Matthew Scott aka Roli

Matthew Scott aka Roli (RS) is a longtime pal of WITI. He worked with us at Barbarian Group and is now a marketer at Airbnb. As you’ll see, he’s heavy on sports and this edition is less reading and more audio for those that are podcast inclined. Because he is a cool guy, we let him mess with our usual questions. We’re pleased to have him on the page. Have a great week. -Colin (CJN) Tell us about yourself.I grew up in Jamaica in the 80s and 90s, messing around with lots of sports, music, and movies. I’ve been a gamer my whole life, from playing lemmings on my uncle’s computer to Nintendo at my friend’s house. I played a ton of sports, but basketball is my true love, and played for my high school and for a couple of years in college (DIII). My favorite player was Kevin Garnett so I went to college in the Twin Cities, and went to a lot of Timberwolves games. I left the Twin Cities the same summer he got traded to Boston. Off to The Netherlands, I went to get my MBA. It is there I found my career as a Strategist (or Account Planner), first working at Naked Communications then afterward at The Barbarian Group (SF) where I met Noah and Colin. Fast forward many years later and I’m just your run-of-the-mill seasoned Marketer that has worked on a ton of brands, helped launch a bunch of products, and presently helping to grow the community of hosts at Airbnb. But more importantly, I am a husband and father who spends most of his free time on basketball, movies, and video games. Describe your media diet. This will come as no surprise to you, but it starts with basketball, movies and games. What might be a surprise however is I'm currently almost 100% podcast-fed for my media diet. As with any marketing strategist, I was a voracious consumer – of culture, tech news, business blogs, sports blogs, tv recap blogs, whatever. In the late 2000s I read a lot of the marketing blogs in those spaces. For basketball, I read Bill Simmons on ESPN. In 2007 he launched his podcast, and that was the same year I moved to The Netherlands – community a ton on bicycles and trains of course – I started listening to his pods in addition to reading blogs and books daily. Fast forward a decade and Simmons went on to create Grantland, then the Ringer. Both sites ended up bringing in a ton of new voices with the same interests I always had (sports, tv, and movies) to my attention; and they all started more podcasts. And as that happened podcasts took more and more share of my personal media consumption pie chart, as it were. First, it cannibalized my book reading time, then it pretty much replaced music during commutes. Now at the end of 2021 the simplest answer to the media diet question is: all podcasts all the time. While driving, while cleaning up, while mowing the lawn even.  In addition, YouTube became my new way for “TV browsing”. You know, when you sit down and turn on the tv and flip around? That’s been me and my carefully curated YouTube over the past decade. By 2015 my youtube feed was like what RSS feeds were to us a decade earlier. That’s where I saw game recaps and breakdowns for the NBA. It’s where I get video games news and reviews. In the last decade sneaker reviews blew up as a genre – I watch those too. I also get my ‘wikipedia exploration’ fix because there are lots of awesome science and history channels. But my personal favorite is trailer breakdowns for movies, an amazing niche on its own. Onto the recommendations. What’s the last great book (pod) you read (heard)?There have been some amazing episodes of All the smoke hosted by ex-NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. One is with my guy Kevin Garnett that contained some epic stories basketball fans had never heard before. Another that surprised me was with musician Wiz Khalifa who was so open and painted a full picture of his upbringing and path to stardom.Bonus - the most recent great YouTube watch from my subscriptions is (on of) Erik Voss’s trailer breakdown for the new Spiderman movie. This guy is in a league of his own in comic book movie knowledge. What are you reading (listening) to now?Draymond Green has a new weekly podcast and he both does a monologue about recent events in Warriors games as well as brings on guests to pick their brain about things.  What’s your reading (listening) strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication (download a new episode of your favorite podcast)?Check the episode notes, to decide to listen to the whole thing or use timestamps to jump to the juicy bits. Who should everyone be reading (listening) that they’re not?If you are an NBA junkie, I would highly recommend you mix in any of the pods from current or recently retired players. It's an amazing level of access if you think about it, and balances well with any sports reporter you already read/listen toWhat is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? Copilot. The new king of the hill for personal finance tracking. It's brilliant. First-paged it.Plane or train?My mom was a flight attendant for over 20 years, I got to see the world as a kid because of it. Planes.What is one place everyone should visit? Portland, JamaicaTell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.I feel like long-form podcasts that include interviews with interesting guests are all invitations to go deep into a rabbit hole, right? The really great episodes can easily send you watching an actor’s every movie. A good example is this Bill Simmons episode with Tom Hanks. (RS)--WITI reader offer: Atlas BarsOur friend and longtime WITI subscriber Jylle at the protein bar company Atlas reached out with an offer for our crew. It’s a unique product: Organic ashwagandha to reduce stress. Grass-fed whey to fuel performance. Zero added sugar. Clean, real-food ingredients. We’ve tried them and dug them. If you want to try, there’s a code for WITI readers to get you 20 percent off. Try the sample pack.--WITI x McKinsey:An ongoing partnership where we highlight interesting McKinsey research, writing, and data.A view on travel’s travails. “In 2019, we experienced a record year in travel,” says Axel Hefer, the CEO of Trivago. “Then in 2020, it was the worst it had been in a very long time.” That’s probably not news to the road warriors among us, but Hefer provides unique perspective on the industry. How is it rebounding, and what might 2022 bring? In a new interview, he discusses trends affecting the sector, highlights the shift toward domestic travel, and considers the road ahead for both leisure and business trips. You don’t want to miss his insight.--Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Roli (RS)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).