Latest news with #AtticusFinch
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Top private school offers 'healthy masculinity' workshops for parents to help them combat toxic influencers like Andrew Tate
A top private school is offering 'healthy masculinity' workshops for parents to help them combat toxic online influencers such as Andrew Tate. The Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Suffolk is running 90 minute sessions to help families talk to their sons about resisting dark messages from the web. Irfan Latif, headmaster of the 300-year-old institution, said private schools have a 'responsibility' to counter misogynistic narratives. And he advocated promoting positive male role models such as Atticus Finch, the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird, as an 'alternative' to harmful figures on social media. RHS, which charges up to £46,000 a year for boarders and is part of the elite HMC private schools group, was the alma mater of hero explorer Ernest Joyce. Mr Latif said: 'We have not had any particular issues or incidents at RHS, but as educators we have a duty to be proactive. 'The workshops are about equipping our pupils, and their parents, to navigate the pressures of modern masculinity before problems arise.' Writing in Independent School Management Plus, Mr Latif said the issue of 'toxic masculinity' poses 'significant challenges for schools'. He said this has been exacerbated by the rise of 'online influencers like Andrew Tate', who promote 'hyper-masculine' and 'misogynistic' views. Tate, who has 10 million followers on X, has previously boasted that he is 'absolutely a misogynist'. He has faced multiple allegations of offences against women – all of which he denies. Mr Latif said: 'Their messages, amplified by social media, can easily shape young minds, leading to a distorted perception of what it means to be a man in the 21st century. 'Independent schools have a unique opportunity and a responsibility to counter these narratives by fostering positive masculinity.' The parent sessions, led by the school's pastoral team and external speakers, equip parents with 'tools and language' to talk with their children about 'respect, empathy, emotional expression, consent, and peer influence'. They include scenario-based discussions, expert input, and parent-to-parent reflection. Mr Latif added: 'We recognise that what happens at home plays a crucial role in shaping boys' identities and we work closely with parents to ensure that they feel equipped to guide their sons through the pressures of modern masculinity. 'Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – many parents have said they feel more empowered to speak openly with their children and better understand the subtle social pressures boys – and girls – face today.' The workshops are part of a wider school effort to promote healthy male role models. Mr Latif believes characters such as Atticus, the lawyer from Harper Lee's 1960 novel, can offer an 'alternative perspective on male strength'. He said: 'As for Atticus Finch, I chose him intentionally as a counterpoint to the rise of figures like Andrew Tate because he represents moral courage, integrity, and quiet strength. 'He listens more than he speaks, treats everyone with dignity, and stands up for what is right even when it is unpopular or costly. 'In a world of loud influencers and toxic online echo chambers, I believe young men need these quieter, principled role models more than ever.' RHS, which has historic links to the Royal Navy, is a co-educational school for day and boarder pupils aged 11 to 18.
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Patterson Hood On New Solo Album Exploding Trees And Airplane Screams
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MARCH 28: Patterson Hood performs at Saturn Birmingham on March 28, 2025 in ... More Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images) Over the course of the last 25 years, few songwriters have examined the human condition in quite the way Patterson Hood has, drilling down on the American experience over the course of 14 Drive-By Truckers studio albums and four solo records. Working with Decemberists multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk on his latest solo release Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, now available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records, Hood takes an autobiographical approach, working backwards from 1996 as he examines ideas like youth, growth and lessons learned. Incorporating instrumentation like strings, woodwinds and upright bass, alongside his own work on piano, Hood succeeds in crafting a compelling album which also functions as a departure from the Truckers' sonic palette. While the songs were written during different periods, they're nevertheless connected by a narrative thread, with the body of work emerging as one of Hood's most focused studio efforts. 'Maybe a theme to me that may not need to be one for anybody else - everyone is going to hear it as their own thing - but is how it all ties together,' Hood explained during a recent conversation. 'To me, it's the connectivity between that kid and that grownup that you end up becoming, you know? And maybe the secret to a happier life is if you can have a positive connectivity with that. And not have aspects of your childhood that you're trapped by that you can't overcome,' he said. 'I think all of that somehow ties in there.' In the midst of a solo run taking him through late May (ahead of a Drive-By Truckers spring and summer tour kicking off May 29 in San Antonio), I spoke with Patterson Hood about the creative process behind Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, Pinocchio, Atticus Finch, optimism and the importance of working outside of one's comfort zone. A transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below. Jim Ryan: I know some of these songs have been around in various forms for a bit. At what point did you start thinking maybe there was an album there? Patterson Hood: Probably during lockdown. When that all first happened, I thought, 'Oh, now I'm being forced to take a three month break I hadn't planned. Perhaps I'll write some songs? Maybe I'll do something creative. I'll work on that book I keep talking about but not writing. Maybe I'll start writing the next record!' Or whatever. And then that's not at all what happened. It became apparent pretty early that it was gonna be at least a year. Maybe longer. And I was in an extremely vulnerable spot financially going into that - as was the band itself. Because we had basically taken most of the year before off - because we had a brand new record that came out right before lockdown - like a few weeks before. So, we had like 15 months of touring [planned]. And we had all our eggs in that basket. So, I was extremely stressed out and I got extremely depressed - as depressed as I can remember ever being. I couldn't write. Everything I tried to write was so bitter. It was almost like kid songs: silly or so bitter it was just intolerable. And I would never want to listen to it ever. But I wanted to do something creative. I needed an outlet. So, I'd sit in my room and I had this stack of songs that were mostly unfinished. A few of them were finished but, to me, just didn't sound like Truckers songs. That band can play anything. They'd kill it. It'd be great. And then it would never get played at a show. Because the rooms we play and the crowd that's there, they're there for a certain experience. And those songs would've just gotten lost. So, these were songs that were kind of in a pile to not have that happen to. So, that became what I worked on. I set up a little home recording - a little four track thing - and I four-tracked that stack of songs (and a handful of songs that aren't on the record too). But that became, basically, the blueprint. 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,' the fourth solo studio album from Patterson Hood, is now ... More available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records Ryan: Well, I know Chris Funk made you play piano on this. What was it like working on the album with him? Hood: That was the other thing! The other reason for that stack of songs is I pretty much decided that I wanted to make a record with Chris. We've now been friends for about 10 years. But we met basically when I was looking into moving to Portland with my family. We moved cross-country about 10 years ago. So, I met him at the beginning of that process. He's one of those people. When we played together, it was that kind of chemistry - and yet, very, very different than the way it manifests with the people that I play with in my band. It was its own thing. So, I wanted to explore it. I kind of had that stack of songs earmarked as maybe potential songs for this project that I would want to do with him. So, he was part of it from the very ground up. And then the piano thing happened. Since I wasn't on the road, and I had access to a piano and stuff at my house, I kind of started working with the piano a bit - just to try to open my head up as a writer, you know? Sometimes, I feel limited by what I know how to do on guitar. It's so easy to fall into the same patterns guitar-wise. So, with piano, it was like, 'Well, I don't really know how to play it. So, whatever happens is gonna be pretty elemental to what I'm trying to get across.' Because I'm not good enough to do anything beyond the elemental on piano. I'm a pretty elemental guitar player too. I tend to gravitate towards that. I've got all of these wonderful people around me that do all of the other stuff. That's not really what I hear in my head. I do the thing I do. And they all make it magic. So, that was the plan was that I'd bring in someone who actually knows how to play the damn thing when it came time to make the record. Then, fortunately, about six months out, Funk informed me that, no, actually, I was going to play it on the record. I'm like, 'Um, you know I don't know how to play piano…' And he was like, 'I know! So, maybe you need to practice. My job is to keep you out of your comfort zone.' I was like, 'OK! Well, you're doing a bang up job, buddy!' BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MARCH 28: Patterson Hood performs at Saturn Birmingham on March 28, 2025 in ... More Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images) Ryan: It's kind of wild the way these songs do sort of maintain a narrative thread - even though they were written at different periods. How did the storytelling kind of come together in this body of work? Hood: I had no idea that it told a story until we were in the mixing stages. I was working on sequencing like, 'Holy s–t. This is probably the tightest narrative that I've written.' I had no idea it was that. It didn't even occur to me. I knew that a lot of the songs dealt with my childhood stuff. But I didn't really make the connection until I was putting it all together. And it's weird because it tells the story in backwards form. It's chronologically backwards - not completely, it jumps around a little bit. But 'Exploding Trees' is literally the last thing on the calendar that happened in the story arc of the things that happened on this record. And 'Pinocchio' would definitely be first. Because I was 6 years old and possibly, somewhere, maybe a little bit on the spectrum? We didn't know about those things then. ADHD wasn't talked about either. I learn about that stuff now that I have kids, you know? 'Pinocchio' kind of deals with that. Because that was my first obsession as a kid. I can obsess on something like crazy. That might be the most personal song I've ever written. It really might be. And it had to be the last song on the record. In those days, you didn't own a movie. You didn't get to watch it on a DVD or even VHS. You had to talk some grownup into taking you to the movies. I talked my grandmother and my great uncle into taking me like 10 times in the two weeks it was playing around town. I memorized it. And I would act it out in my grandmother's backyard for the other kids in the neighborhood - who did not think it was cool. (Laughs) They did not like it! It did not help my social status in the neighborhood one bit. But that song is about who I am now. I'm 61. And so many aspects of my life are still so related to that weird kid and his weird obsessions. Now, I'm seeing it with my own kids who are growing up before my very eyes really quickly. Ryan: Who composed the strings and more orchestral flourishes? Hood: I think it was a lot of both of us. We talked. We would always go play, usually up in Seattle and other places in the northwest. Right around Christmas every year, I'd do a few solo shows up there and he would always go with me. So, we talked a lot on the last couple of those trips about this record and what we wanted it to do and how we wanted it to sound. He knew I wanted it to be more differentiated from what the Truckers do than the previous solo records had been. I wanted it to definitely be its own thing - while still being me. I'm part of the Truckers - and they're part of me. It's all a kinship for sure. But the strings is Kyleen King. Funk called in Kyleen. And she came over and just absolutely blew my mind. I couldn't believe how great it was, what she did. She opened the songs up and took them so many places that I didn't realize were there. Drive-By Truckers singer/guitarist Patterson Hood celebrates the release of his latest solo album ... More 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,' now available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records Ryan: In closing the record with 'Pinocchio,' it felt to me like you did so in an optimistic fashion. A few lyrics jumped out: 'Getting closer to hitting those goals.' 'Wishes coming true.' Those seem, at least on the surface, to be fairly positive. Especially during times like these, how important was it to do that? Hood: Yep. That kid lived to tell the tale, you know? And a lot of my dreams have come true. Maybe not exactly the way I dreamed them. We could dig real deep and get super Freudian. I could tell you how much the blue fairy in the [Pinocchio] movie looked like my grandmother who raised me and who was very much my mother figure. Because I kind of had teen parents. So, my grandmother was very much that figure. And the blue fairy in the movie? That didn't even dawn on me until I was doing press for this record. It was like, 'Wow!' My great uncle, who also raised me as a kid - he kept me every weekend from the time I was an infant to the time I was a teenager busy drinking and chasing girls, not staying out at the farm anymore. But he was very Geppetto-esque. He never married. He didn't have kids of his own. He very much raised me and was very much a father figure to me. To get even more Freudian, Pinocchio runs off and goes to pleasure island. And that's just now occurring to me. And that's the thing I love so much about songs and songwriting. Because I didn't think about any of that s–t when I wrote that song. None of that! None of that was in my conscious mind. And here it is, maybe seven or eight years after I wrote the song, that occurred to me right this minute talking to you. It's truly like that. And that's one of the books I want to write. That exact thing is the essence of one of the books I keep saying I'm gonna write, that I never write, that, hopefully, I will yet: A book about songs called Heathen Songs. And it basically takes my life from the first song I ever wrote when I was 8 until some cut off point - which probably should be 'Pinocchio' honestly. That would actually tie it up. See, I'm finishing my book right now while I talk to you. I'm multitasking! Which my wife says I can't do (and she's right)! Ryan: My favorite track on the album is 'At Safe Distance.' And that's one where those sort of baroque pop elements really, really come together. The upright bass. That one, to me, in particular, really had a cinematic feel. With that story and those elements, I felt like I was watching it as much as hearing it. What were you sort of going for there in that story of return? Hood: I wrote that song within the first few weeks after moving to Portland [in 2015]. Which was also exactly the timeframe when the church shooting happened in Charleston, South Carolina (ironically enough, since I'm sitting in Charleston at this moment talking to you). But that happened on the drive to Portland when we were in the process of moving out there. And that led to me doing the New York Times op-ed that I did about the Confederate flag and all of that bulls–t. And I was writing the [Drive-By Truckers'] American Band album. In the midst of all of that, Harper Lee put out the other book [Go Set a Watchman]. Which she wrote first - but it happens after To Kill a Mockingbird. Like a couple of decades later. The book hadn't quite come out. But the New York Times did an early review. And it broke the revelations that Atticus Finch wasn't all that heroic in that book. He was more the way we think of a southern man of his time than the way Atticus was in To Kill a Mockingbird. Southerners all over the world had their hearts broken upon reading that, you know? Including me. And I was probably extra emotional anyway having just moved across the country with my family and gone through all of that. The political climate of that moment. And everything that was happening. It was a lot. And then I read that. And it really, really upset me - on way too deep of a level for something like that to rationally do. And I couldn't quit thinking about it for a couple of days. And then I woke up like day three or something with this very different perspective about it - and how maybe it was important for that book to come out now. It's like, in the 1930s, Atticus Finch was able to take this moral stand that was on the right side of history and the right side of where things should be. Because he saw this horrific thing happening to an obviously innocent person. And he was able to take that stand. And that's the Atticus Finch we all knew and loved. But, at a little closer inspection, that doesn't mean he wants those people to be in the same schools. He's not quite ready to break the covenant of the way he was brought up through generations to think about race. It's one thing to defend somebody from this heinous crime they obviously didn't do - but that don't mean you quite accept them as equals. That was upsetting to me also - but it made the whole thing make sense. Because I could see so much of that in people I've known and loved. And that's why I wrote the song. Ryan: Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams obviously doesn't sound like a Drive-By Truckers album. You worked outside your comfort zone tackling piano. How important, even this far along, is it to continually find ways like that to push the music forward, try new things and keep this stuff interesting? Hood: Well, I mean, I'm a lifer. I will never retire. I don't see the Truckers ever… I guess there will come a day when we physically can't do this show. But, I think, as long as we have our health, we're going to be out here doing what we do. We might take a different pace. We may take more time off. It would be nice at some point to do that. But I don't have any hobbies. I don't play golf. What the f–k would I do? I would go crazy! I mean, during lockdown, I wanted to jump off a bridge pretty much every day. Because I didn't have my life. I like to play in a rock and roll band. I like to make music and art. I like to go to restaurants. I like to go to movies and shows. That's pretty much it. I love my family and I like to do those things with them as much as possible. But I want to keep doing this thing. And, so, therefore, it is important. I'm really proud of the songs on this record. But, this year, I want to start writing what will become part of the next Drive-By Truckers record. And I'm excited about that. And, having taken the time to do this, that makes me even more fired up about the next time I go in with the band. And I can't wait to see what the band does! They are not limited in what they can do. They can do all kinds of s–t. So, we might all do some things to push each other out of our comfort zone for this next one too.
Buzz Feed
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
People Are Sharing The Books That Genuinely Made Them Fall In Love With The Characters, And I'm Adding Each And Every One Of These To My TBR List
Every now and then there is a book with a character so well-written, so well-developed, that you instantly fall in love with them. Here are some of those books and characters: 1. The Lonesome Dove series:"I would read a hundred books about those characters and then ask for a hundred more." — jjason82 "I think a big reason why we get so close to the characters is because we get to hear every character's thoughts in every situation. Third-person where everyone is sort of a main character. I feel so close to them all." — grassclip 2. To Kill a Mockingbird:"Atticus Finch. I've read TKaM probably 10 to 15 times, and I learn more from him with every read. His knowledge just keeps on coming. Actually, all the characters in that book have something to teach us. It's my favorite of all time and it's just so dang beautiful but also heart-wrenching." 3. The Flowers in the Attic series: "As crazy as it sounds, it was as if I actually knew the characters personally and had a bond with each one of them. When they were happy, I was happy for them. When they cried, I hurt for them. And when the series was finally over, I cried so hard. I'm talking like literal body-racking sobs. My heart ached for their family so badly. Obviously they are just made-up characters, and I know I probably sound foolish. But I can't help myself. I often find myself thinking about the characters and their story and wishing I could check in on them to see how they're doing." — u/Marandajo93 4. The Anne of Green Gables s eries: "I read ALL of the subsequent books and just fell in love with Anne and the Cuthberts." — mindfulminx "I enjoyed the Emily of New Moon books, too. They are a little darker than the Anne books, which I love, but are very good." — Adventurous-Cook5717 "Marilla is one of my all-time favorite characters. I often imagine her disapproving of my poor decision-making. " — doyoou 5. The Lord of the Rings series: "The characters live in my head rent-free. They're always there waiting for me to review parts of their story. " 6. The Harry Potter series: "There was a dread in the final books where you could feel everything crumbling and I didn't want anything to change nor anyone to get hurt, but I knew it was an inevitability." 7. The Discworld series: "I love Discworld for the same reason I loved Catch 22: It builds an ecosystem of characters that all inhabit their own space and, even if the book isn't about particular characters, it's fun as hell to see them show back up when you least expect. Like the zombie lawyer who knows the law because he's been doing it forever. All these gag characters show up and it's like old friends coming to visit with each Discworld book." 8. Never Let Me Go: "Kathy from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a character who I think about all the time. It's like she is a real person and I think about her and the book as a real person and real events. She is just such a wonderful achievement in literature. I adore that book." 9. The Haunting of Hill House: "Shirley Jackson does such a good job of writing about isolated lonely women who are at the cusp of insanity (like Eleanor Vance). She also does such a good job of giving Eleanor an inner life and inner thoughts in the first part of the novel." 10. It: "The relationships between the core characters are so rich, deep, and authentic that by the end of that massive story, it is hard to let go of them. It's especially painful because the characters themselves start to forget each other at the end of the book as its power over them fades. The book is a wild cosmic mindfuck but the denouement is quietly beautiful and poignant." 11. The Stand: "Larry Underwood went from my least-liked character to my absolute favorite by the end. Harold Lauder is a great character as well — not likable, but a great character to read. Honestly, Stephen King has some of the best character development ever." 12. The Wheel of Time series: "I love all of the WoT characters because they're all so complex and flawed. I can't think of a single character who didn't absolutely piss me off at one point or another (except for maybe Thom), but I can't help but love them all for it. Nynaeve is hands-down my favorite literary character of all time. Her growth arc is so, SO well written. She goes from being a hilariously/frustratingly ironic comic relief character to one of the biggest hitters on a bunch of levels." 13. The Princess Bride: "When I finished The Princess Bride, I wanted a sequel immediately. I still long for a continuation of the story to magically appear. At least I can re-read the book as often as I like." 15. The Raven Cycle: "I first read it in middle school and have reread it multiple times since. Maggie Stiefvater's characters are so captivating — I don't think I've read any contemporary YA fiction that has characters quite as likable and memorable as them." Scholastic, Inc. / Via — aliteralfool378 16. The Spellman Files series: "It's been a dozen years or so since the last entry with that beloved and hilarious crew, and I still think about Izzy, Henry, Rae, and the rest of the bunch." S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books / Via — jamibc44 17. The Count of Monte Cristo: "Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It's a story of revenge that makes you so passionately root for his success in his journey to get back what was taken from him. I loved his character the entire story, and I never wanted to put the book down because I always wanted to see what he had planned next." Penguin Classics / Via — wk2424 18. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: "When it came out, I was the exact age as the characters in the first book and so I grew alongside them. I loved their personalities, their banter, and their trials. Luckily, I've gotten to keep going with them for a while since Riordan published a sequel series and is now doing another fun shorter series. It gives me lots of comforting nostalgia." Disney Publishing Group / Via — kat1701 19. The Hunger Games series: "I always find myself missing Katniss Everdeen." Scholastic, Inc. / Via — sixeyedgojo Which other literary characters are missing from this list? Let us know in the comments! Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
