February Reading List (Patreon)

Videos

The Favourite Explained: The Imbalance of Power - we know by now that I love a good video essay and The Favourite is one of the only Oscar nominated films I have watched this year so naturally here’s a video essay about it. 

Slutever: Lifestyle Slaves - I can’t remember who recommended this series to me but it’s still all up on All4 if you’re in the UK (originally a VICE doc). The first episode is about Lifestyle Slaves, an extreme form of a sub/dom relationship. It was interesting and I’m keen to watch the rest of the series but I’m a bit disappointed they didn’t talk more about the word “slave”. At one point they simply mention that it’s a loaded term but not once do they make the very important distinction that slavery is slavery because it is NON-CONSENSUAL. Whereas these relationships are CONSENSUAL. So it just feels completely wrong and disrespectful to be using that term. Maybe there’s an explanation I’m not seeing because I’m not in the BDSM community but using that terminology just doesn’t sit right with me. 

Why parrots can talk like humans - sometimes I watch videos about BDSM, sometimes I watch videos about parrots. 

Studio Transformation - my friend Iz and her husband Johnny bought a studio and did it up and it looks so good I am so jealous. I mean I have my own home office now but next step in a few years or so would be to have a separate studio flat. IMAGINE! 

A better way to tax the rich - I watch too many Vox videos and it’s all very American. Are we having conversations about a tax like this in the UK? Do we already have one?

Why I left Riot Games and went freelance - so I occasionally watch some League of Legends because Dan is a big fan and one of the hosts is the amazing Sjokz who I have gradually become a big fan of myself. She’s a woman in esports, she’s an incredible presenter and just very beautiful and glamorous. Anyway, she’s making YouTube videos now and I’m here for it.

The laws that sex workers really want - a TED talk with a really great overview and rundown of different laws worldwide attempting to control sex work, they’re real impact on sex workers and the case for decriminalization like in New Zealand.  

Articles

Sex Education: Menstrual health to be taught in school by 2020 - BBC article about updates to the RSE curriculum and menstrual wellbeing is going to be included thanks to endometriosis activist. 

The business of being Alfie Deyes: ‘I’ll still be a YouTuber when I’m 40’ - of course I have to throw in the list something about YouTube because I love reading about my industry. The journalist of this article definitely doesn’t like Alfie or Zoe but is doing their best to joke around it. I kind of hoped the article would  be interesting and I’d actually learn about how Alfie runs his business but nope. Just another journalist making snide remarks about YouTubers. 

Podcasts

Influencer Marketing and Direct to Consumer Brands with David Perell & Nik Sharma: That Creative Life - another one of Sara Dietschy’s That Creative Life podcast. Really enjoyed this chat especially hearing Sara talking about her desire to expand her business as an individual creator into the beginnings of hiring a team, outsourcing various tasks so she can focus more on big picture. This is exactly the stuff I’m thinking about and it was really nice to hear someone else in a similar position. Sometimes it feels like all the people around me who are individual creators are happy there and I don’t know who to go to for advice. 

Queer Movie Podcast: GBF (Teen Trash) - my friends Rowan and Jazza have started a new podcast where they discuss and review queer movies. This is the first episode but they’ve done a bunch since then including Moonlight and The Favourite. 

Detail Therapy: Working Together While Married - one of my favourite productivity/organisation queens Amy Landino did an episode of her podcast with her husband about the business they run together and how they manage that with their relationship. 

Ctrl Alt Delete: Sara Tasker (On Building A Six Figure Business at Home) - Really enjoyed this interview about how Sara built her business from instagram and also how the flexible working of running her own business and working from home really helps with her chronic illness.