Interesting Times No. 11
Teletubbies; tortoise marriage; Maria Montessori; revenge; Botox; new Serial podcast; TRINNY!; enduring memory; André Leon Talley; the confidence cult; M&Ms; Lorna Sage
Hello. Welcome to this week’s newsletter - I hope you find things to enjoy.
I keep meaning to say that the newsletter is much nicer to read on the website, rather than in email - just click on the Interesting Times rectangle above, and it’ll take you there.
JOURNALISM
There’s a new word in the language: parasocial. Actually, I just did a google search, and it’s not new; it was invented in 1956. If, like me, you’ve only just heard of it, here’s what it means: ‘Parasocial relationships are a psychological attachment in which the media persona offers a continuing relationship with the media user.’ And here are two pieces on how that relationship can play out, and ideas on why these relationships exist.
‘Tortoise ‘‘Marriage’’ Ends After 115 Years’. Am unclear about why I’ve only just found out about this.
‘We did not study world maps, because international geography, as a subject, had been phased out of many state curriculums long before. There was no sense of the US being one country on a planet of many countries. […] When she was 30, Suzy Hansen left the US for Istanbul – and began to realise that Americans will never understand their own country until they see it as the rest of the world does.’
‘Believe in the Loch Ness monster and you’re more likely to believe the Apollo missions were fake. How do weird beliefs work?’
‘Every Child an Emperor. On Maria Montessori.’
‘Ansel Adams: rare photographs in stunning hi-definition.’
‘My Brother Tom’s Schizophrenia. […] In 2009, nearly three years into Tom’s homelessness, I made it back to Alaska. It was June, the lightest time of year. Flying in on a clear evening, I got a view of the southern mountains, tangles of peaks and glaciers walling off the city. My goal was to glimpse a way to get through to Tom, to spot an opening to convince him to come inside and get help.’
All the M&Ms chat/outrage is so deranged it’s become interesting. ‘The M&Ms are different now.’
‘The Art of Botox. How facial muscle paralysis insinuated itself into our emotional and creative lives.’
‘At the age of 19, Arthur Germain dropped out of school, said goodbye to his famous mother, and devoted himself to a curious quest that no one had ever accomplished, or perhaps even seriously considered: swimming the length of France’s most fabled river. The Man Who Swam the Seine.’
‘Enduring Memory. How can animals whose brains have been drastically remodelled still recall their kin, their traumas and their skills?’
‘Inside Prince Andrew’s Misguided Bid to Explain Away Epstein.’ [The Prince has now settled the case out of court - I’m leaving this piece in though, as it’s a good overview of how he ended up in the place he did. And can I add, it’s very interesting to see he’ll be paying millions of pounds to a woman he’s “never met”.]
‘From [England’s] Greenham Common to a day out at Crufts – via nuns, gnomes and rag-and-bone men – photographer Homer Sykes guides us through Thatcherism and beyond.’
‘I Was a Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst of America: a glimpse of the suburban grotesque, featuring Russian mobsters, Fox News rage addicts, a caged man in a sex dungeon, and Dick Cheney.’
The Teletubbies world is a bonkers and wonderful one. My son adored it as a toddler, and when he lost his Laa-Laa, one of the four soft-toy tubbies someone had given him, he was bereft. The beloved tubbies. My husband thinks it was made by and for 90’s ravers on ecstacy (adults, to clarify). He could have a point; either way, little children seem to be mesmerized by it.
‘[O]ne of history's most bizarre events: The Dancing Plague.’
‘Richard Hamilton: the pioneer of British Pop Art. As with fellow Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton's roots in commercial art would have a major impact on his artistic career. Its influence is apparent in early collages that often featured kitsch elements drawn from advertising and other print media, as in the photomontage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? (1956), often considered to be the first 'Pop' artwork.’
‘Built by ancient Indigenous People and long considered to be sacred, the Iniskim Umaapi medicine wheel in Alberta [Canada] is one of the oldest religious monuments in the world.’
On revenge.
Click here for some TRINNY ENERGY ! !
DAILY MAIL HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: ‘Why was deputy head of the RAF naked in his paddock? Air Marshall, 54, is suspended after furious neighbours call police complaining he ‘flashed his bottom’ at them as he apologises for “absolutely any unintentional upset.”’
Rating: quite good - the man’s age and job are stated, there are offended neighbours, a bottom, and the use of the word ‘furious’ is very on-brand. However, lacking in house price detail, and more significant drama. 3/5
‘Lifeswap is a series of short animated Skype conversations between two young men, Jörg, 27, from Münster, Germany and Duncan, 27, from Wellington, New Zealand […] Jörg and Duncan allow us to witness their delights, frustrations and misunderstandings as they discover the characteristics and idiosyncrasies of each other’s cultures.’
BOOKS
‘Frances Wilson praises Lorna Sage's elegiac demolition of the idealised family in Bad Blood’, one of the best books I’ve ever read. In Bad Blood, “Sage is interested in lives that don't fit: family black sheep, misshapen marriages, homes too small to house either the hatred of their inhabitants or their exclusive love.”’ Class, motherhood, the yearning for a different life, coming to terms with the failings of those you love, it’s all there. And it can be funny too. Get your copy today!
‘The Last Gasp of the Death Penalty’. An interview with Maurice Chammah, the author of Let the Lord Sort Them, on ‘the death penalty, Texas mythology, and retribution as organizing principle.’
‘Is confidence a cult?’ A thousand times yes! ‘“To be self-confident is the imperative of our time. As gender, racial, and class inequalities deepen, women are increasingly called on to believe in themselves”. A new book aims to show why directives to “just be more confident!” are so harmful.’
‘Neil Bradbury on mystery's favorite silent killer: A brief history of strychnine, the poison of choice for Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and scores more - but why?’
PODCASTS
Serial, who make excellent podcast series, are back with their latest deep-dive, ‘The Trojan Horse Affair’. It features Brian Reed, who co-created the acclaimed ‘S-Town’ (will link to that below), and journalist Hamza Syed: ‘A mysterious letter shocked Britain in 2014, alleging an Islamist plot to take over one city’s general schools. But who wrote it? From Serial Productions and The New York Times, “The Trojan Horse Affair,” an investigation that became bigger than we ever imagined.’
‘History Extra Podcast: Medieval Medicine. Elma Brenner of the Wellcome Library examines the state of healthcare in the Middle Ages and reveals some unusual remedies that were offered for people with injuries or diseases.’
I like the basic production values of this podcast - it’s really just listening to an expert chat about an interesting historical subject/idea, without any additional fuss. Simple and enlightening.
‘S-Town’ was released in 2017, and I’m sure many of you have listened to it. If you haven’t, I really recommend it. ‘‘S-Town’ is about a great many things, but these things gather around the life of John B McLemore, the articulate and garrulous man from Alabama who emailed This American Life offering up a hometown mystery and a story of corruption. After months of talking on the phone, producer Brian Reed was intrigued enough to visit “Shit Town”, officially known as Woodstock. John takes him on a dizzyingly fast tour of his home and grounds, where he has built a maze so complex he gets lost in it himself. John is charismatic, wordy, intellectual and largely misanthropic; he certainly seems to despise the town he feels he didn’t do enough to escape. He is a horologist – renowned for his clock-making skills, it turns out, far beyond the southern states. He is a voracious reader. He is kind and he is cruel, angry and resigned. He sounds paranoid, at times, playful, at others. Later, there’s a hypothesis as to why, though like much in this story, it is never quite resolved. […] It’s hard to recall a more touching, devastating podcast.’
See you next time,
-Ellie