Skateboarding By Rachel Martin — //free\\

It is impossible to discuss the modern era of skateboarding without addressing the elephant in the room: The Olympics.

To understand skateboarding, one must first understand how skaters view the world. Where an architect sees a bench, a skater sees a canvas for a boardslide. Where a city planner sees a handrail for safety, a skater sees a challenge of physics and grit. skateboarding by rachel martin

At seventeen, she landed a kickflip to fakie that made even Marcus, the ramp veteran, whistle. Someone filmed it. The video got 47 views. Rachel didn’t care. It is impossible to discuss the modern era

For the digital reader, her Substack newsletter, "Curb Cuts," has become a must-read for over 50,000 subscribers who appreciate her weekly dispatches from the fringes of the skate world. Where a city planner sees a handrail for

Martin is fascinated by the city. In her long-form series "Cracks in the Monolith," she examines how skaters "read" the urban environment. A curb becomes a canvas. A marble ledge becomes a challenge. She argues that skateboarding is a dialogue with architecture, asking, "What is this space for, and who gets to decide?" This philosophical bent has made her work popular in urban planning circles, where her essays are now cited alongside Jane Jacobs.

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