Excellent news about keeping it free, thank you so much. I really want to support all writers whose Substacks I enjoy, but it’d mean spending £££ per month. So what happens is that a few make a lot, or enough to make a decent living, the majority make very little, if at all. Wish Substack would come up with a more equitable solution.
PS. I feel exactly the same about assisted dying. As a mother of a young autistic man with learning difficulties, I abhor what’s happening in Canada, but find some of the pro arguments compelling.
My question: what would you like to write about next (after your book about geniuses, I mean)? As in what would you like to write about, even if you might ultimately end up writing about something else.
AMA.... apologies for the gammon-y question - what do you think about foodbanks? Good and useful/shouldn't be required in this day and age/something else?
‘For the blessed, the diabolical sphere is a region of swamps, caves, burning huts, ruins, brothels and taverns. The damned are faceless or have faces that are mutilated and atrocious, but they think of themselves as beautiful. The exercise of power and mutual hatred is their happiness. They devote their lives to politics, in the most South American sense of the word: that is, they live to scheme, to lie, and to impose their will on others. Swedenborg tells how a ray of celestial light once fell into the depths of Hell; the damned perceived it as a stench, an ulcerated wound, a darkness.
...
In the spiritual sphere, there are no hypocrites; each person is what he is. An evil spirit ordered Swedenborg to write that the demons delight in lying and committing adultery, robbery and fraud; they equally enjoy the smell of corpses and excrement.’
(Borges, Prologue to Emmanuel Swedenborg, Mystical Works)
Hi Helen - for your ask me anything edition the fundamental question might be - how on earth do you remain sane given the firehose of abuse, snark, bigotry and worse that is directed towards anyone putting their head above the parapet to argue the progressive case?
Excellent news about keeping it free, thank you so much. I really want to support all writers whose Substacks I enjoy, but it’d mean spending £££ per month. So what happens is that a few make a lot, or enough to make a decent living, the majority make very little, if at all. Wish Substack would come up with a more equitable solution.
PS. I feel exactly the same about assisted dying. As a mother of a young autistic man with learning difficulties, I abhor what’s happening in Canada, but find some of the pro arguments compelling.
My question: what would you like to write about next (after your book about geniuses, I mean)? As in what would you like to write about, even if you might ultimately end up writing about something else.
I think this is the full Jorge Luis Borges interview on YT. I loved the clip!
https://youtu.be/bNxzQSheCkc
AMA.... apologies for the gammon-y question - what do you think about foodbanks? Good and useful/shouldn't be required in this day and age/something else?
Borges on Firing Line with Buckley: https://youtu.be/bNxzQSheCkc
That DALL-E image is pretty terrifying.
How does it even work - is the fox looking away?
Borges on culture wars:
‘For the blessed, the diabolical sphere is a region of swamps, caves, burning huts, ruins, brothels and taverns. The damned are faceless or have faces that are mutilated and atrocious, but they think of themselves as beautiful. The exercise of power and mutual hatred is their happiness. They devote their lives to politics, in the most South American sense of the word: that is, they live to scheme, to lie, and to impose their will on others. Swedenborg tells how a ray of celestial light once fell into the depths of Hell; the damned perceived it as a stench, an ulcerated wound, a darkness.
...
In the spiritual sphere, there are no hypocrites; each person is what he is. An evil spirit ordered Swedenborg to write that the demons delight in lying and committing adultery, robbery and fraud; they equally enjoy the smell of corpses and excrement.’
(Borges, Prologue to Emmanuel Swedenborg, Mystical Works)
AMA - after Difficult Women are you currently writing a new book? If so could we have some previews please, plus publication details?
Hi Helen - for your ask me anything edition the fundamental question might be - how on earth do you remain sane given the firehose of abuse, snark, bigotry and worse that is directed towards anyone putting their head above the parapet to argue the progressive case?
Thanks for sharing Kirkup, this is really under the radar! Love the newsletter and seconding the book question
What is going on with all the various waves of feminism? I'm so confused. Did third wave become the core of the gender critical cohort?