The Monday Media Diet with Nicholas Ferrell

On Deep South, Ron Chernow, and the Sahara

Nicholas Ferrell (NF) is a new friend of WITI. He runs an amazing vintage watch business following his time in US Government. If you need a very interesting Seiko (or others!), he’s got the eye for it.

A programming note: We’re on our summer break, so we will publish new MMDs, but look out for WITI editor Louis Cheslaw selects from the archive until we are back in September. Enjoy the rest of your summer. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Nicholas Ferrell, and I am the founder of Los Angeles-based DC Vintage Watches, a boutique vintage watch dealer that curates vintage watches – everything from (in the words of Nas) Seiko to Rolex – both for our online shop and to client’s specifications via our watch sourcing service.  I also recently founded the Sycamore watch company and was in a former life a U.S. diplomat and intelligence community member who served on the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room under the Bush and Obama Administration.  When I am not obsessing over watches, I am an avid reader of, well, everything.

Describe your media diet. 

Every day, its The Economist – a British roommate introduced me to The Economist and the BBC when we lived together studying Arabic in Cairo nearly 20 years ago and I’ve been a faithful daily reader of both since.  I get nearly no news from American sources due to rampant polarization, and as a former diplomat I’d rather see the world – and what the world thinks of the U.S. – through a non-American’s eyes.  If I read American news, it tends to be the New York Times (in particular, The Daily Podcast) and the New Yorker for their longer pieces.  I also read The Journal of Military History and the Journal for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies, as well as automotive and watch themed The Road Rat and Hodinkee magazines, respectively.  Oh, did I neglect to mention Guns & Ammo?

What’s the last great book you read?

Since finishing grad school over a decade ago, I’ve relished the freedom to read whatever I want, which usually means two to three books at the same time and almost always includes biography, history, and current events.  The last great book I read is “Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class,” by Allison Davis, Burleigh Gardner, and Mark Gardner.  I’m fine with sounding like an asshole – after I read Alex Haley’s biography on Malcom X, I rarely read fiction after contemplating the latter’s thoughts on fiction vs. non-fiction.  

What are you reading now?

At present, I’m reading McGeorge Bundy’s, “Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the First Fifty Years” – Bundy was JFK’s National Security Advisor, so it’s a quite solid academic read packed with facts and footnotes, just how I like my books. Alongside Danger and Survival, I’m reading “Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy,” by Kip Thorne, “Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place,” by D.J. Waldie, and finally, “SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars,” by John Plaster.  Thrown in are random articles and research for watch-related articles I write for our website and Watches of Espionage; it’s been incredible to interview historical figures that have done amazing things while using watches as the tools they were meant to be.

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

With Economist readers, the running joke is no one can ever read it cover to cover in a week, and this is largely true – I usually scan the entirety of the physical issue to look for articles that catch my interest and earmark the pages.  These can range widely from articles on China, AI, to the U.S. military.  When I am on the go, The Economist app is handy, and allows me to bookmark articles for late consumption.  At the same time, I’m also looking for articles we can use as attractive backdrops for watch listings on our website – we largely focus on colorful watches from the 1970s, so images with lots of color, intricate designs, or titles that make me chuckle (and the British are unrivaled at this) usually make the cut.  I am also a long-time reader of graphic novels, so – separate from The Economist – the work and artistry of Geof Darrow makes it in there a lot, as well (I use bookmarks to mark these).

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Ron Chernow, simple as that – he has written biographies on everyone from JP Morgan and Ulysses Grant to George Washington and Alexander Hamilton (which Lin-Manual Miranda adapted his Tony award-winning musical Hamilton on).  His biographies are fantastic, given his ability to write in an engaging and entertaining manner while presenting copious amounts of history, and I have read nearly all of them.  In the graphic novel world – if you have a dark morbid sense of humor (as anyone from the intelligence and diplomacy world nearly always develops as a coping mechanism), anything from Garth Ennis.  From 1989 onwards, Ennis brought us such masterpieces as Preacher (adapted by AMC) and The Boys (adapted by Amazon Prime), as well as long runs on Hellblazer, Punisher, and Judge Dred.  Oh, and The Economist.  Did I mention that before?

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

Aside from The Economist app, daily updates from Los Angeles County Public Works are a must-have.  I get up in the mountains surrounding LA at least a few times a month and roads are regularly closed for repair or maintenance – and a closed road can ruin a motorcycle ride.  Related, it also tracks SoCal’s numerous forest fires throughout fire season, which can literally be a lifesaver.

Plane or train?

Out of sheer necessity, plane – but, if possible, trains!  There’s just something alluring about old-fashioned trains, and well, I’ve been told I might have a thing for vintage.  My favorite are Japanese bullet trains.

What is one place everyone should visit? 

For the sheer beauty of nature, the Sahara Desert is a must-visit – I first visited over twenty years ago as a college student and it was breathtaking.  As well, Arab culture is usually quite welcoming in my experience, unlike that portrayed in American media.  Speaking of culture, another place everyone should visit is Beirut, Lebanon – nothing at all should work about the very idea of Lebanon, but somehow through wars, non-stop financial crisis, and more, its citizens of any one of a dozen religions survive and thrive.  Oh, and Japan – that country is insanely dope.

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

I continue to live the rabbit hole story daily, which I fell into decades ago – my obsession with vintage watches!  I count myself incredibly lucky to possess the ability to support myself and my family with this, and to be able to build great friendships with others like me that dork out on watches.  The leap from hobby to business came when my – quite patient and understanding – wife suggested in 2012 that I start DC Vintage Watches as a side hustle when she saw how passionate I was about watches, and it flourished from there.  While she likely regrets the depths of knowledge it has driven me to vis-à-vis horology, I have no doubt she loves to see me combing my well-honed skill sets from previous careers – research, tracking down things that seemingly don’t want to be found, using satellite imagery skills to notice small details that differentiate between legit and fake watches, negotiation, etc – to enjoy my career so much. (NF)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)

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