With summer vacation having started for many and drawing closer for others, we thought it would be a good time to ask our staff in Arts and Culture Studies about the cultural things they’ll be enjoying this vacation. If you’re on the lookout for a book, a podcast, an album or an activity to spend your summertime on, look no further, because ACW has some suggestions for you!
Podcast: People I (Mostly) Admire by Steven D. Levitt Episode: Maya Shankar Is Changing People’s Behavior — and Her Own
I love listening to behavioral scientists and how their tiniest intervention can make a change in social systems. This episode talks about different ways in which behavioral economics was applied to increase voter’s turnout (among other fascinating examples) and how as people, embracing change can be daunting but is quite necessary. The entire podcast has a stellar guestlist, and its my cooking companion!
Apoorva Nanjangud, Postdoctoral researcher, MTC
Graphic Novel: My Favorite Thing is Monsters – Emil Ferris
This two-volume graphic novel is a mind-blowing read about a monster-like girl growing up in the vibrant and violent city life of Chicago in the 1960s. The book is one of those rare cases where excellent script writing and intricate graphic storytelling come together. It is also the debut of a 50+ American writer who has spent over two decades working on it.
Maarten de Pourcq
Novel: Julia – Sandra Newman
It takes great courage to re-write a classic novel like Orwell’s 1984, and Newman pulls it off. This retelling of the story from the perspective of Julia is fantastic, especially where dialogues from the original have been copied literally and still manage to twist the original plot.
Edwin van Meerkerk
Poems: Doe het toch maar – Babs Gons, and a novel: Jaguarman – Raoul de Jong
Bookworms who have turned their hobby into their job have a problem: as children, they tried to make each book last as long as possible, but now that reading is their work, the tower of texts that must be read seems to rise in direct proportion to their falling quality, which makes speedy reading both necessary and desired. Not with these two books. Their optimistic realism and real mystique made me want to stay with them.
Anna Geurts, teacher in cultural studies and historian of Dutch and Surinamese travel.
Novel: The Swan Book – Alexis Wright
I would like to recommend this energetic as well as poetic novel from 2013 by the Nobel Prize-worthy Indigenous Australian author Alexis Wright. It has just been translated to Dutch as Het boek van de zwaan, presumably because of its highly topical theme. It’s a sci-fi story about climate change and the injustices inflicted upon Aboriginal people (and how the two are related). I will be reading Praiseworthy, Wright’s latest novel, this summer myself. Or I will try, as it’s 800 pages long! The Swan Book is easier to read on the train to the beach or in your tent in the woods. I wouldn’t exactly call it light reading, but it’s a great reminder of the power of literature and that’s always welcome – in any location.
Dennis Kersten, Lecturer Arts and Culture Studies/ Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen
The Emerald Podcast
For the past few years, I’ve been diving deep into ancient myths, and last year I stumbled upon a podcast that has completely captivated me since. The Emerald podcast is a mesmerising blend of myth, story, music, and imagination, creating an immersive experience (best described as a “sonic journey”) that hooked me from the first episode. This podcast reminds us of the importance of reviving the imaginative and poetic essence of human experience, celebrated by cultures for thousands of years, to address today’s unprecedented challenges.
Britt Broekhaus, project coordinator
Film: Petite Maman, a 2021 French fantasy drama, written and directed by Céline Sciamma
Why I would recommend it: always wished you could have met your parents when they were much younger – or even the same age as you? The film follows a young girl who experiences just that. She copes with the death of her maternal grandmother by bonding with her mother – who she meets in the woods, and who is eight years old, just like she is. It does not take long before she quietly realizes that this stranger is actually her mother in a much younger version. The film is beautifully shot, lovely to look at, thought-provoking, psychologically well constructed and (somehow) strangely credible. It stayed with me for weeks after I saw it. Petite Maman is available on Pathé Thuis.
Helleke van den Braber
Novel: The Book of Love – Kelly Link
I recommend The Book of Love because it is captivatingly strange. I spent the first half of the book having my expectations defied and wondering where on earth the plot was going, and the second half deeply impressed with the way all these widely diverging threads of plot were woven into a coherent whole. This is a book for people who enjoy magical realism, interpersonal drama, and carefully wrought prose.
Julia Neugarten, PhD candidate
Album: ‘The Shape of Fluidity’ – DOOL
This album was put into the world in April 2024 and since then I have been loving it, as it touched something in me. As the artists themselves say: “The theme of the album pitches the concept of identity against the backdrop of a world in constant flux, and deals with change. […] We have to be as fluid as water to navigate ourselves through this ocean of possibilities and uncertainties – and make peace with chaos and impermanence.”
Demi Storm, PhD candidate
TV Program: Rutger en de Nationalisten (2023)
In case your summer is too relaxing, and you are afraid of getting too optimistic about the future, I’d recommend the NPO series Rutger en de Nationalisten (2023). In this series, Rutger Castricum (PowNed) follows a number of nationalists of different flavours in their daily lives and work – from anti-vaxx conspiracist, farmer, politician, or local neighbourhood watch to student association and Friesian car mechanic. The series gives a good and disconcerting insight into a world that might seem far away, but that surrounds us every day. Happy watching!
Anonymous Contributor
Novella: Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson
Both intimate and brutal, Open Water is a beautifully written novella that has made a great impact on me despite its short length. At first glance, it is mostly a love story between a photographer and dancer in London, but unfolds into careful examinations of Black artistry, racial injustice, police brutality and mental health. I love the lyrical prose and musical influence, and have re-read many passages since my first read; it’s the perfect slow read for summer!
Joy Koopman, PhD candidate
TV Program: B&B Vol Liefde
Ja kijk, ik kan nu heel cultureel verantwoord gaan doen, maar we willen deze zomer gewoon allemaal B&B Vol Liefde kijken toch? De afgelopen 3 zomers was dit dé zomerbesteding. Ik was oprecht verdrietig op vakantie omdat ik toen 10 dagen moest missen. Het is super wholesome hoe al die mensen met elkaar omgaan, er zijn vaak mooie natuurbeelden, er komen iconische memes uit en de afleveringen zijn ook lekker lang (ongeveer een uur en dat dan 5x per week) dus dat is perfect. Lekker met je hoofd voor de ventilator als het snikheet is, wijntje erbij.
Maaike van Leendert, lecturer
Exhibition: Spot On – Hairytales in museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
This exhibition is just a small room in a large museum, but it showcases a particularly interesting subject. The way that hair is styled tells us something about social status and belonging to societal groups. Cuts and hairdos expose notions of gender and body image of their time. They reflect norms and are an expression of political protest and resistance. “Hairytales” opens up perspectives on this intimate, symbolic material.
Jeanine Belger, Teacher in Residence
Novel: Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo
At the moment I am (re)reading this classic and I’m just smiling and crying and applauding all the time. Originally published in Italy in 1923 (as La coscienza di Zeno), this novel hasn’t lost anything of its power and ingenuity. Memorable protagonist, a continuous embarassing self-analysis. Every sentence is to be savoured.
Natascha Veldhorst
Concert on September 26/27: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds “The Wild God Tour” in Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome.
The 26th is already sold out but there are still tickets available for the 27th. Cave’s approach to culture and literature has been an inspiration to me as a student and later as a teacher. Rarely do I come across a band or a song where music and lyrics so powerfully transform one another, yielding layers of meaning that are as much scary as they are uplifting, often bordering on the sublime. I always enjoy coming back to his art, which is why recommend this upcoming concert.
Laszlo Muntean, assistant professor of visual culture and some other stuff
Novel: The Wall (Die Wand) – Marlen Haushofer (1963)
My recommendation is one of my favorite novels of all time: The Wall by Austrian writer Marlen Haushofer. This is an ecofeminist novel about a woman who wakes up in a cabin in the woods to realize she is separated from the rest of the world by a transparent wall. The forest and a few animals are her only companions, creating difficult conditions for survival, but also stimulating her to document her daily activities and thoughts about being the only human among nonhumans. The world the book creates is, despite its dystopian elements, a wonderful place to immerse oneself in during a summer break. After reading, you can also enjoy the film adaption (Pösler, 2012), but I would recommend you to first imagine the world this moving book creates by yourself.
Rianne Riemens, PhD candidate
The header image for this blogpost was created by Courtney McGough and shared on Flickr under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
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