November Update: What I've Been Loving Lately
Bad Sisters and divorce stories.
Hiya lovely lot,
Welcome back to ‘What I’ve Been Loving Lately’, a monthly roundup of all the culture I’ve consumed and enjoyed, from She’s Always Hungry to Severance.
December is looking hectic, as if Christmas was not enough I’m also moving house over the next few weeks. And then I turn 30, at the start of January.
READING
She’s Always Hungry - Eliza Clark: If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen me posting about this short story collection. She’s done it again! With a mix of sci-fi, body horror and feminist themes this collection was delectable. My favourite was ‘The King’ stories, which came in three parts.
Love in Exile - Shon Faye: Out on the 6th of February, I was lucky enough to get an advance reading copy of this book. It has touches of a modern day All About Love by bell hooks. The motherhood chapter, specifically, rocked me.
‘I fell into the emotional labour trap, then my wife divorced me’ is an essay that came out in 2020 on The Times. It was widely shared last week on X, and I faintly remember reading it from all those years ago. On a second read it hit deeper - with themes of weaponised incompetence and structural inequality.
WATCHING
Very, very late to this. But myself and Jack (my partner) watched Severance this month. The cliff hanger at the end made me very, very happy to be late to the party because the second season is out in January. Had I watched it when everyone else did, I’m not sure I could have waited two years. It’s a psychological thriller TV series about a fictional corporation where employees undergo a medical procedure to separate their work memories from their personal memories. Adam Scott, who my friends refer to as 'pointy man’, is brilliant in it.
Bad Sisters, Season 2. Sharon Horgan has done it again, people. The first season is still one of the best bits of TV I’ve ever watched, and season 2 is - although not quite the same knockout - fantastic.
Wicked: I went in not knowing what to expect. I enjoyed the theatre production but it was never one of my ‘favourite’ musicals. The film surpassed my, arguably quite middle-ground, expectations. It was fun, emotional, and some of the notes hit gave me chills. I’m surprised at myself. There are other elements of the discourse I have thoughts on, but I might save that for another newsletter.
DOING
On account of moving, I’ve not been to many restaurants or bars in November. I’ve not been doing a whole lot, so instead I’m going to do some self promo. Indulge me.
I gave a TEDx Talk last month, which came out on YouTube recently - a lot of what I’ve been doing is anxiously refreshing pages. On my Instagram, over 700,000 people have watched a clip of it. That number is terrifying. It’s 11 minutes long, which for the internet is a lot, but if you have a moment please do watch it.
Thank you, lots of love
xoxo