Jan 24, 202613 min
In today's episode, I'm reading an essay by Eleanor Sanghara Güstard, published in Shade Art Review today. Eleanor inherited an old Nikon F50 from her late father. When the lens cracked, she kept shooting through it...
arts
Shade
Hosted by Lou Mensah · arts · EN
About this Podcast:
Shade Media was founded in 2019 by photographer Lou Mensah to create a space for Black artists and creative practitioners to talk about their work in their own way. This critically acclaimed podcast features interviews with artists, critics, writers and visionaries including John Akomfrah, Amy Sherald, Lauren Michele Jackson and Ekow Eshun. It's host Lou has been nominated as Best Arts and Culture Producer and also for the Grassroots Production Award in the 2024 AudioUK awards. She was named Producer of the Year by the UK Audio Network in 2024. Shade Podcast further garnered the Best Art Podcast gong at the 2021 British Podcast Awards. Shade Art Review , which debuted in September 2023, is a biweekly arts and culture magazine on Substack. Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https
Pitch Analysis
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
23%
Guest openness
Selective
80/100
Required Score
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Signup to Generate a PitchQuestions about Shade
What is Shade about?
Shade Media was founded in 2019 by photographer Lou Mensah to create a space for Black artists and creative practitioners to talk about their work in their own way. This critically acclaimed podcast features interviews with artists, critics, writers and visionaries including John Akomfrah, Amy Sherald, Lauren Michele Jackson and Ekow Eshun.
Who hosts Shade?
Shade is hosted by Lou Mensah. The show has published 71 episodes to date.
What has Shade covered recently?
Recent episodes include "Unreadability in South Asian Photography" (24 January 2026, 13 minutes), "Who Gets to Show Up in the Art World?" (6 December 2025, 10 minutes), and "Deana Lawson's Photography Divides Critics. And I'm Here For It" (29 November 2025, 11 minutes).
How often does Shade publish?
Shade publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 24 minutes across 71 episodes.
How hard is it to get booked on Shade?
Booking probability for Shade is 23%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Shade requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Shade's contact route on record: verified email.
Who should pitch Shade?
The strongest fits for Shade are Artists, Writers & Performers. Shade has an arts audience.
About the host
Lou Mensah hosts Shade, an arts podcast with 71 episodes published.
Verified host email: ████████@████.comSign in to unlock →
Recent episodes
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Dec 6, 202510 minShade Podcast closes out 2025 by returning to the Shade Art Review archives. This episode adapts "Oh God It's Frieze Week Again," an article I wrote in October 2023, asking: Who gets to show up in the art world? As Art...
Nov 29, 202511 minI'm reading "Deana Lawson's photography divides critics and I'm here for it" from the Shade Art Review archives, asking questions about critical freedom, backlash culture, and when we lost the ability to be honest about...
Nov 22, 20258 minShade Podcast is back. After months away, I'm returning to what we were at the beginning—intimate, unedited conversations, just me and you. This episode adapts an article I wrote in February 2024 for Shade Art Review...
Shade
Hospital Rooms
Mar 18, 202530 minHospital Rooms has been bringing world-class contemporary art into NHS mental healthcare units since 2016. Today, we focus on their most ambitious work to date at Hellesdon Hospital, part of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS...
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Episode #5
Visualise the future
Nov 19, 202425 minS12This series of conversations with art educators expand on the ideas presented by Vi sualise: The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation 2024 report on Race & Inclusion in Secondary School...
Episode #4
The Art of Teaching
Nov 12, 202425 minThis series of conversations with art educators, practitioners and makers expands on the ideas presented by Vi sualise: The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation 2024 report on Race &...
Episode #3
Art Outside the Classroom
Nov 5, 202431 minThis series of conversations with art educators, practitioners and makers expands on the ideas presented by Vi sualise: The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation 2024 report on Race &...
Episode #2
Classroom Portraits
Oct 29, 202429 minThis series of conversations with art educators, practitioners and makers expands on the ideas presented by Vi sualise: The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation 2024 report on Race &...
Episode #1
Broad Canvas
Oct 22, 202429 minThis new weekly, five part series of conversations with art educators, practitioners and makers expands on the ideas presented by Vi sualise: The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation 2024...
Oct 8, 20241h 14mEnjoy our special episode which captures and reflects on a discussion on new approaches to sculpture outdoors which took place at the inaugural London Sculpture Week symposium at London Metropolitan University on 25th...
Jul 12, 202426 minS11Donald Rodney (b. 1961, West Bromwich; d. 1998, London) worked across sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, and digital media, experimenting with new materials and technologies throughout his life. His work is...
Episode #2
Maja Wismer Head of Contemporary Art Kunstmuseum Basel: in conversation with Anne Kimunguyi
Jul 5, 202417 minS11Enjoy our special episode from the exhibition When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting at Kunstmuseum in Basel recorded by Anne Kimunguyi. Many of you know Anne from her Shade Art Review. features. Our...
Jun 21, 202423 minS11Matthew Krishanu (b.1980, Bradford, UK) paints atmospheric, pared-back compositions including scenes from the artist’s life, particularly his childhood years in Bangladesh growing up with his brother, and their...
Apr 23, 202413 minWelcome to the second of our episodes from the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. I am delighted to welcome back Aindrea Emelife as my guest. Aindrea is a curator and art historian of...
Apr 21, 202431 minWelcome to the first of our episodes from the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. Today, I am delighted to hand the mic to my dear friend the arts writer Dale Berning Sawa, who met with John...
Apr 18, 202437 minS10Legacy Russell is Executive Director & Chief Curator of the experimental arts institution The Kitchen , one of New York's oldest non-profit spaces. She is writer, curator and author of the critically acclaimed Glitch...
Apr 11, 202417 minS10Ibrahim Mahama is an installation artist who works with textiles, material production and found objects to create large-scale public interventions. He initially garnered widespread attention for his open-air...
Apr 4, 202419 minS10Michael Ohajuru is a London-based art historian who returns to the podcast to discuss the John Blanke project , a large gathering of artists and historians who have come together to re-imagine John...
Mar 28, 202422 minS10Joy Gregory (b. 1959. Bicester, UK). Born in the UK to Jamaican parents, Joy Gregory ’s work explores the impact of colonialism on global perceptions of beauty, memory, botany, health and traditional knowledge. As...
Recent guests
Recent guests on Shade. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
J
John Akomfrah
British pavilion
B
Brian Jackson
manager of renewables origination, Washington State Baseball Coaches Association
M
Marie Smith
Henry A. Palmer Professor - Pharmacy Practice and Asst. Dean -- Practice and Public Policy Partnerships, Intra Wilderness Therapy & Coaching
E
Ekow Eshun
curator, writer, broadcaster, cultural trailblazer, Victory Bible Church International
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