It’s a week of controversy: Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who says she’s black, is back in the public eye thanks to a Netflix documentary, The Rachel Divide. What trauma led to her fraudulent ‘transracial’ identity? And why does Rachel refuse to back down? We called up gal-dem deputy editor and Guardian writer Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff to discuss the documentary - and whether or not Netflix were right to air it.
Also on today’s agenda: the glitzy annual Met Gala and it’s ‘Catholic’ theme, courtesy of Andrew Bolton’s ‘Heavenly Bodies’ exhibition. From Rihanna’s papal mitre to Lena Waithe’s politically charged rainbow cape, via Jared Leto dressed as Jesus (God complex, much?) the dress code might have been crassly interpreted and as camp as Christmas, but does that make it offensive? We run the full gamut of opinions.
Last thing - the Chuckle Brothers have not fallen out. We repeat: rumours of a feud are false.
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Links
The Rachel Divide review by Doreen St Felix for The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-rachel-divide-review-a-disturbing-portrait-of-dolezals-racial-fraudulence
The Rachel Divide on Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/title/80149821
Does Anyone Have The Right To Sex? By Amia Srinivasan, for The London Review of Books
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex
Sean Penn interview, by Emma Brockes for The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/05/sean-penn-some-of-my-best-laughs-have-come-out-of-the-worst-reviews
You Think It, I’ll Say It, short stories by Curtis Sittenfeld
https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Think-Ill-Say-Stories/dp/052552777X/ref=nodl_
Patrick Melrose, starts on Sunday on Sky Atlantic
How The Met Gala Guests Tackled “The Heavenly Bodies” Theme, by Osman Ahmed for Vogue.co.uk
http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/how-met-gala-guests-tackled-heavenly-bodies-them
Radio 4 Soul Music on God Only Knows
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b01jsk
Abi Morgan’s Desert Island Discs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b01jsk
We've Only Gone And Done It: A Deep-Dive Into Wagatha Christie
Prince Harry's Letter To The Tabloids; & Do Brits Spend Money On Being Polite?
An Author Special With Drag Queen Amrou Al-Kadhi
Digital Etiquette (& Why We Need It); & Male Vs Female Vanity
She Said; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; & The Personal Essay That 'Broke' The Internet
An Author Special on Being The Other Mother with Comedian Jen Brister
A Bumper Back To School Book Special
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Style Guide; & On Young People Not Watching The News on TV
Instagram's Proposed Removal of The 'Like' Counter; & Why Are We So Obsessed With Other People's Process?
An Author Special with The One, The Only, The National Treasure: David Nicholls
Meghan & Harry's Godparent Privacy Furore; And What Makes A True Eccentric?
Debunking Wellness Myths with Is Butter A Carb? Authors, Rosie Saunt & Helen West
*EPISODE 100* Why Do Brits Hate Other Brits Abroad? & The Influencer Engagement #Sponcon Furore
An Author Special with anti-FGM Campaigner Nimko Ali on What We’re Told Not To Talk About
Pride Month; & the Complex Conundrum of Euthanasia
Should Celebrities Be Involved In Prison Reform?; & The Lunacy of Hen/Stag Season
What The Moby-Natalie Portman Row Reveals About Entitlement & Truth-Telling; & Are Women Without Children Happier?
Alabama's Abortion Ban; & The Trouble with Uber's New 'Silence' Mode
The concept of ‘workism’ & Bryony Gordon on mental health in teen girls
An Author Special with Rosie Price on the effects of trauma on the mind and body
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