Autonomia

Recently, I got around to reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the Penguin 20th Century Classics edition I’ve owned ever since the publisher sent a review copy, probably upon request. My own long neglect to read the book was richly remedied by realizing this exquisite novel’s theme. This story dramatizes the virtue of selfishness in the restorative power to tend, cultivate and heal. It’s in turns uproariously funny—it is to me—amusing and charming.

Autonomia Podcast Podcast: U.S. Retaliates Against Iran, Paramount Merger with Warner Bros. Outbidding Netflix 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -51:07 -51:07 Paid episode The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of Autonomia Podcast: U.S. Retaliates Against Iran, Paramount Merger with Warner Bros.

Recently, I’ve been listening to podcast episodes by Cal Newport which continue to add value. Newport, whom I first encountered at a Massachusetts conference in 2021, wrote Deep Work, which I reviewed here. He’s writing The Deep Life. I’m reading his newest book, Slow Productivity. Slowly. Cal Newport makes a distinction in an episode of his podcast which I think is very helpful.

Listen to Scott Holleran review the new Amazon MGM Studios movie, Melania:

At the end of this post, besides brief notes on news and movies, I’ve included a link to my first video interview about my fiction writing. Otherwise, here are key or marginalized dates to observe and note for next month: February 2: Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on this date in 1905. “Elegy for an Ice Breaker” by Scott Holleran debuted in Classic Chicago Magazine on this date last year.

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On October 29, 1925, Soviet Russia granted Ayn Rand permission to leave. The writer escaped to America. Arriving in New York City, she settled in Chicago and began her career in Hollywood, where she struggled and then Chatsworth, where she thrived.

We the Living by Ayn Rand begins with the sense of smell—the scent of carbolic acid—and ends with a solemn and solitary figure in white. The epic first novel by the world’s greatest literary philosopher engages the mind and senses with motive power and emotion in every part in between. What’s startling isn’t that this story of three enmeshed young lovers involves and indulges every part of your physicality.

From the beginning of his career, Rock Hudson exhibited magnetism on screen. Personifying the tall, dark and handsome archetype, he managed himself well given the context of America’s Puritanical or anti-sex culture. The pervasive sexism of the last 100 years—an anti-male strain culminating in feminism, which I define as the fallacy that female is inherently superior to male—could have ruined his career. Instead, the closeted gay movie star, to the extent he is a movie star, prevailed.

The Story of Weight Watchers by Jean Nidetch as told to Joan Rattner Heilman (1970; published by WeightWatchers Watchers International), fascinates as a testament to capitalism in America. This businesswoman’s weight loss and wellness methodology is based on reason—against the faith and emotionalism of our time—as a singular counterpoint to today’s predominant irrationalism. The story of Weight Watchers is the story of America, individualism and capitalism.