Lockdown reads: Great journalism and writing you might have missed, part 3 (February 2020)

A picture operating at many levels here

We've reached February 2020 in this look back at great journalism and writing you might have missed.

We begin with the excellent Narratively, who ran this quirky piece by Rachel Veroff about a female millennial war re-enactor back in February.

A piece that feels particularly relevant at the moment was another piece they ran in their Secret Lives section about how a hard, brutal job led to a wider series of discoveries. This is What I Learned About Life at a Company That Deals In Dead Bodies by Sabra Boyd. You might find it a bit near the knuckle at the moment, but while it's dark, it is a fantastic read.

Trans visibility day happened in March, but largely went unnoticed amongst all the Covid-19 chaos. Back in February, Narratively (those guys again!) ran an excellent first person essay by Cooper Lee Bombardier called How to Transition When Your Models of Masculinity Are Macho Biker Dudes. Again, as with all their best work, it's not what you think it's going to be, but it is great.

Over at Wicked Leeks, Nina Pullman wrote a profile of a new, sustainable plant milk company. Here's hoping that company is able to survive the current chaos.

Tattoo culture is a lot more mainstream than it used to be but, for many of us, the art of medical tattoos is closed book. This fascinating piece by Cara Anthony on Kaiser Health News brings it into closure focus.

And finally, Lynsey Hanley wrote a thoughtful piece about responsive transport filling the gaps in a broken bus network over at The Guardian.

Image by Brandon Nelson on Unsplash

Ibibio Sound Machine "Color in Your Cheeks"

Today is the UK's fourth #clapforcarers, and while I heartily support the campaign, it is proving logistically difficult for me to join in.

This old Victorian house is converted into six flats, ie, six different households. We have shared entrances, a staircase, garden and basement. But, because we are six different households, we can't - under social distancing rules - all stand at the front door, facing out onto the main road, and clap. Because that would be the equivalent of holding a party or barbecue: Big no no. I mean, we could go outside and try and stand two feet away from each other while we clapped, but that would be logistically difficult and probably attract the attention of various neighbours who, in turn, might well call the police so, again, no.

I could clap from within my flat but, because I'm at the back of the house and my windows are high up the wall, this would involve standing on a chair, leaning out of the window, clapping in solitude. Which feels a bit weird to be honest.

As such, I haven't got very far with the actual clapping yet. People are doing it around here but I can't actually see them doing it, just hear them vaguely in the distance.

Last week I posted a video of the Florence + The Machine version of 'Take Care' because I felt it fit the spirit of #clapforcarers, and I thought I'd try and continue the video posting tradition this week as well.

Ibibio Sound Machine's 'Color in your cheeks' might seem an odd choice, but I've been struck this week by another hashtag: #YouClapForMeNow, which reflects on both the hostile environment immigrants face in the UK, and the key worker roles many immigrants are filling in the UK. As well as being on the front line, there is some statistical evidence (I think there will more research done on this soon, or already being done on this) that BAME people may have a higher mortality rate than caucasian people when infected with Covid-19. An anonymous doctor wrote about these issues much more eloquently than I am able to this morning over on HuffPost.

There has been talk, much of it surface talk, that perhaps the UK government will re-evaluate what it considers to be a key worker when drawing up immigration laws in a post Brexit, but even if that is the case, a shift in attitude on behalf of the public would also be needed. #YouClapForMeNow taps into that need.

Podcast recommendations this week

Given the graveness of the pandemic, I've been thinking that what you might need this week is levity and quirkiness in your podcast listening rather than hard news. There are podcasts out there who are explicitly covering coronavirus, including the podcast formerly known as Brexitcast and Newscast, plus the daily update as provided by the World Service. I might look at them in a week or two but, for now, I'm going to focus on factual podcasts that are interesting, informative, a bit quirky, and a bit funny.

Last weeks Podcast Radio Hour, while focusing largely on religious content for Easter weekend, did include a mention of 99% Invisible, a design podcast that Amanda Litherland likes and has mentioned before. The episode she mentioned was 'Wipeout', which discussed the history of toilet paper. Beginning with pandemic panic buying, the episode provided a detailed, funny, informal history of the humble roll.

Taking a similarly sideways look at history and social phenomena is the '[Redacted]' episode of The British Library podcast Anything But Silent, which discussed censorship and libraries alongside weeding, library humour, and the Awful Books website. While this episode was released last summer, it's a great, timeless listen that provides a fascinating insight into library culture. Given that libraries are having to work in completely different ways under lockdown, with a much bigger emphasis on e-resources, online enquiries and social media to connect with readers, this podcast will continue to be a fascinating resource.

Image of headphones by Lee Campbell on Unsplash

Lockdown reads: Great journalism and writing you might have missed, part 2 (January 2020)

Some news is hotter than others

For part two of this series of roundup posts signposting great journalism and writing you might have missed, I'm looking at January 2020. It feels a lifetime ago now doesn't it?

The year started strongly with this searing critique of the response to the Australian wildfires over at Heated. Emily Atkin's newsletter is for people who are "pissed off about the climate crisis" and it's her anger that has often led to her best journalism, as was very much the case in this piece, enticingly titled The tragedy of the climate dildos.

The rest of the UK was largely oblivious to this story when it exploded across Greater Manchester in January, but Jennifer Williams at the Manchester Evening News was determined to ensure that no one forgot Victoria Agoglia, the fifteen year old girl in the care of Manchester Council who died after being injected with heroin. Her story was part of a much bigger one, and as with Emily Atkin's piece, this piece by Jen is another example of anger fuelling fantastic journalism. Jen also wrote a piece on the wider ramifications of Victoria, and others, treatment for The Guardian a few days later.

To conclude todays roundup, I'd like to add that Narratively provided another fantastic personal essay in January in the form of the arrestingly titled How Stripping in Gay Bars Brought Me Back To God by Court Stroud. Give it a read, it's really not the clichéd born again tale you think it's going to be: It's much more nuanced, complicated, and relatable than that.

Image by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash

Patricia Lalor - 13th Of January

The delicately complex, sophisticated and overall poignantly gorgeous '13th January' is taken from Patricia Lalor's new EP, Sleep Talk, which was released yesterday.

Patricia is a fourteen year old singer/songwriter from Dublin who began her career at the age of eleven when she started uploading her cover versions of songs she liked to her YouTube channel, leading to praise from Hozier (whose song 'Cherry Wine' she covered) amongst others.

The PR team newly promoting Lalor's work have described her sound as being "like a cross between Billie Eilish, The Big Moon and SOAK" and it's hard to come up with a better shorthand for her sound to be honest. There is nothing derivative in her music, but there are echoes of the wistfulness expressed by Eilish in her quieter, more stripped down moments, just as there is the pretty melancholy of SOAK and a low key indie pop guitar sound not unlike The Big Moon.

That said, Lalor has clearly taken the time over the past three years to hone her own sound and the result is delicate, complex, pared down songwriting that showcases her growing talents. She is definitely one to watch.

Lorde - Team

Lorde's debut album, Pure Heroine, is still an absolute pop classic. I remember hearing 'Team' in the supermarket last year, and being annoyed by teenage boys going 'oooooh!' to take the piss out of the high notes, which spoiled things a bit. Heaven forbid their shopping should be tainted by a girl singer with a good song. 'Team' feels like a good song to revisit right now as it conveys a real sense of camaraderie and solidarity, which I think we could do with at the moment.

Florence and the Machine - Take Care (Radio 1 Live Lounge Special)

Yesterday the early morning radio goddess that is Lauren Laverne was asking for nominations for this weeks People's Playlist, the collaboratively compiled soundtrack that celebrates something in the news each week. Today's people's playlist, which went out on Lauren's 6Music show this morning, was themed around #clapforcarers, and Lauren wanted appropriate songs that also featured clapping. I'm not sure 'Take Care' would be the most obvious choice, but it kind of fits lyrically, and there is clapping on the track, what with it being a live recording.

Ever since I compiled last months playlist for Sticks'N'Strings, I've found myself returning to the Florence + The Machine version of Drake and Rihanna's 'Take Care', which the band recorded as part of a live session for Radio 1 back in late 2011, not long after Ceremonials had been released. This live take on 'Take Care' would later turn up on the deluxe version of the album.

At least one other artist has covered 'Take Care', and it does seem to be a song that lends itself to multiple artistic interpretations. Here, it's given the full F+TM treatment while retaining its dance pop roots, with Welch's vocal starting quiet and subdued before building up to a powerful sustained vocal finish.

You have to actually wait a moment for the applause to kick in. It's like the audience were just standing there, stunned.