Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Here are ten things I thought were worth sharing this week
1. I’m just back from Natural Selection in Jackson Hole, and what a life-affirming trip this one was. I was there as part of the announcing team for the event (Selema, Tom Monterosso, Mary Walsh, Jeff Moran and Pat Bridges, all pictured above alongside a very relived-looking me).
Considering it was my first ever experience of commentating or live broadcasting, I’m really happy with how it went, and I’m very grateful to my fellow announcers, the crew at Uncle Toads (who produce the broadcast) and everybody at Natural Selection for the help and the trust. If you’re so inclined, you can watch the entire Finals day here. I also posted a load of behind-the-scenes stuff on my Instagram Stories here.
2. I was in Jackson with Owen Tozer, and we took the opportunity to do as much work as possible. In the end, we came back with so much material we’re thinking of putting a zine together.
I also recorded six episodes of the podcast, three of which I’ve released this past week. Click here to listen to my chat with my fellow announcer Tom Monterosso about his career, here for my conversation with judge Sandy MacDonald about how the judging at NS works, and here for my conversation with Travis Rice (above, shot by Owen) about THAT KB heat, and exactly what NFTs have to do with snowboarding.
Other post-event bits I enjoyed included this thoughtful Snowboarder’s Journal write-up by Colin Wiseman, and this on-the-whistle piece by Drew Zieff for Whitelines.
3. The Natural Selection NFT drop was undoubtedly the most controversial part of the week, and something I covered at length in my chat with Travis. It’s made me want to delve even further into the topic, so my thanks to listener Leo K. for drawing my attention to this lengthy yet fascinating primer on the entire Web 3.0 topic. Click here to read it. I also enjoyed this Atlantic piece about the FOMO driving the entire NFT conversation. That David Bowie clip, above, incidentally, has been shared a million times but if you haven’t seen it before it’s what I referenced during my conversation with Rice.
4. On another note entirely, here is 64 year-old Michael Ho at Backdoor the other day. Ah, just watch it.
5. Tragic news from Patagonia, where legendary alpinist Korra Pesce has been killed by an icefall while descending Cerro Torre. His partner Tomás Aguiló was saved thanks to an impromptu, incredibly brave rescue mission organised by local and visiting climbers. Find out more here.
6. *whispers* Not sure if you’ve heard, but the Olympics just started. And to celebrate, the New York Times took it right back to 2012 with this interactive piece featuring Shaun White, Mark McMorris and a load of other competitors talking about their relationship with fear. Click here to take a look.
7. Candide doing Candide things, above.
8. In case you somehow missed it, Joe Rogan is (ahem) ‘embroiled’ in controversy after Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music as a protest against (they say) Rogan sharing Covid misinformation on various episodes of his show (read this thread for a fascinating take on the Malone episode in particular). The entire saga has since become one of those breakout stories that says much about our never-more-tribal attitudes towards free speech, artistic expression, the nature of truth, and all the other ubiquitous modern culture war tropes. Click here to get up to speed.
Loads of people covered this; I thought Rich Roll and Adam Skolnick’s take on it in the latest episode of Roll On was pretty weak, and much preferred this even-handed discussion on the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast (listen by clicking the widget above), and this explainer from the BBC’s increasingly legendary Ros Atkins.
9. My pal and friend-of-the-podcast Chas Smith (pictured above by Owen) has a new book coming out. Find out more and pre-order your copy here.
10. Finally - once again, like the geek I am, I’m keeping a list of every song I hear that I like, and every book I’m reading this year. Find the ever-expanding (and so far random-as-fook) 2022 playlist by clicking the link above, and check the 2022 book list here. (And find my full 2021 playlist and book list here and here)