Culture chat: the unknowable Dolly Parton
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
This Friday, we’re talking about the deification of Dolly Parton, or, as we like to call her, Saint Dolly. Her new release Rockstar comes out today – a 30-track rock album that features duets with artists such as Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John and Stevie Nicks on cover versions of their classic songs. The album feels a bit like a karaoke album, but we had a lot of fun listening to it – partially because Parton is so easy to love. So how did Parton become such a cultural icon? What does she represent? And why do we want a Saint Dolly? Lilah is joined by US media correspondent Anna Nicolaou and FT Magazine’s food and drink editor (and long-time Dollyhead) Harriet Fitch Little.
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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email her at lilah.raptopoulos@ft.com.
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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Rockstar by Dolly Parton is available to stream now, on all music streaming platforms.
– Here’s the FT’s review of Rockstar, by our pop critic Ludo Hunter-Tilney: https://on.ft.com/3ufuiql
– Harriet unpacks the history of Parton’s hit ‘9 to 5’ for the FT column Life of a Song: https://on.ft.com/49F9Uiz
– Anna is on X @annanicolaou, Harriet is on X at @HarrietFL and Instagram at @huffffle
More or less:
– Harriet recommends Jury Duty, available to stream free on Amazon Prime
– For great local-feeling restaurants in New York, Lilah has a hundred recommendations, but here are three: Claud, a wine bar in the East Village, Names in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and (the classic) Frankie’s in Carroll Gardens
– Here’s the article Harriet mentioned, ‘The UK’s 19 cosiest winter restaurants – according to FT writers’: https://on.ft.com/3MNmZwy
– Anna hates grey wood floors
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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clips courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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