Culture chat: the unknowable Dolly Parton

This Friday, we’re talking about the deification of Dolly Parton, or, as we like to call her, Saint Dolly. Her new release Rockstar comes out today – a 30-track rock album that features duets with artists such as Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John and Stevie Nicks on cover versions of their classic songs. The album feels a bit like a karaoke album, but we had a lot of fun listening to it – partially because Parton is so easy to love. So how did Parton become such a cultural icon? What does she represent? And why do we want a Saint Dolly? Lilah is joined by US media correspondent Anna Nicolaou and FT Magazine’s food and drink editor (and long-time Dollyhead) Harriet Fitch Little. 

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at [email protected].

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): 

– Rockstar by Dolly Parton is available to stream now, on all music streaming platforms. 

– Here’s the FT’s review of Rockstar, by our pop critic Ludo Hunter-Tilney: https://on.ft.com/3ufuiql 

– Harriet unpacks the history of Parton’s hit ‘9 to 5’ for the FT column Life of a Song: https://on.ft.com/49F9Uiz

– Anna is on X @annanicolaou, Harriet is on X at @HarrietFL and Instagram at @huffffle

More or less: 

– Harriet recommends Jury Duty, available to stream free on Amazon Prime

– For great local-feeling restaurants in New York, Lilah has a hundred recommendations, but here are three: Claud, a wine bar in the East Village, Names in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and (the classic) Frankie’s in Carroll Gardens

– Here’s the article Harriet mentioned, ‘The UK’s 19 cosiest winter restaurants – according to FT writers’: https://on.ft.com/3MNmZwy

– Anna hates grey wood floors

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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clips courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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