Siberia from the window of a plane in 2017
Dispatch 005
2025 is coming to an end. What a year. We're ready for it to be over, but let's make the most of the bit we have left—there will be one more dispatch right at the finish line.
We're smack in the middle of gifting season and when we dove deep into curating lists full of unique, thoughtful things from brands, artisans, and artists doing more of the hard work than most, something happened—we found a place to quickly share our F*ck Yes picks with you without having to publish a book about why. Sometimes it's not that deep—you need a gift for you or someone else and you want it to be cool and do as much good as it can, so we're keeping these lists as evergreen tools. Early in 2026 you'll see them again but edited and we'll be adding new categories and brands. We'll regularly audit and update them because generosity isn't limited to December in our world. Your positive feedback told us you think they're worthwhile as a year-round tool for finding things that are better than others and discovering new brands when you have time to browse.
Before the January gym membership guilt trip flood hits, we're sharing three free ways to move—Fireside Pilates, Exercise Snacks with Joe Holder, and The Floss with Bonnie Crotzer. Great self-care movement resources without pressure to join layered on top.
Nothing Tech's cool-kid headphones are highlighted. Ours are on order so we can't shout from the rooftops just yet, but the entry-level sets at 29 USD won't have you crying if you lose one.
We learned everything we know about newly launched brand Hanover against our will. Read our case study about how it's actually mood board merch that didn't deserve the attention fashion journalists gave it. This is the start of a new case studies series where we'll open a window into brands and their business models (send word if you have anyone you want us to move to the top of our list). We'll also dive into who you can support instead—brands and founders already making better product for the same or less at retail. You might not know them because they're not playing the inside baseball that Hanover is.
Media Diet company moves and another one of our favorite fashion podcasts.
See you again right before we close the door on this rollercoaster of a year. Happy last minute shopping.
Instead of signing up for memberships you won't use, try these three fantastic ways to move now. They're all free. You can buy into more access if you want, but you don't have to. Since we were just served our first Equinox ad this week, now feels like the perfect time to share tools you can actually use—whether you're relaxing with family, celebrating with friends, or laying on a beach somewhere gorgeous.
Move at your own pace—free from pressure, free from January's exercise membership flood.
Fireside Pilates
Strength focused pilates, bodyweight workouts, weights workouts and more—online with occasional in-person moments around the world. Emma and Claire have a unique approach: they take turns, one instructing and one demonstrating, which makes a world of difference. It feels more like a personal session every time. There's a platform to join live or on demand, but the founders have also committed to hosting a rotating set of free classes on their YouTube channel, open to anyone.
Exercise Snacks with Joe Holder
Joe is a spectacular follow for many reasons. Exercise Snacks is his branded ecosystem offering free classes, merch, events, and more. His Instagram serves up guidance on food, movement, and life—he's a deep pool (IG: @joeholder). His path here: high-level athlete turned trainer to the influential, now sharing his expertise widely as a thoughtful entrepreneur. Basically, you get Naomi Campbell's private training for free. His quick am-move-pm series with Sky Ting Yoga founder Krissy Jones is especially great for travel.
The Floss with Bonnie Crotzer
Bon is a magician—a dancer who spent years exploring recovery from injuries and leading the conversation about fascia and movement. The free series available now is from a while back but mirrors her current live classes. Try them out, and if it works, sign up for her full world: food guidance, retreats, regular new classes, and deep dive series throughout the year. You won't regret discovering The Floss.
A Case Study of Hanover.
Nothing Tech
Founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, Nothing is challenging the tech establishment with a radical idea: strip away the bloat, expose the beauty of how things work, and make it accessible.
The headphone range spans $29 to $239. Those entry-level buds you're most likely to lose? Twenty-nine dollars. Less than a decent meal out. We know the pain of losing expensive earbuds all too well, and Nothing gets it too.
Reviews consistently praise the sound quality and noise cancellation across the lineup. Ours are on order—we'll report back once we've actually tested them. But the early signs are compelling: great tech without the inflated prices or unnecessary complexity. Hipster tween and teen approved.
The beauty of climate change.
London-based artist studio ScanLAB Projects uses LiDAR scanning technology to capture landscapes the human eye cannot fully perceive. Lasers measure light reflection to create hyper-real 3D models of ecosystems in transformation. Their latest work, "FRAMERATE: Desert Pulse," documents the Sonoran Desert under climate change through 367 days of filming across 34 locations. Eight technical artists captured 4 million images. The team generated 688 billion data points and shared them with botanists, documenting change at a scale rarely attempted in art or science.
The resulting time-lapse installations show saguaro cacti collapsing and decaying, blooms exploding in superfine detail, ecosystems shifting faster than we typically notice. Co-founders Matt Shaw and Will Trossell call it "a gentle invitation to think," not a lecture. The scanners' cool, efficient eye transforms beauty and destruction into something worth contemplating.
Commissioned by the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, you can see Desert Pulse in person until May 10th 2026. More on ScanLAB and the exhibit in The New York Times and The Financial Times. If you’re ambitious and have the room, you can acquire a full-scale edition of an installation original–information below.
More guides packed with unique and impactful gift ideas.
Media Diet–Company moves & new favorites
By company move we don't mean journalists hopping from one outlet to another, but rather a nod to the film business we grew up around where a "company move" means pack it all up and head to the next location together. Two of our favorite people to read have moved outlets, and we're picking our crew up and meeting them at the next location.
Rachel Tashjian has left The Washington Post for CNN Style and Annie Armstrong has left her post at Artnet for the not-quite-launched-yet new food media startup Caper. We stand with Annie and her genius but want to note Caper is the brainchild of ex-Puck News/TPG Private Equity folks, so we'll see if it's worth recommending once it launches. For now, you can revel in Annie's catalog of work from her time uncovering the fun in art.
Insider without being business-to-business, the lens Natalie Theodosi brings to fashion is honest, inspiring, and curious—something we're finding harder and harder to unearth in fashion journalism. Her interviews, behind-the-scenes reporting from fashion weeks, trade fairs, and ateliers, plus breaking news coverage all come from someone who genuinely cares about the work and the art of fashion not just the access and the spectacle.
Listen: Monocle on Fashion
Monocle on Fashion - Podcast
Brands we believe in that you get a deal on.
Last-of-summer corn chowder, preowned luxury cashmere, Nicholas Thompson on tech, art channels democratizing access, and Dyson's regenerative strawberry farm.
Ischia's thermal spa luxury, six transformative mezze recipes, Library180's anti-algorithm archive, and our F*CK YES! / YES BUT. / HARD NO. rating system.
Our global edit of properties that redefine luxury, sexy, thoughtful of the place and worth your time.
Seasonal eating,
foundational tools.
Delicious, deeply
nutritious solutions.
Our critical examination of Hanover's launch reveals the gap between "Made in America" marketing and actual transparency. This case study exposes the finance-to-fashion pipeline—where venture capital and private equity operators exploit opacity, greenwashing, and media access to launch brands offering nothing new or impactful to an oversaturated market.