The C&TH Culture Radar: March Edition
By
1 month ago
Here's what we're loving this month
From a novel retelling a Greek myth to Dune at the BFI, we are brimming with recommendations this month. Here’s what we’re loving as spring arrives.
Our Cultural Recommendations This Month
We’re Reading…
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Tessa Dunthorne: I just read Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes – I’ve read a bit of her non-fiction work and I think she might have had the coolest career ever – and I feel a bit desolated now that it’s over. Stone Blind is a retelling of Medusa’s story and it’s a gut punch of a book, exploring how much agency women get in Greek myths and what it really means to be a monster. She’s deft with language throughout, making distinct multiple narrative voices, and it’s also fantastical (in the way a myth should be). Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood rate this book, so it comes recommended by two literary giants – and I cannot recommend enough for fans of Circes and The Song Of Achilles.
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Olivia Emily: I was scared going into this: I found Eleanor Catton’s Booker Prize winning The Luminaries overwhelmingly (intentionally?) obtuse, but Birnam Wood – a novel about guerilla gardening – is incredibly zippy and inhalable, with reams and reams of internal monologues I’m finding it tricky to tear myself away from. I’m about a third of the way through, and so far very good.
We Recommend Watching…
Dune 2
Tessa: I’m seeing Dune 2 at the BFI IMAX very soon and I’m anticipating neck ache.
Painkiller, Netflix
Rebecca: It’s a Sunday night. I’m tired after a weekend of seeing friends, parenting and trying to get life in order. But mostly, I’m angry, after listening to the news for too long and wondering how personal, corporate and governmental greed overrides humanity time and time again. So I decide to switch off from reality, run a bath and watch Netflix. Netflix suggests 2023 series hit Painkiller, alongside an image of a beautiful blonde lady with a swishy ponytail. I hit play. But this dramatisation of the events and people that led to the OxyContin crisis in America delivers more of the same. Gripping, evocative, infuriating and, ironically, painful. Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick are brilliant, so if you can stand it, it’s well worth a watch.
Paris Fashion Week
Charlie Colville: I’ve been watching runway recaps from Paris Fashion Week – what a season! I think my highlights so far have been Seán McGirr’s runway debut as Alexander McQueen’s new Creative Director, and Nicolas Ghesquière’s 10-year-anniversary show with Louis Vuitton.
Coco, Disney
Olivia: Trapped on a 13 hour flight recently (!) with a seriously lacking film selection, I indulged in Disney’s Coco. It’s a magical exploration of Mexico’s Day of the Dead. I highly recommend.
We’re Listening To…
The Shameless Podcast
Tessa: I’m about to embark on the 3-6 hour marathon that is the Shameless podcast on Taylor Swift. I’m now sick of listening to Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell when I’m exercising, so I need a change and light relief from election discourse.
Lady Killers by Lucy Worsley
Charlie: A rather apt recommendation to make with International Women’s Day happening this month. This is the third season of Worsley’s podcast series delving into the lives and crimes of women from the 19th and 20th century, told through a contemporary, feminist perspective by a team of female detectives. A good one to binge if you haven’t listened before.
Doing
Marathon Training
Tessa: Dying. I’m doing a half marathon in 2 weeks’ time. I have thus far only run 14k at longest. I am simply going to die.
