Fiona Sturges

I studied the latest Epstein files. As a woman, this is what I felt They show a hidden world oiled by porn-saturated misogyny. I spent two days reading them

If, like me, you're feeling the commentary around the Epstein files has depressingly shifted focus away from the crimes against women and girls, and the gross misogyny of powerful men, this piece by Helen Rumbelow sets things right. Free to read. www.thetimes.com/article/3c43...

It’s the Hollywood sensation we’re all enjoying: cinema megastars lured to a TV screen near you | Fiona Sturges The stars get big audiences and complex characters to develop. We’ve lucked out in this golden age of streaming shows, and so have they, says arts writer Fiona Sturges

Wrote this about the craggy stars of 1970s and 80s cinema having a second wind on the small screen. Appearing on TV was a step down for the stars of Old Hollywood - remember Charlton Heston on the Colbys? - but there's no sense of them slumming it now. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘There’s serendipity to my story’: Emmylou Harris on Gram Parsons, her garlanded career – and her dog rescue centre Ahead of her final European tour, the US songwriter discusses her unlikely life as a country star, seeking advice from Pete Seeger – and why retirement isn’t on the cards just yet

Today's Film & Music cover! My interview with the incomparable Emmylou Harris: we talked about dogs, Gram Parson, Dolly, Pete Seeger, the strain of writing a memoir and why she's embarking on her European farewell tour. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

Thou shalt say no to AI! Ten commandments for a superior arts experience in 2026 From banning bad music biopics to making TV shows we can actually see without squinting, Fiona Sturges has devised a new set of rules for the year ahead

My rules for superior arts experience in 2026:
*Don't let musicians go bankrupt making/playing the music WE love
*Cinematographers! Turn the lights up!
*Stop paying celebs stupid ££ to pretend to be children's authors
*Enough with the shit biopics
And so on....
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Asking people, again, to pay me for the work that was commissioned, written and published in November. It’s illegal to make us wait this long and I‘m too old to be begging like this. So if anyone dares to give writers shit for monetising their Substacks - it’s better than begging the broadsheets…

Thanks Ben

Thank you - and I agree with all of that!

😂

Bravo! Complaining to shows directly is the best way - probably more effective then grumbling newspaper articles!

Thank you!

‘Painful to hear!’ How podcasts’ rush to video is turning them into dreadful listens From Joe Marler’s visual-only stunts to the incomprehensible shuffling sounds Steven Bartlett recently subjected headphone users to, dodgy audio experiences are on the rise

In today's @guardian, I had a little grumble about the audio-visual podcasts that are forgetting – or have ceased to care – about the experience of listeners. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Just putting a seasonal hex on those publications who haven't yet paid their October/November invoices. Merry Christmas, especially to all the struggling freelancers! 🎄🫠

Au Pairs frontwoman Lesley Woods: ‘We were the antithesis to all that boy-meets-girl stuff’ Her post-punk trailblazers were a key influence on riot grrrl. Now, after decades working as a lawyer, she is taking the name – though, contentiously, not the rest of the band – back on the road. ‘I h...

In today's Guardian, I interviewed 1980s punk pioneer Lesley Woods about rebooting the Au Pairs, industry sexism, her 35 years as an immigration lawyer and how, as a musician, she still has more to do ("I don’t think I’ve given the best of me yet"). www.theguardian.com/music/2025/d...

‘It’s fun to go to war with God’: Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany on their sweaty, sacrilegious take on Amadeus Last time the fierce enmity between Mozart and Salieri was adapted for the screen, it won a best picture Oscar. Now a new TV version turns up the temperature several notches – but will its stars devel...

Another piece from the weekend: I interviewed Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe about playing Salieri and Mozart, respectively, for the upcoming reboot of Amadeus. It's GREAT (the series, I mean, though the piece ain't bad either). www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

‘He was struggling with his breath. I sat beside him and sang’: the choir who sing to people on their deathbeds Just as lullabies send babies to sleep, so songs can help those at the other end of life on their way. The leader of a Threshold Choir reveals what they do – and the personal tragedies that convinced ...

For this long read in @theguardian.com, I visited a Threshold Choir - people who sing to those on their deathbeds - and interviewed the choir's leader, Nickie Aven, who has turned her experiences of grief into something beautiful. Please give it a read if you can. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Seventeen years! Ridiculous! xxx

The best memoirs and biographies of 2025 Anthony Hopkins and Kathy Burke on acting, Jacinda Ardern and Nicola Sturgeon on politics, plus Margaret Atwood on a life well lived

My memoirs & biogs of the year in @theguardian.com. It's never easy to whittle it down and you always mourn the books you can't include for reasons of space/variety. 2025 has been a punishing year for those in the creative industries but a great one for readers. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

The Vatican has given Rosalía its blessing – is papal finger-wagging over? The pop star’s experimental, religious new album has found an unlikely fan in the Vatican, writes Fiona Sturges. Could this signal a new era of papal-pop culture diplomacy?

For today's @the-independent.com, I put my Catholic education to good use and pondered the new Rosalía album and the blossoming relationship between the Vatican and pop culture. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Adrift is the nail-biting story of a fight for survival at sea — podcast review A family’s voyage around the world that went disastrously wrong is documented with verve and skill

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on an immersive and gripping new series about the real-life family who were shipwrecked in the Pacific for 38 days. www.ft.com/content/0fd9...

Strangers share their hopes and fears in A View From A Bridge — podcast review In producer Joe Bloom’s new series, passers-by and the occasional celebrity tell personal stories over the phone

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A View from a Bridge, the compelling and sometimes profound audio spin-off of the hit Instagram series in which strangers on bridges stop, pick up a phone receiver and tell stories from their lives. www.ft.com/content/715d...

At 78, Patti Smith is still rock's renaissance woman Her poetic and immersive fourth memoir 'Bread of Angels' is both a prequel and a sequel to the bestselling 'Just Kids'

Me on Patti (again) and her new memoir, Bread of Angels, in today's @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/culture/book...

I agree! Not my decision alas.

I'd love to continue writing about the audio industry which has changed beyond recognition in the last decade. So if you're looking for a pod reviewer/commentator or would like to expand your pod coverage, please get in touch!

Becoming Meg Dashwood podcast review — Emma Thompson stars in racy Jane Austen spin-off Dramatisation based on Sense and Sensibility becomes a story of sexual liberation in Soho

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Becoming Meg Dashwood, a pacy, racy spin-off of Sense & Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Erin Doherty.

Sadly, the column is ending later this month after 10 glorious years, so read it while you still can. www.ft.com/content/a6eb...

Haha, indeed. I think there's room for more of those, if we're going to correct the decades of memoirs in which male artists reflect on their soaring brilliance.

Teenage Daydream by Debsey Wykes review – coming of age in an all-girl guitar band Dolly Mixture’s singer and bassist looks back on their time chasing mainstream success and facing down outrageous sexism

For @GuardianBooks, I reviewed Debsey Wykes' Teenage Daydream, a memoir/coming-of-age tale about her adventures as singer and bassist in the early 80s post-punk band, Dolly Mixture. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

We’ve reached peak celebrity-podcast — but an exception must be made for Bill Nighy The irresistibly mellow actor dispenses advice on shirt collars, small talk and how to avoid parties in new series ‘Ill-Advised’

It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Ill-Advised with Bill Nighy, in which listeners send in their quandaries for the great man to answer. Problem-solving may be the pretext of this pod but it's really about the (excellent) company.
www.ft.com/content/4ed5...

Harper Lee's short stories are charming - but what if she never wanted them published? The Land of Sweet Forever is the work of a young writer still feeling her way

And from the weekend, I wrote this for @theipaper on the new Harper Lee collection The Land of Sweet Forever. What should we make of it when the publisher of a cherished writer who is clear about having said all she wanted to say releases two more books under her name? inews.co.uk/culture/book...

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man podcast review — epic portrait of the Afrobeat pioneer Wide-ranging new series explores the Nigerian musician’s life, loves and rebel politics

It's Monday so here's my @FT column on an epic new podcast on Fela Kuti, hosted by Jad Abumrad, which examines the Afrobeat pioneer's life, loves, sounds and politics. The series is vast and wide-ranging and, after 12 eps, I still didn't want it to end. www.ft.com/content/2737...