🎶I'm so fuckin grateful for my ex🎶

+ Harry and Meghan in 'near catastrophic' car chase, & it's time to strike for our climate!

Hi angels!! I’m currently writing this to you as Rubes snoozes beside me in our hotel room bed (the way it should be.) I’m thinking (as always) about how blown away I am by your cute and generous responses to these newsys, to Bel’s chimes, to Laura’s recipes, and feeling very emoshe about the place we’ve got here. Sorry to get all bleugh but it’s 5am and y’all are cute ok??

Anyway, off for another big day in Sydney!

Luce xxx

• Harry and Meghan in 'near catastrophic' car chase

• London Laura: Are you grateful for your ex?

• Get involved in Aotearoa’s climate strikes!!

• Some unsolicited advice for Matty Healy and Taylor Swift

• 🗺Around the world🗺

  • Police suspect arson in NZ hostel fire, deadly floods in Italy, Ron DeSantis being the worst

Harry and Meghan in 'near catastrophic' car chase

Yeeesh - what a headline to grace the front page of the BBC this morning. To be clear, the BBC has not yet been able to independently verify these details, but a spokesperson said:

Prince Harry, Meghan and her mother were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi, a spokesperson for the couple has claimed.

The incident happened after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended an awards ceremony in New York on Tuesday.

In a statement, their spokesperson said the "relentless pursuit" lasted for more than two hours.

The chase resulted in "multiple near collisions", said the statement.

There are also claims that the chase involved “half a dozen cars, with reckless driving including going through red lights, driving on the pavement, carrying out blocking moves, and reversing down a one-way street - as well as taking photographs while driving.”

The NYPD has confirmed that an incident took place, but hasn’t given many more details than that.

I don’t feel like I even need to point out the parallels of this situation to what happened to Diana, but… wowowow.

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London Laura: Are you grateful for your ex?

This was written by London Laura - our resident ray of sunshine and co-host of Culture Vulture (our weekly pop culture podcast!) She’s a new London dweller, chief of romanticising literally everything, and will definitely ask you all what your love language is at some stage. You can find more Shit She Should Cook About over here!

Mōrena gorgeous whānau!!!

How have you all been? I’ve seen a LOT of house party pasta since I’ve been away which I am very much here for!!! Personally, I came off the back of the most gorgy holiday in Spain to be struck down with tonsillitis (apologies for my croaky pod voice in advance CV listeners!) and so the only thing I am cooking/eating is ice cream straight from the tub and the occasional cup of lukewarm tea… although last night I did make soothing soup (recipe here!) which truly felt healing!

So you get something a bit different today… on today’s pod we are diving deep on all things *love* and giving you some of my best trickle-down therapy direct from a relationship therapist! A few years ago I interviewed a therapist asking her about the myths of love, her hottest tips and her *secret* to a happy relationship - so of course we had to bring these all to you too!!  

There is a LOT in there so please go have a listen but one thing I wanted to pop here today because when I first learnt it it blew my mind is the relationship *life cycle* which is basically the idea that relationships are cyclical, not linear as every book / movie / brand EVER would have you believe. 

The stages are below (and sound similar to every rom-com plot ever)

1. Merge (you feel you’ve met your match, someone so PERFECTLY compatible) 

2. Doubt and Denial (realising there are some differences, quirks start to annoy you…the ick)

3. Disillusionment (the ‘winter’ szn, everything swept under the rug pops up)

4. Decision (should you stay in this?)

5. Wholehearted Love (you’re both at your healthiest + recognise there is no such thing as a "perfect match.")

But here is the catch - once you hit ‘wholehearted love’ - you go back to the beginning! Rather than riding off into the sunset with your love fully *realised*  - a whole other cycle begins of infatuation, discovery, doubt, decision, and wholehearted love - because it’s a CYCLE of growth, compromise and personal development. And this (I think) applies to most relationships, friendships, family etc etc etc. As someone wholly conflict-averse, it also helped me see that inevitably getting the ‘ick’ may not always be the end of the road for a relationship (however sometimes things have run their course and that is also fine and healthy!). 

Additionally - below are some of your: ‘what would you say to your ex’ responses!! Lots and lots of love and more recipes next week (when I can swallow!) xxxx

1. “To my ex I would like to say thank you, and I'm sorry. Thank you for showing me the work I very clearly needed to do on myself to be better, and I'm sorry I pushed you away to do it. I'll always regret not keeping you by my side like you always offered to do, and for not fighting for us more, like you wanted to and did. We're both in better places now, but I still wonder "what if" I'd done it with you instead of without you. You were and always will be, the one who got away.”

2. “Honestly, I can’t look back on our time together without cringing  …but if I squint  …I can see two hurting people keeping each other company during a turbulent time. I am just so happy to be on the other side and I hope you are too.”

3. “Our decade together taught me two things, boundaries, and that sometimes I have to let go and trust others - those who can see what I can’t through the veil of love. I believe the universe will keep throwing you the same lessons until you learn what you need to from them, so I take comfort in the fact that I had to learn these and you were my teacher, wanted or not.  It took me giving everything, a trait I thought was vital in love, to learn how important it is to save some of yourself for you too.”

4. “We are now with the right people and we helped each other get there, so thanks for that. Thanks for not talking me down post-break up. I think all things considered, we ended well. And that's probably the most important thing.”

Luce note: ugh you are all SO cute and generous to us with your stories ALWAYS, and if you’re going through a break-up rn, or are interested in hearing more relationship-y content, we have a whole podcast series on it!!!

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Get involved in Aotearoa’s climate strikes!!

I was going to write something quirky and poignant about why we should all be getting involved in this year’s climate strikes, but the press release they sent through was chef’s kiss, so imma just let you read that:

“Here’s your chance to make a sign about our planet being hotter than your favourite celeb and piss off old men wearing wraparound sunglasses on Facebook. Aotearoa’s second national climate strike for 2023 is coming up fast! Aotearoa Climate Strike Coalition (a new coalition of School Strike for Climate groups, Fridays for Future groups, and independent strike organisers) will be hosting rolling strikes on Friday the 26th of May.

The strike will demand that our government treats the climate crisis like the emergency they declared it to be in 2019 (after nationwide intergenerational climate strikes). More specifically, that the next government:

• Reduces emissions by 50% by 2030 (without relying on carbon offsetting!)

• Enables a 100% transition to regenerative agriculture by 2030

• Prioritises Te Tiriti centred climate justice

• Lowers the voting age to 16

Every area will be doing something slightly different, so find your closest strike below:

• Ahuriri (Napier) 3:15pm at Clive Square War Memorial

• Kaiwaewae (Featherston) 1:00pm at Squircle (Featherston Town Square)

• Kaitaia 1:30pm at Te Ahu Centre

• Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) 1:30pm at Garden Place City Centre

• Ngāmotu (New Plymouth) 3:30pm at Puke Ariki Landing

• Ōtautahi (Christchurch) 1:00pm at Cathedral Square

• Ōtepoti (Dunedin) 3:30pm-6:00pm at The Octagon

• Pōneke (Wellington) 11:00am at Civic Square

• Tāhuna (Queenstown) 1:50pm at Whakatipu High School

• Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) 12:00pm at Victoria Park

• Te Papaioea (Palmerston North) 1:00pm at The Square (Te Marae o Hine)

• Wānaka 1:00pm at Lismore Park

• Whakatū (Nelson) 1:30pm at 1903 Square

• Kihipene (Gisborne) 3:00pm Heipipi Park

• Hokitika 1:00pm Cass Square

For more details see @ss4cnz on Instagram or School Strike for Climate NZ on Facebook.

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Some unsolicited advice for Matty Healy and Taylor Swift

Listen for all the tea 💅

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🗺Around the world🗺

New Zealand: Police suspect arson caused Loafers Lodge hostel fire that killed six (ABC)

“New Zealand police say a fire at a hostel in Wellington, in which at least six people were killed, is suspected to have been arson and they have opened a homicide inquiry.”

More here!

Italy: Heavy rains have caused deadly floods in Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region (BBC)

“Eight people have been killed and several are missing after heavy rains caused flooding in Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region, officials say.

About 10,000 people have been evacuated, and some had to be rescued from roofs by helicopter.

The Emilia-Romagna F1 Grand Prix this weekend has now been cancelled.”

USA: DeSantis curtails diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Florida state colleges (AP News)

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that blocks public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity programs, addressing a concern of conservatives ahead of the Republican governor’s expected presidential candidacy.”

More on this douche here!

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