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How Desert Island Discs Was Pitched, A Trick For Writing a First Draft and the Psychology of Collecting

          10 stories we've enjoyed this week      
Animated gif of a street scene in Delhi. A fruit sales man fills a bucket with fruit for a woman on a balcony. There are clothes hanging out over the the balcony to dry. The woman pulls the bucket up via a string. In another window a woman shouts out to the fruit salesman. On the street, a black cat jumps from left to right.
Hi All,
To kick things off, here are a couple of things from friends that will be of interest to you.

Just before lockdown, I met up with the award-winning social innovator, technologist and anthropologist Ken Banks for a cup of team. Amongst the many things we discussed, he mentioned he was about to write a book. Well, he did. And it's out now. A Way of Life is about how you find your purpose in life, something he is more than qualified to write about. Download your copy now and if you like it consider giving it a review on Amazon. 

Also, Russell Davies is bringing his fantastic 'Interesting' conference back. There are no details about who will be speaking just yet but who cares? Russell is such a great curator, whoever appears on stage will be fascinating in some way or other. Get your tickets now. 

OK. Have a really great weekend.
Hugh
The Short Story
The Original Pitch Letter For Desert Island Discs
(1 min read) 

One Weird Trick For Writing a First Draft
(5 min read)

The Call For Plain Language
(7 min read)

Why You Should Name Your Objects
(5 min read)

The Psychology of Collecting
(5 min read)

The Lost Art of Picking Funeral Songs
(6 min read)

Struggling Freelancers: Need a Mood Boost? Call 1-833-HOTLINE
(2 min read)

Taste Hierarchies Like These Stink
(10 min read)

When the Autopilot Switched Off
(30 min listen)

We Can Be Heroes Just For One Supercut
(6 min watch)
A bathroom is filled with tins of baked beans. There are tins filling the window sill and on top of the cistern, plus stickers of beans on the walls. There is a giant sized bean tin next to the toilet. Walls are painted orange to match the colour of baked beans.

How can we help you?

Storythings is a strategy and content company based in Brighton and London. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas.

Here's 3 reasons to get in touch. 

1. You want to talk to us about content production: podcasts, videos, animations, illustrations, editorial. 

2. You want to talk to us about content strategy or format development.

3. You want to create a brand or an identity that makes it easier to communicate your message.

We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch. 
 
The Full Story
The Original Pitch Letter For Desert Island Discs
In 1941 BBC freelancer Roy Plomley wrote a letter to the BBC's Head of Popular Record Programmes with an idea for a new radio show. The pitch was brief and the idea was a twist on an existing idea. It was commissioned and is still being made 80 years later. So, keep your pitches short and don't be afraid to remix old ideas. 
(1 min read)

One Weird Trick For Writing a First Draft
Clive Thompson has been writing for the likes of the New York Times and Wired for 25 years. By his own admission, this technique for writing a first draft is weird but strangely makes a lot of sense. Try it! See how you get on. 
(5 min read)

The Call For Plain Language
When Amy Silverman and the Arizona Daily Star published “State of Denial,” an investigation into the state of Arizona’s services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, they included plain language translations of the text. They wanted the report to be more accessible to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It might be the first of its kind in a mainstream publication. This interview with Rebecca Monteleone, who worked with the publication on the translation, is a great read for producers thinking about how they can make their content more accessible. 
(7 min read)

Why You Should Name Your Objects
This is a good read about attachment to the things we own. As someone who got rid of all my things 12 years ago, I’ve learned how to avoid being attached to objects. But this piece suggests that I might have been a bit hasty and that being attached to an object isn’t a bad thing. Giving an object a name changes the way we interact with it. It humanises the object and makes it difficult to get rid of or trade-in for a newer version. Via Nick Parker's excellent newsletter The Notices.
(5 min read)

The Psychology of Collecting
Still on the subject of hanging on to things, this photo essay about collectors and their collections describes the objects as 'antiques of the future,' which I really like. Photographer Callum O’Keefe was not just interested in photographing collections, but in understanding the reason why people collect. He found that a lot of collectors collect to escape a traumatic past and that the nostalgia provided by the collections gives them comfort and escape.
(5 min read)

The Lost Art of Picking Funeral Songs
I've had to do this a few times recently and the experience was different on each occasion. On one it was a little overwhelming whilst the other was quite cathartic. It turns out that not a lot of people tell their family or friends what they want playing at their funeral and as a result end up with something like Lewis Capaldi. This piece in the Guardian features an online generator to help you pick a song to go out to. I tried it and it came up with Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. For the record, I don't want Pink Floyd playing at my funeral. 
(6 min read)

Struggling Freelancers: Need a Mood Boost? Call 1-833-HOTLINE
I like the idea of this hotline for freelancers who are in a bit of a funk. Call the number (or use Skype outside the US) and get a quick blast of inspiration.
(2 min read)

Taste Hierarchies Like These Stink
This is a good conversation on the problem with taste hierarchies in the age of prestige TV and how makers (and viewers) of prestige TV refuse to acknowledge what the shows owe to other genres: "The blanket denial of the televisuality of these television shows has turned this ancestor into a shameful secret. So much so that, often, when a prestige TV series is perceived as too much, too excessive, (too female), (too queer), it’s criticized for being too soapy. The collected works of Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy have borne this criticism for years, despite the fact that the visible soapiness of their shows is less about a qualitative difference than a different willingness to publicly embrace their own genre history. Game of Thrones is the soapiest soap to ever soap on HBO."
(10 min read)

When the Autopilot Switched Off
Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of Tim Harford's writing and his brilliant podcast, Cautionary Tales, which is always filled with gripping stories to explain interesting ideas. When seatbelts were first installed in cars the number of injuries from car accidents did not go down. In this episode, Tim looks at how safety features lure us into a false sense of security (the Perlzman Effect) and how a thinking counter to this - increasing the opportunity for danger (the Tullock Spike) would save more lives.
(30 min listen)

We Can Be Heroes Just For One Supercut
This is a bit more than a supercut. It's a nice montage of all the films and TV shows that have used Bowie's Heroes.
(6 min watch)
We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend you can subscribe here and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week,

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the team at Storythings
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