Culture Trip Week 7: Just a few ways to relax and celebrate International Women’s Day

Okay, we get it. Lent term has been hard. Weeks five and six hit you like a freight train made of assignments and supervisors. But we’ve made it through! We are now into the penultimate week of term when we can finally say “I’ll catch up in the holiday” and watch our degrees go sailing by while we enjoy some fantastic cultural offerings.

Week seven also marks this years’ International Women’s Day (Monday 8th March) providing the ideal excuse for enjoying cultural offerings from female badasses! Here’s this week’s round-up of entertainment:

Podcast: Knickers and Gnomes are On the Case (Beginning Friday 5th March on Spotify and Apple Podcasts)

(Publicity designed by Cody Knight)

Kicking off our week 7 selections is Knickers and Gnomes are On the Case, an original podcast written and directed by Ella Palmer. This spoof mysteries series follows the eager detective-trainee, Lacey Knickers, as she works her first case with the world-renowned, grumpy veteran detective, Hitchcock Gnomes.

The comedy audio drama which tracks the exploits of these two characters will be released across 6 episodes every Monday and Friday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts beginning with Friday 5th March and promises to be hilarious. Don’t miss out!

TV Series: WandaVision (2021 Disney+)

(Credit: Author’s own screenshot)

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be well-aware that the hugely successful WandaVision has created a whole host of new badass women its lead and supporting characters. The show’s first five or six episodes follow the comic book superheroes, Scarlet Witch and Vision, as they peculiarly reenact charming American suburban sit-coms from the 1950s to the 2000s, giving the audience a different era to enjoy in each episode. This week however offers the show’s long-awaited finale which promises to provide the answers to the questions which fans have been yearning for since the trailer first aired last year. For fans of classic comedies or kooky comic books, this show is unmissable!

Film: Little Women (2019)

(Credit: Author’s own screenshot)

Based on the acclaimed 1868 novel of the same name, Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Little Women boasts a remarkable cast of incredible performances from some of the most renowned actresses in cinema today.

The story follows four sisters as they grow from girls into women during Civil-war era America and as each chooses a different path in life. This classic coming-of-age story is masterfully recreated and provides a tour-de-force in storytelling for strong female characters!

Book: Swing Time, Zadie Smith (2016)

(Credit: Author’s own photograph)

Okay, you got me, I exhausted my whole collection of one book which I have in my possession during lockdown and so have literally taken a leaf out of my girlfriend’s book with this suggestion. But what a suggestion it is! This thrilling, critically-acclaimed novel follows the story of two young, mixed-race girls who meet at a tap-dancing class in London and dream of being dancers.

Only one of them, however, has the talent for it but the other has ideas that take her further than she could imagine. The novel deals with serious themes of race and sex and is set in London, New York and West Africa.

Album: Choices, Lucy Spraggan (2021)

(Credit: Author’s own screenshot)

Do you remember Lucy Spraggan? She went on the X-factor almost ten years ago with her original song Last Night? Well since then she has had a whirlwind career which culminated earlier this week with the release of her fifth studio album, Choices, which shot straight to the top of the iTunes charts.

Featuring anthems such as Animal and Sober, this new release is the perfect choice to rock out to for International Women’s Day.

And that concludes our week seven choices! I think we did pretty well, I even managed to get through the whole article (well, nearly)without telling you to go and watch my showA Blown Job on the ADC online Youtube channel so I consider that a success! Now make sure you go and appreciate the strong women in your life and take care out there.

The Tab will be back next week for our cultural suggestions to complement your final week of term!

Cover image credit: Thomas Cox

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