Looking Sideways: 10 Things
This week's dispatch.
1. In one of life’s more random moments, I’ve been asked to be a judge for this year’s Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Which is pretty funny.
(For full transparency, because I ‘bang on about this a lot’, as my dear friend Jonathon Weaver reminded me recently, this is unpaid work. But I decided to do it anyway - mainly because it is unlike anything I’ve been asked to do before, it’ll involve working with an entirely new group of people, and I’m interested in seeing where it leads. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to make that decision without a certain amount of financial security).
2. Willy Mason is playing Outside in Devon! More above.
3. Dyrdek’s breakdown of Penny’s legendary chain session popped up again the other day. Want to understand one aspect of the Penny mythology? Watch that.
4. Occasionally I end up going on what, in a previous era, might have been referred to as a learning ‘jag’ - where I get interested in a subject to the point that I end up by reading every book, watching every documentary, and listening to every podcast I can get my hands on.
At the moment, it’s the JFK assassination, after I listened to an enthralling Rest is History series to mark the 60th anniversary last November. Hence why I found this Smithsonian piece about the infamous (and extremely troubling) Zapruder footage of the shooting to be completely fascinating.
5. Friend-of-the-show Mike Guest was on the excellent NE1 podcast talking all things mental health, and it was very worth a listen.
6. I loved this piece about 1970s Morocco on the Cord Surfboards website.
7. Saw a pic of Cardiel during his all-too-brief pro snow career the other day, and had to re-up his legendary Riders on the Storm section from way back in 1992.
8. I’ve been enjoying this beautifully produced multi-part podcast about the sinking of the Belgrano (which is as much about Thatcher, 1980s Britain, and governmental cover-ups as it is about the actual sinking).
9. This lengthy Rolling Stone piece about the ‘clicks versus impact’ conundrum of modern activism is insightful, and a good companion to my recent episode with Calum Macintyre.
10. It’s interesting to reflect upon the way brands and organisations are held to account in the real world. In this case, Lululemon.
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Wow that Rolling Stone piece really goes into a lot more depth than expected, thanks for sharing Matt.
The paragraphs about Robb Willer through Laura Thomas-Walters' analysis quite neatly condense my feelings on the disruptive protest discussions - it has to target "elites" not the public. That's why I took part it road blocks on Westminster bridge, but was strongly against the DLR-blocking action and I am not keen on sports blocking protests. Block the President of a sporting competition getting to a match sure, over disrupt the competition itself.
How to do this and still get enough headlines to attract more activists remains the open question... The main media only really wants to talk about big protests that are inherently or they can spin in a way to put many of their readers off, due to who owns them
Lululemon + Cardiel + Rest Is History = you made my day (as usual)