Looking Sideways: 10 Things
AI pods, a brilliant true crime expose, and the genius of Brian.
1. Holding our latest
away day in my hometown of Manchester was great. Especially seeing the much-changed city through the eyes of a younger generation, years after I left. It was a really nice full circle moment to experience Manchester with this gang.
As was being featured by Manchester Evening News in a story about my recent doc The Announcement, and my career as a journalist, podcaster, and business owner at ACM.
I found this a great novelty tbh. The MEN is still Manchester’s paper of record and THE regional media powerhouse.
I was tickled to be asked, and wasn't too sure what to expect. But writer Seb Ramsay managed to connect the undercurrents of my peculiar, meandering career with the influence of Manc (never 'Manny' *spits*) in a way I actually found really insightful and weirdly poignant. Plus, my Mum is dead chuffed.
Thank you Seb - read the piece here.
2. On the same trip home I was lucky enough to pay a flying visit to see my pals at Finisterre and join them for their regular Sea Tuesday sessions. Cornwall really was showing it’s ‘Hmmmm. Maybe I SHOULD move here?’ best side. Thanks Bronwen and team for the great welcome!
3. ‘I’m a cork on the ocean/floating over the raging sea.’
It’s easy to forget what an insanely weird and troubled band The Beach Boys actually were once Brian Wilson, who died last week, got into his artistic stride.
Consider the surreal beauty of Feel Flows, the perfect two-minute evocation of teenage isolation that is In My Room, or the thread of existential loneliness that runs through Pet Sounds on songs such as Hang Onto Your Ego or I Guess I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.
Anyway, I’ve spent the week reminding myself of how great Brian really was with this playlist. Maybe you’ll enjoy it too.
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4. The Titan doc on Netflix is a disturbing, sweaty-palmed exploration of narcissistic tech-bro hubris that is deffo worth your time.
5. I read two great things on Substack this week. The first was this beautiful, reflective piece on the legacy of undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD by
.
6. The second was this piece by
, which is a much more eloquent articulation of the thoughts I gropingly began to explore in my intro to this week’s Insights piece (below):
7. As you’ll know if you’re read the aforementioned Insights piece, I had a go on Google Notebook LM’s instant podcast thingy, more out of curiosity than anything else.
Here’s the scarily-authentic yet completely fake podcast conversation it generated (in around two minutes) about my recent Insights piece on Nietzsche.
Listen above - and let me know your thoughts in the poll below:
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off any Finisterre purchase.
8. In contrast, this three-parter on the murder of journalist and Amazon activist Dom Phillips is human-led podcast storytelling at its best.
9. I was a huge fan of Hailee Rubenhold’s The Five, in which she reclaimed the narrative around the Jack the Ripper murders by giving voice to his five victims. In her latest, Story of a Murder, she does the same with Belle Elmore, wife and victim of Dr Crippen, one of the most notorious murderers of the twentieth century. A great mix of pacy page-turner and enraging social history - tis now on the 25 reading list here.
10. Two LS Substack Chat threads to draw your attention to.
Firstly, the LS Book Club thread is going strong and my thanks to everybody who has put such brilliant recommendations on there. Free and paid subscribers can catch up and join in here.
Secondly, Insights subscribers - and there are a lot of you out there now - I want to hear from you! I’ve started another specific Insights chat thread here - let me know what you’re working on, what’s been going well, what hasn’t been going well, and how I or the rest of the Insights community can help.
I’ve kicked things off with an update on my new project THE LIFT which I am now beginning to tentatively think about a little more seriously.
You can access the threads either online or through the Substack app.
80’s foam headphones applied. Tape rewound with a pencil. Walkman clicked shut. Press play. Must be 10 yrs old ‘in my room’ with the Beach Boys.
Although I fell for the harmonies all that time ago, I still prefer the solo version of surfs up with Brian at the piano, that song being a sort of doorway into a new era for the band, I guess. Seems kinda haunting now