Fiona Sturges

Marc Maron changed the podcasting landscape — now he’s hanging up his headphones ‘WTF with Marc Maron’ comes to an end after 16 years with a deeply personal address to listeners

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on WTF with Marc Maron, the final ep of which is out today after a remarkable 16 years. Today's podcasting landscape looks very different to how it did then - and some of that is down to Maron. www.ft.com/content/b596...

😬

Thanks so much, Phil - and for your excellent editing!

The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando: ‘Some people were supposed to take drugs – and one of them was me’ He was the darling of early-90s alt rock, but success came with the kind of rock’n’roll excess that many of his peers did not survive. Now, having finally quit heroin, he’s back with a new album, a me...

Another piece (the last for a few days, I promise): I spent an entertaining couple of hours with Evan Dando, who is one of the most unfiltered and bracingly honest interviewees you could hope for. We talked drugs, music, drugs, memoirs and more drugs. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

Coining It is a gripping new podcast about a crypto Robin Hood — review Series presented by Lewis Goodall tells the story of a Blackpool man living in poverty who became a millionaire through bitcoin fraud

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Coining It with @lewisgoodall.com, which tells the brilliant, bonkers story of a fiftysomething man who discovered a glitch in a bitcoin website, made a fortune and decided to share his newfound wealth with his neighbours. www.ft.com/content/8a20...

Sharon, thank you! She's bloody great - and such a clever, articulate, funny interviewee. I spoke to her soon after a thoroughly dispiriting interview with a Hollywood actor, and the difference - the humanity and thoughtfulness in Neko's answers - blew my tiny mind.

Musician Neko Case: ‘The thing nobody tells you is that at 55 you’re going to feel excellent’ The singer-songwriter is on a roll with an unflinching memoir, a new solo album — and a ‘Thelma & Louise’ musical in the works

In today's FT, I interviewed the wildly articulate and charismatic Neko Case about making music in the age of streaming and AI, the wonder of growing older and coming to terms with her extraordinary (and extraordinarily difficult) past. www.ft.com/content/c9ae...

What Have I Done? by Ben Elton review – a curious mixture of insight and rampaging ego The Young Ones and Blackadder creator is sharp on the workings of the comedy industry – and not shy about listing his celebrity admirers

I really wanted to like Ben Elton's new memoir, What Have I Done?, detailing his 40-year career as a writer, comic and occasional actor, not least because I loved The Young Ones, Blackadder & his stand-up (Double Seat!). But, well, he doesn't make it easy. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Heavyweight, one of podcasting’s greatest creations, is back — review Jonathan Goldstein’s series returns with a story about love, death and our attachment to material objects

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on the return of Heavyweight, one of my all-time faves, which brings back a familiar voice: Gregor. Gregor's elderly parents need to downsize but they can't part with their belongings. Can host Jonathan Goldstein help? www.ft.com/content/a158...

A Dose of Dandy podcast revels in strenuous elegance — but is it satire? Show in which two young men wax lyrical about tweed and tulips combines Instagram influencer energy and old-world gentility

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A Dose of Dandy, a lifestyle series hosted by two influencers who enjoy the finer things in life and seemingly want to live their lives as if in a PG Wodehouse novel. But is this satire or are they for real? www.ft.com/content/09b2...

I wondered that too. I interviewed Shirley a couple of years ago and she is still livid at Lomax for leaving her out of his accounts of collecting songs in the American South.

Thank you! And yes, I do too

She Moved Through the Fair — the folk ballad with a dark mystery at its heart An illustrious array of artists has covered the enigmatic song, perhaps most memorably Sinéad O’Connor

Slightly more cheery: as part of the @FT's Life of a Song series, I wrote about the dark mysteries at the heart of the gorgeous Irish lament, She Moved Through the Fair. www.ft.com/content/10dd...

Death in Dubai podcast is a grim tale of sex trafficking — review The story of Monic Karungi, a young Ugandan woman lured to the UAE by glitz, wealth and lies

I'm a day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on Death on Dubai, an (almost intolerably) dark true crime series, with accompanying documentary film, about a young Ugandan woman forced into sex work in the UAE. www.ft.com/content/9760...

Will Smith’s comeback has been a disaster – but does the punishment fit the crime? The Fresh Prince wants the world to love him again, writes Fiona Sturges. But he’s going about it the wrong way, with the most tortured career resurrection in recent times

Aaand from last week, I wrote about Will Smith's snafu-filled comeback. The Fresh Prince just wants the world to love him again but he keeps in tripping up. This redemption arc is certainly unusual - but does the punishment fit the crime? www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Marina Abramović talks about snakes, dreams and art in podcast Dream Space — review The artist guests on Factory International’s series in which creative people discuss how they think and work

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Dream Space, the series hosted by Gemma Cairney which talks to artists of all genres about their creative lives. First up in the new season: Marina Abramović. www.ft.com/content/6f83...

Adam Kay: ‘Not many doctors can say their career highlight was meeting Matt Hancock’ The junior doctor turned bestselling author talks to Fiona Sturges about his move from medicine to comedy writing and how his latest book, ‘A Particularly Nasty Case’, highlights the NHS’s problem wi...

For @the-independent.com I interviewed Adam Kay about his new crime thriller, A Particularly Nasty Case, the backlash to This is Going to Hurt, being de facto spokesperson for an ailing NHS and the joys of dining solo. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Instant Classics podcast brings the ancient world to life — review Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins present a new series that asks questions such as: which Roman emperor is Donald Trump most like?

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Instant Classics, the new series on the ancient world from Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins. It's smart and funny and I enjoyed it hugely – apart from the video feature which is poor quality and pointless. www.ft.com/content/fd94...

‘I want to earn my stripes’: Cooper Hoffman on ambition, anxiety, and following in his dad’s footsteps He was never meant to be an actor – wary of comparisons with his late father Philip Seymour Hoffman. Now a rising star, he talks about growing up, embracing discomfort and forging his own path

I interviewed Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, for @theguardian.com. We talked about the joy of watching his dad on screen, his fears about following in Hoffman Sr's footsteps and his latest role in the dystopian horror, The Long Walk. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...

Just delightful

Jacqueline Wilson: 'My mum didn't like me - she never read a single book of mine' The celebrated children's author talks about being a failure in the eyes of her mother, and returning to the world of 'The Illustrated Mum' two decades on

For @theipaper.com, here's my interview with Jacqueline Wilson about Picture Imperfect, an update of her classic The Illustrated Mum. We talked about difficult mothers (hers was atrocious), life in the countryside and the joys of late-blooming success. inews.co.uk/culture/book...

Richly illuminating new podcast asks What Happened to Counter-Culture? — review Comedian and writer Stewart Lee hosts series about the era of alternative ideas featuring guests such as folk singer Shirley Collins

A day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on What Happened to Counter-Culture?, the Stewart Lee-hosted pod which, in its first ep, has a A+ story from Shirley Collins about the time Bob Dylan performed (badly) in London and then locked himself in the toilet. www.ft.com/content/b915...

The Second Map podcast tells the neglected story of the war against Japan — review Journalist Kavita Puri hears from veterans of the second world war in Asia and asks why this conflict has been overlooked

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on The Second Map, Kavita Puri's brilliantly researched and illuminating new series on WW2's eastern front and why the conflict with Japan is so often overlooked. www.ft.com/content/a273...

Harry and Meghan’s TV deal has been an almighty flop – Netflix is crazy to want more The Sussexes have signed a new deal with the streamer, having produced a run of forgettable programmes over the past few years. Netflix might want this, writes Fiona Sturges, but does anyone else?

In today's @the-independent.com, I wrote about the bonkers new Netflix deal with the Sussexes. Why does the streamer want to shell out for a couple who produce one flop after another? Answer: in case they have another bust-up with fam.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Mistresses podcast tells stories of lust, power, duplicity and scandal — review Rare female-centred series relishes the tales of courtesans, concubines and lovers through the ages

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Mistresses, a riotously funny new series on history's famous concubines and lovers hosted by Dr Kate Lister and Jameela Jamil. www.ft.com/content/0220...

Charlie’s Place podcast review — a mythic nightclub that defied the Jim Crow South This safe haven for music lovers broke down racial barriers — and hosted luminaries including Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column in the wild story that is Charlie's Place, a South Carolina nightclub that broke down racial barriers and invited Black and white patrons to mingle at the height of the Jim Crow era. www.ft.com/content/e489...

The Water Road podcast review — chatting and chugging on a narrowboat journey In bite-sized episodes, host Adam Porter meets locals and captures the soothing sounds of canal life

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on the wonderfully soothing The Water Road, a new podcast about life chugging around British canals from former 6 Music newsreader Adam Porter. www.ft.com/content/e8c8...

The BBC is in a British Broadcasting Crisis – and only has itself to blame From Glastonbury to ‘MasterChef’ to the split with Nadiya Hussain, the BBC has been embroiled in a succession of intensifying scandals over the past few weeks. Fiona Sturges asks why the Beeb can’t se...

Wrote this for @Independent on the Beeb's scandal-filled summer. Do better, BBC! www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Flesh and Code podcast review — curious story of an intimate affair with a chatbot A married man summons a pink-haired woman in a new series about digital relationships

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Wondery's Flesh and Code, which investigates the rise of AI companions. The series built around the bravely revealing testimony of Travis, a fortysomething man from Denver, and his beloved chatbot inamorata, Lily Rose. www.ft.com/content/dc66...

Alan Partridge swims boldly against the tide in his From the Oasthouse podcast Steve Coogan’s creation takes on schoolgirls, ‘Tic Tac’ and Rory Stewart in new series

It's Monday's so here's my @FT pod column on the blessed return of Alan Partridge. www.ft.com/content/1f54...