Weekender: Narrow Road to the Deep North, Materialists and Qatar’s Secret Power

Hello and welcome to this weekend’s edition of Brazen Weekender, where our team selects great things to watch, listen to and read. A special greetings to all our new subscribers (we’ve had hundreds of people join us in the last week or so). Our goal with the weekender is to give you a shortcut to some of the best stuff around. Sometimes we lead with an essay or a particular review. Check out Farah Halime’s discussion of Clockwork Orange here or my discussion of the book 1776 here.

— Bradley (get in touch anytime by replying or writing me here)

WATCHING

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2025) – An Australian drama miniseries (on Prime Video) based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker-winning novel. It recounts the harrowing experiences of POWs on the Burma Railway in WWII . Released this month, it’s being hailed as “immensely powerful” television – unflinching in portraying war’s brutality and noted for its emotional depth and faithful adaptation of a landmark historical story.

Code of Silence (Season 1, 2025) – A British crime thriller about a deaf police canteen worker recruited as an emergency lip-reader. Praised with a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score on debut , this series stands out for its unique protagonist (played by Rose Ayling-Ellis) and its tense uncovering of a secret investigation, blending disability representation with gripping suspense.

Washington Black (2025) – A Hulu miniseries adapting Esi Edugyan’s acclaimed novel, following 11-year-old George “Wash” Black’s escape from a Barbados sugar plantation . Premiering July 23, it has been highlighted as a sweeping period adventure – “fueled by steampunk and epic adventure” – that tackles themes of slavery and freedom through an inventive, visually rich narrative.