Toxic waste
Rec Room #13 – Things we’re enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to the newsletter.
First, some exciting news: we’ve got something to give away this week. Scroll to the bottom to find out what it is and how to win it if you want it.
Now. Not to brag but I reckon I’ve done the drive between Dunedin and Invercargill and back again at least 50 times in my life. Almost all of those times the journey involved going through Mataura (home town of rugby legend Justin Marshall). Absolutely none of those times did I ever notice the town had a river.
That might seem weird when you watch The Paper Mill, the first in the new series of Frame short documentaries out this week, because the river is a pretty important part of the story. It runs right behind the town’s old paper mill, which is currently being used to store thousands of tonnes of ouvea premix from the Tiwai aluminium smelter. Interesting fact about ouvea premix: it releases toxic ammonia gas on contact with water.
Who’s responsible for storing this stuff right next to a river, what do the locals have to do to get rid of it and what happened when that river flooded back in February? That’s what The Paper Mill is all about. Good watch!
– Cal
Sam recommends Simmy’s 2018 album Tugela Fairy. “Simmy’s one of the best pop stars in the world at the moment, but one you probably haven’t heard of. She’s from South Africa, and makes very gentle, chill but immersive house music; it’s the perfect thing to listen to as the rain pounds on the ceiling, or as your workload slowly overwhelms you.”
Jane recommends Coming Home. “It’s a new five-part podcast series starting next week, hosted by me (Jane Yee) and Duncan Greive. We’ll be talking to some of the many highly-skilled New Zealanders who’ve come home this year as a result of the pandemic, as well as economists and demographers, to unpack what this unprecedented ‘brain gain’ means for all of us and how we can make the most of it.”
Alice recommends this ring thing from Shakti (the place that does the spiky mats). “You roll it up and down your fingers and it apparently improves circulation. Not sure if that’s true but it does feel nice, especially when I spend a day typing away and my digits get all cramped. It’s also a great fidget tool for people who like to fidget without being annoying to the people who have to sit next to you.”
Last week’s episode of The Fold featured journalist Bernard Hickey, who you know from places like Stuff, Newsroom or interest.co.nz. Now he’s joined the newsletter revolution with The Kākā, a daily email covering the intersection of government, business and the economy, responding to new developments as soon as they happen. If that’s your thing it’s well worth subscribing, and it goes without saying you should listen to the pod as well.
Emily recommends the new book Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women by New Zealand author Shona Riddell. “It's fascinating but also super relaxing to read. Like the book version of a Lorazepam. It's beautifully written and the stories really transport you. Also lighthouses and lighthouse women are cool.”
On Business is Boring last week, Simon Pound had a chat to Morgan Donoghue from InMusic about how Auckland’s Karangahape Road turned into a bit of a hub for leading international music software companies, and how he’s been involved with just about all of them. This pod features a lot of great yarns from the music industry glory days, including one about Ed from Radiohead giving him a copy of OK Computer months before anyone else that made my inner 15-year-old so jealous I almost passed out.
Stewart recommends Kylie Minogue’s new album Disco. “It’s her best work in at least a decade, filled with timeless pop bangers that feel like the best sounds of the 80s and 90s mixed with today. It’s been a massive year for throwback club music with Jessie Ware’s amazing What’s Your Pleasure, Lady Gaga’s Chromatica and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia – so it’s nice to have one of the definitive Queens of dance pop back in the spotlight too.”
Speaking of throwbacks, TVNZ announced last week they’re bringing back The Apprentice next year for some reason. Good reminder that the original 2010 season of The Apprentice NZ is still one of the funniest New Zealand reality shows ever made – I mean, the first episode’s big challenge was a sausage sizzle.
This week’s hot supermarket tip: Eli recommends Jordan's Low Sugar Granola. “I find other brands far too sweet, but this baby adds the crunch I need in the morning without feeling like I'm eating candy for breakfast. I even tried making my own granola for a while but found it was more expensive and created more waste than just buying this beautiful blue bag.”
Finally, some sport – Josie recommends the frog and crocodile races held in Australia's Northern Territory last week. “More animal-friendly than the Melbourne Cup, and way more fun to watch.”
GIVEAWAY TIME
OK, so we’ve got a double pass to Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music at The Civic (in Auckland (sorry, rest of NZ)) on November 21 to give away this week. If you’re like, “what’s that”, it’s basically a movie, karaoke and a dress-up party rolled into one, and this time it’s hosted by the very funny Chris Parker, which is an added bonus. If you’d like to go, just reply to this email with a lovely rec and/or your funniest Sound of Music anecdote.
That’s all for this week. As always please feel free to share and reply if you’d like to get in touch or share a rec. See you next Wednesday! 👋
