Top Ten of 2023: Episode 10

Welcome to Episode 10 of The Tortoise, the podcast (plodcast!) that digs deep into the possibilities of slow.

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The Topic: Top Ten of 2023

Back in the days of The Slow Home Pod, we used to record a ‘Top 10’ episode at the end of every year, where we would list some of our favourite moments, experiences, places, films etc. It felt like a nice excuse to look back, and a relaxed way to wind up. So, we decided to bring it back this year for The Tortoise.

Before we get into our Top Ten lists though, Ben and I spend some time reflecting more broadly on the year — lessons we’ve learnt, successes and failures we’ve had. We started out with fairly measured expectations, “2023: just don’t suck!” and overall, I think we achieved that, which actually feels good considering how low the bar was in the first place!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we both struggle to keep our answer succinct as we dive into our Top Tens, but it was a lot of fun to try. Listen in as we walk through our favourite:

• TV show

• Small detail

• Movie

• New destination

• Book (you know I failed to limit this one)

• Discovery

• Album

• New listening (podcast or otherwise)

• Meal

• Experience

It’s a fun thing to do together, and we’d love to hear your own Top Ten list for 2023. As Ben says, it also gives us loads of ideas to check out next year (I think many of my book selections come from you, so thank you!)

Do you have any stand-out favourites?

The Links

Below is a list of links discussed in today’s episode. If I’ve forgotten any, please let me know in the comments:

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

• Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo

• Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

• Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

• The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

• Holly by Stephen King

• Fairy Tale by Stephen King

• Blurry Vision by Shred Kelly

• Too Hot for Gravy by Seamus McAlary

• Rat Saw God by Wednesday

• Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morriccone

• Rise Up (orchestral version) by The Fat Rat

• How Other Dads Dad by Hamish Blake

• Matildas vs France penalty shootout

• Join The Tortoise community on Substack

• Subscribe to the podcast in your favourite app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc)

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We’re taking a break now, which means no new podcast episode in January, but I have scheduled a couple of posts to come out early next year. One on values and one on defining our 1% experiments. I hope they arrive in your inbox at a time that feels full of possibility and curiosity.

Thank you again for your support this year as we launched this new, unedited, slice of life plodcast. We had no idea if anyone would enjoy it, and seeing the response has been brilliant. We can’t wait for next year.

(Well, that’s not technically true. We’re in need of a break. Then we’ll be back!)

Wishing you and yours a restful, restorative, joyful break.

Brooke and Ben xx