The Gould Standard

A conversational podcast about the arts, culture, and contemporary society.

We talk with artistic heroes working to create a more inclusive and mindful world, hear their incredible stories, and get to know what makes them tick. Our guests are leaders in a wide range of fields, nationalities, and lived experience, including musical composers and performers, painters, poets, filmmakers, actors, dancers, broadcasters, and more.

The Gould Standard

  • Nahre Sol: Reinventing the Classical, Part I
    The Gould Standard
    The Gould Standard
    Nahre Sol: Reinventing the Classical, Part I
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    Nahre Sol is a real pathfinder. A classically trained pianist, she has swapped the concert stage for a very different platform, becoming a hit YouTuber with over 460,000 subscribers. Now a successful composer and broadcaster, Nahre breathes fresh life into the classics with her blend of wit, musical brilliance and incisive explorations of everything from musical styles to mini-concerts on toy pianos. In this first part of an expansive interview, Nahre discusses her classical training and transition to multimedia forms of creative expression, as well as her wide range of musical influences.

  • Michael Moore

    Michael Moore: The Making of an Artist
    The Gould Standard
    The Gould Standard
    Michael Moore: The Making of an Artist
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    Academy Award-winning director of ground-breaking documentaries such as Roger and Me and Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore joins us for a revealing conversation about the early experiences that shaped his worldview. As a kid growing up in Flint, Michigan, Michael learned about standing up for his principles, resisting censorship, corruption and greed, and battling systemic injustice. Long before he shot his first foot of film, he was telling stories as a way to speak publicly about uncomfortable, political issues. Here, he talks about the uneasy balance between navigating teenage insecurity and finding the grit to become an activist—as well as his special relationship with Canada.

  • Patricia Ward Kelly: On Gene Kelly’s Dance Revolutions
    The Gould Standard
    The Gould Standard
    Patricia Ward Kelly: On Gene Kelly’s Dance Revolutions
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    Gene Kelly remains one of the most beloved and iconic stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, renowned for his dancing and singing in musicals such as An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain and On the Town to Brigadoon. But Gene Kelly was also a hugely influential innovator, who transformed dance on the screen from tie-and-tails elegance to an everyman art form infused with athleticism and combining classical, folk and popular styles. His groundbreaking contributions to choreography and direction had a huge impact on musical theatre, contemporary dance and filmmaking, setting the stage for the work of Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins and Twyla Tharp. As an actor, singer and dancer, he projected a persona that audiences loved, could identify with and root for, even while being dazzled by his spectacular production numbers. Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene’s widow, gives a personal view on their relationship, his contributions to cinema, and her ongoing work celebrating his legacy.

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