It was the first days of spring when Laura Barton spoke to our third podcast guest, the Forward Prize winning poet Fiona Benson. Speaking about the itinerant rhythms of growing up in an RAF family, of boarding school and academia, the pleasing rhythms of a settled life in rural Devon and how each has shaped her poetry. Fittingly for this spring season Fiona shares her poem Almond Blossom to ease us out of winter into a hopeful and trusting green havoc.

TOAST Podcast Series 5 is presented by Laura Barton and produced by Geoff Bird. Music for this season was written and performed by Laura James. All views expressed in the podcast are the interviewees own and not necessarily those of TOAST.

Rhythm Podcast Series 5 | Fiona Benson

It would be hard to look at rhythm in all its forms without observing the breath and the way we speak. For over 40 years the world’s most formidable voice coach, Patsy Rodenburg, OBE, has done just that.  Speaking to Patsy from her home in London, we discover her passion for storytelling, her focus on the breath and its rhythms which link us all. 

Patsy has worked with politicians, business leaders and actors including  Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Daniel Craig. She’s collaborated with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre and is head of voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is the author of books on speech and presence and her great literary love, William Shakespeare.

TOAST Podcast Series 5 is presented by Laura Barton and produced by Geoff Bird. Music for this season was written and performed by Laura James. All views expressed in the podcast are the interviewees own and not necessarily those of TOAST.

Rhythm Podcast Series 5 | Patsy Rodenburg

Musician Valerie June was in New York when Laura Barton spoke to her for our fifth podcast series. She spoke of the stillness she has found through guided meditation, the natural rhythms that have steered her new album, 'The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers', and all of the ways her music carries her history – from singing gospel to recording with the queen of Memphis soul, Carla Thomas.

TOAST Podcast Series 5 is presented by Laura Barton and produced by Geoff Bird. Music for this season was written and performed by Laura James. All views expressed in the podcast are the interviewees own and not necessarily those of TOAST.

Rhythm Podcast Series 5 | Valerie June

The role of an intimacy coordinator is still fairly new in the world of film and TV but one that is fast gaining adoption in production houses including the BBC and Netflix. A pioneer and principal practitioner in the field, Ita O’Brien works to choreograph the often complex rhythms of intimate scenes and ensure best practice on set and stage when performances include nudity and sexual content. Ita has worked on productions including Normal People, Sex Education, I May Destroy You, The Dig and It’s a Sin. 

Joining Laura Barton from her home in Kent, Ita speaks about her work, physical rhythm and how she moved from dancing to acting to intimacy.

TOAST Podcast Series 5 is presented by Laura Barton and produced by Geoff Bird. Music for this season was written and performed by Laura James. All views expressed in the podcast are the interviewees own and not necessarily those of TOAST.

Rhythm Podcast Series 5 | Ita O'Brien

For our sixth podcast series we have partnered with Yorkshire Sculpture Park exploring our seasonal theme of Elemental Compositions through the work of six of the UK’s most exciting contemporary sculptors working today.

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | David Nash

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | Heather Peak

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | Ro Robertson

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | Saad Qureshi

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | Kedisha Coakley

Elemental Compositions Podcast Series 6 | Tania Kovats

You can see Pauline Boty’s self-portrait on display in Room 31 at the National Portrait Gallery. A striking work of stained glass, it is an early piece from what would be a short career. Though she died at the age of just 28, in her brief, vibrant life she made a wonderfully varied contribution to the world of British pop art and culture. After decades in the shadows, Boty has recently been rightfully placed among the masters of the movement, from Peter Blake to Richard Hamilton. 

Laura Barton meets the writer Ali Smith in front of Boty’s portrait, where she is joined by the curator Lucy Dahlsen. Smith’s book Autumn helped ignite a new appreciation and love for Boty’s work — its intelligence, mischief, feminist stance, and distillation of 1960s London. As Smith says, “when you are anywhere near her work in the flesh you feel the life, you feel the energy.”

This podcast is a collaboration between TOAST and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Pauline Boty with Ali Smith / The Making of a Pioneer

TOAST is a clothing and lifestyle brand that aspires to a slower, more thoughtful way of life. You can visit our website at: www.toa.st

TOAST podcasts are presented by Laura Barton, produced by Geoff Bird and conceived by Emily Cameron.

Pauline Boty with Ali Smith / The Making of a Pioneer

TOAST

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