ABC RN Arts
462 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingEach week day RN Arts programs zoom in on a specific area of art and culture, brought to you by a specialist presenter. Subscribe to their podcasts separately by searching by name in your podcasting app.
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Episodes
'It lit a fire in me': How Atong Atem flips the ethnographic gaze
May 12, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 73.1 MBAustralian-South Sudanese artist Atong Atem brilliantly flips the Ethnographic gaze to create gorgeous studio portraits with a powerful statement. Plus, how does the medium of video art exist in the era of binge watching? And Namila chats to incoming guest host Daniel Browning, a familiar voice to RN listeners — but did you know he trained as an artist?
'I had a lot of rage' — David Ireland tries to make sense of trauma with art
May 11, 2021 00:05 - 59 minutes - 82.2 MBDavid Ireland writes very funny plays that often descend into bloody chaos and despair. Most, including his controversial play Ulster American, reflect the legacy of sectarian violence in his homeland of Northern Ireland and the fractured cultural politics of today. Also, with Opera Australia back on the road, we hear Natalie Aroyan perform an aria from Verdi's Ernani ahead of its Melbourne season, and we meet Roslyn Oades: an artist who uses intervi...
'I'm a restless writer' Nikki Gemmell on tackling colonial gothic horror
May 10, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBNikki Gemmell wants to challenge herself as a writer so her latest is a colonial gothic horror called The Ripping Tree, written over seven years while raising four children. Meanwhile, Emily Maguire tackles hoarding, consent and climate change in Love Objects, a novel that also celebrates the intense love people can feel for children that are not their own. And Martin McKenzie-Murray explains the inspiration for The Speechwriter, a satire set in the ...
Live from the Sydney Writers’ Festival, baby!
May 07, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBA special episode of Stop Everything recorded live at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, in front of a real-life, 100% capacity crowd at Carriageworks. BL + BW appeared with two special guests: Carly Findlay, the editor of Growing Up Disabled in Australia, and Sam van Zweden, the author of Eating With My Mouth Open. We discussed the body, disability, fatness – and the medicalisation, language and politics around these things. If you need support or to ta...
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Chiwetel Ejiofor and France's Oscar entry
May 06, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBOscar nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor talks about his role in lockdown film Locked Down in which he stars opposite Anne Hathaway, director Kari Skogland on how real world events shaped the Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the Italian director ofTwo of Us, of a French thriller awarded best debut film at this year’s French Oscars
Hostile topographies, the iPhone miniature and museums in the age of COVID-19
May 05, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBHow do you turn the stark geographical facts of war and conflict into art? And how do you do it authentically and sensitively, from the far-off shores of Australia? Stanislava Pinchuk started making street art in Melbourne, then moved into tattooing before the Russo-Ukrainian conflict pushed her art in a very different direction. At 32, she has a survey exhibition called Terra Data — mapping the borders and human movement of war and displacement. ...
'Bill, that's a pirouette' — William Forsythe's unconventional rise to the top
May 04, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBChoreographer William Forsythe didn't take a ballet class until he was 17 years old, but he quickly built a reputation for breathing new vitality into the historic art form. His Artifact Suite features in The Australian Ballet's Counterpointe, on now at the Sydney Opera House. Also, two actors bring a whole town to life in Emily Steel's complex and heartfelt ode to regional South Australia, Euphoria, and A Fight for Survival at the Yirramboi Festival...
Alaa Al Aswany's story of Egyptian revolution and Madeleine Ryan, Rebecca Lim and Huda Hayek
May 03, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBEgyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany fictionalised account of the Egyptian revolution, Rebecca Lim gives writing advice to Huda Hayek and Madeleine Ryan's neurodiverse character.
Highlights: Rudi Bremer on Bridgerton | Flex Mami on Flex Mami
April 30, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBAudio producer, podcaster and romance aficionado Rudi Bremer talks us through the bodice ripping Netflix smash hit Bridgerton. Influencers, podcaster, entrepreneur, reality TV cast member and author Flex Mami talks to us about life as Flex Mami Show notes: What would Danbury Do? A Bridgerton podcast: https://www.bridgertonpod.com/ All about Flex Mami: https://www.flexmami.com/ Shonda Rhimes on Rege-Jean Page departure: https://www.vulture.com/202...
Jason Statham, Wakefield, Kelly Reichardt
April 29, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 50 MBWe meet one of the most prolific actors of his generation, action movie star Jason Statham, plus a woman many feel deserved to be among the nominees for the Oscars this year, minimalist American filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. And, the showrunner of a new TV series set in the confines of a mountain top psychiatric hospital.
'It's a sculpture' — understanding and protecting Australia's oldest art
April 28, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBThe partial destruction of the 1,500-year-old stone sculptural arrangement in Victoria’s western district added to the devastating tally of damaged First Nations art and cultural sites. Museums Victoria curator Kimberley Moulton joins Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe. Plus, take a tour of FLOAT, an innovative community artists' studio floating on Lake Tyers. And we talk to an artist and a curator about two new exhibitions that look at food and eating th...
Mark Ravenhill wants you to argue over his plays
April 27, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBBritish playwright Mark Ravenhill made a huge splash in the mid-90s with his first play, Shopping and F***ing. He's since become one of the most produced writers in the UK. His recent play The Cane is on now at Melbourne's Red Stitch. Also, what does it take for an Australian to make it on Broadway? We ask Carmel Dean, a composer and musical director who spent 20 years working on huge shows. And we pay tribute to the architect Viv Fraser, designer of...
Unforgettable school girls with Booker shortlisted author Tsitsi Dangarembga and Emily Spurr
April 26, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBUnforgettable school girls with Booker shortlisted author Tsitsi Dangarembga's story of pre-independence Zimbabwe, and another from modern day Australia with Emily Spurr.
Shari’s Sebben Methods | Master Chef tears | Milkshake consent
April 23, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBShari Sebbens is a Sapphire, a Marvel Comics character and director of the Australian debut of Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner, an award-winning play about Twitter, racism, and the hot mess of life online and irl. Shari talks to BW about how this Black British work resonates in the Australian context, digital blackface and more. Season 13 of Master Chef has us ugly crying into our congee and renewing our faith in humanity; BW + BL ponder what m...
Pod Extra with Stella Prize winner Evie Wyld
April 22, 2021 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBEvie Wyld's The Bass Rock has won the 2021 Stella Prize for Australian women's writing.
Eddie Izzard stars in Six Minutes to Midnight & Mortal Kombat hits the big screen
April 22, 2021 00:05 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBAustralia has been attracting some big films to its shores recently and today you’ll hear from the Australian director and American producer of Mortal Kombat, a studio picture shot in Adelaide, plus, the director of a new film starring and co-written by Eddie Izzard.
'This is Aotearoa's First of everything' — Yuki Kihara goes to the Venice Biennale
April 21, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBYuki Kihara's reaction to being chosen to represent Aotearoa/New Zealand in the 2021 Venice Biennale was to scream at the top of her lungs. But with it came a huge sense of responsibility: "If I f**k this up, then people like me won't get a chance anymore." An interdiscplinary artist of Japanese and Sāmoan descent, Kihara has hit a lot of firsts in her international career — a show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the first Pacifika and A...
Joanna Murray-Smith wrestles with hedonism and history in Berlin
April 20, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBPlaywright Joanna Murray-Smith reflects on her storied career ahead of the world premiere of Berlin at the Melbourne Theatre Company and a revival of Honour at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre — a play that had its first reading with a cast that included Meryl Streep. Also, MasterChef meets The Hunger Games in the new Australian opera Chop Chef and we discuss the state of Australian playwriting with Currency Press founder Katharine Brisbane and the CEO of t...
Stella prize shortlist on climate change, male violence, racism and pandemics
April 19, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MBMeet all six of the Stella Prize shortlisted writers whose books speak to Australia right in this moment.
Is Ja’mie still quiche? | Hot for Shtisel
April 16, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBWith Benjamin Law away, Hannah Reich steps in to put her body on the line for Stop Everything! Together BW and HR lay on the virtual railroad tracks of pop culture and sample Chris Lilley’s new podcast, Ja’miezing, delivered in the character of former Private School Girl Ja’mie King. Is it quiche? Listen to find out. Stop Everything Jewish correspondent Hannah Reich also helps BW understand Shtisel, the hit Israeli drama about a Haredi Jewish family....
Two Oscar nominated directors + Top Shelf
April 15, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBWe meet two Oscar nominated directors this week....Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out, Monsters, Inc.) who has made a new animated film for Disney + called Soul, and Bryan Fogel, who is behind a new documentary about the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashogg.
Khadim Ali's Invisible Border
April 14, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 73.5 MBKhadim Ali began his art career painting propaganda murals in Iran before training in Persian miniatures and eventually finding his way to Australia. Now the acclaimed Hazara artist is launching his largest solo show at the Institute of Modern Art. Using apparently innocent phrases and bright enamel paint, Jon Campbell’s joyful paintings unpack the pathos and humour of Australian vernacular and suburban life. Plus, why did the Australia Council comm...
Mark Trevorrow on life as the Prince of Polyester, Bob Downe
April 13, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBMark Trevorrow created Bob Downe in 1984 and the Prince of Polyester continues to reign — at this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Bob Downe is bringing the classic variety television show Adelaide Tonight back to life on stage. Also, the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore hit romantic comedy The Wedding Singer is now a stage musical and Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre have launched Because the Night — 'an immersive theatre adventure' — so, what does tha...
George Saunders' lessons from the Russian masters
April 12, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBBooker winner George Saunders shares writing tips from the Russian masters, Debra Oswald's ethical conundrum in The Family Doctor and Pakana man, Adam Thompson's, debut collection Born Into This.
Ramsay Street’s bad Neighbours | Remy Hii’s quarantine hacks
April 09, 2021 00:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIt seems Ramsay Street may not be so neighbourly after all. Indigenous actors Shareena Clanton and Meyne Wyatt have gone public with experiences of racism and toxic behaviour while working on the set of Neighbours. Fremantle Media, which makes Neighbours, now says it has ordered an independent review of Neighbours and its production process. Actor Remy Hii (Marco Polo; Crazy Rich Asians; Aftertaste) joins BW + BL to talk about how he made it through ...
Director Harry Macqueen on Supernova and rom-coms reinvented
April 08, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MBJason discusses the rom-com in the post-romantic age with the editor of a new book on the subject, plus Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth star as a couple grappling early onset dementia in Supernova. We meet director Harry Macqueen.
Podcast extra: Vale Bertrand Tavernier (2008 interview)
April 07, 2021 02:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBAn archival interview with prolific French director, film scholar and campaigner for cinema Bertrand Tavernier, who passed away on the 25th of March, aged 79.
Candid camera: William Yang on his life in photography
April 07, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBPhotographer William Yang has been turning the camera on himself and his community with equal candour for four decades. Now he dusts off the film for the largest survey of his work yet. Plus, when you think of Australia’s best art and culture destinations, do you think ‘go bush’? With many of Australia’s most sought-after artists living remote, it might be time to re-think where our cultural capitals lie. Parrtjima Festival director Rhoda Roberts joi...
'It took me to some very dark places' — The tour that broke Daniel Sloss
April 06, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBScottish comedian Daniel Sloss has been pushing the boundaries of stand-up since he was a teenager, raising topics like toxic relationships, sexual assault and the death of his sister on stage. But what toll did this material and relentless touring take on his mental health? Also, the flamboyant actor Coral Browne left Melbourne for London in the 1930s and became a huge star, later mentoring the likes of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. Now, performer Am...
Women called witches with Fernanda Melchor and Lucy Jago
April 05, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MBMexican writer Fernanda Melchor speaks about her novel Hurricane Season which was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize, Lucy Jago's 17th century scandal and Christy Collins's debut.
Highlights: Bluey’s music | Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung | Song Exploder’s Hrishikesh Hirway
April 01, 2021 23:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBBW + BL are taking the long weekend off to walk a mile in Lil Nas X’s custom ‘Satan Shoes’ so they’ve prepared a highlights show chockablock with sweet treats from the Stop Everything! vault. Composer Joff Bush takes us inside the creative process of making music for the hit children’s animated show Bluey; BW talks to Minari’s now Academy-Award nominated actress Youn Yuh-jung about her 50 year career in the Korean screen industry; and we dip way back...
The Courier, The Father, Nobody
March 31, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBDirector Dominic Cooke on his prestige spy thriller starring Benedict Cumberbatch, The Courier. A review of multi-Oscar nominated film The Father, and U.S. producer Kelly McCormick on her stylish revenge thriller Nobody.
Vernon Ah Kee and Liz Ann Macgregor
March 30, 2021 23:05 - 53 minutes - 73.2 MBBrisbane-based artist Vernon Ah Kee has been making art that asks hard questions for nearly two decades, critiquing systems and racial inequality in contemporary Australia. Plus an interview with Liz Ann Macgregor, director of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art. The director has since announced she will be leaving the job after 22 years.
'We need to be valued' — Changing how First Nations work is made and seen
March 29, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBFor the last decade, Widjabul woman Rhoda Roberts has been reshaping how First Nations stories are seen and heard at the Sydney Opera House. Now, as she steps down as head of First Nations programming, how far have we travelled and what remains to be done? Also, with comedy festival season upon us, musical comedian Jude Perl lifts our spirits at the piano, and we look at the new Spanish and English audio play Romeo y Julieta and learn how Shakespeare...
Ethan Hawke's passionate fourth novel
March 28, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBEthan Hawke's fourth novel A Bright Ray of Darkness is about an actor as his world implodes, Tabitha Bird on embracing the magical and Kavita Bedford's coming of age Sydney novel.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Lizzy, Hoo Dis?
March 25, 2021 23:06 - 53 minutes - 73.6 MBDirector Zack Snyder’s new four-hour recut of Justice League rights some wrongs of the 2017 film, but does better mean it’s actually good? BW reports back. Live comedy is back in Australia with the return of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after 2020’s COVID-induced pause. Comedian and writer Lizzy Hoo stops by to talk about her new live show, Hoo Dis? and the trials of doing stand up by Zoom. Also, a new cultural commentator has emerged...
Guy Pearce, Oscar nominated director Garrett Bradley, Pop Fictions
March 24, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBAustralian star Guy Pearce talks to us about his role in The Last Vermeer where he plays a controversial figure in the Dutch art world. We revisit a conversation with Garrett Bradley on her Oscar nominated documentary Time, and a new film series that looks at the mutual fascination between cinema and music.
Yhonnie Scarce, Dirty Three's Mick Turner, and the joy of zines
March 23, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBYhonnie Scarce creates hand-blown glass installations that express the trauma of atomic testing at Maralinga in the 1950s and 60s, and the impact of colonisation. Enter the studio of painter and musician Mick Turner, one third of the band Dirty Three. Plus, what about zines? Two zinesters make the case for the longevity of the DIY art mag.
Pod Extra with Pip Williams's Book of the Year
March 23, 2021 04:45 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBPip Williams's debut novel The Dictionary of Lost Words has been named the Book of the Year for the 2021 Indie Book Awards.
A comedian with a turbulent past finds his voice in the footlights
March 22, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBOliver Twist is a comedian with a very challenging past — he was born in Rwanda as the country was being torn apart by civil war. Now he's an Australian and he's telling his story in a one-man show called Jali at Sydney's Griffin Theatre. Also, Australian composer Carmel Dean writes songs for history-makers in Well-Behaved Women, and playwright Anchuli Felicia King discusses how the Royal Shakespeare Company's digital productions are changing how we ...
Feminist retelling of Beowulf and author of The Cry
March 21, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBMaria Dahvana Headley has dusted off Beowulf with a new translation and author of The Cry, Helen Fitzgerald, has a new thriller centred around a boarding school.
Grammy wins, Oscar noms and WandaVision’s grief
March 18, 2021 23:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBHarry Styles’ boa, Meghan Thee Stallion’s wins, Beyonce’s record and Cardi B’s WAP were the talk of the 63rd Grammy Awards, broadcast in *unprecedented* fashion from Los Angeles with host Trevor Noah. BW + BL discuss the Grammys and the Oscar nominations, both out this week. “What is grief, if not love persevering?” BL + BW consider how this line from Vision to Wanda resonates through the series finale of the MCU’s WandaVision. Sticking with TV, they...
French Exit, New Hollywood and Lina Wertmüller
March 17, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 50 MBWe speak to the director of French Exit, a quirky comedy of manners starring Michelle Pfeiffer. A new take on 'New Hollywood' by Swedish film scholar Fredrik Gustafsson, and ahead of a retrospective, a discussion with Professor Jane Mills on Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller.
Robert Owen, shoemaker Claire Best and the crazy world of NFTs
March 16, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBNamila meets the abstract artist Robert Owen at a new retrospective. Plus, enter the studio of a bespoke shoemaker mixing art and high fashion. And an artist and journalist explain the phenomenon of NFTs.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jane Harper and Chloe Wilson on uncomfortable truths
March 14, 2021 23:05 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MBPulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen on his latest novel The Committed, we ask what it takes to write crime fiction and Chloe Wilson's powerful collection of short stories.
Prince Harry and Meghan spill the royal tea
March 11, 2021 23:10 - 53 minutes - 72.9 MBWe get deep into the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s sit-down interview with Her Royal Highness, Oprah Winfrey, Queen of Television. From bombshell revelations of conversations about baby Archie’s skin colour, to Meghan’s mental health and Harry’s awakening to the reality of racism BW + BL cover it all, plus the aftermath that saw Piers Morgan walk off breakfast television — potentially forever — having chosen his hill to die on: disbelieving Meghan, i...
The Bridge creator, Aleksei German retrospective, Judas and the Black Messiah
March 10, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBMåns Mårlind, co-creator of Scandi-noir sensation The Bridge is back with a big budget show set in the immediate aftermath of WW2, he joins us to talk about it. Plus, a discussion on Soviet filmmaker Aleksei German's GOMA retrospective, and a review of Shaka King's new feature film.
Four women artists tackling the environmental and body issues of the everyday
March 09, 2021 23:05 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBIs there a fear of the older female nude? Flesh After Fifty is an exhibition about women’s bodies over the age of 50. Plus, Gabby O’Connor is tackling how to communicate the risk of climate change through public art, with the help of scientists. And enter the studio of sculptor Isadora Vaughan and the fantastical Plastic Bag Store of puppeteer Robin Frohardt.
John Bell and Shakespeare
March 08, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIn One Man in His Time, the legendary Australian performer and director John Bell, now 80 years old, reflects on his own life and career — so much of it lived in company with William Shakespeare. Also, Enlightenment by Joe Paradise Lui reimagines The Buddha and The Monkey King as two young women in contemporary Australia, and we reconnect two Harry Potter and the Cursed Child cast members a year after COVID-19 put the magic on hold. ...
Brit Bennett live at the Perth Festival of Literature and Ideas
March 07, 2021 19:00 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MBThe author discusses her latest book The Vanishing Half, the complexities of race relations in America, her writing process and making the cover of Time Magazine.