Emily Harrington Did Something Amazing. Then the Press Blew It.
Plus, one college student's summer on a lobster boat
Good morning! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. With COVID cases skyrocketing, New Mexico just went back under extreme shelter-in-place orders. This is a smart decision, of course, but that doesn’t make it any more fun to feel back at square one again.
So back to baking too much and potting too many plants we go.
What I’m reading
The 2020 Outsiders of the Year: A quarantine backyard ultramarathon. Thousands of protesters on bikes. This year brought the unexpected in countless forms. Here’s who (and what) had the biggest impact on the outdoor world. [on Outside]
Emily Harrington Did Something Amazing. Then the Press Blew It. After the achievement of a lifetime, a few very important details got lost in translation. [Andrew Bisharat for Outside]
My Priceless Summer on a Maine Lobster Boat: During her college break, the author went all in on solitude—living alone on a Down East island and working for one of the area’s few female skippers. Luna Soley reflects on a time of loneliness, hard work, and natural beauty. [Luna Soley for Outside]
Deb Haaland: ‘Of Course’ I’d Be Interested In Being Biden’s Interior Secretary: Tribal leaders are urging the president-elect to make history by picking the Native American congresswoman to oversee public lands. [Jennifer Bendery for The Huffington Post]
17-Year-Old Tierney Wolfgram's Meteoric Rise: After running 2:31:49 and setting a U.S. junior record in the marathon, college freshman Tierney Wolfgram wants to try her hand at shorter events. [Martin Fritz Huber for Outside]
Latria Graham’s Love Letter to Black Adventurers: Her essays on the challenges African Americans face in the outdoors spurred an outpouring of questions from readers. This is her response. [Latria Graham on the Outside podcast]
The Digital Nomads Did Not Prepare for This: They moved to exotic locales to work through the pandemic in style. But now tax trouble, breakups, and COVID guilt are setting in. [Erin Griffith for The New York Times]
Meet the Woman Teaching the Psychology of Survival: Wilderness pros are trained to deal with physical injuries, but what about the psychological trauma that can result while on an expedition, from fear and stress, or from watching someone die in a fall, an avalanche, or whitewater? Australian psychologist and mountaineer Kate Baecher created a training program to equip guides and athletes with a tool kit to handle the worst mental distress we encounter when we're far from help. [Emily Sohn for Outside]
Recreating Historical Adventures in Old-Fashioned Gear: Elise Wortley is replicating the achievements of historical female adventurers, wearing only the gear that would have been available to them at the time. [Ailsa Ross for Outside]
We’re hiring
Outside is looking to hire someone to spearhead our audience development team. The ideal candidate will be creative and motivated, have a deep knowledge of social media and email newsletters, but also have management experience and be analytics-minded. I’m the hiring point person, so please let me know if you have any questions I can answer! Applications are due at the end of this week.
