Exploring new worlds
TALK ART
ACTOR Russell Tovey hit it off with co-host Robert Diament at a dinner to honour Tracey Emin when they realised he owns one of her monoprints that the art dealer had wanted to buy.
Later, the pair appeared as guests on a podcast and their combined charisma was such a natural fit that their mums insisted they should start their own.
Eight series in and they have interviewed a huge range of artists from Grayson Perry to Tyler Mitchell, the first Black photographer to shoot a cover of American Vogue – it was Beyoncé by the way.
There are also a few surprises in their guest list, not least Sir Elton
John, whose passion
for art collecting began with buy buying Man Ray posters at A Athena. Emin, inset left, now thoroughly befriended, has appeared twice. Last month it was to give Tovey and Diament a to tour of her Edvard Munch sho show at the Royal Academy
of the Arts. It’s a great listen, partially to get a bit of insight into how Emin sees her own work but also to witness what it can be like to be friends with such a formidable personality.
Where to start: Way back in the first series with Michael Craig Martin,
whose way of talking about conceptual art makes you realise just how he inspired the Young British Artists while teaching them at Goldsmiths. Where to find it: All the usual podcast providers.
THE PRIME MINISTERS
IAIN DALE has set himself the enormous task of exploring the lives and contributions of all 55 British prime ministers.
With one figure tackled each time, the political commentator is still in the middle of recording the episodes which take the form of a conversation with a different expert each time.
Those covered so far include the Duke of Wellington, whose military career by far outshone his political one, and Theresa May, whose lack of a leadership campaign meant she never got round to forging her own identity as prime minister.
Where to start: Three-time premier Edward Stanley’s measured method of political reform is given the significance it deserves in an interview with academic Nigel Fletcher.
Where to find it: All podcast apps. Not to be confused with his audiobook on Audible.