Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Jan's book stack, the first Announcement reviews, a Paul Watson scoop - and one week to go on the Db Fund.
1. Db Fund - one week until deadline! Yep, that’s right, there is still a week left to apply for the Fund, our quest to support innovative creative projects which is now in its second iteration.
As a reminder, after January 31st we’ll be choosing two winners and help them tell their stories by stumping up a not-insignificant €5k to bolster their budget, as well as offering mentoring and distribution support from myself and Db’s unrivalled team of creatives.
Plus! Next Wednesday (that’s January 29th 2025) we’ll be holding a special Db Fund Creative Exchange with our panel of expert judges!
Together, we’ve made books, films, podcasts, events, exhibitions and everything else, and in this live chat we’ll be discussing exactly what influences the projects we make, as well as what we’ll be looking for when judging this year’s Fund. It’s completely free and, like all of our Creative Exchanges, is a brilliant repository of insight, intel and advice, whatever you’re working on.
Sounds good, right? Keep an eye on mine and Db’s socials for the sign up link over the next few days. And in the meantime, you can apply for the Fund here.
2. How great to see some media coverage coming in for The Announcement. My thanks to the great Demi Taylor for this interview about the process behind the series, and to Beach Grit (which I believe is the world’s most popular surf website) for helping spread the word in their usual inimitable way 😂
As ever, ANY help spreading the word about The Announcement is hugely appreciated (by sharing that Reel, above, for example). And if you’ve listened, let me know what you think.
3. As I discussed in my interview with Demi, I was actually worried I’d left it too late to release The Announcement, and it would no longer be relevant. What actually happened is that the election of Trump, and the antics of the tech broligarchy, mean that the themes I explore in the series (especially episode 2) have never been timelier, as this piece demonstrates.
4. There are an infinite number of ‘what the left got wrong’ takes in the wake of Trump 2.0, but this outstandingly-argued piece by
might be the best one I’ve read. (Len’s Substack is brilliant and I highly recommend following him generally).5. On topic: I enjoyed this piece on the absolute state of that Zuckerberg/Joe Rogan interview.
6. What a loss David Lynch is, and this tribute from his friend Kyle MacLachlan is just beautiful and had me in bits when I read it last week.
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for massive ski rental discounts and snowboard rental discounts from my pals at Intersport.
7. Congratulations Nick Russell on the release of Papsura, his brilliant new film. I chatted to Nick last summer about this whole project, in a conversation you can listen here:
8. Quite a scoop for my old mucker
, who spoke to Paul Watson for this Surfer Magazine story which I would say is essential reading.9. One of the criticisms I’ve had about The Announcement (as I explored in the behind-the-scenes commentary I shared with my paid Insights subscribers last week), is that it was too focused on top-down organisational change, rather than the amazing grassroots work being done by various organisation and movements around the world. While I slightly disagree with that critique of the series (after all, that wasn’t what it was supposed to be about), I do intend to follow the series up by looking into some of these movements.
Movements such as Re-Action Collective, which regular readers of my work will be familiar with, and who just released ACTionism, a brilliant resource for anybody who’s listened to the show and wondering how they can take their own, well, action. Download it here.
Use Db Journey discount code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 15% on any purchase.
10. Finally - January is reading season. I’ve been staying in and hunkering down with the stack of books I acquired over Christmas. Any suggestions for must-reads I should add to the pile? Let me know in the comments below.
#9 - there is a much bigger discussion to be had around that argument. It's not a this OR that, it's this AND that. All the things need to be happening at all the levels. A good analogy I heard long ago related to this was the concept of "on-ramps". You have to have an on-ramp for someone at every level, to meet them where they are at. It's like a spectrum with beach cleanup on one end and legislation or direct action at the other. There are 100 points in between those 2 where people can get involved and engaged.
The arrows need to be aligned though, pointing at the same target.
I think you will love Juice by Tim Winton