The Grey NATO – 200 – The Past, Present, and Future of TGN
Thanks to all of you, we’ve made it to 200. Our plucky little watch-and-other-topics podcast is still just as plucky but has grown quite a bit since the first episode came out in January of 2016. For this anniversary episode, we take a look back at how the show started, share how it’s going after two hundred episodes, and offer an idea of what is to come in the future (along with asking what you might want from the show).
When we started, we just wanted to make a podcast about the things we liked and whatever had our attention and curiosity at the time. Amazingly, and entirely thanks to the support of both the audience and our friends, colleagues, and families, the show is going strong and 200 feels like less of a milestone than 100.
We’re simply thrilled that we get to keep making TGN and while we fully admit this is a pretty “navel-gazing” episode, we also promise we won’t do another like it any time soon.
So thanks so much for listening, sharing, commenting, supporting, downloading, Instagramming, emailing, recording your questions, and for otherwise being the best audience that a couple of watch nerds and would-be adventurers could ask for. Here’s to another 100 and more.
[Jason and James]
Click here if you want to play episode 200 from your browser – thanks so much for listening.
1:00 Windup Chicago
3:46 MKII x Prometheus Design Werx Paradive
4:22 Prometheus Design Werx Waterman Wetsuit Jacket
6:37 Halcyon H-View mask
13:40 Seiko SPB143
15:27 Becky Schott with the giant bracelet
16:27 Jason’s 1985 CO20 Aqualand
22:20 Mike Pearson!
26:00 Ben’s early Hodinkee post about TGN
53:44 “Thoughts On Outside’s Layoffs, Outdoor Media, and Adventure Journal” -
Adventure Journal
1:00:00 Moko waterproof phone pouch
“It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time. Give yourself permission to be a beginner” - Julia Cameron
There’s a theme in a lot of comments here. James and Jason feel like old friends of ours at this point. I certainly feel the same way, which has had me thinking for a while now: If the podcast itself is a one-way relationship with listeners, and DMs, email, and Substack open that up to a “two-way-plus” relationship, then a Discord server (or forum) could allow a real community network to form. And, importantly, then all of this wouldn’t have to flow directly through our illustrious hosts (clearly a ton of work), or be limited to the context of one episode.
With a Discord or forum: Wanna chat diving, watches, or over landing with other TGN-ers on the daily? Now you could. Even better, some of us wanna plan a dive weekend in the gulf? Let’s do it. Wanna form a weekly listening party/meetup in NYC? Go for it. In a world in which we’ve all shrunken into our phones and substituted content streams for real human connection, I say that with a little intentional effort, we can have our cake and eat it, too. Everyone’s cup of tea? No. Still totally worth it? I say yes. ✊🏻
Did episode 200 really start with the buck wild comment about trusting watches resistance to damage in the water only to end with James' skepticism about the water resistance of a water resistant phone? I can't think of better bookends to the show! Been along since the beginning and look forward to many more of my hours spent listening. Congratulations!