Sunday Culture
Your gal has some nonsense viral illness that I mention not for sympathy but merely to explain that any and all 2026 culture has been consumed from my sofa or bed. I pushed through NYE via an unexpected dance party at a favourite Italian wine bar post bells and have subsequently leaned in to the rest. Buon anno!
What I’ve been watching
Fron my mostly horizontal position I have completed Stranger Things. Binged it all in just over a week. I think as a last minute cram watcher, the big emotional pay offs were a bit lost on me watching these kids grow up over a week rather than ten years. It was fun but not entirely captivating. Yet I still had a little nostalgic gut wrench at the wrap up. Oh to be 18 again…Seasons 1 and 4 were my favourite. I fully put my phone down for s4 episode 7- ‘the Massacre at Hawkins Lab’. Twisty storytelling had me hooked. The rest was just a race to the finish line for me.
I did squeeze in the first episode of The Traitors. Bring on the red cloak game twist!
What I’ve been reading
Keith Mc Nally first entered my awareness when he brilliantly barred James Corden from his NYC restaurant, Balthazar, writing a scathing and honest takedown of Corden’s alleged behaviour on his Instagram. He writes his memoir in this similarly brutal fashion, skipping between stories of his youth in London as an actor to his unflinching reality surviving a devastating series of strokes. No shits are given, as it should be in any decent retelling of one’s life. Well worth a read.
What I’ve been listening to
I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of Ballet TikTok. Was never that interested in ballet previously but have found myself watching a variety of content from people getting pointe shoes fitted to breaking in their shoes to dancing in the festive season classic ‘The Nutcracker’. As a result, I’ve been soothing my brain with the sound of Tchaikovsky. Swan Lake and Nutcracker. Really elevates the post Christmas flat clean.
Monday is the day we maybe have to ‘circle back’ to all the shit we’ve been postponing into the new year. Or maybe not. You do you. May the first week of this new year be whatever you need it to be.
Deirdre x
