Big Trees
Rec Room #16 – Things we’re enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to the newsletter.
What’s the biggest tree you’ve ever seen? If your answer to that is “depends what you mean by ‘biggest’ – are we talking height or circumference of the trunk” then you’re going to love my rec this week. It’s the Wikipedia page List of superlative trees.
Did we know, for example, about the Sunland Baobab, which had a bar and wine cellar in its big hollow trunk? Very cool. New Zealand is of course represented by local legend Tāne Mahuta on the list of largest living trees by species, ranked by trunk volume, and also his lesser-known sibling Te Matua Ngahere on the list of stoutest living single-trunk trees by species.
The reason I’ve been looking at big trees is this week’s Frame documentary, Into Darkness. It’s about kauri dieback and how we prevent it, and the important work being done in places like the Waipoua Forest (home to Tāne Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere) to study and educate everybody about it. Have a watch!
–Cal
Josie recommends All Gas No Brakes. “It's a YouTube channel where host Andrew Callaghan maintains the world's best poker face while interviewing fringe culture Americans, who he says represent "the true Americana". Juggalos, furries, Covid-19 deniers, flat earthers, proud boys, etc. My personal fave is this episode about Bigfoot hunters in Minnesota.”
Stewart recommends Kim Noble’s podcast Futile Attempts. “Noble is an ex-UK comedy star who for the past decade or so has largely been out of the public eye. His new podcast sees him trying to rediscover the joy in life, speaking with real people in a cringe-inducing, Borat-esque fashion, equipped with just a hidden microphone. It’s incredibly bleak, but also deeply uplifting. I don’t really know how to explain it but I found it equal parts unsettling, funny, depressing and enlightening.”
This week’s episode of Coming Home takes us back to around March-April of this year, when things started looking very grim indeed. Some of our recently returned New Zealanders – including Peter Gordon, Rachel Morris, Mahoney Turnbull and Julia Arnott-Neenee – talk us through the factors that led them to return. For some it was mostly push factors, like losing your job / Visa / health insurance during a pandemic, while for others the pull of home became too strong to ignore.
Amber recommends The Undoing on Neon. “NOT because it’s particularly good (though it is a perfectly fine way to spend a Monday night) but so you can enjoy this incredible impression of Nicole Kidman agreeing to sing the show's theme song aka the worst cover of Dream a Little Dream of Me to ever exist.
Duncan recommends the newsletter Screentime. “Seems like I'm cheating on Rec Room to recommend another newsletter, but Screentime is a very complementary product. It deals with the industry that makes the things we watch, listen to and play, and thus is the start of the pipe that ultimately ends here (and some other places I guess). This week author Lucas Shaw contrasted the success and business models underpinning The Queen's Gambit and The Mandalorian, using both as windows into the strategy of Netflix and Disney respectively – a fascinating peek into where the pop cultural world is heading.”
On Business is Boring last week Simon had a natter to William Chomley, who encountered one too many supermarket queues and decided to do something about it. What he did was found IMAGR, a start-up with the ultimate goal of eliminating the checkout altogether. Imagine that, just swanning out of the supermarket with your shopping like you’re the Queen of England.
Sam recommends Patti LaBelle – Where my background singers? “’Tis the season, you guys. Not for Christmas, but for Patti LaBelle screaming for her background singers. This video went semi-viral a few years ago, and remains a pure joy: Miss Patti herself comes out to sing ‘This Christmas’ for a bemused audience, but the cue cards are messed up, and she has no background singers. Pure yuletide joy.”
Joe recommends these cool huge rats that can smell landmines and tuberculosis. “Need I explain.”
Books podcast Papercuts is back this week with literal armfuls of books (and some not-books) to add to your summer reading list. Have a listen, take some notes, and remember to shop independent and/or local!
Finally, another summer reading rec from Miranda, who recommends The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman. “She’s from the UK but now lives in Hawkes Bay and Wellington. Her latest book came out in March – it was meant to be Whitcoulls book of the month or something but instead she remembers walking past closed bookshops and seeing it collecting dust during lockdown. We read this book for Book Club a couple of months ago and it’d make the perfect Christmas present.”
That’s all for this week! If you’ve got a rec to share or any other business to discuss please get in touch. See you next Wednesday 👋
