Summary
'It's all in the best possible taste'. But what does it mean to have good taste? And does pursuing good taste lead to favouring style over substance? Who are the thinkers who have considered a philosophy of aesthetics Matthew Sweet hosts Radio 4's late night ideas discussion programme. His guests are:
Film historian and New Generation Thinker Sarah Smyth, who lectures in film and TV at the University of Essex Philosopher Dr John Callanan, who lectures on Kant at King's College London Writer and management consultant Peter York, whose books include Style War, co-author of The Official Sloane Ranger handbook Broadcaster and writer Emma Dabiri who co-presented Britain's Lost Masterpieces for BBC 4 and whose latest book is Disobedient Bodies: Reclaim Your Unruly Beauty Opera singer Le Gateau Chocolat
Producer Luke Mulhall
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | An early start here. It's time to kick off. |
| 0:10.0 | Your day. Morning! |
| 0:11.9 | What a line-up. |
| 0:13.3 | Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show. |
| 0:16.1 | The crowd is loving this. |
| 0:18.3 | Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind. |
| 0:20.2 | From morning chaos to match day commentary. |
| 0:23.6 | And everything in between. |
| 0:25.0 | BBC sounds packed with personality. |
| 0:28.8 | You're listening to the Arts and Ideas podcast with me, Matthew Sweet. |
| 0:32.5 | Digustibus non-s disputandum. |
| 0:35.1 | I never had the Latin, but people have been saying it since the early modern |
| 0:38.9 | period. There's no accounting for taste. Or tonight's free thinking, however, we're going to have a go. |
| 0:45.2 | People like some things are not others. But there's an architecture which insists that, |
| 0:50.7 | aside from what you like, there's another kind of judgment that can be made, |
| 0:55.4 | one that's still subjective, but it's also, to some extent, right or wrong. |
| 1:00.4 | So tonight, let us think of Miranda Priestley in the Devil Wears Prada, |
| 1:05.1 | her very name arguing that in the matter of style, there is virtue and sin, |
| 1:10.6 | just as there is in the confessional. |
| 1:13.0 | Let us think of the golden lubrush purported to belong to Vladimir Putin. |
| 1:17.5 | Let us consider shaker furniture, leopard-skin budgie smugglers, the by-right festival, butter |
... |
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