The pop culture, both new and old, that’s kept us going this year.

At Home Alone Together
By Katherine Fischer, Writer

You might have seen a clip go viral a few weeks back. It was during the height of the first wave, and it involved a host of Australian celebrities, like Osher Günsburg, Deborah Mailman, and Adam Liaw, plus a smattering of proper journos (Leigh Sales opens proceedings).

In black and white, they look straight down the barrel of the camera and implore the people of Australia: don’t start a podcast during lockdown. Just don’t. Haven’t we all suffered enough?

That clip was from a short-lived ABC show, At Home Alone Together. Essentially a sketch comedy half-hour, it took a bunch of comedians who are well-known around the circuit but which you don’t see on TV that often. And then they let them loose.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen something so gleefully off-kilter. A cooking segment on foraging for wild ingredients turns into a fight for survival. Greg Larson gives helpful advice on how to apply to Centrelink (“before making a phone call, tape a punching pillow to the wall”).

Somehow, they got Sophie Monk involved. Best of all, Ray Martin — yup, that Ray Martin — hosts. And if you’ve never seen Ray Martin do a bit about sanitising your hands with soapy pockets, I’m not sure you’ve really lived.

In an ABC comedy landscape that is mainly filled with Spicks and Specks
re-runs and slightly esoteric British game shows, this one felt fresh, and it felt like ours. It’s funny. It’s weird. And at a time when everything else felt so serious, it was the perfect medicine. Anyway, it’s all still on iView. Check it out.

My Love Is Cool, Wolf Alice
By Dan Steiner, Senior Writer

When it comes to comfort, nothing beats the oldies.

Call it nostalgia or regression, but London band Wolf Alice’s angry, angsty 2015 alt-rock debut is my selection. I’ve listened to it regularly this year, especially during those WFH moments that just seem to drag.

My Love Is Cool fills my head with fond memories #takemeback. The year was 2019. I went to see Wolf Alice with a dear friend of mine at a loud, dark, fragrant pub. Tinnies. Standing on couches. Sweaty people cheering and jumping.

This album won’t make your day, but it does capture the energy of the year (who knew a track titled You’re a Germ would have such resonance five years on?), and, most importantly, transports me to a glorious time of gigs and going out on a school night.

The Biggest Little Farm
By Ash Stapleton, Senior Strategist

I’ve definitely got a soft spot for idealistic farm or tiny house stories.

This doco is different.

It follows a couple who uproot their lives and start a traditional farm. One which goes against most of what modern agriculture depends on.

Two reasons I chose it.

Firstly, the catalyst for the move was their dog ­– wonderful.

But mostly it stuck with me because it’s a story about the minute balance of nature: the give and take, and the beauty of diversity.

It doesn’t gloss over the unrelenting hurdles they must overcome, and the bloody mess that comes with it, but even that was a nice reminder to look deeper at problems. If something pesky or even devastating happens, be curious enough to seek out other options. Don’t default to the quick fix. Be patient and confident in the knowledge that, if you look hard enough, there will be a less obvious yet potentially far more impactful solution.

It’s a story of resilience — the resilience of nature when treated right, and the patient resilience required of people to help nature do its work.

It will make you look at the world around you just a little differently. I’ll certainty never look at ducks the same way again.

Boy Swallows Universe
By Maxwell Hogue, Junior Strategist

I read Boy Swallows Universe as part of a book club we started at Interbrand when iso began.

I won’t spoil the whole story, but it features a character (based on a real person) named Slim Halliday, who survives his stint in jail by manipulating his sense of time.

There are beautiful passages about how he changes his perception of time: making the difficult moments go fast, and the rare, pleasant moments in jail slow down.

The way he puts it is, “Do your time before it does you”, which I interpreted as a cross between seizing the day and being conscious of your actions.

It inspired me to think a little deeper about how I’m spending my time
at home, and in general—to be more conscious about where I’m putting
my energy.