Several reader emails have been sitting in my inbox for a while, so I’m taking this opportunity to reply to them here.
Jason Wallen asks if I can suggest anything interesting to watch. The answer is yes. My wife and I just finished the first six-episode season of the British crime drama series, “Happy Valley,” which ran on the BBC in 2014. A friend recommended it, but when I couldn’t find it on any of our streaming services, I got the DVDs from our public library. It centers around two parallel stories — one about a police sergeant with a very complex family life, the other involving a kidnapping plot that goes awry — but it’s when the storylines cross that the series gets really compelling. We enjoyed it so much we’ve already added both the second and third seasons to our library queue.
Lindsay Akers emails: “Paul, I read your list of the Worst Movies Of 2024 and was surprised to see you included ‘I Saw The TV Glow,’ which my 23-year-old daughter and her friends loved and couldn’t stop talking about. I haven’t seen it yet, but am surprised at the extreme difference in opinion.” Lindsay, this may very well may be a generational thing. I can only view the movies I see through my own eyes and experiences. On the night of the press screening, I stopped afterwards to talk to the publicist (who’s about half my age) as he was collecting reactions from the reviewers in attendance. I told him how much I’d disliked the movie and asked what he thought. Like your daughter, he really connected with it. Was I wrong? Was he? Was your daughter? That’s the thing about opinions — they can differ widely without anyone being wrong. Which is why Adam Sandler is a multimillionaire movie star despite my avoiding everything he does.
Jack Nelson writes, “After a tough year, I need some good news. Got any?” Well, Jack, on a personal note, I had some weird medical things happen in the last twelve months (e.g. why is my carotid artery pulsing so hard I can see it in the mirror?), but I’m happy to say they seem to have been resolved. If you want more of a global perspective than my own health issues, read this piece by Victoria Bisset in the Washington Post which summarizes several amazing scientific breakthroughs which occurred this year. Among them: the eradication of a deadly disease in yet another country; a significant dip in atmospheric levels of harmful gases that deplete the ozone layer; and a treatment that will allow doctors to fix cartilage instead of full knee replacements, thereby reducing post-procedure pain to nearly zero.
From Tracey Snyder: “Paul, I miss your radio program. I miss the political and entertainment views you express and I just happened to run across your site. I was wondering, how do I get updates on your website? Do you have an email subscription?” No, Tracey, I don’t offer any email subscriptions or a Substack newsletter. But I do post new content every weekday, both here on HarrisOnline.com and my Facebook page. I also put links promoting those posts on my social media accounts — BlueSky: @paulharrisshow.bsky.social / Twitter: @PaulHarrisShow / Threads: @PaulHarrisOnline
I appreciate hearing from all of you, and hope you’ll continue reading my work. If you have a question, write to me at Contact@HarrisOnline.com