On my radar: Anne-Marie Imafidon’s cultural highlights
Born and raised in east London, the mathematician Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, 31, was announced last month as a new presenter on Countdown, covering Rachel Riley’s maternity leave. A child prodigy, Imafidon passed two GCSEs at primary school and two Alevels aged 11. She graduated from the University of Oxford with a master of mathematics and computer science degree in 2010 and in 2013 co-founded and became the CEO of Stemettes, a social enterprise encouraging young women to pursue careers in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths). In 2020 she was named the most influential woman in tech in the UK.
1. Podcast
Techish
This is currently my favourite podcast. It’s basically a slightly different take on tech headlines and different things that are happening in the tech world, from two podcasters called Abadesi Osunsade and Michael Berhane. I used to physically go to events all the time, but now I don’t get to hear people’s perspectives about the things that are currently going on. Listening to these two once a week always feels like you’ve caught up with friends. I think podcasts are like that – it’s like you’re part of a conversation even though you’re not saying anything.
2. TV
Insecure (Sky/HBO)
I love this show by Issa Rae. The fifth and final series has just been released. It’s about millennial life and this group of friends who have all these ups and downs in their careers, love lives and relationships. The storylines are great and I love the way it’s shot: there’s a craftsmanship to the lighting, to the softness of it all – it makes everything look glorious but genuine. They use blue light, because the skin of darker people shows up better and there’s much more clarity in the way they’re seen. It also has the best soundtrack ever.
3. Food
Eat of Eden I don’t order out often, but when I do I like to support local spots. I’m vegan, so that cuts things down, but there’s still quite a richness in the options you can get. This is a place I order from all the time – it’s in Walthamstow, not far from me, although it turns out they have six branches across London. It’s proper comfort food – warming and filling. It’s Caribbean-inspired: they’ve got plantain, red rice, quinoa, patties, stews, salads, dumplings. I love the flavours and the fact that it’s healthy but also tastes amazing.
4. Film
King Richard (dir Reinaldo Marcus Green, 2021)
I went to see this with my siblings last month. Serena and Venus [Williams] came up with the idea to do this movie about their dad and his role in their early lives, and it was a pretty cool film to watch with my own siblings – there are definitely parallels between their upbringing and ours. At a certain point he’s mad at them for being boastful, and he gets them to watch Cinderella, thinking there’s a lesson they’re going to learn in it. We were all laughing in the cinema, because it was the kind of thing my dad could have done.
5. Device
Meeting Owl
I’m obsessed with this. It’s an owllooking speaker; you put it in the middle of the room and it’s got a 360degree camera and microphones and speakers. As a team, if we’re doing a hybrid meeting often it can be quite awkward to get everyone to hear everybody on both sides. But with the Meeting Owl, if someone starts talking it zooms in on them, or if two people talk at opposite ends of the owl there’s a split screen. It’s my new best friend and I’m having to hold myself back from taking it everywhere.
6. Hair care
Afrocenchix
I wanted to highlight this as a cultural phenomenon: Afrocenchix are the ones who just had the first-ever afro hair Christmas advert, on Channel 4. It’s the brand of shampoo I use, and it’s been cool to be able to see the two founders take on the science of it all, build a brand, serve people and get mainstream coverage in such a short period of time. There’s genuine utility in it – the bottles are recyclable and everything they do is vegan and sustainable. I’m excited that they’ve started doing the shampoo in bigger bottles so I don’t need to buy it as often. 7. Art
Àsìkò
Àsìkò is an artist whose work I love – I’ve got one up in my house. He’s a visual artist who works in photography, film and mixed media. He’s Nigerian but based in London, and his art is just beautiful; he is able to find the beauty in what could look quite mundane or ordinary. The piece I’ve got is called Edo, which are the marital beads you wear if you’re from Edo in Nigeria, which is where I’m from. He also does commissions; he did a pregnancy shoot for a friend of mine and she literally looks like a goddess.