The High Low

The chicken nugget Reddit scandal and our favourite polls from the week including what is no longer selling in shops (drones and suspenders) and what not to say on a date.And of course, it's the Wagatha Christie scandal. Coleen Rooney masked as Poirot outed fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy as the person she believed to be leaking false stories about her to the tabloids. Coleen social's media post went viral and soon Netflix were wondering if they should launch a series about it, Keira Knightley offered to play Coleen, and Paul Rudd just looked baffled. How and why did this story gather such extraordinary reach? Is it anything to do with feminism? What does it say about the way celebrities now use social media? And our perception of WAGs? And DID SHE DO IT?The High Low is now on tour - thank you to everyone who came to the Barbican on the 12th, see some more of you in Dublin on the 20th!E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet@thehighlowshowLinksRonan Farrow interview, by Emma Brockes for The Guardian https

It's a big week for the food chains: Pizza Express - every millennial's favourite nostalgic restaurant - is in chronic debt; and Rory Stewart has pledged allegiance to Pret. We talk loos and why women spend 2.3 times as long in the loo as men, the return of our favourite podcast, Dear Joan and Jericha, Jason Donovan's turn as a fire fighter and Rod Stewart's heroic move, after a couple's wedding was scuppered by the Thomas Cook crash. Also today, Prince Harry's letter to the tabloids and Meghan's lawsuit against The Mail on Sunday, about the paparazzi bullying of his wife, Meghan (and the leaking of Thomas Markle's letter) which he compares to the plight of his mother, Princess Diana and calls, "history repeating itself". The royal biographers are muttering into their bone china tea cups, but is his voluble emotion - and fury - justified, or will it prove counter-productive?And Dolly has found a poll about politeness. Do British people spend more money on being polite? E-mail thehighlowshow@gma

Greta Thunberg gave an emotional speech at the UN Climate Summit in NYC, Sally Challen did her first video interview about emotional abuse and coercive control to Sky News since she was cleared of murdering her husband in July and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry became Dolly's new hero after her vibey turn at the Labour party conference. In shocking news, the inventor of the labradoodle has admitted that he regrets creating the hybrid dog and Demi Moore has released a sizzling autobiography about her marriage to Ashton Kutcher. This week we have an author special with Amrou Al-Kadhi. The Iraqi-Brit drag queen known as Glamrou of the drag troupe Denim, they are the author of a new coming-of-age memoir, Unicorn, about navigating a queer identity within a religion that considers homosexuality a crime. They talk about intersectionality, family, the act of transforming pain into pleasure via drag, discovering Sufism and seeking acceptance.The High Low Experience starts next week

It’s a riot of celebrity news this week: Madonna, J-Lo and Brad n Leo’s sarnie dates. Whole gang’s here. Plus: Mark Ronson’s sapiosexuality, Fleabag’s Emmy sweep, Thomas Cook’s crash and Justin Trudeau’s blackface scandal. Also this week: we discuss male vs female vanity (klaxon: men look in the mirror more than women) and Debrett’s etiquette guide for Facebook messenger. What does this (slightly hilarious) meeting of minds tell us about how desperately we need digital etiquette? We discuss online communication in the age of the constant feedback loop. We’re going on tour and we want your stories! Send us your best yarns - funny, moving, shocking, riveting - to the e-mail address below.And for those of you who still want tickets to The High Low Experience - there are a few left for our Manchester show: www.faneproductions.com/our-shows/the-high-low-experienceE-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow LinksTalking To Strangers, by Malcolm GladwellState of the Union, on BBC iP

It's always good to start with a jolly, and this time we've found a woman who wore a dinosaur costume to her sister's wedding. Also today, we play a clip from Chanel Miller, the "Emily Doe" of the Brock Turner sexual assault case, whose memoir is soon to be published, and discuss the shocking news that domestic abuse is at a 5-year high in the UK. This week Pandora has devoured She Said, the book by the Pulitzer prizewinning journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, followed by that of Christine Blasey Ford. We discuss their impact on MeToo, *that* leaked Lisa Bloom memo and their thoughts on the Believe All Women hashtag.We also discuss Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Tarantino's fictional re-telling of the Manson murders and the personal essay that 'broke' the internet: by the Instagram ghost-writer, Natalie Beach, which we received an unprecedented amount of requests to cover. What does the enthusiasm for this story - it was in the UK's top 5 tweets - tell us about

Dolly's found an emotional support horse called Flirty; Pandora is in love with a Twitter thread about what it was really like to work in HMV. And - gird your loins - Thatcher Wine has done his FIRST INTERVIEW. It's predictably surreal.Today we host comedian Jen Brister, the author of The Other Mother, published by Square Peg at Penguin Random House, about same sex relationships and being not the biological mother to her twin boys, but "the other one". We talk parenthood, partnership and the pressure of having to come out all over again, as a gay mother.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshowLinksThe Other Mother, by Jen Brister https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1116917/the-other-mother/9781910931967The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-testaments/9781784742324Thatcher Wine interview by Hilary Reid for The Cut https://www.thecut.com/2019/09/thatcher-wine-juniper-books.htmlAnthony Ekundayo Lennon interview on being accused of 'passing' as a black

Hello High Lowers! Sharpen your pencils, the heat wave is over and a new school term is upon us. We cover some of the news stories of the summer plus our favourite bonkers surveys, including a shockingly disgusting underpants poll and the best place to find love (Oxford, apparently). Plus, it's Pandora's favourite prize of the year - no, not the Pulitzer, not even the Nobel - it's Rear of the Year.Reccs Euphoria on SkyGame Face on Channel 4Scarlett Curtis on Russell Brand’s Under The SkinGiles Coren on novel acknowledgements https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pretentious-bores-make-me-want-to-burn-every-book-7lh5cv8cnIndistractable, by Nir EyalCribsheet, by Emily OstlerWe Need New Stories, by Nesrine MalikSuch A Fun Age, by Kiley ReidThe Most Fun We Ever Had, by Claire LombardoTwas The Night Before Christmas, by Adam KayOn Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean VuongOlive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth StroutExpectations, by Anna Hope Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Calypso by David Sedaris T

Have you survived the heat wave? HAVE YOU? This week, Dolly discovers a woman who loves a chandelier, Jared O’Mara resigns after assault charges and his press chief sensationally quit via Jared’s own Twitter, and justice is served as the 4 teenagers who assaulted Melania Geymonat and Chris, in May, are charged. Plus a clip from the archive of Kate Moss and Johnny Depp’s arsecrack. It’ll make sense when you hear it. (God bless the 90s.) We discuss Leader of the House of Commons’ Jacob Rees-Mogg’s antiquated style guide (banning the use of ‘very’, ‘lot’, commas after ‘and’ and, (see what we did there?) er, ‘got’) and the practicalities of a life led in Esq. We also discuss how young people get their news and the pros and cons to less television. The High Low is now on a break for August and will be back in September!E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow Buy tickets to our Manchester show of The High Low Experience at www.faneproductions.com/highlowLinks Taffy Brodesser-Akner o

Ding dong the BoJo's in. Duuuuuude. This week: curry seagull; the controversial Cats trailer; and why Ireland's 8th amendment might have been repealed - but is far from what has been legally mandated.And on today’s agenda, we delve into Instagram's proposed removal of the 'like' counter, which is being trialled in countries including Japan and Australia. Will this change social media for the better? Will it eradicate 'comparisonitus', a flimsiness of self constructed on dopamine hits, and the homogeneity of 'basic' culture? And what is the future for influencer culture? Dolly and I discuss, with reference to our own complicity in this personal profit model.We also tackle our growing obsession with the processes and routines of people we admire. From beauty to work to sleep to exercise, we are obsessed with the schedules of other people. But what does that say about the way we live our lives? Is it an attempt to shrug off our own lives and co-opt what we perceive to be a happier, more optimised one?If you

Westminster rules in favour of gay marriage and abortion rights in Northern Ireland, former EDL leader Tommy Robinson is sentenced to 9 months in prison (and banned from YouTube), a man dressed in a gimp suit terrorises the people of Somerset, and a love letter from Tupac to Madonna is expected to fetch $300,000 at auction. Plus, how do YOU feel about Matt Hancock's plan to link up Alexa and the NHS? (Spoiler alert: Dolly doesn't like robots.)Today we have the man who has sold 8 million books, who possesses the most delicious voice you've ever heard (it even beats Philippe Sands), the one and only David Nicholls, on the show. The screenwriter of multiple hits such as Great Expectations and Patrick Melrose and the best-selling author of Starter for 10, The Understudy, One Day and Us, he is back with a new novel, Sweet Sorrow, about a teenage summer romance in the 80s. We talk about teenage love, parenting and being parented, writing, anxiety in the internet age and that twist in One Day.&nb

Glasto's been and gone and the USA won the Women's World Cup - as the crowd began chanting "equal pay, equal pay." This week we cover the latest royal storm in a bone-china teacup, as Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex refuse to name the godparents of their newborn baby, Archie. Are the taxpayers entitled to this intel? Or is it time to stop seeing privacy, in our era of 360 surveillance, in black and white terms? We also take the BBC's eccentric quiz and discuss Will Self's riveting new documentary on what makes a true eccentric and how 'the eccentric' is oft commodified or misunderstood. Take the quiz and let us know - how eccentric are YOU? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2xKy0KkffPNDywmxxC6qrkm/how-eccentric-are-youDonate to Broadwater Farm's summer play experience https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/broadwaterfarmE-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshowLinksThe Falconer, by Dana CzapnikThe New Me, by Halle ButlerBitch, by Elizabeth WurtzelCamilla Long on

We're recording this in advance, so no news update this week but a bunch of reccs and an author special!Do you swear by your daily turmeric latte? Are you a celery juice fanatic? From placenta pills to kombucha, the registered dietitians, co-founders of The Rooted Project and authors of Is Butter A Carb? Unpicking Fact From Fiction In The World Of Nutrition, Rosie Saunt and Helen West, take us through the myths, fads and where the *actual* science can be found in our wellness crisis.We talk about body positivity, veganism, food shame, the privilege of wellness and - hardest of all - what constitutes a healthy diet? This is a must-read book that will change the way you think about food, diet, health and happiness. You can follow @rooted_project on Instagram and Twitter.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow LinksIs Butter A Carb? Unpicking Fact From Fiction In The World of Nutrition, by Rosie Saunt and Helen West https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-rooted-project/rosie-saunt/

‘Twas the week of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ sofa row, the ‘tube pusher’ is charged with attempted murder and the president of Colombia warns against the hypocrisy of the “woke who do coke”. Dolly’s obsessed with Pink Gin Lady - her new summer meme - and Pandora’s perturbed by Charmin’s industrial-sized ‘Forever Roll’ for millennials (do we hate shopping for basic sanitation? Or do we just shit more?) In this week’s ep we discuss the #sponcon leak that blew up the internet - after the ‘pitch deck’ for New York influencer and Goop Partnership Director, Marissa Casey Fuchs, was leaked to The Atlantic. Does she deserve the white hot wrath of the Internet? And what does this incident tell us about the celebrification of everyone, schadenfreude and our consumer obsession with free shit? Also today, a new survey has revealed that 72% of Brits ‘recoil’ when they hear another Brit abroad. NB: if we hear you on our holiday, we *will* hide behind a pot plant.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @t

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has undertaken her 3rd hunger strike (joined by husband Richard) and ship captain Pia Klemp, who rescued drowning migrants, faces 20 years in prison. On the other end of the news spectrum, Kylie Jenner has been criticised for her Handmaid’s Tale fancy dress party (including Under His Eye tequila) and Missguided have sold out of their 100% plastic £1 bikini. And Dolly’s got a new story from Orkney, naturally. Today’s author is the utterly brilliant Nimko Ali OBE, am anti-FGM campaigner whose book What We’re Told Not To Talk About (But Are Going To Anyway) sees stories from 42 women across 14 countries on emotional and shocking topics including forced marriage, genital mutilation, the menopause and what it’s like to get your period when you’re homeless. E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow Links Pre-order Pandora’s book! How Do We Know We’re Getting It Right & other essays on modern life (published July 2020) https://www.waterstones.com

*Apologies for some slight sound issues this week*Dolly's lost her passport and Michael Gove's nose is feeling regretful. We talk Sally Challen, humpback whales and why sleep apps could make your sleeping worse. And we deep-dive into pride month and discuss the fallacy that is the proposed straight pride march, particularly in the wake of recent homophobic hate crimes in the UK. Also, the euthanasia that never was: after the false news story about 17 year old Dutch teenager, Noa Pothoven, did the rounds, we discuss the complexity and implications of euthanasia, social media and the suicide contagion.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet@thehighlowshowLinksEasy on NetflixQueer Intentions, by Amelia AbrahamFlorence Welch on self-sabotage, for the July issue of British Vogue - on sale nowThe Age of the Internet 'Wife Guy', by Amanda Hess for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/arts/internet-wife-guy-robbie-tripp.htmlSloane Crosley on the Longform Podcast https://longform

There's been a garden gnome heist and Trump's on his state visit (those are inter-connected stories, naturally.) Love Island is back - but is there any actual body diversity? We discuss Kim Kardashian-West's campaign for clemency for convicted murderer and death row inmate, Kevin Cooper. Should celebrities lend their weight to social reform; or is this signify a dangerous "mission creep"? And it's silly season: that of hens and stags. With the help of YOU, our brilliant High Low listeners, we discuss the maddest hen stories out there and throw in a few new surveys, for good measure.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow Grief is the Thing With Feathers, by Max PorterMy Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth RussellAnimals by Emma Jane Unsworth The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry Terry Gross interviews Howard Stern, for Fresh Air https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2019/05/14/723182920/fresh-air-for-may-14-2019-howard-stern-part-1Why

Dolly talks bird-feeding and rabid Game of Thrones fans who want to re-make the ending; Pandora ponders what Spice Girl merch to get her hands on; and we discuss Oxbridge's first appointment of its first black female master.In this episode, a talk-gone-viral from Hay Festival, by behavioural scientist and LSE scientist Paul Dolan, who claimed that women without a spouse and children are happier. We call on the words of Grace Dent, Corinne Fisher and Terri Gross; Simone de Beauvoir and Jacqueline Rose in order to try and determine what makes a happy woman (and is it ever possible to contrast two very different lives?)We also muse upon the Moby vs. Natalie Portman row, after the musician claimed in his memoir that they dated when she was 20; she says they didn't date - oh and she was 18. What does this story tell us about about entitlement, fact-checking and truth-telling?E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet@thehighlowshowThe Salt Path by Raynor WinnYears and Years, on BBC iPlayerMothers, by Jacqueline Ros

Grumpy Cat has died and we came last (again) in Eurovision. This week Dolly's down a Doris Day content-hole and Pandora's bewitched by the Instagram account @90sanxiety.We discuss Alabama's new abortion ban - the most restrictive in the States - voted in by 25 white men and reflect on the ongoing battle for agency in Northern Ireland, which sees 28 women travel to England every single day, for an abortion. Donate here to Abortion Support Network - https://donate.asn.org.uk/gb-en/donateAnd we debate Uber's new 'silence mode' - whereby you will be able to silence your driver. A practical solution for when you need a bit of quiet; or a worrying indicator of our inability to entertain ad hoc conversation? It's Time To Hear Alabama's Women - stories from 200 women by The Alabama Media Group https://www.al.com/opinion/2019/05/its-time-to-hear-alabamas-women.htmlThe clock is turning back on women's rights, by Janice Turner for The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-clock-is-turning

Pandora’s listened to a podcast on ‘workism’ - the idea that work is now the cornerstone of your identity - and it’s changed her life; meanwhile, Dolly’s tits deep in Doris Day nostalgia.We talk Danny Baker’s racist tweet, why maternity clothes should be modelled by pregnant models, the Philippines’ proposed ban on gossip. How many mins do you gossip each day? A new study tells us the answer. And we host journalist, author and mental health campaigner Bryony Gordon to discuss her new book You Got This and why we need to focus on the mental health of and myths fed to teenage girls. E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow You Got This, by Bryony GordonThe Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, by Philippa PerryMama’s Boy, by Dustin Lance Black Louis Theroux: Mothers on the Edge, BBC iPlayer The Ezra Klein Show: Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ezra-klein-show/id1081584611?i=1000436045971Louis Theroux on Desert Island D

The new royal baby, the Caster Semenya furore, the 'hogspital' and the proposed raise to the minimum wage - oh, and 86% of people have revealed that they are disappointed by the Mona Lisa. Sorry, Lis. Dolly's discovered tribute bands and Pandora's tits-deep in Refinery 29's Money Diaries series.Also today we have an author special with Rosie Price, the author of sensational debut fiction, What Red Was. A book about family, friendship, privilege and class, at the centre of the narrative is a rape. We discuss trauma, the aftershock of sexual assault and why the idea of writing as 'catharsis' is problematic. What Red Was is out on May 7th and we cannot recommend it enough.E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet @thehighlowshow What Red Was, by Rosie Price https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Rosie-Price/What-Red-Was/23570030Caster Semenya is a victim of rules that are confusing and unfair, by Kenan Malik for The Observer https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/05/caster-semenya-is