Are you finding yourself with more time on your hands? Or maybe your taking the opportunity during this slower pace of life to focus on the smaller things like reading a book, or making time to relax? If that’s the case then you’ll need a bank of options for the months ahead to keep you occupied. Well Plaid Ifanc have got you covered.
As it’s election time Plaid Ifanc will have a new NEC for the remainder of the coronavirus period, and so the outgoing NEC have prepared a final gift for you which is their film, podcast and book recommendations. There’s loads of choice here, ranging from the light, the political, the comedic, to the emotional, so there should be something here to suit you.
Morgan Bowler-Brown (co-chair)
Film: Captain Fantastic (on Netflix)
In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Podcast: Tom Scott
(https://www.youtube.com/user/enyay)
Abdullah Öcalan led the struggle for Kurdish liberation for more than 20 years until his capture in 1999. Now, writing from prison in Turkey, he has inspired a new political movement. Called Democratic Confederalism, this revolutionary model is developing on the ground in parts of Syria and Turkey; it represents an alternative to religious sectarianism, patriarchy, capitalism and chauvinistic nationalism, providing the blueprint for a burgeoning radical democratic society.
Sioned James (co-chair)
Film: Laundromat (on Netflix)
A widow investigates an insurance fraud, chasing leads to a pair of Panama City law partners exploiting the world's financial system.
Podcast: United Zingdom
Zing Tsjeng can apply for a British passport. But she’s already got one from Singapore, and she can’t have both. She travels across the UK to explore the different identities within the UK and what Britishness means to them.
Book: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Color Purple is a classic. With over a million copies sold in the UK alone, it is hailed as one of the all-time 'greats' of literature, inspiring generations of readers.
Set in the deep American South between the wars, it is the tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually, Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.
Wil Rees (comms officer)
Film: Knives Out
A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.
Podcast: The Political Party with Matt Forde
Stand-up comedian, TalkSPORT host and former political advisor Matt Forde presents THE POLITICAL PARTY, a monthly celebration of politics and its big personalities recorded live at the St James Theatre every month.
Book: Education of an Idealist - Samantha Power
In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?"—and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign.
Llŷr Williams (international officer)
Film: Perks of being a Wallflower
An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world.
Podcast: Happy Place - Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton talks to incredible people about life, love, loss, and everything in-between as she reveals what happiness means to them.
Book: Make Time; How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why?
In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about.
Carmen Smith (campaigns officer)
Books:
Pedagogy of the oppressed by Paulo Freire
The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centres is increasingly accepted as the norm.
In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power - they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.
Letters to the future on equality and gender by Laura Bates and Owen Sheers
At a time when many are examining how to achieve a fairer world, Laura Bates and Owen Sheers write letters to the next generation in which they explore and plan for a future where women and men live free of gender prescription and expectation.
How to run the European Parliament by Marton Kovacs
How do you gain influence and publicity in the European Parliament? How do you compete successfully with the Council and the Commission? How can you use reporters and lobbyists to advance your political career?
Luned-Mair Barrat (membership officer)
Film: The Two Popes (on Netflix)
Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
Podcast: The Infinite Monkey Cage
Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists’ eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince.
Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
Maiwenn Berry (women’s officer)
Film: Marriage Story (on Netflix)
Noah Baumbach's incisive and compassionate look at a marriage breaking up and a family staying together.
Podcast: Dim Rŵan na Nawr
Tudur Owen and Dyl Mei take us through the history of Wales, one question at a time
Book: Cysgod y Cryman by Islwyn Ffowc Elis
Islwyn Ffowc Elis' first novel that became a classic of Welsh literature. The story of Henry Vaughan, son of a large Powys ranch, as a student at Bangor College in the late 1940s. Under the influence of Gwylan Thomas, Henry becomes a communist and atheist, and this begins the long struggle between him and his wealthy and public father, Edward Vaughan. His sister, Greta, cannot marry the man he loves, the young German, Karl, because an English doctor is determined to have her as his wife. As a backdrop to the gripping story we see the beginning of post-war change in rural Wales. Her culture and religion were never the same after that. Cysgod y Cryman was originally published in 1953, and was chosen as the 'Book of the Century'.
Siôn Trewyn (Secretary)
Llyfr: Llyfr Glas Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros
As the dust settles after a nuclear apocalypse, Rowenna and her children Siôn and Dwynwen are facing a world where signs of life are quickly disappearing.
Their story is recorded in a little blue book as the family tries to survive an incident that has a devastating effect on the inhabitants of the village of Nebo and beyond.
Llyfr Glas Nebo is an unflinching story about life, death and hope. You will laugh. You will cry. But above all, you will question how we live, love and care about the world around us.
Hugh Kocan (treasurer)
Film: Airplane!
A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.
Podcast: Welcome to Night Vale
This is a podcast presented as a radio show for the fictional town of Night Vale, reporting on the strange events that occurs within it. “Twice-monthly community updates for a small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Tun on your radio and hide. Never listened before? It’s an ongoing radio show.
Book: Forbidden Lives: LGBT Stories from Wales by Norena Shopland
Forbidden Lives is a fascinating collection of portraits and discussions that aims to populate LGBT gaps in the history of Wales, a much neglected part of Welsh heritage. In it Norena Shopland reviews the reasons for this neglect while outlining the activity behind the recent growth of the LGBT profile here. She also surveys LGBT people and their activity as far back as Giraldus Cambrensis’ Journey Through Wales in the twelfth century where he reports on ‘bearded women’ and other hermaphrodites. There is still plenty of work to do, as chapters on the responses to Pride in Wales and the first gay play, We All Fall Down, clearly show. But the stories of the people portrayed in the book are less likely to be repeated: the LGBT community has moved from living forbidden lives to a place largely less forbidding. Norena Shopland helps us understand the struggle which achieved these changes.
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