The High Low

Hello, you stable geniuses! (Or as the pedants may prefer, genii.) 

The Golden Globes happened on Sunday night in Hollywood and The High Low has many a point to discuss:

Does the #TimesUp movement - where actors wore black dresses on the red carpet, in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment - convey a real and true political message? Can a gown be a harbinger for social change? The New York Times’ T Magazine Fashion Critic, Alexander Fury, provides an eloquent argument in favour. Or, is it mere Hollywood “fakery’ - as actor Rose McGowan denounced it.

Self-deprecating and woke as he was, should Seth Meyers have been the host... or should it have been a woman? 

And what about Natalie Portman, who pointed out that no female directors were nominated for best director? No amount of black gowns can cloak that. 

Either way, Justin Timberlake *perhaps* missed the point. “Damn my wife looks hot! #timesup” the Trousersnake tweeted. 

From Hollywood, to Westminster. Also on this weekend agenda, journalist Toby Young’s resignation from his university regulator role, for the Office for Students - just 8 days in the job - after thousands of Young’s archive ‘titty tweets’ caused 20,000 people to sign a petition arguing for his sacking. 

Is a man, or woman, the sum of their tweets? Should your ability to be do your job dependent on your social media timeline? Possibly not. But when you become more known for a tweet that reads “I had my dick up her arse, mate” than your work in the education sector, we wonder if, possibly, a governmental role isn’t quite for you.

Episode takeaway, kids: the internet never forgets. 

Thank you very much to our sponsors Google Pixel 2 and Treatwell and to Acast, for letting us use your studio.

E-mail [email protected] and tweet us @thehighlowshow. 

Links

Listening

You & Yours - on parity, post Carrie Gracie’s resignation from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qps9

Sarah Jessica Parker on The Nerdist: https://nerdist.com/nerdist-829-sarah-jessica-parker/ 

Janeane Garofalo on Guys We F****d: https://soundcloud.com/guyswefucked/0173-01042017-janeane-garofalo 

Sandi Toksvig on Table Manners with Jessie Ware: https://www.acast.com/tablemanners/ep7-sanditoksvig

Reading

The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer

https://www.amazon.com/Female-Persuasion-Novel-Meg-Wolitzer/dp/1594488401

Toxic Femininity, by Ginny Hogan for The New Yorker 

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/examples-of-toxic-femininity-in-the-workplace/amp

Belle Gibson: the wellness blogger who fooled the world, by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano for The Sunday Times magazine 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/the-sunday-times-magazine/belle-gibson-the-wellness-blogger-who-fooled-the-world-with-a-healthy-eating-scam-hq6dc73cx

Pre-order Things Bright and Beautiful by Anbara Salam: 

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Happy 2018! It's the first High Low episode of the year. We've got some books, shows, podcasts and articles to recommend to you, a Queens impression from Pandora (that's the suburb in New York, not the royal OAP) and a reader question about what to do when you're a Hot Mess.

In this week's episode, we discuss the shocking - or is it so shocking? - new research from Kings College London, which reveals that 27% of pregnant women suffer from mental health problems. Is the 'pregnancy glow' myth to blame? Pandora - who at 8 months pregnant, believes the 'glow' to have passed her by entirely - speaks from experience; whilst Dolly muses upon the fetishisation of pregnant women in the media. Also in today's episode, we talk Dry January, Veganuary and other zeitgeisty lifestyle trends. Should we stop being so negative about 'new year, new me'?

Thank you to our sponsors Google Pixel 2 and Treatwell plus Acast, for letting us use your studio.

E-mail us [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow.

Links

Listening

Romesh Ranganathan on The Adam Buxton podcast

https://soundcloud.com/adam-buxton/ep61-romesh-ranganathan

Reading

The Magical Art Of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Changing-Magic-Not-Giving-Spending/dp/0316270725

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0141014598

The Vagina Monologues, 20th anniversary edition, by Eve Ensler https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vagina-Monologues-Eve-Ensler/dp/0349011281

The Year the Grenfell Tower Fire Revealed The Lies That Londoners Tell Themselves, by Sam Knight for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2017-in-review/the-year-the-grenfell-tower-fire-revealed-the-lie-that-londoners-tell-themselves

There's Nothing Empowering or Feminist About The All-Female Line-Up on Celebrity Big Brother, by Georgia Aspinall for The Debrief https://thedebrief.co.uk/news/celebrity/celebrity-big-brother-anti-feminist/

Braids, Cultural Appropriation And The Media's Erasure of Black Women, by Jamé Jackson for Fashionista.com https://fashionista.com/2018/01/black-hair-braids-cultural-appropriation-media-erasure

We Need To Stop Our Obsession With Lifestyle Trends (Particularly Danish Ones) - archive piece by Pandora (ahem) for The Spectator https://life.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/need-stop-obsessed-lifestyle-trends-especially-scandinavian-ones/

Watching

Black Mirror - series 4

https://www.netflix.com/title/70264888

Jim and Andy - The Great Beyond

https://www.netflix.com/title/80209608 

Little Women - BBC...

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Happy New Year High Lowers! 2017 has been the year of covfefe, Dr Robert Kelly and of course the birth of yours truly. We have friend of The High Low’s and Guardian journalist Stu Heritage on to review the highs and lows of the past year, including Pandora’s very own and rather difficult Big Fat Quiz of the year which listeners can play at home. 

We talk resolutions, New Year plans and Stu’s fantastic book published earlier this year called Don’t Be A Dick, Pete. The book is a very funny and often moving memoir, told through the story of Stu’s relationship with his brother Pete. We sort of wish we’d invited Pete on too, tbh. 

Finally, we answer listener questions with Stu as our visiting agony uncle. Including one of our own: who is responsible for those slightly dismissive reviews of The High Low from The Guardian, Stu? Hmmmmm? 

Happy New Year High Low listeners. We end on a compilation of the best bits of our first year, one that we couldn’t have done without you and your support. Thank you - and see you in 2018 for more! 

LINKS:

Don’t Be A Dick, Pete by Stuart Heritage: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Dick-Pete-Stuart-Heritage/dp/1910931470

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It’s a festive episode with a special High Low nativity play; written by professional screenwriter (as you will be able to tell) Dolly - and sponsored by frankincense and myrrh. 

As Amazon and John Lewis declare ambitions to open their end of year sales on Christmas Day itself, and the Bishop of Cambridge descends into outrage, we talk the evolution of ‘family time’ and whether online shopping during a day of rest (and/or religion) is a moral issue or merely one of ease and convenience. What about all the people that don’t celebrate Christmas? And side note: HOW has Amazon only just launched in Australia? 

Also up for discussion, Twitter finally rules against hate speech - with the leaders of far right party Britain First suspended from Twitter for Islamaphobic fake news (which was retweeted by Covfefe Trump - natch.) We discuss censorship versus the oft hackneyed cliché of free speech: and why a bigot is not one size fits all. 

Two book recommendation via Pandora:

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brain-Fire-My-Month-Madness/dp/0141975342/ref=nodl_

Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood by Hollie McNish

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobody-Told-Me-Poetry-Parenthood/dp/0349134359

Don’t forget to shop the Papier.com site with or excloooosive discount HIGHLOW for 15% off all your customisable stationary needs. 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HIGH LOW!

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Pandora's been moving house and Dolly's been hosting Pretendmas (don't ask; she'll tell you all about it anyway) but there are still plenty of water cooler topics to discuss this week. 

From some brilliant pieces of journalism (including a heart-breaking piece by Empire Editor Terri White on the vital role a woman's refuge played in both her own childhood and in British society as a whole) to plenty of podcast recommendations from the ultimate podcat, Dolly, this week we discuss 'Cat Person', the New Yorker short story that went viral - and what this piece of fiction tells us about modern relationships; toxic masculinity; bad sex and female pleasure. 

We also play you an excerpt of the shocking and riveting speech given by former Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya at Stanford University, on how Facebook is ripping society apart. In light of this and plenty of other disclaimers from both former and present tech execs, we discuss the dangers of social media in both a personal and a social context. From the richest (first world FOMO caused by your Instagram feed) to the poorest (Whatsapp hoax that caused violence in a rural Indian village), we are all affected by social media in its myriad forms.

What we are reading, watching and listening to:

A Woman's Refuge Saved My Family, by Terri White for The Pool https://www.the-pool.com/life/life-honestly/2017/49/Terri-White-on-the-funding-crisis-hitting-women-s-refuges

I Made My Shed The Top Rated Restaurant on Trip Advisor, by Oobah Butler for VICE https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor

The People vs O.J.Simpson: American Crime Story, on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80083977

'Cat Person' - a short story, by Kristen Roupenian for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

Fallout, by Sadie Jones https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fallout-Sadie-Jones/dp/0701188502

Ladybird directed by Greta Gerwig: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo

Cariad Lloyd's Griefcast with Adam Buxton: 

https://www.acast.com/griefcast/episode-1---adam-buxton

James Franco on WTF: 

http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-870-james-franco

Cariad Lloyd's Made of Human with Jo Brand: 

http://mohpod.libsyn.com/31-jo-brand-i-was-surprised-the-heroin-addict-was-unfaithful 

Felicity Morse on Cat Person for The Debrief: 

https://thedebrief.co.uk/news/real-life/cat-person-short-story-new-yorker-consent/ 

Amy Jones on Cat Person for The...

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It’s December, which means that silly season is officially upon us. Thank goodness, then, for Alabama student Kelsey who dressed up as a Christmas tree - for every single lecture. Oh, and the scientists who think they’ve found one of Santa’s bones. We discuss Christmas in all it’s technicolour madness, and whether or not it’s really anything to do with religion anymore.

Also today, the hashtagged social trend of 'women spreading’ (Pandora prefers ‘fem spreading’ but also acknowledges that it sounds a little too like margarine for your vag.) Is women spreading a symbolic riposte to man spreading? Or, is it a gimmick confined to Instagram? We talk activism in it various guises. Either way, Dolly won’t be getting her gusset out on the tube this December. Sorry lads.

This festive month, The High Low is sponsored by Papier. You can get 15% off their gorgeous stationary - it’s not too late for Christmas cards! - at papier.com, using HIGHLOW.

This week, we are reading, listening and watching:

Demi-Gods by Eliza Robertson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33414010-demi-gods

Friends From College, on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80117485

Internetting with Amanda Hess for The New York Times: The White Internet’s Love Affair With Digital Blackface Is https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/28/arts/internetting-with-amanda-hess.html

Eva Wiseman interviews Graham Norton for The Observer magazine https://www.theguardian.com/global/2017/dec/03/graham-norton-the-bbc-dont-defend-themselves-robustly-enough-

Sarfraz Manzoor on Muslim foster parents for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/03/muslim-foster-parents-it-has-been-such-a-blessing

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3WEKki6znk

India Knight's Sunday Times Magazine column on the joy of a drink at Christmas:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/india-knight-look-out-there-s-a-new-puritanism-afoot-don-t-let-abstemious-control-freaks-spoil-the-christmas-party-9wpv8zxn9

You can e-mail us at [email protected], and tweet us @thehighlowshow

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Thank you to everyone who enjoyed our special episode with Tina Brown last week - we had a huge response. We miss her already <3

This week in the Tina-free studio, we discuss whether corporations offering to pay for women to freeze their eggs - as happening in America and soon, Australia - is a generous health benefit, or a patriarchal attempt to stave off motherhood. Shouldn’t we improve conditions and parity for working mothers (subsidised nurseries, better paternity leave, flexi-hours) first?

Also in this week’s episode: Taylor Swift has been accused of espousing Trumpian values, with her white feminism and political silence. We draw on several brilliant pop-culture writers, to discuss whether this theory has any value. We cannot help but wonder, in that Carrie Bradshaw way: when did it become possible for a popstar to just be, well, a popstar? Now, they must be a symbol, an icon, a vessel and a plate. As Greta Gerwig says on Fresh Air, when quizzed why she worked with Woody Allen - women are just terrified of saying the wrong thing and getting it wrong. Tiring, huh.

Nuggets from The Top Line include the revelation that salted caramel is comparable to heroin; Christmas dinners are more expensive than ever before; and, devastatingly, that a third of women’s refuges are under threat of closure in the UK.

There’s a slew of podcast episode, series, articles and exhibition recommendations this week - links all below - and in the run up to Christmas, a few requests:

Who will help Pandora find a Father Christmas jumper, complete with patent belt, to spread across her pudding-like paunch?

And, Adam Buxton, when will you come on our podcast?

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

Reading/ watching/ viewing & listening this week:

Laura Freeman on Modigliani for The Sunday Times Culture mag https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/art-review-amedeo-modigliani-nudes-tate-modern-mfn8mkvp2

Book tickets to Modigliani at The Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/modigliani

Watch The Sinner, on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80175802

Hadley Freeman on why feminist theory didn’t cure her anorexia, for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/25/wasnt-feminist-theory-cured-anorexia

Eva Wiseman interviews Little Mix for The Observer mag https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/26/little-mix-interview-new-album-we-embrace-who-we-are-not-perfect

Dorian Lynskey on Taylor Swift for GQ mag (December issue, on sale now)

Taylor Swift: An Envoy for Trump’s Values? By anon for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/24/the-guardian-view-on-taylor-swift-an-envoy-for-trumps-values

Greta Gerwig on Fresh Air: 

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Welcome to our favourite *ever* episode of The High Low - as we try not to fangirl the fuck out.

For those of you with short memories, the High Low is named in homage to iconic editor Tina Brown. The creator of High Low journalism - our founding ethos of merging the trivial with the political; the irreverent with the weighty - Tina became editor of Tatler aged just 25, of Vanity Fair aged 29, and then The New Yorker, before launching the short-lived Talk and then The Daily Beast.

Now, in an arguably meta move, we get Tina into the studio, to discuss her hilarious, pacey and searingly honest memoir The Vanity Fair Diaries. We talk misogyny and #MeToo; Princess Diana and Trump; the Kardashians and Meghan Markle; and, of course, Weinstein - who Tina worked with for a disastrous 2 years after they launched Talk magazine together. We take a romp through the media decadence of the 80s (when having a ‘dress allowance’ and a ’social secretary' was vital for any editor worth their salt), with the thread of tragedy thanks to the AIDS crisis, weaving its way throughout.

The Vanity Fair Diaries have now been optioned by producer Bruna Papandrea, who is behind the epic hit Big Little Lies. So expect to see a gripping mini series of Tina’s diary on your screens ASAP. 

Links:

The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown: http://amzn.to/2hINVyx

Marlena by Julie Buntin: http://amzn.to/2AmKR6K

Sarah Silverman on Louis CK, via The Guardian: http://bit.ly/2zN6r3n

Nora Ephron Knows What To Do, by Ariel Levy for The New Yorker: http://bit.ly/2jOkAa2

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No singing this week courtesy of Louis Theroux, but three different accents from Pandora in compensation. 

This week on The High Low, we discuss Boris Johnson’s buffoonery - and when being a dotard can put another woman’s life in danger. Our hearts go out to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 19 months into a 5 year sentence in Iran. As Boris (finally) meets Nazanin’s husband, Richard, we discuss the Foreign Secretary and why we struggle to understand the seeming impotence of the government in scenarios such as these.

Also today, the controversial new app, MakeApp, which leaves women ‘barefaced’. Dolly think it’s misogynistic; Pandora thinks it’s yet another example of tech working against cultural psychology and the greater good. BTW Pandora did it and Dolly thought she looked better than normal, so, that’s interesting.

And Pandora busts the myth of tumeric lattes with the help of registered dietician Rosie Saunt.

Fun fact to (slightly) bum you out: Amazon have revealed that Fifty Shades of Grey is the No1 downloaded book on Kindle, of all time.

DO SUMMINK GOOD TODAY: buy a pin from The Pin Project and support refugees, returnees and people displaced by war

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1541394380/the-pin-project

BUY YOURSELF A TREAT: if you liked our The High Low pyjamas, you can buy your own pair of Poplin London pyjamas with neon pink piping, at poplin-london.co.uk with 20% off when you enter thehighlow at checkout.

WATCHING

Louis Theroux documentaries on anorexia, and heroin, on BBC iPlayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09d5nk2/louis-theroux-talking-to-anorexia

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0991fsb/louis-theroux-dark-states-1-heroin-town

Motherland, on BBC iPlayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p05j1k3t/motherland-series-1-episode-1

READING

Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-I-Never-Told-You/dp/0349134286

A Different Kind of Pregnancy Announcement, by Leandra Medine for Man Repeller

https://www.manrepeller.com/2017/11/leandra-medine-pregnant.html

How The Myth of The Artistic Genius Excuses The Abuse of Women, by Amanda Hess for The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/sexual-harassment-art-hollywood.html

Out of Time by Miranda Sawyer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Time-Miranda-Sawyer/dp/0007521073

The Cult of Boris Johnson by Grace Dent: 

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After some disruption to the schedule (namely two live recordings in a row and an author special, whilst Dolly’s enjoyed monsoon season in Thailand and practiced wellness with a monk) The High Low is back in the Acast studio. And we’ve got tons (literally tons) of reading, listening and watching recs for you, from our sojourns away.

This week we discuss Kevin Spacey’s “I’m Gay” disclaimer, Netflix dropping him and whether or not you can separate the art from the artist. Will their legacy live on? Is the whole thing a hackneyed debate? And if Frank doesn’t come back…. will Claire?

Also today, we speak to a High Low listener about the difference between an arranged and a forced marriage, after the sad news story of Aasiya Bibi, the 21-year-od Pakistani girl who murdered 15 of her husband’s family with poison, in her desperation to escape her forced marriage. 

It’s our first official week with Google, our sexy new partner, and Dolly kickstarts our new ‘curiosity’ segment with the Google Pixel 2, by asking Pandora what the meaning of love is. A nice gentle ease into the series, that. If you want to see the fruits of our new Google Pixel shoot, head on over to our Instagram’s @pandorasykes @dollyalderton for a taster. More magic to come, my friends.

Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to The High Low on iTunes. You can e-mail The High Low [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow.

READING

The Wife, by Meg Wolitzer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wife-Meg-Wolitzer/dp/0099478196\

Valley Of The Dolls, by Jacqueline Susan https://www.amazon.co.uk/Valley-Dolls-VMC-Jacqueline-Susann/dp/1860498876 

Disclaimer, by Renee Knight https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disclaimer-Renée-Knight/dp/1784160229

Lust, by Roald Dahl https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lust-Roald-Dahl/dp/0718185617

Zoe Heller profile on Roald Dahl for New Republic, 2010 https://newrepublic.com/article/78552/the-miserabilist-roald-dahl

Owen Jones on Kevin Spacey https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/30/kevin-spacey-vicious-lie-gay-men-accusation-attempted-sexual-assault 

Jess Phillips on A Terrible, Toxic Week at Westminster https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/05/jess-phillips-a-terrible-toxic-week-in-westminster

Alec Baldwin interview by Janice Turner https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/alec-baldwin-for-president-0r5b8k08w

LISTENING

The Adam Buxton interviews with Zadie Smith, Kathy Burke and Louis Theroux https://soundcloud.com/adam-buxton

Here's The Thing interview with Barbra Streisand http://www.wnyc.org/story/visit-barbras-place/ 

Kay Mellor's Desert Island Discs 

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