The Monday Media Diet with Ashtyn Butoso

On Josh Gondelman, Hanif Abduraqib, and Porto

Ashtyn Butoso (AB) is the co-founder and EIC of the basketball publication Flagrant Mag and a freelance writer and video producer in New York City. 

Tell us about yourself.

I’m the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Flagrant Mag (+ pod + newsletter + merch + social). 

Technically, I’m what enthusiastic, corporate cogs that say things like “sneaker game strong” would call: a creative. And truthfully, they’re right, but after having founded a media company, I realized I can be so many other things, simultaneously. 

Prior to Flagrant, I worked in TV, tech, podcasts, social, start-ups, sports, and media, and I even sometimes fancy myself a freelancer — taking on all kinds of clients. One thing has remained true: I’ve loved every step of the production process, from ideating, pitching, and writing to shooting, producing, and editing. 

My love for sports occupies most of that already somewhat limited space in my brain/heart, but I’m also an animal activist + vegan, a lover of fashion, and a big TV/film gal. My brain likes chaos so I’m pretty much always watching, reading, writing, and listening to some kind of media or content. 

Describe your media diet. 

Undoubtedly, I will forget dozens of my favorite writers and creators but I’ve been big into newsletters lately. Josh Gondelman, who is a good friend, has a great newsletter called That’s Marvelous! I’ve been enjoying Flaming Hydra lately. For local (NYC) stuff, I prefer The Gothamist. And, of course, like all the degenerates, I get my short-form fixes from Twitter. I’m into NBA Twitter, WNBA Twitter, CFB Twitter, Fashion Twitter, Vegan Twitter, etc. 

When it comes to podcasts, I love Ride with Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barrone, First Ballot Hall of Fame, I like Locked on Blazers, a bunch of random French pods (that trick me into believing I’m almost fluent), Belligerent Beavs, They’ve Got Now with Mark Schindler.

I try to go to the Angelika for film fests and Q&As a couple of times a month because those feel really intimate and special, and I go to Union Hall pretty frequently to watch stand up, which feels like media even if it isn’t! I’ll stand by that!!

What’s the last great book you read?

I’m really late on Joan Didion (pretty embarrassing), but last year I read The Year of Magical Thinking and I am still dumb-founded at her storytelling, her writing, her ability to peruse and spiral and meander and find her way back at the most poignant and heartbreaking destinations. She’s incredible. My favorite book, no question. I’m trying to read it in french next!

I just wrapped Hanif Abduraqib’s There’s Always This Year, he’s incredible. I would read any and everything he posted. I also just read a Q&A with him and Andre 3000, and my god this man is special. I’m also perpetually reading Hors Jeu, a book by Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau which is a “cultural and feminist chronicle on the professional sports industry,” because it takes me forever to read that subject matter in French. 

What are you reading now?

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and Another Country by James Baldwin. 

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I recently got a new chair, something Scandinavian, on Facebook Marketplace, and it’s changed my life. So I sit in my little chair, grab a pen, and hunker down. Usually with 2-3 various beverages nearby. 

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Katie Heindl is such a special writer. Her stuff is usually at least tangentially sports-related, but even a great read for non-sports fans because she has a way of connecting even the most divorced or separate concepts so seamlessly. Flagrant Mag (my publication) has so many amazing writers, too, we’ve been really lucky to find them!

If you like fashion, I highly rec Shop Rat, a Substack by Emilia Petarca, and Gumshoe by a Substack by Harling Ross Anton. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

Too Good To Go! It cuts down on food waste and you get good food at discounted prices! Also, InKind is another food app with great rewards. People need to be talking more about apps that offer rewards for eating!!!! 

Plane or train?

I love to romanticize a train, but the truth is I find much more inspiration from being in a plane. Something about feeling like a tiny speck of dust speeding through the air reminds me that life and art are precious, I guess! 

I always write what I consider to be important things in the air; wedding speeches, screenplays + scripts, sentimental letters in my notes app.

What is one place everyone should visit? 

I am inclined to say Paris because it’s my favorite place in the world but I’m going to say Porto to save myself from seeming too basic. It’s hugely underrated! I’m also going to say to the WNBA game nearest to them because people need to understand how special those games are. 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

I think the best rabbit hole you can fall into are the ones on Facebook. Mostly because I can’t believe my former classmates use it earnestly, and that keeps me searching for more — I need to know why and how one even thinks to do such a thing — but also because there’s so much juicy stuff happening over there. Fights, divorces, marriages, babies, bad outfits. (AB)