It’s been a few months, so here are some fresh reading recommendations from book to screen, be your appetite political, fictional, or historical:
Two texts I’m pretty happy to be mentioning here – Le Guin’s work is something we should treasure. Source & Source.
Books:
– The Earthsea Series, by Ursula K Le Guin.
Personally, I find when engaging with problematic authors or writing there’s a good rule of thumb: whatever it was you liked about the work, there’s going to be someone else out there who did it that well too, who wasn’t problematic or bigoted. If you love magic, wizards, and fantasy but don’t like transphobia or other bigotry, Earthsea is for you. A series I discovered as youngling thanks to teachers, it’s stuck with me a long time. I can’t speak for all the work in the setting, but the core works of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore are all fantastic and wonderful texts. It’s one of a handful of series that still amaze me when I reread it; if you need a good fiction series that’ll make you wonder and maybe (like me) tear up, give this a go.
– Life in a Medieval Village, by Francis Gies and Joseph Gies.
It’s arguably impossible to know exactly what the world used to be like, but books like this one are one of the best ways we can try. Francis and Joseph pour extensively over the life and times of a single village in England, and use it (along with other cases) to give some framework for what the world was like for the medieval lower class, from food and shelter to legal troubles and work schedules. There are some things you’d expect, but plenty of surprises – for one thing, quite a number of fines were waived out of mercy to the poor and destitute, something we might do well to implement today. If you tend to wonder about the medieval life or how the world has changed, find it and read it.
It’s good fun to see actors with great chemistry talking about aspects of aging we sometimes gloss over – I wouldn’t call it perfect, but they do a good job. Source.
Television:
– Grace and Frankie
I feel very late to the party on this one. A show about two women who, in their seventies, have to rebuild their lives after their respective husbands reveal a decades-long affair and divorce them. It’s a series about aging, about life, and about enduring friendship. For me, one of the biggest draws here though is in the casting – it’s rare to see a show with so many Bonafide progressives involved, but Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson all have backgrounds fighting for various progressive values and causes. Sometimes serious and often very funny, it’s absolutely worth watching, and makes for an excellent comfort show to watch when your cosy on the couch.
– The Good Place
A show about philosophy, death, and heaven, amongst other things. Someone dies and goes to “the good place” (essentially heaven), but might just be there by mistake. I won’t say too much more because the story is told wonderfully and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you! It also delves into a fair bit of philosophical topics and engages with some weighty topics at times, though it is still mostly a comedy. I don’t know if I agree with all of its premises and its underlying worldview on people and the afterlife, but I do think it’s thought-provoking and was fun both as a first time viewer, and on a rewatch. If you’ve not seen it, or not rewatched it, I recommend it – there’s a lot of easter eggs and clever things going on in the background.
This is a show willing to surprise you, move fast, and knows what story it wants to tell. For a show about dead people, it’s pretty lively. Source.
Online figures (Youtube):
– Jessie Gender
A wonderful creator whose video I referenced not long ago, Jessie has made videos on topics ranging from Star Trek and Star Wars to Fascism and Transphobia. Engaging and able to link up the worlds of art and politics, she offers a lot of earnest heart and energy into her work and regularly puts into words things I’d struggle to explain. Her work on fascism and authoritarianism is fantastic and helps contextualise a lot of what’s happening in the world right now. As a whole, the channel is high production and engaging, and it’s worth a watch or three.
Video to watch: No, Charlie Kirk was not a Good Man – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8P4IRRJ328&t=866s
– Shaun
Honestly, there’s a possibility you know Shaun already – he’s been around a while and made a lot of great videos. There’s stuff about history, about media from videogames to movies, and some excellent analyses on politics and the rise of the far right. He’s got a great video on the Harry Potter series, an old one of the Charlottsville rally in 2017 that lays bare the reality of the American far right, and a personal favourite of mine, a deep dive into the use of nuclear bombs in World War two. Admittedly some of his videos are pretty long, but they’re well researched and easy to get lost in. I won’t fault you if it’s not quite your thing (he is pretty dry sometimes), but it’s definitely worth checking to see.
Video to watch: Dropping the Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCRTgtpC-Go&t=2065s
– Zoe Bee
Hey do you like art, literature, technology, politics, and social commentary? If yes, this channel is for you! Zoe is a talented creator with experience in writing and education, who often finds fascinating topics to tease apart and reflect on. As a non-American, her work has helped me understand the issues and stakes in the USA, especially in the realm of schooling, and to realise the escalating dangers in US politics. I’ve also enjoyed her commentary on AI and some of the problems in how we’re adopting it, using it, and developing it. Tune in and enjoy, it’s good stuff.
Video to Watch: Why AI Writing isn’t as good as you think – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKrfCgWM3Tk
The Teaspoon Brigade 
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