Michael Williams

We’ve been fans of Michael Williams (MW) for a long time. He wrote a influential style site called A Continuous Lean which has now been re-born as a newsletter. He’s always been a champion of craft, and quality, often taking a needed contrarian view in the face of the fast moving fashion industry. Here, he shares his sources of inspiration. We’re pleased to have him on the page. -Colin (CJN) Tell us about yourself.I do a few different things, but most people know me from my site A Continuous Lean which started as a blog and has morphed into a newsletter. When I started my blog in 2007 I was part of the first wave of bloggers in the men's style space. This is sort of humorous because 1. I'm from Cleveland and 2. I'm not prototypical for a "fashion" guy. I think when some readers meet me they are slightly disappointed that I'm not actually as into dressing as much as they are. I come at style from the perspective of tradition, craft, and quality. I like old companies that have existed for a long time and rise above the concept of trends or fashion. It's not that I think what I am into is better than someone who's into trends — it's just what I'm personally inspired by. The good news about style is it's totally personal and there are no rules. People should present themselves however makes them happiest.Describe your media diet. I feel like if you work in media and someone asks you what publication you really like the safest thing is to just say Cooks Illustrated. There seems to be a bit of pressure to over-curate these types of things in the way we all tend to over curate our Instagram feed. I liked Michael Bierut's recent entry because it seemed like an accurate representation of himself. That's my goal here — the good, the bad, and the ugly.  My media consumption is all over the place and obviously includes the big media incumbents like The Atlantic, Bloomberg, NPR, GQ, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, LA Times, WSJ, and The New York Times. Although I've had to cut back on The Atlantic because it really makes me depressed. They are just so doom and gloom it's hard to take it on top of everything else that's going on. I try to read as much as I possibly can — that's when Apple News comes in handy.Almost everything else I read is organized in Feedbin to keep my life manageable. That's where I read special interest stuff like The Wading List (fishing), Rescapement (watches), and Jay Revell's golf writing. I'm interested in anything Om Malik says anywhere. I read a lot of newsletters — everything from Airmail, The New Consumer, the 10 Things by the agency Your Majesty to the [sic] Weekly newsletter by the super-smart Vice OG Ben Dietz which directs me to a lot of stuff I wouldn't otherwise see. Then there's Morgen Post out of Denmark which is wonderful but I can't even read it. I just click whatever he links and there's always amazing stuff. I also read a lot of fashion stuff and look for original voices and viewpoints like those from Permanent Style, Business of Fashion, and The Contender by my friend (and collaborator) David Coggins. I like the Blamo! podcast which has all of the good menswear guests in one place. I get all of my sports news from The Athletic — that's where I can go to feel sad about the Cleveland Browns. The other podcasts I like are Coffee with the Greats, The Shack Show, Revisionist History, Scott Galloway's insane thing, A Media Operator and ChoiceologyI do love indie print publications for some of my specific interests. I really like the magazine Racquet for Tennis. Some golf favorites are Catalogue 18, McKellar and Golfer's Journal. Modern Huntsman is very well done and beautiful. The Wm Brown magazine that my friend Matt Hranek created is great too. I generally don't read a lot of indie fashion magazines because I'm not a Fashion with a capital F type of guy and a lot of that indie fashion pub stuff doesn't do it for me. What’s the last great book you read?The Power Broker by Robert Caro. I'm really interested in understanding how Robert Moses shaped NYC. I often imagine what SoHo would be like he built an expressway where Houston Street is. I'm also reading Caro's Lyndon Johnson books now. I hope he finishes the series. What are you reading now?The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. I love books that have themes of resilience like Endurance by Alfred Lansing. This is especially relevant right now. The way the Brits handled The Blitz says about all you need to know about their culture.What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?I don't know why, but I read most magazines back to front. I've worked in and around media my whole career so I sometimes will head directly for certain sections first — like the front of book service section in a men's general interest. I love to look at the ads too, especially with small indie publications. It's fun to see what brands still believe in print.Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?I think people should spend more time trying to consider what other people think and explore (trusted) media that is outside of your viewpoint. This could help with the massive empathy gap that exists in America. We are all just curating our feeds and our information intake to suit our beliefs — then it's a huge shocker when people are so divided. Obviously I'm not perfect, but I try and read things I don't agree with to try and understand with other people are thinking and going through.What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? Not sure if this is famous or not, but I love the app Audm (which The New York Times recently acquired). I discover a lot of stories that I otherwise wouldn't have read. Under normal circumstances in LA, I would be in the car a lot which is the perfect time to listen to Audm. We have a 5-month-old and it's much easier to listen than to read, so I get a lot out of my subscription. I'm surprised how many great Rolling Stone stories I listen to that I would likely have never read.Plane or train?Not to be obnoxious, if I am in Asia or Europe definitely a train. They are fast, cheap, and go right to the city center. It's a no brainer.What is one place everyone should visit? Japan. It's just so great on so many levels. Even though Tokyo is a megacity it can be serene and peaceful. If you get out to the countryside it's even more wonderful. I just love everything about Japanese culture and how different everything is there. It feels good to sidestep globalization a bit when you go and find unique things to eat, drink, and explore.Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into. During the pandemic, I've gone very deep into the world of solo trans-ocean sailing videos. Maybe that's because I am trapped in a house with chaos and two children under 3? Recently after watching the Social Dilemma I've installed a Chrome extension to block all of YouTube's recommendations. I feel like that is going to limit my rabbit hole adventures going forward — which has to be a good thing. Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Michael (MW)—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!).

Why is this interesting? - The Monday Media Diet with Michael Williams 

Michael Williams is a friend of WITI. He’s a writer and marketing consultant living in Los Angeles. In 2007, he founded A Continuous Lean as a way to celebrate the often under-appreciated companies. Over the course of his career, Michael has become one of the leading advocates for well-made things, travel, style and American manufacturing. Subscribe to ACL here. -Colin (CJN) Michael here. This may be obvious to everyone, but the current state of travel has mandated a shift in how we think about timing and destinations. So far this year I have had two perfect off-peak trips to Europe and I don’t know if I can ever slot back into the life of a high season traveler.I didn’t really start to travel seriously until I was on my own as an adult. This had the benefit of helping me form travel habits which are completely built on personal goals and perspectives. I was never a person who wanted to go to every country on the planet, my goal has always been to travel narrow and deep. I want to understand a place by going there repeatedly — to attempt to see it as a local. (Though I know I will never truly get there without living in a certain place.) This is why I went to the same cities over and over, and why I attempted to spend part of every summer in the same small town in Maine or on the same Italian island. There were always minor considerations to be made to avoid the most hectic moments. I wouldn’t dare travel to Southern Europe in August when everyone from the continent is there taking their government-mandated holidays. But today, given the price of airfare, hotels, crowded airports and lounges, I have discovered just how great off-season travel can be and how much I need to reconsider travel plans going forward.Why is this interesting? To travel semi-comfortably as a family in peak season is pricey. Hotels have goosed their rates to eye watering levels (without service levels to match). The parameters of school holidays and typical vacation slots have created this new pricing reality and I’m starting to think that we’re not peak people anymore. We aren’t suckers. We don’t fight the crowds or pay unreasonable rates — we’re low season people now.This January my wife and I went to Florence for Pitti Uomo. Winter in Florence is delightful. It’s generally not extremely cold and there are virtually no crowds. As you can imagine, the pricing is much friendlier than peak summer in Tuscany. It’s just a better experience on every level. We had such a good time it made us reassess summer travel ambitions. We also live in a place with plenty of beaches and sunshine so some winter travel is actually a nice change of pace — and at least I finally have an opportunity to wear all of the nice outerwear I own.This past week we went to Aberdeenshire, Inverness and the Scottish Highlands. In the past the target for Scotland was always summer. Perhaps not surprisingly, the primary objective for me is to play golf so the weather forecast does matter which is why June, July and August were the focus for those trips. Last week I came to the realization that the other seasons aren’t as extreme as I might have thought. Sure it can be cold, windy and wet, but that’s also how things could be in the summer in Scotland. To me the risk of bad weather is worth all of the other benefits of the low season.The dreaded gorse was so wonderfully in bloom. Having only been in the summer, I’ve never seen the landscape with this colorful accent. It was a perfect off peak experience.All of the golf courses I wanted to play were easily available and I was able to book into the best hotels for where I was playing at the low season rates. I’ve never rented a brand new car, but my transportation for the week had 5 miles on its odometer before I took it all across the Highlands.When you talk to the locals about the weather you start to realize that many of them play golf all year in Scotland. Sure it is cold in the winter, but many of the courses stay open unless there’s snow coming in. Let’s not be insane and go in December, but the off-season key here is just avoid the obvious months of June, July, August and September. Consider April or October. The weather can be quite agreeable and most hard-to-get places are wide open. Being there off peak makes you feel like you know something everyone else doesn’t. And what feature of travel is more important than the feeling of superiority!Beyond Europe, consider Hawaii in the summer. Last year we went to Kauai in the summer for the first time and it was magic. We were so pleasantly surprised at how calm things were. The west coast treats Hawaii like the east coast does the Caribbean, so the focus seems much more on the winter and spring break. Summer is a bit more wide open. The flights aren’t full and the pricing for everything is more manageable. The weather is practically the same since the archipelago is so close to the equator and the trade winds blow all year to cool things down. When you see how calm things are you really get a sense of how a small schedule adjustment can make for a much more enjoyable trip.Certainly the off season can have downsides and everything isn’t always going to be perfect. The weather could be terrible or other things could go wrong. There are also places which still need to be more highly choreographed like Japan — which is just too damned hot in the summer. With the way travel demand has changed I’m much more open minded about when and where we go. This change of perspective is the travel shift I needed — and isn’t that the point of it all? (MW)—Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Michael (MW) —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.