Friday Inspiration 443



Friday Inspiration 443

I wouldn’t say the title of this video, “Where Do NYC Cab Drivers Eat?” is inaccurate, but I think the video is much more a story about two friends and how people find community in large cities. (video)

This is for anyone who’s ever bought a throwback sports jersey, and isn’t quite sure why they did it, but who also enjoys how it makes them feel. (gift link)

I know there are lots of heartwarming stories about the Olympics, but this one is my favorite so far: Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen is so obsessed with the chocolate muffins in the Olympic village that he’s made 10 TikTok videos about them. (The most popular one has been viewed more than 10 million times)

This piece reminded me that a) I’ve been using Gmail for almost 20 years and b) that I am probably not emotionally ready to read emails I wrote to anyone from probably 2005 through 2010. But wow.

This is such a cool short video about Kathryn Bigelow’s revolutionary POV shots, and how ahead of their time they were for fast action shots—especially when you consider how big and heavy the cameras were, compared to the first GoPro, which wouldn’t come along for another 14 years.

As a trail runner who worries about the welfare of animals maybe a little more than average, I have to say being followed by a flock of lost sheep on my run is maybe more terrifying than being followed by a mountain lion.

I had a great chat with my friend Jonathan Ellsworth on The Blister Podcast on Monday, and if you think I sound like shit, it’s because I do! But we still had a wonderful conversation about Ultra-Something. (I’ve had a cough for 3+ weeks now and am relentlessly advocating for myself as a patient in the healthcare system, while trying to rest and drink lots of fluids.)

--

Semi-Rad

Writer, artist, filmmaker, columnist for Outside Magazine. My newsletter about creativity, adventure, and enthusiasm goes out to 15,000+ subscribers every week.

Read more from Semi-Rad
thumbnail from This Indonesian Metal Band Is Changing Everything

Friday Inspiration 535 Martin sent this to me last weekend with the subject line "Indonesian, Muslim, female, Hijab wearing, metal band" and I was pretty sure I was going to like it. I was correct. Wait for the bass solo at about 4:40. (video) You’ve probably heard some version of the oft-quoted saying, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now." Well, if you want to up your game a little bit, maybe the second-best time to plant a Miyawaki forest (or a...

A Five-Year Project Nearing Near-Completion In October 2021, we found out we were going to have a baby. Naturally, I was terrified. I did what many terrified parents-to-be do, and I started reading parenting books, almost all of which were quite helpful. But I kind of wanted something besides books written by experts, or journalists who had interviewed a bunch of experts. So over the course of the next few months, I decided I would interview some people who already had the job I was going to...

thumbnail from The Glide- 2025 Backcountry Film Festival Jury Award Winner

Friday Inspiration 534 This is just a really pleasant way to spend 3 minutes: Watching backcountry ice skaters in Alaska, brought to you by adventure legend Luc Mehl. (video) (thanks, Alice) Hilary has been taking classes to get her Montana Master Naturalist certification, so I have been getting to hear a lot about plants and birds over the past several months. (Like, more than I normally do.) AND, I got to read this amazing little piece about this insane thing that the earth does at...