The Test: a case study on the pros and cons of authorised sporting docos

WATCH / The truth of the matter

Series three of The Test presents an authorised account of last year’s Ashes, but is no less valid for fans.Credit: Getty Images

There aren’t many documentaries that could turn the seemingly anodyne question, “You got cramp?” into a minor cliffhanger, but that’s one of the joys of The Test. Series three of the docuseries follows the Australian men’s cricket team on its controversial tour of England last year, when the lawful stumping of English batsman Jonny Bairstow (above) caused a nationwide aneurysm.

It’s a flattering portrait of a winning Australian team in the middle of a golden run, which is why I find this kind of sporting documentary so fascinating. It involves a knowing agreement between the producers, in this case Cricket Australia, and the audience: that in exchange for access, an authorised account of events will ensue. The recent docuseries Beckham was a similar story: it was produced by a Beckham-owned company, which is why, presumably, his alleged affairs weren’t really touched on. But what you did get was (approved) big-name stars, and family, dishing on a modern-day legend. Same goes for Formula 1: Drive to Survive (about drivers and their teams), co-produced by Netflix and Formula One, and Break Point (about tennis players), also co-produced by Netflix and tennis’s governing bodies, the ATP and WTA. Does that make these authorised docos any less valid? The journalist in me says yes, but the fan in me kinda doesn’t mind. We should be savvy enough media consumers these days not to swallow everything we’re fed. On Amazon Prime Video now. Louise Rugendyke

READ / An appetite for murder

Based on a true story, Butter tells the story of a friendship between a journalist and a gastronomic killer.

Inspired by the true story of a Japanese woman known as “the Konkatsu Killer”, who poisoned three male lovers, Asako Yuzuki’s bestselling Butter (translated by Polly Barton, Fourth Estate; $33) is a bingeworthy read. Chef Manako Kajii has been convicted and imprisoned for seducing businessmen with her cooking and then murdering them. Journalist Rika Machida writes to her asking for a recipe for beef stew and what starts as a gastronomic exchange develops into far more. This is a gripping, at times unsettling, read that takes on misogyny, beauty standards, desire and, of course, hunger. To borrow from a can of Pringles, once you pop this open, you won’t stop. Melanie Kembrey

LISTEN / Lost Hollywood

The debut episode of You Must Remember This, about Kim Novak, has been unavailable for years – until now.

In podcast years, You Must Remember This is a veteran. Karina Longworth started it in 2014 to investigate the untold stories of Hollywood. She’s especially good at examining the way women were exploited or written out of film history, but her debut episode about Kim Novak (pictured) has been unavailable for years due to copyright issues with the soundtrack. Until now. To celebrate the show’s first decade, it has been remastered and released with a new voiceover and music. It tells the story of the luminous star of Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), voted the best film of all time, and details the prejudices Novak faced and her struggles to be taken seriously as an actress. Barry Divola

GROOVE / Into the future

Globally feted Hiatus Kaiyote’s fourth album, Love Heart Cheat Code, was six years in the making.

When hipster radio DJs from Bushwick to Dalston speak breathlessly of Melbourne’s “future jazz” scene, they could be referring to any number of acts that have sprung from the city’s deep reservoirs of funk, soul and boogie, but they’re almost definitely talking about Hiatus Kaiyote. The near-uncategorisable, stupendously over-achieving quartet has three Grammy nominations under its belt and a ravenous following worldwide; it’s been sampled by some of the heaviest hitters in hip-hop, including feudsters Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Its fourth album, Love Heart Cheat Code, six years in the making, promises to go even further into the cosmic, neo-soul grooves and mind-melting melodic theatrics (care of phenomenal frontwoman Nai Palm). Judging from lead single Everything’s Beautiful, fans can expect more of the swooping orchestration that accompanied the band’s recent set of show-stopping symphony gigs. Jonathan Seidler

PLAY / Next big think

Vivid Sydney festival-goers are invited to experience what ideas like circularity, zero waste and renewable energy mean in practice.

A beer made from recycled waste-water? Robots that can create everyday items from a diet of coathangers? A “forever” car (pictured)? If A New Normal – a “do” tank of brainiac innovators, designers, tinkerers and blue-sky thinkers – has its way, all of these things will become part of our everyday lives over the next decade as it goes to work on a series of pilot projects that it believes can transform Australia’s major cities from voracious consumers of energy into satellites of self-sufficiency. “It’s called a ‘do’ tank,” explains Sydney director (and former deputy lord mayor) Jess Miller, “because we’re pretty good at figuring out why we should care about renewable energy, limitless water and dealing with waste, but pretty terrible at how to actually do it.” Over the next two weeks, as part of Vivid Sydney, festival-goers are invited to experience what ideas like circularity, zero waste and renewable energy mean via practical, real-life projects. A New Normal Sydney x Vivid at the Harwood Building Courtyard & Carpark; until June 15.

The Traveller can accommodate anything from coffee to a cocktail, water to whisky.

SHOP / From festival to jungle

Choose your own adventure with the Traveller, your reliable, fill-and-go beverage companion ($200). Designed to accommodate anything from coffee to a cocktail, water to whisky, this good-looking, insulated, 300ml vessel is crafted from double-walled, food-grade stainless steel, including the lid and its clip-on-to-anything, S-bend carabiner. Individually numbered for exclusivity, there are only 2016 of them in existence. Best join the queue. Frances Mocnik

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