Talk the Line

In Talk The Line, our resident artist and curious interviewer Emmeline Armitage speaks to brilliant people about their unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. In this week's episode, rapper, performance artist, writer, poet and activist Mykki Blanco talks about cafe culture, the inspiration for his new record Cafe Paradiso. Talk The Line is a podcast from UK music magazine ⁠⁠ The Line of Best Fit ⁠⁠ and is co-produced by Emmeline Armitage and Paul Bridgewater, with music by Seams.

In Talk The Line, our resident artist and curious interviewer Emmeline Armitage speaks to brilliant people about their unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. Today we're talking to singer and songwriter Hayden Thorpe about Orford Ness, a former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War tht was acquired by the National Trust in 1993 and left to re-wild. Orford Ness is where RADAR was invented, where camouflage was developed and where bombs were first strapped to planes. As a result, it was on Ness that missiles designed to deliver atomic payloads were tested and perfected. It remains a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution for Thorpe, whose 2024 record Ness is an ode to the physical place and the book it inspired, written by celebrated nature writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Stanley Donwoood. Talk The Line is a podcast from UK music magazine ⁠ The Line of Best Fit ⁠ and is co-produced by Emmeline Armitage and Paul Bridgewater, with music by Seams.

In Talk The Line, our resident artist and curious interviewer Emmeline Armitage speaks to brilliant people about their unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. To open our third season, we're talking about Ancient Greece with British–Indian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer Karan Kandhari – best known for his award-winning short film Hard Hat and feature-length directorial debut Sister Midnight , which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and earned him a BAFTA nomination the following year. Talk The Line is a podcast from UK music magazine The Line of Best Fit and is co-produced by Emmeline Armitage and Paul Bridgewater, with music by Seams.

Back after a few years on hiatus, Talk The Line is back this week for its third season! A podcast about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting, our resident artist and curious interviewer Emmeline Armitage speaks to brilliant people about their unusual fascinations and obsessions. Expect intimate discussions about everything from Roller Derby to Rachmaninoff with your beloved (or perhaps new favourite) musicians, writers, directors and change-makers.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland talks to Jen Long about how singing the day helps him through the pandemic. The reissue of Glenn-Copeland's 1986 masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies is out now via Transgressive, marking the 35th anniversary of its original release and features restored original artwork and liner notes by Robyn.

Dodie talks to Jen Long about how knitting helped her through the lockdowns. Her debut album Build A Problem is released on 7 May 2021.

23-year-old South London-born singer and songwriter Raye talks about discovering a passion for jigsaw puzzles during the pandemic. RAYE's new mini-album Euphoric Sad Songs is out now and her new single with Joel Corry and David Guetta "Bed" has just hit gone top five in the UK Official Charts.

Travis frontman Fran Healy speaks to Jen Long from his LA home about leaning into his love of directing videos during lockdown for this episode of Talk The Line. Travis’ new album 10 Songs is out now on BMG and their debut album Good Feeling is being reissued on vinyl for the first time on 2 April.

Julien Baker – Tennessee-born singer/songwriter and one third of Boygenius – talks about her love of trail running.

As the founding member of the NiNE8 collective, musician, singer and artist Lava La Rue has curated incredible projects across the worlds of art, music and fashion, as well as establishing her own solo career with debut single "Widdit", and this year's Butter-Fly EP. She joins host Jen Long on this episode of Talk the Line to talk about creating art during the pandemic.

Sir Tom Jones talks to Jen Long about the artists and songs that inspired him on new record Surrounded By Time, and his approach to re-imagining those tracks for a whole new audience.

DIY outlier musician Jim White tells us about his passion for finding old things in a special podcast recorded at this year's End of the Road Festival.

Canadian popstar and singer/songwriter Alessia Cara talks about the awkwardness of adolescence.

Michelle Zauner - aka Philadelphia pop experimentalist Japanese Breakfast - talks about her love of Korean food to host Jen Long.

Interpol frontman Paul Banks explains the noble art of boxing to Jen Long. The band's sixth album Marauder is released on 24 August via Matador.

Miles Kane joins presenter Jen Long to explore his passion for WWE - American Wrestling. With a career stretching back to his mid-teens, Kane's been one of indie rock's most prolific collaborators - notably as part of The Last Shadow Puppets, the band he formed with Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys. This year he releases Coup De Grace - only his third solo album - which is named for a wrestling move made famous by Finn Balor. Balor also appears in Kane's recent video for "Cry on My Guitar".

Two Door Cinema Club's Kevin Baird talks to us on this episode about his fascination with a difficult period for his home country of Northern Ireland. Baird is a founding member of Two Door Cinema Club, probably the most successful rock band to ever come out of Northern Ireland. The three members of Two Door met as teenagers in Bangor and made their TV debut at the age of sixteen on a BBC TV music talent show - where they came last. In 2007 they conquered social media and chose music over University, releasing their debut EP Four Words to Stand On , the following year. Two Door have had massive success across the world with three massive-selling albums including their platinum-debut Tourist History .

On this episode, we're talking to Wales-born and Australia-raised songwriter Stella Donnelly about her fascination with the menstrual cycle. Donnelly was born and raised in Wales before moving to Australia at the age of ten. Fifteen years later she's one of her adopted country's brightest musical hopes, abandoning her plans to study social work at University in favour of signing to legendary indie label Secretly Canadian. Stellla is an honest and confrontational lyricist, with signature track "Boys Will Be Boys" addressing victim blaming and written to the rapist of her friend. It features on Stella's debut EP -which gets a reissue this month - and was originally put out on Melbourne's Healthy Tapes label last year, selling out four cassette pressings.

Minnesota-born Craig Finn is the frontman of The Hold Steady and as a huge baseball fan has never been shy about his support for hometown team the Minnesota Twins, even penning a fight song for them back in 2010 - and today we're talking to him about why it's the only sport that matters to him.

Chris and Keith from We Are Scientists go deep in chat on their literary obsession: Jack Reacher, the fictional character created by British author Lee Child.