Stuck at home in self-isolation, or just not going anywhere because of the cold? Check out the books, shows, podcasts, and games the Dalnavert staff have been enjoying to pass the time!
Dalnavert Staff Lockdown List PART II
How has the Dalnavert staff been passing time in lockdown? Below you’ll find MORE of the music, podcasts, books, TV shows, and video games that are keeping us entertained this month.
PODCASTS
Historical Friction: Hosted by Alice Procter, Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.
Storytelling / Story-listening: Hosted by Jessica Hum, this podcast explores multiple Indigenous and cultural epistemologies, documenting oral stories and teachings as a method of preparation for climate change.
Ologies: Science correspondent Alie Ward interviews professional “-ologists” who specialize in topics including astrobiology (space biology), scorpiology (scorpions), ludology (games), and everything in between. Start with the episode on museums (museology) here.
Brainwashed: This CBC podcast explores the Canadian links to the CIA's covert experiments in mind control in the 1960s via the MKULTRA program. The Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal serves as the backdrop of this frightening tale of psychiatry gone wrong. Whilst detailing the terrible toll these experiments had on patients and their families, the narrative also explores the ethical shortcomings of intelligence agencies and governments since WWII, spanning the Cold War to the War on Terror, in the baffling race to control minds.
TV shows (for kids)
Clifford The Big Red Dog (from 2001): Clifford is a great show to watch if you have small children at home, and you’ll appreciate the great voice acting and fun that is this show from 20 years ago. John Ritter, Cree Summer, Kel Mitchell are super fun to listen to.
Kiri and Lou (CBC Gem): This cute and short show from New Zealand is soft on the eyes (muted colours and claymation) so it is perfect for littles. There is always a very fun song in each episode and the comedy is fun to enjoy for adults and kids. Plus for those who loved New Zealand’s Flight of The Conchords, the character Lou is voiced by Jemaine Clement.
TV Shows (for grown-ups)
Bridgerton (Netflix): Bridgerton is a classic bodice-ripper romance made for modern audiences (think Jane Austen meets Gossip Girl). The lavish, bright Regency-era set and costumes alone make this series worth the watch. Honourable mention also goes to the soundtrack of pop songs performed by a string quartet.
Burden of Truth (CBC Gem): a suspenseful legal drama series that is not only filmed in Manitoba, but set here too!
MUSIC
Medieval Bardcore: the musical genre sweeping the internet. Bardcore, also known as ‘Tavernwave’, is like if you took your favourite 21st century pop hit and threw in a harpsichord and your grandma’s church choir. Stream-eth renowned bardcore composer ‘Hildegard von Blingin’ on ye olde tube of you here.
Sea Shanties: Historically, sea shanties were labour songs, sung by working men on ships in the 19th century. The genre is currently going through a cultural resurgence, and it's no wonder. Themes of hardship, isolation, and longing, combined with generally upbeat melodies, make these classic songs the perfect soundtrack to an extended lockdown. We recommend starting with Great Big Sea, The Pirates Charles, and The Dreadnaughts.
Ys - Joanna Newson: Want to feel like a peasant frolicking gayly in a field of flowers in the 1500’s? Classical harpist, singer, and married to Andy Samberg, Joanna Newsom is the musical genius you’ve never heard of <3
Merry Christmas Lil' Mama: This is the 2020 version of a Christmas mixtape first released by Chance the Rapper and Jeremih in 2016 via Soundcloud. It's an inventive, joyful collection of songs that celebrates family, friendship and Christmas. It's also a mix bag of styles (from gospel to trap) which doesn't always work but never loses its spirit of fun.
Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World - John K. Sampson: Local musician Sampson (headman of The Weakerthans) released this single back in July, but its sentiment still rings true. It is a highly relatable ballad about the emotional rollercoaster that is living through a simultaneous public health crisis and political upheaval. It ends with some optimistic advice we can all take these days - I’m going outside / and gonna help organize / something better, something beautiful.
Video Games
A Short Hike (Nintendo Switch): Created by the Canadian developer Adam Robinson-Yu, this peaceful little game centres around a young bird called Claire who explores Hawk Peak Provincial Park. As you hike, swim and fly across the beautiful terrains you encounter other small animals enjoying their lives. There are enough puzzles and games to keep it interesting, but the real joy is in taking your time to ramble and explore. This is about as anxiety free as a game can get.
Books
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: A Victorian classic that proves that the ultimate dedication to youthfulness isn’t plastic surgery or an expensive skincare routine, it’s selling your soul! Through the gothic novel, Wilde exposes society’s inherent obsession with youthfulness and beauty, and its willingness to overlook depravity for a pretty face.
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons: Written in 1932 this is a parody of all your favourite romance / rural British life novels and it is hilarious! There is a movie from 1995, and it is no. 57 on The Guardian’s 100 best novels and is on top of many lists for comedy novels. Reading this after Wuthering Heights and it has lent much depth and context to the comedy.
Inward Journey: The Life of Lawren Harris by James King: This biography gives an incredibly detailed account of Lawren Harris’ life as a painter and prominent member of the Group of Seven. A must-read for any fan of Canadian art history!
Social Media Accounts
@WpgDaylightTkr on Twitter: The Winnipeg Daylight Tracker provides updates on how much daylight we gain in Winnipeg each day - an optimistic reminder that spring is coming!
@blackcraftspeopleda on Instagram: The Black Craftspeople Digital Archive highlights the stories of Black craftspeople and the objects they created. Their Instagram page is a well-curated and informative snapshot of this archive.
@erenanaomi on TikTok: Elena Kanagy-Loux is a lace maker as well as a collections specialist at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. As you watch her make lace creations, she educates the audience on textile and fashion histories. It is both relaxing and fascinating watching her make lace, but also you learn something!
Dalnavert Staff Lockdown List
How has the Dalnavert staff been passing time in lockdown? Below you’ll find the music, podcasts, books, and websites that are keeping us entertained. We hope you get some joy out of them as well!
Podcasts
Literature Out Loud: Listen to classic Victorian stories, accompanied by historical and cultural analysis by experts, with Dalnavert’s own Literature Out Loud podcast. Adults should check out the episodes on H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, while kids can enjoy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Museopunks: Suse Anderson interviews museum professionals and academics about the potential for progressive museum spaces.
ArtCurious: Hosted by Jennifer Dasal; fun introduction into art history.
Overdue: “Podcast about the books you’ve been meaning to read”.
Revisionist History: Hosted by Malcolm Gladwell; re-examining history.
Stuff You Missed in History Class: We recommend the old episodes, particularly the ones on The Bloody Benders or H.H. Holmes if you’re into old-timey true crime.
Books (Fiction)
The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins: Thought of as the “first full-length novel with a woman detective as its heroine,” The Law and the Lady follows Valeria Woodville as she tries to prove her husband’s innocence. Valeria’s “quest draws her into a maze of false clues and deceptive identities, in which the exploration of the tangled workings of the mind becomes linked to an investigation into the masquerades of femininity.”
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks: “The story focuses on imagined events surrounding the protagonist and real historical past of the still extant Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the oldest surviving Jewish illuminated texts.”
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice “A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark” (how topical).
Carson Crosses Canada by Linda Bailey and Kass Reich: This is a fun kids book in which Annie Magruder loads up her rattlebang car and sets off from her home in Tofino, BC with her dog Carson to visit her sister Elsie in Witless Bay, Newfoundland. Her journey across Canada is a nice introduction to the diverse geography and cultures of the country.
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: A historical fiction novel set in the 1600s on the tiny Arctic island of Vardø, in a fishing village where a storm has wiped away all the menfolk, leaving the women to rebuild their community. Their newfound strength is shaken, however, when the church’s suspicion of witchcraft begins to spread North. The stark seclusion of the setting, combined with the radical strength of the people who persevere despite this, offers a certain comfort as we head into our own cold months of isolation.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman: A darker look at an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland type of story. For young adults, and young-at-heart adults.
Books (non-fiction)
Stolen City: Racial Capitalism and the Making of Winnipeg by Owen Toews: Stolen City offers an accessible but in-depth discussion of how settler colonialism and racial capitalism have shaped and reshaped the urban landscape of the City of Winnipeg over the past 150 years.
Prairie Fairies: A History of Queer Communities and People in Western Canada, 1930-1985 by Valerie J. Korinek: Focusing on several cities, including Winnipeg, Korinek examines the queer experience in rural and urban people in the prairies. Community, activism and the lived experience of queer people on the prairies challenges the normative perceptions of Winnipeg and prairie histories.
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton: Focusing on the intersections of race and transness from the mid-19th century to present, Snorton outlines a thorough and often violent history of trans black people. As violence against black trans people continues and is sadly a near daily occurrence, Snorton’s book feels more important than ever.
The Whole Picture: The colonial story of the art in our museums & why we need to talk about it by Alice Procter: Known for her Uncomfortable Art Tours in London, Procter continues her quest to expose and acknowledge museum’s colonial histories. She encourages readers, and museum visitors, to question what is being told through museum collections, but also what is missing.
Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901–1961 by Adrian Werner, Evelyn J. Peters, and Matthew Stock: Rooster Town reconstructs the history of the Urban Métis settlement in Winnipeg, bringing light to the multiple instances of land dispossession that Métis faced during the evolution of the City of Winnipeg.
Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia by Helen Creighton: Originally published in 1932, this is a collection of 150 folk songs from Nova Scotia which displays the rich heritage of the region, drawing as it does on Gaelic, English, German, Mi'kmaq, Acadian and African influences. The songs themselves are bawdy, bleak, funny and offensive. They include some unique versions of the Child ballads, and I enjoy it for the interpretations of Irish folk songs I grew up with. Having crossed an ocean and settled in the fisherman's cabins of Devil's Island, songs like The Cruel Mother become uncanny but no less enjoyable.
Websites
Dalnavert Museum Virtual Tour: Virtual Reality allows unprecedented access to our heritage house from the comfort of our visitors’ computers or mobile devices.
The Virtual Museum of Canada: Managed by the Canadian Museum of History, this website features digital exhibits from museums all over Canada.
Window Swap: Stuck inside? Open a new window somewhere in the world - WindowSwap gives you the ability to look through others’ windows.
Send in the Clowns: A showcase of Canadian clowns (featuring one of Dalnavert’s own staff members!)
Social Media Accounts
@VictorianHumour on Twitter: jokes from 19th-c books and newspapers.
@BlackCountryMuseum on TikTok: an open-air museum in the English countryside that’s always on top of the trends.
@historycoolkids on Instagram: showcases archival photos, videos, and textual material, while giving well-researched and entertaining context in the captions.
Music
Deep Listening by Pauline Oliveros, Stewart Dempster and Panaiotis: The pandemic has resulted in me listening to fewer podcasts and more music. This album was recorded in 1988 in a cistern 14 feet underground in Washington where the acoustics are, well, cavernous and damp. It's a bit like listening to music from inside a whale. It's at times unsettling, but the experience encourages the listener to calibrate their ears and sharpen their attention. This might be my second wave soundtrack.
Stay safe and warm, Winnipeg!
A Message to Our Community
Dalnavert Museum is committed to the safety and well-being of our visitors, volunteers and staff. As we assess the implications of COVID-19 on our operations, Dalnavert Museum has cancelled its public programming starting March 18th, 2020. This includes on-site lectures and tours of the heritage house museum.
Out of an abundance of caution, most of the private functions scheduled in our Visitors’ Centre have been cancelled in favour of the current need for social distancing at this time. Dalnavert Museum staff are working with our community members to reschedule planned events as necessary.
Current updates on this information can be found through our website and social media as the situation continues to unfold.
Thank you for your patience and support in this time.
23% of our operating budget is from earned revenue generated each year from visitors to our museum. We look forward to reopening as soon as possible, but until then we will endeavour to engage audiences via our website and social media.
If you wish to renew your membership, we would be happy to speak with you over the phone while we are closed to the public. It is also our pleasure to accept your generosity through donations.
You can always go to our website for more details. If you don't find what you're looking for, call us at 204-943-2835, we would love to speak with you!