We take a look inside The Central App team’s lockdown bubbles and ask their secrets for getting through lockdowns, now and in the future. 

Behind the Brand showcases our innovators, entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, leaders. 

It’s like a backstage pass into the real person behind the success. What makes them tick, what makes them successful. A peek at some of Central Otago’s smartest and most interesting people.

Learn their secrets, get hot tips from those with experience, and discover why you should support their venture.

Rowan Schindler is our chief reporter at The Central App. The weight of the newsroom sits on Rowan’s shoulders – an especially big job during Covid outbreaks.

Rowan’s secret to getting through lockdown? 

“Learning new skills and information, as well as planning adventures once I can get outdoors and on holiday.”

I asked Rowan to share his listening, reading and watching recommendations for getting through lockdown. Read on for his choices.

Podcast: Hardcore History, by Dan Carlin

"Hardcore History is the podcast I wished I created, and Dan Carlin is the dude I wish I could become. 

“Full of interesting insights, intensely narrated and chocka-block with amazing facts and anecdotes, Hardcore History takes you through some of history's greatest events in the finest form of longform podcasting."

Book: Tribe, by Sebastian Junger

"One of my favourite books, which investigates something I truly believe in. 

“Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, TRIBE explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. 

“It explains the irony that - for many veterans as well as civilians - war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. TRIBE explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today's divided world. 

“Very timely in a Covid world."

Movie: Joker

"At times confronting, but always a movie which challenges you to think differently, Joker is something of a deep-dive into the human condition and a mirror to society. 

“Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Arthur Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the DC Comics' criminal mastermind known as the Joker. 

“It will challenge you to think differently about what makes a criminal."

Documentary: Icarus

"Picture this: a journalist looks to prove if performance-enhancing drugs truly provide a winning edge. 

“He dopes himself and enters a range of amateur and semi-professional cycling events, only to uncover the biggest doping scandal in sporting history - the Russian government sanctioned Olympic doping programme. 

“A story of how one relatively unknown journalist flipped the sporting world upside down by accident."

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