Latest news with #Fennell
Man of Many
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Man of Many
Bottle Shock: How Marc Fennell is Uncorking the Wine Industry's Dirtiest Secrets
At first swirl, the world of wine appears a seductive blend of old-world charm and new-world flair, but beneath the decadent soil of the elitist industry lies a deep, dark secret. It's easy to fall for the romance of wine. From rolling hills and vineyard vistas to the lure of underground cellars and hidden barrels, there is an undeniable allure behind every label. But is the industry's noble rot really as noble as it claims? As Walkley Award-winning journalist and self-confessed connoisseur of the second-cheapest bottle on the menu, Marc Fennell reveals in his latest Audible Original, the world of wine is not as glamorous as you might think. In Corked, Fennell takes us inside the sordid underbelly of the viticulture scene, prying open long-cellared secrets that are as dark and sinister as a three-day-old Shiraz. What lies at the bottom of the bottle, he explains, is not a story about wine, but rather, of obsession. 'I think food and drink are actually the best prisms to understand people,' he tells me. 'If you think about your choices of food, what you drink, and what you put in your body, they reveal your culture, your economics, and what you care about.' 'The really interesting thing about Corked is that it isn't a thing that you need to listen to. This isn't a thing for wine nerds. It's actually a show about people who are obsessed…And what happens when that obsession gets completely derailed.' The new audio investigative series unpacks the incredible true story of the 2018 cheating scandal that rocked the Court of Master Sommeliers to its very core. Held in the highest regard, the wine industry's governing body is responsible for administering qualifications and titles for those talented enough to pass its excessively stringent examination process. But on one fateful morning in September 2018, everything changed. Allegations that tasting cues had been leaked, just hours before the final exam was to be held, sent the industry into furore and left the board of directors with little option. Within a few weeks of the scandal breaking, the organisation announced that it was invalidating the results of the tasting portion of the exam, effectively stripping 23 of the 24 new Master Sommeliers of their titles. It was a brash decision aimed at saving face, but by then, the damage was done. Scrutiny was mounting on the organisation, and piece by piece, the foundations started to crumble. 'This Court that decides who gets to be in and who gets to be out; how they wielded that power actually ended up really derailing a whole bunch of lives,' Fennell explains. 'As we dug a little bit deeper, it became clear that there's a track record with the Court of Master Sommeliers not being transparent when things go wrong. The cheating scandal was one example of that.' Throughout Corked, Fennell travels the globe to uncover an intricate world of ego, power, and deception and asks what's next for an industry ripe for cultural transformation. Ahead of Corked's exclusive launch on Audible on May 20, I sat down with the Aussie journalist to talk vines, wines, and the unique characters willing to risk it all to protect them. Truly, this is a story that bears rich fruit. MoM: Marc, congratulations on Corked. It sounds like an absolutely wild ride. Wine, travel, mystery. I think you've knocked out my perfect Friday evening agenda. What can you tell me about the project? Well, a couple of years ago, I made the very first Audible Original for Australia, which was a thing called It Burns about the race to breed the world's hottest chilli…I worked with my friend Matt and (since then) we've spent years trying to find a story in the world of food and drink because I love it. I think food and drink are actually the best prism to understand people. We stumbled across this thing that transpired in 2018 that none of us realised had happened and centred around (and I didn't even realise this was a thing) the Court of Master Sommeliers. There was this scandal where people had been accused of cheating, and it just imploded this very tight-knit community. I was like, 'Why did this cheating scandal happen?' But also, what does it tell you about these people? MoM: Over the course of the project, you took steps to actually become a sommelier yourself. Were you at all surprised by what you learned about the industry during that process? I learned that I wasn't very good; that's what I learned. And that's a good thing; it's a good thing to be humbled by these jobs. It's a good thing to put yourself in other people's shoes. I don't think I'm going to quit my day job anytime soon, but I think one of the beautiful things about this kind of storytelling, and the beautiful thing about doing an Audible Original, is that you put the headphones in, you enter a different world, you enter a different time, but you also get to be a bit complicit. When you're watching television, you're kind of observing it from the outside. When you do an Audible Original, you are putting the audience in the middle of the story. MoM: It's interesting that you say that. I feel like your style of storytelling involves taking us all on that journey. In a way, you are learning at the same time, which makes it far more interesting. This is the thing, I'm not an expert and that's not my job. My job is to be professionally curious. My job is to be curious and empathetic and try to piece together the story and unfold the mystery. But the beautiful thing about audio is that we are unfolding it together. I think that's why I love it so much. MoM: There's certainly a perception about the industry that it is for elites and the upper echelon. Is that true of what you found and if so, how challenging was it for you to break into that inner circle? Yeah, it really was. There are plenty of people out there who know vast amounts about wine, but actually the really good sommeliers are the ones that stand in the gap between you, I and that big reservoir of knowledge. The really amazing sommeliers are the ones who make it about you—a human being understanding what you love and what you don't love. They take that reservoir of knowledge and tailor something to you. It's more than a service job. It's care. It's genuinely caring for a person and their taste to make that moment, that meal, that night special. That's the skill. MoM: Of course, your journey through the industry does take a sordid turn. At what point did you start to realise there was a deeper story to unpack? Well, it was interesting because all I really knew from the outset was that this scandal had happened, the entire class of 2018 had been cancelled, and everybody was very upset. There were a bunch of things we didn't know, though. We didn't know that there were these rogue investigations happening, where people within the class split off and tried to run their own investigations. We didn't know that there might've been more to this secret email. We worked out who was behind it pretty quickly because that was reported, but we didn't know who would talk, who wouldn't talk. What I really wasn't prepared for was how much emotional damage the story did. There's a character in there, Elton, the stress of this literally lands him in hospital. I think Elton is the most intriguing character to me because he didn't ask for this email. He got it, and then he panicked and then he did something that I think he's regretted ever since, which is that he didn't tell anybody. So for Elton, there's just a series of decisions with disastrous consequences for him. Watching him and also his family navigate that was hard, honestly. It was hard watching this man, who, years after this happened, is still left with a crater in their lives. I wasn't quite prepared for that. As we dug a little bit deeper, it became clear that there's a track record with the Court of Master Sommeliers not being transparent when things go wrong. The cheating scandal was one example of that. The revelations around harassment that emerged out of that, to me, represent a pattern that needs to be acknowledged. It's worth pointing out that management of the Court has changed, but it still remains something that many, certainly many of the victims, do not feel has been sufficiently acknowledged. That's an important point to make. MoM: It's no secret that oenophiles border on the obsessive and a true wine-lover will stop at virtually nothing to get their hands on a rare drop. Tell me a little about a few of the colourful characters you encountered whilst making Corked. We met lots of interesting people and quirky characters, but at a certain point, we were down in the weeds with this story about cheating and secret emails and things and investigations, it was getting very, very down. We were in proper true crime territory. At that time, I was like, it's probably worth just asking the question, 'Why do we care about this?' So we went out to Napa Valley, probably the most famous wine region in the United States and we met this lovely guy named Bertus. It was a really important thing to do. At that point in the story, everything had devolved, the relationships between people had devolved and we're hearing about the worst behaviour and the worst abuses of power. But then to just take a minute to go stand in a vineyard and realise the life that gives birth to those flavours was really important. I've never actually thought to go into the vineyards and look around and feel the insects, and the way the scent as you walk through the vines; it was breathtaking. One of the things I love about audio is that the audience is, as I mentioned before, complicit. You want it to live in the theatre of their mind. So just to be there surrounded by these vines and feel the life of the insects and the birds, there's a sort of savoriness to the air. You can smell the beginnings of the wine around you in a way. I was like, 'Oh, I understand the mystique of this. I understand why you would be pulled into wanting to know as much as you possibly can about this'. Absolutely in that moment, I understood the passion. I'd spent weeks just being presented by these really obsessive A-type personalities who are taking it very seriously and they're feeling very aggrieved about what happened. I think in that moment, you sort of have to look at it around yourself and go, what is happening? Why are people so obsessed with this? And why did the Court behave in the way that it did to preserve this elite institution? It's important to take steps out of the story to just recalibrate what actually matters. MoM: So what did you find? What really matters? There are so many parts of our lives that we can do without human interaction. Now you can sit in a room and just do a whole day of Zoom meetings. You can have everything you want ordered to your door and never encounter another person. And some of that's great; I'm not bemoaning that, but there is something very special about going to a restaurant. It doesn't have to be a fancy expensive one, it could just be a cafe or a bar that you love, but that moment where a person genuinely creates something for you, that they put care and love into what you're eating, into selecting what you drink so that it matters— that is precious. I've come to regard it as somewhat of a sacred thing because it's one of those so rare occasions in our life where one human takes care of another, and it's a creative act. It's an empathetic act, it's a compassionate act. It's given me just an enormous amount of respect and gratitude for that interaction, that space that is a restaurant.
Calgary Herald
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Be Awake and Be Aware: A warning for our times
Article content Article content I was shaken awake from my comfortable slumber when I was introduced to the following list of markers depicting the rise of fascism. Do you see any parallels to our present landscape? Article content Private enforcers at political rallies. Discrediting of the free press. Co-opting religion as source of authority, Hyper-militarism. Promises of future greatness via magical impact of the great leader. Xenophobia. Heightened misogyny. Tolerance for attacks on the marginalized. Appeals to a glorious mythic past. Insistence on allegiance to symbols of patriotism, Strong-arm rhetoric. Threats to crush purported enemies. Thinly veiled racism. Open contempt for immigrants Discrediting of elected officials and bodies. Attempts to circumvent legislative process. Threats to undermine the judiciary. Relentless blaming of foreign powers for domestic woes. Demands for unwavering loyalty to the leader Article content Article content This list was representing the warning signs of fascism present in the mid-1940s yet could easily speak to our present reality. Dr. Rob Fennell from Atlantic School of Theology in 2016 warns that it seems history is repeating itself. Article content Article content Fennell recently preformed a one-man production entitled Bonhoeffer meets Trump. He imagined a conversation between a 1940s German Protestant pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer and USA President elect Donald Trump. Bonhoeffer appears as a ghost in Trump's dream, much like Scrooge's old friends appear to him in A Christmas Carol. The play is set in the present time and the conversation highlights who Bonhoeffer was and parallels to our present reality. Article content Bonhoeffer was a Protestant theologian during the Second World War. He warned people about the dangers of fascism. He called people to be awake and aware of coming ruin. Because of his outspoken manner, he was arrested, deemed to be a political prisoner, sent to a German concentration camp and executed in 1945. Article content Article content Fennell's presentation emphasizes the startling similarities between the present-day American political climate and the ideologies of 1940s Germany. Article content Upon viewing Fennell's supposed conversation, many question began to form in my head: How can we possibly live faithfully in times of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty? Are we aware of the impending dangers? Are we awake and prepared to resist and speak truth to power? Are we going to allow history to repeat itself? Article content Fennell attempts to broadly answer these questions by stating, 'So often people deny or avoid the reality of the present moment and in doing so, are lulled into perilous and dangerous times.' Article content Fennell did offer suggestions on how to respond to our political reality. First, be rigorously aware of what is happening. Second, be awake and willing to speak out and up against harmful measures. Fennell warned us that all too often people assume someone else will speak up against an atrocity until they discover that there is no one left to speak. He read a powerful poem called First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemoller, a contemporary of Bonhoeffer's:
TimesLIVE
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Broken connections
Technology plays a thematic starring role in Twist, and is interpreted by McCann as 'not just something that is good for us but also potentially damaging, in extraordinary ways', whereas Fennell's interpretation of technology 'scares him: it's something to be used, he doesn't really quite understand it. Then he gets a chance to see a new facet of technology, an untold story,' the author explains. Although smartphone-averse, Conway — described by Fennell as... a creature from the unplugged side, or as unplugged as he could get — 'knows technology, he's comfortable with it, but comfortable enough with it to know it's dangerous,' McCann explains. 'He becomes a semi-Luddite even though he announces in the book that he's not a Luddite. Part of his character is desire to be away from technology. Hence the freediving, the descent. Even though he's interested in repair and bringing broken things together, he ends up recognising the problems of technology for all of us.' Zanele's T-shirt reading 'Unreachable by Machine' comes to mind as a sartorial depiction of the hold technology has over us. McCann's never owned such a shirt but believes it's a good slogan. 'I might start wearing one myself and copyright it!' he laughs. (To which neo-Luddites worldwide reply with a resounding 'aye, aye!'). McCann remarks that it's important to realise that 'the machine itself is not the problem, the machine is just made of sand and silicone and plastic and wires and glass; it's our relationship to the machine and how we choose to engage with it. There's a certain point when we become wise and realise what power technology has over us. What we really must also understand is that much of this we have created ourselves.' Yet technological feats remain fallible, with McCann exploring the vulnerability of cables in a segment of Twist which takes place in Alexandria, where cables have intentionally been destroyed, and in Accra, where a fishing accident caused a break, resulting in most of Ghana's capital being engulfed in darkness, with limited access to power and the internet. 'You've also experienced internet blackouts and slowdowns before. If both cables going around South Africa were cut at the exact same time, it would be an extraordinary emergency.' He describes the lack of awareness surrounding the detrimental effect damaged cables have on access to technology as 'surprising', deriding governments' inability to respond to the crises, and raising the question of whether the onus is on government to protect us. 'Yes, it is. But guess who owns the cables? It's these big multinationals. 'If they get cut, whose responsibility is it to protect our citizens? Do we have to protect them from the multinationals, too and are we protecting them from the large-scale multinationals? 'All these questions exist in Twist — some of them are unsaid because it's not the place for a fiction writer to go 'lecturing' abut this sort of stuff. But I think you must suggest and let the reader come up with the ideas for themselves and start asking questions about our relationship to technology.' The novel was called Twist from its conception, McCann says, owing to the physically twisted nature of the cables and how twisting material is used to create them. 'I was also interested in the form of narrative twist, and a twist in the story, at the end, and what it means when we continue to twist. Our stories continue to surprise us and I think that's part of the beauty of the world.' The leitmotif of repair and destruction is also applicable to the human condition, with McCann applying these themes to Fennell's alcoholism and fractured relationship with his estranged teenage son. 'So many of us have issues of destruction in our lives. We're living in a broken world and many pieces are lying at our feet: How do we pick up those pieces? And how do we make up a mosaic out of them that allows us to keep going, and in some cases, to make it better? In this shattered world — in this shattering — can we somehow change the conversation and make it one where we can look after one another, rather than being divided in extraordinary ways?' Interpersonal fragmentation aside, McCann acknowledges that 'sometimes within ourselves, we have this brokenness that we have to look at and see and if we can repair it. And I think that's the biggest theme for our times.' It's understandable that the term that most resonated and remained with McCann when he visited South Africa is ubuntu. 'I think it's an extraordinary term and it means a lot for the notion of repair and how we get along. 'I do recognise some of the magnificent things that have unfolded in South Africa over the past few decades, but I think you have to recognise the difficulties,' he adds, likening the peace process in Northern Ireland to South Africa's inception of democracy, describing both as 'sometimes shaky'. 'But if you do look to places like Ireland and South Africa — they're speaking out on an international stage, saying things about what is going on in Ukraine, in Gaza. I find that to be brave, I find that to be admirable, and I think we have learned a lot about ourselves. 'It's not arrogant, there's a humility to it and a power to it that's trying to help other places, other people, and to recognise the importance of human dignity.'
See - Sada Elbalad
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Jacob Elordi Gives Production Update on "Wuthering Heights"
Yara Sameh Jacob Elordi is looking forward to audiences watching what may be one of his most highly anticipated roles yet. The "Euphoria" actor, who is set to portray the romantic antihero Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of "Wuthering Heights", gave Deadline a production update while speaking about his Amazon series "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", revealing that shooting had 'just recently' wrapped. He also expressed his reverence for Fennell's take and sung the praises of his co-star Margot Robbie, who plays Catherine Earnshaw, as well as the rest of the cast that also includes Hong Chau, Alison Oliver. and Shazad Latif. 'The performances from everyone — it's breathtaking,' Elordi said. 'It's an incredible romance. It's a true epic. It's visually beautiful. The script is beautiful. The costumes are incredible.' Last September, Elordi and Robbie were reported to be attached to star in Fennell's "Wuthering Heights", from MRC and LuckyChap. Warner Bros Motion Pictures Group has since won distribution rights in a bidding war, setting the romance for a February 13, 2026 release. Fennell — who serves as writer, director and producer on the adaptation, which has been filming in the UK — previously faced backlash for casting a white actor as Heathcliff, who is described in the book as a 'dark-skinned gipsy.' The adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel was filmed in the UK. The original story follows two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons and the turbulent relationship they have with the Earnshaws' foster son, Heathcliff. More specific plot details on Fennell's version are unknown at this time. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
Daily Mail
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jacob Elordi sparks fresh controversy over Wuthering Heights role after new interview
Jacob Elordi has ignited fresh uproar after revealing he was about to take a break from acting when Emerald Fennell offered him the controversial Wuthering Heights role, with many saying he should have 'run' from the job. The 27-year-old Euphoria actor is set to play Heathcliff alongside Margot Robbie in Fennell's upcoming film adaptation. News of his casting in September had already prompted much backlash amongst critics as the brooding central character is described as a 'dark-skinned gypsy' with 'black eyes' in Emily Bronte's classic novel. Heathcliff is also described as 'a little Lascar,' a 19th century term for an Indian sailor, which has also led naysayers to claim that Elordi is not 'racially ambiguous' enough. In a recent interview with IndieWire, Elordi opened up about how he landed the role in the first place - and his answer sparked even more backlash. 'I was really lucky,' he said. 'I was going to take a break for a while, and then Emerald just very simply texted me, and you can't run from that text.' He added to the publication: 'I'm so, so excited for people to see it.' Social media users were quick to blast Elordi for u-turning on his decision to take a hiatus, with many people saying he should have 'run' from Emerald's text rather than accepting the role. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one said: 'He should've taken that break.' Another wrote: 'Except you can run from that text though. You should've ran…' 'You can run from that text, and you almost certainly should have,' a third said. Echoing a similar sentiment, another quipped: 'But you can decline.' Over on Reddit, one user commented: 'Given that he's a terrible choice for the role he totally could have "run from that text."' Some, however, are confused by the backlash and have pointed out that Fennell's version will be a 'different' take on the original novel. 'It's clearly going to be a totally different interpretation of the book but… so what?' one commented. 'There's been wildly different interpretations of art since day one. If it's not for you just skip it.' 'I fully trust Emerald to do an awesome job with it,' another agreed. 'She is such a visionary. And the book demands an artistic, unusual view. Even today it scandalizes.' The tortured Heathcliff is one of literature's most complex anti-heroes and while he is perceived to be racially ambiguous in the original text, he has been played by white actors, including Tom Hardy, Ralph Fiennes, and Lawrence Olivier. In Fennell's upcoming film, Margot Robbie plays Catherine Earnshaw, or Cathy. The 34-year-old actress returned to work on the project after giving birth to her first child with her British husband Tom Ackerley last year, and the couple's production company, LuckyChap, is producing the film. Robbie's role has also triggered a response, with some arguing that she is 'too old' to play the character, who is just a teenager in the book. The character of Edgar Linton, a wealthy aristocrat who falls in love with and marries Cathy, is played by 36-year-old British Pakistani actor Shazad Latif, while Oscar-nominated actress Hong Chau, 45, an American born in Thailand, is set to appear as housekeeper Nelly Dean. revealed the first images of Margot as Cathy after the production began filming in January. Margot and Jacob have also worked together before - on Saltburn - and are set to appear in a new short film, See You At 5, for the new Chanel No 5 campaign. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, is considered a masterpiece. The original story centers on the upper middle-class Earnshaw family and their turbulent relationship with Heathcliff, an orphaned boy they take in. Owen Cooper, the young British actor who has made waves for his debut performance in Netflix's Adolescence, is to play the teenage Heathcliff.
