What To Watch, Read and Listen to this September

The Bold Type
BBC iPlayer
The Bold Type follows three friends, Jane, Kat and Sutton, who work for a global women's magazine, as they juggle the problems in their personal and professional lives. We’ve been loving this series for years (which makes sense, working for a successful magazine), but we’ve waited two years to see the final season which BBC iPlayer are now showing. They’ve uploaded every single episode in fact – hurrah!
All episodes available now.

Top Boy
Netflix
Viewers are invited to head back to the streets of East London for season five of Top Boy (the final season). The gritty crime drama follows powerful drug dealers battling for money and power, and the trailer for its finalé looks super intense, so you’ll want to catch up now if you’re not up to date.
The final six episodes will drop on Thursday 7th September.

Sex Education
Netflix
Season four of this hugely popular series will be the end of an era. As Ncuti Gatwa steps into Doctor Who’s shoes and Emma Mackey continues to grace our screens in Hollywood movies (she was a brilliant Barbie but an even better Emily Brontë), it seems right that we say goodbye to Sex Education. Our favourite characters have moved on from Moordale, and viewers will find them at the far more progressive Cavendish Sixth Form College, but we doubt things will be going smoothly.
Released on Thursday 21st September.

The Expendables 4
The Expendables are the world's last line of defence and the team that gets called when there’s no one else left to turn to. Now what began 11 years ago is finally coming to an end. Like all the previous instalments in this film series, this one is also based on an original story by Spenser Cohen, but this one won’t star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Catch up on the other three now if you’re a fan of action-thrillers, Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham.
In cinemas from Friday 22nd September. 

Read More: Here's What We Watched, Read and Listened to Throughout August

We Loved

A THOUSAND SHIPS
Natalie Haynes
Retellings of Greek myths are still in vogue, and this is a brilliant addition to my collection. Natalie Haynes tells almost the entire story of the Trojan war through the memories, flashbacks, letters and stories of the various women of Troy – starting with terror, smoke and flame as the once-proud city is sacked by the Greeks. Some of the characters we meet are well known (including the beautiful Helen, whose abduction by Paris set the war in motion) while others are less familiar (Oenone, Paris’s abandoned wife, is an interesting choice). This is a many-layered novel packed with interest, wit, love and grief.
Kate Foley, Assistant Editor

THE LAST HOUSEWIFE
Ashley Winstead
After a long and traumatic year at college that leaves one girl dead, two friends swear to secrecy and promise to leave their past behind them. Eight years later, listening to her favourite true crime podcast, Shay learns of the horrifying news of her friend’s Laurel’s death, in eerily similar circumstances to those in her past, leaving her with too many questions about events she thought were long gone. With the help of the podcast host, Shay begins to delve into the case, going back to the places she swore never to go while being thrown into something much worse than she ever thought possible. Can Shay ever escape this nightmare, or is it something she was always destined to be a part of? With every page you turn, you’re thrown further into Shay’s world of turmoil and darkness – this was a book I just couldn’t put down.
Daisy Moss, Advertising Executive

The Rosie Project
Graeme Simsion
Talk about being late to the party – this book has been passed from bookcase to bookcase for the last decade but a trip down South finally encouraged me to pick it back up, and I'm so glad I did. This Australian novel is relatable, hilarious and somehow far better than any rom-com I've ever seen (of which there are many – and some of which are mentioned in this book!). Professor Don Tillman struggles to have serious relationships with women so with ‘help’ from a friend he devises a questionnaire to assess the suitability of female partners. Things continue to go pretty terribly before (and sometimes after) Don meets Rosie, who gives him a new purpose and encourages him to loosen his regimented way of living. But does that mean she could be the one for him? That’s for me to know and for you to find out, but you can imagine my excitement when I found out there was a sequel!
Faye Dixon, Arts Editor 

Travel Inspo

YOUR PLACE OR MINE
Host Shaun Keaveny offers his guests the chance to convince him that their holiday of choice is worth getting off the sofa for – with mixed results. Recent episodes include Jameela Jamil selling the delights of LA, and Adrian Chiles trying to convince Shaun to visit Croatia (and try their potent fig brandy).

THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST
Dylan Thuras and his reporters explore a new wonder of the world four days a week in these 15-minute episodes. Listen back through their back catalogue to hear about the Bone Wars of the 1870s, the world famous crochet museum and the Temple of Pythons in southern Benin.

ARMCHAIR EXPLORER
The world’s greatest adventurers tell their best stories from the road, documentary style. Spend four weeks on a Colombian river with Jordan Salama, traverse Siberia with the Nenet reindeer herders and bicycle with butterflies as you follow the Monarch migration with Sara Dykman – this is a truly immersive listen.

Read More: How Sunderland Author Glenda Young is Inspiring Creative Writers

The Sound of September

GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
Guts is the upcoming second studio album by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. The lead single Vampire was released in June and scored Olivia her third number-one single in the US, and fans have been loving the track Bad Idea Right this summer. Considering the success of Sour in 2021, we’ve got high hopes for this new album.
Releasing on Friday 8th September. 

It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day
Thirty Seconds to Mars
This is the upcoming sixth studio album from American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, and their first album without guitarist Tomo Miličević who left the band in June 2018. It’ll include the lead single Stuck as well as the songs Life Is Beautiful and Get Up Kid.
Releasing Friday 15th September.