The podcast going deep with small talk: ‘What did you do yesterday?’

SPOTLIGHT / Trivial pursuits

Hosts Max Rushden and David O’Doherty ask their guests one very simple question.

Joining a group of friends in a bar, I’d barely raised my glass when one asked, “What did you do today?” “Not much,” I replied. My default answer didn’t cut it. Questions came at me like bees. What time did you get up? What was the first thing you did? What did you have for breakfast? And always, why? This friendly interrogation – a game of theirs – unearthed, to their delight, the nugget that I’d started my day with a cuppa – made without my getting up. Exploiting my partner’s absence, I’d placed the kettle and other tea-making bits on my bedside table the night before. “You are the laziest man alive,” one of them said admiringly.

Two months later, I discovered a new podcast called What Did You Do Yesterday? Hosted by Melbourne-based UK radio presenter Max Rushden and Irish comedian David O’Doherty, the premise is identical to the “game” my friends play, their guests (mostly comedians) providing unscripted fare in which the most entertaining material comes from the digressions. “I love that you don’t know where it’s going to go,” says Rushden, “and that there’s often something meaningful in the mundane.”

The ringleader of my group of friends, clinical psychologist Dr Ben Robbins, sees value beyond the mere extraction of information. “Although we’re wired for connection, so many of our engagements are superficial,” he says. “In a non-threatening way, the game opens up new conversational threads and you can discover something new about someone you’ve known for years.” And with that, he gives me a knowing look. Paul Connolly

WATCH / Merry hell

Daniel Henshall as Joe (right) and Jonah Wren Phillips as his son Angus in How to Make Gravy.Credit: Jasin Boland / Binge

“Hello, Dan, it’s Joe here. I hope you’re keeping well.” So begins Paul Kelly’s beloved 1996 song, How To Make Gravy. It’s now been turned into a cracker of a film by Nick Waterman and Meg Washington, who have captured the song’s melancholic heart and created a new suburban Christmas classic. Unlike the US, Australia doesn’t have a rich history of festive films; a brown lawn, sagging tinsel and heatstroke aren’t as picturesque as, say, New York’s snowy streets. Recently, though, we’ve started our own Christmas traditions on screen, such as the chaotic, funny 2012 TV series A Moody Christmas (Prime Video). There’s a sombre heart to it and to How to Make Gravy, but the message is the same: Christmas isn’t about whether you put tomato sauce in the gravy, it’s about showing up for each other – and that’s worth celebrating. On Binge. Louise Rugendyke

READ / Ground control

Harvey’s Booker Prize-winning novel explores the life of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

“A hand-span away, beyond a skin of metal, the universe unfolds in simple eternities,” writes Samantha Harvey in her recent Booker Prize-winning novel, Orbital (Vintage, $23), a slender book about 24 hours in the life of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station. It sums up how terrifying it would be, for most of us, to be hurtling through space in a human-made celestial body, but Harvey’s slender, plot-light novel also explores the astronauts’ daily lives – how they eat, sleep, exercise and, as a co-operative, perform their duties – and the metaphysical and Earthbound thoughts that occupy them. Taking centre stage, meanwhile, is our “fluid and lustrous” planet. In the 16 elliptical orbits that give the novel structure, we see dawns and dusks, twirling typhoons, ribbons of dust storms, arresting auroras and the “chimes of light” that signal human occupation. By taking an astronaut’s-eye view, Orbital muses on our planet’s fragility while reminding us of its “unearthly” beauty and infinite promise. Paul Connolly

STAY / City slick

Melbourne Place: the newly opened boutique hotel on Russell Street.Credit: Anson Smart

It’s a very Melbourne place, Melbourne Place. The newly opened boutique hotel on Russell Street makes a hero of its home town: design by Fitzroy architects Kennedy Nolan, furniture by Scoresby-based Jardan, art by Windsor’s Mars Gallery, executive chef Nicholas Deligiannis hired from Audrey’s Sorrento, and penthouse, urban and suite bathroom products by the Melbourne-grown, now L’Oreal-owned Aesop. (OK, so the smaller rooms have Sydney’s Leif products, but still, 10 points for effort.) The 14-floor, 191-room hotel has a contemporary, inner-city vibe – think lots of exposed red brick, rust, pink and green colour schemes, and New York loft-style balconies looking out onto CBD office towers. There is one Sydney influence: restaurateurs Ross and Sunny Lusted, of Barangaroo’s Woodcut fame, have opened a Portuguese-skewed restaurant on the ground floor, Marmelo, and a basement bar, Mr Mills. The latter looks custom-made for the Friday night drinks crowd. Katrina Strickland

SHOP / Rhapsody in blue (and white)

Pour your morning cuppa with this Smeg and Dolce & Gabbana work of art.

Smeg and Dolce & Gabbana bring the Italian summer into your home with their Blu Mediterraneo collaboration. Vibrant, Med-inspired, blue-and-white patterns adorn various kitchen appliances, including a toaster, juicer, espresso machine and this ’50s-style kettle ($999). Fatto a mano (made by hand) through an artisan-led process, each piece is a special celebration of the brands’ aesthetics and craftsmanship. Functional works of art, you might even say. Frances Mocnik

WEAR / Second look

Part of Country Road’s new upcycling collection.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue: it’s a tradition brides have been observing since Victorian times. But the phrase is also proving perfect shorthand for a new project by the sustainably minded folk at Country Road, who are reimagining unsold garments and unused materials from past seasons’ stock to make a fresh and desirable capsule collection for the summer. The brand, which is rounding out its 50th anniversary celebrations, has partnered with Miriam Borcherdt, a PhD researcher at RMIT University, to create a collection of skirts, shirts and accessories, all of which began life as something entirely different. Our fave is this cropped blazer in stunning cornflower blue ($349). Who knew upcycling could be this sexy? Melissa Singer

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