I just want to say how much I appreciate your decision to make all your content available, and how important it is for quality writers to do so. There are millions of us struggling to fend off one creditor or another and yes, we do understand people should be properly rewarded for their work, it's just difficult at the moment. I hope you have a lovely Christmas.
“Most importantly, it taught about ascendant beauty in music - those moments you sometimes get, and can still have as an adult, where music raises something in you, when it does things that cannot be encapsulated in words.”
This is really great Ian. I think most music fans would recognise this moment - for me it was hearing Murmur by REM and I still get a shiver thinking about it now. So thanks for articulating it so well.
I have a vivid memory of listening to 'Nightswimming' on headphones on a train home when I'd had a little bit too much to drink, and having the equivalent experience Kingsley Amis has here (as detailed by Martin Amis in, well, 'Experience'):
– I had a strange experience with Byron the other night. There was an hour to kill before a dinner party in Chelsea and I went into a pub and started reading 'Don Juan'. After half an hour I couldn't believe how absolutely marvellous it was. I knew I liked 'Don Juan' but this was oh, something of a completely different order. By the time I had to go I was looking round the pub wanting to say "Has anyone here got any idea how wonderful Don Juan is?"
– So you really, I said uncertainly, you really revised your opinion.
– No, he said. I was drunk. They were the first drinks of the day and what was happening was that I was getting drunk.
– And 'Don Juan' being pretty useful anyway.
– Well yes.
Happy New Year, Ian, and thanks for the newsletter this year. A vital sanity-preserver in a fucking insane world.
I've had a few, but I can't help but come back to Lateralus by Tool. "I embrace my desire to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow"
It definitely happens less as you age – that magical moment when a song or album takes you – but I don’t agree you lose the joy in repetition later in life. I think it just gets more embarrassing to indulge it. I have listened to the new Cure album an embarrassing number of times since it came out last year. My obsession with Wye Oak never seems to leave me and I went through a phase of listening to the Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973 so much I felt the need to do it covertly like solo day drinking. Meanwhile, my youngest daughter has just caught The Cure bug (which sounds wrong) and listens to her favourites on repeat loudly and without self-consciousness.
It HAS been a horrendous year politically but one of the few things that has made it better has been discovering Origin Story and then through that your writing here. When a new episode of OS comes out I take the dog for a special longer walk and the two of us return home an hour or so later all the better for it. Merry Christmas to you and yours
On taxing the weath I've thought A lot about this, but not with the aim raising funds via taxation (though that's welcome) (sorry couldn't resist the impulse to use brackets 😏), I agree wholeheartedly re capital gains & council tax reform, but here's an essay I wrote on the liberal case for taxing billionaires - https://ajustsociety.uk/essays/why-limitarianism-works
Wow! You cover just about everything in this one. And some great in-depth answers. Although maybe "42" would have done. :-) As ever, I will pitch in:
Life changing album:
Abbey Road. I played it to death. Lent it to a mate, who never returned it. Bought another copy (vinyl), and then bought it on CD, when they were invented. No... Cassette's passed me by. [Edit] Oh yeah... why was it life changing. I decided I wanted to be a musician; formed a Jazz Rock band, (I was into Zappa, etc. by then!); had the time of my life; and, no... didn't get to be famous. Well it was Jazz Rock! But if you want to take a listen, here's one of my "songs": https://youtu.be/HyUqXsDqDrU?si=noiYD5KCdqMw9JeY
Wealth redistribution:
"Something" has to be done. I'm not sure any of us know exactly what. But, since Thatcher, wealth has shifted dramatically to the 1%. We are now faced with morally indefensible inequality. Taxing the rich/wealth - and closing off any loopholes - has to possible. Surely?
Ukraine/Gaza:
All I would say is, Israel has done an incredibly good job of weaponising anti-semitism. They have made it almost impossible to criticise anything they do. I mean... just look at what they've done in Gaza, whilst the world looks on.
The Ascent Of Man:
I definitely watched it, when it was first broadcast. But I can't recall it having any life-changing impact on me. Although the "notion of certainty" is something I often consider. We are completely reliant on a blob of organic matter to interpret... well the whole fucking shebang. And we still don't know, with any certainty, how that blob works. So, there's one thing I am certain about. No one should be certain about anything! Maybe I should give The Ascent Of Man another shot.
Happy Christmas Ian. Yours is the only podcast other than the Trawl, that makes me laugh out loud. Not so much the content but the presentation, the perfectly timed doorbell and dog bark. I wanted to respond to the section on Israel but there is too much to say and it would have to be said in conversation not as a monologue. I think the arguments are against the apartheid of Zionism, the oppression, dispossession, blockade of Palestinians in every aspect of their lives. That has little to do the religious or ethnic nature of the Israeli state and everything to do with the way it treats the people it is responsible for, Jews, Arabs and others. I lived there for six years and resisted antisemitism as a reaction to the injustices and resentments I witnessed daily. Most people just wanted to get on with their lives. A few on both sides harboured a dissatisfaction that they had to share and put all their effort into simply expelling those they didn’t want to share with. Religion was used as a ready excuse for something else, greed for land, power and control. I use greed because I don’t know a better word for the passion for exclusivity, absolute dominance over and exclusion of, the other. A radical and uncompromising minority but one in charge in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Gaza. That’s a conversation for another year, Happy Christmas once again and have a good break.
Oh how much did I enjoy that. So British (I’m Australian). Also for a person who’s untrained and struggles with writing well, your on the fly editing was insightful in the process of crafting thoughts.
Omg - I've never heard anyone else speak of Gene this way, songs from Olympian and Drawn to the Deep End still give me goosebumps when they pop up if I shuffle my songs on iTunes
just to add on sleeve notes - Luke Una has some amazing compilations called E Cultura and also Everything Above the Sky and these have great sleeve notes
Hmm you won't read this but I had a similar quest for certainty in my youth but found it in mathematics, but then Godel and Russell shattered this particular illusion... I can strongly recommend "Logicomix" on this topic, a really great tale about logic, madness, morality and certainty, one of the best comics I ever read!
"In Ukraine, on the other hand, the moral outcome involves the expulsion of the aggressor from the land he has tried to conquer."
Can not the same be said of Palestinien résistance? I won’t insult you by quoting history: you know it better than I. But Israel was founded by the conquest of land and expulsion of its population. Nothing excuses barbarie from either side but your quiet référence to disproportionality understates the sheer horror of the war crimes committed by Israel.
UN Resolution 181 neither partitioned Palestine nor conferred any legal authority to the Zionists for their unilateral declaration of Israel's existence.
Waited three cunting weeks at least: superb clarity on distinction of response to Ukraine and Gaza (soon to be"Mar al Med"?). If we fall short of maintaing support for UKR, I give but a few short weeks before the front line is something like Krakow; Brno; Trieste ... (Orban will gladly let the tanks trundle through in a single day)
Your recording device sounds like a hoover or an air conditioning vent dude - it is not good especially for us perimenopausal types who have to suffer with inexplicably ringing ears anyway. I'd ask Santa for a new mic. Have a lush Christmas
I just want to say how much I appreciate your decision to make all your content available, and how important it is for quality writers to do so. There are millions of us struggling to fend off one creditor or another and yes, we do understand people should be properly rewarded for their work, it's just difficult at the moment. I hope you have a lovely Christmas.
“Most importantly, it taught about ascendant beauty in music - those moments you sometimes get, and can still have as an adult, where music raises something in you, when it does things that cannot be encapsulated in words.”
This is really great Ian. I think most music fans would recognise this moment - for me it was hearing Murmur by REM and I still get a shiver thinking about it now. So thanks for articulating it so well.
I had the same with Nightswimming.
I have a vivid memory of listening to 'Nightswimming' on headphones on a train home when I'd had a little bit too much to drink, and having the equivalent experience Kingsley Amis has here (as detailed by Martin Amis in, well, 'Experience'):
– I had a strange experience with Byron the other night. There was an hour to kill before a dinner party in Chelsea and I went into a pub and started reading 'Don Juan'. After half an hour I couldn't believe how absolutely marvellous it was. I knew I liked 'Don Juan' but this was oh, something of a completely different order. By the time I had to go I was looking round the pub wanting to say "Has anyone here got any idea how wonderful Don Juan is?"
– So you really, I said uncertainly, you really revised your opinion.
– No, he said. I was drunk. They were the first drinks of the day and what was happening was that I was getting drunk.
– And 'Don Juan' being pretty useful anyway.
– Well yes.
Happy New Year, Ian, and thanks for the newsletter this year. A vital sanity-preserver in a fucking insane world.
I've had a few, but I can't help but come back to Lateralus by Tool. "I embrace my desire to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow"
It's a masterpiece
Agreed
It definitely happens less as you age – that magical moment when a song or album takes you – but I don’t agree you lose the joy in repetition later in life. I think it just gets more embarrassing to indulge it. I have listened to the new Cure album an embarrassing number of times since it came out last year. My obsession with Wye Oak never seems to leave me and I went through a phase of listening to the Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973 so much I felt the need to do it covertly like solo day drinking. Meanwhile, my youngest daughter has just caught The Cure bug (which sounds wrong) and listens to her favourites on repeat loudly and without self-consciousness.
Enjoy your break.
This doesn't count as contacting you
It HAS been a horrendous year politically but one of the few things that has made it better has been discovering Origin Story and then through that your writing here. When a new episode of OS comes out I take the dog for a special longer walk and the two of us return home an hour or so later all the better for it. Merry Christmas to you and yours
Lovely to hear. For obvious reasons I always imagine the audience walking their dog.
Gene. Shed 7. Public Enemy. And a Withnail reference. Fabulous x
On taxing the weath I've thought A lot about this, but not with the aim raising funds via taxation (though that's welcome) (sorry couldn't resist the impulse to use brackets 😏), I agree wholeheartedly re capital gains & council tax reform, but here's an essay I wrote on the liberal case for taxing billionaires - https://ajustsociety.uk/essays/why-limitarianism-works
And here's a rough idea of how a policy could function - https://ajustsociety.uk/policy/limitarianism
Wow! You cover just about everything in this one. And some great in-depth answers. Although maybe "42" would have done. :-) As ever, I will pitch in:
Life changing album:
Abbey Road. I played it to death. Lent it to a mate, who never returned it. Bought another copy (vinyl), and then bought it on CD, when they were invented. No... Cassette's passed me by. [Edit] Oh yeah... why was it life changing. I decided I wanted to be a musician; formed a Jazz Rock band, (I was into Zappa, etc. by then!); had the time of my life; and, no... didn't get to be famous. Well it was Jazz Rock! But if you want to take a listen, here's one of my "songs": https://youtu.be/HyUqXsDqDrU?si=noiYD5KCdqMw9JeY
Wealth redistribution:
"Something" has to be done. I'm not sure any of us know exactly what. But, since Thatcher, wealth has shifted dramatically to the 1%. We are now faced with morally indefensible inequality. Taxing the rich/wealth - and closing off any loopholes - has to possible. Surely?
Ukraine/Gaza:
All I would say is, Israel has done an incredibly good job of weaponising anti-semitism. They have made it almost impossible to criticise anything they do. I mean... just look at what they've done in Gaza, whilst the world looks on.
The Ascent Of Man:
I definitely watched it, when it was first broadcast. But I can't recall it having any life-changing impact on me. Although the "notion of certainty" is something I often consider. We are completely reliant on a blob of organic matter to interpret... well the whole fucking shebang. And we still don't know, with any certainty, how that blob works. So, there's one thing I am certain about. No one should be certain about anything! Maybe I should give The Ascent Of Man another shot.
I listened to this while decorating my Christmas tree. Festive, eh? 😀
Thanks for all the wise words & Happy Christmas!
Thanks for all the wonderful, thought-provoking answers here and the rest of your content this year. Have a great break.
Happy Christmas Ian. Yours is the only podcast other than the Trawl, that makes me laugh out loud. Not so much the content but the presentation, the perfectly timed doorbell and dog bark. I wanted to respond to the section on Israel but there is too much to say and it would have to be said in conversation not as a monologue. I think the arguments are against the apartheid of Zionism, the oppression, dispossession, blockade of Palestinians in every aspect of their lives. That has little to do the religious or ethnic nature of the Israeli state and everything to do with the way it treats the people it is responsible for, Jews, Arabs and others. I lived there for six years and resisted antisemitism as a reaction to the injustices and resentments I witnessed daily. Most people just wanted to get on with their lives. A few on both sides harboured a dissatisfaction that they had to share and put all their effort into simply expelling those they didn’t want to share with. Religion was used as a ready excuse for something else, greed for land, power and control. I use greed because I don’t know a better word for the passion for exclusivity, absolute dominance over and exclusion of, the other. A radical and uncompromising minority but one in charge in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Gaza. That’s a conversation for another year, Happy Christmas once again and have a good break.
Oh how much did I enjoy that. So British (I’m Australian). Also for a person who’s untrained and struggles with writing well, your on the fly editing was insightful in the process of crafting thoughts.
Omg - I've never heard anyone else speak of Gene this way, songs from Olympian and Drawn to the Deep End still give me goosebumps when they pop up if I shuffle my songs on iTunes
just to add on sleeve notes - Luke Una has some amazing compilations called E Cultura and also Everything Above the Sky and these have great sleeve notes
Hmm you won't read this but I had a similar quest for certainty in my youth but found it in mathematics, but then Godel and Russell shattered this particular illusion... I can strongly recommend "Logicomix" on this topic, a really great tale about logic, madness, morality and certainty, one of the best comics I ever read!
Russell's got a lot to answer for
"In Ukraine, on the other hand, the moral outcome involves the expulsion of the aggressor from the land he has tried to conquer."
Can not the same be said of Palestinien résistance? I won’t insult you by quoting history: you know it better than I. But Israel was founded by the conquest of land and expulsion of its population. Nothing excuses barbarie from either side but your quiet référence to disproportionality understates the sheer horror of the war crimes committed by Israel.
Israel was established legally by the UN, not by military invasion.
UN Resolution 181 neither partitioned Palestine nor conferred any legal authority to the Zionists for their unilateral declaration of Israel's existence.
Waited three cunting weeks at least: superb clarity on distinction of response to Ukraine and Gaza (soon to be"Mar al Med"?). If we fall short of maintaing support for UKR, I give but a few short weeks before the front line is something like Krakow; Brno; Trieste ... (Orban will gladly let the tanks trundle through in a single day)
Your recording device sounds like a hoover or an air conditioning vent dude - it is not good especially for us perimenopausal types who have to suffer with inexplicably ringing ears anyway. I'd ask Santa for a new mic. Have a lush Christmas