Spring is upon us, which means a bounty of fresh, green seasonal vegetables, from asparagus to artichokes to ramps. To help inspire us to make our own spring feasts, Lilah invites Ayesha Nurdjaja into the studio. Ayesha is the executive chef and partner at Shuka and Shukette, two beloved New York restaurants. Shukette has been called “a Middle Eastern party”, both for its open kitchen and bountiful meals, and for its energy. Visitors are encouraged to mix and match kebabs, breads, herb-covered fish and more in an approach Ayesha calls the “rip and dip”. She shares tons of tips and recipes for ..read more

This week, we talk about the new film ‘Civil War’, directed by Alex Garland, which depicts a future US that’s divided and decimated. It stars Kirsten Dunst as a veteran photojournalist, who is on a road trip with a ragtag group of colleagues. They’re driving through the war-torn north-east to reach the White House before it is stormed by rebel forces. The film has been highly praised as well as highly criticised. What is it trying to say about the state of America? Is it a war film, a political film, or both? The FT’s politics columnist Stephen Bush and US executive producer of audio Topher Fo ..read more

Welcome to the final episode in our special four-part series on design. Brands are everywhere and sometimes feel so omnipresent that it’s hard to know what counts as one. So we’ve invited designer, educator and Design Matters podcast host Debbie Millman to help us make sense of brands. At its core, Debbie says, branding is the process of manufacturing meaning to come up with a shared symbol. And it’s something we’ve been doing for thousands of years. Today, Debbie and Lilah discuss the history of branding and its relationship with design, and the relatively recent phenomenon of ‘personal brand ..read more

The FT’s foreign editor Alec Russell has been reporting on crises around the world for more than 30 years. He was in Romania during the fall of the Ceaușescu regime, in South Africa for the fall of apartheid, and in 1994 he reported on the genocide in Rwanda. So when we recently felt ourselves losing hope at the news from Gaza and Ukraine, we decided to ask him: is this an especially tough time in history, or does it just feel that way? And what has he learned from being present for so much of history? Today, Alec gives us tips for finding perspective, and tells us where he finds hope.  ..read more

For the third episode in our design series, we’re talking fashion design through the lens of the 2006 classic The Devil Wears Prada. The film is having a moment on the internet. We’re here to revisit it with fresh eyes, and with two experts in fashion: Jo Ellison, the editor of our luxury magazine HTSI, and Rob Armstrong, our men’s style columnist (OK, he’s also our US financial columnist). The film stars Meryl Streep as a powerful magazine editor based on Anna Wintour, and Anne Hathaway as a young, idealistic journalist who becomes her assistant. It’s a Y2K fairy tale about the fashion indust ..read more

Designer Jonathan Adler is known for a style that is classic but eccentric. Think gold chairs shaped like hands, vases shaped like heads, and beautiful cookie jars labelled ”quaaludes”. He got his start as a potter, but he now designs everything from furniture to dinnerware to custom upholstery, which are sold by hundreds of retailers around the world. In the second instalment of our design series, Jonathan talks to Lilah about how he developed his style and how we can develop ours. And his biggest piece of advice is to “turn it up”. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @li ..read more

What do you get when you mix female bodybuilding, guns, and a twisted romance? You get Love Lies Bleeding, the latest film from director and co-writer Rose Glass. When she first emailed Kristen Stewart about appearing as its lead, Rose says she described the film as a “crime, romance, thriller, dark comedy, farce, surreal thing”. She talks with Lilah about how she developed the idea, and the kinds of stories she's drawn to as a creator. She also walks through the process of how the film got made – from the script to the final edit. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilah ..read more

Park your Lexus, throw your keys up, and let’s get into Cowboy Carter, the new genre-bending, country-angled album by Beyonce. Here are the facts: it’s the second instalment in her Renaissance trilogy. It features Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Post Malone and Miley Cyrus, and spotlights Black country artists such as Linda Martell. But what was Beyonce’s goal with this album? And how does it fit into her career arc? Lilah’s joined by the FT’s music critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and US labour and equality correspondent Taylor Nicole Rogers to chat about the album. ------- We love hearing from you ..read more

Welcome to the first episode in our special four-part series on design! Today, Lilah speaks with the FT’s longtime architecture and design critic Edwin Heathcote to talk about an often-forgotten element of design in cities. It’s called “street furniture,” and it describes the objects we pass every day: from phone booths and lampposts to manhole covers and park benches. Last year, Edwin published a book on this called “On the Street”, which elevates the small pieces of design that surround us on the sidewalk. He tells Lilah what he notices when he takes walks, and offers advice for how to see t ..read more

To celebrate the first signs of spring, we’re bringing you a special Easter weekend episode full of tips for spring travel. FT Globetrotter editors Rebecca Rose and Niki Blasina run our insider guides to great cities. They tell Lilah how to make the most out of a holiday in April and May: from where to go and how to pack, to tips on travelling alone, with kids, and with pets. ------- We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify etc! ------- Links (all FT links get y ..read more