28 May 2025 5 min read Round-up

Sower recommends (May 2025)

A round-up of relevant writing, as well as music, fiction, and recipe recommendations.

Hey Sowers,

Welcome to the first monthly round-up of the newsletter! As this is the first, I just wanted to briefly share my intentions behind the round-up and how it will function moving forward. I’m currently planning to use it as a way to do housekeeping, to perhaps share any thoughts or feelings I’ve had that month relevant to the theme of Sower, or maybe add some extra context to the feature of the month.

Most newsletters that have a round-up typically summarise the news in a particular niche, but I want to do things a little differently. Although I will share relevant news recommendations that I think you all might enjoy, I also wanted to share art that has made me happy to be alive. I spend a lot of time curating my taste in music, fiction, and recipes, among other things, so I thought it would be nice to share that effort with all of you and offer you some options to take a break from the constant stream of information that is the internet.

Thanks to everyone who filled out the Tally form—your responses are appreciated, and I think you'll be happy with some of the stuff I have in the pipeline. Any and all feedback is welcome, as it gives me a better idea of what's working for you and what's not. You can find the form here.

Thanks,
Jack

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News that caught my attention

Zack Polanksi of the Green Party has launched a leadership campaign to try and combat far-right populism in the UK. I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a breath of fresh air for politics, and hopefully it's a taste of what's to come elsewhere in Europe and the world. I'm currently doing some research into this and might have something to share with you all soon!

Although there's a hint of disappointment to this case that was thrown out of court today, it still sets a precedent for legal action against big polluters across the world. Many countries—like the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan—have similar legal requirements to Germany for companies and their emissions. It's potentially one more tool to tackle the power that large corporations have accrued in recent times.

Loved this longread on how some independent musicians in the US are refusing to upload their music to streaming sites and instead trying to carve out a living through other means. I think this is a really great blueprint for how the music industry could shift away from massive stars to more local acts.

Music worth checking out

The Horrors are one of my absolute favourite bands of all time. Each of their albums is a completely different sound, so it's difficult to summarise them in a couple of words. Something To Remember Me By, a hypnotic alternative pop song, is probably their most accessible track, but it's also one of my favourites for the summer. The trip-hop inspired Ghost is also up there, as is the psychedelic rock track Sea Within a Sea, and the recently released alt-rock anthem More Than Life.

The band released a new album in March which I've had in rotation since. It's a darker sound than the band has gone for in previous albums, and it feels like a very fitting soundtrack to the existential mess that is our world right now.

My favourite find of the year so far is junodream—a band inspired by Radiohead with some dream pop sensibilities mixed in. Death Drive is a good starting point, as, again, it's quite an accessible song. My favourite is probably White Whale, and their sound is the closest to Radiohead in the song Close Encounters, clearly an ode to Subterranean Homesick Alien.

Fiction that captivated me

If you have a soul there's absolutely no way you couldn't enjoy The Wild Robot. I'm not the kind of person who usually watches or enjoys family-friend animated movies, but this one had me in tears on more than one occasion. It's essentially a movie about found family, so if you're queer, or otherwise have a rocky history with your family, I think this will likely strike a chord with you, too.

Really enjoyed this short story from 2011 that followers Long, a person who ends up getting involved with a group blowing up SUVs in their search for answers to an event in their past. It's written by the great Annalee Newitz and touches on themes of loss, infatuation, and guilt, wrapped up in a nice sci-fi and environmental aesthetic.

Recipes you have to try

For the last couple of weeks, I've been making this recipe on repeat—it's so simple, but so very delicious. I made a couple of my own substitutions: I use chickpeas instead of cannelloni beans, I don't deglaze with wine and add lemon at the end instead, and I just use chopped tomatoes rather than peeled (to speed up the cooking time).

Leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the recommendations and what you want from this round-up in the future!