On my radar: Georgia Ellery's cultural highlights
Born in Cornwall in 1997, Georgia Ellery attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There she met Taylor Skye, with whom she founded the electro-pop duo Jockstrap; their 2022 debut album, I Love You Jennifer B, was nominated for the Mercury prize. In 2019 she starred in the Mark Jenkin film Bait. She is also a member of the Mercury-nominated Black Country, New Road, who have so far released two albums blending post-rock, klezmer and jazz. Their third album, Forever Howlong, is out on 4 April on Ninja Tune; they tour in the autumn. Ellery lives in London.
ContraPoints
ContraPoints is the alias of Natalie Wynn, an amazing US YouTuber, cultural critic and performer who makes video essays on a large range of topics, such as politics, gender, ethics, race and philosophy. The videos are really informative and well made. She spends months making them: they're long and very camp. The first time I was recommended her channel, I watched three videos in a row. There's a good one about shame, and sometimes she'll use a topic such as Twilight as the vessel, but it's more about tropes in literature, BDSM and power dichotomies between men and women.
Munch, Oslo, Norway
Some people can stand in front of a painting and it makes them cry. I don't feel like that, but when I went to the Munch museum, I didn't cry but I was inspired. The way he depicts anxiety, in The Scream and in many of his other paintings, really hits the mark. There seemed to be lots of variations on the same subject, from different angles or perspectives, or repurposing it on to lithographs and woodcuts. I particularly liked his painting Two Women on the Shore – it looked very Bergmanesque, like The Seventh Seal.
Life of Bi
I've been listening to this podcast for a couple of years now. It explores bisexuality, covering a wide range of issues, such as faith and bisexuality, or marriage and queerness. It's made by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, who also write plays, and I feel as if I'm their friend at this point, as you do with podcasts. It's a fantastic resource for anyone struggling with their bisexuality, and it's also very entertaining. I'd recommend episode seven, F*ck the Pie, which is about the 'mother of bisexuality' Lani Ka'ahumanu, who introduced the B into LGBTQ+. It gets quite moving.
Madonna: A Rebel Life by Mary Gabriel
This is very well written. It goes into plenty of detail about Madonna's activism during the Aids crisis, with pamphlets about safe sex at her shows, as well as how she moves through the music industry. At the start of her career she signed to a label and was taken to Paris, where she was wined and dined, but the producers weren't allowing her to hone her craft. So she got on a plane and never went back. She was like, 'I'd rather be poor and be able to make the art that I need to make.' She's such an icon.
Sauna culture
I love going to saunas wherever I am on tour. I'm into the different ways people sauna: in Scandinavian culture, where you jump into cold water afterwards; Turkish baths and hammams, with different generations cleaning one another; Russian sauna culture, with the whipping of the parenie and all the rituals that go with it. Going to onsens in Japan was super cool: you have your little wash stations, with this multi-tool shower head, and a bit where you spray between your teeth. Afterwards you feel amazing – relaxed, like a newborn. There's no better feeling.
Michaela Coel
Michaela Coel's last TV series, I May Destroy You, blew me away. It's my favourite series: she stars in it and wrote it, and I'm so in awe of her as a person. The soundtrack was great, the acting was epic, and I love her style of comedy. So I'm very excited to see her next series, First Day on Earth, which starts filming this year. She'll star in it again, and it's about a novelist who's offered a job in Ghana, where her estranged father lives. I think it'll be amazing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
6 hours ago
- Powys County Times
‘Unsung' pioneering actress and director Esme Church honoured with blue plaque
An 'unsung' actress and director who founded a theatre school that taught future stars including three-time Bafta winner Billie Whitelaw has been honoured with a blue plaque. The recognition in Bradford, where she ran the Northern Theatre School, will allow Esme Church to take her 'rightful place in the cultural memory of this country', Historic England said. Born on 11 February 1893 in Marylebone, London, she trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Rada before making her stage debut in the 1920s, and later joining the Old Vic Company. She performed major Shakespearean roles such as Lady Macbeth and Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and led the Old Vic's drama school from 1936. Her career as a director began in the 1930s when she became artistic director of the Greyhound Theatre in Croydon, before moving on to Bradford Civic Playhouse where she took up the same role during the 1940s and 1950s. There, she championed regional theatre, established the Northern Theatre School, and mentored The Omen actress Whitelaw, who won a film Bafta in 1969 for best supporting actress for her roles in thriller Twisted Nerve and comedy Charlie Bubbles, along with two Bafta TV gongs. Other actors such as Dorothy L Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey star Edward Petherbridge, Secret Army actor Bernard Hepton and theatre actor Sir Robert Stephens, Dame Maggie Smith's former husband, were also among those mentored by Church. Lord Neil Mendoza, chairman of Historic England, called Church a 'formidable force in British theatre' who was among the 'trailblazing women' who have 'not received the national recognition (they) deserve'. He added: 'It is time that Esme Church takes her rightful place in the cultural memory of this country.' The plaque, which will be unveiled on Friday at 26 Chapel Street, Little Germany, reads: 'Esme Church, 1893-1972, actress and director ran the Northern Theatre School here.' Bruce Durham, the great-nephew of Church, said it is 'giving her the recognition that she deserves for all her contributions to the arts'. He said: 'Growing up with Esme around, it was always wonderful to see and hear about her work – whether it was entertaining troops in France during the First World War, becoming the head of The Old Vic Theatre School, or travelling to and from New York. 'It's important that not only my great-aunt Esme is recognised but being able to use brilliant platforms such as Ancestry to uncover the many unsung women who made a significant impact during the early 20th century.' Church's contribution comes as Bradford celebrates its year as UK City of Culture in 2025. Si Cunningham, chairman of Bradford Civic Society, said: 'It's thrilling to see yet more national recognition for Bradford's pioneering, creative heritage. 'Esme Church is an incredibly deserving recipient of a national blue plaque, which perfectly complements the city's own growing blue plaque scheme. 'I hope this beautiful plaque, and Esme's fascinating story, inspires a new generation of creative Bradfordians to do great things for their city.' Historic England and genealogy site Ancestry are calling on the public to uncover further inspiring women or girls from the 20th century, who may have been forgotten and deserve their place in history. The eight-week public nomination period for the National Blue Plaque Scheme is open until July 10 2025.
Scotsman
15 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Alumna Sam McAlister on securing the royal interview that shook the world
A proud alumna of the University of Edinburgh, Sam McAlister's connection to Scotland's capital runs deep. Her time in the city laid the foundation for a legal and media career that would eventually see her shape one of the most high-profile interviews in British broadcasting history. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A BAFTA-nominated producer, Sam rose to prominence at the BBC's Newsnight, where she was responsible for securing interviews with world leaders, Hollywood A-listers and, most famously, Prince Andrew. Her role in brokering that explosive conversation has made her one of the UK's most sought-after mental resilience speakers, with audiences captivated by her behind-the-scenes insight, bold decision-making, and unshakeable tenacity under pressure. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Now an Executive Producer on the Netflix drama Scoop and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics, Sam is widely respected as one of the country's top high performance speakers. Sam McAlister In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, she shares what it really took to secure the most talked-about royal interview in modern history — and the lessons she now passes on to the next generation. Q: You've become known globally for securing the now-infamous interview with Prince Andrew. Take us back to the beginning — what first drew your attention to this story? Sam McAlister: 'Well, the story had always been in the public consciousness, but only a little bit. My job at Newsnight was really to pursue interviews with people who were in the public profile — world leaders, members of royalty, actors, people who were working in politics. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'And in this particular circumstance, the story of Prince Andrew, at the stage at which I first started dealing with his people — which was in October 2018 — it really wasn't that big of a deal. He was kind of a forgotten prince, and the tale of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was also somewhat forgotten. 'But over the period of the year and one month that I was dealing with Buckingham Palace, it became the biggest story in the country — and certainly almost the world. So it was one of those classic cases of something that starts with something that your team at Newsnight say, 'That's not very Newsnight.' 'We turned it down twice, and then, over the period of that year, it became the negotiation of my life — because everyone in the world wanted that particular interview. He had so many big questions to answer about his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but also the specific allegations — which he denies to this day — against him for sexual acts committed against Virginia Giuffre.' Q: Convincing a senior royal to sit down on record is no small feat. What negotiation tactics helped you earn the trust of Prince Andrew's team? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sam McAlister: 'I think that really honesty is the best policy. It's quite rare in negotiation for people to be blunt and honest. I mean, in the film adaptation of my book Scoop on Netflix, I call him 'Randy Andy' to his face — and I actually did that in this negotiation. Because, effectively, honesty is the best policy. 'Over the many months that I was dealing with Amanda Thirsk — who was his chief of staff at the palace — and then with him personally, face-to-face, in a tiny room with Emily Maitlis (the presenter), Stuart Maclean (the deputy editor), and a surprise guest — his daughter, Princess Beatrice — in those very, very important moments of dealing with someone, you have to earn their trust quickly. Over the time I'd been dealing with Amanda and all the people involved in this, I had just been blunt. Not rude, not disrespectful — but blunt. 'This was an interview about Jeffrey Epstein. There would be no conditions, and Newsnight was looking to have the definitive narrative from him — his version of events of these incredibly serious accusations, and the problem of this friendship with this man who was now dead, but who had been a prolific sex offender. 'So it really was a matter of professional honesty, without blurring the lines between truth and trying to get the interview that you want. Because ultimately, you know what a prize it is journalistically — so you have to make sure you don't cross that line.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Q: As someone who sat just feet away from the Duke of York during that historic interview, what moments surprised you most as it unfolded live on camera? Sam McAlister: 'What usually happens is you do a briefing call — not usually with the actual person that's doing it — and then, by the time you get to the interview itself, they've cleaned it up completely. This was the one time that didn't happen. We spoke to him on the Monday — he revealed lots of the things he revealed on camera on the Thursday, when the interview happened. 'But I never, for one second, thought he would replicate those things in the public domain. So the real shock for me, sitting in that room 15 feet behind his chair, was the fact that he put Pizza Express, Woking, the fact that he had a condition where he didn't sweat at the time — the fact that he put those into the public domain was the thing that was really shocking to me, because I assumed he would not put any of that on camera.' Q: You've spoken candidly about the pressures of working in high-stakes broadcast journalism. How vital was mental resilience during your time at the BBC? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sam McAlister: 'I think the thing that I've learned about myself is actually that resilience was really my best friend. You know, I was lucky enough to have an extraordinary education, incredible colleagues, the brilliant brand of the BBC, an incredible presenter like Emily Maitlis or Jeremy Paxman by my side, effectively. 'But ultimately, if you give up, you get nothing. And in this particular job that I was doing — with so much rejection and so many 'no's,' so many doors closed in my face, figuratively and sometimes literally — resilience was my best friend. And I had an unending optimism. So 99% of the time, I'd get a 'no,' but I would always believe it would be the 1%, even though that doesn't really make sense in terms of my experience. 'So I think that stoicism, that resilience, and not taking the rejection personally but seeing it as a professional decision — I think those really were the things that meant I was able to carry on with this very difficult role.' Q: Now teaching negotiation at the London School of Economics, what's the single most important lesson you pass on to your students? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sam McAlister: 'The number one tip in negotiation is to listen. I mean, I was a barrister — did criminal defence — so I was taught how to do negotiation, you know, at law school. And the thing I found fascinating — and we all know this, we all do it (I do it too sometimes) — is people are waiting to speak, and they're not listening. 'I think the profound difference between a good negotiator and a bad negotiator is: bad negotiators go in with an end in mind, and they have five points to make, and they will make them at any cost. Medium negotiators go in with five points in mind, and they'll make three, but they'll make them at any cost. The negotiator that's most successful goes in with five possible points in mind, but might not make any of them — because they are in a living, breathing situation, where they respond to the person opposite them on a human level and on a professional level. 'That really is the thing — to adapt, to listen, and to make sure that you've prepared in a way that means you can answer questions, but you're not just basically listening to your own voice and listening to your own points. That's where the most skilful negotiations are. I think it can be taught and learned. 'One of the interesting things I've learned while I've been a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics is that, effectively, there are quite formal structures that people are used to — in professional life and in education — in terms of how they kind of are just conforming to things all the time, which is understandable, because people are frightened of risk. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'So one of the things that I do try to teach is to be, in a sense, a bit more informal, and to try and bring some more of somebody's professional self, their personality, a bit more of their humanity into the situation. 'Because if you imagine in a negotiation, someone might meet 100 people — it's very easy to forget 100 people, actually. So trying to be remembered for the right reasons, and showing a bit more of yourself and breaking down that kind of automated kind of response to things, can be very, very useful. 'Because the longer you've been in a profession — and I used to be a lawyer myself — the more inauthentic, in a sense, you feel. So that's one of the things that I teach to the students, and by the end of it, a lot of them are quite different from when they first met me, in terms of how they interact.' This exclusive interview with Sam McAlister was conducted by Roxanna Hayes of The Motivational Speakers Agency. For More Information: Champions Media & Journalism Speakers
Time Out
16 hours ago
- Time Out
Massive Attack at LIDO 2025 in Victoria Park: set times, full lineup, tickets and everything you need to know
Major news, folks – LIDO festival is making its debut in less than 24 hours. And the brand new event in east London's Victoria Park promises to be one hell of a party. Across two weekends, the likes of Jamie xx, London Grammar and Charli XCX will be taking to the stage in the park's 5000-capacity Lido Field. For its inaugural day, LIDO is being headlined by none other than legendary trip-hop band Massive Attack. The whole thing will kick off mid-afternoon on Friday, with sets from acts like French duo Air and Mercury Prize-nominated singer Tirzah before Massive Attack appear later in the evening. Got plans to be there? Here's everything you need to know. When and where is Massive Attack at LIDO Festival? The trip-hop duo is playing at LIDO Festival in Victoria Park's Lido Field on Friday, June 6. Their set is scheduled to start at 9.25pm. What's the full Massive Attack LIDO lineup and set times? Main Stage 3.35-4.05pm: Hunny 4.45-5.25pm: Tirzah 6pm-6.45pm: 47Soul 6.45pm-7.30pm: DJ Milo 7.30pm-8.30pm: Air 9.25pm-10.55pm: Massive Attack Stage 2 4.05pm-4.45pm: Everything is Recorded 5.15pm-6pm: Mad Professor 6.30pm-7.30pm: Yasiin Bey Festival map Here's how the festival will be laid out. How to get to LIDO festival The recommended tube stations for LIDO are Mile End (District, Central and Hammersmith and City lines) and Bethnal Green (Central line). But remember that there are no night tube services on the District or Hammersmith and City lines. If you'd rather get there by bus, you've got the 8, 277, 309, 339, 388, D3 and D6 services to choose from, as they all pass close to the event. Are there any tickets left for Massive Attack at LIDO Festival 2025? There certainly are! You can still get yourself tickets to Massive Attack at LIDO Festical (from £85.55) here. What's the weather looking like? Right now it appears as though the weather gods are looking down on LIDO Fest. Both the Met Office and BBC Weather forecast that the rain will clear up by midday and temperatures will be around 19C to 20C for most of the afternoon and early evening (although will probably feel more like 16C). Are there any banned items at LIDO? This is a festival, so of course there's a long list of items that you won't be able to take through the gates (besides the obvious explosives and sharp things). You can see the full list here.
