Scene Magazine: Recent Episodes
Alex
Scene Magazine comes from the heart of LGBT+ Brighton. We get to speak to some of the best artists and writers working today. You can hear all the highlights from our interviews on the Scene Magazine Podcast.
Rosie Wilby is an award-winning comedian, author and podcaster who has appeared many times on BBC Radio 4 programmes, including Woman's Hour and Four Thought. Her first book Is Monogamy Dead? was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and followed a trilogy of solo shows investigating the psychology of love and relationships.
Her new book The Breakup Monologues is based on her acclaimed podcast of the same name.
Check out the book at https://linktr.ee/breakupmonologues
Or follow Rosie on Twitter @rosiewilby or Instagram @breakupmonologues
Sophie Parkin is the founder of Vout-O-Reenee's, a private member's club in London for the "surrealistically distinguished." She's also an author and an artist. Her books include "The Colony Room Club: A History of Bohemian Soho."
The Colony Room was one of Soho's most notorious drinking dens. It became the main hub of London bohemia in the post-war era.
Sophie Parkin owns www.vout-o-reenees.com and @TheStashGallery_London. Her new exhibition @147WomenDinnerParty is on in The Stash Gallery, London in February, Southend’s Beecroft Museum in March 2022, The Broomhill Estate, Devon in April 2022. Her podcast is called @ShadowSpies.
We discuss the storied history of the club, from its founder Muriel Belcher to its regulars: Francis Bacon and George Melly among them. We also discuss how she came to open her own club, where the spirit of The Colony Room lives on.
Val McDermid is one of the most successful crime writers working today. Her latest novel is the first instalment of a new series. Journalist Allie Burns is her new protagonist. The story begins in 1979, later moving to 1989 and 2019. It’s an ambitious project that will chronicle 40 years of history. We caught up with her to find out more.
Sister Sledge formed in 1971. They achieved global success with their 1979 album We Are Family. That record produced a series of classic hits including He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost in Music, Thinking of You and of course the title track.
They captured the zeitgeist in the disco era, and their music continues to resonate with people who weren’t even born in the 70s. We caught up with founding member Kathy Sledge to discuss their legendary career.
Diana Souhami is a writer best known for her biographies of eminent lesbians. She’s also written plays, books about 18th-century mariners and murder mysteries. Her latest book is called No Modernism Without Lesbians. We caught up with Diana to discuss the new book and her long career as an author.
It’s been 35 years since Diana wrote her first book Gluck, a biography of Hannah Gluckstein. Gluck was a society painter noted for her androgynous image, passionate affairs with women and “one man” shows. When it came out in 1988, publishers did not want the word “lesbian” on the cover of a book. Fast forward a few decades, and her latest publication has the word in the title. It may even be seen as a selling point.
Armistead Maupin found fame in the 1970s as the author of Tales of the City. San Francisco, his adopted city, had become a gay mecca but it was something of a mystery: no one was really writing about it. Armistead was one of the first authors to bring LGBT+ characters into the literary mainstream.
The books are very much of their time but they’ve never gone out of fashion. New readers keep on discovering the bohemian world of Anna Madrigal, Michael Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton. The characters are so vivid they may as well be real people.
We caught up with Armistead to discuss Tales of the City, San Francisco, his latest projects and much more.
Britney Spears was placed under an involuntary conservatorship in 2008 after a public breakdown. She lost control over her finances and even her own body. She was unable to drive, seek legal counsel or attend to her own medical needs. After 13 years, she gave explosive testimony in court, declaring “I want my life back.” Spears had continued to perform and make millions every year while under the conservatorship.
The Free Britney movement took fandom to another level, creating a global campaign to secure Britney her freedom.
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike is a rock and roll historian and author. Her latest book “Being Britney: Pieces of a Modern Icon” takes a serious and sympathetic look at Britney’s life and career. Jennifer argues that it’s time to give Britney the credit she deserves for her triumphs as an artist and an entrepreneur.
Sue Tilley became a celebrity in the art world when Lucian Freud painted her. As well as being a muse to Freud, Sue was best mates with fashion icon Leigh Bowery.
She was later depicted in Boy George’s musical Taboo. As Taboo turns twenty, we caught up with Sue to discuss her life with Leigh Bowery, partying in the 80s and becoming an artist in her own right.
Nico was one of the most original and charismatic rock stars of the post-war era. She starred in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, fronted The Velvet Underground, and then unleashed a series of dazzling and at times, terrifying solo albums.
Dr Jennifer Otter Bickerdike is a rock & roll cultural historian and author. Her latest book is a biography of Nico – who has become something of a legend since her sudden death in 1988. We caught up with Jennifer to find out more about Nico’s life and work.
You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico is out now.