#003 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...
As if we’re on the third one of these! Another month of writing The Wiltshire Pantry under my belt! Time is flying. Hugh’s only got another two weekends of bed rest until we see the vet and hopefully, get signed off for small walks (cross your paws for us!). It’s not just the pooch who’s feeling cooped up and a bit ratty sans daily sojourns. At least we haven’t missed any glorious weather… The house is, well, still very much ‘in progress’ / chaos, but we have finally moved into our forever bedroom, which has made me feel a lot more settled. Now, if we could just pull our fingers’ out and finish painting it, I won’t have to count yellow masking tape trims to get to sleep…
Listen
It’s only taken 33 years - I’m a bath person now! My name’s Gemma and I like baths. It certainly helps to have a giant hotel-style tub of my own (though don’t get too jealous, it’s surrounded by every loose lotion and potion we possess, owing to zilch bathroom storage). To help me forget about the mess beyond my bubbles, I’ve been listening to this Spotify playlist with songs from the likes of Florence Pugh (yeah, that one) and Birdy, plus Charlie Simpson off of Busted doing a Snow Patrol cover, and it is PERFECT for a soothing slosh sesh. Try saying that after the huge glass of wine I’ve taken to taking in with me.
If you’re looking for a fun, informative, inclusive female-focussed podcast, Alex and Em are your gals. Highly recommend the following episodes: The Infertile Midwife about an NHS midwife who was delivering babies while struggling with conceiving, Nudity, Masturbation & Dancing with Imogen Ivy who grew up in a nudist home and preaches body neutrality, The Truth Behind Married At First Sight and any of their ‘Is It Just Me’ instalments about things like fake tan disasters, laughing at funerals and dad bods.
I do understand that it takes time to create a hard-hitting investigative podcast, but I am growing impatient waiting for the next corker to land!! I’ve listened to several episodes of so many recently, only to ditch them entirely. Tell me you know of something great I haven’t already binged? If you too are stuck, A Very British Cult plugged a hole for me. It does what it says on the tin, is well laid out and I particularly enjoyed hearing first-person accounts from the men this cult/scam hoodwinked, highlighting that it’s not just ‘vulnerable’ or ‘weak’ women that fall prey to such things.
Watch
I didn’t want to like this, I’ve been putting off watching it despite everyone telling me it’s up my street - quite frankly I was offended, it looked cheesy and a little too D&D fantastical for my tastes. And now, it’s all I want to put on when I’ve got the TV to myself. In less than two weeks, I’ve whizzed through two seasons. Imagine Game of Thrones had a baby with Buffy, but SMG is Henry Caville. He’s a sort of magical beastie murderer for hire, a lone ranger, ruthless and in it for the money, until he meets a child he’s pre-destined to protect. Yeah, I still made it sound a bit lame, didn’t I? But, honestly, give it a go. I am hooked.
WOW. I was also putting this off, having been warned I’d need an emotionally-stable moment to watch, and, well, have you met me? It’s a rollercoaster. So well shot and absolutely captivating. And sad. I’m still in two minds as to whether the people who push themselves to reach record-breaking depths ‘free-driving’ with no oxygen and a long way back to safety are incredible examples of the human body and determination, or idiots. Thoughts?
There’s a theme this week. Alex has been trying to get me to watch Dave with him for ages, and now that I’ve finally finished season 2, I GEDDIT. Dave is a white, Jewish rapper and all he’s ever wanted is to be famous. He’s always believed he could do it, convincing everyone else was the issue. Ultimately, he scores a record deal and then fails to produce a record for a whole bunch of reasons. It’s a clever comedy about self-belief, stereotypes, ego and friendship. Just the right balance of dick jokes and heartfelt moments.
Read
When The Stars Knew The Soil - The Medicine Garden by Val Alcorn
The Medicine Garden is a new-to-me Substack emphasising the spiritual nature of a garden, rather than the function - growing fruit and veg - or frivolity - making it beautiful - we associate our outside spaces with. This piece about the connection between the moon and the earth really resonated - I’ve always felt there’s a relationship between the lunar cycle and our own rhythms (sleep, menstrual, mood) and even my dog’s wild ways (full moons send him loopy). Click the link to read about the very tangible, scientific implications of impact theory, as well as how much more connected ancient peoples were with this earth-moon connection, and how they aligned their garden-growing plans with the stars and land tides.
How Work Has Become A Cult - Plato Was A Dick by S Peter Davis
From billionaire CEOs declaring WFH an excuse for lazy employees to get out of hard work to our cultural belief that blood, sweat and hours logged are a marker of success, S Peter Davis explains why we might dream of a world without graft but we’ll never actually allow ourselves to have it.
So Needed This - Plot Twist by Jamie Varon
Jamie Varon is one of my favourite writers and I am confident she’ll become one of yours too. For me, she’s ‘a voice of a generation’ and describes so brilliantly what it’s like to be an ever-curious, ever-anxious, ever-trying woman craving camaraderie, connection and community. This is an introductory post for her new Substack and a great introduction to how she got to where she is now with her writing, from making jokes at her own expense to years of mining her own life for clicks. I cannot wait to see what’s next from Jamie.