Hello True Believers!

Welcome back to The Good News! 

Something fun to get lost in this week:

The Fox Sisters

A long time interest of mine, the Fox Sisters were “psychics” who tricked oodles of folks into believing that they could commune with spirits. Lots of money was made, the Spiritualism movement was founded, and eventually the context for the Ouija Board was set. While they didn’t invent it, it’s said they did use it when it came around, popularizing its existence. Lots of little things to read up on from there, like how the Ouija Board was basically a way for 1950’s teens to flirt with each other, or how it had basically been forgotten until The Exorcist. 

A nice thing to listen to this week:

Little Anthony and the Imperials - I'm on the Outside (Looking In)

Rock and Roll Hall of famers, Little Anthony and the Imperials are bigger than their first single "Tears on My Pillow", but if you've never heard even that, you've gotta start there. Soothing, soulful, with a vocal melody that will stick with you for the rest of your life. If you like what you hear, not only are there a 9 other albums, but countless covers for all your Imperial dreams. They also inspired one of my favorite, halfway lost and forgotten, pieces of world building in a TV show. If you like that, there's one more :)

Terrific thing to watch:

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Old film studies dork that I am, I’ve seen a fair few of Ingmar Bergman’s films … I feel like with how many he made you’d be hard pressed not to have seen one haha. I’ve only enjoyed a few, I’ll say, and I only loved one: The Seventh Seal. I’m a sucker for a Death/Grim Reaper narrative, so this was a sure thing for me. It’s a slow, meditative film in a way I actually mean, instead in the way it’s usually used to describe a boring movie. You’ll immediately recognize tropes that you’ve seen else where when it comes to Death, because this film established them. Beyond all that, it’s just a gorgeously shot film, so your eyes will be in for a treat if anything. All that said, I’ve shown it to a fair few people and no one’s liked it yet, so maybe it’s just for very specific folks haha. 

A good read:

Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

This will be far from the last Terry Pratchett novel that’s recommended here. It’s honestly not even the best place to start if you’ve never read his stuff, but it is a terrific examination of not only vampire myths, faith, and the self, but an amazing conversation about modernity, society, psychology, and, most relevantly, fascism. Pratchett’s writing is not everyone’s bag, some folks find him to be too cute and clever by half, but if you can get into the groove, then you’ll find yourself laughing to yourself while becoming more infuriated by how we’ve been writing about this shit for forever. Lots of puns in there too, but just remember Pratchett has more books in the top 200 books of the English The Big Read than any other author, so maybe they’re like really good puns? Haha

And finally, our weekly pic of the pup, Apollo:

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

Best,

Luke