Marriott

This hotel– Asher Adams– was named after the first cartographers to depict railroad lines on their maps. It is the new luxury hotel, transforming the historic 1908 Union Pacific railroad passenger station into a 225-room Marriott Autograph Collection hotel.  

Located in The Gateway, a large, open-air retail, residential, and office complex in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is centered on the historic Union Pacific Depot now transformed into the new hotel Marriott Asher Adams on the west side of downtown Salt Lake City.  Asher Adams is just steps from the TRAX Light Rail and the Delta Center, the place where the Utah Jazz Basketball Team plays, and with quick access to Temple Square, the SLC International Airport, and surrounding amenities.

Paying homage to the building’s history, Marriott transformed the former Union Pacific Depot into a fresh new space, serving as the first luxury lifestyle hotel of its kind in Salt Lake City.  The hotel will feature three bars and signature restaurant, Rouser, which will be host to an upscale menu cooked with charcoal grilling techniques, paying tribute to the coal-powered train engines. 

THKS Architects and JNS Design further repurposed the historic boundaries of the old train station with a preservation-driven design. They preserved the train station’s French empire architecture as it brings the new hotel space into the 21st Century.  The sandstone building was originally architected in the French Second Empire style and included a terrazzo floor and stained-glass windows. What remains, among other architectural details, are two upper wall murals —one called Driving The Golden Spike by San Francisco artist John MacQuarrie in 1909, depicting the driving of the Golden Spike north of Salt Lake City at Promontory Summit, signifying the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. The other mural on the opposite side of the building is called Emigrants Entering Salt Lake Valley, by John MacQuarrie & August C. Wocker, completed in 1909. It shows the 1847 arrival of Mormon pioneers, traveling through Emigrant Canyon into what is now Salt Lake City. Both can be seen in the Asher Adam’s Grand Hall.  

The Asher Adam’s commitment to preserve architectural heritage while embracing the highest level of modern hospitality can also be felt from the original stained-glass windows to the grand lobby. Inspired by the connecting railways through Utah that brought a new cultural identity to the region, the property will continue by also being home to an array of contemporary artists, and further interior design details that add Salt Lake history to this contemporary building, which was once The Union Depot, or Union Pacific Depot building as it became known in 1921. It functioned as a railroad station well into the 1970s and for a short time was an Amtrak station as well. But now, it has been redesigned into a Marriott Autograph hotel, combining an historic past with a lively present. 

Also, Asher Adams’ culinary concepts bring new offerings to Salt Lake City. From the dishes to the décor, the building’s history will be apparent throughout the dining experience. Inspired by the coal-fueled train engines, the grill, oven, and rotisserie will be charcoal-inspired, to impart historic flavor throughout.  As further homage to train dining, the property’s culinary concepts are all designed to emulate the function of the dining car. Rouser is the signature restaurant, as mentioned above, is the fine-dining restaurant, and a homage to the dining car where train guests gather for an upscale meal. Counterpart is another dining experience, emulating the club car, designed for a quick meal or coffee. Finally, the bar car— focuses on the three on-property bars including Bar at Asher Adams & No.119. Whether guests are looking for a whiskey tasting or a charcoal-grilled seafood meal, the property’s culinary offerings will allow the past to inform the present in terms of culinary experience.

Finally, the location of Asher Adams is also important, as it appears to be close to many entertainment venues.  Situated across from The Delta Center, guests at Asher Adams will have access to entertainment from Utah Jazz games to Park City – forty minutes away– with the many Sundance Film Festival theaters. The guests will also be near the City Creek Center, and shopping at luxury stores from Nordstrom, Louis Vuitton to Tiffany & Co to Swarovski.  

As the Peter Allen song goes, “Everything Old Is New Again.”  It is certainly well-defined by this past informing the present Marriott Hotel space.

Marriott

The Grand Lobby

Guest suite

Rouser Fine Dining Restaurant, Marriott Asher Adams

1.4K

Fanatics, a sports apparel company, makes large profits by paying teams big for licensing and then selling a cheap, inferior product. Criticism of quality issues has yet to hurt its market share, however, as reported by Slate in March 2024.

The company holds critical apparel licensing partnerships with four major North American professional sports leagues, as well as numerous college athletic programs. Fanatics manufactures its own apparel, including game uniforms, and also sells products from other companies. The company has an evaluation of $31 billion, and had a projected $8 billion in internal revenue production, per CNBC. 

Fanatics has been under scrutiny as of late due to their poor spring training uniforms for Major League Baseball. These uniforms have poor patching, see-through pants, and overall have a bootleg look. This has led to certain teams, such as the Cincinnati Reds, to revert to last year’s pants, which were made by Majestic instead of Fanatics, per The Athletic. Despite this debacle, Fanatics remains Nike’s supplier for the MLB. 

Beyond this, Fanatics has problems supplying fans with goods they ordered. One customer on X (@SeanDeitrick) wrote on March 4, 2024, “Welp, @Fanatics just canceled my Christmas present today: a World Series baseball autographed by Adolis Garcia. Hope they enjoyed having my money for three months interest free for selling something they apparently never had. So bummed. So, so bummed”. This is an experience that is unfortunately shared by many fans but is largely unavoidable as Fanatics holds much of the licensing required to sell such goods. Getting the product from another company is either not an option or significantly more expensive. 

As for corporate coverage of the topic, nothing really captures the full picture like this Slate article has. Several articles, such as this NBC Sports article, have covered issues with Fanatics products, including their baseball pants and the complaints of MLB players who have to wear them. ESPN also posted an article about how a rival card company, Panini, sued Fanatics for being a monopoly—however, this focuses on Fanatics at the corporate licensing level and does not include information on their poor products. 

Given that NCAA athletes now have the theoretical right to earn corporate profits from Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, the corporate bad actor already raking in the profits from their sweat deserves greater scrutiny—even from non-sports fans. “The company fits into the trend of enshittification, which happens when a company builds up a huge consumer base, then sells out its users in service of its business clients,” Kirshner concluded.

Source: Alex Kirshner, “It’s Time for Fanatics to Get Grilled by Congress,” Slate, March 7, 2024. 

Student Researcher: Duncan Kammar (Frostburg State University) 

Faculty Evaluator: Andy Duncan (Frostburg State University)

This is an audio transcript of the FT News Briefing podcast episode: ‘Looming US port strikes threaten supply chain’

Kasia Broussalian
Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, September 23rd, and this is your FT News Briefing.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Germany’s centre left squeaked out a win yesterday and businesses are bracing for a major strike across US ports next week. Plus, one of the fastest growing AI companies wants to bump Google up its advertising perch. I’m Kasia Broussalian, and here’s the news you need to start your day.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Germany’s Social Democrats were breathing a huge sigh of relief on Sunday night. In Brandenburg state elections, the party won a very narrow lead over its biggest rival, the far-right Alternative for Deutschland. This win is a big deal because Brandenburg is a social democratic stronghold. The party has ruled the state for more than 30 years. It’s also where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lives, and Scholz is having a tough time these days. His approval ratings are rock bottom. Some Social Democrats have even privately said that he should step aside rather than run for a second term as chancellor. That way, someone more popular could step in for elections next year. But yesterday’s results might just be enough to silence some of his critics — at least for now.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Workers at dozens of ports on the east coast of the US could be going on strike next week. Negotiations between the ports and the union representing the longshoremen have completely stalled. And if workers walk off the job, the effect could be devastating for supply chains. I’m joined now by the FT’s Taylor Nicole Rogers to talk about what a strike might mean for the US economy. Hey, Taylor.

Taylor Nicole Rogers
Hi. It’s so great to be back.

Kasia Broussalian
Great to have you. So what are the main sticking points when it comes to negotiations?

Taylor Nicole Rogers
This is all coming down to two big things. One, of course, is pay. And the other big thing is automation. There are not a lot of automated tools on the east coast and gulf coast ports compared to the west coast ports. And the union really wants to keep it that way. Of course, the port operators would like to do something different. And that is where negotiations broke down over the summer. And that’s the big reason why they haven’t gone back to the table since.

Kasia Broussalian
So these workers, they essentially don’t want robots taking over their jobs?

Taylor Nicole Rogers
Basically, yes.

Kasia Broussalian
And how close are we to a strike?

Taylor Nicole Rogers
The port operators in the union last met in June, and there’s been some talk about coming back to the table. But pretty much things are at a complete standstill. And US President Joe Biden said last week that he would not intercede if the workers decide to strike. So that really brought the level of fear of the business community to a fever pitch this past week. So unless something major changes, the dockworkers will be walking out on October 1st. And that means that every US port from Maine to Texas would shut down. And together those ports account for the overwhelming majority of all of the cargo that comes into and out of the United States.

Kasia Broussalian
Wow. And now, obviously, a work stoppage at the level that you’re describing here, it can’t go unnoticed. So just how disruptive could these strikes get?

Taylor Nicole Rogers
Well, a lot of retailers and manufacturers actually saw this coming. So they worked really hard to bring in a lot of the things that we need for Christmas earlier in the year. So Christmas will not be ruined. But what could happen is that businesses will have to start paying more to ship their cargo. And that will push prices up. And, you know, I was talking to some economists earlier and they were saying that supply chain issues were one of the big, big causes of the inflation that we’ve been dealing with over the past couple of years. And the fact that the supply chain has really been freed up has really helped bring inflation down. And so they’re worried that if shipping prices keep going up because people are freaking out about a strike or because there actually is a strike, consumer prices will go back up.

Kasia Broussalian
Taylor Nicole Rogers is a labour correspondent for the FT. Thanks, Taylor.

Taylor Nicole Rogers
Thanks, Kasia.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Kasia Broussalian
US chipmaker Qualcomm has reached out to its competitor, Intel, about a possible takeover. Now, no formal offer has actually been made, but it would be the biggest tech deal in history. Intel’s problems are no secret in Silicon Valley. In August, the company lost $30bn in market value after a disastrous earnings report. And it also announced painful job cuts — 15,000 workers. So the possibility of a buyout isn’t exactly out of the question, but there are a lot of hurdles. For starters, regulators would likely make a big fuss over antitrust concerns. Any deal would have to be pitched as a bid to strengthen the US in its chip race with China. And secondly, it’s not even clear how Qualcomm could pay for a full takeover. So a deal is definitely not a sure bet at this time.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

All right, Cristina. So I have the app Perplexity up right in front of me. What do you think I should ask it?

Cristina Criddle
Maybe you should ask if Perplexity is going to take over Google in the search ads business.

Kasia Broussalian
All right. Perplexity is an AI powered search engine that, let’s be honest, you’ve probably never heard of.

Perplexity audio clip
Perplexity AI is gaining traction as a potential alternative to Google due to its ad-free and precise search capabilities, but it is not currently positioned to overtake Google in the ad search business.

Kasia Broussalian
All right. It’s hedging a little bit. But the San Francisco start-up has big ambitions. So, Cristina, there’s actually something interesting going on here. I’m just looking at my answer. And then there’s this list of sort of related questions that follows just below. And that’s something that I’ve actually never seen before in a search engine.

Cristina Criddle
Yeah. These are called follow-up questions. Perplexity uses them as additional prompts. Things that you might want to find out that are related to your question. And this is where Perplexity wants to put ads in.

Kasia Broussalian
And Perplexity is attracting a lot of attention. Here to tell us about just how much of a threat it is to Google is the FT’s Cristina Criddle. Hey, Cristina.

Cristina Criddle
Hi.

Kasia Broussalian
So how is Perplexity trying to shake up the digital ad market?

Cristina Criddle
Well, Perplexity is trying to introduce advertising into its search AI product. We have a lot of AI products and search engines out there, but not many of them have ads in them yet. So I think Perplexity wants to redesign what the search ads business looks like. It’s a very different format. And they want to really challenge what Google has created on the traditional Google search. So the way that Perplexity wants to do it is to have these ads feature in the follow-up questions.

So, for example, if I wanted to promote a sparkling water brand, one of the questions I could ask is: Is sparkling water better than still water? And it would have a logo next to it of a suitable brand. It would generate just as the AI would normally respond. But the difference here is that the brand gets to sign off on the answer to make sure that it’s safe, that it doesn’t say anything that doesn’t align with its brand values. And they also pay for it, obviously.

Kasia Broussalian
Are brands showing any interest in partnering with Perplexity on this?

Cristina Criddle
Perplexity has been trying to target quite premium brands. Its user base is from quite high-GDP countries. And some of the brands that they’re in discussions with are people like Nike and Marriott. But as far as I know, no deals have been officially made yet.

Kasia Broussalian
And, you know, the goal here is for Perplexity to eventually take a pretty big bite out of Google. But Google kind of holds the keys to the kingdom when it comes to the digital ad space. So what sort of weaknesses does Perplexity see here?

Cristina Criddle
Since ChatGPT came out, there’s obviously been a huge amount of hype and excitement for generative AI, and that’s the type of AI that you see in perplexity and that you see in AI search engines. A few companies have launched AI search. Microsoft has done this with Bing, and they’ve started trying to monetise it a little bit. Google has launched AI search now, but they’ve not monetised it yet either, and they also won’t release figures on how widely it’s used. I think as the incumbent it has the most to lose here, and it’s trying to tread very carefully. A start-up like complexity can be more flexible, more nimble and make those business decisions a bit faster. But when Google does decide to jump, I think that’s really when we have to sit up and take notice.

Kasia Broussalian
Yeah. So then in the end, do you think that Perplexity can break through and challenge Google in the digital ad space?

Cristina Criddle
It’s still unclear. Perplexity does have quite a strong user base and it is growing very quickly, but so far we’ve yet to see it really take over. We’ve yet to see it really monetise either. By and large, Google is the biggest player in the search business. Its search business has grown 14 per cent in the last three months to June compared to the same period the year before. And the consumer behaviour of going to AI for search is still very nascent and we don’t know if that’s going to take off yet. But upstarts like Perplexity, they’ve still got a lot to prove.

Kasia Broussalian
Cristina Criddle writes about technology for the FT. Thanks, Cristina.

Cristina Criddle
Thank you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Kasia Broussalian
You can read more on all of these stories for free when you click the links in our shownotes. This has been your daily FT News Briefing. Make sure you check back tomorrow for the latest business news.

Former President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he doesn’t “think” he’d run again for president in 2028 if he falls short in his bid to return to the White House in 2024.

“No, I don’t. I think that will be, that will be it,” Trump said when journalist Sharyl Attkisson asked him if he’d run again.

The comment was notable both because Trump seemed to rule out a fourth bid for the White House and because he rarely admits the possibility he could legitimately lose an election. Trump normally insists that could only happen if there were widespread cheating, a false allegation he made in 2020 and he’s preemptively made again during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump would be 82 in 2028, a year older than President Joe Biden is now. Biden bowed out of the race in July following his disastrous debate performance and months of being hammered by Trump and other conservatives as being too old and erratic for the job.

Attkisson interviewed Trump for her show “Full Measure.” Also during the 22-minute interview, Trump defended his record on the coronavirus pandemic. He took credit for the development of the COVID-19 vaccines developed during his presidency while also saying “they’re doing studies on the vaccines and we’re going to find out” if they are safe.

Trump said Republicans have become skeptical about the vaccines even as Democrats trust them.

The statement about 2028 came at the very end of the interview, which also included a question about how Trump stays in good health. “I try and eat properly,” the former president said, drawing an incredulous reaction from Attkisson, who noted that Trump has become infamous for his fondness for hamburgers.

“Proper hamburgers,” Trump said.

This is an audio transcript of the Life and Art from FT Weekend podcast episode: ‘Our arts editor is retiring after 20 years. Here’s what she learned’

Lilah Raptopoulos
Welcome to Life in Art from FT Weekend. I’m Lilah Raptopoulos.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

There are some questions that I think a lot of us ask ourselves when it comes to the arts. Like what makes something good and what makes it lasting versus a fad. Is the art world really as mean as it seems? And what are the ways that the arts influence our everyday lives? My colleague Jan Dalley has been the arts editor at the Financial Times for coming up on 20 years, and she’s been writing about the arts for many more. By the time you hear this, she will be retired. She’ll still be writing for FT Weekend but this is her last official week on the job. And so before she walks away from this wild, prestigious and all-seeing role that she’s been in for so long, we thought we’d use this moment to ask her for some wisdom. I’m in London and Jan is with me. Jan, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for taking the time. 

Jan Dalley
Hi, Lilah. Thank you for having me. It’s really lovely to be able to kind of say hello and goodbye like this.

Lilah Raptopoulos
I know. I know. I wanted to ask you first. You know, I know this isn’t a total goodbye, but I’m just wondering how you’re feeling. Are you, like, ready to go relax in your garden? Are you ready to go and just sit in a museum and not have to look for a trend? Like, how does it feel? 

Jan Dalley
It feels great. I’ve had what truly has been probably the best job in the world for many, many years. And I’m very, very happy for somebody else to take it on because I think, you know, new ideas are always important and I will be doing what I love best, which is simply writing about the arts. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s nice. I wonder what you’re finding yourself reflecting on most this week, especially like what has changed from when you started this job to now? 

Jan Dalley
Well, there’s been huge, huge changes because when I say I’ve been in this job for 19 years, the job itself has just changed beyond recognition. And I think in a way, the changes in my job and my work mirror the changes in the cultural world. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
I mean, just to give you a small example. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah like 19 years ago versus now. 

Jan Dalley
Yeah, I got the library to find for me the first issue of Weekend, as it was then called, the first one I ever worked on. And I mean, our amazing HTSI magazine was then just two pages inside the paper. So in a way, the growth of the luxury industries has been enormous and that has affected the arts, there’s no question, because the luxury industries and brands that have grown have put a lot of money into the arts. They’ve developed programs and somehow there’s a kind of glamour that has transferred itself to the art world, which really wasn’t there, I’m going to say, 25 years ago.

Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s interesting. 

Jan Dalley
It was . . . I mean, 25 years ago, the kind of cultural figures who kind of got their names in the gossip columns and stuff weren’t contemporary artists. They were writers. So there’s that. There’s, I mean, these huge changes in the TV industry, for example, completely different because 20 years ago, basically, we really only had terrestrial television. And in this country, there were like, five, six, seven channels, and that was it. And then, of course, there are all the new art forms that have come. Podcasting. I mean, it was very interesting with podcasting because we honestly, I don’t think anybody really predicted that it that it would go on and on and on to greater and greater success like it has done. I think a lot of people thought, you know, this was something people kind of did in their kitchens and . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Like a cute extension of the radio.

Jan Dalley
Exactly. Yeah.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Wouldn’t be more.

Jan Dalley
So that’s a huge change. Anyway, so you see you see the kinds of things that I’m thinking of.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Yeah. These are really big changes. Jan, one of the reasons that I’ve been excited to have you on is to ask for your advice, maybe on behalf of listeners, for how to go out and really experience arts and culture well. When I was taking this job on full-time as a culture journalist, I asked you if you could spare a few minutes for a video call. I don’t know if you remember, and you kindly did. And I asked you basically, when so much falls under the umbrella of culture, there’s visual art, there’s film, music, food, theatre, books, as you said, podcasts, video games. It’s endless. How do you prioritise? Right? Like, how do you start to learn all of these worlds? And the advice that you gave me was go to everything. And it was really incredible advice. And even now, if something catches my attention, like an event or an exhibit and I think I don’t really know how we would cover that in the show or I would cover it in writing, but maybe there’s something there. I think, Jan told me to go to everything. I should go. And so I guess my question is, what is behind that advice because it feels like good advice not just for journalists, but for anyone interested in culture.

Jan Dalley
Well, I should probably apologise. It sounds like I kind of ruined your life. (Laughter) Didn’t leave you with very many evenings free to do anything else. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
I got way busier after that conversation. (Laughter)

Jan Dalley
Well, I think that what’s behind my saying that — and I do still absolutely believe it — is that the most dangerous thing for any of us, I mean, I’m talking now about us as journalists, but it probably applies to everybody everywhere, especially if we’ve been in a long time in the same role is that we get complacent. We think we know. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Jan Dalley
You know, it’s very easy for me to look at the first five lines of a press release and think, meh. And that’s dangerous. I mean, quite often I’m right — because I’ve been reading those things for a long time — but quite often I’m not. And you’ve got to allow yourself the possibility of being surprised. And I think that would probably be . . . Yeah, I think I’d probably, all these years on, say exactly the same thing. And, you know, you get bad surprises as well as good ones. But at least, you know, that’s another thing you’ve learned or discovered. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah, I think some of the bad stuff is interesting, too. I’ve been feeling like as a culture, we’re trying so hard to optimise sometimes that like we get stuck in a decision paralysis. Like we’ll think, OK, what next book do I read or what show should I go to? Or, you know, is the movie going to be worth my time or my money? So let me read a hundred reviews before I decide. And I’m curious if you have thoughts on this. I mean . . . 

Jan Dalley
Well, yes, I realise that go to everything isn’t very practical advice really, because most people can’t and we can’t either. I certainly don’t go to everything. I can’t. So in a way that’s really just a shorthand for keep trying new things. So I think that’s the so, for example, and sometimes there’s a fabulous show coming up, which I know is going to be amazing. You know, let’s say Monet is coming to the Courtauld Institute. There is that amazing series about London. When he lived in London and painted the Thames in the houses of Parliament and everything. I mean, that show is just going to be like having a kind of great big sweetie for me. Great piece of candy. On the other hand, if I was pressed for time, I probably, I mean professionally, I would probably skip that because I know those paintings and go to something that I don’t know so well. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
And so there are two different ways of looking at it. Pure personal pleasure. Of course I’d go and I will go. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Yeah.

Jan Dalley
But if I were still in this job next month when that happened, I probably would think I ought to be looking at something that’s less familiar to me. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Yeah. I also wonder if we should all relieve ourselves of the pressure a little bit of the thing we’re going to having to be perfect, right? Like, actually, if it’s not perfect, it’s still kind of . . . I don’t know. Well, it might be important. You know, the binary isn’t just good and bad. 

Jan Dalley
No, it isn’t. And also, you know what? Standards are fantastically high. So even the start, I mean, our expectations are unbelievable now. And that’s another thing that changes all the time and certainly has changed over 20 years that the . . . what we expect from, say, a museum visit. We don’t just expect a fabulous show. We expect, you know, an amazing environment. We expect a gorgeous shop and a brilliant café and really good, you know, ancillary materials, really well-curated, brilliant information. I mean, we just expect a lot.

Lilah Raptopoulos
A great audio. 

Jan Dalley
A great audio, everything. And if we don’t get it, we’re a bit kind of hmmm, you know, it’s better down the road.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. I would love to ask you, Jan, for your insights about how you’ve noticed culture kind of move in cycle. You’ve seen a lot of trends come and go. You’ve had to choose how and whether to cover them. How do you gauge what’s real and exciting versus what’s like fluff and hype, you know? Like, are there things that you really see cycling? 

Jan Dalley
Yeah, things that come around. Sure. Yes, absolutely. And there are things which never go away. I mean, questions about . . . Well, it’s always questions about money, actually. The big, big question is always, how do we pay for our culture? How do we pay for the arts? And is it the job of government, as in, let’s say, France and Germany used to be but not so much now, but 20 years ago in many of the richer European countries, you know, you could get things pretty much 100 per cent paid for. Whereas in the States, it would be almost always 100 per cent private-funded. Yeah, everybody always moans about there not being enough money. But somehow, art gets made. It just does. Art gets made and music gets created and people get, you know, people are able to do things, of course. And one of the reasons why it’s so important to have good funding for the arts, one way or another, is so that the opportunities to create come to a much wider range of people. The accessibility and the democratisation of the arts is probably the biggest single theme that runs through the whole of the last, let’s say, 20 years. You know that people from diverse backgrounds, not just ethnically, but also economically. And this is why arts education in schools is so important. But that’s something that’s gone downhill in the last 20 years. Badly. Badly downhill. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
Really serious. So, yeah, a lot of things have got better, but not everything. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. So just to sum that up, what are you most discouraged by looking forward and what are you most encouraged by? 

Jan Dalley
I think I am discouraged by the state of arts education. I just don’t see how we’re going to reverse this. This is a huge, huge problem because if you didn’t denude a whole system, you can’t put it back very quickly. I think if . . . possibly the biggest success story over the past 20 years is museums, what they’re actually like now. I mean, they’re just amazing. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
They are amazing. 

Jan Dalley
They are amazing. I mean, the museums, in fact, and galleries have to some extent taken over from the education system. Actually, there are some amazing initiatives in museums right across this country. And I know there are many in other European countries and in the States, of course, as well, where, you know, if you want to, you can take your kids for a Saturday morning and they can draw you. You know, people can do stuff, but it’s not the same. Yeah, but it does exist. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
So I think that that kind of thing is extraordinary. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

[THE RUN THROUGH WITH VOGUE PODCAST TRAILER PLAYING]

Lilah Raptopoulos
OK. For our last section, I want to ask you a little bit about these different cultural worlds. I am learning that every world seems to have its own distinct vibe, you know. My sense at this stage is that the books industry is like actually pretty approachable but can be intellectually condescending sometimes. The food world feels kind of messy and find a little more casual and a little unhinged. The music world is very cool. You know, if you know the language and the references you’re kind of in. And the art world — and this has been proven and disproven in my experience with it — but it has the reputation of being mean. Why is the art world considered mean and is it? 

Jan Dalley
Can be. Yeah. I think that I think money comes into it. Big part. I mean, when there are these huge, some potentially huge sums of money involved, people get weird around that. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yes. 

Jan Dalley
And you get extremely rich people involved. And they are not usually very approachable. And they may be, I don’t know, I mean, the collecting of art is quite a strange business, really. Some people think of it as an investment opportunity. I think they’re crazy. It’s extremely difficult to make money by buying and selling art. You might be lucky. You might not. And you’re much more likely not to. But when a lot of money is involved and high stakes are involved. For everybody. Really? 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Right. 

Jan Dalley
And so I think that’s . . . I would say that was the big, big difference. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
I’m curious how that’s changed over time, too. It feels like a lot of the art world has become much more commercialised. Like you were saying, collectors are making investments often when they’re buying art. Artists, it feels like they’re not just wacky minds the way they used to be. A lot of them are like very savvy, sometimes scrappy business people who are thinking a lot about how to increase the value of their work. And I imagine that’s changed in your lifetime. 

Jan Dalley
It has changed. Yeah, it’s changed quite a lot. And when I know when I interview older artists, for example, I interviewed Michael Craig-Martin recently. He is in his early 80s although you’ll never know to look at him. And he’s just about to have a huge retrospective at the Royal Academy and very rightly. But his success has come relatively late. I mean, his big-scale success and also his commercial success. Anyway, he was quite interesting and he said the same thing that I’ve heard from almost all artists of his generation, and a bit subsequently, that when they were young, they didn’t think about it. They, you know, they assumed they weren’t going to make any money. They probably assumed that they would spend their lives teaching. And actually, Michael did teach from my freshman years and was an inspirational, amazing teacher. But he also said, he was talking about his show, which is opening, I think, and the Royal Academy. He was bringing out of storage a lot of work that he made, like in the 1950s. And he said, I’m I’ve still got it all because nobody bought it. (Laughter)

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
And there was no bitterness. It was just kind of that was that was kind of how it was. Whereas I don’t think you’d ever find a younger artist kind of saying, yeah, well, nobody buys. It’s fine, you know, I’m still gonna keep doing it. I don’t think that’s the world. It’s not the same any more. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Yeah. I think of the art world as a place that you just know very deeply and a place that loves you. And I’m wondering if there’s anything else that you can tell us about it that we don’t get from reading reviews. Once you told me that the art fairs are sort of like your industry conferences and that sort of changed the way I think about them. I thought of them as these sort of glamorous events, but really, they’re just, you know, almost like the Oscars as a professional industry event or the, you know, fashion or Fashion Week as a professional industry event. These are just, you know, the conferences of these industries. They’re just more glamorous than being at a Marriott and, you know, New Orleans or something. Yeah. What else kind of would surprise people, do you think?

Jan Dalley
Well, I should say straightaway, it’s easy for you to say that the art world loves me. The art world doesn’t love me. The art world loves the power of the Financial Times to write about them. (Laughter)

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
It’s important not to think you’re indispensable. So they love my job title. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
But I think what’s very important to realise about the art world and all of us involved in it is that it’s gruelling work. It’s hard. I mean, it’s not just wafting about. You see people sort of beautifully dressed, going to an opening or turning up at an art fair or something. But the work that’s gone on behind those scenes is just crazy. It’s hard grind. People are not paid very much. In fact, it’s a notoriously badly paid. The galleries in particular. And, of course, it’s vastly worse in this country than it was before Brexit. It’s become a total nightmare. And so I think what we all probably need to think about is the kind of devotion of the people who do this work, because whether it’s museums and galleries, whether it’s in the public sphere, whether it’s in education, whether it’s in the commercial sphere, even in the auction houses, the glamour is very superficial and there’s a lot of work that goes on. So people really do these jobs for the love of it. And it’s quite a strange thing to be somebody who’s earning really quite a modest salary and probably going home to some slightly crummy little apartment somewhere and, you know, wishing they could go out to dinner but can’t afford it this week. And then they’re spending their days talking to people who are buying works for tens of millions. It’s quite weird. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yes, it is.

Jan Dalley
Really is quite weird.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Do you have any advice for people who just enjoy art but can’t afford a very expensive piece of art? Just about how they experience the art world. You know how to not be intimidated by the flashings. My sister worked for some time in the Diamond District and she said about trying on jewellery once, she said, like, don’t let anyone rush you. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t buy anything. Just go in and act like you deserve to be there and it doesn’t matter. And I wonder if there’s something in there for, you know, walking through galleries to where, I don’t know, experiencing art. 

Jan Dalley
Well, one thing that most people don’t realise, or if they realise it, they kind of can’t quite believe it, is that the commercial galleries in our big cities provide the most amazing free shows. Because the shows they put on are beautiful and they’re curated to museums standards, most of them. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
And you can go in for nothing. And you can spend an hour in there. As long as you’re quiet and respectful. I don’t think anybody’s gonna kick you out. They wouldn’t dare because there’s just always a chance. (Laughter)

Lilah Raptopoulos
Always a slim chance you can afford it. 

Jan Dalley
Yeah. There’s a slim chance. And the more you look like you can’t, maybe that’s more that you can. So do remember that if you go to a city, like, let’s say you’re a visitor to London. You’ll probably look up what’s on at Tate and what’s on at, you know, the V&A and sort of the National Gallery. And then you’ll probably find that the show you want to see is £24 for a ticket, and you have to book and it’s sold out on the day you want to go and all that. Well, take a look at the, you know, wander around Mayfair. And take a look at those free shows in the galleries. They’re beautiful. So that’s one thing, it’s a fantastic resource. Now, if you do want to acquire something, it’s a really lovely thing to do. The first thing is don’t think you’re going to resell it for money for a lot of money. You’re probably not even going to resell it for what you paid for it. But that’s also true if you buy a sofa. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s true. 

Jan Dalley
I have a friend who’s worked for a long time in galleries, and he says that he sometimes thinks that people should think about what they spend on a vacation. I mean, if you have more money, you spend more money on your vacations. And if you have less, you maybe, you know, have a very budget vacation or whatever. But you never think that’s a pointless thing to do because that’s money gone. And when you talk to people who have established collections, you quite often find that they say, well, of course, at the beginning I never had a car. Well, of course, at the beginning, I never you know, I never went on holiday because the money was for buying art. So, first of all, you should just think about what you actually do spend money on. And if you discover an artist you like, you need to talk to the gallerist, you need to research them, find out about them. You know, don’t be scared to ask lots and lots of questions. And if you really do want to buy something, don’t be scared to ask the gallerist if you can pay in instalments. I’m not kidding. This happens. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. 

Jan Dalley
I mean, a lot of people have a buyout like that. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Interesting. So what you’re saying is like, if you have some expendable income but you’re not a millionaire, you still can collect art and you can buy original art. And yeah, that makes me want to invest in a piece of art.

Jan, thank you so much for your time. I guess my last question is just, after this whole conversation, is there anything that any other sort of words of wisdom you may want to pass on to listeners who care about our coverage? 

Jan Dalley
I think it’s really just what we’ve been talking about. You know, keeping an open mind, experimenting, trying things out, not thinking that things will be impossible and just enjoy. Enjoy it. I mean, it just enriches your life so much. And that’s what it’s for. And that’s not something that I say lightly because I truly believe it goes very deep. 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. Jan, this is a real honour. Thank you. And please don’t be a stranger to the show. 

Jan Dalley
Won’t be. Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Me too. Thank you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

That’s the show. Thank you for listening to Life and Art from FT Weekend. As always, check out the show notes. We have links to some of my favourite pieces by Jan. Also links to places you can email the show and where you can find me on Instagram @LilahRap where I love chatting with you about culture. I’m Lilah Raptopoulos and here is our talented team. Katya Kumkova is our senior producer. Lulu Smyth is our producer. Our sound engineers are Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco with original music by Metaphor Music. Topher Forhecz is our executive producer and our global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Have a wonderful week and we’ll find each other again on Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to present what he has called his “plan for victory” to President Joe Biden during a visit to the US this week.

After meeting Biden, Zelensky said he intended to present it to Congress and the two candidates in the US election – Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

Trump has previously criticised US support for Ukraine and spoken highly of Russian President Vladimir Putin but said he will “probably” meet Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president’s visit to the US – where he is also due to attend the UN General Assembly – coincides with efforts from the White House to prepare a new $375m military aid package for Ukraine.

“This fall will determine the future of this war,” Zelensky said in a post on X alongside his nightly video address, which he delivered from his plane.

In a statement ahead of the visit, the Ukrainian leader previewed three elements to this victory plan.

He listed further weapons donations for the military, diplomatic efforts to force Russia into peace, and to hold Moscow accountable for the full-scale invasion of his country in 2022.

Ukraine has been pleading for months for the US, UK and other Western allies to ease restrictions on the use of long-range missiles so it can strike targets in Russia which Kyiv says are used to launch attacks.

Earlier in September, Putin warned Western countries that he would consider long-range missile strikes as “direct participation” by the Nato military alliance in the war.

When asked by reporters on Sunday whether he had made a decision on allowing Ukraine to use US-made long-range weapons, President Biden answered “no”.

Trump has previously flagged his own plan to end the war “within 24 hours” if he is elected in November, but has provided no details other than to label US support for Ukraine as a waste of money.

According to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met Trump in March, the former president said he would “not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war. That is why the war will end”.

Zelensky’s statement also voiced gratitude for the support from Ukraine’s allies thus far, singling out the US in particular as its “leading supporter”.

The US has been the largest foreign donor to Ukraine, and to date has provided $56bn (£42m) for Ukraine’s defence.

“I thank every nation and every leader who has felt that this war, Russia’s war against Ukraine, is about much more than just the fate of our Ukrainian people,” he said.

Following his Washington visit Zelensky is expected to head to New York and the United Nations where he is expected to attend a meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday and give a speech at the General Assembly on Wednesday.