Welcome back to the summer term, High Lowers! We recap some news and bring you a boat load of televisual, podcast and - mainly - book recommendations. Plus, Dolly falls for the ultimate whale hoax/ocean con. Enjoy.

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American Marriage, by Tarayi Jones

This is The Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett

My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Three Women, by Lisa Taddeo

Bad Behaviour, by Mary Gaitskill

Trick Mirror, by Jill Tolentino

Guantanamo's Darkest Secret, by Ben Taub for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/22/guantanamos-darkest-secret

Undercover, on BBC iPlayer

This Is Us, Series 2, on Amazon Prime

Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: https://amzn.to/2J5VoGO

A Half-baked Idea by Olivia Potts https://amzn.to/2DH9GtZ

One Day by David Nicholls: https://amzn.to/2VBXeWA

Close To Where The Heart Gives Out by Dr Malcolm Alexander https://amzn.to/2J6y2Rp

Terrific Mother by Lorrie Moore: https://amzn.to/2WdSPWJ

How To Become a Writer by Lorrie Moore: http://www.sfuadcnf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/How-to-Become-a-Writer-Lorrie-Moore.pdf 

Fortunately With Fi and Jane: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04x5pd7/episodes/downloads 

Glenda Jackson on Fresh Air: https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2019/04/23/716229468 

David Tenant does a podcast with Tina Fey: https://bit.ly/2ZNpdSz

Private Life: https://www.netflix.com/title/80168222 

Don't Think Twice: https://www.netflix.com/title/80103372

My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/my-finest-work-yet/1449649405 

Molly Parkin on The Last Bohemians: https://www.thelastbohemians.co.uk/molly

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We discuss Lorraine Kelly’s “performative construct”, Dolly’s piece about I’m In Trouble syndrome and what we don’t know - and need to know - about women in prison, rehabilitation and reform. 

And we deep-dive into perfectionism, failure and why society needs to re-frame the idea of “childless” women, with novelist and High Low returning guest, Elizabeth Day, whose memoir How To Fail comes out on April 4th. 

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The High Low is now on Easter holidays. We’ll be back in May! 

How To Fail, by Elizabeth Day https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-fail/elizabeth-day//9780008327323?awc=3787_1553638468_1a3ae434886bc59cdb0f76a91f73672c&utm_source=176013&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Shopping+FM

Brave, Not Perfect, by Reshma Saujani https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561367/brave-not-perfect-by-reshma-saujani/9781524762339/

Inheritance, by Dani Shapiro https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554262/inheritance-by-dani-shapiro/9781524732714/

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant, by Joel Golby https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Joel-Golby/Brilliant-Brilliant-Brilliant-Brilliant-Brilliant--Modern/21821485

Jailbirds, by Mim Skinner https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/titles/mim-skinner/jailbirds/9781841883328/

On the enduring feeling that you’re doing something wrong, by Dolly Alderton for The Sunday Times Style https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dolly-alderton-on-that-enduring-feeling-that-you-ve-done-something-wrong-ckl8wpj6s

MotherFatherSon on BBC iPlayer 

Hell Yes, I’m Tough Enough fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ben-alderton

Emilia at The Vaudeville Theatre: https://www.nimaxtheatres.com/shows/emilia/

After Life on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80998491

The emotional life of primates: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/fresh-air/id214089682?mt=2&i=1000432961859

Interviews with Cat Marnell: https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/cat-marnell-money-book-deal.html

https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/cat-marnell-how-to-murder-your-life.html

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We ring up director Dan Reed to discuss his sensational documentary, Leaving Neverland, which is all anyone else is talking about. We deep-dive into the allegations against Michael Jackson - so long, brushed over - and what Reed's documentary teaches us about child sex abuse, trauma, grooming, the aura of celebrity and how the internet has changed popular culture - and accountability - for the better.

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SARC information: https://twitter.com/Essex_SARC​

To The Woman, an Audible Originals series https://adbl.co/2HwwPTC

Ordinary People, by Diane Evans https://bit.ly/2OhAK6Z

Life Itself, on Sky or Amazon Prime

Dirty John, on Netflix and podcast, by The LA Times https://lat.ms/2ui8mIW

Louis Theroux, The Night In Question https://bbc.in/2ES7C3f

Color and Light, by Sally Rooney for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/18/color-and-light

Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog, by Emily Dean https://bit.ly/2HIVTGf

 Calypso, by David Sedaris https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/David-Sedaris/Calypso/23638009

Is Jair Bolsonaro the New Trump of South America? By Matt Sandy for GQ https://bit.ly/2TeTYLH  

Eva Wiseman on flying with babies, for The Guardian https://bit.ly/2UK82hw

 Leaving Neverland, on Channel 4 https://bit.ly/2C626Z8

What Michael Jackson sold us: https://bit.ly/2FiRXJb

Michael Jackson's trick was to groom an entire culture, by Emma Brockes for The Guardian https://bit.ly/2JrGaxy

A Day of Reckoning for Michael Jackson, by Amanda Petrusich for The New Yorker https://bit.ly/2HbTovK  

Leaving Neverland and Surviving R.Kelly Ask Too Much of Victims, by Nylah Burton for Vulture https://bit.ly/2Y9W2Iv  

Dan Reed interview, by Jonathan Dean for The Sunday Times Culture https://bit.ly/2UMKSr4  

Dan Reed interview, by Bilge Ebiri for Vulture https://bit.ly/2IcPHYT  

Tracy Emin at The White Cube https://whitecube.com/exhibitions/exhibition/tracey_emin_bermondsey_2019

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert: https://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Girls-Elizabeth-Gilbert/dp/1408867044/ref=nodl_

Elizabeth Gilbert on Hello Monday: https://apple.co/2FoQZwm

Marlon James on Desert Island Discs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003cqx

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*** PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded several days before it was announced that Shamima Begum's baby had died, which is why it is not discussed in this episode ***

This is one of the most important - and certainly prescient - author specials we’ve ever had. The journalist and author Fatima Bhutto (the niece and granddaughter of two Pakistani Prime Ministers and the daughter of a political exile) joins us to discuss her new novel, The Runaways, about the radicalisation of 3 teenagers. As the Shamima Begum - and now Hoda Muthana - citizenship furore gains momentum, we discuss what lures teenagers to the Islamic State, what the West doesn’t understand about radicalisation and the problem with pitting the East, and West against one another. As Fatima says, “who decided that freedom is a Western value? Or that tolerance is a Western value? Why can’t it be an Eastern value, too?” 

The Runaways, by Fatima Bhutto https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/308/308064/the-runaways/9780241346990.html

Shamima Begum’s image problem, by Caitlin Moran for The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/caitlin-moran-isis-brides-image-problem-6njvqhlxx

Rukmini Callimachi’s tweet series on Hoda Muthana https://mobile.twitter.com/rcallimachi/status/1098315438478540801?lang=en

Meatmarket, by Juno Dawson (out May 2019) https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/meat-market/9781786540386

Fleabag Series 2, on BBC iPlayer now 

Documentary about The Ponds https://www.thepondsfilm.com/about

Whatever Happened To Rachel - One From The Vaults https://m.soundcloud.com/onefromthevaultspodcast/oftv-1-whatever-happened-to-rachel-1

Three Identical Strangers https://www.channel4.com/programmes/three-identical-strangers/episode-guide/

The Marianne Faithfull story https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00030w3

Jim Nicholson remembered on Fresh Air https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/fresh-air/id214089682?mt=2&i=1000430902937

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We’re live from Pandora jewellery’s flagship store in London on Friday 1st March, in partnership with Ovacome for Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Aaaand this week we bring you Emma Thompson’s open letter to The LA Times after she quit an animated movie in protest against the studio’s new hire (a man accused of multiple counts of sexual harassment) and we do a deep-dive into self-discipline. Pandora’s discovered the Pomodoro technique; but is Dolly a fan of self-imposed rules? Take a listen and find out. 

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You, Me & The Big C, a BBC podcast https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/you-me-and-the-big-c-putting-the-can-in-cancer/id1356165446?mt=2

Camping, on Sky Atlantic 

This Time with Alan Partridge, on BBC iPlayer

Emma Thompson’s Open Letter to The LA Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-emma-thompson-john-lasseter-skydance-20190226-story.html%3foutputType=amp

How I Hacked My Most-Used Apps to Calculate My Day Rate, by Anna Codrea-Rado for Contently.Net https://contently.net/2019/02/21/resources/rates/how-i-hacked-my-most-used-apps-to-calculate-my-day-rate/

Relationship Advice From 3 Older Women, by Iman Hariri-Kia for Man Repeller https://www.manrepeller.com/2019/02/older-women-relationship-dating-advice.html

The Joy of Being A Woman in Her 70s by Mary Pipher for The NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/12/opinion/sunday/women-older-happiness.amp.html

Zadie Smith on Touré Show podcast https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cadence13/toure-show/e/53184632

The Secret Life of Spaghetti on Radio 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002rk8 

Russian Doll on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80211627

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The High Low turns TWO this week! Excuse us while we wallow in (the admittedly shallow) nostalgia of it all.

This week we discuss the Oscars; the ongoing case of Shamima Begum’s citizenship; the Insta-tributes to Karl Lagerfeld; and the Martin Scorsese fan who wants to erase a film ending he doesn’t like. Where does our ability to meme popular culture end; and how will it affect problematic art? Is Animal Hospital without Rolf, just a koala hanging in mid-air? 

Today we have an author special with Candice Carty-Williams, whose debut novel, Queenie, has been making waves ahead of its publication (published by Trapeze on 11th April.) Queenie is the young black female protagonist you’ve been hoping for - and the book is funny, raw and wise in equal measure. 

Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams. Pre-order the Waterstones exclusive https://www.waterstones.com/book/queenie/candice-carty-williams/9781409180050

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert (out June 2019) 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Girls-Elizabeth-Gilbert/dp/1408867044/ref=nodl_

Lorena, on Amazon Prime

David Remnick on TBD with Tina Brown https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/tbd-with-tina-brown/id1441327188?mt=2&i=1000430163514

Johann Hari on The Joe Rogan Experience with Joe Rogan https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-joe-rogan-experience/id360084272?mt=2&i=1000430287073

How Trump Made Andrea Dworkin Relevant Again, by Michelle Goldberg for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/opinion/sunday/trump-feminism-andrea-dworkin.amp.html

Dani Shapiro on writing a memoir (2016), for The New York Times 

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/books/review/when-you-write-a-memoir-readers-think-they-know-you-better-than-they-do.amp.html

Do The Jews Own Anxiety? By Daniel Smith (2012) for The New York Times

https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/do-the-jews-own-anxiety/

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*** PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded about 8 hours before it was announced that Shamima Begum had been denied entry back to the UK and was stripped of her British citizenship.***

This week, we discuss the most flammable news story of the week: the return of Shamima Begum, the 19 year old Londoner who fled to the Islamic State 4 years ago and returned to have her 3rd baby in the UK. Home Secretary Sajid Javid wants to deny her entry - but should a humane society seek to rehabilitate? We also discuss the idea that “young women do not know their own minds” and why vulnerability does not negate agency. 

Also this week, we discuss the allegations against singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, and why the ‘tortured artist’ trope is tired and misogynistic. 

Plus, Jenna Coleman’s interview gone viral, creepy finger grapes and Dolly’s favourite new musical.

I Met Fear On A Hill, by Leslie Jamison for The Paris Review https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/7318/i-met-fear-on-the-hill-leslie-jamison

In Search of Equilibrium, by Theresa Lola http://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/in%20search%20of%20equilibrium.html

The Sisterhood, by Daisy Buchanan https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sisterhood/daisy-buchanan/9781472238856

Roma, on Netflix now 

The possibility of redemption is central to a humane society, by Kenan Malik for The Observer https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/17/possibility-of-redemption-is-central-to-a-humane-society-shamima-begum

Shamima doesn’t look like anyone’s victim, by Janice Turner for The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shamima-doesn-t-look-like-anyone-s-victim-whtkc9qln

Anthony Lloyd discusses Shamima Begum https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/shamima-begum-isis-bride

Shamima Begum interview with Quentin Sommerville for BBC News https://youtu.be/TGAxm6KJTWE

A Love Letter to realism in a time of grief: https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_pollock_and_simone_george_a_love_letter_to_realism_in_a_time_of_grief?language=en

Rosita Boland’s investigative piece on Ann Lovett’s boyfriend Richard McDonnell for The Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/i-was-ann-lovett-s-boyfriend-1.3484311?mode=amp 

Daisy Jones and The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daisy-Jones-Taylor-Jenkins-Reid/dp/1786331519/ref=nodl_ 

Anna Leszkiewicz on Johnny Depp for The New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2018/10/johnny-depp-gq-cover-domestic-abuse-allegations

Laura Snapes on Ryan Adams for The...

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We couldn't not discuss Liam Neeson's race row and The New Yorker long-read setting the publishing world alight: about best-selling novelist Dan Mallory, aka AJ Finn, who built his career on an extensive web of lies. How did it take a decade for anyone to see through his deception? And what does it tell us about the publishing world - and ourselves?

Also today, we discuss Valentine's Day (and reveal our best and worst and our plans for this year), the diversity of vaginas and the M&S love sausage.

Vagina: A Re-Education, by Lynn Enright https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/lgbt-gender-studies/vagina-a-reeducation,lynn-enright-9781911630012

A Suspense Novelist’s Trail is Deception, by Ian Parker for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/11/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of-deceptions/amp

Why I Photographed 100 Vaginas, by Laura Dodsworth for The BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Why_I_Photographed_100_Vulvas

Rachel Cooke on Dan Mallory for The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/10/we-rush-to-condemn-fakers-such-as-dan-mallory-world-has-made-impostors-of-us-all

Otegha Uwagba’s In Good Company podcast with Abigail Bergstrom https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/otegha-uwagba/id1294215581?mt=2&i=1000426027620

TBD with Tina Brown interview with Laura Wasser https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/tbd-with-tina-brown/id1441327188?mt=2&i=1000428209917

Josh Barrie eats the Love Sausage for iNews https://www.inews.co.uk/news/consumer/love-sausage-m-and-s-valentines-day-2019-taste-test-review/amp/ 

The Last Days Of August https://www.audible.co.uk/?ref=Adbl_ip_rdr_from_US&source_code=AUK30DFT1BkWS010516905U&ipRedirectFrom=US&ipRedirectOriginalURL=pd%2FThe-Last-Days-of-August-Audiobook%2FB07JK61MK3

Richard E Grant on Awards Chatter  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/awards-chatter/id1039032256?mt=2&i=1000429288454

Camping, on Sky Atlantic 

True West, at the Vaudeville Theatre in London 

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We’re back! Have you missed us? Dolly’s tits-deep in her Everything I Know About Love tour (buy tickets here: faneproductions.com/dolly and the paperback is out now) and Pandora’s essay, The Authentic Lie, for independent crowd-funding publisher, The Pound Project, is now open for pledging. Buy in online or mini book form, here! (Plus, there’s a foreword by Elizabeth Day.) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poundproject/the-pound-project-part-four-pandora-sykes

This week we discuss everything we’ve been enjoying since Christmas - what we’ve been watching, listening to and reading (a lot.) It’s all listed below. Sign the The High Low’s sub-editor and freelance journalist Anna Codrea Rado’s brilliant open letter to the media, to secure #FairPayForFreelancers http://bit.ly/fairpayforfreelancers. Donate to help The Pool's staff and freelancers get paid: https://www.gofundme.com/help-the-pool-staff-and-freelancers-get-paid?pc=&rcid=r01-154905562015-fce176adade44eb7 

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Books 

Notes To Self, by Emilie Pine 

Ordinary People, by Diana Evans

All That Man Is, by David Szalay

Becoming, by Michelle Obama

Duped, by Abby Ellin

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

Once More We Saw Stars, by Jayson Greene

Vox, by Christina Dalcher

Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult

A Spark of Light, by Jodi Picoult

My Year or Rest and Relaxation, by Odessa Moshfegh 

Swan Song, by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott

Bottled Goods, by Sophie van Llewyn

Putney, by Sofka Zinovieff

Instead of a Letter, by Diana Athill 

The Orange, by Wendy Cope 

Watching & Listening

Bros: After The Screaming Stops, available on BBC iPlayer

Origins With James Andrew Miller, on Sex And The City 

Bohemian Rhapsody, at cinemas now

The Favourite, at cinemas now

Mary Poppins Returns, at cinemas now 

Emily Blunt, interviewed on Fresh Air 

Alison Janney, on WTF

Sex Education, on Netflix now

Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, on Netflix now 

Wendy Cope, on Desert Island Discs

Diana Athill, on Desert Island Discs 

Journalism 

Lauren Bravo for foodism https://foodism.co.uk/features/long-reads/romantic-food-myths-and-realities/ 

The World of Nora Ephron: a reading list https://foodism.co.uk/features/long-reads/romantic-food-myths-and-realities/ 

The Ten best life mantras of Diana Athill: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/10-best-life-mantras-brilliant-author-diana-athill/ 

Diana Athill interviewed for The Lenny Letter: https://www.lennyletter.com/story/diana-athill-interview

Dolly's songs about places playlist -

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It’s our favourite time of year: Betwixtmas. We hope you’re face-planted on the sofa, whilst we waltz down your ears with this end of year episode. Dolly devises a very silly quiz which *sort* of refers to things that happened in 2018 and sort of includes rogue personal questions about her internet provider. The High Low is taking a winter holiday, so here’s what’s on our bookshelf to devour — whilst the pod is sunning itself with a cocky by the pool, restoring and renewing its energy for a new term in February. 

The Milkman, by Anna Burns

Kudos, by Rachel Cusk

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant, by Joel Golby

Becoming, by Michelle Obama

Notes to Self, by Emilie Pine

The Parisian, by Isabella Hammad 

Vox, by Christine Dalcher

Diary of a Somebody, by Brian Bilston

Duped: Double Lives, False Identities, and the Con Man I Almost Married, by Abby Ellin

A Spark of Light, by Jodi Picoult

Sweet, Fruit, Sour, Land by Rebecca Ley

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The High Low will be back in early February! 

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