Glass Half Full
After a lengthy sabbatical, I start the year at Glass Half Full catching up with a doer of many things and great friend of mine, James Corder.
James Corder is a multi-hyphenate Videographer, editor and according to Strava, my top running partner for 2024 :)
Early in 2024 he moved to Johannesburg (huge loss for me) and began working with his brother Dan. You may know Dan as a radio personality who was previously host of the breakfast show on 5FM for a number of years. You might also know him through his viral Tik Toks and instagram reels where he discusses South African politics and current affairs which later propelled him to becoming the host of the hugely successful Dan Corder show on ENCA.
Outside of work James is a long suffering Tottenham Hotspur fan alongside me as well as a film and music aficionado. He is also a cat dad to a Ginger boy called George. However, his favourite past time is cars. We have a shared love of all things car related and James has taken that love and transformed it into one of the most informative motor shows you'll find in this country through his fantastic Youtube series Skadonk. We chat about that and a lot more.
Tell us about yourself What drew you to your current work in editing and film?
- I've been interested in story telling for as long as I can remember and particularly the different ways a story can be told. So over the years I tried writing stories and songs and acting and playing sport, essentially all the ways we consume stories in the modern world etc. Eventually my mum spotted that I had a particular interest in film and dissecting the different decisions that go into visual storytelling, which eventually led me to where I am today.
What is it like being at the coalface of South Africa's politics through the show and disseminating news to a national audience?
- Pretty gnarly, to be honest. I think on the modern internet, we've all been pushed into a binary way of thinking, good and bad, left and right, right and wrong. We're all compelled to have an opinion on everything we come across and we better be prepared to defend it. Then on top of that, politics is the most intense version of that sentiment. Along with this, I think both social networks and political rhetoric has led to no one really trusting a lot of information that they're presented and potentially correctly so. So, it's a tricky space to navigate but it's also rewarding to be involved in a platform that has a voice and can speak out on what we feel is important, which is a privileged position. So, I guess you have to take the blessing along with the intensity.
Do you see a shift in interest from young people about politics. Is the tide changing?
- Yes and no. I think it's difficult to escape politics on the internet nowadays and people get particularly passionate during election years, as we've just had. I think this is great, we need everyone to get involved and take ownership of the running of the country, because that's how real change occurs.
On the other hand, I think a lot of young people are feeling overwhelmed by the constant waves of information we're presented. There is only so much a person can focus on at once and I feel people are now forced to pick which issues they're going to take on board.
So yes, people are engaging a lot but selectively.
When did you truly become a petrol head?
- Honestly, I have no idea. No one in my family cares about cars at all, to them a car is an appliance. So it didn't come from there. I watched a lot of Top Gear when I was a kid which definitely piqued my interest, though now I don't really align with who the presenters are as people. I also think growing up in Cape Town, you're constantly surrounded by an extraordinary array of modified cars. It feels like every third car in CPT is tweaked in some way, so it's hard not to pick up on that energy. So it was probably a combination of those two things that sent me down this path.
I know for you its not just the cars themselves but the culture around them? Tell us a bit about that.
- 100%. There's no way that something as ubiquitous as a car could not carry cultural significance. We spend so much time and rely on cars throughout our lives, so they naturally get associated with some pretty major life moments. Cars are used like clothing, like a big metal outfit that we use to project on to the world. If you're a traditional man in the south of the USA and you want to show you are still a practical country boy, you buy a massive bakkie. If you're a young middle class woman who just got her first big job and wants to show she's moving up in the world, she gets a Fiat 500. If your name is James and you want to show you're a bit alternative and also want to drive recklessly in a rear wheel drive car, you buy a 20 year old BMW 3 series and pray that it doesn't self-destruct (it did).
What do you enjoy about Cape Town vs Johannesburg and what don't you like?
- Cape Town is the stunning beautiful youngest sibling who gets all the attention. It's easy to have a great time in Cape Town if you have money and that's what the city is geared towards, so if you don't fall into that group, it starts to lose its appeal.
Joburg is the bossy older sister who gets things done without a fuss. It's a city constantly reinventing itself every 10 years as people come and go. As a result, it's nearly impossible to be inactive in JHB and that's incredibly exciting. Yes, it's not incredibly pretty and crime is definitely hectic, but it's not like Cape Town is the safest place in the world outside of Seapoint and the Waterfront.
What media are you consuming currently?
- I listen to a lot of podcasts because it fits in with my day to day, particularly about car history and South African politics.
What are you reading right now?
- Rather predictably, I'm reading a biography of Enzo Ferrari, which is not well written but has a lot of reliable information. Along with this, I'm reading a book debunking myths about global migration, because it always seems to be a scapegoat issue for politicians and it's particularly relevant now in South Africa.
Who inspires you and why?
- As I mentioned previously, I love stories. Not just hearing or telling them but flipping them over, pulling them apart and figuring out why they're compelling or misleading or funny or hurtful etc. Thankfully I get to do that everyday in a variety of ways, so I feel like that is what pulls me out of bed in the morning.
What are your plans for the new year, any resolutions, exciting projects?
I don't really believe in hard goals but I want to develop a lot of things I started last year. Work has been developing quickly which is exciting so I want to push hard on that without burning out, which I've fallen foul of before. I recently moved to Joburg so I want to explore the city more, particularly through Skadonk, meeting people through their cars etc.
And then just run more, I love running and it can often fall away when life gets hectic so just commit to setting aside time for it would be great to do as well.
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Thanks for reading