Shifter Media

How can you live without this podcast? A feisty week, but for the love of God, someone has to say these things. Let's talk Leica rerelease, NFL update, UFC 280, and the current crisis in the professional camera field where NOBODY makes one camera do all. How about the failure of our Supreme Court and how this might impact things like Americans paying taxes? Analog Albania, YouTube success, and the rebuilding of the best bike in the world.

I wedged this one in just as Ron DeSantis was running for cover as the CAT4 beast that is Ian came to visit. One blowhard to another. Just as it should be. What a week. I feel like the kid in the dodgeball game who ends up alone against a full team on the other side winging those pain-inflicting red balls at his head. "Hey, can you kill this mouse, set up a satellite dish, teach an 87-year-old how to use Facetime, critique this PDF, write a quote, make this book, find this part, review these samples, drill this hole, and talk your mother off the ledge of running out of coffee." And that before 10 AM. Thank God I'm so intelligent.

Who is this week's episode for? Anyone saying, "Me and my kids are riding this thing out." Then, when the reporter returns the next day the only thing left is a slab. THAT is my kind of adventurer. Who is our hero of the week? Our GOAT? Tune in and find out. This week we cover the departure of my drone, my experience with Starlink, Salsa Cycles coming through in a major way, my return to El Paso, and how much I miss Albania. In addition, we talk new laptops, horrible morning rituals, and the strange, fantastic world of letters, pens, and mysterious correspondence.

Heroes and goats. Heroes and goats. Who is this for? Well, I'll tell you. We say goodbye to Roger Federer, discuss the snowflake outrage at having U2 songs embedded on your iPhone, and the new depths of the GOP. We talk hipster love of psychedelics, Casey's big move, and my distaste for concerts and Burning Man. Also on tap is the hypocrisy of the Drug War when combined with American sport and why pickleball should be banned forever. And for you camera geeks, I'll explain my time with the Fuji XH2s. And this, friends, is just the tip of the iceberg. Strap in and gear up.

Sarah Leen is a mentor, editor, consultant, board member, advisory council member, director of photography, founder, and a very, very accomplished photographer. She is also a pioneer. First female winner of the College Photographer of the Year, sixteen assignments for National Geographic--including five covers--and titles of editor and director of photography at National Geographic where she was the first female to attain this position. You could say she owns a resume made of stone. Her insight into the life of a working pro, the amount of research done on stories and the beauty of the edit and sequence of photography books are all on tap.

Lori Grinker has been a working photographer for over three decades. Long-from storytelling, photojournalism, collage, illustration, and installation provide the foundation for her process and career. Grinker has published several monographs and will soon release her book on Mike Tyson, a project that required nine years of principal photography. With numerous awards to her name, Grinker's work is in the collections of museums worldwide.

For the love of crap people, we MUST begin by agreeing there IS such a thing as fact. Not yours or mine, just fact. Inert. Plain and simple. How about a softball? Are we on Earth? You and I? Unless you are in orbit the answer would be a resounding yes. Fact should be the baseline for all we do and yet we have found a way to muddy the factual water like idiots on the bow of the boat as it heads into a CAT 5 gale. But I digress. We have a lot to cover this week. I'll update you on my workshop situation, the books I'm reading and express to you the importance of knowing that we live in a country that loves nothing more than trucker movies. What camera will I stick with? Is the Uni-Jetstream the most complete pen ever manufactured? Why am I still wearing a mask and what will actually come from the raid of Mar-a-Lago? I finally found a YouTube photography channel I like and why moose meat is a hidden gem of the meat world. And more!

These are a lot of fun. I love to hit serious topics and topics that really have little relevance to anyone outside of twisted self. Politics, a potential new motorcycle, camera issues, camera hunts, camera confusion. Shark week, New Mexico, the illusion of IBIS, and what an Instagram couple looks like on the beach. (Not good.)

Well, back with a vengeance. Outside, 90s, noise, family interruption. Nothing will stop me. Topics? Trump did it, the averageness of the AR-15, why the XT4 is FAR superior to the X100 series, the Tour de France, and how easily I could win but how impactful COVID has become on the race, my fastest 40k ever, how I read tea leaves in the field, the loveliness of the status quo and how I'm going to establish a precrime unit to solve a public woe. Just start listening.

Back by popular demand although it never really went anywhere, "For What It's Worth" rockets back with fresh, and enlightening content sure to make you question your family, your beliefs, and the future of humanity.

Let's talk hero and GOAT, a plan for a smartphone-free world, AG23, Albania, mental health, and why not add in a birding update? In addition, did I mention my camera crisis? Ya, it' real. Strap in.

I met Stuart Isett in 1999 while attending the Visa Pour L'Image photojournalism festival in Southern France. Still friends to this day and it's been a joy and wonder watching his career. Drop him anywhere and he will get pictures. This might seem simple but it is far from it and to get to this stage it takes a lot of work, trial, error, dedication, professionalism, and luck. We talk early education, family, travel, Asian studies, community, competition, getting work, keeping work, and many, many things in between.