logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
20m 47s

Culture Chat: Jennifer Lopez’s baffling ...

Financial Times
About this episode

This Friday, we explore Jennifer Lopez’s mind-boggling new movie musical ‘This is Me … Now: A Love Story’, which was released alongside an album of the same name. The film, inspired by her marriage to actor Ben Affleck, is a series of music videos, action scenes and therapy sessions. And it was self-funded, for $20mn. What, exactly was J Lo trying to say with this project? Lilah is joined by two special guests, comedians and hosts of the podcast Celebrity Memoir Book Club, Ashley Hamilton and Claire Parker.

-------

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 you past the paywall): 

 This is Me…Now: A Love Story is out now on Amazon Prime. Jennifer Lopez’s new album is also out on all streaming platforms. 

– Ashley and Claire’s podcast is called Celebrity Memoir Book Club. It’s available wherever you listen. Here’s their 2021 episode on J Lo’s memoir: https://podcasts.apple.com/md/podcast/jennifer-lopez-knows-true-love/id1533533467?i=1000530871148 

– We also love this FT column by Jo Ellison. Bennifer, the rematch and why love deserves a second chance: https://on.ft.com/48rItHj 

More or Less: 

– Ashley wants more choreographed dance routines, like in music videos by Tinashe. 

– Claire wants more considered writing about the arts, and mentioned the Stephen Sondheim musical ‘Here We Are’. Related, here’s a piece from this weekend’s FT on the meaning of musical memorabilia – and why there’s a boom in the market at the moment. 

– Lilah wants more narratives told backwards, like Sondheim’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’, which is playing on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe. The FT’s review of the musical is here.

-----

Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart

-------

Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner, McMurran and Sam Giovinco. 


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jan 2025
Our final episode: thank you
This is it. Today we present you a massive special episode full of wisdom, which answers your final pressing questions. Listeners wrote in from around the world — from Perth to Virginia to Prague — asking about music, cooking, careers, home, fashion and how to live a good life. L ... Show More
59m 39s
Dec 2024
Cultural predictions for 2025: the year we accept the chaos
It’s a time-honored tradition: for the third year in a row, FT Weekend editor-at-large Matt Vella joins Lilah to reflect on this past year, and muse on the coming one. We’ve asked listeners to send their predictions and wishes for 2025, and today we’re talking through them! Will ... Show More
34m 37s
Dec 2024
The perfect winter survival guide
Today we are bringing you a winter survival guide, full of deceptively small tips that will make winter unmeasurably better. How do we best appreciate these cold, dark months? How do we stay stimulated, but also reject the grind? Our FT Weekend Magazine’s resident “winter goddess ... Show More
29m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
This Is JLo... Now: Decoding 'The Greatest Love Story Never Told'
Juliet and Amanda analyze the Jennifer Lopez we see in her new documentary, 'The Greatest Love Story Never Told,' including the best moments that feature Jane Fonda, Ben Affleck, Neil DeGrasse-Tyson, Post Malone. They also talk about how JLo's new album, narrative musical, and th ... Show More
49m 12s
Aug 2023
Ninja Turtle...Masterpiece?
This week, the panel begins by dissecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a zany piece of intellectual property that’s been taken off the shelf by Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogan, and a slew of animators and turned into a critical darling. Then, the trio reviews The Retrievals ... Show More
58m 7s
Feb 2022
JLo Says Bennifer is For Real
Bennifer 2.0 is a 10! That’s what we’re hearing from JLo herself. The queen chimed in (finally!) about her rekindled love with actor Ben Affleck in a PEOPLE interview this week. It’s all happy this and beautiful that -- and we LOVE it. Jen also says she definitely isn’t taking al ... Show More
11m 8s
Oct 2021
I’ll Be Your Mirror
This week, Steve and Dana are joined by Karen Han. First, Slate’s music critic Carl Wilson chimes in to discuss Todd Haynes’s new The Velvet Underground documentary, which he wrote beautifully about for Slate. Next, the panel (minus Dana) is joined by Slate staff writer Rebecca O ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 2023
Les Misérables x Encoding/Decoding with Erin Keif
We're so lucky to be joined this episode by Erin Keif (she/her) of the beloved Headgum podcasts Hey Riddle Riddle and Sitcom DnD. If you're a fan of Les Mis, or any musical, you'll appreciate this really special episode that covers Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding, while ... Show More
1h 7m
Oct 2023
Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and the Fights Over Song Credits
Matt is joined by Howard King, a music industry expert and trial lawyer who has represented Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and many major artists in the music industry, to shed light on the complicated world of copyright infringement in the music industry songwriting credits, and w ... Show More
32m 23s
Jun 2024
Vogue Williams - ‘I love therapy’
Ugh I just adore this woman. I had a girl crush on her from afar and recently was lucky enough to meet her properly when she interviewed me on tour. Let me tell you that Vogue Williams is EVEN BETTER in person than she is on screen or in our ears. You’ll know her as one half of o ... Show More
51m 20s
Dec 2022
Across the Atlantic
In February of 1910, members of the Music Hall Ladies Guild in London received a strange letter from their treasurer – a singer who went by the name Belle Elmore. It said that she suddenly had to travel to the United States, and that she was resigning from her position. Several w ... Show More
48m 39s
Mar 2023
John Wick Whacks the Box Office
This week, Slate’s own Nadira Goffe joins Dana and Stephen as they begin by talking about John Wick 4. Then they discuss a new streaming series about fandom gone too far called Swarm. Finally, they chat about why classical music is getting more popular among young people.  In Sla ... Show More
58m 35s
Jul 2021
Questlove made the music documentary of the summer | What to Watch
Summer of Soul revives the forgotten, groovy history of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a pivotal moment in Black culture sometimes dubbed “Black Woodstock.” This massive concert series spanned multiple weekends and featured everyone from Sly and the Family Stone to Nina Simon ... Show More
9m 12s