Farah Nayeri
Host of CultureBlast
Farah Nayeri is an arts and culture writer based in London. She writes on culture for The New York Times, and is the author of the upcoming book Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age (Astra House, New York, 2021).
In each episode of CultureBlast, she will conduct a deep-dive interview with a personality from the world of culture: visual arts, film, books, music, performance, architecture, ideas…
Farah has been covering culture since 2004. Over the years, her roster of interviewees has included artists David Hockney, Ai Weiwei, Christo, Jeff Koons, Joan Jonas and Damien Hirst; architects Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, and Rem Koolhaas; songwriter and poet Patti Smith; directors Wim Wenders, Steven Soderbergh, and Spike Lee; actors Judi Dench, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow; and conductors Daniel Barenboim and Simon Rattle.
Originally from Iran, Farah spent her childhood years in Tehran, Rabat and Cairo before settling in Paris. A reporter for Time Magazine, she covered French politics, society and culture. She then wrote for The Wall Street Journal Europe — producing political op-ed pieces and reviews of exhibitions of Marc Chagall and Tom Wesselman, as well as of ex-President Valery Giscard d’Estaing’s first novel.
Joining Bloomberg in 1995, she was posted two years later as bureau chief to Rome. She became a tenant (among many) of the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, home to a gallery of masterpieces including Velazquez’s fabled Portrait of Pope Innocent X.
Since 2001, Farah has lived in London, making regular jaunts to France, Italy and Spain. She has also reported from the Middle East during that time — spending a month in Baghdad in 2003, the year of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Farah is a public speaker and conference moderator. She has steered New York Times conferences in Europe and the Middle East, and spoken at Sciences-Po in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. She is a classically trained pianist, and a devotee of flamenco dance.
Carina Pierre
Executive Producer of CultureBlast
Carina is a Swedish-born media, marketing and conference executive with 23 years experience at the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune in Paris. During her 28 years in the business, she has worked closely with some of the world’s top journalists, and collaborated with exceptional speakers from all over the world.
While studying at university in Sweden, she was the co-host of the student radio station. She loves listening to the radio and to podcasts, and is a big music fan.
Carina has started Cloudberry.Global, a consulting company.
Julie Rafalski
Logo Designer
Julie created the great logo for CultureBlast.
Oliver Cherer
Music composer
Oliver created the groovy track that you hear in CultureBlast.
Ben Eshmade
Podcast producer
Andrew Whitworth
Legal Adviser