Missing it already: The endearing show about a woman rediscovering her voice

WATCH / There’s no place like home

Somebody Somewhere is loosely based on the life of comedian Bridget Everett, who plays Sam (above), who reconnects with her high-school friend Joel (Jeff Hiller).

I get too attached to characters on TV shows. When the French comedy Call My Agent! ended, I bawled because I didn’t want to stop hanging out with my favourite Parisian talent managers. Same goes for Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. As far as I’m concerned, Jerry, Elaine and Larry just haven’t called me for a while. I’m preparing for a similar bereavement when the brilliant Somebody Somewhere ends after its third season. The HBO comedy drama is loosely based on the life of Bridget Everett, a New York comedian and cabaret star. She plays Sam, who returns to her hometown in Kansas after the death of her sister. There, she reconnects with her high-school friend Joel (Jeff Hiller), and rediscovers her voice. If that sounds cheesy, it’s not. Sam isn’t an easy person but, between her and Joel, you’ll wish you lived around the corner from them. On Binge, from Monday. Louise Rugendyke

READ / Olive and company

Tell Me Everything is a novel of interlocking stories.

“Tell me everything” must be three of the most comforting words in the English language. In Pulitzer-Prize-winning American novelist Elizabeth Strout’s 10th book, Tell Me Everything (Viking; $35), two characters from her previous novels, 60-something writer Lucy Barton and lovable curmudgeon Olive Kitteridge, now 91, meet and derive mutual comfort from their developing friendship. The two exchange moving stories about people they know – ordinary people who live “unrecorded lives” that are marked with pathos and tragedy. Lucy gains similar comfort from intimate conversations with her friend, Bob Burgess. Thus, each feels a little less alone. A
powerful homage to the art of attentive listening. Nicole Abadee

LISTEN / Knocks us off our feet

Each episode of The Wonder of Stevie dives into a different Stevie Wonder album.

If you can listen to Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life and still be transported by it 48 years after its release, new podcast The Wonder of Stevie (Audible) might just be for you. Over six hours, charismatic host Wesley Morris chronicles Wonder’s “classic era”, from 1972 to 1976, in which the singer-songwriter released an acclaimed album every year for five years, a streak that’s never been matched. Morris devotes an episode to each album, starting with Music of My Mind and ending with Songs In The Key Of Life, inviting a number of celebrity guests along for the ride. One of them, Barack Obama, credits his love of Wonder for helping him seal the deal with his new girlfriend, Michelle, an even bigger fan. By the time he starts singing the opening lines of Tuesday Heartbreak, you’re as swept away by this podcast as the former first lady was by her beau. Delightful. Sharon Bradley

PLAY / Opportunity knocks

All 2024 National Emerging Art Prize works, including this poppy sculpture by Lesley Murray, will be for sale.

How many budding Australian artists are out there? If entrants to the 2024 National Emerging Art Prize are any indication, almost 1700, that being the record number of entries in this, the prize’s fourth year. Established by Michael Reid Galleries, the idea of the prize and associated exhibition is to give artists without gallery representation a platform through which to showcase their work – and with any luck, sell some and secure an agent. All 100-plus works in the painting and ceramics sections are for sale, including this poppy sculpture by Lesley Murray, with a prize pool of $40,000 up for grabs (winners to be announced on Wednesday). On show at The Garden Gallery, in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens (October 31- November 10; free entry) and at nationalemergingartprize.com.au. Last year’s big winners, Joe Whyte (painting) and Annarie Hildebrand (ceramics), will show at The Garden Gallery from November 14-29.

STAY / Special mail

Embrace regional dining at Wickens, inside the Royal Mail.

Wickens, the restaurant inside the Royal Mail Hotel, three hours’ drive west of Melbourne in the Grampians, has been leading the way in fine, regional dining since it opened in 2017, holding two hats in the Good Food Guide, among other accolades. It’s also got the whole not-resting-on-its-laurels thing down to a fine art. Having developed a variety of accommodation options – because who wants to drive after dining in a restaurant that holds the largest private collection of Bordeaux and Burgundy in the southern hemisphere? – the Royal Mail Hotel renovated the once-derelict 1850s shearers’ quarters at nearby Mount Sturgeon Station. The result is a rustic, yet unashamedly indulgent, post-prandial hideaway. Time your visit for the full moon rising behind Mount Sturgeon – très spooky – and watch out for kangaroo poo in the morning! From $650 a night. Ricky French

EAT / PEPPER-UPPER

Put an extra pep in your step.

A trio of Melbourne mates wondered why their obsession with quality salt didn’t extend to its tablemate, pepper. Suddenly fixated, PEP is the fix: fresh, dense, black peppercorns sourced from Memot, Cambodia’s pepper-farming heart. Punchy and aromatic, PEP is available in a smoked-glass grinder ($20) or box ($12.45), both 50 grams, the latter equipped with a pop-out cardboard funnel to help you avoid peppercorn-grinder refill spillage. Dani Valent

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