Suite (212)
Suite (212) is a radio programme broadcast on Resonance 104.4fm and a podcast that explores the arts in their social, political, cultural and historical contexts, hosted by Juliet Jacques. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach, with an emphasis on innovative, underground or avant-garde work. Sometimes panels discuss cultural politics; sometimes the focus is on a new publication or exhibition, or a specific individual or group whose work is admired.
Episodes
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 22 - Imran Perretta
In our latest Session, Juliet talks to film director, visual artist and composer Imran Perretta about his new feature film Ish (2025), due to be released in the UK and Ireland on 31 July, as well as his short film the destructors (2020) and his installation A Riot in Three Acts, first exhibited at Somerset House in 2024. They talked about how the works were shaped by Thatcherism and neoliberalism,
Rows of Great Yarmouth: An interview with Red Herring Press
Juliet talks to poet and writer Lotte L.S. about Red Herring Press, which Lotte set up in 2020 to print, publish and distribute local writing in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. They discuss what Red Herring Press does; how it grew out of the COVID-19 lockdown; Lotte’s idea of ‘amateurising professionalism’ and the advantages of working outside a literary market; how cheap commercial rents and lack of a
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 21 - William Raban
In our latest Session, Juliet talks to William Raban about his five decades in film, and especially his engagement with London, from his time in the London Film-Makers’ Co-operative in the early 1970s to his most recent work in 2020. They discussed William’s origins in the Structural and Materialist movement of the Seventies, and his use of different film formats from 8mm to digital; how he made h
The Suite (212) Sessions no. 20 - Jill Westwood
In the first of our Sessions for five years, Juliet speaks to artist, filmmaker, performer and art psychotherapist Jill Westwood (b. 1960) about her work in the early 1980s and its rediscovery after it was included in Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition Women in Revolt: Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 in 2023. They also discussed how Jill’s practice was formed in the Black Country, where she e
Creative Growth: Labour's cultural policy since 2024
Since Labour returned to power in the 2024 UK General Election, announcing their landslide victory with a speech at the Tate Modern, little has been made of their cultural policy. In this free episode, Juliet talks to Dr David Hesmondhalgh – Professor of Media, Music and Culture at the University of Leeds, and the author of Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour (2015) and five edit
New horizons: The Return of Suite (212)
Suite (212) returns after five years – and true to form, it’s with an episode analysing the current political and cultural climate in the UK and beyond, and why we brought the show back into it. There’s a twist, however, as frequent guest Owen Hatherley asks regular host Juliet Jacques the questions, about why Suite (212) ended in December 2021, what’s changed since, and what the programme might d
EXTRA: It's a Sin [unlocked]
Following from December 2021’s Resonance 104.4fm show on the cultural impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with James Butler and Sarah Schulman, Juliet talks to writer Huw Lemmey about Channel 4’s landmark miniseries 'It’s a Sin'. Written by Russell T. Davies and broadcast across January and February 2021, 'It’s a Sin' follows a group of friends who meet on London’s gay scene in September 1981, just as
The End: Politics, culture and criticism in the UK in the 2020s
For Suite (212)'s final edition, host Juliet Jacques talks to writer/editor Owen Hatherley (Tribune and elsewhere) and Fatema Ahmed, acting editor of Apollo, about the current state of British cultural criticism and what the next few years might have in store. They discuss the reasons for stopping Suite (212) and the changing cultural climate between and after the General Elections of 2017 and 201
We: An interview with Pil & Galia Kollectiv
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm, Juliet spoke to London-based artists, writers, musicians, curators and teachers Pil and Galia Kollectiv about their practice, the art world's reaction to Covid-19 and the state of British higher education, especially in arts universities. They talked about Pil & Galia's Immigrants exhibition (2018), their short films, their bands WE and UrBororo, their background
These are the Times: An interview with Trevor Griffiths
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to playwright and screenwriter Trevor Griffiths, born in Manchester in 1935, about his life in writing for stage and screen since the late 1960s. Although Griffiths wrote the scripts for Warren Beatty's Reds (1981) and Ken Loach's Fatherland (1986), this interview focused on his plays Occupations (1970) and Comedians (1975), his TV series Bill B
Poetry and Politics in 21st Century Britain
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to poets Ed Luker (based in London) and Nat Raha (based in Edinburgh) about the state of poetry, publishing and funding in 21st century Britain. She asks Ed and Nat to share their poetry and their influences, discussing the Cambridge school of poets around J. H. Prynne and their studies at Sussex with Keston Sutherland. They discuss the divides
EXTRA: Literature about and after Corbyn's Labour [unlocked]
Now unlocked, this subscriber-only bonus episode came about because Juliet enjoyed talking so much to Sam Byers and Carl Neville about the 'state of the nation' novel for our monthly Resonance 104.4m show that they decided to keep going. They expanded on the question of what literature about Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party might look like, and how both the defeat and the intensification of neoliberal
Rebellion: The life and work of Forough Farrokhzad
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to poetry, editor and academic Golnoosh Nour about the life and work of Iranian poet, writer and filmmaker Forough Farrokhzad (1935-67). Featuring plenty of readings from Farrokhzad's work (in the original Farsi and English translation by Sholeh Wolpé), Juliet and Golnoosh talk about Farrokhzad's early life and emergence on the post-war Iranian
Variations: An interview with Juliet Jacques
In this month’s Resonance 104.4fm show, former co-host Tom Overton returns to interview Suite (212)’s founder, Juliet Jacques, about Variations, her new collection of stories that tells a potted history of trans and non-binary people in the United Kingdom from the Victorian era to the present, published by Influx Press on 17 June 2021.
They talk about how Juliet moved on from her ‘Transgender Jou
Pilgrims of Hope: Writers and the Paris Commune of 1871
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to academics Owen Holland (University College London) and Bertrand Taithe (University of Manchester) about how writers responded to the Commune of Paris of 1871, both during its two-month existence from March to May 1871, and over the following decades. They talk about the print culture and intellectual circles that existed in Paris and France a
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 19 - Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
State of the Nation: Capturing 21st Century Britain in Literature
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to writers Sam Byers and Carl Neville about how they tried to represent 21st century Britain in their novels Perfidious Albion and Come Join Our Disease (Byers) and Resolution Way and Eminent Domain (Neville), and the concept of the 'state of the nation' novel. They talked about the challenges of writing in a time of rapid political flux, the ne
PREVIEW: Literature about - and after - Corbyn's Labour Party
In this preview of our subscriber-only episode about how British literature might write about Corbyn's Labour, the aftermath of the 2019 General Election and the 2020s, Juliet talks to novelists Sam Byers and Carl Neville about Ed Luker's 'How Did You Survive January?' and how poetry and film were better able to capture the emotions of 'the Corbyn project'. Carl discusses the difficulties of writi
Culture of Crisis: The Visual Arts in Greece since 2008
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, Juliet talks to artist Eirene Efstathiou and curator/writer iLiana Fokianaki, founder of the State of Concept gallery in Athens, about the visual art scene in Greece since the financial crash of 2007-2008, which badly affected the country. They discuss the impact on the arts of EU-mandated austerity, the rise and fall of the far-right Golden Dawn, the electi
PREVIEW: It's a Sin
In this extract from our subscriber-only show about 'It’s a Sin', Russell T. Davies’ recent mini-series for Channel 4 about the effects of the HIV/AIDS crisis on a group of friends living in London between 1981 and 1991, Juliet and writer Huw Lemmey talk about how the show portrays both the personal and the wider political impact. They talk about the role that the main female character, Jill (play
PREVIEW: Ousmane Sembène's Camp de Thiaroye (1987)
This is a preview of our Patreon-only episode about Ousmane Sembène & Thierno Faty Sow's historical drama Camp de Thiaroye (1987), about the mutiny of French West African troops at a transit camp in Dakar and their subsequent massacre by French forces on 1 December 1944, following on from this month's Resonance 104.4fm programme.
Here, Juliet talks to Dr Samba Gadjigo, co-director of Sembène! (20
Ousmane Sembène: 'The Father of African Cinema'
In this month's Resonance 104.4fm show, made available a day early for our Patreon subscribers, Juliet talks to Dr Samba Gadjigo, author of a biography on the subject and co-director of the feature-length documentary Sembène! (2015), about the life and work of Senegalese writer and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007). They talk about the place of Senegal within the French empire, Sembène's upbri
PREVIEW: Feature Film and the Holocaust
This is a preview of our Patreon-only episode about how feature films dealt with the Holocaust, following on from this month's Resonance 104.4fm programme.
Here, Juliet talks to Dr Libby Saxton, Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London, about Wolfgang Staudte's The Murderers are Among Us (Die Mörder sind unter uns, 1946) - one of the first feature films made in East Germany after
Documentary Film and the Holocaust
This month’s episode, coinciding with Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021, looks at the specific role that documentary film played in recording, relaying and representing the horrors of the genocide. Juliet talks to Dr Libby Saxton, Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London, about how the Nazis coerced directors into making propaganda films at Terezin and Westerbork to show the concentr
Silence = Death: The Cultural Impact of the AIDS Crisis
Tying in with World AIDS Day, December 2020's Resonance 104.4fm programme is about the cultural response to HIV/AIDS in the UK and USA, first identified in both countries in 1981. Juliet talks to Novara Media co-founder James Butler and writer, historian and journalist Sarah Schulman about the emergence of the virus and the response from right-wing governments, activist movements and radical artis
Cultural Capital: The Greater London Council's arts policies, 1981-86
Established in 1965, the Greater London Council hosted one of the United Kingdom’s most radical experiments in cultural policy after Ken Livingstone and the Labour left took control of it in 1981. This month, Juliet talks to academic Hazel Atashroo and Red Metropolis author Owen Hatherley about the entrance of the “post-1968 generation” into the GLC, and their approach to the arts: their interest
Power and Protest: An interview with the Belarus Free Theatre
Often called “Europe’s last dictator”, Aleksandr Lukashenko has been President of Belarus since 1994, frequently holding dubious elections and referenda to give his regime the veneer of democracy. Protests after the most recent contest in August, in which writers and artists were prominent, brought international attention back to Lukashenko’s governance, but the Belarus Free Theatre have been maki
The Arts for All: An interview with Jeremy Corbyn
During Jeremy Corbyn’s time as Labour leader, much attention was part to the economic vision that the party developed for the United Kingdom, but less to his personal interest in the arts, and how that shaped both Labour’s cultural policy, and their programme as a whole. In this interview, Juliet talks to Jeremy about his interest in the socialist cultures that formed around the 20th century Labou
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 18 - Nada Prlja
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 17 - Oreet Ashery
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 16 - Zadie Xa
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 15 - John Smith
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Covid-19 Crisis and the Art Institutions
The Covid-19 crisis has caused unprecedented challenges for the art world. The lockdown has blown a hole in the finances of large metropolitan institutions and smaller provincial galleries alike, with knock-on effects for staff and artists. It is causing arts organisations to rethink their relationships with local communities and with the internet, and to consider how exhibitions and other functio
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 14 - Jeremy Deller
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 13 - Mark Thomas
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 12 - Deimantas Narkevičius
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 11 - Travis Alabanza
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 10 - Nathalie Olah
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
BONUS: Juliet Jacques reads two short stories
Recorded as a special programme to celebrate Resonance 104.4fm's 18th birthday, Suite (212) founder and host Juliet Jacques reads two texts written in response to 20th century art. The first is a short story inspired by Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader (1942-75) entitled 'I'm too sad to tell you about I'm Too Sad to Tell You' (2008). The second is a longer text about writer/artist Claude Cahun (1894-1954
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 9 - Abbas Zahedi
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 8 - Joanna Walsh
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 7 - Lars Iyer
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 6 - McKenzie Wark
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 5 - Jasmina Cibic
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 4 - Tai Shani
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 3 - Owen Hatherley
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
Four Fights: The UCU and the Art Schools on Strike
In February 2020, 74 universities affiliated to the UCU (University and College Union) began 14 days of industrial action, launching ‘Four Fights’ over casualisation of labour, unsafe workloads, falling pay, and gender and ethnicity pay gaps. The strikes became national news, supported by staff and students alike, with vibrant picket lines at many “art schools” across the country speaking out agai
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 2 - E. Scourti
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shape
The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 1 - Ilona Sagar
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype, about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shaped their work.
First, Juliet talks to London-bas
BONUS: Juliet Jacques on Montez Press Radio
CONTENT NOTE: 'The Woman in the Portrait' contains descriptions of sexual violence and transphobia.
Recorded on 23 August 2019, Suite (212) co-host Juliet Jacques appeared on Montez Press Radio to discuss her work in literature and film. She read her short story 'The Woman in the Portrait' (2014) about a trans woman in Weimar-era Berlin, talked about her forthcoming short story collection and her
Plastic Emotions: An interview with Shiromi Pinto
This week on Suite (212), Tom Overton talks to author Shiromi Pinto about her second novel, Plastic Emotions (https://www.influxpress.com/plastic-emotions), recently published by Influx Press, inspired by the life of 20th century Sri Lankan architect and feminist icon Minnette de Silva (1918-1998).
SELECTED REFERENCES
Shiromi Pinto: http://www.christopherlittle.net/authors/shiromi-pinto/
Minnette
Trans-forming Literature: An interview with Andrea Lawlor
Andrea Lawlor's debut novel Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl has a protagonist who can change his body at will, creating a narrative that explores space between male and female without relying on established transsexual narratives. This week, Juliet talks to Lawlor about the novel - one of the first by a trans/non-binary author on a major publisher - and the state of trans/non-binary literatur
Mangasia: Sixty years of Japanese comics
Growing out of a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, manga has become one of the world's most popular and influential graphic art forms, moving from comics into anime films and beyond.
This week, Lara Alonso Corona talks to journalist and curator Paul Gravett (http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/manga), author of Manga: Sixty years of Japanese Comics and Mangasia about the
An interview with Xiaolu Guo
Chinese-British novelist, memoirist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo (b. 1973) talks to Tom Overton about her life in the UK and PR China, and her work in cinema and literature, which explores Chinese history, trans-national identities, class, memory, personal and physical journeys.
SELECTED REFERENCES
WORKS BY XIAOLU GUO (www.guoxiaolu.com)
Books
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (2007)
Another Gaze: Feminist filmmaking and the work of Chantal Akerman
The 1970s were a fertile time for feminist film, producing not just a huge body of women's work - including Chantal Akerman's seminal 1975 film Jeanne Dielman - but also a corpus of journals and criticism. This week, Tom Overton talks to Daniella Shreir, editor of Another Gaze (http://www.anothergaze.com/) about the need for such publications and the history of feminist film criticism, as well as
EXTRA: Red Tory: My Corbyn Chemsex Hell - satire and the death of political centrism
Ever since September 2015, when the allegation emerged that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, had performed a sex act on a dead pig as a student, British politics has entered a strange new reality, in which satire has endlessly been pronounced dead. In this edition of Suite (212) Extra, Juliet talks to Huw Lemmey about how to make fun of the age of austerity and absurdism, polarisation and pigfuc
On the Silver Globe: The Zulawski family and Polish science fiction
This week, Lara Alonso Corona talks to Culture.PL editor and Stories from the Eastern West podcast presenter Adam Żuławski about his grandfather Jerzy Żuławski’s science fiction series The Lunar Trilogy and On the Silver Globe, the film adaptation directed by another family member, Andrzej Żuławski and first shown in 1988, and showing in London as part of Kinoteka – the London Polish Film Festival
'Where the novel has a nervous breakdown': Book Works' Semina series
This week on Suite (212), Juliet talks to legendary writer and artist Stewart Home about the nine novels - including one of his own - that he has chosen and edited with Gavin Everall for Book Works' Semina series of experimental texts, 'in which the novel has a nervous breakdown'. Joining them are Bridget Penney, author of the first entry, Index (2008) and Book Works' Lizzie Homersham.
SELECTED R
The Proletarian Answer to the Modernist Question
Modernism in the arts, and particularly literature, has often been portrayed as a middle class pursuit, with certain literary critics focusing on the ‘elitism’ of the movement. But does this give a true picture of its social composition?
This week, Tom Overton talks to Nick Hubble about their new book The Proletarian Answer to the Modernist Question (https://euppublishingblog.com/2017/09/07/prole
An interview with Brian Eno
Brian Eno's huge back catalogue of work as a solo musician, band member and producer goes back decades, including high-profile work with Roxy Music, Talking Heads, David Bowie, John Cale and many others. He is often credited with inventing ambient music, but this conversation between Juliet and Brian does not talk about the past. Instead, we focused on how Brian has adapted to new music, new techn
Lande: The contemporary archaeology of the Calais "Jungle"
The Calais "Jungle", as it became known, was a refugee camp that held 10,000 people from Syria, Somalia, Eritrea and elsewhere between January 2015 and October 2016. This week, Tom Overton talks to Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford, about a new exhibition (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/lande) and book that collects material, digital and visual artifacts
Liberating the Canon: An interview with Isabel Waidner
Isabel Waidner is a writer and critical theorist who has published two works of fiction with Manchester-based independent publisher Dostoyevsky Wannabe, edited an anthology of exploratory queer literature entitled Liberating the Canon, and who - with artist Richard Porter of Pilot Press (https://pilotpress.tumblr.com) - curates the Queers Read This series at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts
EXTRA: Mother Tongue: An interview with Yevgeniy Fiks
Born into a Jewish family in Moscow in 1971, Yevgeniy Fiks moved to New York in 1994. His conceptual art reacts to amnesia about the USSR in the post-Soviet space, resisting nostalgia and commodification in favour of recovering repressed histories, especially those of LGBT and Jewish people; he also looks at the relationship with the USSR and the USA before and during the Cold War, and at historie
Pier Paolo Pasolini: Renaissance Man
Since his violent death in 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini remains internationally renowned as a filmmaker, but less known as a poet, journalist, critic and activist outside his native Italy. This week, Juliet talks to Italian author Daniela Cascella about Pasolini’s varied artistic practice, the persecution he suffered as an outspoken leftist and openly gay man, and the context of post-fascist, post-wa
Hollow Shores: An interview with Gary Budden
Where, and how, does nature writing intersect with architectural criticism? Urban exploration? Hauntology? Nationalism and fascism? This week, Tom Overton talks to writer and Influx Press co-founder Gary Budden about how his collection 'Hollow Shores' blends nature writing and weird fiction, his collaborations with filmmaker and fellow Influx author Adam Scovell and illustrator Maxim Peter Griffin
Scenes from the Life of Jonas Mekas
Best known as a poet in his native Lithuania, Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) became a titan of US underground cinema after moving to New York in 1949. This week, Juliet talks to filmmaker/artist Chiara Ambrosio and curator/critic Herb Shellenberger about Mekas' life, work and legacy.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Films by Jonas Mekas
Film Magazine of the Arts (1963) - http://film-makerscoop.com/catalogue/jonas-m
Politics and the English Language: The life and legacy of George Orwell
Since his untimely death in January 1950, aged 46, George Orwell has been turned into a secular saint, with his Cold War-era novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four making Orwell - a democratic socialist - a hero to anti-communists across the world, but especially in England. This week, Juliet talks to critic Fatema Ahmed and writer Owen Hatherley about how and why Orwell became so revered, wh
Bomb Culture: Jeff Nuttall and the Sixties counter-culture
Jeff Nuttall's Bomb Culture (1968) was an unforgettably idiosyncratic document of Sixties counter-culture, looking at how the nuclear threat that followed World War II had shaped the mass consciousness. This week, Tom Overton talks to Douglas Field (author of All Those Strangers: The Art and Lives of James Baldwin) and Jamie Sutcliffe about Strange Attractor Press' recent reissue of Bomb Culture (
España 1936: The cultural reaction to the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 inspired artists, writers and filmmakers at home and abroad to make work in support of the struggle against fascism and, in some cases, to fight for the Spanish Republic. This week, Juliet talks to writer/translator Lara Alonso Corona about the various reactions to the war, General Franco's victory and consolidation of fascist power in Spain, from before the confli
Art, censorship and resistance in Erdoğan's Turkey
Since he became Prime Minister of Turkey in 2002, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rule has become increasingly authoritarian, with his treatment of journalists, writers and artists causing international concern. Juliet talks to art critic Fisun Güner (https://fisunguner.com) and Tuna Erdem of the Istanbul Queer Art Collective (https://www.istanbulqueerartcollective.co.uk) about how the situation has worsen
An interview with Markéta Luskačová
Photographer Markéta Luskačová (http://www.marketaluskacova.com) began her career in Czechoslovakia around the time of the Prague Spring, and moved to the UK in the mid-1970s, when she began to capture London's markets. With her work currently on display at Tate Britain (https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain/display/spotlights/marketa-luskacova), Tom Overton asks her about her life and work.
Cultural Review of the Year 2018
In our final show of 2018, co-hosts Juliet and Tom discuss literature, films, theatre and exhibitions that made an impact on them throughout the year, as well as what they anticipate in 2019.
SELECTED REFERENCES
120 BPM (dir. Robin Campillo, 2017) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6135348/
John Ash - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ash_(writer)
KEVIN BREATHNACH, Tunnel Vision (2019) - http://kbre
Biodiversity for Literature: An interview with Jessica J. Lee
Nature writing has often been white and male, and at times explicitly fascist. What would it mean to diversify the genre, in terms of race and gender? This week, Tom Overton talks to Jessica J. Lee, editor of The Willowherb Review (https://www.thewillowherbreview.com) about the journal and her book 'Turning: A Swimming Memoir' (2017), as well as her collaboration with The People's Forest project (
EXTRA: Army of Lovers: Queer consciousness-raising after Stonewall
Recorded live in Birmingham during Grand Union’s ‘Ways of Learning’ exhibition, this episode of Suite (212) Extra discusses queer consciousness-raising. Juliet talks to writer/artist Huw Lemmey about LGBTQI+ activism before and after the Stonewall riots of June 1969 in the US and western Europe; the use of direct action and think-ins by the Gay Liberation Front and others; how AIDS and Section 28
La Grande Illusion: The cultural impact of World War I in France
Much of the Western Front fighting in World War I took place in France, yet the cultural legacy of the war in France remains under-explored in the UK. This week, Juliet talks to Eric Robertson (Royal Holloway) and Peter Read (University of Kent) about how the experience of the war affected the Cubist and Surrealist movements and the development of French film, pushing some artists towards traditio
EXTRA: Why Suite (212)?
Why make a political arts programme? In this episode of Suite (212) Extra, hosts Juliet Jacques and Tom Overton discuss today's arts broadcasting and left-wing podcast scenes, and the place of Suite (212) and Resonance 104.4fm within it; how British modernist writers worked with TV and radio; how mainstream media leftists fought to establish a tradition of radical but popular cultural criticism; a
Masses/Man: The cultural impact of World War I in Germany
The Weimar Republic was born out of Germany's defeat in World War I, and the failed Communist revolution that followed the armistice in November 1918, and collapsed with the election of the Nazi Party in 1933. This week, Juliet talks to Tom Wilkinson (author of 'Bricks and Mortals: Ten Great Buildings and the People Who Made Them') about how the war and its aftermath changed German Expressionism,
Dulce et Decorum Est: The cultural impact of World War I in the United Kingdom
A century since the Armistice, World War I looms larger than ever in the UK's cultural and historical imaginary. Known first as 'the Great War' and then 'the war to end all wars', it was fought in new ways with new technologies, with unprecedented psychological effects on its participants, and this led writers and artists - many of whom were combatants - to find new forms to describe it.
This wee
White Screens/Black Images: A conversation about black film
This week, Tom Overton interviews Dr Clive James Nwonka (http://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/Clive-Nwonka) about White Screen/Black Images - Nwonka's new course about black cinema at the London School of Economics (http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calendar/courseGuides/SO/2018_SO4A9.htm). They also discuss issues of diversity (a peculiarly New Labour concept) against equality, the relationship bet
New Suns: Magic, myth-making, occult poetry and 21st century feminism
This week, Tom Overton talks to Sarah Shin (co-founder of Ignota Books) and So Mayer (author of Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema and other books) about new currents in feminist poetry and politics that use magic and myth-making as tools to reconsider the world, and create new narratives that might improve it. The show also includes readings from Jen Calleja, Lucy Mercer and Jane Yeh, all
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