The Suite (212) Sessions, no. 10 - Nathalie Olah

Suite (212)

In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shaped their work. In the tenth of these Sessions, Juliet talks to writer/journalist Nathalie Olah about her book Steal As Much As You Can, published by Repeater in October 2019. They discussed how the development of neoliberalism and imposition of austerity went hand-in-hand with the destruction of cultural democracy and the upper-class takeover of British popular culture, New Labour's relationship to arts and culture, the arts policies of Corbyn's Labour and its relationship with the media, and how the left needs to think differently about the 'culture wars' conducted by the UK's Conservative politicians and media. A full list of references for the programme, with links, can be found via our Patreon at www.patreon.com/suite212, and are available to $3 subscribers.