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Stories in Colour – Series 1

Series one of the National Gallery podcast ‘Stories in Colour’ launched in May 2025. It tells the histories of one of the most vibrant and influential technologies. These are the stories of how colour has changed the world.

The series spans from science and ancient design, trade and conflict, art and religion, the artist’s palette, viral digital trends, popular culture and modern advertising.

Hear from curators, scientists, historians, artists, and more experts, to look at humanity’s efforts to make colour and make meaning with it.

Along the way, see – and hear – the National Gallery’s paintings in a whole new spectrum of light.

You can listen to ‘Stories in Colour’ on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Series one guests

‘Stories in Colour’ guests for the first series include visual neuroscientist Dr Anya Hurlbert, colour historian Evie Hatch, historian and novelist Amy Butler Greenfield, colour consultant and founder of ‘The Colour Club’ Zeynep Sagir, cultural historian Kassia St Clair, artist David Batchelor, writer Victoria Finlay, curator Dr Alexandra Loske and National Gallery Principal Scientist Joseph Padfield.

Reviews for stories in Colour

The Times ★★★★ ‘There’s lots to enjoy here.’

The Irish Independent: ‘You don’t have to even visit London’s National Gallery to be enthralled by its new podcast’ 

The New Statesman: ‘Our emotional reflexes to colour – fear, disgust, calm – are put under the microscope.’ 

The Guardian: '... deep conversations that make you sit back and think (“What the hell even is colour?”)'

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