Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Country Beatles, why white westerners are called 'Franks'; and a potent, pugilistic slice of 90s nostalgia.
1. Big thanks to everybody who has been in touch to say they enjoyed this week’s Insights piece with photographers Chris Burkard, Hannah Bailey, Bella Rose Bunce, and James Bowden.
If you want to access this, the rest of the Insights archive and all forthcoming bonus Announcement content (like the Kendal episode I’m releasing next week), there’s still time to take advantage of this (frankly) ridiculously generous offer.
2. I’m a huge fan of Becki Coley’s film Point of Change, so it is brilliant to see momentum begin to build as more and more media pick up on this story. Check Becki’s interview on Swell Season, above.
3. I absolutely have not been able to stop listening to this song for weeks now. And every time I do I am bowled over again by the devastating, economical genius of the lyric which details…what exactly? The breakdown of a marriage? A lament for a dying friend? The raked-over embers of a long-ago menage-a-trois?
As this FT piece puts it, Famous Blue Raincoat is a song so mysterious, even Leonard Cohen didn’t really know what it was about.
4. Loved this slice of British surf history on the Cord Surfboards website: how Chops Lascelles introduced the three fin thruster to the UK.
5. Ever wondered why white western Europeans are referred to as ‘Franks’ by large swathes of the rest of the world? This is a really brilliant piece of work from The Rest is History.
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6. This documentary about the early 90s heyday of British boxing is nostalgic, poignant; and nails a really specific period in UK history very effectively. Recommended.
7. On what the memefication of Luigi Magione, the man accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, says about how Very Online we all are.
8. Not saying I agreed with it all, but I found this piece on ‘tax avoidance and the broken economics of British farming’ interesting.
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9. Kim Ghattas is always worth reading (her book Black Wave really helped me understand the recent history of the Middle East), as she is here once again with her take on what the fall of Assad means for Iran and wider geopolitics in the region.
10. Finally, my friend sent me this mix of people covering The Beatles in a country cornball style, which really could not be more up my hacienda. So I am sharing it here in the hope that it might enliven your Friday in the same way it enlivened my week.
Enjoyed this week’s list? Anything you’ve seen the Looking Sideways community should know about?