august clips

Kia ora, and welcome to clipboard, an occasional email newsletter by me, Reilly Hodson. Happy Fathers Day to those celebrating! Today, your monthly roundup of the things hovering in my notes app, for the last month of winter.

August is finally done! That means that 1) it's now light out both when I leave the house in the morning and when I get home, and 2) that the Northern Hemisphere brat summer is finally done and I can stop feeling bad about not being in Greece. The daffodils are out! People are going to the park again! I bought myself a new pair of shorts last week, a surefire sign that optimism is returning to my life.

We'll get into the highlights from the month that was, but beforehand, I'd like to ask for some feedback! Being a part-time free newsletter writer is a strange pastime, and it can feel like shouting into the void. But I see the readership stats, and I would love to hear from you! I write this newsletter just for fun, but I'd love to engage more deeply with the cool people who read this stuff on a Sunday morning, because I have a hunch we'd get along. So hit reply, drop me an email, slide into my DMs, let's network.

Now - clips!

🎶 This month's clipboard column leant heavily on the work of Kyle Chayka, one of the only writers about technology that understands popular culture, and one of the only writers about popular culture that understands technology. In line with my recommendation of listening to full albums, Kyle wrote a great article about why he quit Spotify, focusing on how the design of the app works to prevent you from listening to music you chose yourself. This is why I'm an Apple Music apologist.

👔 I've evangelised about Louis Cheslaw's menswear column in Magasin multiple times in these virtual pages, and July's is a demonstration of why Louis' point of view is so smart. He breaks down the specific joy of having a small wardrobe, and speaks to an very stylish gent that I'd never heard of. All in a newsletter that is supposedly focused on shopping! Brilliant stuff. For more on the joy of having fewer, better things that you wear frequently, here's a self-plug to me in Mitchell Tan's Rubbish Report, writing about my most worn jumpers.

🍽️ DINING MINI SECTION 🍽️

🟧 Jordan Gibson, founder and director of clipboard fave brand Checks Downtown, is a sneaky good food influencer now! His infrequent IG carousels are short, to the point, and speak to the impulses of someone who likes what he likes, enjoys to eat and isn't fussed about chasing the shiniest new opening. Worth a follow even without the fit pics!

🥖 I keep a mental list of places in Auckland that are off my regularly beaten path, but worth the trip out of the way. The latest addition to that number is Beabea's Bakery in Westmere. Of all of the new bakeries that have sprung up in recent years, Beabea's is my favourite. The best butter chicken pie I've ever had, an amazing decadent pink iced bun, and really bloody good bread. Super friendly team as well!

🎙️ I've promoted Jean Teng and Sam Low's podcast Ate Ate Ate in the past, but I've got to shout out their recent episodes. Jean and Sam have awesome chemistry and it feels like they have really hit a groove of pods that feel like hanging out with them. On top of the pod, they too do a very good Instagram roundup of great kai.

✍️ The New York Times' restaurant critic Pete Wells recently resigned, and he closed his tenure with an absolute banger, outlining the way that restaurant culture has changed in his time in the seat. It's tightly focused on NYC, of course, but it feels like a similar shift has happened here, in Tāmaki, too.

🍽️🍽️🍽️

🗣️ You've heard of third places, but what about third things? It's a conversational concept I came across on Kottke.org, and describes the emotional connection that can come from conversation while doing something else. Think a conversation while watching a sports game, throwing a ball around, after watching a movie. Particularly necessary for those of us who never quite cracked emotional connection...

👗 I recently watched the documentary High and Low, about ~controversial~ fashion designer John Galliano, his fall from grace after a string of antisemitic drunken tirades and his road back to the highs of the fashion world. To me, it's a fascinating insight into what our culture (and the people who run it) will permit and indulge from a (white, male) person who is perceived to be a genius at what they do. I strongly recommend it, it's sure to provoke a response whatever your opinion or experience of Galliano.

🧶 Every season, Checks Downtown drops one (usually more) pieces that I hyperfixate on. This season, it's this amazing zip up funnel sweater. Made of 100% merino, I tried it on the day before it dropped and have been thinking about it ever since. It’s the kind of piece that somehow hits both "this will fit perfectly in my wardrobe" and "I will be a better/cooler/hotter version of myself if I own this." Perfect for the Britpop season we are going to be sick of in a few weeks. Of course, Chris Parker already owns it.

🎬 The YouTube series 'Every Frame A Painting' is a foundational text for many movie nerds, but it's been on hiatus for nearly a decade. No longer - it's back with a new mini series and a forthcoming short film from the creators. The first episode back about two-shots picks up with the same level of quality and insight that I loved first time around.

☑︎ I don't always indulge my nerdier tendencies in this newsletter, but I feel the need to share the latest series of episodes on my favourite tech podcast, The Vergecast. It's all about productivity, and as someone who obsesses over systems to organise my to dos and get my email manufacturing done on time, it's been surprisingly fascinating listening. The first episode is an interview with the person who trains Google executives on how to manage their work life (what a gig!), and the second talks with people on The Verge's staff about their own systems. If you have a great system for getting stuff done and managing your life, hit me with it on email. I will be unironically interested to hear.

That's all for clipboard this time, thanks for reading! If you like clipboard, forward it to your friend who suddenly knows every word to Champagne Supernova after the Oasis news. I'll be back in your inbox shortly with more reckons, and at the end of the month for another roundup. If you want to get in touch, you can reply to this email, or hit me up on Instagram, I'd love to hear from you.