Fiona Sturges
@fionasturges.bsky.social
Arts & culture journalist, interviewer, spouter of opinions. Brightonian.
✍🏻: Guardian, FT Weekend, i newspaper, Independent.
"Rampant feminist snowflake" - Piers Morgan
"Well known lunatic" - Man on the internet
✍🏻: Guardian, FT Weekend, i newspaper, Independent.
"Rampant feminist snowflake" - Piers Morgan
"Well known lunatic" - Man on the internet
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...
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
www.ft.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:31 AM
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...
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...
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
www.ft.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
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...
Me on Patti (again) and her new memoir, Bread of Angels, in today's @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/culture/book...
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'
inews.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Me on Patti (again) and her new memoir, Bread of Angels, in today's @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/culture/book...
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...
Sadly, the column is ending later this month after 10 glorious years, so read it while you still can. www.ft.com/content/a6eb...
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
www.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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...
Sadly, the column is ending later this month after 10 glorious years, so read it while you still can. www.ft.com/content/a6eb...
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...
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
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:52 AM
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...
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...
www.ft.com/content/4ed5...
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’
www.ft.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:38 AM
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...
www.ft.com/content/4ed5...
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...
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
inews.co.uk
October 20, 2025 at 9:07 AM
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...
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...
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
www.ft.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:57 AM
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...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on WTF with Marc Maron, the final ep of which is out today after a remarkable 16 years. Today's podcasting landscape looks very different to how it did then - and some of that is down to Maron. www.ft.com/content/b596...
Marc Maron changed the podcasting landscape — now he’s hanging up his headphones
‘WTF with Marc Maron’ comes to an end after 16 years with a deeply personal address to listeners
www.ft.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:54 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on WTF with Marc Maron, the final ep of which is out today after a remarkable 16 years. Today's podcasting landscape looks very different to how it did then - and some of that is down to Maron. www.ft.com/content/b596...
Another piece (the last for a few days, I promise): I spent an entertaining couple of hours with Evan Dando, who is one of the most unfiltered and bracingly honest interviewees you could hope for. We talked drugs, music, drugs, memoirs and more drugs. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando: ‘Some people were supposed to take drugs – and one of them was me’
He was the darling of early-90s alt rock, but success came with the kind of rock’n’roll excess that many of his peers did not survive. Now, having finally quit heroin, he’s back with a new album, a me...
www.theguardian.com
October 6, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Another piece (the last for a few days, I promise): I spent an entertaining couple of hours with Evan Dando, who is one of the most unfiltered and bracingly honest interviewees you could hope for. We talked drugs, music, drugs, memoirs and more drugs. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Coining It with @lewisgoodall.com, which tells the brilliant, bonkers story of a fiftysomething man who discovered a glitch in a bitcoin website, made a fortune and decided to share his newfound wealth with his neighbours. www.ft.com/content/8a20...
Coining It is a gripping new podcast about a crypto Robin Hood — review
Series presented by Lewis Goodall tells the story of a Blackpool man living in poverty who became a millionaire through bitcoin fraud
www.ft.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:45 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Coining It with @lewisgoodall.com, which tells the brilliant, bonkers story of a fiftysomething man who discovered a glitch in a bitcoin website, made a fortune and decided to share his newfound wealth with his neighbours. www.ft.com/content/8a20...
In today's FT, I interviewed the wildly articulate and charismatic Neko Case about making music in the age of streaming and AI, the wonder of growing older and coming to terms with her extraordinary (and extraordinarily difficult) past. www.ft.com/content/c9ae...
Musician Neko Case: ‘The thing nobody tells you is that at 55 you’re going to feel excellent’
The singer-songwriter is on a roll with an unflinching memoir, a new solo album — and a ‘Thelma & Louise’ musical in the works
www.ft.com
October 2, 2025 at 10:04 AM
In today's FT, I interviewed the wildly articulate and charismatic Neko Case about making music in the age of streaming and AI, the wonder of growing older and coming to terms with her extraordinary (and extraordinarily difficult) past. www.ft.com/content/c9ae...
I really wanted to like Ben Elton's new memoir, What Have I Done?, detailing his 40-year career as a writer, comic and occasional actor, not least because I loved The Young Ones, Blackadder & his stand-up (Double Seat!). But, well, he doesn't make it easy. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
What Have I Done? by Ben Elton review – a curious mixture of insight and rampaging ego
The Young Ones and Blackadder creator is sharp on the workings of the comedy industry – and not shy about listing his celebrity admirers
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I really wanted to like Ben Elton's new memoir, What Have I Done?, detailing his 40-year career as a writer, comic and occasional actor, not least because I loved The Young Ones, Blackadder & his stand-up (Double Seat!). But, well, he doesn't make it easy. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on the return of Heavyweight, one of my all-time faves, which brings back a familiar voice: Gregor. Gregor's elderly parents need to downsize but they can't part with their belongings. Can host Jonathan Goldstein help? www.ft.com/content/a158...
Heavyweight, one of podcasting’s greatest creations, is back — review
Jonathan Goldstein’s series returns with a story about love, death and our attachment to material objects
www.ft.com
September 29, 2025 at 8:16 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on the return of Heavyweight, one of my all-time faves, which brings back a familiar voice: Gregor. Gregor's elderly parents need to downsize but they can't part with their belongings. Can host Jonathan Goldstein help? www.ft.com/content/a158...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A Dose of Dandy, a lifestyle series hosted by two influencers who enjoy the finer things in life and seemingly want to live their lives as if in a PG Wodehouse novel. But is this satire or are they for real? www.ft.com/content/09b2...
A Dose of Dandy podcast revels in strenuous elegance — but is it satire?
Show in which two young men wax lyrical about tweed and tulips combines Instagram influencer energy and old-world gentility
www.ft.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on A Dose of Dandy, a lifestyle series hosted by two influencers who enjoy the finer things in life and seemingly want to live their lives as if in a PG Wodehouse novel. But is this satire or are they for real? www.ft.com/content/09b2...
Slightly more cheery: as part of the @FT's Life of a Song series, I wrote about the dark mysteries at the heart of the gorgeous Irish lament, She Moved Through the Fair. www.ft.com/content/10dd...
She Moved Through the Fair — the folk ballad with a dark mystery at its heart
An illustrious array of artists has covered the enigmatic song, perhaps most memorably Sinéad O’Connor
www.ft.com
September 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Slightly more cheery: as part of the @FT's Life of a Song series, I wrote about the dark mysteries at the heart of the gorgeous Irish lament, She Moved Through the Fair. www.ft.com/content/10dd...
I'm a day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on Death on Dubai, an (almost intolerably) dark true crime series, with accompanying documentary film, about a young Ugandan woman forced into sex work in the UAE. www.ft.com/content/9760...
Death in Dubai podcast is a grim tale of sex trafficking — review
The story of Monic Karungi, a young Ugandan woman lured to the UAE by glitz, wealth and lies
www.ft.com
September 16, 2025 at 7:06 AM
I'm a day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on Death on Dubai, an (almost intolerably) dark true crime series, with accompanying documentary film, about a young Ugandan woman forced into sex work in the UAE. www.ft.com/content/9760...
Aaand from last week, I wrote about Will Smith's snafu-filled comeback. The Fresh Prince just wants the world to love him again but he keeps in tripping up. This redemption arc is certainly unusual - but does the punishment fit the crime? www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Will Smith’s comeback has been a disaster – but does the punishment fit the crime?
The Fresh Prince wants the world to love him again, writes Fiona Sturges. But he’s going about it the wrong way, with the most tortured career resurrection in recent times
www.independent.co.uk
September 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Aaand from last week, I wrote about Will Smith's snafu-filled comeback. The Fresh Prince just wants the world to love him again but he keeps in tripping up. This redemption arc is certainly unusual - but does the punishment fit the crime? www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Dream Space, the series hosted by Gemma Cairney which talks to artists of all genres about their creative lives. First up in the new season: Marina Abramović. www.ft.com/content/6f83...
Marina Abramović talks about snakes, dreams and art in podcast Dream Space — review
The artist guests on Factory International’s series in which creative people discuss how they think and work
www.ft.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:53 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Dream Space, the series hosted by Gemma Cairney which talks to artists of all genres about their creative lives. First up in the new season: Marina Abramović. www.ft.com/content/6f83...
For @the-independent.com I interviewed Adam Kay about his new crime thriller, A Particularly Nasty Case, the backlash to This is Going to Hurt, being de facto spokesperson for an ailing NHS and the joys of dining solo. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Adam Kay: ‘Not many doctors can say their career highlight was meeting Matt Hancock’
The junior doctor turned bestselling author talks to Fiona Sturges about his move from medicine to comedy writing and how his latest book, ‘A Particularly Nasty Case’, highlights the NHS’s problem wi...
www.independent.co.uk
September 1, 2025 at 7:45 AM
For @the-independent.com I interviewed Adam Kay about his new crime thriller, A Particularly Nasty Case, the backlash to This is Going to Hurt, being de facto spokesperson for an ailing NHS and the joys of dining solo. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Instant Classics, the new series on the ancient world from Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins. It's smart and funny and I enjoyed it hugely – apart from the video feature which is poor quality and pointless. www.ft.com/content/fd94...
Instant Classics podcast brings the ancient world to life — review
Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins present a new series that asks questions such as: which Roman emperor is Donald Trump most like?
www.ft.com
September 1, 2025 at 7:39 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on Instant Classics, the new series on the ancient world from Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins. It's smart and funny and I enjoyed it hugely – apart from the video feature which is poor quality and pointless. www.ft.com/content/fd94...
I interviewed Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, for @theguardian.com. We talked about the joy of watching his dad on screen, his fears about following in Hoffman Sr's footsteps and his latest role in the dystopian horror, The Long Walk. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
‘I want to earn my stripes’: Cooper Hoffman on ambition, anxiety, and following in his dad’s footsteps
He was never meant to be an actor – wary of comparisons with his late father Philip Seymour Hoffman. Now a rising star, he talks about growing up, embracing discomfort and forging his own path
www.theguardian.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I interviewed Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, for @theguardian.com. We talked about the joy of watching his dad on screen, his fears about following in Hoffman Sr's footsteps and his latest role in the dystopian horror, The Long Walk. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
For @theipaper.com, here's my interview with Jacqueline Wilson about Picture Imperfect, an update of her classic The Illustrated Mum. We talked about difficult mothers (hers was atrocious), life in the countryside and the joys of late-blooming success. inews.co.uk/culture/book...
Jacqueline Wilson: 'My mum didn't like me - she never read a single book of mine'
The celebrated children's author talks about being a failure in the eyes of her mother, and returning to the world of 'The Illustrated Mum' two decades on
inews.co.uk
August 28, 2025 at 7:26 AM
For @theipaper.com, here's my interview with Jacqueline Wilson about Picture Imperfect, an update of her classic The Illustrated Mum. We talked about difficult mothers (hers was atrocious), life in the countryside and the joys of late-blooming success. inews.co.uk/culture/book...
A day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on What Happened to Counter-Culture?, the Stewart Lee-hosted pod which, in its first ep, has a A+ story from Shirley Collins about the time Bob Dylan performed (badly) in London and then locked himself in the toilet. www.ft.com/content/b915...
Richly illuminating new podcast asks What Happened to Counter-Culture? — review
Comedian and writer Stewart Lee hosts series about the era of alternative ideas featuring guests such as folk singer Shirley Collins
www.ft.com
August 26, 2025 at 9:25 AM
A day late with this but here's my @FT pod column on What Happened to Counter-Culture?, the Stewart Lee-hosted pod which, in its first ep, has a A+ story from Shirley Collins about the time Bob Dylan performed (badly) in London and then locked himself in the toilet. www.ft.com/content/b915...
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on The Second Map, Kavita Puri's brilliantly researched and illuminating new series on WW2's eastern front and why the conflict with Japan is so often overlooked. www.ft.com/content/a273...
The Second Map podcast tells the neglected story of the war against Japan — review
Journalist Kavita Puri hears from veterans of the second world war in Asia and asks why this conflict has been overlooked
www.ft.com
August 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
It's Monday so here's my @FT pod column on The Second Map, Kavita Puri's brilliantly researched and illuminating new series on WW2's eastern front and why the conflict with Japan is so often overlooked. www.ft.com/content/a273...