books (adding all four to my best of 2023 list)
A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Egan Post WWI, Indiana and the KKK explodes, the flames engulf much of middle America, reaching from coast to coast. This is history that reads like a page turning thriller. I had to find out what actually happened. And there are chilling implications for our current state of political and shared life.
The oath of the second wave Klan:
I swear that I will most zealously and valiantly shield and preserve by any and all justifiable means and methods White Supremacy. I will seal with my blood by Thou my witness, Almighty God. (page 267)
"You Should Be Grateful," by Angela Tucker
I love my adoptive parents. I wish I wasn’t adopted. (page 20) and Fiddling with her phone…is how she manages overwhelming feelings. (page 41)
Pageboy, by Elliot Page We often assume we know another story, we rarely do.
The Quiet Tenant, by Clémence Michallon How to describe, maybe an intense psychological thriller. I dare you to read it, I dare you to put it down.
(holiday) music
Here are some of my favorite seasonal albums from the past 35 years:
A Holiday Celebration, Peter, Paul & Mary with the New York Choral Society (1988) a great collection of songs in classic PP&M style.
Christmas, Bruce Cockburn (1993) a beautiful mix of diverse traditional Christmas songs.
Go Tell it on the Mountain, The Blind Boys of Alabama (2003) The Blind Boys and numerous guest artists bring a depth of soul to the season.
Merry Christmas, Shelby Lynne (2010) Shelby does each song in her own way, her very own way.
Stax Christmas (2023) It’s Stax, it’s gotta be good!
Bonus 1 Sara Watkins 2023 Holiday playlist! Enjoy!
Bonus 2 one more song… God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, by Jennifer Warnes (1991)
viewing
Frybread Face and Me Watch and learn friends, watch and learn.
Stamped From the Beginning Again, watch and learn friends, watch and learn.
Leave the World Behind Not a bad movie, but the book was truly better this time.
Rustin The man behind MLK. A mostly forgotten saint and hero.
pods
This is Your Brain on Deep Reading. It's Pretty Magnificent. The Ezra Klein Show. Why reading matters, and why reading books really matters!
How Did Our Democracy Get So Fragile? The New Yorker Radio Hour. Thoughtful conversation of matters with “unprecedented” consequences.
Speaking of January 6th insurrectionists, They Came (to Washington, DC) for the first time to sack the capital.
After 18 years living with cancer, a poet offers 'Fifty Entries Against Despair' Fresh Air interview with Christian Wiman. Simple, perfect, terrorizing words of life as faith and struggles.
I don't picture God at all...I don't think of God as an object...I find it more helpful to think of God as a verb.
random (f)acts
some favorite pieces I wrote this year:
and my 2023 list of lists
finally, coming in January, Why do I Substack?
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