Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Here are ten things I thought were worth sharing this week.
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1. My pals at The Wave have partnered with the University of Bristol’s Physical Activity and Public Health Department to carry out a research survey into surfing in the UK. The idea is to build upon the last similar survey carried out by SAS in 2013, and get as detailed a picture as possible about wave riding as a pastime across the while of the UK.
So if you’re a UK wave rider: get involved! You could also win a two-night stay at The Camp at The Wave for 4 people. Click here to participate or scan the QR code below:
2. This is such a brilliant premise for a podcast: Jar Jar Binks - what happened next? As per the blurb: ‘The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks is a six-part journey through the early internet to understand how one of the first-ever online hate campaigns began, and to right what we got so wrong about Jar Jar the first time around’.
3. Yep I’ve been plugging London Calling a lot. But it’s gonna be a cracker, as this great Slam piece makes clear, and I’m around now so will be heading up for the opening on Thursday August 17th. Hope to see ya there.
4. I’m going to share a few of favourite Substacks this week. First up is
, which to my mind is the best writing about skateboarding anywhere right now. Cole’s piece on the new Ryan Sheckler doc is sensationally good. Read it above.
5. I also enjoy
, ‘the beauty industry’s least favourite newsletter’. Jessica DeFino’s latest piece on Barbie and Oppenheimer is typically thought-provoking and savagely hilarious.
6. Another must-read isThe Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast, which proudly positions itself as the antithesis to the ‘Colorad-bro’ take on US ski and mountain culture. That’s where I first heard that Jackson Hole owners the Kammerers were selling up.
7. Hat tip to Linzi Hawkin for sharing this podcast about Miki Dora. Full disclosure - I personally think the Cult of Dora (who was clearly the worst type of narcissistic blowhard) is one of the worst things to ever happen to surf culture, but he’s certainly an important figure to (ahem) men of a certain age and type, and the podcast is well done.
8. So glad to see my pals Lauren Hill and Dave Rastovich covering The Big Sea in the latest episode of their Waterpeople Podcast. You can listen above.
9. I really enjoyed this new series from Patagonia Australia - especially as I’m at the beginning of my own self-sufficiency mission.
10. The BBC’s History Extra podcast are running a powerful series about the US Civil Rights movement at the moment. This episode on the lynching of Emmet Till, which places it in the context of Jim Crow, and goes into horrifying detail about how the brutality of the murder catalysed the 50s and 60s Civil Rights Movement, is essential listening.
Got a story or link you think might work for my weekly Ten Things, which goes out to thousands of readers each week? Let me know!
Thank you for the share and the kind words! Much appreciated.