The Monday Media Diet with Carson Griffith

On Racquet Magazine, The Aeolian Islands, and James Salter

Carson Griffith (CG) is a writer and a journalist. Her new Substack, RPS, is a fun read and her recent London guide (subscribers only) was spot on.

Photo: Janeivy Hilario

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a career writer and journalist. I’ve worked in-house at several magazines and newspapers, including a brief but necessary stint as a Condé girl about a decade ago, but I prefer being my own boss. I’ve written for just about every publication you can think of (yes, that one and that one too) and I’ve ghostwritten five books for CEOs and celebrities, plus two coffee table books.

Right now, I’m having a lot of fun working on my newsletter, Rich People Shit, or RPS, as people who read it tend to call it. It is about cultural capital and the intersection of money and behavior. I started it in January and it has done quite well in that time. I’m also throwing a RPS event in June, which I have been spending a lot of time planning. It will be for paid subscribers and friends of the letter.

I live in New York City. I’m a pretty private person.

Describe your media diet.

For RPS, I’m really reading everything. Local papers in Montecito and Palm Beach and Nantucket, British tabloids, big papers like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Financial Times. Glossies like Vanity Fair. Newsletters, Substacks, all of it, including Air Mail, The Love List, The Stanza, Feed Me, Trademarked, and whatever else is floating around. I’m also fully obsessed with How Long Gone, which they are well aware of. It’s my favorite podcast and I wish it were daily instead of three times a week.

What’s the last great book you read?

A Sport and A Pastime by James Salter

What are you reading now?

Famesick by Lena Dunham

Before that I read Strangers by Belle Burden. My subscribers are obsessed, and can’t stop sending me emails about it.

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

I’ve normally read half of the things in print online before they make it to publication so I flip through to see what I haven’t read yet.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Cultured Magazine by Sarah Harrelson and Racquet Magazine by Caitlin Thompson and Steph Chung are the best independent publications around. They’re doing everything right.

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

I wouldn’t look to me for advanced technology advice. My Microsoft Word crashes weekly. If I had to choose I would say the NYC Ferry App. Not enough people take the ferry.

Plane or train?

Train if the first option is commercial.

What is one place everyone should visit?

The Aeolian Islands when Stromboli is erupting at night. Nantucket in mid-September, once the last of the family week dinners are over and it’s just sweaters and people who don’t have to leave. A polo field in Wellington during high season, right as they start walking the horses out. Landing a Cessna on an unlit runway in rural Virginia, where someone’s car headlights are doing more work than the airport. Dancing with strangers at a wedding in a castle in Northern England. Sorry, did you say one?

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

This story I did for The New York Times ten years ago about the former madame of the Chelsea Hotel, who was running a male prostitution ring out of it while also cutting some of the most famous people’s hair in a salon she had set up inside. I’m pretty sure it was the first time the Styles section had used “gigolos” in a headline. I love a good story. (CG)