Hello True Believers!

First and foremost, thank you for subscribing to our newsletter, The Good News! There are too many good things about our world that can so often be drowned out by the deluge of horrible things we read about or hear about or doom scroll about every day, and as always I want to be able to shine a light on some good things and encourage as little usage of Social Media as possible (even though we ourselves must use it to promote our shows 😔), so that's what this little 5 minute-read newsletter is going to be.

First off, something fun to get lost in this week:

Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest

Back in 1965-1966 folk legend Pete Seeger somehow tricked some producers into preserving the history of folk music via a 39-Episode, 52 Minute per episode TV show where he featured and discussed a variety of different folk music and musicians. They're all amazing, but if you want to get to the good stuff quickly, skip to Episode 20 where Woodie Guthrie is a guest.

Next, a good thing to listen to this week:

   Yvonne Chaka Chaka - Thank You Mr. DJ (quboz link) 

(also on Youtube, here)

Yvonne Chaka Chaka always sounded to me like the South African answer to Madonna, but though I love so many musicians from this era in this region, I earnestly don't know any more than what one could read in her wikipedia. Most that I know is that she's a love musician and that's more than enough for me.

Next, Something fun to watch:

The Keep (1983)

It is still spooky season, and this classic 80's Michael Mann movie (with the obligatory Tangerine Dream score) was and is still very slept on. The Keep is atmospheric, topical, and sure to surprise any friends you're looking to share a unique, spooky moment with this season. I caught it on Netflix roughly 15 years ago now, and have never been able to find a decent looking version of it that would rival how crisp and serene that version was, so maybe wait until the fabled bluray comes out until today when I just discovered that the long awaited Blu Ray version does indeed now exist! It's way too expensive for a casual viewer though, but there might now be a digital version tied to the Blu Ray that will scratch that itch.

Something fun to read:

  The Care of Devils, by Sylvia Press

Um, hmm. Well I wish I could recommend this more than I can, but it looks like you cannot even get a PDF of this book. It is a "names were changed to protect the innocent" true tale of a woman who worked for the CIA and the harrowing events of, well, working for and trying to leave the CIA. I got my copy on AbeBooks, but it's not even there now. I've had rare books digitized before so if anyone desperately wants to read this one, let me know and I'll see what I can do. It is truly fascinating and horrifying, and even more concerning that you cannot find it at all anymore ...... except the CIA website has kind of the most info about it right now?!

Well, dang it I didn't mean to sort of have a let down here at the end, but I did just earnestly want to mention the book on my desk right now.

Okay, let's shake that off and end this first newsletter! Thank you all for reading, and I hope this added a little light to your week!  

What will become a tradition starting now (good time to start it), will be our weekly pic of the pup, Apollo:

Be nice to each other, and we'll see you next week!

Best,

Luke