All the excellent nonsense I was happy to endure during MARCH

this is where we get to recommend things

and

Mar 02, 2023

One of the best things about being Rebecca Shaw and Patrick Lenton is that we have impeccable taste and know amazing people and sup from the finest of culture. We have decided that its time we share our bounty of excellent things with everyone else, and recommend some stuff that we done love.

We both recommend: this joke on The Project that they had to apologise for.

Roman Mackinnon @RomanMackinnon6

#BREAKING The Project has issued an apology after a guest made a religious joke live on air. @6NewsAU

Patrick recommends:

Blessed Union by Maeve Marsden

The very first lesbian divorce play in the entire world! (can’t substantiate this).

This is a very excellent and funny and smartly written play, that asks the question about whether queerness means anything when it comes to divorce and heartbreak and family dissolution. The acting is absolutely superb, and the writing tight and joyful. It’s a play that doesn’t shy away from nuance around queerness, and doesn’t choose any easy ways out of some difficult conversations. I had an absolute blast, and even the guy next to me who thought the play was “anti union” got swept up and loved it. Go see it!

It’s on at Belvoir in Sydney, and it’s a good pride thing to do that doesn’t involve dancing. go book

The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About: Exposing Our Untold Mental Health Crisis by Elfy Scott

Elfy is a wonderful writer and journalist, and I think this subject is so necessary and timely. The book is billed as an “An investigation into the failings of Australia’s mental healthcare system, grounded in a personal story of a mother–daughter relationship” - and the reviews are pretty spectacular.

I inhaled this book on the plane back from World Pride (jetsetter!), and found it fascinating and sad and hopeful. The book is passionately and deeply researched, and the people Elfy talks to and whose stories are shared in the book are really important and interesting, and definitely recalibrated my (limited) understanding of schizophrenia. The sections about stigma were particularly eye-opening.

However it’s Elfy’s lively and engaged writing voice that kept me reading - it felt like having one of those rare but excellent chats with your smart friend, rather than reading a textbook or attending a lecture.

It’s out! Go buy it.

Bec recommends (limited depression entry)

This article in the ABC by David Chen and Georgie Hewson

This article is about my home town, and features my incredible sister-in-law Jen. She runs a cafe that employs at risk & marginalised youth, provides emergency housing, welcomes queer kids etc. Her & my bro have a bunch of kids & don't have money, she has just been so determined.

Georgie Hewson @GeorgieHewson81

"The reality is that not everyone sits at the same start point … you haven't got a level playing field, so you can't apply a black-and-white response to an uneven playing field." @dchen21 Our story :

abc.net.auThis youth worker can’t talk about youth crime without mentioning the kids sleeping in nearby public toilet blocksViolent crimes and car thefts — often at the hands of young offenders — have skyrocketed in Toowoomba, leaving locals looking for a solution. But youth workers say homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues are at the heart of the problem.

Extraordinary on Disney+

TV corner: enjoyed the 1st episode of Extraordinary on Disney+. Máiréad Tyers (Irish can you tell) plays a woman without a superpower in a world where everyone gets one at 18. It’s funny and silly and not really that superhero-y.