The Something Good Index
A continuously updated list of everything mentioned in this newsletter, newly revised for 2026.
Something Good #129: A Seance for Houdini, Revisited
"Is it true, Mr. Houdini, that you can resist the hardest blows struck to the abdomen?”
Something Good #128: Respect, Admiration, and Trust Equals Love
"I'll marry you if you admit that respect, admiration, and trust equals love."
Something Good #127: Only a Fool Never Catches a Cold
A gentle limbo of fuzzy-headedness.
Something Good #126: Murder, He Read
“He had the mind of a thriller writer: obsessive, guilt-ridden, preoccupied with trivia. He had lived too long with thoughts of death.”
Something Good #125: New Year's Day
To me, the real new year always began on September 1.
Something Good #124: Summer Hours
"One is beguiled by the quick finder-viewing and operation, and by the very questionable inclination to make many pictures with the hope that some will be good.”
Something Good #123: A Hero for Our Time
A conversation with Dr. Amanda Cockburn about The Odyssey, morals, monsters, and meat.
Something Good #122: Ways of Listening With Rollie Pemberton
"That friction, to me, is the juice of life."
Something Good #121: 10/10 movie I hate it so much watch it right now
"stop this MADNESS😭😭😭😭 im gonna die actually. 5 stars."
Something Good #120: Abstract Play
“The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman, and the ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life.”
Something Good #119: The Secret History of Syncretic Software, Revisited
"The truth is, a computer application can be programmed to commit a whole variety of sins."
Something Good #118: A Pink Laser to the Brain
"The winners aren’t always the strongest, the smartest or even the most popular."
Something Good #117: I Stepped Into a River
Why do we re-read?
Something Good #116: Fall Reading
"A silent university, a country house, a castle hanging in mid-air beyond the reach of ordinary troubles and vexations."
Something Good #115: Islands & Owls
"Winters are for the true weirdos:" Roxane Hudon on Tove Jansson and island life.
Something Good #114: Frame of Mind (Summer Rerun)
What life was less without.
Something Good #113: A Lost Children's Story From Vienna (Summer Rerun)
“The striking aphorism requires a stricken aphorist.”
Something Good #112: Apocalypses Plural
"A palimpsest of apocalypses."
Something Good #111: Souvenirs
"She belongs to the mousepads and touring holographic experiences now."