Episode 43 is a pretty exciting one for The High Low - a bit of a pinch-me moment, if you will. One minute we were begging Faber & Faber for an advance copy of French novelist Leila Slimani’s cult read, Lullaby - a troubling but beautifully written read about a nanny who murders her two young charges - the next, we had Leila in our studio.
The twelfth woman to win the Prix Goncourt, last year (the highest literary prize in France, previous winners include Proust) Lullaby sold a whopping 600,000 copies in Leila’s native France (under the title, ‘Chanson Douce’), led to Emmanuel Macron asking Leila to be the Minister for Culture (she turned it down) and the movie rights have, unsurprisingly, been snapped up. Comparisons with Gone Girl and Girl on a Train are crass - but indicative of the book’s breathtaking success.
Leila talks to us about finding unexpected success with her “ little book” (“I thought my great book would be about war”), the societal role of working motherhood and the nanny (who is both "inside and outside of the home”) and why being a Muslim woman of North African descent “does not mean I care about identity.”
Also today, we discuss Catherine Deneuve’s apology, whether the Babe.Net piece about Aziz Ansari undermines the MeToo movement; the H&M hoodie-race-row, why the new cultural buzz-trend of ’self-care’ is lofty BS (isn’t it just letting yourself buy the cushiony bog roll, not the scratchy stuff?) and the joyous news that The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to the UK for the very first time in 950 years. Joking, thought that’s quite cool that France finally let it leave. Not so cool? That 24,000 attempts to access porn from inside the Houses of Parliament have been made since the General Election. THAT’S 700 A DAY.
Lots of pieces have been getting us talking and hotly debating this week. Read them - and lots of podcast recs - below!
Thanks you to our sponsors Treatwell and Google Pixel 2 and Wardour Studios, who hosted us this week.
You can e-mail The High Low thehighlowshow@gmail.com, or tweet us @thehighlowshow.
LISTENING:
Angela Hartnett on Desert Island Discs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lxn6w
Daisy Buchanan on Desert Island Dishes https://www.acast.com/margiebroadhead/29-daisy-buchanan-author-and-journalist
READING:
Lullaby, by Leila Slimani https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lullaby-Leïla-Slimani/dp/0571337538
The Melting Season, by Jami Attenburg https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melting-Season-Jami-Attenberg/dp/1594484996
Swimming Underwater, by Tatterhood http://www.tatterhood.co.uk/poems/
I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned out to be the worst night of my life, by Katie Way for Babe.Net https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
The humiliation of Aziz Ansari, by Caitlin Flanagan for The Atlantic
Lockdown Sex, I May Destroy You, and Rhik Samadder's I Never Said I Loved You
After The Hashtags
Anti-Racism Resources & An Author Special with Candice Brathwaite
Why Moments of Insanity Are Part of Keeping Sane; And The Worrying Increase in Lockdown Mullets
'Seksbuddies', Robert Pattinson's pasta & information overload
Cottagecore, Covidism & Other Lockdown Theories; Plus, An Author Special with Samantha Irby
Are Your Book Shelves A Reflection of Your Character - Or Your Curiosity?
The Micro-Trends of Lockdown & The Wonder That Is The Quarantucci
An Author Special with Holly Bourne & The Problem With Tiger King
An Extra Easter Treat & The Return of Ask The High Low
A Bumper Back To School Special
A Christmas Special with Joan and Jericha
Does A Slogan Tee Have The Power To Offend?
Why Mental Health Is Nothing To Do With Wellness, with Author Bella Mackie
What Women Want: The Rise and Fall of Victoria's Secret
What Was He Thinking? Prince Andrew's Car Crash Interview
Megan Phelps-Roper On Leaving The Westboro Baptist Church, AKA 'America's Most Hated Family'
Obama on Wokeness & Our Love for Modern Love <3
Soft Ghosting, Driving Lessons & An Author Special with Louise Callaghan on The Zookeeper That Defied ISIS
It's An Omnishambles! Our Fave New Words To Be Added To The OED
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