In “Scroll Dive,” a D1A team member grants us unfiltered access to the inner sanctum of their content consumption: their internet search history. Kick back, open a fresh tab and read on to hear why Eamon Levesque, Director of Story, has been so obsessed with ’80s British Radio, DIYing your own watch and paying for journalism again.
Radiooooo
We can all name a culprit for why it feels harder to discover new music than it used to — algorithms, the sheer volume of releases, reaching your thirties. Radiooooo with five o’s has been a godsend for me in that regard. Pick a country off the map, pick a time range from 1900 to present day (and 2070, somehow), and start listening to music from those times and places. Hear something new, then irritate your friends by saying things like “I’ve been getting really into Mongolian Pop from the ’70s.”
Balatro
I have conflicting emotions about recommending Balatro—this poker-meets-Pokémon hybrid. On the one hand, it’s one of the most inspiring stories to come out of gaming in decades. It’s the product of a single, anonymous designer and took off despite a zero-dollar marketing budget. It’s done $2 million in sales and clinched numerous Game of the Year awards — purely from word-of-mouth buzz around its novel concept, fresh aesthetic and thoughtful gameplay.
On the other hand, it’s so addictive that by including it in this column, I feel like the sketchy friend D.A.R.E. warned you about — “just try it once man, no big deal.” I’ve already had to delete the app from my phone for fear of losing another few dozen hours. Use with caution unless you have an abundance of time to kill and/or a deep need to distract yourself from existential dread.
Blogs Worth Paying For
2024 saw an encouraging renaissance of long-form, independent online writing — the type of stuff I devoured in high school and college, but has felt dormant for some time.
While Substack’s rise is also great, I’m referring specifically to groups of writers who have broken away from larger outlets and are making a go of it as a smaller team. Hearing Things for music criticism, Hell Gate for local NYC news, 404 Media for tech coverage — all employee-owned, and all deserving of support.
Turns out, the trick to supporting writing you like is to actually pay for it. Tough pill to swallow, but the results speak for themselves.
Seiko Mods
Whether it's my computer, my clothes or my coffee grinder, I don’t fall in love with things unless I can take them apart and tweak them to make them my own. This hang-up made it difficult for me to appreciate watches — a field where “$1000” and “entry level” are used in the same sentence (no disrespect to @MikeNoveau and Mr. Chen in the linked video).
But as it turns out, there’s a deep community of dorks like myself who felt the same way. If you have a vision and some patience, you can build a watch with the qualities of the high-end brands you like for .02% of the price. Will it be perfect? Nope. Will it be frustrating? Hell yes. But the end result is one-of-one, and it can match whatever your tastes might be — from “subtle” to “Reddit nonsense.”
Eyeball Cards
As I continue to compete with my interior designer girlfriend for real estate on the coffee table, I found a gem at Aeon Bookstore that sent me down a rabbit hole. To try and sum it up: in the ’70s and ’80s, a ton of British people got obsessed with the types of radios used by American truckers — using them as something like a combo between a walkie-talkie and a chatroom. Part of this culture was printing colorful business cards to swap when you met another CB radio user IRL — “Eyeball Cards: The Art of British CB Radio Culture” documents that practice. The book itself is gorgeous, cover to cover. There’s creativity and charm all throughout, and I love feeling immersed in something I never would have otherwise experienced.
Want more? Check out our “Scroll Dive” archive here.
