Atavist
A familiar story for those of us who work in publishing is that once upon a time, everything was wonderful, and then there came a thing called the Internet, and now it is terrible. And even though every time another newspaper folds or somebody writes another listicle this may seem all too true, the story is only half-told—just ask Evan Ratliff, journalist and cofounder of the publishing and software company Atavist. “We were frustrated by the lack of space for long stories in both print and online—and the lack of high-quality design for those stories when they did appear online,” he says. So began The Atavist, a digital publication for writing that surpasses typical magazine word counts but isn’t quite ebook length, either. Each month, The Atavist features one original story, which readers can purchase individually on the site, in-app, through Kindle Singles or subscriptions, with “story” taking on a distinctly 21st-century tone: the writing is accompanied by complementary audio, images, video and graphic design. Along the way, Atavist branched off into Creatavist, a software that’s now available to everyone, be it design-junkie writers, bookworm photographers or particularly artsy tech nerds. The future of publishing? Maybe not so terrible.
Dirty Yoga
On the surface, yoga doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that’s prime for innovation. After all, it’s been around for centuries and has only undergone minor modifications. Like, turn up the temperature in the room a few degrees and BOOM—you’ve got a yoga revolution. So imagine our pleasure at discovering Dirty Yoga, an online, subscription-based service started by Jess Gronholm and Susi Rajah, which offers all levels and types of yoga in the form of comprehensive videos featuring Gronholm. The beauty of Dirty Yoga is the ease with which a fitness-lover can access great classes from the comfort of his or her home. The videos change frequently, so boredom with the routine is not an option, and membership is available for only $20 a month, which is far cheaper than most yoga classes. Increased affordability and accessibility? This is just the type of change fitness needed.
Wow, thanks guys. We’re really honored to be part of this. Of course we can think of a whole lot of others at least as worthy…
As noted, Joios hosts lots of tastings. We’re always looking for products, tasters, venues. All ideas appreciated!