On my radar: Stacey Dooleys cultural highlights
On my radarStacey DooleyThe documentary maker and Strictly champion on her love of Dolly Parton, the Pose playlist and Rupi Kaur’s poetry
Documentary-maker and presenter Stacey Dooley was born in Luton in 1987. After appearing in 2008’s documentary series Blood, Sweat and T-shirts, she has presented Stacey Dooley Investigates on BBC Three on topics ranging from child labour to whale hunting to female suicide bombers. In 2018, she won Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Kevin Clifton and she presents Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star and This Is My House. The new series of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over starts on 3 May and her new podcast Fresh Starts will be available on BBC Sounds from 4 May.
1. Podcast
I adore Dolly Parton, like everybody, for obvious reasons, but I really feel like this podcast broke everything down – I learned so much. I didn’t realise how forward-thinking she was with her lyrics: a lot of her songs are about fundamental rights, such as Roe v Wade [abortion rights] or being in abusive relationships. I love the episode where she’s talking very candidly about her relationship with men in her life and how dignified she’s been when people haven’t always treated her brilliantly. She’s just magnificent, isn’t she? It’s a lovely podcast.
2. Poetry
I’ve always been a massive fan of Rupi – I follow her on Instagram, though I’ve never met her. I think poetry can feel so highbrow and so stuffy, but I find her poems really easy to digest. The illustrations in the book are beautiful and she covers really important topics; recently, she’s been talking about the farmers’ protest in India. I’ve got two of those books now: I bought one and she very kindly sent me a copy. So that’s become a bit of a fixture.
3. Online event
Fane is a really ace production company that has been doing these online events: we can’t go to the Barbican and watch people talk right now, so you get to watch them on a live stream. There was a night with Fran Lebowitz, who everyone is falling in love with because of Pretend It’s a City. I find her really refreshing. She’s funny and charismatic – I love that she’s got the hump with everyone and she’s not arsed about anything and that she has this unwavering love for New York. It was a fun evening.
4. Novel
I read this recently and thought it was beautifully written. It’s quite a big book and not one I would necessarily gravitate towards, but I picked it up and loved it. Essentially, it’s about Shakespeare and his son and his family, but they never refer to Shakespeare by name. It’s narrated by his wife and she calls him “Latin boy”: the guy who goes about teaching people Latin. The emphasis is placed on the son, but the star of the show is really his wife. I found it fascinating.
5. Music
Pose official playlist on Spotify
The TV series Pose received rave reviews, quite rightly, but the playlist for me is utterly brilliant. Every song throughout the series was such a banger, so I found the playlist on Spotify and that’s been on loop for the last few weeks: if I’m having a bath or if I’m cleaning the kitchen, I’ll have it on in the background. We were out in the garden yesterday – we had the doors open and we were allowed pals around the garden, so I was alternating between Smooth Radio and the Pose playlist.
6. TV
I know this isn’t particularly unique, but Schitt’s Creek got me through the last couple of months. It’s so brilliantly executed: it’s very clever and not hard work and I loved it. I’ve fallen, like everybody else, madly in love with Moira [played by Catherine O’Hara] – she’s massively privileged and out of the loop in terms of what real life looks like, so you shouldn’t really like her, but as the series evolves you realise that actually her heart is totally in the right place. She’s witty, she’s sharp and unexpected.
7. Nonfiction
David Baddiel: Jews Don’t Count
I’ve started this and I’m learning loads. For the series, I filmed with an orthodox Jewish family and then was looking for books on the subject, so I saw David Baddiel had written this. It’s him talking very candidly about how it feels to be Jewish and one of the main points he makes is that people are willing to stand up for minority groups, but there seems to be a slight hesitation when it comes to Jewish communities, so he’s trying to unpick why that might be. He also talks more broadly about language and unconscious biases. It’s incredible.
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