The Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 1
A big bunch o' links for your weekend delectation
Hello, you. How’re you doing?
Here’s something new for you. I hope you like it.
I know you’re intelligent and thoughtful, and you enjoy having interesting things to read. Also, you may not be able to face either politics or cooking on TV on a Sunday morning, and you’ve long since given up buying a Sunday newspaper because you no longer have the core strength to lift one.
Nevertheless, you have a good cup of coffee in one hand, and you’d like something diverting and engaging to read in the other.
For you, then, here are some links to pieces I’ve seen recently that I think you’ll dig. If you do, share them with other people. Quite a few are from fellow Substack creators, who’d be grateful if you hit ‘Like’ on their pages, or even subscribed to their publications.
I’d be grateful, too. If you find this interesting, please hit the Like button or little heart symbol, and share it with your friends using the convenient buttons provided.
And to make sure you don’t miss anything, whether it’s an episode of the Hello You podcast or one of these linkfests, why not subscribe?
But why, Jim? Why?
So last Tuesday, Facebook decided to delete my account.
(And then decided to un-delete it, but by then I’d written something on here saying in effect ‘sod ‘em, never liked Facebook anyway’.)
Here’s what I think made this happen. For years, I’ve been reading articles and thinking ‘some of my chums would be interested in this’. So every morning, I’ve posted links to the pieces that have caught my eye, and that I think would engage you, too.
But to the bots running social media, posting a bunch of links within a short space of time looks dodgy. Context and nuance, obviously, are not their department.
So to avoid getting hoofed off any more platforms, here’s the new plan.
I’m going to collect the links I see over the course of a week, and send them to you in a Substack email on Sunday morning.
This is my first attempt at this, so I’d appreciate your feedback. Too many links, or too few? What sort of articles do you want more or less of? That sort of thing. Click this button to comment (there’s another one at the bottom of the email).
OK then, here’s this week’s selection:
Links to make your life lovelier and better informed
What went right this week: the good news that matters - Neuroscience shed new light on depression, Gaza’s children were vaccinated for polio, and England’s social prescribing scheme worked, plus more good news
Reading this in bed? Stay there, and doze off again when you’ve finished. It’s good for you
Shrewsbury’s in the running for a ‘great place’ award (obv, it’s a great place!)
Sorry to direct you back to Twitter, but the replies to this are quite something
Everyone has a story. Not everyone’s story makes a headline or a lede/intro as gripping as this
The National Trust must resist the group that wants to turn grievances into policy
Brainwashing? No, sane-washing
Walking, cycling to school more likely in Ulez
This by Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl is (like her books) a remarkable piece of writing: Long-term illness is not a battle to be “won” – it’s a weight to carry forever
UK’s ‘hostile environment’ policy has forced asylum seekers into destitution says report
Mental health is important. I talk about it a lot, and I read about it quite a lot too
Extra cash for mental health would help UK more than new roads, study says
CBT is an effective treatment for many mental health issues – but here’s why it may not suit everyone
On the plus side: ‘Better than medication’: prescribing nature works, project shows - Scheme helping people in England connect with nature led to better mental health
More on this: Connection with coast and inland waterways has multiple health benefits
The men who like women and the men who don't. Yes we can tell.
How Labour can fix the public sector: Figuring out how to let the workforce do their job
I love quirky stuff like this. Watching a film and trying to guess who did it? If the character is using an iPhone, it probably wasn’t them
I read a lot about journalism and the media. We all consume a lot of journalism and the media, even if we try to reduce our exposure to news for the sake of our mental health. (When I say ‘we’ here … yeah, it’s me. I’m the problem, it’s me.) Every week I’ll share a few things on this topic that I think you’ll find interesting. Here we go:
12 years after the Leveson Inquiry, scores of ordinary people are still suffering at the hands of our press, media and so-called journalism. A new report describes horrific incidents of press abuse that destroyed people's lives and ruined futures
Back to the future at the Express - Whatever happened to Gary Jones’ brave new world?
Dealing with the threat of war has become the “new normal” for these Middle East newsrooms
Newsroom leaders' AI fixation deserves more scrutiny
The next three are links to American pieces but they apply to so much that we see in the UK too. We need to be aware of it, and who’s really behind it:
Stop letting right wing influencers cosplay as ‘independent’ media
Russia's useful idiots (and we have plenty of them in the UK)
How am I doing so far? Am I hitting the spot? Time for some art and culture stuff? OK then …
Women in Revolt! Exhibition showcases the feminist activist artists who used art to change lives
On a similar theme: ‘These women had lived through the horrors of the First World War and had lost loved ones. They signed the petition in the hopes that it would never happen again.’
And again connected: A small snapshot of war in a Shropshire village
Bookshops are bucking the high street trend
Prefer buying second-hand books? You’ll love this
And whilst we’re talking about pre-loved items: Take part in Oxfam’s Second Hand September. Shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world
Who’s your ‘rage friend’?
Full Fact is a fact-checking and campaigning organisation that does really good work. If you need an authoritative source to kick back at some of the bullshit you see on social media, they’re the people to go to. For example:
No, ‘illegal immigrants’ don’t receive more benefits than pensioners
No evidence WHO has ordered preparation for mpox ‘mega lockdowns’
Everyone else is using the Oasis reunion to generate interest, so I might as well too. What guitars does Noel Gallagher use?
And here’s an interesting piece on another band that are twenty times more interesting than Oasis
Bonnie D Huval is from America but now lives in Shropshire. We’re lucky to have someone this smart amongst us. She says: 'Go ahead. Be someone who quietly, without even making noise, writes what will someday correct a history book'
'If you’re reading this and thinking ‘no one listens to me,’ well, I hear you' - Do you self-sabotage?
Christmas movies are back on TV already. Whole channels devoted to them. You only have to see a couple to work out the formula, but it turns out that formula is very tightly defined
Inspired? So You Want To Start A Substack: A FAQ for new and old-guard writers
And because it’s what makes the internet world go around, every week I’ll include some cat stuff and some dog stuff
How was that for you?
Thank you for reading my first Sunday Supplement. What worked for you, and what didn’t? Please leave a comment or message me?
If you’ve enjoyed it, please click Like at the top or bottom of this post, and share it with your friends?
Gratuitous cross-promotion
If you enjoyed this email, you'll like my Hello You podcast, too.
It's about stuff. And things. Shropshire and Shrewsbury. #Mentalhealth and wellbeing, #heritage, #journalism, #faith and belief, #media, #art and the complexities of life.
Catch every episode of Hello You by subscribing on Substack
on Spotify
or Apple Podcasts
And tell your friends?
Thanks for being there
Take care of yourself, and take care of the people around you. I hope they’re taking care of you, too.