Books to read, television to bingewatch, music to dance to and podcasts to fill your spare time this November.

Bingewatching

Marauders: Revisit the heady days of 20 years ago, when Fat Freddy’s Drop were plotting world domination from a South London flat. Throughout their three-month sojourn, the band hustled for attention and wowed festival crowds across Europe. There for the journey was Sarah Hunter and her borrowed Handycam, filming everything from the intimate to the epic. Season 1 out now on RNZ Music.

The Crown: Netflix’s ground-breaking series returns for its sixth and final season. The first four episodes explore the events surrounding Princess Diana’s death before moving on to the later years of The Queen’s reign. There’s a royal wedding in the mix, too.

The Buccaneers: For the fans of period dramas. The polite society of 1870s London comes under siege from a bevy of American beauties hell-bent on tying the knot with a member of the English aristocracy. Available on Apple TV+

Listening

Kristin Hersh — Clear Pond Road: The uncompromising Queen of Grunge and former Throwing Muse returns with her 11th studio album, again displaying the jagged dissonance and raw yet opaque lyrics that are her solo trademark. Kristin will perform songs from her new album and earlier material at The Piano on November 17.

Grayson Gilmour — Holding Patterns: The Wellington wunderkind has a new album out, the latest addition to an ouevre that includes award-winning film scores, solo works and fronting the electronic / post-punk phenomenon that was So So Modern. A unique artist on a unique trajectory.

Christine McVie; In the Meantime: Reissued to mark the passing of Fleetwood Mac luminary Christine McVie, here are her 1984 and 2004 solo albums, remastered and available on CD, vinyl and digital release. A fitting tribute to one of the signature voices of rock.

Reading

Eyeliner — Zahra Hankir: The history you didn’t know you wanted. From Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, eyeliner is one of our most enduring cosmetic tools. Journalist Zahra Hankir deftly weaves big themes of politics and cultural identity with healthy doses of fun and frivolity in a review covering millennia. The eyes have it.

Endgame — Omid Scobie: Subtitled “Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival”, this is the perfect follow-up to the just-released last season of Netflix’s The Crown. Omid picks up the story after The Queen’s death and finds an institution in turmoil and struggling for its very survival.

The Crewe Murders — Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings: A top team bring their impressive journalistic credentials to bear on our most infamous cold case. Combining narrative, detailed research and new testimony from those who were there, this book digs further into the case than we have been before.

Podcasts

The Booker Prize Podcast: Can’t wait for your annual Booker fix? This weekly podcast from the Booker team revisits winning books and other nominated titles from years past as well as interviews with authors, experts and bibliophiles.

Believe In Magic: Inspired by her own cancer diagnosis, Megan Bhari launched a charity at 16 for other children with incurable diseases. Some, though, cast doubt on whether Megan was actually unwell, only to be baffled by her sudden death.