The Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 15
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Hello, you. How’re you doing?
You look like you need an escape-hatch from everything right now. I know the feeling. For mighty dread hath seized your troubled mind. Mine, too.
Let me help? The Sunday Supplement is a weekly digest of links and recommendations, carefully chosen to divert, inform and entertain you. Lo! This week’s issue from tender Jim hath sprung. Put the kettle on or pour yourself a glass of something. It’s (nearly) Christmas, after all. And enjoy what I’ve chosen for you. Starting off, as ever, with …
Something to listen to while you read
Quite simply, a playlist of great folk music for Christmas, Yule, winter …
What went right this week
Scientists offered a solution to microplastic pollution, China completed a 1,800-mile ‘green wall’, and the Comedy Wildlife Photography awards revealed its winners, plus more good news from the good people at Positive News (contains a quality hippo picture!)
Further down this email you’ll find If you read one thing this week make it this, and details of what I’ve got you for Christmas and New Year. But first:
Here comes the good stuff. Please click, read and share?
Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in 'remarkable' Scotland project
“They just don’t want me over Christmas”
Mexico, Canada and now the UK are offering direct financial support to homeless people
'I want all women to relish their own hotness'
Steven Bartlett sharing harmful health misinformation in Diary of CEO podcast
Syrians’ joy tempered by fear for their rights in UK
Better late than never: Shrewsbury writer Jean Ward on being diagnosed with ADHD in her early seventies
Do a friend a favour. Hit this button, and share the Sunday Supplement with someone?
And do me a favour? Hit ‘Like’ or the little heart symbol at the top or bottom of this email?
‘People don’t cheer for chaos when they feel like justice is possible. But right now, what options do they have?’
How England’s planning system could work for people and nature
Spotify’s crap wrap
Minister criticises 'cultures of silence' after Wallace claims: '... we're seeing too many of these cultures of silence and issues being swept under the rug. People who cannot advance through the current complaints system because it would have an impact on their career ... People need to be heard, action has to be taken and perpetrators have to be held to account' (yes, there’s a reason for the long pull-quote)
ABC radio bosses have ‘trampled’ on listener trust with presenter changes, staff say in angry letter, claiming decision to remove well-liked presenters shows lack of ‘understanding’ of public broadcasting
'Ballet must not end in Birmingham'
As the trial of ‘Mr. Every Man’ draws to a close, France debates ‘intent’ vs ‘consent’
More of the good stuff in a moment, but first …
Hello You 76: 'How bad can it be?’
The peregrinations of Patrick Lappin
Lots of people leave Shropshire and then come back, either straight away or eventually. Patrick Lappin’s route back to the county of his birth took in Edinburgh, Norwich, Birmingham and the stand-up circuit in London … but then, despite being afraid of flying and not a natural-born traveller, he found himself living in Mexico, Albania, Bulgaria, and for a truly terrifying few days, Grenada.
Enjoy the stories of a (very) Englishman abroad in this episode of Hello You.
Crucial life lesson within: ‘Embrace being stupid’.
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!
'I’m 56, not dead' - Should I be home or something?
Do you value the things the news does? (Nope.)
‘You just think of Grenfell. The first thing you think is you’re not going to get out of here alive’
The cathartic joy of singing sad songs together
‘When journalism is in the hands of the self-serving rich, we have a huge and growing problem’
The house that books held together
"We are in the friendship business. I think about you when you hop in your car in the morning. You're either leaving a house that may be full of turmoil, or going to a job with a boss you don't like. But I have you for 20-30 minutes, and I can be your friend” - Elvis Duran on the magic of radio
ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd, the groundbreaking female comedy team whose run of delightful movies ended in a mysterious murder
GB News broadcasts half of all UK stories about Muslims. CfMM says channel’s ‘negative’ focus on Islam borders on an ‘obsession’
For saving some rare and vital old recordings, the Internet Archive might be sued out of existence
Forty-seven facts from A History of the World in 47 Borders
brb, spending winter in Japan
'The world around us may feel unstable, but we ... can always dance'
If you read watch one thing this week, make it this
This is hands down the most extraordinary five minutes of television journalism you'll see this year. I cried. You probably will, as well.
‘Are you serious?’: He spent months in a Syrian prison. CNN’s camera caught the moment he’s freed
I’ve got you something for Christmas. And New Year, too
On Friday morning (December 20), I’ll have a special episode of the Hello You podcast for you. It’ll let you eavesdrop on the conversations of two different groups of marvellous people, one in Shrewsbury, the other in Telford. And yes, both were recorded in pubs. Pure coincidence, I’m telling you.
Next Sunday morning I’ll send you a distinctly Christmas-flavoured Sunday Supplement. There’ll be links to articles about rituals at this time of year, Christmas music, and especially mental health at Christmas.
The episode of the Hello You podcast that’ll come to you on Friday December 27 will be an antidote to the noise, activity and turmoil of this time of year. You might need it by then. It’s a soundscape recorded somewhere in Shropshire where nothing much happens.
The Sunday Supplement on December 29 will be a social media, media and journalism special.
And the first Hello You podcast of 2025, on Friday January 3, will be both a bench-type session (where I go somewhere and record random conversations with people) and a proper wake-up moment to get the new year off to a rousing start!
Don’t miss any of this!
The best way for you to be sure of getting all of this lovingly-produced locally-sourced content is to join the Hello You family by subscribing, if you haven’t already?
Incidentally (I’m trying to sound casual about this), 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, I acknowledge, had its shortcomings as a ROI.
Why not give two presents at once?
It’s just a thought. You could brighten the life - or at least, the Friday and Sunday mornings - of someone you care about by giving them a subscription to Hello You this Christmas.
And it would really brighten my life too.
Final Thought, à la Jerry Springer
Most people are mostly good, most of the time. Treat them as if they're good, unless and until you have concrete evidence to the contrary.
How was that for you?
I hope you enjoyed the Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 15. 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
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
