Hello and welcome to The Edit,
I hope you’ve had a good week. Production began on series two of my podcast Show This Thread yesterday which has given me a bit of a lift.
It looks like UK subscribers are going to need to strap in this weekend as a storm lashes the country. It’s already caused the cancellation of some outdoor events and travel disruption looks inevitable.
Probably best to do a big shop on your way home tonight, stay indoors all weekend and enjoy these five newish things I’ve picked out to read, watch or listen to.
📺 Euphoria (Sky Atlantic)
Season One of this controversial HBO series in now streaming in full for UK viewers. Drug addict Rue and her new friend Jules are at the centre of a group of teenagers tackling love, life and sex in suburban America. The show deals with issues including toxic masculinity, revenge porn and web-camming to name just a few. There are moments that were shocking to me as a 35-year-old man, perhaps not to a teenage audience though? It’s a long while since I was one!
🎧 Popsessed (Apple Podcasts)
This is one of the best pop culture podcasts on the Internet. Each week Holly Shortall and Conor Behan pull apart the big stories with charm, sophistication and a degree of intellect rarely found elsewhere. It caused me to describe the show as pop culture’s answer to Newsnight on Twitter earlier in the week.
📖 Vox by Christina Dalcher
In a near future America, women are limited to speaking 100 words per day. Any more and a thousands volts of electricity will be delivered by a sort of barbaric FitBit attached to their wrists. Dr Jean McClellan hates this and when she is called upon by the President to help save his brother, she begins to unravel an even more shocking evil at the heart of the government. Gripping, shocking and at times terrifyingly plausible. Vox is a must read. I can’t wait to read whatever is next from Dalcher. Kindle edition is just 99p on Amazon!
📺 Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain
Ten years since Jade Goody’s death at the age of just 27, Channel 4 are looking back at the rise and fall of arguably the biggest reality TV star of all time. Whether you loved her, loathed her or were entirely indifferent; this three-part documentary is really worth a watch as it examines the broader cultural context in which Jade happened. For what it’s worth, I met her once (post-BB/pre-CBB) very much off-duty in a country pub and found her charming, funny and far more intelligent than the character she portrayed in the glare of the public eye.
🎶 Tove Lo - Bad As The Boys (feat. ALMA)
A lovely summery pop song from two of my favourite lady singers. I’ve added this and some other top new tunes to Radio Edit: The Playlist which I urge you to follow on Spotify.
Tweet me your thoughts on any of the above - I’m @robgillett - or hit reply to this email to infiltrate my busy inbox.
That’s it for now. Have a lovely weekend!
Byeeeeeeeee,
Rob x