Lilah Raptopoulos

Host of the Life and Art podcast, from FT Weekend
Culture writer at the Financial Times

 

Find Life and Art wherever you listen

Episodes

 

A conversation with novelist Elif Shafak. She and Lilah discuss national identity, the generational pain of conflict, and writing in countries that don't have freedom of speech.

 

Lilah is joined by Natalia Antelava, editor-in-chief of the popular news website called Coda Story, which focuses on global digital crises, and has been closely covering Putin’s disinformation machine in Ukraine and beyond. We step back and examine the narratives Russia has used since 2014 to confuse, distort, and spread lies.

 

Lilah speaks to James Beard Award-winning chef Pati Jinich about how diplomacy is sometimes better achieved through the language of food. Then, anthropologist and FT columnist Gillian Tett looks at social phenomena through the lens of anthropology – from crypto to how tastemakers decide what is 'cool'.

 

Maaza Mengiste is author of the epic historical novel The Shadow King. Her book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, is about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia at the start of WWII. It asks questions about how history is remembered, recorded and retold.

 

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I asked Eli Zabar to teach us how to make a sandwich. A hall of fame episode imo, with a person who helped define American taste. Tips include proportion, generosity, salt, and taste everything in the supermarket if it looks good!!! Thank you for yo
Some big, bittersweet news. In early January, Life and Art is coming to an end. At this point I mostly have general mush feelings about what an immeasurable honor it has been to host this podcast through its different iterations, starting as Gris&rsq
An absolute honor to write this piece!!! Go see the Met’s employee art show, which opens Monday. The staff there is one of the most creative, weird, delightful collection of humans in this beautiful town. The piece is in @ft_weekend’s p
In tomorrow’s @fthtsi: Eli Zabar and his iconic shop @eat.nyc, which turned 50 and got a beautiful refresh from @ch_herrero. I spent some time there with Eli, his wife Devon and their son Oliver, and we talked a lot about what makes a perfect p
On making the defense of democracy thrilling, with the great historian Simon Schama. 🎧 Life and Art podcast, link in bio
This week, a memorable episode about what we want from restaurants now, with a chef that doesn’t talk like a ‘chef’ but like a real person, @victoriablamey of @eatblanca. A lot of fine dining restaurants feel outdated these days,
Last night Larry surprised me with 3 tickets to the first game of the WNBA finals at Barclays: for me, my sister and my niece Athena. It was the best early birthday gift: our team, @nyliberty vs Minnesota Lynx. The game was memorable and happy and we
Today’s episode is with the trailblazing @asmakhanlondon, chef and owner of @darjeelingldn who has zero reservations about dropping truth bombs about fine dining kitchens. Here are some photos of us onstage at the @ft_weekend festival last week
Writing this profile of the @bronxdocumentarycenter was an honor. One of the best reporting experiences of my life. I want more people to know about it — and the algorithm only cares about photos of my face, so you might need to ‘like&rsq
When the FT asks you to explain brat and @charli_xcx, and you consider it international diplomacy to accept. Link in bio, free to read

Writing

How far does a chef have to go to be truly good?

Magazine cover story: “Eleven Madison Park’s plant-based shift shows that however a chef defines good, one thing’s clear post-pandemic: it’s no longer just about winning awards”

Chez Panisse’s Alice Waters: ‘I feel an urgency’ to change how we eat

Magazine profile: The founder of the farm-to-table movement has not stopped fighting for a better relationship with our food

Malcolm Gladwell: ‘My writing had better have changed. Or I’m a failure’

Magazine profile: The journalist who turns big ideas into bestsellers talks about crime, challenging convention and changing his mind

 
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My tug of war with algorithms

Column: “The algorithms and I are in a tug of war. I am addicted to a network of companies that are financially incentivised to simplify me. I despise them but they give me things I love. They hook me, reinforce my detected patterns, take what I already like and give me more of the same.”

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Magazine cover story: Stress is costing businesses and claiming lives, so why do employees feel unsafe asking for help? This was an eight month long investigation fueled by readers.

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Finding my Armenia, a century after the genocide

Personal essay: I am half Armenian. My grandfather and great grandparents survived the Armenian Genocide. Like many in the diaspora, my family had never made the trip to Armenia. In September, we went. It was moving, delightful, complex. So I wrote about it.

More writing clips →

Live interview with poet Natasha Trethewey

September 2020

Lilah talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey at the FT Weekend Live Festival.