Sunday Culture

We are days out from December 25th. Some of you may have already clocked off for the festive break, some of you counting down the minutes to yours, some of you getting ready to hold the fort in your non stop industry’s workplace whilst the rest of us stuff ourselves.

I’ve indulged in a mixture of the serious to the beautifully mindless this week, needing a bit of balance in amongst the carefully curated chaos of the season.

What I’ve been reading

What have I been reading this week? Far too many think pieces about whether Timothy Chalamet is doing a long con art piece as the Liverpudlian rapper EsDeeKid. Personally, I don’t think he is but is lapping up the hype to promote his new movie Marty Supreme (and EsDeeKid has clearly been studying Little Timmy Tim’s moves). A beautiful online pop culture distraction from, well, everything else.

UPDATE : Timmy has now appeared on a remix of ‘4 RAWS’ WITH EsDeeKid. Separate people!

On the book front, despite my never decreasing pile of books to read, I’ve picked up Ruby Tandoh’s book ‘All Consuming’. An examination of why we eat the way we do, why we queue for hype places and, yes, the book rec came from a commenter on Edinburgh’s most famous bakery queue’s Instagram page. A timely read as I join the hoardes rushing about to get final seasonal ‘bits’.

What I’ve been watching

Emily in Paris season 5 got released this week and I’d love to inform you that I have saved up some episodes but alas…..

It’s saccharine. It’s ridiculous. It’s nonsensical that this woman who doesn’t speak any French would just get dropped in to a fabulous job in an ad agency replete with a designer wardrobe for days. But, dear reader, this is the televisual equivalent of wiping your brain down with a face wipe. It’s fast (30 minute episodes), requires no thought and is sheer fantasy. Get it in my eyeballs. Gabriel or Marcello (real ones for Alfie)??

Also, Netflix, on the loose subject of Paris, when are we getting Saison 5 of The Parisian Agency? Blows Selling Sunset and even Owning Manhattan out of the water with a much classier take on real estate reality TV.

What I’ve been listening to

The Guardian:Investigates did a recent podcast series called ‘The Birth Keepers’ and I’ve binged the whole story after reading the articles in the paper. After a year long investigation into the Free Birth Society, the stories of the mothers who followed them are laid out in tragic and brutal detail. Listening to the testimony of mothers who just wanted support after being traumatised by previous hospital births or who couldn’t afford a private midwife (in the US) brought up some pure undiluted rage in me. But I couldn’t turn it off, needed to honour their stories. It is one thing to read the articles but quite another to hear the mothers speak. Should come with a content warning for stillbirth and birth trauma.

We are increasingly in an age where truth is something to fight for, misinformation is rife and distrust of experts is at an all time high. This investigative series is a stark reminder of why we do fight against misinformation and grifters but also what can happen when women aren’t listened to.

On a more positive note: may your festive season bring whatever you and yours need this year. ❤️

Deirdre x