Blogroll

I read a lot of blogs and websites using their RSS feeds, or by email if they are newsletters¹. These are some of my faves.

I’m also including what I read in print and what I watch on youtube here.

Websites

• The Red Hand Files - Nick Cave answers questions from the public. Always really interesting, thoughtful and candid. Sadly the RSS seems to be down so it’s email only now.
• rachelbythebay - Stories and insights from a person with a long career in technology. Not always what I’m interested in but I like the way they write.
• McMansion Hell - A hilarious takedown of massive, gaudy houses. Taught me the term ‘lawyer foyer’. Also great for insight on what does work in architecture.
• Bartosz Ciechanowski - A must-see. Amazing articles with interactive demos about mechanical systems and physics.
• Street Art Sheffield - A database of street art in Sheffield by Andy Carter, really well photographed and mapped out.
• Sheffielder - Local history, stories about people and places. I love reading about these places I walk past and interact with every day, everywhere has a story to tell.
• Simon Ser - great software dev who contributes to loads of projects I use.
• Mat Duggan - I love his stories about working in tech support etc.
• The Marginalian - Maria Popova reviews and ponders various works of art and literature. I like how she pulls from diverse works all on a theme and makes left-field choices for further reading.
• Simon Collison
• Silvia Maggi
• Rach Smith
• Silver Screenings - old movie reviews
• Katie Shoots Film - I can’t remember where I found this person’s site but I’ve been a long time reader and fan, and enjoy the photos. She sometimes shoots on expired film giving cool effects.
• Jason Kottke - He’s been doing this forever and I’ve been reading forever. It’s weird to me that someone makes a living running a link blog but I’m glad he does it.
• Links I would Gchat you if we were friends - Great links covering a broad range of subjects, often pretty funny.
• Web Curios - Wordy weekly links newsletter with a bit of a tech/web bias, but there’s always really good stuff here.
• The Sheffield Tribune - an online newspaper/newsletter local to me. Great writing.
• vole.wtf - a collection of web games etc by Matt Round, also includes the wonderful Vmail newsletter where people write in with links, pictures, stories, whatever.
• b3ta - Another really old community that still puts out a really good newsletter. Worth it for the anonymous (probably made up) ‘fesshole’ stories where people spill their shameful secrets.
• Analog Office - All about office supplies, which I love, and organising stuff, which I don’t
• Present and Corrent - A cool stationery shop with a really nice blog
• Ana Rodrigues
• Rachel Kwon
• Low Tech Magazine
• Road to the Sea - I really love reading about people sailing around the world
• Just a Little Further - Ditto

Videos/YouTube

Because I’m a nerd I actually also subscribe to these via RSS. Between you and I, I watch too much YouTube and my subscriptions list is very very long. I’m trying to link ones that don’t have a bajillion subs already.

• Bobby Fingers - An Irish man makes pop culture dioramas. Kind of the man of the moment, he’s only made a few videos but they’ve all be astonishingly funny, surprising and well produced. I can’t remember the last time a YouTube channel got this big this quickly.
• Ogmios - Previously a collection of videos about ‘zen motoring’ that completely changed my attitude towards driving in the city; these days he’s doing a quite good series covering a local Sunday football league.
• The Late Brake Show - A car channel that covers the whole spectrum of the field; new reviews, resto-mods, old bangers etc. My favourite is the ‘barn finds’ series because it’s more cultural anthropology than car nerdery. The only car youtube channel that puts everything on the line in the name of variety. He shuns the algorithm, shuns the classic youtuber personality and instead follows his sense of taste.
• Tyrell’s Classic Workshop - Iain runs a business restoring high-end classic cars and he makes videos of the goings on in the workshop. He’s got such an easy way about him on camera, and is a fountain of knowledge.
• Smith and Sniff - More of a podcast these days, but still really funny. Jonny Smith of the Late Brake Show (see above) and former Top Gear writer Richard Porter talk about cars, but mostly other shite.

Magazines

• London Review of Books - Just great writers writing about countless topics. More than just ‘book reviews’.
• Sight & Sound - An old old movie magazine that covers international cinema (but really just covers everything it can). Famous for it’s ‘best films of all time’ poll they run every 10 years, which is an interesting barometer of how tastes change but also they write way too much about it.
• Little White Lies - A artfully produced, carefully designed film magazine. Every issue tends to focus on one feature film, pulls at the thread and generates a load of really interesting art and writing from it.
• Road Rat - Cars, but again extremely high quality. Mostly about history and culture rather than the newest hot stuff.
• Private Eye - Satirical news magazine, but also one of the last bastions of journalism.
• The North - A quarterly poetry magazine based here in Sheffield.
• Granta - A really old literary review.
• Slightly Foxed - A lovely magazine about books old and new. They also produce their own nice editions of books.

¹ Some RSS readers like Feedbin let you subscribe to newsletters through them. I do this just to keep everything in one place.