Any given Sunday

Written between visits to London and Mexico City. This is my email summary of all things real.

👂

Harry and Kate’s wedding was a game changer (obviously). It has set a new global precedent as an example of diversity. If you missed George opening the celebrations here it is again.  But more importantly here is his new podcast. 

Listen to: 3 episodes of 20 mins.

🎹

After nearly 10 years of working together, Nalden got sick of me and turned his eyes and ears back to music. Here’s his first protegé Louis Bordeaux.

Listen: 3min 30

In London, I joined Gilles and team at his BBC Radio 6 studio and got to meet Matty aka Bad Bad Not Good co-founder. He talked and played his new solo album Déjàvu.

Listen: 9 tracks

📕

Are all American cities now turning into dystopian technocapitalist hellscapes? Perhaps. 

Read: 5 mins

Baroness Martha Lane Fox has launched DotEveryone. A think tank for a fairer internet. Everyone should get behind this. We will.

Read: 30 mins

On a recent trip to meet the talented Barnaby Barford, I encountered mechanical parrots and a book called Strangers in their own land. A fascinating insight into the community that made Donald Trump their own.

Read: 351 pages

📺

There are so many reasons to watch this film. Where do I start? This is the blackest of all black comedies. It’s a topic that is near impossible to make funny, but Steve Buscemi and Michael Palin manage at every turn. Russia has banned it, so it must also be accurate. The Death of Stalin. Brilliant.

Watch: 1h 47 mins

Given that we are in the midst of World Cup mania. I thought I would throw in two of my favourite English football (soccer) films ever. Mike Bassett England Manager another comedy of errors (see above) and Looking for Eric a beautiful film about optimism. 

Watch: 1h 30 mins and 1h 56mins respectively

🖌️

It’s been pretty obvious that diversity has been sadly missing from the art world. Sean Combs recent purchase of Kerry James Marshall’s ‘past times’ at Sotheby’s, 'to ensure black work hung on black walls’ and the Carters take over of the Louvre are examples of where the art industry is going next. 

This is a really good read from Evrim @ Collecteurs about why there are no black art dealers.

Watch this space. The art world is in for a shake up. 

Read: 5 mins