Rachel Maddow launched a second season of her Ultra podcast today. The first season examined a Nazi-supported, pro-fascist movement in this country that had tentacles in Congress, local governments, industry, churches, etc., prior to U.S. entry into WW2.
I’ve mentioned before that despite the hard subject matter, I found the first season inspiring because of the many stories of regular people opposing fascism back then. The behavior of the goons of that day distinctly resembles Republican Party demagoguery in service of the convicted felon now.
When courts failed and politicians caved, ordinary citizens stood up. We can (and must!) do it again!
Here’s an excerpt about Ultra 2 from a Vanity Fair interview with Maddow:
Season two, the first episode of which is out today, tells another little-known story about the American ultraright, taking listeners back to the postwar 1950s, in which, as Maddow put it to me in an interview last week, “a bunch of totally crazy shit happens.” The story includes “an American fascist who ends up becoming a mole inside the war-crimes trials, working for the Nazis” and “becoming essentially the godfather of American Holocaust denial,” she explains. It also involves two senators—one perpetrating a Nazi propaganda hoax in the Senate, the other trying to stop them—who become mortal enemies. “By the end of it, one of them blackmails the other, and the guy who’s getting blackmailed kills himself, and the other one almost becomes president—and it’s not the good guy,” Maddow says.
I know Maddow isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and even though I believe Maddow is in the class of beings we don’t deserve — along with Dolly Parton and dogs — I get why that is. But maybe check Ultra out, even if you become impatient with Maddow’s “build a clock when asked the time” style on TV. Longer form is her metier!
Open thread!
Baud
Yeah, I recognize her value, but it’s not my cup of tea anymore. I did listen to Ultra and it was informative.
ETA: I also don’t listen to Dolly. But dogs rock.
kindness
I love Maddow. I hear rain is coming your way Betty. Batten down the hatches.
Expletive Deleted
Season 1 was wild, I’m middling on her show but very interested in this new season.
As you say, its terrifying how close we came and how many traitors there were, but weirdly hopeful that if it could be fought then it can again.
SpaceUnit
I may have to go back and listen to the first part again before I start part 2. It was very good, but the details are a bit fuzzy.
karen marie
Jesus Christ. It would seem almost quaint if it weren’t so fucking revolting. The senator who (allegedly – I don’t put anything past Republicans) committed suicide was Lester C. Hunt.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I appreciate her but can’t listen to her (Rachel, that is; I have a bunch of Dolly CDs. I love her bluegrass stuff).
Baud
@karen marie:
Back when Wyoming was a decent state.
Man, civil rights really did a number on people.
Hoppie
Congrats on the drawing — I correctly guessed who it was before scrolling further down (it helped to realize we inhabit a progressive blog, but kudos for getting the essence!).
Suzanne
My favorite podcasts right now are Past Present Future with David Runciman, which has a clear political bent, and Philosophize This, which does not.
Runciman did a previous podcast called History of Ideas, which was just fantastic. On this season of PPF, he’s done a series on the history of bad ideas, and now is doing one on “the great political fictions”. Just fantastic.
Hoppie
Oh, and the reich-wing pre WW2 narrative is scary. When you’re done with Lindbergh, check out Smedley Butler — who is a very unsung hero.
SpaceUnit
@zhena gogolia:
She’s actually better on the podcast than on her daily appearances on MSNBC. I agree that her meandering and repetition can be somewhat exhausting on television.
Suzanne
And since this is an open thread, I just want to luxuriate and be happy for a moment: I finally got an electrician to hang up my beautiful new-to-me vintage crystal chandelier (that I got for an absolute steal on Facebook Marketplace and had rewired) in my dining room, and now my dining room looks like it is wearing a diamond necklace and it is rainbow-o-clock any time the lights are on.
raven
@SpaceUnit: Weekly
Baud
@Suzanne:
Congrats!
Suzanne
@Baud: I feel like I have to wear pants in there now. It’s, like, fancy.
SpaceUnit
@raven:
I stand corrected. I don’t actually watch her because of the reasons stated above.
But the Ultra podcast is definitely worth a listen.
Melancholy Jaques
That is the best description of Maddow’s style I’ve ever read.
Baud
@Suzanne:
I’m sure a gown would also be appropriate.
Betty Cracker
@karen marie: Wow, I was unaware of that story. How terrible!
@Suzanne: Love those kinds of decor upgrades. Enjoy!
@Melancholy Jaques: I paraphrased a description I heard elsewhere. Maddow herself once said her mind goes to dinosaurs first when thinking about the fossil fuels problem. She can’t help it! But it works for some folks!
Kay
I like podcasts so I’ll try. If she over explains I have to move on though. She has to trust the listener to make some connections.
This is the Texas Austin Statesman in an editorial criticizing the Texas Supreme Court for completely ignoring the women who petitioned because Texas denies women medical care based not on medical standards but on religious dogma standards:
It took forever but they are finally, finally getting it.
Baud
@karen marie:
It occurred to me that if that hap9today, everyone would be on the Internet talking about how we live in the worst timeline.
Josie
@Suzanne: Congratulations! Acquiring and fixing up something that gives you joy is quite an accomplishment. I remember well the feeling when I found a piece of tossed aside marble and talked the astonished workers at the marble wholesale place into cutting it to fit my antique table. You will smile every time you walk in that room and see your prize.
Mike in NC
I read Prequel last week and it was excellent. This country still has a problem with fascism, or if you prefer, Trumpism.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
💜💙💚♥️🧡💛
SpaceUnit
Since we’re discussing podcasts I’d like to recommend Rob Reiner’s series on the JFK assassination. Apparently he’s been obsessed with it since he was a teenager.
geg6
I agree. I lost all patience with her on her show a couple of years ago and haven’t watched it since. But I love podcasts, so I checked her first season of Ultra when it first dropped and loved it. Podcasting is the perfect medium for her.
Betty Cracker
Re: podcasts, I’ll second Cole’s rec of “Books of All Time” by Rose Judson. Accessible, funny and informative!
Geoduck
Random link: I still follow a few people on Twitter. One of them calls himself the Hoarse Whisperer; as he quotes in his header, he’s just some Twitter rando, but he’s a good writer and I enjoy reading his blurbs (mostly about being a single father to his son.) But recently, he somehow crossed paths with the actress Valerie Bertinelli, and they hit it off, and are officially Seeing Each Other. And so now, when this average schlub goes grocery shopping with his girlfriend, paparazzi take pictures of them and post the result on the internet. Being famous in America must be a very strange existence.
Bill Arnold
@Baud:
Well, the R’s are trying to damage J. Biden emotionally and electorally by attacking his son. But it’s in public, at least.
The current trials gun trial is happening because Hunter is J. Biden’s son. There would be a plea deal otherwise. Also, the GOP stance on such matters is the 5th circuit’s recent (2023) decision,
Federal appeals court strikes down law prohibiting users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms (Devan Cole, September 14, 2023)
karen marie
@geg6: I’d listen to her more often but the MSNBC streaming is an absolute mess. I just don’t understand how it is that in 2024 a major MEDIA organization (and MSNBC isn’t alone) has such shitty streaming. Why offer it at all if you’re going to do it that badly?
Suzanne
@Josie: I am especially happy because the dining room has been all disheveled for a month. A previous electrician took the old fixture down and got halfway through the job, then left and said he had to come back the next day. He, uhhhh, did not. Then he said he was hospitalized, then said he would come back to finish on a specific day, did not, and yet continued to advertise his services on my neighborhood Facebook page. So we had no light fixture, and just this big chandelier in the corner.
Josie
@Suzanne: Ugh. I hate when people do that, I hope you didn’t pay him in advance.
karen marie
@Suzanne: In the early, mid 1970s my parents had a crystal chandelier in the dining room. Everyone smoked, so after about six months all the crystals had a yellowish tinge. After several years, I was tasked with cleaning it. The water that I put the crystals in to soak turned brown instantly.
Ain’t modern life grand with no more indoor smoking?
hells littlest angel
There is no one better in broadcast journalism today than Maddow. I suspect that people who complain about her complain about everything.
Baud
@hells littlest angel:
Your comment sucks.
geg6
@Suzanne:
Oh, how lovely that sounds.
As for me, we just moved (only a mile from the old house) and I cannot tell you how exhausting it is to move with a person experiencing a quickly accelerating case of dementia. It took me two weeks to get it all done. He could help with nothing and even my taking a week’s vacation and spending a few thousand for movers, it wasn’t enough. We sold a five bedroom and are currently renting a two bedroom. That was waaaaaay too much house for me at this point in my life. But he refused to get rid of anything. Now the basement here is stuffed to the ceiling with shit I don’t want and will never use. Fuck it. I took the voluntary separation that they offered and I’ve earned all the retirement benefits and my 401K looks pretty good, so a year’s salary, healthcare, Social Security and that should be okay. They made an exception for me because the campus considers me necessary for summer orientations and fall move-in, so I don’t have to go on 6/28 like almost everyone else who is taking the deal. My last day will be 9/30.
It’s been a real month. Sold the house, lost our dear Koda, John’s cognitive issue has turned full blown dementia, I put in for retirement…I think that’s enough. I’m all out of steam. I may not get this house together until after my retirement.
Kristine
Making note of Rachel’s podcast since I’ve burned through all back episodes of Lore and Welcome to Night Vale.
I usually try to keep it light while treadmilling, but I still want to listen.
West of the Rockies
@Bill Arnold:
Is there any guess when the damn Hunter Biden case will conclude? It’s been going a long time it seems.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne:
Such a vivid description, I had to see it again. Happy for you!
Suzanne
LMAO. George Conway tipped his hat to DougJ and wrote this:
smith
It occurred to me today that there’s only a little more than 2 weeks before the scheduled presidential debate, and the Felon has been doing very little to set up his excuses for not participating. He did that one thing a couple weeks back about drug testing (as if he’d really submit to that), but nothing since. Are we actually going to see him head-to-head with Biden, un-teleprompted, unvarished, and unhinged?
Betty Cracker
@geg6: Damn. That’s a lot! Best of luck to you on every front.
West of the Rockies
@hells littlest angel:
I like her but get frustrated when she opens with something along the lines of, “In 1951, the city council of Bremmer, Oklahoma was debating whether to fund the high school glee club…” and goes on for 26 minutes. YMMV.
Elizabelle
Has anyone read Maddow’s Prequel? The book which followed Ultra podcast.
I’d be interested in it if it’s not, um, Maddow OCD. Does it flow?
Suzanne
@geg6: Oh damn. You have had a time. I hope you get to settle in properly soon.
The stuff — the huge amounts of stupid stuff you don’t need or want and yet it just lingers — is such a stressor to me. It’s so much harder to get rid of stuff than to get stuff.
WaterGirl
@geg6: I’m glad you took the voluntary separation, and given the situation with your John it’s oh so smart of you to be looking ahead and downsizing, even though actually having to do it added one more huge burden on you.
It seems this all happened so fast with your John, unless I am in a time warp. I would guess that it’s been a year since you first mentioned it.
And losing your beloved Koda. The perfect storm, and then some. Sending love and light your way.
smith
@West of the Rockies: It’s with the jury now, so it should be over soon.
Delk
Mrs. Alito starts complaining about having to see rainbow Pride flags in June, Pride month. “You know what I want?” Mrs. Alito says. “I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag, because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month.”
Link
Elizabelle
I love how Kay described overexplaining, rather than listening, or meeting the voter where they are, as “Rachel Maddowing.”
Geminid
@West of the Rockies: I heard this morning that Hunter Biden’s defense would present its final witnesses today. That makes me think the case will be in the hands of the jury by Wednesday
Speaking of trials, Senator Menendez’s corruption trial is ongoing, but it’s not getting much attention. If nothing else, the verdict will.
Eduardo
She used to be my favorite when I watched news on TV. I don’t anymore for the same reasons I stopped watching her: too much doomerism, which makes me angry and anxious while getting very little info per minute spent watching. Only watch news now if there are elections and the Dem win so I can swim in schadenfreude.
Will listen to the podcast, seems very interesting and Maddow has an amazing voice.
smith
@Geminid: They started deliberations at the end of the day today, and went home after an hour of deliberation.
zhena gogolia
@Bill Arnold: The NYT headline this morning began “Biden Trial . . .”
You fucking fuckers, you make it sound like it’s Joe Biden. OF THE TWO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ONLY TRUMP HAS TRIALS
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Hahaha
I never liked Frasier much, but I just watched the seven episodes that Jean Smart appeared in. I did really identify when her character told Frasier off for never enjoying anything and always complaining about the service, etc. That’s kind of me.
zhena gogolia
@geg6: Wow. That is really tough. I’m sorry.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: Someone recommended it to me, but she’s a Maddow “stan,” so I don’t know.
Betty Cracker
@Delk: Jesus, Martha Ann Alito is every bit as horrible as her spouse. I hope they make each other miserable.
If they truly understood “vergogna,” the Alitos would be “free of this nonsense” tomorrow when he resigns in disgrace. Then the missus could wave all the hateful flags. But it’s about power and their fanatic agenda, so we’ll have to wait until they carry that sumbitch out feet first to be rid of his arrogance and flagrant corruption.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Ugh, that is disgusting.
Jay
@Suzanne:
one of the worst jobs I ever had to do, and yet most satisfying, was installing a chandelier in a furniture store over a high end display area.
The whole assembly weighed 350lbs.
I had to cut the ceiling open and install special braces, then patch and paint the ceiling.
I had to build it, piece by piece in place, which took 3 days on a 12′ stepladder, constantly repositioning it.
I had, bit by bit, switching the store over to LED’s, because they left all the display lights on overnight and during the day, and their power bill was just stupid.
Costco had just started bringing in “candle” LED bulbs, but only in bright white, but I figured that as the frame of the chandelier was chrome, and not brass, that they would work. If not, well the Specialty lighting store down the street from the job, could get me warm white “candle” LED’s for an arm and a leg.
When it was all together, and I turned it on, it was like standing under stadium lights looking upwards in a blizzard. It was brilliant, beautiful and became the first thing that caught your eyes when you entered the store.
But it was a PITA to do.
Suzanne
@Jay: That sounds awesome.
This chandelier is…. not that elaborate. It’s brass, and it was pretty dirty when we bought it. But it has all its crystals, plus extras! I had it cleaned up when I had it rewired.
This is a 1920s-era house, and so it has proper rooms. (Some of the European modernist architects were doing open plans in the 20s and 30s, but only for rich people’s country homes. The open plan didn’t make its way to the U.S. until after the war.) It looks great to have a chandelier on that axial orientation in there.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: I’ve been sort of following the Menendez trial. I hope they nail the crook so hard he doesn’t try playing spoiler in November. I was sorry to see Gold Bar’s son won his primary, but I guess we have to root for him to retain the seat now.
Elizabelle
@geg6: Hugs, geg. You keep on keeping on. I am so sorry John’s condition has worsened. How is Lovey taking all of this?
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: sweet.
Elizabelle
@Mike in NC: Ah, thank you.
Gloria DryGarden
@geg6: we sold almost everything out from under my mom, when we moved her and my dad to my sister’s house. Mom, fortunately, couldn’t remember from one minute to the next, so while she was told a move was happening, and she was cranky and bewildered, she didn’t remember, to understand what was going on. I asked her for a particular piece of art, and she wouldn’t let me have it, said it was an important connection to her dad. I could ask her the exact thing 2 minutes later, and it was a brand new conversation. She kept saying no, but my dad and sister slipped it to me, and said, she won’t remember to know to miss it. Which was true.
all of that to say, Perhaps your guy will start to not remember, and you’ll be able to sell/ get rid of all that stuff.
oh dear, so painful, so much work. Don’t hesitate to get caregivers in so you can get out and take a break. So sorry.
Sure Lurkalot
@Betty Cracker: Books of All Time is a new favorite of mine too. Highly recommend!
Steeplejack
I will add that Maddow’s book Prequel, about the fascist stuff in the ’30s and ’40s, is an excellent read. I’m about halfway through it. It maybe tracks with the first season of the Ultra podcast? And I think it would be more accessible to people who don’t like Maddow’s talk-show style.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Lovey is a pretty resilient girl. She definitely misses Koda but she’s been pretty good so far, barring a few accidents. But the new place has LVP, not hardwoods, so easy to clean and hard to ruin.
Thanks to all for the good thoughts. I’ll trudge through it. He has a doctor appointment next week and we’ll see what happens then. I also have our first three orientation sessions starting Wednesday through Friday. That’s an all day thing, so exhausting in itself. I’m taking this evening off, no unpacking or organizing. Just going to veg in front of the tv. It will be heaven.
Steeplejack
@geg6:
Man, that is a lot to get dumped on you all at once. Sending positive energy. Hang in there!
Manyakitty
@Kristine: for podcasts, I’m a big fan of WTF. Smart and engaging .
Gloria DryGarden
@Kay: great article, but heart breaking. Who is starting to get it?
I like the phrasing, reproduction is nuanced, with many turning points, and patients with their doctors have the right to decide at each turn in the process.
I wonder if all the lawyers and judges who make and enforce laws about medical care, would be willing to take the Hippocrates oath, do no harm. Anyway, I still say they are practicing medicine without a license. I look forward to more court cases, and the consequences of these laws arriving in the lives of the folks making, or ruling on these abortion ban laws. It’s so personal. I always think, that could be me, or my sister
Manyakitty
@geg6: that’s a LOT. Give yourself the time you need. Can’t take care of anything or anyone else without taking care of yourself.
EarthWindFire
Holy shit, what a bitch! There are plenty of better, more qualified people than her husband who would love his job.
I’m watching Jen Psaki where Sherilynn Ifill just described Thomas and Alito as spoiled teenagers who need to grow up. Truth.
Martin
@hells littlest angel: I kind of get the sense that a lot of viewers want Maddow to explain the dynamics behind, say, Jan 6 in 3 minutes rather than 20, and then complain that the media doesn’t take the time to explain anything any more. On TV, she’s the last one who explains.
Ultra is what, 8 hours long? Yeah, it’s going to take time to lay out a sprawling conspiracy that was driven by a whole bunch of different forces. It’s not a nice linear singular cause/effect thing that everyone seems to want to hear – who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy. Like, the world doesn’t work like that, and if you hate horserace politics, you gotta take the time to tell a non-horserace story.
Martin
@Elizabelle: How is Maddow supposed to tailor her piece to every single viewer? There’s one camera in front of her and everyone is on the other side. Part of why I like Maddow is Ms Martin almost always says to me during the first break ‘I never knew that’. A lot of people need the explainer. I’m thankful she’s there providing it.
Ms Martin won’t watch most other news because none of it is contextualized. She doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about half the time.
Geminid
@smith: That trial’s moving faster than I thought.
BeautifulPlumage
@geg6:
Ugh, that’s a lot! Good to hear you did get the move done, such a relief. Enjoy your evening off!
Kay
@Gloria DryGarden:
Sorry. I meant the editorial writers. Texas “clarified” one possible medical issue and issued rules around that, but there are hundreds of possible medical issues in pregnancy. At some point people on the Right are going to have to let physicians practice medicine. This plan of somehow aligning medical care with religious dogma isn’t going to work. The pregnancy quite literally has more rights than the pregnant woman in Texas – they’re putting her health and survival second.
CliosFanBoy
@Elizabelle:
Yes, it’s excellent. Highly recommended.
Eolirin
@Martin: I think it’s that, because the people here are super tuned in, Maddow is frequently explaining things, in detail and at length, that we already know, which makes it take a very long time for her to get to the point without providing much additional value.
It’s really just an audience mismatch though. That’s way more useful for people with less knowledge of these topics.
CliosFanBoy
@Kay:
That’s what almost killed my niece in Ohio last March. The Ohio Republicans restricted induced labor to a few specific conditions, and my niece needed to have her labor induced, but she didn’t meet the criteria. She almost died in the IC before she even got to hold her baby girl.
Both are doing fine now, but it was scary, scary close. F U republicans!!!!
Sandia Blanca
@Kay: The Austin American Statesman has been pretty liberal for quite a while, as befits our progressive island in the middle of a still-red state. The Republicans who work in Austin (e.g. the horrid governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general) just hate being surrounded by us hippies.
Elizabelle
Lol. Paul Krugman (K-Thug) put up a link to the Leopards Eating People’s Faces meme. In his column about how the wealthy don’t want to pay taxes.
I swear he is a jackal. I heart K-Thug.
jimmiraybob
@Elizabelle: Maddow’s Prequel, a detailed account of the Ultra I series, is a must. I’d strongly urge getting past styling critique to get to the meat of the matter. I did a slow read as I pursued looking into even greater detail (thank you intertubes).And I too appreciate that we are not isolated in our own struggle (unser Kamph?) and that we survived a fascist threat once before through actions of the people.This should be mandatory knowledge and when I am Strongman Supreme Leader of America it will be so.
like a metaphor
@Suzanne: @Jay I once got a crystal chandelier at a yard sale, to hang in the dining room of the Victorian I lived in. But then I decided that the crystals would look better in colors, so I got Stained Glass paint, and painted each crystal. With several coats each. What can I say? the drugs were much better back then.
Gloria DryGarden
Why doesn’t Rachel connect the dots about the current situations affecting the policies, for this next election? The 2025 project. The business about Russell vought from the Heather cox Richardson letter yesterday, all the ways the right is trying to dominate and cheat to win this election. Does someone know her, and can persuade her? She just gets more watchers than the bulwark.
and yes, she unfortunately can make a long story longer, it’s tiresome. But she’s thorough, and she cares..
TBone
@Martin: 👍 I adore Rachel Maddow and, although I might not always need in depth explanations, I am aware that a lot of people do need the background, the context, and the detail she delves into. It’s part of why I love her. Patience is a virtue. Not everyone has the same level of knowledge and, to my mind, Rachel is being thoughtful and inclusive to those who might not be as up to speed.
narya
@geg6: ohhhh, that’s so very much. Sending every good thought your way.
Gloria DryGarden
@Delk: she doesn’t bloody have to fucking look at anything. Including her neighbors pride flag. It’s not meant as an affront, to say “we exist, not hiding anymore”. Not harming anyone.
She can hang her religious art inside the house. It’s not a war, religion- minded narrowness, versus inclusion of all. They’re just saying it’s who they are and celebrating being out.. whereas her upside down flag, is like an affront to the nation.
I argue w my bible reading Baptist friend, and she can’t quite hear it when I insist there are many interpretations, and often it’s is thought that the word that got mistranslated as homosexual means the male child you provide to male guests for the night, for um, pedophile sex. Sex with underage people, and sexual servitude do both seem like abominations. But it’s not about the same sex detail it’s about kids, and sex slavery/ child abuse.
I get mad. Soapbox.
Mr. Bemused Senior
He is the Eldest of the Shrill.
Gloria DryGarden
@Kay: thanks. I agree with you. And you write it eloquently. Yes, glad the writers are catching on.
It’s all very disturbing to me, and I worry for my nieces and cousins, my former students coming of age, and anyone who has females in their lives.
During the growing of a fertilized egg, the body that is developing is a part of the woman’s body. I strongly think it’s ours to decide about medical care for our body parts.
you state the situation in a way that covers more of the nuance and ridiculous impracticality of those laws. I’m grateful for anyone who can speak clearly about this.
frosty
@geg6:
That all sounds exhausting, no wonder you’re out of steam. Let it ride and deal with what you can, when you can. But a word from me: keep at it. My retirement plan to declutter and get rid of stuff is going on five years now and I’m not as far along as I’d hoped.
I blame Balloon-Juice!!
rekoob
@Suzanne: Perhaps too late to comment, but my parents, in a major upgrade, swapped out their mid-Century Colonial-replica chandelier for a beautiful crystal chandelier in our dining room. The room had large windows to the East and North. There were two times of the year (natch) when the Sun would hit the room at just the right angle to light up the prisms in the chandelier. The rainbows danced on the ceiling and around the walls; it was a delight and warmly welcomed.
When we sold the house four years ago, I volunteered to take the fixture, but instead, the parents of the family who bought the house purchased it to give to their children. I hope it remains a thing of beauty for generations to come.
Sister Golden Bear
@Gloria DryGarden:
Us existing — especially publicly — is an affront to them. Which is why they have plans (looking at you Project 2025) to “remedy” that.
Combined with Justice Alioto’s comment about how difficult it is for him to live “peacefully” with anyone who’s not a reactionary Catholic, we know what things he’ll sanction.
Kristine
@Manyakitty: I’ll check it out—thanks!
Dan B
@Suzanne: I bought a couple solar tubes for the living room. There us a wall of picture windows for half the room and nothing for the other half and in addition it’s the entry, the front door opened into the stygian gloom. As to why it’s a reply to your comment I bought solar tubes that claimed to be transparent but they’ve got circular prismatic lenses that “magnify the image”. Nope. They garble the image but at certain times of day it casts rainbows on the wall. I don’t feel the need for formal wear, but it’s a pretty surprise.
Liminal Owl
@Suzanne: ooh, congratulations!
Our new (to us) place came with a crystal chandelier! My husband was not a fan initially and wanted to take it down, but I (having wanted one since childhood) prevailed, and he has come to love it too—even though the room gets direct sunlight for only a short time each day.
The big issue now is the low ceiling. Previous owner must have been in a wheelchair (there are many indications); for those of us who are not at that level of disability… well, we bonked our heads a few times after moving in, before incorporating the “walk around it” subroutine into our autopilot modules.
(Whence did that language enter my brain? Probably from recent absorption in the Murderbot Diaries.)
Sloegin
Love love love Maddow, but I got a degree in History in college and I will happily sit thru just about any kind of lecture.