The High Low

We are so thrilled to have the one and only Graham Norton on today's episode, talking all about his new novel, Home Stretch, his favourite celebrities to interview on his chat show, and the weird wonderfulness that is Eurovision. 

Graham is The High Low's last ever author special - because the High Low will be coming to a close next week, after 4 joyous, life-changing years for us both. But before we go, we have one la...

Brace yourself: Emily in Paris is back for a second series. More importantly: the Christmas ads have dropped! We discuss some of them, and why a great Christmas ad doesn't actually.... have to have anything to do with Christmas.

Also today, we discuss Maggi Hambling's controversial nude statue of founding feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Rupert Everett's new autobiography, a documentary about Vivienne Westwood and the punk mov...

What a week to be alive! We discuss some of the many ridiculous things that have happened, mainly on the television, during this last monumental week, plus the riveting revelating that Dr Fauci of the Coronavirus task force in the US, had a celebrity zoom to help stop the spread of misinformation during the pandemic. Plus, swans in love and what we'd call our pet tortoise. And we talk telly: The Undoing, The Queen's Gambi...

Are you familiar with No Nut November? Move over Movember, there's a slightly queasy new internet challenge in town. Also today, we discuss whether a burger is a sandwich, the concerning omission from the Sean Connery obituaries, and the new YouTube record-breaker. And we have an author special today with Otegha Uwagba, who came on to discuss her new long-form essay, Whites.

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From a naturally green puppy called Pistachio, to a charming and surprising memoir by Matthew McConaughey, this week is your usual mixed bag -- including discussion of the government's abhorrent decision to stop funding free school meals for vulnerable children outside of term time (see a petition you can sign and charities you can donate to, below) and some television that has moved us. Also! A book that made Dolly's wee...

Today we discuss a love story in Venice, the new "wellness" trend of cow hugging, Matt Hancock's personal app (???) and listeners tell us what they think makes "a good deed". And some things we've been loving, including the feel good Love Life on Netflix. Plus! An exclusive, filthy extract from Joan and Jericha's new book, out on the 29th October.

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We continue our conversation about sharing grief in the aftermath of a still birth or miscarriage, with a special contribution from the grief psychotherapist Julia Samuel MBE. We also discuss penguin and seahorse reproduction, a delicious piece of Hollywood gossip involving Cary Grant and Clark Gable, and - mais bien sûr - we plunge into Emily and Paris aka 2020's answer to Sex And The City and all its associated controve...

We discuss Chrissy Teigen's social media posts about the death of her baby Jack, and the judgement around public grief. Also today, we dissect a list of words and phrases facing expiration (40% of under 30s don't know what "getting sozzled" means) and the fascinating docu-drama, The Social Dilemma. Plus, Pandora falls in love with a film called Rocks, and Dolly has a(nother) Springsteen moment.

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This year has seen even our closest friendships turn into long-distance ones; what is the impact - and the thought spirals - of your A-list friends becoming peripheral specks in your vision? We discuss, with a funny and thought-provoking piece by Katie Heaney for The Cut. Also today, we natter about how to mend a broken heart, and the evolving nature of romantic relationships, with a special reading from the author Nick H...

Doll's Polls is back, with a strange fact about what heterosexual women most look for, in a man. A handsome face? A tight tush? Nope -- quite frankly, you'll never guess. We also discuss a beautiful ode from a coupled-up woman to her single friends, Matt Haig's new book about finding hope in the lives you could have lived, and a couple of our favourite comedy shows by women.

And - deep breath - we dive into t...

In today's episode we discuss news of the telly: decade-defining reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, is ending after 20 seasons; US soap The Bold & The Beautiful are using dummies in their snogging scenes; and most depressingly and shamefully, Ofcom have received 22,000 (15,600 at the time of record) complaints over dance troupe Diversity's moving dance rendition of George Floyd's death on Britain's Got Talent.&...

We reminisce over garage music (without being entirely sure what officially defines a garage track), discuss the dicey new Dettol ad that's got everyone's knickers in a twist and why we both felt ashamed when we read Gwyneth Paltrow's recent piece about the trauma of her 'conscious uncoupling', ten years ago.

Plus, the sensitive and moving BBC drama about a life never lived, Anthony; a brilliant pocket-sized book on race by...

We back! And it's the old mixed bag of content: from grubby gussets to bathroom-heavy mansions in WeHo, via a revisitation of our noughties book shelves. Links below, you know what to do.

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Links

Watching/ listening

Mrs America on Netflix

Selling Sunset on Netflix

Shagged Mar...

It’s our last episode of the season - and boy, do we have a bumper episode for you. In this week’s show we discuss what Twitter’s failure to suspend Wiley says about our failure to combat anti-semitism (and what you can do to help), the graphic and glorious podcast of the year, Brown Girls Do It Too, Kiley Reid’s incisive and compulsively readable novel Such A Fun Age and an author special with the inspiring and thought-provoking c...

We dig further into the cultural conversation around parenting, courtesy of masses of feedback from our listeners on last week's ep and a thoughtful piece on same-sex parenting. Also today: Taffy Brodesser-Akner's short story, Dolly's favourite new dating columnist, a novel that delves into the foibles as much as the grand themes of old age, and why people are happier by the sea. And we introduce our new charitable outlets for...

Today we discuss how motherhood and child-free women are culturally discussed and pitted against one another, referencing podcasts, a journalistic series and Emma Gannon's new novel, Olive, along the way. We also answer an Ask The High Low from a woman whose partner wants children, but she's worried about how pregnancy, birth and motherhood may affect her mental health.

Also today, we talk about a candid interview with Thandie N...

The pubs have opened; but why is the beauty sector still in lockdown? Also today, we discuss the slew of videos of children interrupting their parents during a pandemic, a new book about love and loneliness in 1950s suburbia, and a deep-dive into Nora Ephron. And Dolly interviews the brilliant former doctor, comic and writer, Adam Kay, about a new book he has edited, Dear NHS: 100 Stories To Say Thank You.

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Wishing you were at Glastonbury? Get stuck into Zing Tseng's piece, instead. Ruby Tandoh reads us an excerpt of her beautiful piece on quitting, and we discuss why quitting is not just a physical act - but a state of mind. Also today: a Doll's Polls on first date turn-offs (verdict: most of them are unavoidable), a hilarious analysis by Diyora Shadijanova of what Gen Z'ers really think about millennials (verdict: old and borin...

Mmmm get that yeasty pong. Today we recall the wisdom of Zadie Smith, chat more about the jaw-dropping drama that is Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You, discuss Naoise Dolan's piece on how autism has shaped her work and recommend Munroe Bergdorf's Table Manners interview. We also drop a lot of not entirely irrelevant but mostly random animal facts - including the retirement of Diego, the Warren Beatty of tortoises. Plus, an Ask The ...