The High Low

By Pandora Sykes and Dolly AldertonSociety & Culture

The High Low episodes

November 02, 2017 An Author Special on The Internet (and The Universe) with Jim Chapman
Vlogger Jim Chapman is YouTube royalty. But what happened when “the guy from the internet" turned his hand to a book? We chat animal facts (did you know that a group of baboons is called a flange?), whether or not the intent is misogynistic and why millennials have it good, with Jim Chapman.

LINK:

147 Things: My User’s Guide to The Universe, by Jim Chapman, published by Pan Macmillan, is out now:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Jim-Chapman/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AJim%20Chapman

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35 min
October 23, 2017 A Live Episode with Google on #MeToo - and Suing The Entire Kardashian Family
It’s another live episode! (Normal recording will resume soon.) We’re at The Curiosity Rooms, in collaboration with Google and Selfridges, talking about the #MeToo hashtag and - because it’s called The High Low - the Kardashians.

The #MeToo hashtag has swept across society in the wake of Weinstein, as hundreds of thousands of women come out to share their stories of harassment and abuse. Pandora has collated over 85 on her Instagram, some of which she reads out - while we both discuss the nuances of this campaign: are men excluded? Does it dwell on collective victim-hood? Does it place the onus on the women, to come out - rather than the men, to ‘fess up? You’ll have to listen to find out, but one conclusion you can be sure of, to paraphrase Emma Watson speaking at the UN in 2014: women’s rights are not about man-hating. We need to break this thought pattern ASAP.

On to the Kardashians - whom Blac Chyna is suing. Yup, the lot of them. Rob Kardashian’s ex fiancee is suing the entire family for “torpedoing” her reality TV career and preventing her from reaching her potential as a social media entrepreneur. When did a social media entrepreneur become a thing? And is this the first time a whole family has been sued, because of it?

Please do get in touch with The High Low [email protected] and you can tweet us @thehighlowshow.

The High Low is going on holiday next week, so you’ve got a nice author special to look forward to.

Bye bye!

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44 min
October 17, 2017 Was James Corden Wrong To Joke About Harvey Weinstein?; And Are YOU Suffering From Culture Overload?
It’s our first ever live podcast! This week The High Low is brought to you live from tibits, a vegetarian restaurant in Mayfair, where we recorded the episode on Monday 16th October. Thanks to everyone who came and latterly stuffed their faces with the food boat.

This week we discuss Hollywood in the aftermath of Harvey Weinstein’s downfall - and, specifically, James Corden’s controversial jokes about Weinstein at the AmFar Gala. Was Corden speaking out of turn; or have we begun to censor the role of the comic too much?

Also on this week’s agenda is culture overload, after we read a brilliant piece in November’s issue of British Esquire by the Culture Editor, Miranda Collinge, who returned from holiday to find 81 books on her desk. Yes, 81. Are you mired in podcasts, not knowing which way to turn; being buried alive by the pile of books by your bedside table, unsure which to start fast; feeling the impending doom of a boxset binge, knowing that as soon as you finish this series, there’s another that just HAS to be read? And what if you read/watch/listen to the wrong thing. What do you do THEN? We discuss making your own culture agenda and consuming the culture that resonates with you, not your Twitter/Instagram timeline.

Highlights from The Top Line: diet avocados (for god’s sake), the man who changed his middle name to Yorkshire Tea and why Ivana Trump is, in her own words, the real First Lady.

You can e-mail us @thehighlowshow - short of tattooing her tits, Pandora isn’t sure where else to put this e-mail address - and tweet us @thehighlowshow. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes!

READING/ LISTENING

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Marina O’Loughlin's first restaurant review for The Sunday Times - Dolly can provide link
Grace Dent for The Independent on James Corden’s jokes about Harvey Weinstein - Dolly can provide link

LINKS:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/james-corden-harvey-weinstein-women-can-joke-but-you-cant-a8002926.html

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/table-talk-our-new-restaurant-critic-marina-oloughlin-on-the-biting-wit-of-her-predecessor-the-late-aa-gill-k3djnc930

Laura Snapes for The Dolly Mail:

http://us14.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d694237eb6ca85f6f4c7d854b&id=e1fc988477

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1 hr 14 min
October 11, 2017 A Deep-Dive Into The Fall Of Hollywood’s Ultimate Sex Predator, Harvey Weinstein
It’s been a great week for sexism. Swedish model and artist Arvida Bystrom was threatened with rape, after she appeared in an Adidas advert with hairy legs; a senior writer at Vice’s women’s channel, Broadly, was fired after leaked e-mails revealed that he had been lobbying alt-right ‘media personality’ Milo Yiannapoulos to bully ‘fat feminists’; and then, well, there’s Harvey Weinstein.The 65-year-old American producer, considered to be one of, if not the most powerful man in Hollywood, has been fired from his own company, dumped by his wife and dispatched to ‘sex addiction rehab’ (obviously) after it was sensationally revealed by The New York Times and a dizzying further array of publications, that he had sexually harassed dozens of women in Hollywood, from A-Listers such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, to journalists, assistants and models. You’ll never look at a pot plant in the same way again….How was Weinstein’s behaviour tolerated, as an open secret, for so long? Why are women expected to come forward, more than men? Was he fired because he sexually harassed women - or because the public found out? And, as we discuss at length, will the demise of Harvey Weinstein finally lead to the dismantling of the systemic sexism upon which Hollywood’s very foundations are built? Time can only tell.On a trivial note, did you know pesto pasta has more salt than a McDonald’s burger? Pandora’s happy, veggies not so much.Please do e-mail us [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow if you have any thoughts on the episode.BIG NEWS!The High Low has signed a shiny new partnership with Google, in collaboration with their Google Pixel 2 Phone. To kick off the partnership, which stars in November, we are doing a live episode of The High Low at Selfridges (as part of a shiny roster of speakers including Adwoa Aboah and Riz Ahmed) in their Curiosity Rooms installation, on Friday 20th October. You can sign up for a free ticket here:https://events.withgoogle.com/curiosityrooms/READING & LISTENINGNothing To Envy: Real Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demickhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/184708141X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507757675&sr=8-1&keywords=barbara+demickGaga: Five Foot Two, on Netflixhttps://www.netflix.com/title/80196586Uncommon Type: Some Stories, by Tom Hanks https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncommon-Type-Stories-Tom-Hanks/dp/1785151517Lullaby by Leila Slimani (out in January) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lullaby-Leila-Slimani/dp/0571337538/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507757742&sr=1-1&keywords=lullaby+leila+slimaniThe State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perelhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Affairs-Rethinking-Infidelity-anyone/dp/1473673542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507757760&sr=1-1&keywords=esther+perelWTF Podcast Episode 242 with Russell Brand (from 2012)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4w0U84v6ik Here’s Why So Many Women Knew The Rumours About Harvey Weintein, by Anne Helen Petersen for Buzzfeed https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/women-believe-other-women?utm_term=.qhOjRo5Kwb#.djKA49B3g6Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey for The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.htmlFrom Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories, by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorkerhttps://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-storiesWhy The Weinstein Sexual-Harassment Allegations Didn’t Come Out Until Now, by Rebecca Traitor for The Cuthttps://www.thecut.com/2017/10/why-the-weinstein-sexual-harassment-allegations-came-out-now.html
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1 hr 8 min
October 03, 2017 Ding Dong The Hef Is Dead - The Legacy of Playboy; And The Death Of The Celebrity Interview
In the wake of pyjama-clad Hugh Hefner’s demise, we discuss the legacy of Playboy and its nuances - and why viewing an empire created 64 years ago solely through the lense of modern feminism can be problematic. A must-read, incidentally, is Gloria Steinem’s The Bunny’s Tale. Also in today’s episode, we discuss the demise of the celebrity interview. Are authentic journalistic profiles destined to become mere relics, in place of publicist-approved puff pieces? We can but wonder. ***** BIG NEWS: You can now book a ticket to the first ever* live* episode of The High Low! We’ll be doing a live show 6.30-8.30pm at tibits in Mayfair, on Monday 16th October and 20% of all proceeds go to Women for Women International. Click the link below to book a ticket to the live record: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-high-low-live-recording-at-tibits-heddon-street-tickets-38531176787 Find out about more Women for Women International https://www.womenforwomen.org.uk/ ***** What we’ve been listening to/ watching The Longform podcast (Dolly recommends the eps with Lena Dunham, Ariel Levy, Emily Nussbaum, David Remnick, Jon Ronson, Elizabeth Gilbert and Taffy Drodesser-Akner) https://longform.org Fresh Air podcast with Hilary Clinton http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2017/09/18/551812328/fresh-air-for-sept-18-2017-hillary-clinton WTF podcast with Barack Obama http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_613_-_president_barack_obama ***** What we’re been reading Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Deviation-Katherine-Heiny/dp/0008105529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507046125&sr=1-1&keywords=standard+deviation Mount by Jilly Cooper https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mount-Jilly-Cooper/dp/0593072901 I’ll Eat When I’m Dead by Barbara Borland https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Eat-When-Im-Dead/dp/1784298565/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507060568&sr=1-1&keywords=i%27ll+eat+when+i%27m+dead Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sour-Heart-Jenny-Zhang/dp/1408892413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507046030&sr=8-1&keywords=sour+heart Interview with France’s Secretary for Equality, Marlène Schiappa, in The Sunday Times magazine https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/marlene-schiappa-vive-la-revolution-67xq9bhd9 1968 Rolling Stone interview with Richie Havens http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/richie-havens-in-1968-the-direction-for-my-music-is-heaven-19680720 A Bunny’s Tale by Gloria Steinem http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/sites/default/files/documents/uploads/editors/Show-A%20Bunny%27s%20Tale-Part%20One-May%201963.pdf The Death of a Playmate by Teresa Carpenter http://reprints.longform.org/death-of-a-playmate My Playboy Mansion meeting with Hugh Hefner, Mr Sticky Fingers by Camilla Long https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/my-playboy-mansion-meeting-with-hugh-hefner-mr-sticky-fingers-rss3wwdmz How BBC Star Clare Balding stole my byline, by Ginny Dougray https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/30/celebrity-interview-bullying-behaviour-balding-saga
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56 min
September 27, 2017 Is Monogamy Dead? An Author Special with Comedian Rosie Wilby
The High Low is on holiday this week, so we have recorded an author special for you - because we're nice like that. Is Monogamy Dead? by British comedian Rosie Wilby came out in August 2017 and from learning about romantic footprints to the difference between polyamory and non-monogamy (and did you know what 'compersian' is?) it's a funny, gentle, explorative and educational look into the Western concept of monogamy - and whether it still works. The audiobook is available on Audible here:https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Health-Personal-Development/Is-Monogamy-Dead-Audiobook/B06ZYJ4ZCV/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1506615053&sr=1-2 You can follow Rosie on Twitter and Facebook @rosiewilby.You can get in touch with The High Low @thehighlowshow on Twitter or email us [email protected]. Thank you to Wardour Studios for the recording session. See you next week!
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42 min
September 20, 2017 The Handbag’s Tale and why effective protests needn’t be violent
Twas the week that Margaret Atwood took her handbag to the Emmys - sorry, Margaret Atwood’s handbag took Margaret Atwood to the Emmys - and whilst some people are focusing on Issa Rae’s commentary, Dolly’s focusing on Margie and her shoulder holdall.In MIN (more important news) a number of protests this week have got us thinking: are points best made with spitting and shouting? In specific reference to the 60-year-old woman punched at the discussion of gender, at speaker’s corner last week; and the fur protest at London Fashion Week.Top Line highlights this week includes an update on the case of PETA vs the photographer who ‘nicked’ a monkey’s selfie; and the lunacy that is a 12-year old girl, groomed via Instagram by a paeophile into sending a topless picture of herself, facing charges for sharing pictures of an underage girl. Even though she, aged 12, is the girl in question. Legal loophole, anyone?Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes. You can e-mail us [email protected] or tweet us @thehighlowshow.WATCHING/ LISTENING Doctor Foster on BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0960dlf/doctor-foster-series-2-episode-3New Scandi noir Black Lake on BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b081clh5/black-lake-episode-1WTF with Anne Hathaway http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-801-anne-hathaway-aimee-mannWTF with David Remnick http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-830-david-remnickDavid Remnick on Here's The Thing http://www.wnyc.org/story/htt-david-remnick/The Power of Vulnerability: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Health-Personal-Development/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/B00CYKEBVI The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronsonhttps://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Film-Radio-TV/The-Butterfly-Effect-with-Jon-Ronson-Audiobook/B073JVBDTMREADINGCamila Batmanghelidjh interview with Camilla Cavendish in The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-interview-camila-batmanghelidjh-founder-of-kids-company-sftth9077What it’s like to be fat in France: Gabrielle Deydier on ‘grossophobia’ for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/10/gabrielle-deydier-fat-in-france-abuse-grossophobia-book-women
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1 hr 1 min
September 14, 2017 On speaking out against Woody Allen; and why women are still judged by appearance in the workplace
The High Low is a quarter of a century old (sort of) and to celebrate we have a ton of great reading recommendations for you - scroll down to see our favourite pieces of the week, including a piece on the rise and full of a Muslim cop at the NYPD in The New Yorker, everything you need to know about therapy by Hannah Ewans for Vice and the story of the 48-year-old intern, as seen at The Spectator. This week, we discuss Kate Winslet’s controversial comments (or lack thereof) when asked about working with Woody Allen. Should Hollywood actors seek to distance themselves from known paedophiles like Allen and Polanski; or does great art stand alone? We discuss ethics and responsibility... when your boss is a creep. Also work-related, the tech CEO who dyed her blonde hair brown, to be taken more seriously in the workplace. Have you ever toned down your looks, in an effort to get ahead? We discuss misogyny at work and why it’s important to hold your own.

You can e-mail The High Low [email protected], or tweet us @thehighlowshow. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to The High Low on iTunes - it helps boost us our ratings and allows other people to find us.

OH! And before you go: Dolly solved her phone storage issue. Thank fuck for that.

Books, shows & podcasts that we’ve been consuming this week:

The Most Dangerous Place On Earth, by Lindsey Lee Johnson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Dangerous-Place-Earth/dp/0451483987

The Trials of a Muslim Cop, by Rachel Aviv for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/11/the-trials-of-a-muslim-cop

The Girlfriend Experience, directed by Steven Soderbergh https://play.google.com/store/tv/show?id=7vM4RanppsI&cdid=tvseason-vo4wdThuG0ESdOZssmmlrw&gdid=tvepisode-BP6eerEBbsA

The 48-year-old intern, for The Spectator https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/09/at-48-and-with-my-three-boys-growing-up-fast-im-the-new-office-intern/

Hannah Ewans on therapy, for Vice https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/8xxyj3/everything-i-wish-id-been-told-before-starting-therapy

Nigella Lawson on home cooking, for The Sunday Times Magazine https://t.co/1wMDrLPw5C?amp=1

Daisy Buchanan on Woody Allen, for The Pool https://www.the-pool.com/news-views/opinion/2017/37/daisy-buchanan-on-famously-abusive-men-and-power

WTF episode with Lena Dunham, on Woody Allen: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Y-JWimJic

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58 min
September 06, 2017 L'Oreal's Race Row & The Danger With Safe Spaces
Dennis Rodman's strange new friendship with North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un; a deep-dive into the archive via Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg's interview with Ali G; and a most unfortunate story about a girl, a Tinder date, and a poo. It's our usual mixed bag on this week's episode of The High Low. Plus, did you know that purple was NOT Prince's favourite colour? On a not so light note, we discuss the thorny concept of 'safe spaces' in light of Oxford University's Vice Chancellor Louise Richardson's comments about homophobia at university (Dolly recommends this episode of Guys We Fucked for some interesting conversation on safe spaces https://m.soundcloud.com/guyswefucked/0155-09012017-nadine-strossen) and the sacking of Munroe Bergdorf, L'Oreal's first ever trans ambassador - after her comments on white privilege, post-Charlottesville. Plenty of recommendations from Pandora and a very hoarse Dolly this week: - Can I Be Me on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b094f49s - The Most Dangerous Place In The World by Lindsay Lee Johnson https://www.amazon.com/Most-Dangerous-Place-Earth-Novel/dp/0812997271 - Mariella Frostrup column - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/03/my-nephew-is-disabled-and-its-all-his-mothers-fault-mariella-frostrup - The Girlfriend Experience starring Riley Keogh https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/The_Girlfriend_Experience?id=bRMBVonjbOA&hl=en - Munroe Bergdorf interview on the L'Oreal race row in The Guardian https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/global/2017/sep/04/munroe-bergdorf-on-the-loreal-racism-row-it-puzzles-me-that-my-views-are-considered-extreme - Rod Liddle on freedom of speech for The Sunday Times Magazine: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/universities-are-a-safe-haven-from-censorship-a-sanctuary-of-free-speech-and-tolerance-pgpvqb7rv - @tanksgoodnews on Instagram - for restoring your faith in humanity Dolly also has a storage issue. If you have a particular knowledge of iCloud storage please do tweet @dollyalderton (NOT @pinsykes who'd rather eat her own foot than hear anything more about this) as Dolly desperately needs some guidance. Oh and if one more person sends Pandora a press release about Kate Middleton's morning sickness, she will scream. No, she is not writing a story about Kate Middleton's morning sickness. Nor is Dolly. Because that would be a very dull, very short story. You can e-mail us [email protected] and tweet us @thehighlowshow. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The High Low on iTunes.
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53 min
August 30, 2017 That Taylor Swift Song & Macron's €8,000 Make-Up Habit
It’s Dolly’s birthday today! And as if in celebration, The High Low has hit half a million downloads. Listen to Pandora sing happy birthday to Dolly and the two discuss Hilary Mantel’s epic piece on Princess Diana and 'the princess myth' for The Guardian and Alan Yentob’s BBC interview with Margaret Atwood.Also today, some deep-dive discussion into Taylor Swift’s record-breaking new tune (43.2million YouTube downloads in 24 hours) and whether it’s self-aware and brave, or gauche and obvious. One thing’s for sure: Taylor ain't pretending to play nice anymore. Playing nice, at least with make-up, is French President Emmanuel Macron, whose make-up regime have been revealed as costing €8,000 and then a further €10,000. Is he wearing bespoke presidential foundation? Or lasering his ball sack with the finest lasers in the land? The High Low discusses if this is a gendered issue (yes) and whether Theresa May would get away with spending £18,000 of public funding on her fizzy. Fun facts from today’s Top Line: in a brand alignment like no others, Julien McDonald is making diamante burger boxes for McDonald’s; and soft cheese could be making your head smaller. Oh, and do you have Prosecco gums? Dolly might do. Don’t forget to rate review and subscribe on iTunes and do tweet us @thehighlowshow and e-mail us [email protected]:Here's The Thing With Alec Baldwin interviews Lawrence Wright: http://www.wnyc.org/story/lawrence-wright/ Alan Yentob interviews Margaret Atwood: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b093tw95/imagine-summer-2017-2-margaret-atwood-you-have-been-warned Hilary Mantel's piece on Princess Diana: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/26/the-princess-myth-hilary-mantel-on-diana Heart podcast mini-series on sexual consent: http://www.theheartradio.org/no-episodes/ Score by Jilly Cooper https://www.amazon.co.uk/Score-Jilly-Cooper-OBE/dp/0552156361Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants by Jill Soloway: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiny-Ladies-Shiny-Pants-Soloway/dp/1785032860/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504119762&sr=1-1&keywords=tiny+ladies+in+shiny+pants Ariel Levy's interview on Fresh Air: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/01/540822381/i-was-somebodys-mother-reflections-on-the-guilt-and-grief-of-miscarriage Laura Snapes for Elle.com on Taylor Swift http://www.elle.com/culture/music/news/a47694/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-video-analysis/Decoding the disses of Taylor Swift in the Guardian, by Jake Nevins https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/28/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-music-videoWho Killed Taylor Swift in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/who-killed-taylor-swift/537990/The Women's Hour discussion of Taylor Swift and celebrity female rivalry: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b092956j
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1 hr 7 min