Bonnie Hvillum, designer
“Ultraviolence” and “Lust for Life” by Lana Del Rey
Her sound is unique and her songs are almost like poems. I’ve been rediscovering some of the older albums; she’s one of those artists who grows on you as you dive deeper into her songs.
William Smart, architect
Drown Me by Aparde
The last music I downloaded was an EP by German techno producer Aparde. I like dance music when I’m working: fairly repetitive electronic sounds or contemporary music that’s dramatic and over the top. I’ll pop on my headphones and pick up my drawing pen: it helps me find my rhythm. My Spotify “For You” playlist is all electro-classical crossovers. Think Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson meets Welsh DJ Sasha.
Sophia Roe, chef and TV host
Wellness by Nathan Hill
What a book. It’s about family. It’s about faded promises. It’s about compromises and it’s about mental health. It’s just a doozy of a read, and it’s inspired me to read more fiction.
Norma Kamali, designer
Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age by Carol Ann Browne and Brad Smith
It goes into great detail about AI, which I’m obsessed with. It’s one of the most informative things I’ve read on the subject.
“Get Up, Stand Up” cover by Mohammed Al Bakri
I love what the algorithms show me on social media – I saw a video of him performing Bob Marley’s song with a whole orchestra all dressed in white thobes and red and white shemagh head scarves. I first heard it on election day; it gave me chills.
Ludovico Einaudi, pianist and composer
The Journal of Henry David Thoreau
The American naturalist was one of the first to see that society was concentrating too much on the city, and people were losing contact with the natural environment. It’s a beautiful book, full of poetry; you can keep it next to your bed and read a page every day.
“Deadly Valentine” by Charlotte Gainsbourg
On my Spotify “made For You” playlist you’ll find a lot of different styles of music. Recently I discovered this, which was produced by the French electronic musician SebastiAn. Sometimes I just like the energy of a song. I try not to be technical about the way I relate to music; I still try to hear it the way I did when I was eight. It’s the same when I’m composing: I need to find the emotional movement in what I do. Then it’s about layering ideas and looking at what I’m doing from different perspectives. The first input has to be spontaneous.
Sabrina Sato, television presenter
The Logic and Intelligence of Life: Philosophical Reflections to Start Your Day Right by Lúcia Helena Galvão
While I’m reading, I’m marking – everything’s scratched out. But I can get a bit tired of these books on philosophy and personal development. I’m not disciplined, can you believe it? I didn’t inherit that Japanese side – my mother is Japanese. I have a really crazy head.
“Dueto” by Chico Buarque and Clara Buarque
And of course all of this year’s samba songs – I particularly like “Irin Ajó Emi Ojisé” by Grêmio Gaviões da Fiel Torcida.
Francesca Hayward, ballerina
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 6, Pathétique
Obviously, we have a lot of Tchaikovsky in the repertoire – all the classics like The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty – but I discovered this one through two friends when I was in Paris. They asked me if I’d heard the last piece of music Tchaikovsky wrote before he died. I couldn’t believe it, but I hadn’t. We put it on in the hotel and all fell asleep.
Rio Kobayashi, artist and maker
How to Take A Japanese Bath by Leonard Koren
It’s an old step-by-step guide to enjoying a Japanese bath, written in English by artist Leonard Koren, but with amazing illustrations by a Japanese manga artist called Suehiro Maruo. In Japan, a public bath is quite a big thing – I really enjoy it. But it must be hard to follow the rules – like removing debris with a net and adding an insulated cover after bathing – if you don’t know them.
Eugene Tssui, architect
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
Arguably the greatest jazz album of all time. I listen to it every day.
Batia Ofer, art collector
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Despite being heart-wrenching and at times difficult to read, this book has an ability to stay with the reader. At its core it is about trauma, endurance and the power of friendship. It’s worthwhile to be reminded of what is most important in life and how relationships with other humans are what get us through adversity. I’m a big believer in the power of art and fiction to make us think about things differently, and A Little Life left me feeling moved and emotionally raw.
Bedouin Spotify playlist; and Keinemusik
The last music I downloaded was a playlist on Spotify by Bedouin. It’s put together by DJ and producer duo Tamer Malki and Rami Abousabe, and it feels like tuning in to your own personal Burning Man festival. When I work out in the gym, I put Keinemusik, an electronic music label, on full blast. I feel like I am 20 years old in a club.
Jessica B Harris, writer and culinary historian
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
I had the honour of knowing him. It’s part of the LGBTQ+ canon, it’s part of the African-American canon – and it’s certainly part of the American canon. Something that brings all three of those things together is sorely needed at this point in time.
Andrew Bolton, head curator of The Met’s Costume Institute
“Born with a Broken Heart” by Damiano David
It’s the second solo single from David of Italian rock band Måneskin. It’s so theatrical and uplifting, yet sad and dark at the same time. I’d call it soulful pop.
Giuseppe Santoni, shoemaker
Italian music on Spotify
The last music I downloaded were playlists sent to me by friends on Spotify. I’m a big Spotify user. I have different playlists for different times of the day. I love Italian music: from chilled to dolce vita-style. I sometimes listen to songs from my youth from the ’70s and ’80s. It reminds me of that special time in life when you fall in love. I’m a romantic man.
Mr Bingo, artist
Real Survival Stories by Noiser
Sixty-four episodes into this podcast and I’m obsessed: it comes out every Thursday and I genuinely look forward to it. It’s about people who fuck up in the wild and are forced to fight for their lives in order to survive.
Anna Polonsky, founder of design studio Polonsky & Friends
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb; and The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
It’s essentially a retelling of her grandmother’s story through a series of voice memos and recordings. She’s from a family of eastern European Jewish immigrants; the book delves into the complex dynamic between generations of women. I also just finished The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, a founding feminist text that still holds up.
Jay Lim, founder of Say Touché
“Either on or off the drugs” by JPEGMAFIA
The first 10 seconds by this American rapper are amazing. There’s a very jazzy, sexy vocal from an AI cover of a song by the rapper Future, which the American rapper JPEGMAFIA has sampled. That was kind of fresh to me.
Nathalie de Saint Phalle, author and publisher
Kafka by Reiner Stach
This definitive biography is in three volumes of 600 pages each. I spent the year with Kafka, whom I have loved since I was about 15. Each year we are living in a more Kafkaesque world. Everything is blocked, nothing is working. You have to speak to some random guy at a call centre. Everybody has to read at least one of his works.
Jilly Cooper, novelist
Odyssey by Harry Mount
Harry travels Odysseus’ path all around the Mediterranean; it’s about coming home. He gave it to me because my next book is going to be about a film company making a film about ancient Sparta. The Spartans were real men – quite strong and silent. Quite different from men today. As Harry said, they didn’t have any dinner-party conversation.
Brahms’ Piano Concerto no 2 in B-flat major
I listen to a lot of classical music; I don’t like modern music very much, I’m afraid. Beethoven, Brahms. Wagner… Beethoven is my favourite, I think, because my father adored it. But one of my favourite pieces is this Brahms concerto. I think I lost my virginity to it.
Sophia Stolz, baker and food stylist
Music downloads – various
The last music I downloaded was by Fakemink, a niche artist from the UK. And then a playlist by Bitschu Batschu, an Austrian DJ, which is ’90s techno-inspired and very bipolar. There’s Cher, Whitney and Johnny Cash, but also Scooter and Joost. We have a big techno scene here in Vienna – very extreme and very good. And it’s fun – not like Berlin’s techno scene.
Christian Larson, film and music video director
“Follower” by Mredrollo
I downloaded this from Beatport, an online store for electronic music. I couldn’t find it anywhere else. It’s just an amazing, long build-up. It was my tune of the summer.
Jeremiah Brent, designer
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
It talks through the American racial situation, comparing it to the caste system in India and other places in the world.
Lucie de la Falaise, design consultant and former model
May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer
This book is about May, the daughter of William. She was very overshadowed by his career. She was such an amazing woman, a pioneer of art embroidery. She did textiles, wallpapers and even jewellery, but not a lot of people know about her. It’s not a huge book but it tells her life story, and there are so many inspiring sketches and all these fabulous embroideries and watercolours of landscapes and interiors.
Damian Bradfield, WeTransfer co-founder
A Little Life audiobook by Hanya Yanagihara
Really big books scare me a bit, but the version I listened to switched between a man and a woman’s voice from chapter to chapter, so the pace changed too. It’s one of the most beautifully sad stories I’ve ever heard.
Saya by Saya Gray
I think the Japanese-Canadian musician is one of the greatest artists I’ve heard. When I say artist, I mean someone who really thinks about themselves visually – someone who writes, records and produces everything themselves. She’s going to be really successful.
Julia Ashford, hotelier
Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa
My daughter Delilah and I love her so much; we watched her on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. My playlist is influenced by my kids: there’s lots of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles in our house.
Anna Sui, designer
Erotic Vagrancy by Roger Lewis
This book is about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. I had seen the play The Motive and the Cue in the West End, which was about when Burton portrayed Hamlet, and of course I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Taylor, so I was interested to read more about their relationship. All the reviews say it’s the best book written about them.
Mel Ottenberg, editor and stylist
Bandcamp
I’ve recently rediscovered the joy of listening to tapes. There was this store called Smylonylon on Lafayette Street in the ’90s that sold deadstock clothes from the ’70s, and they would make mixtapes that were really amazing. I just listened to them again and they’re so good. I recently interviewed the guy who made them, and we’re going to post a link to all of them because he restored them and put them on Bandcamp.
Anthony Scaramucci, financier and former White House communications director
April 1865: The Month that Saved America by Jay Winik
I’d recommend April 1865: The Month that Saved America by Jay Winik. It’s about the month when Lincoln was assassinated but it’s incredibly timely. I would imagine that 50 years from now somebody could write a similar book about November 2024. To me, 1865 is a book about 2024. Do we have the right calibre of leadership to help the country reunite itself?
“The Downeaster ‘Alexa’” by Billy Joel
You can’t live on Long Island without loving Billy Joel. If you download this song, you’ll know everything you need to know about Long Island in four minutes. As Bruce Springsteen is to New Jersey, Billy Joel is to Long Island.
Rithika Merchant, artist
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
This is about a girl fleeing an early colonial settlement in America, surviving in the wilderness. I love the way she writes – the prose is near-poetry. I cried at the end. I’m quite drawn to survivalist tales and stories of our relationship with nature. My girlfriends and I recently started a book club, and our first read was Bright I Burn, which is set in medieval times and based on the first-known conviction of a witch in Ireland.
Otherworld
The podcast centres on the supernatural. Host Jack Wagner says it’s for sceptics – he used to be one himself – but the stories are presented as they are, without trying to convince you either way. An especially gripping episode was about a couple who went camping in the middle of nowhere and heard this overwhelming metallic sound. It was so intense they had to cover their ears, and they never found an explanation for it. I had a similar experience at a residency in Portugal with a strange droning noise outside my window. I thought someone was working with equipment – a kinetic sculptor was staying next to my room. But when I asked later, he said he wasn’t there at the time. It didn’t feel unsettling, just odd. But listening to that episode made me think about it differently. I’m not a sceptic – I definitely believe in all of this. I want to see a ghost, maybe too much. Some people are just tapped into that frequency, and I’m not one of them… yet.
Music downloads – various
The last music I downloaded was the latest Father John Misty album. I love his lyrics. Plus just good guitar playing. I listen to a wide range of music, from Senegalese sounds I discovered during my residency to the Grateful Dead. One of their songs, “Terrapin Station”, is 16 minutes long – they’re not for everyone. I listen to what you might think of as dad music.
Tony Caramanico, surf legend and artist
More Stoked! by Bob McTavish
McTavish was an Australian pioneer in the early ’60s and also ushered shortboards into Hawaii in 1967. It’s a story about his life and influence – of being a surfer and discovering many surf breaks in Australia back in the day.
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