We’ve only just stumbled across OZY and after watching their  excellent webby nominated series Unapologetic, we are annoyed that it took us so long to discover them.  Founded in 2013 by two clever chappies Samir Rao and Carlos Watson who had the simple idea reimagining the news for a globally minded, discerning and diverse group of people who are edgy and educated, hungry and observant – and tired of being handed the same menu rehashing yesterday’s top stories. 

They state their mission is to help the curious see the world more broadly and more boldly by vaulting them ahead of the traditional news cycle and introducing them to the New and the Next – rising stars, fresh trends, provocative ideas and boundary-pushing culture, from “Amish crack” to an underground bar buried in a German bomb shelter, from robo-police to the next great cage fighter.

To do this they recruited a first class in-house team but the also generously use a whole coterie of  celebrated contributors,  guest editors who represent a wide ideological spectrum.

Ozy may have started out as a digital news and culture magazine, but it has grown to much more it a very short time and has a whole array of different platforms that reach some 50m people.  From now on, there will be one more follower. 

Unapologetic, now in its second season,  are the heart-touching stories of  diverse individuals as they share their journeys to self-acceptance and redefine what it means to fit in.  The first video below is the series trailer, but below that the video is the uplifting story of Farak. After enduring discrimination, assault and jail in his home country of Egypt, he escaped to the United States to live freely as a gay man.