Cleopatra's Bling Podcast

Co-host James is back to the Podcast to talk a small but ubiquitous accessory with a very long history: the silk scarf. This week we've got ancient spies, martial arts, war propaganda, and the death of a star of the stage.  Plus: Listener questions!

Over the past years Olivia has found twin passions in learning the Arabic language and advocating for Palestinian liberation. A mentor and teacher who helped to guide her in this journey is Yousef Alreemawi - a lecturer, political adviser and commentator, editor, and friend. They discuss the beauty of Arabic as a language, its unique expressiveness, and his experience as part of the Palestinian di...

Kirstie Clements has presided over the most glamorous corners of the Australian fashion industry throughout her long career. At one point in time her role took her from clubbing with supermodels and Guns N' Roses in Paris, to high tea with Estée Lauder at the Plaza New York, to travels alongside Armani in Shanghai. Despite these stylish credentials, she finds that much of her creative and professi...

Co-host James returns to the Podcast to talk the life and times of the Renaissance's most infamous scoundrel: Benvenuto Cellini. This week we've got murder, sex, war, poetry, goldsmithing... with a touch of necromancy and some favours done for the Pope. It's the history of the life of Florence's most famous goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. What better man or place to cover than that which inspires so...

The male boxer you see fighting it out in the ring at the Olympics, or the man who comes round to repair your burst water pipe - these might be the last kind of people you would stereotypically expect to pull off their gloves to reveal bright nail polish.  Our guest today, Harry Garside, happens to be both: a professional fighter, and a tradesman. He also happens to be a laid back pioneer of the d...

Permaculture is the development of agricultural systems that are sustainable and self-sufficient. Anna, more widely known as "The Urban Nanna", is a former primary school teacher with a horticultural background. Nowadays, rather than a stuffy building, the great outdoors is her classroom. Anna teaches traditional ways of crafting, preserving, and cooking, all the while living in the precarious ren...

We welcome new co-host James to the Podcast, who will join for regular chats that will give you a laugh as you cook or commute. CB founder and designer Olivia, and musician James are good friends with a wealth of stories and banter between them. They'll also provide insight into the historical backgrounds of some of the world's most famous materials, places, and objects that historically connect u...

Leo Kretzenbacher views language as a collective artwork created by all people who use it. He was born in Austria, grew up in Germany and has been teaching and researching in the German Studies Program of the University of Melbourne's School of Languages and Linguistics for over a quarter of a century. While  Leo has done literary and cultural studies as well, his main interest is in linguistics....

Imagine trying to feed one of the world's most famously foodie cities in the middle of a pandemic. With COVID-19 forcing us to cover our mouths, that's exactly what Pat Nourse with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival somehow managed to do. Pat and his team not only found creative ways to bring incredible food to people, he also delved deeper into writing about food once more. Against a backdrop o...

Cleopatra's Bling brings you some insights into one of the ancient deities that has inspired our collections, Goddess of Love and War, Inanna. With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections. Join us as we describe the various symbols of this creative and destructive goddess, i...

Julie Marr is the founder of Everyone at the Table or "EAT", an adventuring Canadian who started a new chapter of her life after renovating a cooking studio in Altamura, Italy. She simultaneously created a new home for herself in Oria which lies in the country's boot heel. There, with her partner Francesco, on land lush with pears, olives, figs, pomegranates and almonds she makes pasta by hand, ed...

Cleopatra's Bling brings you the story of a seven headed serpent, known to the Sumerian peoples as Muš-saĝ . With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections. Join us on a journey to ancient Mesopotamia, where the God of harvest and war - Ninurta - is worshipped. Learn of the re...

Kalifa Doucet of The Earth Doula is a birth and postpartum Doula who focuses "on the spiritual connection to mother and baby", working to facilitate the kind of experiences that pregnant people would like to have during birth and its aftermath. Originally based in New York, Kalifa now works with families in Melbourne, providing not only birth and postpartum care and advice, but also delivering nut...

Cleopatra's Bling brings you the story of a Goddess of the Yakut People: The Mother of Cradles, Aisyt. With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections. Join us on a journey to frozen tundras studded with diamonds, where the locals drink reindeer milk, and worship the a deity sa...

Julia Busuttil Nishimura is a Melbourne-based cook, working with seasonal produce to create amazing family meals. Her cooking is influenced by her Maltese upbringing and the time she has spent in Tuscany. As a writer her creations have made their way into thousands of homes in Australia and around the world, via the magazines she contributes to and her recently released cookbook A Year of Simple F...

Beth Wilkinson is a publishing powerhouse in the age of a print renaissance. Having founded Lindsay Magazine in late 2017, the publication was initially digital-only. However, just months later, she expanded to print issues, predicting the thirst readers are showing for pieces that they can collect and hold. Named after her grandfather, the magazine is a transportive survey of arts, culture, peopl...

Paola Bacchia, otherwise known as the social media sensation Italy On My Mind , is author of multiple cookbooks on Italian street food and delicacies from the Adriatic coast. She is fascinated by the way that food connects us to memory and place. From beneath a fig tree in Paola's sunny Melbourne backyard, she share stories of a family life of imported Italian ingredients, the trials and bitterswe...

In Part 2 of this intimate interview, Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talks with Julia Stone about the  pain and potential of transformation, accessing creativity through shattering norms, and the depth of the mystical female symbol that is the mermaid. Julia Stone is a singer, and multi-instrumentalist whose breakout album Down the Way had audiences falling in love...

Julia Stone is a singer, and multi-instrumentalist whose breakout album Down the Way had audiences falling in love with the collection of poetic, emotive songs she penned with her brother, Angus. Her new solo album Sixty Summers is due to be released in January 2021, and the music video for her current single "Dance" makes us want to boogie along with its stars Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover. In...

Nic Dowse is the Founder and head of HoneyFingers ,  a creative beekeeping practice combining honey-making, poetry and art in Melbourne, Australia. Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talks to Nic about about how urban beekeeping has been transformed and how communities have kept bee culture alive throughout history. Promoting, exploring and experimenting with bee cultur...

Rona Hartner a traditional dancer, singer and actress, known for her celebration of Balkan culture. Her work, whether on the screen, or on the dance floor, is as full of life as she is. Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talks to Rona about h er role in the 1997 film Gadjo Dilo starring alongside French film star Romain Duris. She sang a ballad called "You're More Than...

Vicky is the founder of Pasta Grannies, a YouTube channel preserving the pasta making traditions of pasta grannies around the world. Vicky worked in international development and has spent the past few years as a food writer and journalist. She's written books on food in Corfu and Andalucía. Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talked to Vicky about ancient pasta-making t...

Sarah is a medieval studies expert whose specialty is mermaids and the myths that surround them. This has made her the go-to mermaid authority for the BBC and dozens of other publications. She founded the Mermaid Isles Project to study the history of these mythological creatures specifically in the British Isles.  Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talked to Sarah about...

Paul is a professor and lecturer dedicated to the preservation of Turkish carpets and rugs. His conservation work has made him an expert in the history of their patterns which tell stories that have been passed on from generation to generation. Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery brand Cleopatra's Bling, talked to Paul about the meaning behind certain recurring motifs, how carpet-making traditio...

Laura is the Founder and Director of VedaWise , a training and coaching program dedicated to vedic astrology. As a coach, trainer and lecturer, Laura combines ayurvedic history, culture and knowledge with health and wellness to help people better cope in the modern world. Before turning to astrology, Laura was the General Manager of Discovery Channel Europe. Olivia Cummings, founder of jewellery b...