sanremo, dark skies & conservatism infiltrating pop culture.
the sun tentatively coming out in rome, times of transition, and staying positive.
How’s your February going?
There is finally a tiny bit of sun in Rome, but mixed with super high winds. Spring feels tantalisingly close, but the ever-so-slightly-slightly-depressed-from-winter vibes are still here, a little bit.
But last weekend we went for a walk along Appia Antica, which was absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know how I had managed to live in Rome so long without having been there. (I have just realised that apparently people call it the ‘Appian Way’ in English).
The sun was out for what felt like the first time in ages, and I particularly loved the sections with the larger stones underfoot. (I feel like I can’t really call them cobblestones as they are so large. Maybe flagstones? Not sure.)
It really feels like you are in the countryside, even though you’re actually in the centre of Rome - we saw horses, beehives, cats roaming around, and there are these large slightly hidden villas along the way - it was quite fun trying to guess how much they would sell for (Answer: millions. As a starting point).
Life is still a little bit weird and in-between-y for me right now, but I am so grateful to be able to live in this historic and vibrant city, even if it can drive you mad at times.
Podcasts
Dark skies, cheap shopping and an EU laser show - The Europeans
I had never heard of the ‘Dark Skies’ movement until this podcast. It’s all about light pollution, something I was vaguely aware of in terms of not being able to see the stars sometimes, but not something that really bothered me too much. The interview in this podcast really gets in to how harmful light pollution can be for nature’s rhythms, and how even small things, like closing your curtains in the evening, can make a difference.(The section on dark skies starts at 26:20)
In general, I really love this podcast and have done for a long time / have been a Patreon supporter too! They are not supported by any big media companies, so I want to give them a shout out here.
Can you live without a smartphone? | The Story - The Times
I usually try not to consume stuff from The Times, having grown up in a very anti-Murdoch empire household. In a way, avoiding them has become easy, because most of their written content is under a paywall and I still refuse to pay it (even if it’s a tiny amount). It’s difficult, and complicated, because I know that there are many great journalists who work or have worked for them - it’s simply where the money is, and at least it’s not The Sun? I don’t know. I really love Dolly Alderton’s work, and her agony aunt column is with The Sunday Times Style magazine. I got around it by reading the collection of all her advice columns in book form, and there was one day when the paywall was down and I went and binge-read all the other ones. But I don’t think that counts as successfully boycotting a news outlet does it? Oh well, none of us are perfect.
All this to say, their podcast is free, and the title of this one intrigued me too much.
I wasn’t disappointed. It’s an interesting chat with one of their journalists who got rid of his smartphone. Very good food for thought.
YouTube
How Conservatism Infiltrated Pop Culture - Matt Bernstein
(OK so this one is technically a podcast, but I really enjoyed watching the visual version/ interaction on YouTube)
Matt speaks with tech and culture journalists
and about the rise of conservative aesthetics.I think Taylor nailed it when she said (on the ‘old money aesthetic’):
“all of these aesthetics, what they are selling is this time that is linked in people’s minds to stability, or to a lifestyle of leisure and stability, it’s like: “dress like a housewife, let’s go back to the ‘50s, women didn’t have to work, you had a man to work for you” […] it’s like yearning and trying to aesthetically adopt and embody these leisure lives, that just don’t exist in our economy, because we live in a late capitalist hellscape - everyone has to grind, everyone has to work, everyone has to hustle. I think people yearn for a time when that didn’t exist and I think the reality is that time is gone. We have been robbed by billionaires, wealth disparities are at a record high, that world is not coming back any time soon and certainly not by moving further to the right. […] in this time of economic precarity […] these people are never going to have the economic stability that they crave.”
Book products are wasteful and stupid / de-influencing you - Diaries of Creativity
This is a fairly new channel but she’s so lovely and likeable and tells it like it is. She mostly talks about books in a very practical way, and doesn’t want you to be buying all the random plastic book accessories that the late stage capitalist internet seems to want you to buy. Really glad I found her channel!
The Most Expensive Nannies in The World - Inside Norland College | Britains Poshest Nannies - Origin
I got weirdly obsessed with this old-ish documentary on the ‘Norland Nannies’. I know this is a random one. I don’t know why, I came across it and couldn’t stop watching - I suppose I just got hooked in with the idea of real life Mary Poppins going around…
Something weirdly nostalgic and of a world that no longer exists.
And one more
This is a kinda mean one, but the comments section of the trailer for the new Disney live action remake of Snow White are just…wow. People are NOT happy. Get your popcorn at the ready and have a scroll down the responses.
Books
This isn’t exactly a book recommendation, rather a warning: if you use Amazon books, please go download your books now.
made a very good video about this. You only have a few days to do so.Music
[Eurovision edition: Sanremo / Melodifestivalen]
So Sanremo was just the other week, which is Italy’s big song festival, and was actually the inspiration for Eurovision. It also serves as the selection procedure for Italy’s Eurovision entry, with the winner going on to represent the country. The thing is, Italy cares more about Sanremo than Eurovision.
This year it was a little different, with a new director. Apart from the drama surrounding Fedez (a super podcast on the whole thing by Shameless Media can be found here) and speculation on who his song was about, it was mostly fairly standard Sanremo vibes.
Mahmood at Sanremo
One of the artists not competing in the competition (but who has previously won it), was Mahmood. I know some people didn’t love it or found it a bit much for *traditional Italian TV*, but I thought it was fantastic. Like a superbowl interval act. It was very Rihanna / Beyonce and I was here for it, especially the dancing. You can watch his performance here.
Sweden’s potential entry
The Swedish equivalent of Sanremo, the selection contest for their Eurovision entry, is called Melodifestivalen. I haven’t quite worked out if they have selected their entry yet as there seems to have been a round of heats. The ‘favourite’ to win is someone called Måns Zelmerlöw who actually won the whole Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 with ‘Heroes’, and has also been a presenter for Eurovision for several years. This year he’s back as a singer, in a bid to be Sweden’s representative this year with a song called ‘Revolution’. But honestly, the one I want to win is a group called Dolly Style with ‘YIHAA’ - which is basically My Little Pony meets the Spice Girls, but even more camp. I am OB-SESSED.
(Edit: I have just checked, and at the time of writing, Dolly Style made it to the semi-finals but not the final heat. I think. Looks like Måns is set to head to Basel, Switzerland in May then!)
Other stuff
You probably already know about this, but in the case haven’t - you need to know about this. It’s essentially a service where you can look up a brand (mostly fashion / clothes brands) and you can see their rating in terms of sustainability. There’s an app too.
Until next time!
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