The Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 18
Your weekly guide to good stuff you might not see otherwise
Hello, you. How’re you doing? Happy New Year, if I’ve not said it to you already. And even if I have; there’s no reason why I can’t wish it for you twice.
Welcome to the first Sunday Supplement of 2025. If you’re a new subscriber, you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Basically, being frustrated by the crap, drivel and slop* served up in our news feeds, I go in search of more interesting stuff to read. Once a week, I pull it all together and send it to you. Ta-dah! Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.
If you do, please hit ‘Like’ or the little heart at the top or bottom of this email? Leave a comment or send me a message, telling me what hit the spot for you? And especially, share it with friends, family, colleagues? Look, buttons:
Thank you for doing that; I really appreciate it.
*Not the kids off the Rice Krispies box. Honest.
Something to listen to while you read
I’m saddened by the news that after more than fifty years, Southside Johnny Lyons has decided to retire from the road. I've seen Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes whenever I could (if memory serves, the first time was at Hammersmith Odeon with Graham Parker and the Rumour in support, a riot of street-smart soul powered by passion and greasy horns). You maybe saw them in the frat-party scene in Adventures in Babysitting, belting out Expressway To Your Heart. If Johnny and the Jukes have passed you by, here's a bunch of their finest moments to enjoy while you read
And if you're listening and thinking 'I bet they were terrific live', you're not wrong
Further down this email you’ll find If you read one thing this week make it this, and this week’s episode of the Hello You podcast, which contains some personal news I have to share with you. There’s also some remarkable sounds and stories, recorded in Shropshire, that you can’t hear anywhere else. As podcast, production and promotion professional Georgy Jamieson observed, ‘It’s a perfect mix of everything you do; interviews, out and about in Shropshire, soundscape, bench, you opening up and talking personally. It has it all.’ So if you’ve not heard Hello You before, this one’s a good episode to start with!
OK, here comes this week’s pick of the good stuff …
Instead of making resolutions this year, why not start crossing things off? What can you remove from your life?
Negative news publications should come with a health warning (someone said they enjoyed the Christmas Sunday Supplement because it was mostly positive, so I’ve Learned That Lesson!)
Jimmy Carter was a good dude
How to read more this year
Children in Wales can now explore their country’s historic sites on Minecraft
"We want retribution and we're going to get retribution ... ". These people are absolutely unhinged
Twenty-five ways to help nature this year
Consuming arts and culture is good for health and wellbeing. Engaging with arts improves quality of life, increases productivity, and creates a financial dividend. Yeah, WE KNOW THIS ALREADY. So why are the arts not being cherished and supported?
'If you empower a woman, it’s for the good of the family, the society and the nation at large'
Don’t read this if you’d get upset by the thought of vulnerable children having their emotional support suddenly ended
Wonderful photographs from mid-century West Yorkshire rediscovered
Get out of your chair every hour, and eleven other ways to improve your life in 2025
Why hasn’t there been a public inquiry into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings?
The life-changing magic of throwing out books by George R R Martin
More of the good stuff in a moment, but first …
Hello You 80: Whistling In the New Year
Also: Splitting up with Auntie (I have news …)
This first Hello You of 2025 was recorded on New Year’s Day, on location at the Severn Valley Railway’s station at Bridgnorth, Shropshire
There’s some personal news which I share with you over a paper cup of PG Tips in the railway station’s refreshment room. It just felt like a good moment …
And there’s a chance encounter with a remarkable group of women from thousands of miles away, too
Hello You is about people, stories and ‘the complexities of life’. To make sure you don’t miss anything, whether it’s an episode of the Hello You podcast or the Sunday Supplement, why not subscribe? If you really love what I do, you can take out a paid subscription (and I’d be very happy and grateful) but you don’t have to. Hello You will remain free for everyone, for ever. You might just help keep it - and me - going, though
OK, back to your weekly good-stuff round-up!
Been in a Samuel Smith’s pub lately? This is very strange indeed
Understanding the authoritarian alliance (This is about America, but we need to realise there are some people who'd love to see it happening in the UK too)
How to sell a contradiction: Sade’s Diamond Life and sophisti-pop forty years on
How to make mental health resolutions you can stick to
Earning half the minimum wage: new report reveals pressures on artists to sustain creative life
Remember when social media was about, you know, being social with actual people?
Community project turns Tudor oak into a single-tree table
We choose ourselves and each other and that is how we build a new world
Happy 100th anniversary to the most iconic photography brand of all
How to be happier at work. Talking of which: Reasons you have not responded to the email
If you read watch one thing this week, make it this
Please watch this film, which was mostly made in Shropshire. It'll take you less than ten minutes. And you'll never forget it.
Final Thought, à la Jerry Springer
How was that for you?
I hope you enjoyed the Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 18. If you have thoughts, questions, suggestions, whatever then leave a comment
And I’m always glad to hear from you
Once again, I’d be thrilled beyond words if you could hit Like on this, or wherever you’ve found it, or both. And my joy would be complete if you would subscribe
… and share Hello You with a friend, colleague or family member
Incidentally , I’ve added to the benefits available to you if you take out a paid subscription. So now you actually get something more than just ‘my unceasing gratitude’, which seems a better deal for both of us. Or you can just buy me a coffee?
Thank you for being there
Take care of yourself, and take care of the people around you. I hope they’re taking care of you, too
