont, Mayanne and Elise use social media to draw comparisons between pop culture moments and art throughout the ages. They exist because, in their words, “for every pic of Lindsay Lohan falling, there's a Bernini sculpture begging to be referenced.” It's a genius platform that serves to blur the lines between pop culture and high culture — there's value in both forms, and they are not mutually exclusive. Who better to have a chat with about the influence of pop culture on our identities? 

This week Anna had the great fortune to have the comedian Ivo Graham round to her flat for a cup of tea and chat about his pop highs, his teen relationship lows, and the enduring excellence of ABBA. Right now Ivo's bang in the middle of a Soho Theatre run of his show Motion Sickness, a new show about facing the future, a subject which is particularly pertinent considering the information he divulges about recent developments in his personal life…

This week Anna catches up with Anya Pearson who plays guitar in the punk band Dream Nails. When I interviewed the whole band a little while ago for The Tung they described themselves as ‘riotous punk witches singing in perfect harmony' which is extremely accurate. Anya and Anna chat about everything from Sisqo's ‘Thong Song', to the pure insanity of the concept of Mr Blobby, to the importance of getting comfortable with being alone.

This week Anna's joined by the writer and editor Varaidzo. Having previously been Arts & Culture Editor at gal-dem, Varaidzo is now Assistant Editor at Wasafiri, and earlier this summer was shortlisted for the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Prize. Her thoughtful, nuanced writing can also be found in places like The Guardian, The New Statesman and Dazed.  In this episode, Anna chats with Varaidzo about her purposeful withdrawal and careful re-entry into freelance journalism, as well as the pitfalls of being a 'face' in media, the calming effect of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and how to navigate the comments section as a writer. 

This week Anna went to meet performer Francesca Forristal hot off the back of a month in Edinburgh. She'd been performing as her drag king alter ego Christian Adore alongside her comedy partner Ed Scrivens in his drag queen persona, Eaton Messe. Together they performed their show The Dragprov Revue to rave reviews.  Even though Francesca was fully sleep deprived, she and Anna had the best conversation about her pop cultural influences from Batman (the George Clooney iteration specifically), to how important it has been to find a community in theatre, to drag king makeup advice. It was a total joy.

This week Anna popped over to journalist and novelist Caroline O'Donoghue's house.  She meant to be there for about 50 minutes but ended up staying for literally two and a half hours! During that time Anna and Caroline discuss her new novel, Promising Young Women, her deep love of Babe The Sheep Pig, and the bass line that inspired her to join a band.  This one is an absolute cracker, so don't miss it! 

This week Anna jumped on Skype with the critically-acclaimed writer Nikesh Shukla.  Nikesh has four novels under his belt at this point, having released his third, The One Who Wrote Destiny, in April and his fourth, a YA novel called Run, Riot this summer! He's also the editor of the hugely successful essay collection The Good Immigrant.  Nikesh chats to Anna about how we can navigate pop culture when our faves keep being outed as problematic, how hip-hop influenced his school days, and how to deal with rejection.  Listen via your favourite podcast provider.   

This week Anna caught up with Damsel Productions founders Kitty Wordsworth and Hannah Hauer-King.  Damsel is a theatre company that brings work by women to the stage. They're committed to developing important, intersectional work that explores the myriad experiences of womanhood. Right now, they're preparing to bring Abi Zakarian's Fabric to Soho Theatre and four non-traditional London spaces.  Listen in as Anna, Hannah and Kitty chat about the pop culture that influences the work they make, reminisce about the songs from their teen years that resonate even now, and decide which Gossip Girl character best represents them.  Listen via your favourite podcast provider.   

After reading Is Monogamy Dead? earlier this year, Anna became certain that writer, comedian and broadcaster Rosie Wilby would be an excellent podcast guest, and guess what?! Well, you know where this is going.  Rosie's a super busy bee; as well as writing her debut book — a narrative non-fiction work that takes a deep dive into the world of modern dating — she also hosts a podcast called The Breakup Monologues, and has recently been touring a talk of the same name.  Listen in as they chat about the pop culture that has influenced who Rosie is and the work she makes. Expect discussion of: the allure of George Michael, the freedom of the 90s and the importance of having a great song to imagine montages of your own life to. Listen via your favourite podcast provider.   

This week Anna sat down with Abigail Tarttelin, author of Flick, Golden Boy and, most recently, Dead Girls.  Dead Girls is the story of an eleven-year-old girl's quest for vengeance after the murder of her best friend. As you might imagine, much of Anna and Abigail's conversation centres around the idea of the female hero, but that's not all! They also get to work on The Killers, magazine culture, and the timeless (?) excellence of 90s teen fashion.   Listen via your favourite podcast provider.   

Joining Anna for a chat about all things pop culture this week are Tutku, Lilly and Iza of performance trio Plunge Theatre. In between snorting with laughter they cover a LOT of ground. Expect discussions on Kenan and Kel conspiracy theories, Ariana Grande and body image, and the problematic nature of Jilly Cooper's novels to name but a few of the myriad subjects they tackle over a cup of tea.  Listen via your favourite podcast provider.   

Joining Anna for the inaugural You Do You Show is journalist-writer-podcast host-comedian-actress and all-round excellent human Stevie Martin.  Stevie first popped up in Anna's life as one-third of the comedy trio Massive Dad (the performance Anna caught involved a dance-routine involving vegetables if memory serves her), and then again as co-host of 10/10 podcast Nobody Panic. Next month, she's taking her debut show Stevie Martin: Vol. 1 to the Edinburgh Festival.  Listen in as the pair have a chat about the ways in which pop culture -- from first ever celebrity crushes to teen ideas of what made someone 'cool' --  has shaped who Stevie is and what she's doing now. Listen on your favourite podcast provider.