May recommendations: Books, podcasts, TV shows & more

Forget what you 'should' consume – here's what you'll want to enjoy, instead. A Hell-themed podcast, a novel you'll cackle through and the bliss of silence 2.0 (my Loop earplugs review).

Happy Bank Holiday Monday, pals!

To kick off edition #2 of this monthly recommendations list, I wanted to write a little manifesto. Das Cultural? The Culturalist Manifesto? Anyway, here goes…

Down with the cultural Shoulds

Sometimes, when I read recommendation guides or culture supplements, I feel a low-level sense of panic. How is it possible for one person to read all these novels/watch all these plays/binge every single episode of all those trending ‘must-watch’ TV dramas?

Or else, I feel the way I did when, aged 20, I visited a friend in her first year at Cambridge. By the end of breakfast with her college friends, I was exhausted by all the references to books I hadn’t read; films I hadn’t watched; bands I hadn’t listened to. No one gave any context. It was as if everyone was trying to catch each other out, while the ignorant (which, recalling some blank stares around the dining table, was probably not just me…) nodded along.

I felt like a massive philistine. Now I look back, I know that cultural know-how was being used as a bid for status. Which is completely understandable, in an environment full of highly-educated young people still signalling their right to have a place at the table. However…

This is not that place.

Culture is not a stick to beat people with. Nor should it feel overwhelming – like something you ‘should’ do, for fear you might otherwise get kicked out of the tribe. Culture should be something fun, or edifying, to share. It should be joyful. Recommendations, in this context, are more like a gift you can choose to accept (or not); something curated to the person they’re given to: ‘You may like this because X’, ‘You’re always so insightful – I’d love your thoughts on Y.’

Sometimes it’s fun being late to the party. I say this to someone who only recently read Wuthering Heights, despite having a degree in English Literature – and I just finished Baby Reindeer. It’s also perfectly OK to not attend the party at all.

So please think of this is as a list of stuff you could consume, rather than should: whether that’s today or in a year’s time.

Right – let’s get to the recommendations!

Read on for a cultural smorgasbord, featuring:

• My honest take on Loop earplugs

• Novels you’ll cackle and/or cry your way through

• My favourite Hell-inspired interview podcast – plus news about my own show!

• Nice travel recommendations,

• The sleeper hit film starring two of the biggest male actors of the moment

• Plus, everything else I’m reading, watching and listening to this month, and a smattering of food and architecture.

This one’s for paid subs – so do join the premium gang if you haven’t already! As an added incentive, I’m giving a handy 20% off annual paid subscriptions for the bank holiday – valid for the next 24 hours only.