Muses

It's the last episode of this series of Muses: An Ampersand Podcast, and so Emma (You're Dead To Me) and Dan (Bastille) are here to talk about the roles of narrators in art and academia. Can you write about people and communities to whom you don't have personal connection? What are the ethics of storytelling? Where do you start with telling someone else's story? All of these questions are reflected in Dan's song Intros & Narrators, which you can hear on Bastille Presents... "&": https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore.

Recorded at London's Bush Hall, this slightly longer than usual episode sees Dan and Emma joined by BIM, who co-wrote The Soprano & Midnight Wonderings with Dan, to talk about their song in particular, and songwriting in general. There are live musical performances, and Dan plays more excerpts from his homework - demos of unfinished songs inspired by the conversations we've had earlier in the series. There's also a surprise POP QUIZ with the best damn jingle you've ever heard, and there's even time for some questions from the audience (apologies to all those we didn't get to).

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It was produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Episode cover photo was taken by Joe Horridge.

Series cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool

Series cover design by Chris Barker

Series pisode artwork by Harriet Bruce

Recorded at Bush Hall.

Recorded and mixed by Miles Wheway

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the series cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle. Thanks to all the staff at Bush Hal, especially Sarah, Lara, Letitia and Iain.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) are talking about two of the most accomplished people to have ever lived: Eslanda & Paul Robeson, who inspired Dan's song Essie & Paul, which you can hear on Bastille Presents... "&": https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore.

Actor, a singer, activist; doctor, author, manager. Catch the Robeson bug from Emma and Dan, as they tell you just how amazing they were. We also hear from Ciara Ismail of Bolt Strings, about the sound of the song.

Due to the live recording next week - tickets available here - next week's episode will be slightly late.

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersand.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. The researcher was Genevieve Johnson-Smith, and it was produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool

Cover design by Chris Barker

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce

Recorded at Plosive Studios

Mixed by Miles Wheway

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle

Sources:

• Kinni, Fongot Kini-Yen. “Gender Consciousness and Pro-Agency” In Pan-Africanism, 2015
• Ransby, Barbara. “Eslanda Robeson and cold war politics.” Institute of Race Relations 54, no. 4 (2013)
• Smith, Jessie Carney. Epic Lives. Invisible Ink Press, 1993.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) are talking about scientific genius and double Nobel Prize-winner Marie Curie, who inspired Dan's somewhat accurate song Marie & Polonium, which you can hear on Bastille Presents... "&": https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore.

Rejected by her country, she named her (first) world-changing discovery after it; rejected by the academic establishment, she won two Nobel Prizes. But just how brilliant WAS she?

(This episode contains a potentially upsetting description of Pierre Curie's death.)

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersand.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. The researcher was Genevieve Johnson-Smith, and it was produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool

Cover design by Chris Barker

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce

Recorded at Plosive Studios

Mixed by Miles Wheway

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle

Sources:

• “Perils of Radium Emphasised Today by Discoverer.” The Daily Notes. 28th May 1928
• Curie, Eve. Madame Curie. New York: Doubleday, 1938
• Giroud, Francoise. Marie Curie. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1986
• Golden, Ross. “MARIE CURIE.” Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America 3, no. 2 (1945)
• Goldsmith, Barbara. Obsessive Genius. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005
• Harrow, Benjamin. “Madame Curie.” Science, 87, no. 2247 (1938)
• Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory. “Women in the History of Science.” Osiris 10 (1995)
• Pflaum, Rosalynd. Grand Obsession. New York: Doubleday, 1989.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) are talking about Julie d'Aubigny, a renowned seventeenth century opera singer, duellist, fake nun, bisexual icon and probable arsonist, who grew up in the court of the Sun King but who couldn't stay our of trouble with the law for long, and who inspired Dan's song Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze, which you can hear on Bastille Presents... "&": https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore. How much do we actually know about her life, and how much of it is legend?

They're joined by Kelly Gardiner, author Goddess, a novel based on Julie's life, who talks through how they got inspired to write about her, how much research they did, and how they decided which legends to believe and which to discount.

Dan and Emma would like to apologise to the population of France for their pronunciations in this episode.

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersand.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded at Plosive Studios.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle. Also with thanks to Dr Laura O’Brien and Dr Hannah Thuraisingam Robbins for help with this episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to check Dan's homework! Every week, Emma Nagouse been suggesting to Dan Smith - at Dan's request - a new idea for a song. And after eight episodes, it's time to check in and ask: how is Dan doing?

Spoiler alert: you're going to hear clips from Dan's new songs about Sojourner Truth, Echo, Artemisia Gentileschi and Bathsheba. Emma and Dan also answer some listener emails - if you have more, get in touch at [email protected]

Listen to all the songs on Bastille Presents: Ampersand: https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore, and find out more about the people in the songs: ampersand.bastillebastille.com

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this spooooooooky bonus episode of Muses, Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) take a trip into the underworld in the company of Charlie Covell - the creator of the Netflix series KAOS, a re-telling of Greek myths for which Dan wrote a song, Eurydice.

This interview was recorded before news broke that KAOS would not be returning to Netflix, but they still cover why Charlie wanted to retell this story and how they went about it - from casting to production design and, yes, how they used the music (and why, when they wanted an intense sadboi anthem, they turned to Dan). Emma gives us the tl;dr on the classic versions of these stories - including how Orpheus travelled into the underworld to rescue Eurydice - and Charlie tells us what they changed and what they kept.

Please remember that it's a hallowe'en special.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded at Plosive Studios.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Boo!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) talk about Oscar Wilde, who perhaps needs no introduction: literary icon, celebrated playwright, convicted criminal. But how did he go from one to the other, and why did Dan write Red Wine & Wilde - which you can hear on Bastille Presents: Ampersand: https://bastille.lnk.to/ampersandstore - about him?

Dan and Emma view Oscar's legacy through the lenses of two very different films - Wilde and The Happy Prince - and there's a reading by poet Lemn Sissay of one of Oscar's most celebrated works.

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersand.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded at Plosive Studios.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Sources

• Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. New York: Vintage Books, 1988
• “Great Britain: A Life of Concealment.” Time, Sept 27th 1954
• Douglas, Alfred Bruce. Oscar Wilde: A Summing Up. London: Duckworth, 1940
• Harris, Frank. Oscar Wilde, 1916
• Holland, Vyvyan. Son of Oscar Wilde. New York: Dutton, 1954
• Knox, Melissa. Oscar Wilde. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994
• Pearce, Joseph. The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.
• Ransome, Arthur. Oscar Wilde. London: Martin Secker, 1912
• Sturgis, Matthew. Oscar. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) talk about the world's greatest-ever pirate: Zheng Yi Sao, who rose from working in a 'floating brothel' to controlling the South China Sea and China's salt trade, and the inspiration for Dan's song Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her which you cannot hear yet - it's not out until the album "&" is released on Friday - but there are clips all the way through this episode, so this is your first chance to hear this song.

They are joined by Doctor Leon Rocha, a former Senior Lecturer in Chinese History and Society at the University of Lincoln and a former Lecturer in Chinese Studies (History) at the University of Liverpool who offers an expert's view on how she did it, the world she was dealing with, and how she was able to walk away at the time of her choosing. We also discuss if Dan would rather be a cultist, a pirate or a bandit, and how much admin is involved in running a massive criminal empire.

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersand.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded by Calvin Thornbarrow at Liverpool Podcast Studios.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Sources

• Antony, Robert J., ed. Elusive Pirates, Pervasive Smugglers. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010.
• Antony, Robert J. Unruly People. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016.
• Murray, Dian H. Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1987.
• Wang, Wensheng. White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2014.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) are musing about a muse: Marianne Ihlen, who inspired Leonard Cohen to write many of his most famous songs, such as Bird On A Wire and So Long, Marianne. Their relationship inspired Nick Broomfield's documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, which in turn inspired Dan/Bastille's song Leonard & Marianne, which you can listen to here: https://bastille.lnk.to/Leonard

Emma and Dan are delighted to be joined in the studio by Nick himself, who explains how he first came to meet Marianne on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1960s, how he looks back on that community and that time, and how the Archbishop of Canterbury was (indirectly) responsible for his first-ever acid trip. Emma also catches up with Dan's homework, and instead of taking a deep dive into Dan's song, she takes a deep dive into the idea of muses, while Dan explains how the song evolved from a belter of a party piece to the more intimate, Billie Eilish-inspired version you can hear on the album.

You can find out more about all the people we're talking about in this series at ampersannd.bastillebastille.com.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded at Plosive Studios.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Muses: An Ampersand Podcast, Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) are talking about the painter of The Scream, Edvard Munch, the inspiration for Bastille's song Blue Sky & The Painter, which you can hear here: https://bastille.lnk.to/BlueSky

How did his mental health affect his art? Did his work get worse when he was happy? Was he a Nazi? How happy would he be that his legacy is the Home Alone poster?

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse, with research by Genevieve Johnson-Smith. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded by Tim Lozinski at TL Multimedia.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Sources:

• Berman, Patricia G. “Edvard Munch’s Self-Portrait with Cigarette” The Art Bulletin 75, no.4 (1993): 627-646
• Berman, Patricia G. “(Re-) Reading Edvard Munch” Scandinavian Studies 66, no. 1 (1994): 45–67
• Eggum, Arne. Edvard Munch, New York: C. N. Potter, 1984
• Finger, Stanley, and Elisabetta Sirgiovanni. “The Electrified Artist” Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 33, no.3, 2024: 241–74
• Kendzior, Sarah. “’The Face of ‘Scream’” Fangoria 189, no.29 (2000)
• Loren’s Ghost: The Haunted History Of The SCREAM Mask” Fangoria
• Lund, Ida K. “Edvard Munch.” Parnassus 9, no. 3 (1937): 21–24
• Mcelroy Bowen, Anne. “Munch and Agoraphobia” RACAR 15, no. 1 (1988): 23–50
• Prideaux, Sue. Edvard Munch. Yale University Press, 2005
• Vernon, McCay, and Marjie L. Baughman. “Art, Madness, and Human Interaction.” Art Journal 31, no. 4 (1972): 413–20
• Wylie Jr., Harold W. “Edvard Munch.” American Imago 37, no. 4 (1980): 413-443
• “After Munch.” Munchmuseet

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Muses: An Ampersand Podcast, Emma and Dan are talking about the American poet Emily Dickinson, who inspired Dan's/Bastille's song Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky, which you can hear here: https://bastille.lnk.to/Emily

They talk about Emily's life and work, including her "friendship" with a "gal pal", and why she may not have been as much as a recluse as her reputation suggests - as well as who is to blame for that reputation. They also talk about Hey Arnold a surprising amount (ie: at all), and whether Dan wants his unreleased music burned when he dies.

Say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse, with research by Genevieve Johnson-Smith. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded by Tim Lozinski at TL Multimedia.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Muses: An Ampersand Podcast, Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) take a long, slow look at Narcissus, who inspired Dan's song Seasons & Narcissus, which you can hear here: https://bastille.lnk.to/Seasons

They look into the different versions of the myth of Narcissus, and how and why it's changed over the years; they also look at the myth of Echo, who Dan did NOT write a song about. They also cover the history of narcissism, and why middle eights are brilliant.

You can say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse, with research by Dr. Aimee Hinds Scott. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded at Plosive.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art; to Dr. Emma Rose Price-Goodfellow; and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Sources:

• Ambroziak, Paige. “POUSSIN’S ECHO OF OVID.” WRECK 4.1, 2013
• Barrow, Rosemary. “Narcissus and Echo.” in A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology. Ed. Vanda Zajko. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2017
• Calimach, Andrew. Lovers’ Legends. New Rochelle: Haiduk Press, 2002
• Colquhoun, Matt. Narcissus in Bloom. London: Repeater Books, 2023
• Gotchold, Agnieszka. The Myth of Narcissus and Its Reception in Western Culture. Warsaw Bellerive-sur-Allier: Wydawnictwo DiG Édition La Rama, 2016
• Freud, Sigmund. On Narcissism, 1914
• Longus, Daphnis and Chloe 3.23
• Miguel, Jaime Segura San, ‘Mad Narcissists” 12 (n.d.)
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca 6
• Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.339-510
• Pausanias Description of Greece 9.31.7-9
• Vinge, Louise. The Narcissus theme in Western European literature. Lund: Gleerups, 1967

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first episode of Muses: An Ampersand Podcast, Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) and Dan Smith (Bastille) look at the life of Eve, who inspired Dan's/Bastille's song Eve & Paradise Lost, which you can hear here: https://bastille.lnk.to/Eve

Emma and Dan talk about exactly what the Bible (and the Qur'an) say about her; the different interpretations of her story; and the impact her story has had on popular culture, from Desperate Housewives to No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom; and Dan talks about the process of turning the story into the song. Dan also recites all of Paradise Lost from memory, and Emma does a deep dive into the lyrics of the song and that isn't awkward at all.

You can say hello at [email protected].

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is presented by Dan Smith and Emma Nagouse. It is produced by Emma Nagouse and Ed Morrish for Lead Mojo productions.

Cover photography by Bo Morgan, taken at the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

Cover design by Chris Barker.

Episode artwork by Harriet Bruce.

Recorded by Rich Andrews at Spiritland Productions.

Mixed by Miles Wheway.

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Gustin for arranging the location for the cover art, and to Moira Mack and Charlie Barnes for their help with the jingle.

Sources:

• Brenner-Idan, Athalya, ed. A Feminist Companion to Genesis. The Feminist Companion to the Bible 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.
• Colette, Shelly. “Eroticizing Eve: A Narrative Analysis of Eve Images in Fashion Magazine Advertising.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 31.2 (2015): 5.
• Genesis 2-3
• Sanders, Theresa. Approaching Eden: Adam and Eve in Popular Culture. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc, 2009.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast sees Dan Smith (Bastille) and Emma Nagouse (You're Dead To Me) take a deep dive into the lives of some amazing people from history and mythology, all of whom Dan wrote songs about for his latest project, Ampersand. Each episode is a conversation about history, music, mythology and popular culture, and how those things overlap.

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is a Lead Mojo production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.