The High Low

The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to another baby prince, but all anyone’s talking about is that bouncy blow dry, that red dress and those heels - a mere 7 hours after she gave birth. Is this glamorous portrayal of new motherhood doing a disservice to mothers and the trauma of birth? Why is it an inevitable part of Kate’s role as a princess? And could it in fact be a form of protection?

Also today: we discuss Millie Bobby Brown’s inclusion on Time’s 100 Most Influential List. The 14 year old actor has over 16 million Instagram followers and is currently producing her first film. Is she too young for such adulation? 

You can email us [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow. 

Links:

- Lovesick on Netflix 

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80041601 

- The Week Unwrapped, hosted by Olly Mann

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-week-unwrapped-with-olly-mann/id1185494669?mt=2&i=1000409321265

- When Beauty Is A Troll, by Megan Garber for The Atlantic 

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/558467/

- The Rise of Beauty-Standard Denialism, by Amanda Hess for The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/23/movies/i-feel-pretty-amy-schumer-beauty.amp.html

- Heartburn, by Nora Ephron with an introduction by the author

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heartburn-Virago-Modern-Classics-Ephron/dp/0349010358/ref=nodl_

- Cariad Lloyd on The Adam Buxton podcast

https://m.soundcloud.com/adam-buxton/ep73-cariad-lloyd

- No woman should have to pose post-birth, by Sali Hughes for The Pool 

https://www.the-pool.com/health/wombs-etc/2018/17/sali-hughes-on-kate-middleton-post-birth-scrutiny

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Some excellent e-mails on voice notes in The High Low mailbag this week - turns out The HL listeners are more than a little bit obsessed with voice notes. On this week’s agenda: a butt-load of article recommendations from Pandora (Christie Watson’s book about the NHS had Pandora in a puddle), some stellar advice from Dolly on how to survive your social life sober, a hefty discussion on miscreditation and appropriation in the internet age and - the big stuff - why we all love to hate Coachella (it’s not just the headdresses, people.)

You can e-mail us any thoughts on this week’s episode at [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow.

Reading

Anatomy of a Scandal, by Sarah Vaughan https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anatomy-Scandal-bestseller-everyone-talking/dp/1471165000

Falsely accused of rape: is the justice system biased against men? - by Katie Glass, for The Sunday Times Magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/magazine/the-sunday-times-magazine/falsely-accused-rape-men-reveal-deepest-shame-gvxh88f9w

Social media helped me connect with my husband in a way I couldn’t in real life - by Jennifer Malia for New York Magazine, https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/the-relief-of-social-media-dating-as-a-woman-with-autism.html

The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story, by Christie Watson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Language-Kindness-Nurses-Story/dp/1784741973

Elitism and the Oxbridge access problem, by Sathnam Sanghera for The Times Magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sathnam-sanghera-elitism-the-oxbridge-access-problem-and-why-i-never-felt-i-belonged-at-cambridge-8dtm77jvf 

The Friendship Cure by Kate Leaver

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Friendship-Cure-Kate-Leaver-ebook/dp/B076J26KZQ

To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Throw-Away-Unopened-Viv-Albertine/dp/0571326218

Listening

Call Your Girlfriend podcast on shine theory and millennial pinkwashing http://www.callyourgirlfriend.com/millennial-pinkwashing/

Literary Friction’s memoir episode 

https://m.soundcloud.com/literaryfriction/memoir-viv-albertine

Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place with Alexandra Shulman 

http://www.officialfearnecotton.com/news/2018/4/9/happy-place-alexandra-shulman#C1IlcccJVh3q2EGA.97

Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place with Kirsty Young http://www.officialfearnecotton.com/news/2018/4/16/happy-place-kirsty-young#P6mbddR5SEszBZSM.97

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Well, THANK YOU High Lowers - last week’s episode pushed us over 2 million downloads and up to No.3 on the iTunes podcast charts. The mailbag was also bulging this week: some helpful kind corrections; some not-so-helpful - and we’ve got a little something to say on that....

This week we discuss the results of The ONS’s report into loneliness, which has revealed that - contrary to popular belief - it is not pensioners who are society’s most lonely, but 16-24 year olds. Is social media to blame? Has celebrity replaced community? And what will Tracey Crouch do about it?

Also today, we talk about former Everton footballer Neville Southall who has been lending his Twitter platform (with its associated 127,000 followers) to minorities less privileged than him. Pretty great, huh? Well, apparently not. We talk about criticism, the liberal echo chamber and why curiosity is something to be prized not derided. Ultimately, we could all be a bit more Neville.

And on a lighter note: there’s Cardi B; the fragrance that ‘smells like’ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding; why Cynthia Nixon hates it when Big builds Carrie a wardrobe; and Dolly’s drunken obsession with voice notes.

Use an exclusive discount to get £10 off your first Treatwell booking with HIGHLOW10. You can tweet us @thehighlowshow or e-mail is [email protected] - but please do note that we are unable to reply to all messages. 

Links:

Neville Southall - A Man Too Good For This Cruel World by Stuart Heritage 

https://www.esquire.com/uk/life/amp19733417/neville-southall-a-man-too-good-for-this-cruel-world/

Interview with New Zealand’s pregnant Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden - by Helena de Bertadano for The Sunday Times Magazine

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jacinda-ardern-prime-minister-new-zealand-work-life-balance-meeting-barack-obama-cmtbg6mn2

The Chinese workers who assemble designer bags in Tuscany - by D. T. Max for The New Yorker

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-chinese-workers-who-assemble-designer-bags-in-tuscany/amp

Kim Noble - The Woman With 100 Personalities 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/30/kim-noble-woman-with-100-personalities 

Is It Time For Small Plates To Die? by Lauren Bravo 

https://www.the-pool.com/food-home/food-honestly/2018/14/Lauren-Bravo-calls-time-on-sharing-menus

How Do You Want Me? By Ruby Wax 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Do-You-Want-Me/dp/0091887895 

James Martin interviewed by Laura Pullman 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/134b3bfe-39d5-11e8-a03f-05e11e5a873a

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The High Low is back! Where did those 6 weeks go? Dolly’s been on a nationwide book tour; Pandora’s birthed a tiny dictator. We round-up all the articles, programmes and podcasts we’ve been enjoying during our hiatus, as well as the topics that made us miss The High Low.

On today’s agenda: the depressing arc of the weightloss celebrity and the esoteric nature of reality TV (Dolly compares it to an old-fashioned Italian family - Pandora wonders if that is a good thing); and the controversial verdict of the Ulster Rugby rape case, which concluded last week, after a 42 day trial, with an innocent verdict. 2018 may have been a year of MeToo; but does the disappointing denouement to this case suggest that it’s all just hot air?

You can tweet The High Low @thehighlowshow or e-mail us [email protected].

Reading

How A Young Woman Lost Her Identity - byRachel Aviv for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/02/how-a-young-woman-lost-her-identity

Will Ferrell interviews Joaquin Phoenix -

for Interview magazine https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/joaquin-phoenix-april-2018-cover-story-will-ferrell

Promising Young Women by Caroline O'Donoghue 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Promising-Young-Women-Caroline-ODonoghue/dp/0349009902 

Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brit-ish-Race-Identity-Belonging/dp/1911214284/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522873963&sr=1-1&keywords=afua+hirsch 

Inside Court 12: the complete story of the Belfast rape trial - The Irish Times 

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/inside-court-12-the-complete-story-of-the-belfast-rape-trial-1.3443620 

Who Was Really On Trial In The Ireland And Ulster Rugby Rape Case? - The Independent 

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ireland-ulster-rugby-rape-case-not-guilty-brendan-kelly-qc-victim-a8278216.html 

Watching 

This Is Us - on Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-is-Us-Season-1/dp/B01N1PBW1G

Save Me - on Sky https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/f9843d4d-5610-4b7f-abc9-fb7a6d3bb61a

UnREAL - on Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B014GGAJQI

Sex, Drugs and Murder - on BBC iPlayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/group/p04nllxx

Damned on Channel 4 

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The High Low is going on maternity leave - or maturity leave, as Pandora accidentally e-mailed someone this week - for 6 weeks, so we’ve decided to go out with a bang, with an interview with the Oscar nominated actor and producer, Margot Robbie. We discuss I, Tonya, about American figure skater, Tonya Harding, with the Australian A-Lister, how she plans to put women centre stage via her production company, LuckyChap productions and what Hollywood really looks like, post MeToo. 

Also this week, Pandora champions the feel-good, feminist Amazon Prime drama about a women’s glossy, The Bold Type (like a ‘woke' How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days) and a brilliant new podcast series produced by Save The Children. If you’re looking for some powerful, real-life story-telling, please give it a listen. Meanwhile, Dolly has weaned herself off Mad Men, in order to discover the Instagram account skewering men’s pointed shoes (Sniper Watch, if you’re interested) and read a new book that promises to reduce your worries and anxieties.

We’ll see you in April!

Links

The Bold Type, on Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0731NL1W3

Anywhere But Home, a podcast by Save The Children https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/anywhere-but-home/id1343264169?mt=2

Sniper Watch instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/sniper_watch_101/ 

The Worry Trick by David A Carbonell: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worry-Trick-Brain-Tricks-Expecting/dp/1626253188

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An explosive Quincy Jones interview via Vulture; an even more explosive Sex and The City row via Kim Cattrall (just try and get Dolly to shut up about it); and some fun Valentine’s Day facts for you: did you know that 5% more babies are conceived during Valentines week than any other time (Christmas comes second); and that 52% of people are choosing to stay at home for Valentine’s - or Galentines - this year? Also, old people are having more sex than ever and Dolly’s very happy about it.

Much has been happening in the world of celebrity, but we’ve also been reading some great new books (Pandora recommends Zadie Smith’s short story anthology, Feel Free; whilst Dolly’s pick for this week is Bad Romance, by Emily Hill) and The Reading Cure, by journalist Laura Freeman, who is also our guest today. 

A lyrical book from a former anorexia sufferer, on how books restored her appetite, Laura compares a disordered mind to that of a disordered library: where the books have flown off the shelves, the pages are ripped and the windows are smashed. We discuss the increase in eating disorders - according to a report by The Guardian this week, they have doubled in women - and why Laura sees the term ‘eating disorder’ as an insufficient descriptor of this obsessive mental illness.

Links

Feel Free, by Zadie Smith https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feel-Free-Essays-Zadie-Smith/dp/0241146895/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518639110&sr=8-1&keywords=zadie+smith+feel+free

The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite, by Laura Freeman https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Cure-Books-Restored-Appetite/dp/1474604641

Bad Romance, by Emily Hill https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Romance-Emily-Hill/dp/1783524960/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518639876&sr=1-1&keywords=bad+romance+emily+hill

Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain, by James Bloodworth https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hired-Months-Undercover-Low-Wage-Britain/dp/1786490145

In Conversation: Quincy Jones, by David Marchese for Vulture http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/quincy-jones-in-conversation.html

You don't have to be a CEO to be a superwoman, by India Knight for The Sunday Times magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/india-knight-you-don-t-have-to-be-a-city-ceo-with-nine-kids-to-be-a-superwoman-ordinary-women-perform-miracles-every-day-nnkbw2r72

Carey Mulligan and David Hare interview, by Louis Wise for The Sunday Times Culture magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/interview-carey-mulligan-david-hare-bbc-drama-tv-show-collateral-3w5dj7308

Inside The Mean-Girls Culture That Destroyed Sex And The City for the New York Post: 

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Your usual mixed bag this week: Cheddar Man, Nutella fights and Lady Doritos.

It’s the 100 year anniversary of the Suffragettes! We deliver to you some facts and a round-up of this week’s celebrations. 

We discuss Kylie Jenner’s secret pregnancy (her daughter, Stormi Webster was born this week.) How did the world’s most famous 20 year old - Kylie has over 100 million followers and is the richest of all of the Kardashian/Jenners - hide her pregnancy from the paps for an entire 10 months? Is it yet another PR ploy; or a genuine bid for privacy from a young woman long uncomfortable with her own, inherited fame?

Also today, some discussion of Woody Allen - mainly via some excellent journalism, links below - and the latest Hollywood MeToo, via Uma Thurman. This one’s a little different though… it’s more about Quentin Tarantino than it is Harvey Weinstein. And, a first: Tarantino replies, at length. Both articles, below, are well worth reading.

Plus, a bit on food snobbery, after the wonderful writer and former Bake Off contestant, Ruby Tandoh, spoke out against the “classism and ableism” inherent in slamming ready-made meals. Choice is a luxury; and ‘wellness’ is a concept that the working class can ill afford (there’s also a bit of personal bias from Pandora, on this subject.)

Reading

The Friendship Cure, by Kate Leaver https://www.amazon.co.uk/Friendship-Cure-Manifesto-Reconnecting-Modern/dp/0715652524

Why Woody Allen should be tried in court and not by public opinion, by Hadley Freeman for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/feb/03/actors-condemn-woody-allen-hadley-Freeman

Feminism is excluding working class women, by Camilla Long for The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thats-right-sack-the-poor-grid-girls-only-the-rich-are-entitled-to-flaunt-their-bits-ctw9p6szw

This is why Uma Thurman is angry, by Maureen Dowd for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/opinion/sunday/this-is-why-uma-thurman-is-angry.html

Quentin Tarantino responds to Uma Thurman http://deadline.com/2018/02/quentin-tarantino-uma-thurman-harvey-weinstein-kill-bill-car-crash-new-york-times-1202278988/

Kylie Jenner has baby and seemingly grows way up, by Harling Ross for Man Repeller https://www.manrepeller.com/2018/02/kylie-jenner-baby-girl.html

Listening & Watching

Jack Whitehall on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09qb1hw

Love Stories, by Dolly Alderton (Pandora’s insertion, not Dolly’s) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/love-stories/id1343714594?mt=2

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - at cinemas now

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Kim Kardashian is making all kinds of headlines this week; not because her new baby boy, Chicago, arrived via surrogacy - but because she’s sharing dozens of pics of herself in the nuddy with what she has called ‘Bo Derek’ braids aka: cornrows or Fulani braids. We discuss the knotty issue of cultural appropriation, how it exists within fashion and beauty and speak to Sharmadean Reid, the founder of WAH Nails and Beauty Stack, on why she isn’t offended by Kim’s appropriation of a black hairstyle - but how offence is not a blanket thing. How can and should we navigate the nuances?

Also today, we discuss Trump’s assertion that he isn’t a feminist (snore), why the world’s gone mad for Tupperware (and why no-one has written about this?) and the brilliant Radio 4 show that had us both wincing: are women sexist towards other women? Before you shake your head - take a listen (link in the show notes.) We plunge deep into our unconscious bias and try to be as honest as possible.

A note from Pandora (who writes these bios, because Dolly’s skills lie, let’s say, elsewhere): Dolly’s book, Everything I Know About Love, published by Penguin, is out today. GO BUY IT! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-I-Know-About-Love/dp/0241322715

Links

The Mothers, by Brit Bennett https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mothers-Brit-Bennett/dp/0399184511

Ex-convicts on how to go ‘straight', on BBC Radio 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074zbxg

Why are even women biased against other women? On BBC Radio 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09pl66d

An interview with Helena Morrissey, by Eleanor Mills for The Sunday Time Magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/helena-morrissey-nine-kids-and-a-mega-salary-has-she-found-the-secret-to-having-it-all-k2h6ktjkk

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First thing’s first: 1 in 4 women are still skipping their smear test - please don’t be one of them. Dolly talks to Kate Sanger from Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust who emphasises the importance of smear tests in preventing cervical cancer.

Also today, we discuss the UK’s newly appointed Minister for Loneliness, Tracey Crouch - and why loneliness is not just a problem in the elderly ; new evidence which suggests that psychologically we are all children until the age of not 18, but - duh duh duhhhhhh - 25; and why “well-intentioned racism” is still, well, racism.

NB: Courtesy of our kind sponsors, Treatwell, you can get yourself £10 off a £25 treatment with the code HIGHLOW10. Visit treatwell.co.uk to book!

Reading:

The linguistic evolution of ‘like’, by John McWhorter for The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-evolution-of-like/507614/

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman https://www.netflix.com/title/80133311

Money Diary: A freelance writer living in London on 14K, by Anon for Refinery29 http://www.refinery29.uk/money-diary-freelance-writer

The minister for loneliness will need all the friends she can get, by Stewart Dakers for the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/23/tracey-crouch-minister-loneliness-friends-powerful-vested-interests

Listening:

Fashion Unzipped, by The Telegraph http://unzipped.podcast.telegraph.co.uk

So You've Been Publicly Shamed on Audible by Jon Ronson: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Non-fiction/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed-Audiobook/B00S8QO068 

Peter Morgan on Fresh Air: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/16/578281741/crown-creator-sees-britains-reigning-monarchs-as-just-a-regular-family 

David Remnick interviews David Attenborough for The New Yorker Hour: https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/david-attenboroughs-planet-we-just-live-it/ 

Watching:

Riverdale, on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80133311

Dreams of A Life on 4 OD: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dreams-of-a-life/on-demand/50028-001

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Episode 43 is a pretty exciting one for The High Low - a bit of a pinch-me moment, if you will. One minute we were begging Faber & Faber for an advance copy of French novelist Leila Slimani’s cult read, Lullaby - a troubling but beautifully written read about a nanny who murders her two young charges - the next, we had Leila in our studio.

The twelfth woman to win the Prix Goncourt, last year (the highest literary prize in France, previous winners include Proust) Lullaby sold a whopping 600,000 copies in Leila’s native France (under the title, ‘Chanson Douce’), led to Emmanuel Macron asking Leila to be the Minister for Culture (she turned it down) and the movie rights have, unsurprisingly, been snapped up. Comparisons with Gone Girl and Girl on a Train are crass - but indicative of the book’s breathtaking success. 

Leila talks to us about finding unexpected success with her “ little book” (“I thought my great book would be about war”), the societal role of working motherhood and the nanny (who is both "inside and outside of the home”) and why being a Muslim woman of North African descent “does not mean I care about identity.” 

Also today, we discuss Catherine Deneuve’s apology, whether the Babe.Net piece about Aziz Ansari undermines the MeToo movement; the H&M hoodie-race-row, why the new cultural buzz-trend of ’self-care’ is lofty BS (isn’t it just letting yourself buy the cushiony bog roll, not the scratchy stuff?) and the joyous news that The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to the UK for the very first time in 950 years. Joking, thought that’s quite cool that France finally let it leave. Not so cool? That 24,000 attempts to access porn from inside the Houses of Parliament have been made since the General Election. THAT’S 700 A DAY. 

Lots of pieces have been getting us talking and hotly debating this week. Read them - and lots of podcast recs - below!

Thanks you to our sponsors Treatwell and Google Pixel 2 and Wardour Studios, who hosted us this week.

You can e-mail The High Low [email protected], or tweet us @thehighlowshow.

LISTENING:

Angela Hartnett on Desert Island Discs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lxn6w

Daisy Buchanan on Desert Island Dishes https://www.acast.com/margiebroadhead/29-daisy-buchanan-author-and-journalist 

READING:

Lullaby, by Leila Slimani https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lullaby-Leïla-Slimani/dp/0571337538

The Killer-Nanny Novel That Conquered France by Lauren Collins for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/the-killer-nanny-novel-that-conquered-france

The Melting Season, by Jami Attenburg https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melting-Season-Jami-Attenberg/dp/1594484996

Swimming Underwater, by Tatterhood http://www.tatterhood.co.uk/poems/

I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned out to be the worst night of my life, by Katie Way for Babe.Net https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355

The humiliation of Aziz Ansari, by Caitlin Flanagan for The Atlantic 

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