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Talk the Line

The Line of Best Fit

A deep dive into the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting. Our resident artist and curious interviewer Emmeline speaks to brilliant people about their unusual fascinations and obsessions. Expect intimate discussions about everything from Roller Derby to Rachmaninoff with your beloved (or new favourite) musicians, writers, directors and change-makers.

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  • 26 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 31 min
  • English

Episodes 26

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  • S3 · E9
    October 23 · 33 min

    James Acaster on skateboarding

    Comedian, experimental musician and traitor, James Acaster joins this week's episode of Talk The Line to share his fascination with skateboarding. This week James releases Star. A Verse and a Chorus – the debut from his new (but not really) project The Wow! Scenario – with help from longtime musician friend Graeme Wicks, and guest vocalists BC Camplight and Emma Daman. On ⁠⁠Talk The Line⁠⁠ we speak to brilliant people about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting – those unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

  • S3 · E8
    October 16 · 41 min

    La Roux on Frasier

    It’s tossed salad and scrambled eggs time on Talk The Line this week as Elly Jackson - better known as La Roux - joins host Emmeline Armitage to explore her Frasier fandom.Jackson drops Old Flames, the fourth La Roux studio album - and her first in six years - on 6 November, with live dates in North America and to follow throughout February and March next year. On ⁠⁠Talk The Line⁠⁠ we speak to brilliant people about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting – those unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

  • S3 · E7
    October 9 · 33 min

    Stargazer host Iona Bielby on James McNeill Whistler

    A rising force in the new era of interviewing, Iona Bielby is host of Stargazer, where her musical guests lie down side-by-side inside a homemade blanket fort decorated with fairy lights and paper-cut stars for candid and unscripted conversations. An Art History graduate, Bielby was also the founder of New Fine Art Exchange, a platform which allows artists from around the world to publicise and sell their art – and today she's talking about one of her favourite artists, American painter James McNeill Whistler! On ⁠⁠Talk The Line⁠⁠ we speak to brilliant people about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting – those unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

  • S3 · E6
    October 2 · 33 min

    Skinshape on foraging

    Under the name Skinshape, the incredibly prolific British songwriter, producer and former Palace bandmember William Dorey has crafted a sonic universe of sun-dappled, lo-fi dreamscapes across ten records but for this episode of Talk the Line he's going in deep on his passion for mushroom foraging. Dorey kicks off a short European tour this November, following the release of the eleventh Skinshape album Chapman's Pool on 30 October. On ⁠Talk The Line⁠ we speak to brilliant people about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting – those unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

  • S3 · E5
    September 25 · 37 min

    Ellur on the Brontes

    Halifax-born singer/songwriter Ella McNamara – better known as Ellur – reveals her fascination with fellow West Yorkshire writers and poets Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte. Ellur tours the UK throughout October with Antony Szmierek and plays a series of headline shows in November, with dates in Manchester, Leeds and London. Find out more at ellur.biz. On Talk The Line we speak to brilliant people about the beautiful detours that make a creative life interesting – those unusual fascinations and obsessions that sometimes lie far away from their day job as musicians, directors, comedians and actors. New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

  • S3 · E4
    September 18 · 31 min

    Baby Queen on South African birds

    Singer and songwriter Bella Latham's childhood and adolescence in South Africa is the jumping off point for her discussion with host Emmeline Armitage for this episode of Talk The Line as Latham guides us through her memories of avian wildlife in her birth country. The new Baby Queen record ⁠I Hope You Don’t Remember Me⁠ was released back in July and see Latham moving away from the broad generational commentary of her 2023 debut Quarter Life Crisis for a more introspective and self-interrogative through 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. 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.

  • S3 · E3
    September 11 · 28 min

    Mykki Blanco on cafe culture

    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.

  • S3 · E2
    September 4 · 37 min

    Hayden Thorpe on Orford Ness

    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.

  • S3 · E1
    August 28 · 33 min

    Karan Kandhari on ancient Greece

    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.

  • August 24 · 1 min

    TALK THE LINE returns

    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.

  • S2 · E23
    Apr 30, 2021 · 20 min

    Beverly Glenn-Copeland on singing the day

    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.

  • S2 · E22
    Apr 23, 2021 · 23 min

    Dodie on knitting

    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.

  • S2 · E21
    Apr 9, 2021 · 25 min

    RAYE on jigsaw puzzles

    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.

  • S2 · E20
    Mar 26, 2021 · 21 min

    Fran Healy on directing

    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.

  • S2 · E19
    Mar 11, 2021 · 30 min

    Julien Baker on trail running

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

  • S2 · E18
    Mar 5, 2021 · 23 min

    Lava La Rue on visual arts

    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.

  • S2 · E17
    Feb 25, 2021 · 29 min

    Tom Jones and the art of reimagination

    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.

Showing 1–20 of 26 episodes