Looking Sideways: 10 Things
My interview with Julie Maughan, 20 years of Huck, and my reading year so far.
1. I think my latest Looking Sideways episode with Julie Maughan and Chris Hines, in which we discussed the recent series Dirty Business, the scandal of the privatised water industry in this country, and the death of Heather’s daughter’s Julie after she contracted E-coli from raw sewage, is without question the most emotionally impactful and important episode of Looking Sideways I’ve ever released.
Here’s a short clip I recorded here in Normandy this morning (above) explaining why, and here’s the episode below so you can have a listen:
10 Things will always be free, but it takes a lot of effort, love and curiosity to pull this thing together each week.
So if you want to support Looking Sideways without taking out a paid sub - you can! Click right here.
2. My friends at Huck Magazine just celebrated their 20th anniversary, which means they have successfully navigated the advent of social media, a global recession, COVID and now AI. No mean feat, I think you will agree.
So allow me to use this occasion to give you my semi-regular nudge to support independent media. In an era of increasingly centralised media AI slop, we should be supporting this stuff more than ever. After all, we’ll miss it when its gone.
More simple ways to support Looking Sideways - use any of these codes and I’ll get a small commission 🫡
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LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 20% off anything from Goodrays.
3. My friend Keme Nzerem delved into the whole sorry saga Ye/Wireless saga on this excellent Channel 4 podcast.
4. Got to be honest, I think Harry Styles’ Meltdown lineup looks kinda banging…
5. So ace to see CJ Mirra going through a bit of an imperial phase right now. He was a guest on Zakia’s excellent 6 Music show this week, and was interviewed about his brilliant new soundtrack for My Father’s Shadow alongside director Akinola Davies Jr and fellow composer Duval Timothy in this Clash Magazine piece.
6. The trailer for Undercurrents, Maddie Meddings new film about Laura Crane and Imari Hearn, is great - watch it above. And get tickets for a limited run of screenings in Bristol, Newquay, London and Braunton here.
7. It’s pretty difficult to do something new in the podcast (ahem) space these days. So big up Bjarne Salen who’s gone down a really interesting path, and clearly invested a lot of time, love and energy, for his new series Fika with Bjarne.
His first episode with Jeremy Jones is out now - watch it above.
8. I enjoyed this reflective piece by Joe Minihane on finding another type of creative validation. I shared it in a Note, which turned into an interesting back-and-forth with Sidetracked editor Alex Roddie on the same topic - click the image to check that out.
9. Updated: my evolving 2026 playlist, with new songs from CJ Mirra, Her’s, Bill Orcutt, and, er, Laurel and Hardy.
10. Also updated: my 2026 reading list, which includes this brilliant historical novel that I’m enjoying as much as anything I’ve read for as long as I can remember. ‘Like a Plantagenet Adrian Mole’ sums it up well.
And don’t forget that you can see what the LS community have been reading, and share your own recommendations, below:
PLUS! There’s still time to apply for one of the two roles we have going at my agency All Conditions Media. Find out more about the type of work we do above, and apply here.
Which of these stories did you enjoy this week? Let me know ✌️