#001 A list of things to listen to, watch & read
Whether you're looking for background noise while you cook and garden, want a guaranteed good read, or have just run out of Netflix shows to binge, I've got some great reccs...
Potentially a little off-theme for The Wiltshire Pantry (we’re all multi-faceted humans with myriad interests though, aren’t we?), here’s my latest list of recommendations for your listening, reading and watching pleasure.
Let me know what you think / share your reccs in the comments :)
Listen
I’ve just started listening to Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw’s podcast and am loving it. The episodes are the perfect length to cook most dinners to as they last as long as it takes Angela to cook for that’s episode’s celebrity guest, while her and Nick ask some questions that are often not related to food. I’ve started from the beginning and haven’t even reached halfway, but so far, can I strongly suggest you cherry pick the Hannah Waddingham & Phil Dunster, Scarlett Moffat and Jamie Laing episodes because they’re hilarious.
I’m getting to an age where I feel I should be better informed, more historically aware, without having to watch the news (#triggering) but also I’m not that old and don’t want to be bored stiff. Enter Dan Snow with his bitesize history podcast. Most episodes are an under-thirty-minutes summary of key events throughout time. I’ve been enjoying ticking off those annoying little painting jobs around the house while listening to Love and Lust in WWII (actually bought a book about LGBTQ+ people in war times off the back of this it was so interesting), The Titanic Wreck and The History of the Ejector Seat.
Of course I had to get a true crime recc in somewhere! This one starts with the discovery of a barrel in the woods (unfortunately it’s not a giant rat inside) and ends with 30+ year-old cold case being solved by a family tree fanatic using publically-available software akin to 23andMe.
Watch
Masterchef Australia Season 12: Back To Win
Don’t write this recc off because Masterchef UK is rubbish! I’ve never enjoyed the British version but this is nothing like it. And, it’s a supped up version of the infinitely better Australian show because season 12 features returning contestants who placed high in their seasons, coming back to try again… but this time they’re against other almost-winners who are now successful restaurant owners, chefs etc. The standard is so high and the techniques they use and dishes they create are mind blowing!
Omgomg, I’m so excited to watch this show every night. While Alex has been away, Silo has been my evenings. It’s based on a book I started a while back but never finished because I just wasn’t in the right head space to read (do you get that?) but I couldn’t stop thinking about the premise. Then I saw this advertised on Apple TV and despite the title change, knew it was the same thing. It is perfect for TV! I’m waffling - basically, it’s about a dystopian colony of humans who live in an underground silo and believe the air outside is toxic. One by one characters are starting to question if that’s really true, and so they get themselves banished so they can find out…
In this reality TV show everyone is an actor except one guy who has no idea that he’s not on a real jury, and this is not a real trial. The producers and actors throw increasingly bizarre situations at him and it’s so funny watching his reactions to them.
Read
When We Believed In Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal
This book follows two sisters who were inseparable as children until something forced one of them to run away. During this time apart, one of the sisters is caught in a terrorist attack and presumed dead - until 15 years later she’s spotted on a news segment in another country and it’s clear she faked her death and has been living a new life the whole time.
When The Depression Salad Hits from Gentle Foods by Christina Chaey
I love the way Christina writes, and her Substack about food and the emotional aspect of feeding ourselves. Her posts reframe what is ‘healthy’ or ‘nourishing’ and she shares recipes, suggestions and stories for meals to suit moods, like this depression salad.
In response to the ill-fated submarine story this week, Bess Kalb writes about the ultra-low risk activities she’d let her sons partake in if the world was at their fingertips. It’s funny and I imagine if you’re a mum, relatable.