Chatterbox - still talking nonsense

On the Trans Day of Visibility , and given that trans rights has lately become one of the bleeding edges of the culture wars, I thought it would also be good to highlight some stuff I've enjoyed recently that is inclusive and (largely) positive, particularly for young people who are most likely to suffer from the latest drummed up moral panic.   SAP With perfect timing, Mae Martin is now streaming on Netflix with SAP, their new stand-up show and I watched it last night.  I loved their work in Feel Good and Dope, and this new sharing of their personal snow globe (you'll need to watch it to understand) was funny, thought-provoking and life affirming.   They lay their heart out open on the stage and have a good dig through it.  Although their life journey bears little resemblance to mine, Mae managed to take me with them every step of the way.  I loved the understated-ness of the structure and delivery despite the full forest on stage and the little ...

I read an awful lot of rubbish but these are the standouts from January and February The Wall by John Lanchester Dystopia novel set in the near future where the seas have risen catastrophically, there is huge migration as a result, and surprise surprise the UK has build a huge wall to keep out the sea and the 'Others'.  National Service keeps The Wall guarded, with a penalty of being put to sea for any failure.  A simple idea, brutally thinking through the implications, but as with all the best sci-fi, grounding it in the issues of today.  Are the Others any different to us, and what would we do?  Enjoyed it, but it came to a bit of a sudden stop for me. The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray   Another dystopia novel, this time after the earth has stopped spinning in space.  The details of how are sufficient to give a dubious credibility but aren’t really important. The ‘Stop’ means that half the world is in perpetual darkness, the other in perpetual day, wi...