Reserved Recommendations
Host: MPR - Manawatu People's Radio
Categories: Society and Culture
Languages: English
Manawatu Peoples Radio
Produced By: Manawatū People's Radio
Programme Website
Everyone has something they love, but wouldn't feel comfortable recommending to the general public. This is a weekly series of fascinating chats about problematic faves, great trash, and our complicated relationships with art and culture.
All Episodes
Reserved Recommendations Episode 77 - Erin McLean (The Fly 1986)
Published: 04/4/2025 9:00 p.m.
David Cronenberg's 1986 movie "The Fly" is among his best-regarded, and is an absolute classic in the canon of gnarly, gloopy, practical-effects mostly-80s body horror movies. It's also an oddly poetic tragedy about watching someone you love succumb to something awful and inevitable, and a character study that follows a sympathetic oddball's transformation into an absolute monstrosity. Erin MClean, local Palmerston North actor, director, and general creative-person-about-town joins the show to discuss all of this and we have a lot of fun getting deeply in the weeds. A show about great trash, problematic faves, and difficult art hosted by Hugh Dingwall. Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.
Reserved Recommendations Episode 76 - Ross Palethorpe (The Wasp Factory)
Published: 14/3/2025 9:00 p.m.
Scottish author Iain Banks is probably best known (under the name Iain M. Banks) for his iconic Culture novels, which had a titanic impact on far-future "space-operatic" science fiction. His debut novel, 1984's "The Wasp Factory" is significantly less well-known. It is an INCREDIBLY divisive book which, love it or hate it (early editions published four full pages of both rabidly positive *and* negative reviews), will leave a massive impact on any reader. Ross Palethorpe rejoins the podcast to talk about this Gothic nightmare fairytale of a book. CW for (not especially detailed) discussion of murder, animal abuse, child abuse and neglect. Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.
Reserved Recommendations Episode 75 - Solo minisode (A Better Death Cult)
Published: 28/2/2025 9:00 p.m.
I ruminate on useful ways to think about one's enemies' motives, prompted by considering the obscure horror movie "Jugface" (2013) in contrast with other depictions of fictional "death cults". Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.
Reserved Recommendations parallel episode - Waitangi Day with Dr. Peter Cleave
Published: 07/2/2025 9:00 p.m.
In the absence of a new mainline episode, I decided to do a parallel upload of this special I recorded for Waitangi Day this week. Waitangi Day and the Treaty of Waitangi occupy a complicated place in New Zealand's public consciousness, especially in light of the current debate around David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill. In this special longform interview for Waitangi Day 2025, Hugh talks to Dr Peter Cleave about this complex and difficult history. Dr Peter Cleave has been involved with retention and development of Te Reo Māori since the 1970s, holding numerous teaching roles at all levels. He has been both an academic and a broadcaster in Te Reo Māori, and was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2025 for services to Māori language education. Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.
Reserved Recommendations Episode 74 - Elana Levin and John Cecil (Hair Metal)
Published: 31/1/2025 9:00 p.m.
"Hair metal" is, right off the bat, a disputed term. It began as a way of disparaging the pop glam metal of the 80s in comparison with the more "authentic" grunge movement that was becoming more fashionable in the early 90s, but was embraced by some fans of the genre as a catch-all term for groups who wouldn't necessarily have considered themselves part of the same scene at the time. However you slice it, hair metal was much MUCH bigger than you remember it, and its demise was far less total. Elana Levin (Graphic Policy Radio, Deep Space Dive) and returning champion John Cecil join the show to school me on an era and genre I know shamefully little about. Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.
