The Culture Boar

Join me for Sonnet XXXVI by Ted Berrigan. I also bid farewell as the first series draws to a close. Thank you to everyone I've been in touch with, it's been a pleasure. Read and listen to Sonnet XXXVI here: https://www.everseradio.com/sonnet-xxxvi-ted-berrigan/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My hair pushed back by the wind, a gale, in fact: a collection of poems by Thom Gunn. These are manly poems: reports from the seat of a motorcycle, or by the needle of a record player. And then something slightly different, The Idea of Trust. I read and discuss the poem in this edition of Friday Find. Listen to Thom Gunn read The Idea of Trust here: https://voca.arizona.edu/track/id/62024 Hosted o...

Hearing a good conversation can be truly wonderful, so it is with pleasure that I encounter Siblings from Monitor Books. I consider the discomfiting reality of poetry grounded in interiority, and - in the company of Philip Larkin - why a bit of cynicism can be a good thing. The Poetry of Philip Larkin from the British Library: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z_i2dhnda4 Monitor Books: https://www....

Caricatures can be inadvertently conjured in real life; they are also richly realised works of art. So why do I use the word 'caricature' to disparage? I talk about The Point of Poetry by Joe Nutt (2019, Unbound) and Uproar! Satire, Scandal & Printmakers in Georgian London by Alice Loxton (2023, Icon Books) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The words of Don Paterson inspire me to write two sonnets of my own, but my new passion for sonnets proves short-lived. Why? In this podcast, I interrogate the role of trends in poetry, and the influence of a form. Books referenced: The Process of Poetry (Fly on the Wall Press, 2023) edited by Rosanna McGlone The Art of the Sonnet, edited by Stephen Burt and David Mikics (Harvard University Press,...

If you have ever felt ambivalence about the holiday season, this episode is for you. What's really going on at Christmas and New Year's, after the favourites have been picked from the Quality Street tin? Plus, a few thoughts on contemporary and classic culture: The Bake Off, kitchen sink drama, The Wicker Man, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What sort of man was George Orwell? DJ Taylor's biography is a deep study of an often surprising figure. And I ask, what are the conditions for our best thinking? Simon McCarthy-Jones' new book, Free Thinking, turns a critical eye to the malevolent forces which seek to control our thoughts. Orwell: The New Life by DJ Taylor is published by Constable. Free Thinking: Protecting freedom of thought am...

Celebrated British film director Joanna Hogg brings us The Eternal Daughter , starring Tilda Swinton and on general release from 24 November 2023. This finely wrought work proves the enduring relevance of ghost stories. Do we all, in fact, live with ghosts? This episode was recorded in London, England by Susan Gordon. For a transcript, please visit https://ampereworks.weebly.com/the-culture-boar-p...

I'm joined by Glastonbury-based poet Michelle Diaz for a lovely chat about her career trajectory and how she approaches her craft. We hear her read two poems: A Birth Journey in Nine Movements Red in the Light of New Seeing Michelle's debut pamphlet The Dancing Boy was published by Against the Grain Press in 2019. She was made 15th Chaired Bard of Ynis Witrin in 2022, and is currently working on h...

Access to art is, at last, completely democratic. Or is it? This episode looks back at a distinctly undemocratic British history, and what that meant for artists and for the public. We find out what the Sublime is and why artists revered it. And we figure out what is merely beautiful, according to 18th century politician Edmund Burke. Works referenced today: On the Sublime by Longinus, A Philosoph...

The availability of light doesn't just set a mood; it codifies human behaviour. That most powerful of light sources, the Sun, can be a symbol of warmth and hope, but it is also pervasive. In the natural world, it can be oppressive, even threatening. I take a look at how artists have treated the sun - and reveal some unexpected ambiguities. Artists discussed include the Beatles, JMW Turner, René Ma...

The Bloomsbury Group leave an uneasy legacy. But is there really a connection between place and creativity? If so, what does this mean for creatives shut out from these places? Property and relative wealth proved a foundation for the Bloomsbury Group's artistic freedom. But does an artist's personal biography - their class, their image, their resources - limit how we receive their work? Works refe...

I brave Brutalist architecture and sheets of rain to review Dragons at the Barbican. It is a feast for the mind and senses. Dragons is choreographed by Eun-Me Ahn, and the company performing at the Barbican until Saturday 23 September 2023. It transfers to the Lowry in Manchester with performances on Tue 26 and Wed 27 September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A sudden and unlikely craving for fish fingers leads me beyond the freezer aisle. What makes food fit for children, and not adults? And what makes the food of childhood a powerful presence in adulthood, and memory? Books and works referenced today: Without Warning and Only Sometimes: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood by Kit de Waal, 2022, Hatchette Mean Baby by Selma Blair, 2022, Little, Brow...

Stories set in cities very often take their characters to its darkest recesses, but a city offers other possibilities, too. Referenced in this week's episode: Wordsworth, Composed upon Westminster Bridge: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45514/composed-upon-westminster-bridge-september-3-1802   The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf This episode was recorded in London by Susan Gordon. You...

Introducing a small and shining gem in arts & culture. This week, it's a 1960 documentary written and directed by Ken Russell, A House in Baywater. Link to watch A House in Bayswater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFZlBYJ0_uY This episode was recorded in London, and presented by Susan Gordon. You can read the transcripts on her website: https://ampereworks.weebly.com/the-culture-boar-podcast...

Today, I’m exploring what really happens when we share the books that matter to us most, and the soundtracks to our lives. Can curated selections and exuberant book recommendations move from the purity of enthusiasm to egocentricity? Are public declarations of personal taste a little bit... selfish? I discuss Henry Miller's The Books in my Life and Cathy Rentzenbrink's Dear Reader: The Comfort and...

I've been getting the avant-garde all wrong. Not anymore. Find out what we think we mean when we call something avant-garde, what it really means, and why I argue that there is no avant-garde in England today. Presented by Susan Gordon and recorded in London. For a transcript of this week's episode, please visit https://ampereworks.weebly.com/the-culture-boar-podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Tune in to find out about the aims and ethos of the Culture Boar, a new arts podcast. The Culture Boar is recorded in London, England, and presented by Susan Gordon. For a transcript of this week's episode, please visit https://ampereworks.weebly.com/the-culture-boar-podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.