Things Seen and Heard #1
Hurricane Milton, Football Manager 25, Kill List, Tokyo Swindlers, Nobody Wants This, The West Wing Weekly
The first in an occasional series about the current/recent things I've been consuming, content-wise.
Hurricane Milton Coverage / Ryan Hall Y'All (YouTube Channel)
Naturally, when a big thing happens, you turn to the news. But then you remember, it's 2024, the news is very rarely the place to find out what is actually happening.
Sky News, the BBC, and CNN did their usual thing of "here's a guy standing on a windy street talking about how strong the wind is." You can be watching for hours and still you know NOTHING!
Then I stumbled upon a YouTube channel called RYAN HALL Y'ALL. This is run by a guy with millions of subscribers and a keen passion for meteorology. He livestreamed throughout the Hurricane — using live weather maps, storm chasers who were on the ground all over Florida, and he was cutting to news conferences and witness updates as they happened.
Watching the livestreams, you really got a sense of what was happening in real time. It felt like Twitter, back when Twitter was Twitter, before it became the weird fake news hub it is now. The brilliant work of Ryan Hall Y’all really helps you learn as you watch the news unfolding in real time.
Football Manager 25 (Game)
For Football fans of a certain age, the Football Manager franchise is more important than the actual sport itself.
So when the makers of the game announced it was to be delayed from November until March 2025, all hell broke loose.
There is a passionate, fiery debate between fans about what should happen now.
Should the previous game, FM24, get an update of current squads and teams, and then delay the new game fully until 2026?
Seems like a logical idea, but then the makers, Sports Interactive, lose out on an entire year of sales.
Problem is, if they release the game in March 2025, close to the end of the season, fans won't be so excited to purchase. ESPECIALLY if the following version comes out months later in November 2026.
The makers are in a pickle, the fans are in a pickle, and how this will be resolved remains to be seen!
Kill List (Podcast)
I'm only three episodes in, but this is my favourite podcast of the year.
Journalist Carl Miller came across a murder-for-hire page on The Dark Web where people have paid thousands to have people killed.
Turns out the person running the page is a scammer, and not going through with the killings. But the people paying for the murders are still dangerous, because they're actively trying to get people killed.
What I love about this podcast is that it unravels like a great documentary, piling on full steam ahead, with the podcaster in the thick of the craziness, literally trying to save lives and get the police to take action.
So far there are no 'filler' episodes, just pure drama. It's a must listen.
Listen to ‘The Kill List’ at Wondery.
Tokyo Swindlers (Drama, Netflix)
A fictional show about land swindlers. Guys who sell multi-million pound land/buildings, despite not owning them.
If you're one for international film and TV then I highly recommend. Great writing, great acting, and you can to indulge in all the magic of Tokyo through the brilliant, gritty cinematography.
Nobody Wants This (Comedy, Netflix)
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody in a delightful rom-com.
First episode, I was cynical. I'm not proud of it but I watched it in a mood of waiting for it to fail.
But by episode 2, I was hooked.
I'm sure there will be people that say I shouldn't enjoy this, that it's just another thing about wealthy people strolling around a city falling in love. But you know what? The world is full of people walking around cities falling in love, it’s relatable!
A show like this is not easy to make. Many try, most fail. The thing about having a show (or movie) that is funny and romantic is that it lives or dies based on how truthful it is, how much we relate to the core of what we're seeing.
This show feels real. The way the characters over-analyse text messages, the anxieties and excitements of modern dating. It feels fresh the way 'Master of None' did when it came out.
Recently I wrote about missing 90s rom-coms. I feel like their spirit is alive and well in this show.
The West Wing Weekly (podcast)
For fans of ‘The West Wing,’ or of ‘The West Wing Weekly,’ it's exciting to see this joyous podcast return. This time they’re having a film festival of sorts, focusing on political movies, which they'll continue releasing up until the election in November.
The first episode focused on 'The American President,' and episode two was about 'In the Loop.'
Great to see Hrishikesh Hirway and Joshua Malina back with this much loved pod.
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That’s all for now! What have you been watching/listening to/reading?
Will definitely check out Kill List. This week the usual Wikipedia rabbit hole lead me to two shows: ‘How To With John Wilson’ and ‘The Rehearsal’. I’m a bit late to the party on these, but am very much enjoying both, particularly the former, which is the first show to make me laugh out loud in some time.