Blue Chalk Recommends: Content We’ve Loved This Summer
From long reads and podcasts to interviews and short films, here’s the content that’s grabbed our attention over the last few months.
1.Nike SBs “Gizmo” Skate Video
Straight from the Blue Chalk “worth watching” Slack channel is Nike’s first-ever-all-female skate film featuring some of the skateboarding world’s biggest and best female athletes, including the legendary Elissa Steamer. Watching this has made us even more excited for 2020 when skateboarding will finally make its Olympic debut.
“I can’t even remember a time in my career that I felt intimidated.” InStyle chats with Jane Mayer, the New Yorker’s chief Washington correspondent, and Julie K. Brown, a senior investigative reporter at the Miami Herald, about their incredible careers spent exposing corruption and abuse at the highest levels.
When our DP Jamie Francis recommends a documentary to us, we know it’s going to be good. “Castells” tells the story of the Catalonian tradition of building human towers with swoon-worthy cinematography and perfect pacing that will have you at the edge of your seat.
4. Fact-checking can’t do much when people’s “dueling facts” are driven by values instead of knowledge
“People do not end up with the same answers because they do not begin with the same questions.” This fascinating Nieman Lab article raises real questions about fact-checking when people’s “dueling facts” are driven by values instead of knowledge.
5. One day, one city, no relief: 24 hours inside San Francisco’s homeless crisis
36 reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle spread across their city to document a typical 24 hours inside its homeless crisis. With stories of veterans living in camper vans and families battling for shelter space, this feature is a great example of why journalism is essential to highlighting the stories of society’s most marginalized folks.
6. What Do People in Solitary Confinement Want to See?
What do a statue of Michael Jordon and a sunrise over the Sahara have in common? They are just two of the images requested by inmates in solitary confinement as part of the “Photo Requests from Solitary” project. This excellent New Yorker article sheds light on a photography movement that’s aiming to mitigate the sensory deprivation of those spending up to 23 hours per day in the same 60-80-ft cell.
7. The documentaries of Ghana’s Anas Aremeyaw Anas
“He has become a household name, shorthand for standing up to corruption and exploitation” — Columbia Journalism Review meets Anas Aremeyaw Ana, a Ghanian journalist who has has been reporting undercover on human rights abuses and corruption on the African continent for 20 years.
Have you ever read, watched, or listened to a piece of journalism and wondered, “How did they do that?” If so, then this podcast is for you. Each episode takes viewers behind the scenes of a gripping story and reveals the incredible investigative work behind each one.
The New York Times’ “1619 Project” is an important collection of art, essays, and poetry that focus on slavery’s impact in the U.S. The first effort from the project was an entire issue of The New York Times Magazine devoted to telling the truth about slavery. We can’t recommend it enough.
10. Where Are All the Bob Ross Paintings? We Found Them
Bob Ross painted more than 1,000 landscapes for his iconic TV show, so why are they so hard to find? In this recommendation from producer Emma Decker, The New York Times attempts to solve one of the internet’s favorite mysteries.
