The Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 5
Your weekly signpost to the good stuff
Hello, you. How’re you doing?
Welcome to the Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 5
Social media’s not what it should be. Algorithms have flattened everything so it’s harder to find stuff to read that’s worth your time. Our newsfeeds are just a slop conduit serving us rubbish and nonsense.
Hence the Hello You Sunday Supplement. It’s a weekly delivery of links to articles that I think you’ll find interesting to read whilst enjoying your Sunday morning coffee.
If this newsletter hits the spot for you, 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 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.
Something to listen to while you read
Let’s get mean. The late Jeff Beck plays Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’, courtesy of the good people at Fender. It’s the most basic, elemental, downright crude piece of music, but the way Beck uses the tremolo (strictly, vibrato) arm and his exquisite touch elevate it to another plane entirely.
News and analysis for the news-avoidant (like me), starting as always with the good stuff from Positive News
The UK made history by quitting coal, loggerhead turtles staged a comeback in Europe, and a Brazilian tribe won a land rights victory, plus more good news.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You're kidding, right?
Tough to choose the pull quote for this one. Should I go with '[Wim] Hof has for some time been regarded as unscientific and a false prophet, whose overblown claims for cold water should disqualify him from being taken seriously. This was long before a Dutch newspaper exposed him as a bullying bad drunk who repeatedly abused his second wife and kids'? Or perhaps 'In 2008 Wim Hof sat on a fountain in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark and attempted to give himself a municipally sponsored enema, which resulted in him perforating his bowel'? Maybe 'He was like a walrus that could form the word mitochondria'? Whatever, if you watched even a few minutes of Freeze The Fear, you're going to want to read this. (Incidentally, all the episodes of Freeze The Fear are no longer on BBC iPlayer. All the clips from episodes are still up, though.)
This week in Tosserwatch
This is terrific journalism. Fascinating, scary and a bit bonkers
It turns out some people will travel crazy distances to join a riot
Mind and brain, mental health and wellbeing
Hold on to the idea that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel (I've been clinging to it for, like, two years now)
‘Scuse the buzzkill but this has been very real for me (cw: suicide)
Folk, tradition, history and heritage
If you’re lucky enough to live near one of England’s village greens, I officially envy you. Enjoy it. And read about their history
More links and recommendations in a moment, but first:
Hello You 66: One Bit At A Time
Almost a year ago, in Hello You 7, we met Clare and her young son Harry. They told me their family’s remarkable story. All seemed to be going really well.
But soon after we recorded that interview, Harry fell ill. Eleven months on, the ramifications of that illness have put the family through the mill.
In this week’s episode of my Shrewsbury-based podcast Hello You, Clare and Harry, this time joined by dad Simon, explain what’s happened, where they are now, and what needs to happen next.
Please, listen and share it widely?
And for information about organ donation, click here and visit NHS Blood & Transplant’s information page.
Hello You is about people, stories and ‘the complexities of life’. Catch every episode of Hello You by subscribing on Substack
Or follow me on Spotify
or Apple Podcasts
And tell your friends?
OK, back to your weekly good-stuff round-up!
Nature and environment
A pioneer of the UK's rewilding movement encourages us to imagine a transformed landscape filled with our lost native birds and wildlife
Quirky (trying to think of a better title for this bit)
#Socktober: A simple idea that sparked a wave of kindness
Well versed: the Shropshire pharmacy that dispenses poems instead of medicine (now also available in That London)
Thought-provoking (trying to think of a better title for this bit too)
I want to be a supercitizen. I aim to be a supercitizen
Music
How to discover new music - In a musical rut? Whatever your age or existing tastes, you can find surprise and enjoyment beyond the streaming algorithms
Arts, culture and photography
Eleven essential Maggie Smith movie performances
Why the changing representation of dwarfism in Disney’s live action Snow White remake is so important
The invaluable contribution of migrant workers to the UK’s National Health Service is recognised in a new collection of portraits
A wonderful long read about the brilliance - and difficulty - of actor Leonard Rossiter
Media and journalism
A radio station operating 24/7 with a call-in format. Bilingual information about food, water, and FEMA assistance. Text message updates. These are just some of the ways newsrooms in the path of Hurricane Helene have been supporting their communities, modelling the ways local journalism can provide crucial community service in the wake of natural disaster (this is what we're *for*, isn't it?)
Related: Fancy that. In times of disastrous crisis, live, local, linear radio delivered on analogue AM or FM can be a literal lifeline
Hence related: Wouldn't it be loverly if our lawmakers learned from this? Congress fights to keep AM radio in cars
British television! The glamour, the cachet, the ... exhaustion, burnout, exploitation, and fatalities
Social media, aka The Big World O’ Crazy
In a word: Fuxsake
In two words: Fuxsake Squared
Muskrat Ramble of the Week: ‘… this is what happens when one man is given too much power without any checks or balances’
How Shit is AI?
'What a crazy time to be alive' - Eleven Predictions: Here's What AI Does Next
Having made things worse, Google has now made them worse still
Final Thought, à la Jerry Springer
"Punk teaches the same inversion of power as the gospel. You learn that the coolest thing about having a microphone is turning it away from your own mouth” - Julien Baker
How was that for you?
I hope you enjoyed the Hello You Sunday Supplement Issue 5. If you have thoughts, questions, suggestions 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
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.