Podcast appearances and mentions of hamish mckenzie

“The whole Substack ecosystem is about more power because it's based on those relationships between the publisher and their subscribers, or the video maker and their viewers,” says journalist and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie. Following his talk at TED2025, McKenzie is in conversation with Sherrell Dorsey to discuss how the media landscape has changed, and how new platforms like Substack allows independent creators to challenge traditional broadcast media – and build trust with their following.To listen to McKenzie's TED2025 talk, click here: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Castbox.Want to help shape TED's shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn't a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores how independent creators are growing a new media "garden," where trust beats engagement metrics and audiences matter more than ads. Learn why clicking “subscribe” doesn't just signal support; it gives you power.Want to help shape TED's shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn't a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores how independent creators are growing a new media "garden," where trust beats engagement metrics and audiences matter more than ads. Learn why clicking “subscribe” doesn't just signal support; it gives you power.

What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn't a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores how independent creators are growing a new media "garden," where trust beats engagement metrics and audiences matter more than ads. Learn why clicking “subscribe” doesn't just signal support; it gives you power.

Substack was founded to create an escape vehicle for writers: Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie imagined a world where writers didn't have to rely on legacy publications or corporate advertisers, but could instead create a more direct and meaningful relationship with their audience. Despite early skepticism, Chris and Hamish were confident that many people would pay a few dollars a month to subscribe to their favorite newsletters, on subjects ranging from politics to sports to tech. Today, Substack has over 35 million active users, and while many of its offerings are free, a number of its content-creators make upwards of $500,000 a year.This episode was produced by J.C. Howard, with music by Ramtin Arablouei.Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Iman Maani.You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com. Sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com and on Substack.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hamish McKenzie is co-founder of Substack, a platform for online publications including Persuasion and writing like Yascha's weekly column. He is a writer and former journalist based in San Francisco. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Hamish McKenzie discuss how Substack was formed, why its business model rewards different behaviors to traditional social media, and its steadfast commitment to free speech in the face of criticism. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: podcast@persuasion.community  Website: http://www.persuasion.community Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Leonora Barclay Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion Youtube: Yascha Mounk LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we get an inside look at the independent creator model of media with a two-part conversation: First, Ben and Max interview Substack co-founder and chief writing officer, Hamish McKenzie, about the platform's appeal for the resistance on the left, their move into video, and why they turned down Elon Musk's offer to buy them a few years ago. Then, former Mixed Signals co-host and newly independent creator, Nayeema Raza, joins to talk about her foray into the new media landscape, what she's learned about the space, and why her show, Smart Girl Dumb Questions, isn't on Substack. Sign up for Semafor Media's Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com

On this week's episode, I'm rejoined by writer/director Philip Gelatt and novelist Paul Tremblay (author of Horror Movieand The Cabin at the End of the World, among other scary books) to discuss the new Substack-hosted docu-horror series Etch. The concept is pretty cool: Philip has interviewed a quintet of horror authors—Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, Elizabeth Hand, and Mariana Enriquez—and every week he's dropping another episode that combines that interview with a reading of a short story and video illustration. (Not quite a movie, exactly, more like creepy imagery.) I'll say, as a longtime user/reader of Substack, it's exciting to see folks push the boundaries of what the site can be. I think most people see Substack as a newsletter/podcast site, and most of the video I've seen on Substack has been, more or less, video versions of podcasts. (We have a lot of those here at The Bulwark!) But this is a great example of a creator deciding to bypass the studios and the streamers and just make something he wants to see in the world using the broadcast tools provided by Hamish McKenzie and his team at Substack and doing so in a way that allows you to “own” the readers/followers, a stark contrast from YouTube, TikTok, and other user-generated video sites. (It'll be great when they drop a streaming-style app.) If you are into horror, I highly recommend checking this out. And if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend!

Substack is an increasingly important part of our cultural and media ecosystem. But is it actually any better than other forms of traditional media or social media? Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie joins the podcast to talk about content moderation, the economics of media, and much more as we dive into what exactly Substack is and where it's going. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questions? Send us a note at mailbag@cnliberalism.org. Follow us at: https://twitter.com/CNLiberalism https://cnliberalism.org/   Join a local chapter at https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member/

Hamish McKenzie is the co-founder and Chief Writing Officer at Substack.Substack is building a “new economic engine for culture” — enabling writers, podcasters, and now video creators to publish and monetise their content directly through subscriptions. Today, newsletter creators on Substack have over 35 million active subscriptions, including 3 million+ to paid content. The Company has gone from strength to strength, reaching near “verb” status synonymous with online newsletters— and most recently raised capital at a $650M valuation.Before Substack, Hamish was Lead Writer at Tesla — going on to author “Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil”, and a journalist writing for publications in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, the UK, and the US. Hamish hails from Central Otago and attended the University of Otago.In today's episode, we discuss:* Hamish's journey from NZ to the US, key influences and inflection points* Substack's role in the future of media, and how they see the vision unfolding* Building Substack, and challenges along the way including culture wars, content moderation, and echo-chambers.* How AI is changing content creation, and how they're gearing up to support creators in a future dominated by* lessons, insights from his time at Tesla, working with Elon Musk, and authoring “Insane Mode”Where to find Hamish McKenzie:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishmckenzie/* Substack: https://substack.com/@hamish* Website: https://hamishmckenzie.com/Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:57) Building “a new economic engine for culture”(02:29) Hamish's journey from Otago to journalism(05:57) Covering China, the Olympics, and Tencent(06:51) The disruption of social media(09:15) How Substack started(12:20) Substack's business and pricing model(19:26) Winning culture wars(22:50) The controversy of content moderation(26:24) Why Elon tried to nuke Substack(28:50) Working for Elon and Tesla(30:00) Substack's thesis(32:17) Solving echo-chambers(33:23) How Notes is taking on Twitter/X(34:16) Why AI won't replace content creators(35:49) How to help Hamish(37:06) Hamish's recommended Substacks(38:14) OutroSome of Hamish's recommended Substacks for Kiwis This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Dr. Hamish Mckenzie is the Detective Superintendent of the Western Australia Sex Crimes Division. That means he's the boss.As you're about to hear, Sex Crimes is a very challenging area of policing, and Western Australia is the largest single policing jurisdiction in the world.Policing, like everything else, is done differently in WA. But according to Hamish McKenzie, child sexual assault is the one area of law enforcement where egos really do take a backseat to results. He joins us on Australian True Crime, which serving officers rarely do. So we're very grateful to talk about his work and how we can continue to work together in child protection.Click here to visit WA Police's anonymous online reporting portal.You can visit the WA Police's website by clicking here.For Support: Lifeline  on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram Guest: Dr Hamish MckenzieExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at team@smartfella.com.auBuild your pro podcast with The Audio CollegeSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It's a shortened version of this week's more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed. Dr. Hamish Mckenzie is the Detective Superintendent of the Western Australia Sex Crimes Division. That means he's the boss.As you're about to hear, Sex Crimes is a very challenging area of policing, and Western Australia is the largest single policing jurisdiction in the world.Policing, like everything else, is done differently in WA. But according to Hamish McKenzie, child sexual assault is the one area of law enforcement where egos really do take a backseat to results. He joins us on Australian True Crime, which serving officers rarely do. So we're very grateful to talk about his work and how we can continue to work together in child protection.Click here to visit WA Police's anonymous online reporting portal.You can visit the WA Police's website by clicking here.For Support: Lifeline  on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram Guest: Dr Hamish MckenzieExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at team@smartfella.com.auBuild your pro podcast with The Audio CollegeSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 'Chief' Hamish McKenzie joins us at the desk on the eve of the BBL finals to discuss his rise from Subi-Floreat to debuting for both WA and the Scorchers this summer ! Follow Hamish: https://www.instagram.com/ham.mckenzie1/ Follow us on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/brayandethan Thanks to our partners use code BRAYÐAN20 SkinBRO: https://www.skinbro.com/ Hat Locker: https://www.hatlocker.com/ CHEATR Clothing: https://cheatr.com.au/

We hosted a salon with Substack in LA to celebrate their community of writers and creators, and to meet the company's co-founder Hamish McKenzie, whose interview you're about to hear. We discussed the origins of the company, Hamish's own background as a writer and what about the platform fosters such a unique relationship between creators and subscribers. 

Today's episode is guest-hosted by Sarah Fay, creative writing professor at Northwestern University, former interviewer at The Paris Review, devoted serializer, and lover of all things Substack. Her Substack Writers at Work helps creative writers use Substack to bolster their careers, including how to serialize their writing. She's currently serializing her new memoir Cured on Substack through 2023.—Sophia Efthimiatou, Head of Writer Relations**You may recognize the names of today's guests: Mary Trump, E. Jean Carroll, and Jennifer Taub. Their new venture is a groundbreaking Substack: Backstory Serial. The content may surprise you—though it shouldn't, and I'll explain why during the podcast. Backstory Serial features their romance novel The Italian Lesson, which is bringing serial novels and Substack fiction into the mainstream.The Italian Lesson is a serialization, meaning it appears in your inbox, chapter by chapter, installment by installment. The plot of The Italian Lesson is simple: An American woman moves to a small town in Tuscany and opens a café. Then, as Mary put it in an interview, “some stud walks in and turns out he's a prince.”Serialization has a long tradition on Substack—I guide writers on how to do it on my Substack, Writers at Work—but no one has had the success that these three have and there are very good reasons why, which we'll go into. The three women play different roles in the writing of the novel: Mary is the author, E. Jean fields comments from their vibrant community and plays the role of romance-novel fact-checker, and Jen acts as editor.In case you don't know Mary, E. Jean, and Jen, a bit of background: Mary Trump describes herself as a mom, writer, liberal progressive, and pro-democracy American. She's the author of Too Much is Never Enough about her uncle (yes, that Donald Trump) and The Reckoning. Her Substack The Good in Us features her commentary on culture, politics, and music (from Tina Turner to Aimee Mann)—plus pet pictures and a community of subscribers who share her vision to use kindness and empathy to ensure that America remains a democracy. E. Jean Carroll's esteemed Substack, Ask E. Jean, is the longest-running advice column in American publishing. It ran in Elle Magazine until E. Jean accused Donald Trump of assault and sued him for defamation, after which Elle fired her. She's since made Substack her home. Her wit, smarts, sass, and empathy are unrivaled. She's also the author of the book What Do We Need Men For?—part satirical treatise in the tradition of Jonathan Swift and part rollicking narrative.Jennifer Traub is a one-woman force against corruption in the United States. In her book, Big Dirty Money, she takes on white-collar criminals. She's also the author of Other People's Houses. Jen is a law professor, an activist, and the host of the Booked Up podcast. In her firey—and also fun—Substack Money & Gossip, she clarifies what the rest of us miss or don't make sense of in the financial and legal world.In our conversation, we talk about everything from why the media has underestimated them as novelists, how they came up with The Italian Lesson's unique form, why they chose to serialize on Substack, knitting patterns, cocktail recipes, the email novel, and what love really is.—Sarah Fay https://www.backstoryserial.com/ Show notes* Subscribe to Backstory Serial on Substack* Find Mary Trump, Jen Taub, and E. Jean Carroll on Twitter, and Mary, Jen and E. Jean on Instagram, and listen to Jen's podcast Booked Up with Jen Taub* Big Dirty Money by Jennifer Taub and books by Mary L Trump* [03:31] Writing a romance novel[05:19] Meeting on Zoom[07:58] Choosing to serialize[13:20] Mary's introduction to writing[16:32] Building a community[22:00] Bringing the book to life[27:27] Collaborating together[32:30] Subverting traditional publishing[38:49] Ideas for the next novel**The Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Taylor Lorenz, a tech culture reporter for the Washington Post, has been both observer and participant in an internet culture that has been emerging since the early 2010s, a period of history that has seen the rise of massive social media platforms, the decay of traditional media, and the increasing power of online influencers. That culture can be delightful and enriching, and it can be savage and soul-destroying. Of course, anyone who spends much time on Twitter knows that Taylor herself has had ample experience with both sides of that. She is a lightning rod in the online culture wars, loved and supported as much as she is reviled and targeted. She is a frequent subject of critiques from her ideological opponents, a cast that includes such figures as Tucker Carlson, Jake Paul, and Glenn Greenwald, to name a few. And how does she take that? Well, it's just how life is online, she says. “What people do on the internet is they build up other people into characters online, and it's like this crazy soap opera every day.” Her enemies turn her into a character, she says, because it gives them opposition. “It's just classic influencer tactics, right? You are going to make this other YouTuber into a villain and you're going to have this feud and then that galvanizes your audience.”And yet she remains a believer in technology as a force for good. “It's cool to see people use the internet for progress and to bring more freedom to all of us,” she says. “I think that's what the goal of the internet should be. It should be a liberating force.”In this conversation, we discuss the recent history of the internet, social media, and the rise of influencers—of which Taylor is one. Aside from high-profile reporting jobs at The Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Post, she has also amassed huge followings on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. In October, her first book will be published. Its title couldn't be more appropriate: Extremely Online.https://taylorlorenz.substack.com/Taylor's recommended reads:Show notes* Subscribe to Taylor Lorenz's newsletter on Substack* Find Taylor on Twitter* Her upcoming book, Extremely Online[04:54] Becoming a journalist[08:20] Tumblr and blogging[13:05] The “f**k yeah” era of Tumblr[18:14] Tabloid news[22:19] Developing a new beat[26:56] Gaining prominence[32:13] Dealing with online harassment[38:57] The state of the media[42:05] Ephemerality and the internet[53:14] Being a techno-optimist[1:01:19] Extremely Online book[1:05:50] Taylor on her recommended readsThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Even among politics and media junkies, few people had heard the name Richard Hanania before 2020. But then, as the pandemic intensified online tribalism, the political scientist emerged with a provocative analysis that carried the headline “Why Is Everything Liberal?” The piece, which explores why almost every major institution in the U.S. leans left, did the rounds on Twitter, announcing Richard's arrival as a distinctive new voice in American politics discourse. Soon enough, he followed it up with a series of other pithily headlined posts that demonstrated a streak of contrarianism that variously managed to win fans and challenge readers from across the political spectrum: “Liberals Read, Conservatives Watch TV,” “Why Do I Hate Pronouns More Than Genocide?”, and “Conservatives Win All the Time,” to name a few.Richard, who has a law degree from Columbia and a political science degree from UCLA, doesn't hesitate to describe himself as anti-woke. He traces wokeness's legal underpinnings to civil rights law, which he believes has undermined the integrity of public institutions. He expands on this thesis in his upcoming book, The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Trump of Identity Politics. Coming during a time of intense social justice activism, these views have won Richard strong support among conservative readers, but he's not afraid of pissing off those same people. In recent times, for instance, he has published essays that argue in favor of diversity and praise the quality and honesty of mainstream media. In this conversation, we examine contrarianism, conservatism, “enlightened centrism” (in praise of intellectuals whose views don't always easily line up with “left” or “right”), and the future of the culture wars—the perfect fodder for a man who is staking out a reputation as one of the boldest voices in our pugilistic political discourse. https://www.richardhanania.com/Richard's recommended reads:https://astralcodexten.substack.com/ https://www.slowboring.com/ https://trevorklee.substack.com/ https://www.emilkirkegaard.com/ https://cremieux.substack.com/Show notesSubscribe to Richard Hanania's Newsletter on SubstackFind Richard on TwitterRichard's post mentioned: “Why the Media Is Honest and Good,” “Why Is Everything Liberal?”[03:29] Getting started on Substack[05:40] Growing up[11:07] Working in academia[12:01] Writing about wokeness[16:26] Richard's audience[21:33] The main goal of work[25:40] On Trump and today's politics[29:37] Mainstream media[36:35] Being a “bit of a troll”[39:53] Politics and trans issuesThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

At a dinner party Substack hosted in San Francisco last week, I found myself sitting next to Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and former publisher of the Whole Earth Review. We were talking about the capital of the world. It no longer felt that New York was it, I was telling him, though it had not been replaced by another physical city either. Rather, the world now had only one, digital, capital. If you made it there, you'd make it anywhere.He agreed, with one amendment. “Silicon Valley is the place least resistant to new ideas today,” he said, which was the original point of the world capital as a destination. I had recently interviewed Nadia Bolz-Weber for this podcast, and her words were still fresh in my mind. I imagined her response to this would be, “The problem is, it is also the place most resistant to old ideas.” Nadia embodies the old and the new. She is a striking figure: tall and lean, with a thick mane of salt-and-pepper hair and a penetrating blue gaze. She is covered in colorful tattoos of Christian mythology and exudes the warmth of wisdom. She practices one of the oldest traditions, that of the preacher. The texts she “wrestles with,” as she puts it, are centuries-old. Her task is to bring them to the here and now, to the self. They become personal to her because, in order to interpret them, she must first study herself anew. Nadia has been an alcoholic, a standup comic, and a sinner. She has been a pastor, a prison preacher, and a saint. She talked about what these qualifiers mean to her, how she understands the concept of faith, the relationship between poetry and prayer, and the danger of innovating without consideration for tradition. One of her observations echoed what Suleika Jaouad and Diego Perez emphasized during their own exchange a couple of weeks ago, when they spoke about the significance of honesty in writing. Nadia reinforced that message when she said:“Some people make a living off of being sort of influencers, who say things that might kind of be true, but they never feel honest. They feel like they're ignoring a darker side of our hearts. I always want somebody to really acknowledge the sort of more shadowy contours of my human heart, and then talk about where some grace or hope or forgiveness is. Because I feel like when those things are ignored, it just fills me a little bit with despair, even though they're telling me something really chipper. I like it when writers or preachers are willing to be honest about their own struggles in a real way.” This also brought to mind the conversation that Mike Solana and Ted Gioia had here on the Active Voice. As Ted put it, “There's been an enormous crisis of trust, and certain voices are emerging and succeeding because they've been able to parlay that trust.”What connects all of them is their allegiance to honesty, and the obligation they feel to deliver it to their audience. https://thecorners.substack.com/ Show notesSubscribe to The Corners by Nadia Bolz-Weber on SubstackFind Nadia on Twitter and InstagramNadia's booksFrancis Spufford's book Unapologetic“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins[02:00] The House for All Sinners and Saints[06:18] The church after the pandemic[10:18] The process of preaching to oneself[12:54] Finding the Good News[15:29] Nadia's regrets[21:00] On resurrection[25:00] When we call out to God[29:40] Being clear-eyed about being humanThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Both Suleika Jaouad and Diego Perez, who writes as Yung Pueblo, arrived at writing through adversity. Writing became a way of life when each was faced with death, a healing mechanism that became a craft.When they met for the first time in person at our headquarters in San Francisco, they greeted each other with the enthusiasm of old friends reuniting. They fell into conversation with natural intimacy and comfort before we had a chance to press the “record” button and continued talking for another hour past the taping's end. They were familiar with each other's writing and eager to share their personal stories with each other, as in an attempt to forge a new friendship. As they spoke, they discovered just how parallel their paths had been, as well as new points of intersection in their philosophies.Alchemizing pain into creativity is a recurring theme among writers. In his Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke famously wrote, “So don't be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you do. You must think that something is happening within you, and remember that life has not forgotten you; it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why would you want to exclude from your life any uneasiness, any pain, any depression, since you don't know what work they are accomplishing within you?”Suleika and Diego have made this alchemy their mission. They have created spaces—her The Isolation Journals and his Elevate with Yung Pueblo—where people can meet and turn their experiences into art. They foster and grow with their writing communities, and have invited them into their writing practice.In this conversation, Suleika and Diego discuss each of their journeys to the “art-making stage,” how they turn confession into craft and protect their creative spaces while living in community, and their own advice to writers and poets of all backgrounds and ages. https://theisolationjournals.substack.com/ https://yungpueblo.substack.com/ Show notes* Subscribe to The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad and Yung Pueblo by Diego Perez on Substack* Find Suleika on Twitter, and Instagram, and Diego on Twitter, and Instagram * Suleika's book Between Two Kingdoms* Diego's poetry and prose books, Inward, Clarity & Connection, and The Way Forward, and Lighter* [04:31] Suleika on starting journaling* [06:09] Diego's background* [08:29] Creativity as healing* [10:50] Suleika on starting The Isolation Journals* [13:51] Diego on writing with readers* [16:16] The universe will take care of you* [18:29] Suleika on finding painting* [21:15] Suleika on responding to hard moments* [25:43] Confronting mortality* [29:13] The writing process* [32:08] Art v social media* [37:00] Writing on Substack and what's nextThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

I caught up with Substack co-founders and at Substack's office in San Francisco last week. They're fresh off raising a community fundraising round and launching their social network Notes. I wrote in March about my decision to invest $5,000 in Substack's fundraising round, even though the company revealed that it had negative revenue in 2021:I'm already compromised when it comes to Substack. They've made my job possible. And while I already have plenty of financial exposure to Substack's performance just by dint of running my business on Substack's platform, I'm eager to have a chance to show my support.So this is the rare — hopefully singular — interview where I can't claim true editorial independence. I'm compromised on this one. Still, I think you'll find it an informative and entertaining conversation. I'm able to bring my perspective as a Substack writer to the conversation and I can't help but fish for drama and news.This episode of Newcomer is brought to you by VantaSecurity is no longer a cost center — it's a strategic growth engine that sets your business apart. That means it's more important than ever to prove you handle customer data with the utmost integrity. But demonstrating your security and compliance can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Until you use Vanta.Vanta's enterprise-ready Trust Management Platform empowers you to:* Centralize and scale your security program* Automate compliance for the most sought-after frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR* Earn and maintain the trust of customers and vendors alikeWith Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Win more deals and enable growth quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank.For a limited time, Newcomer listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/newcomer to get started.In our conversation, I asked McKenzie and Best about Twitter's one-sided war with Substack. Elon Musk has at times throttled links to Substack. It is impossible to imbed tweets in Substack posts anymore. Adding some intrigue to the tensions, Andreessen Horowitz, Substack's largest outside investor, is an investor in Musk's Twitter. And, Musk actually long ago hired McKenzie, a former PandoDaily reporter, to write for Tesla.“I try to think about Elon as little as possible,” McKenzie said in our conversation at Substack's office. “What we're trying to do here is not build the anti-Twitter or build the anti-Instagram or anything like that. We're trying to build the first Substack. The vision for what we think it can become is an amazing, beautiful thing and it's bigger and more important than social media.”McKenzie acknowledged that “arguably Twitter is trying to kill Substack.”I asked about newsletter godfather Ben Thompson's critique of Substack's community round in his newsletter. Thompson wrote in April:We know that valuation because Substack asked its writers to fund a round at the same $650 million post-money valuation it achieved in 2021, despite the fact the company failed to raise money last year; the company never released its 2022 financials.Frankly, I think this request was shameful: Substack has rightly earned the affection of a lot of writers by providing them with a new way to earn money, and of course those writers want Substack to succeed. Keeping such a lofty valuation, though, is effectively asking for a donation from an audience that almost by definition doesn't know any better. That doesn't seem very writer friendly! Nor, for that matter, does this fight with Twitter. Again, I think this is a product bet that makes a lot of sense: Substack needs to take big swings if it's ever going to reach its valuation. Writers, though, who need Twitter's distribution, didn't sign up for this fight; they are simply stuck in the middle.We also talked about Best's botched podcast interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel. In the interview (here's a link to the key exchange), Patel hammered Best on Substack's stance on blocking overt racism on Notes. In that interview, Best declined to say that Substack would ban particular objectionable racist comments from the platform unilaterally. In my conversation with him, Best continued to oppose “centralized censorship” on Substack's platform. And he doubled-down on his answer, saying that he had “basically the same answer.”Best said, “We do have a content policy. It allows a lot of stuff we don't like. It bans only very extreme things. If people are putting things that are against the overall content policy, they are taken down by us. However, that allows a lot of stuff that we find very objectionable. Then we try to build a system that puts people in control of what they see and who they interact with.”As should be pretty obvious from the conversation, I think that if Substack Notes is successful, it will actually be much more curated than many other social networks. Writers want to give their readers a premium, elevated experience — not just a platform that does the bare minimum of content moderation. So I'm optimistic over time that Substack will find ways to empower writers to curate the platform. Even though Substack often finds itself talking about free speech and tough moderation decisions, in many ways what the company has built is a system where writers are given the power to moderate the platform themselves. The last thing I'll tease from the conversation is that the Substack founders no longer come off as diametrically opposing to supporting advertising. Judge their answer for yourself.In the conversation we name-dropped a bunch of newsletters and Substack writers, including Give it a listen.Find the Podcast Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

I caught up with Substack co-founders and at Substack's office in San Francisco last week. They're fresh off raising a community fundraising round and launching their social network Notes. I wrote in March about my decision to invest $5,000 in Substack's fundraising round, even though the company revealed that it had negative revenue in 2021:I'm already compromised when it comes to Substack. They've made my job possible. And while I already have plenty of financial exposure to Substack's performance just by dint of running my business on Substack's platform, I'm eager to have a chance to show my support.So this is the rare — hopefully singular — interview where I can't claim true editorial independence. I'm compromised on this one. Still, I think you'll find it an informative and entertaining conversation. I'm able to bring my perspective as a Substack writer to the conversation and I can't help but fish for drama and news.This episode of Newcomer is brought to you by VantaSecurity is no longer a cost center — it's a strategic growth engine that sets your business apart. That means it's more important than ever to prove you handle customer data with the utmost integrity. But demonstrating your security and compliance can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Until you use Vanta.Vanta's enterprise-ready Trust Management Platform empowers you to:* Centralize and scale your security program* Automate compliance for the most sought-after frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR* Earn and maintain the trust of customers and vendors alikeWith Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Win more deals and enable growth quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank.For a limited time, Newcomer listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/newcomer to get started.In our conversation, I asked McKenzie and Best about Twitter's one-sided war with Substack. Elon Musk has at times throttled links to Substack. It is impossible to imbed tweets in Substack posts anymore. Adding some intrigue to the tensions, Andreessen Horowitz, Substack's largest outside investor, is an investor in Musk's Twitter. And, Musk actually long ago hired McKenzie, a former PandoDaily reporter, to write for Tesla.“I try to think about Elon as little as possible,” McKenzie said in our conversation at Substack's office. “What we're trying to do here is not build the anti-Twitter or build the anti-Instagram or anything like that. We're trying to build the first Substack. The vision for what we think it can become is an amazing, beautiful thing and it's bigger and more important than social media.”McKenzie acknowledged that “arguably Twitter is trying to kill Substack.”I asked about newsletter godfather Ben Thompson's critique of Substack's community round in his newsletter. Thompson wrote in April:We know that valuation because Substack asked its writers to fund a round at the same $650 million post-money valuation it achieved in 2021, despite the fact the company failed to raise money last year; the company never released its 2022 financials.Frankly, I think this request was shameful: Substack has rightly earned the affection of a lot of writers by providing them with a new way to earn money, and of course those writers want Substack to succeed. Keeping such a lofty valuation, though, is effectively asking for a donation from an audience that almost by definition doesn't know any better. That doesn't seem very writer friendly! Nor, for that matter, does this fight with Twitter. Again, I think this is a product bet that makes a lot of sense: Substack needs to take big swings if it's ever going to reach its valuation. Writers, though, who need Twitter's distribution, didn't sign up for this fight; they are simply stuck in the middle.We also talked about Best's botched podcast interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel. In the interview (here's a link to the key exchange), Patel hammered Best on Substack's stance on blocking overt racism on Notes. In that interview, Best declined to say that Substack would ban particular objectionable racist comments from the platform unilaterally. In my conversation with him, Best continued to oppose “centralized censorship” on Substack's platform. And he doubled-down on his answer, saying that he had “basically the same answer.”Best said, “We do have a content policy. It allows a lot of stuff we don't like. It bans only very extreme things. If people are putting things that are against the overall content policy, they are taken down by us. However, that allows a lot of stuff that we find very objectionable. Then we try to build a system that puts people in control of what they see and who they interact with.”As should be pretty obvious from the conversation, I think that if Substack Notes is successful, it will actually be much more curated than many other social networks. Writers want to give their readers a premium, elevated experience — not just a platform that does the bare minimum of content moderation. So I'm optimistic over time that Substack will find ways to empower writers to curate the platform. Even though Substack often finds itself talking about free speech and tough moderation decisions, in many ways what the company has built is a system where writers are given the power to moderate the platform themselves. The last thing I'll tease from the conversation is that the Substack founders no longer come off as diametrically opposing to supporting advertising. Judge their answer for yourself.In the conversation we name-dropped a bunch of newsletters and Substack writers, including Give it a listen.Find the Podcast Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

At first glance, Mike Solana and Ted Gioia might not seem to have much in common. Mike, the publisher of the newsletter Pirate Wires, is very much a child of the internet, a strong proponent of the tech industry and scientific progress, with a career in venture capital (working in marketing) after a brief stint in book publishing. Ted, who writes The Honest Broker and has been a guest on The Active Voice before, is one of America's greatest music critics, founder of the Jazz Studies program at Stanford University, and the author of 12 books. What they share is a deep love for words and their significance in shaping culture. And even though they will both deliver us the bad news about the latter's collapse, there is an underlying optimism in their insistence on protecting it, from their own little corner. This week we brought them together at Substack's headquarters in San Francisco for a conversation on The Active Voice about maintaining our optimism at a time of neck-breaking technological change. What followed was a wonderful and wide-ranging jam session on everything from the disappearance of counterculture to the significance of trustworthy voices in the age of AI to the ongoing collapse of the media industry and the rise of something new from its ashes. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!We have another of these writer dialogues planned for a later episode and may do more of them depending on your feedback—so please let us know what you think in the comments. https://tedgioia.substack.com/ https://www.piratewires.com/Show notesSubscribe to Pirate Wires by Mike Solana, and The Honest Broker by Ted Gioia, on SubstackFind Mike on Twitter, and Pirate Wires on Twitter and InstagramFind Ted on Twitter, Instagram, and his website Read Mike's pinned tweet[5:55] The changing media landscape[12:10] Spotify's algorithm[16:32] Grimes and AI[22:10] AI and writing[25:10] What is “content”[35:30] The counterculture[45:00] Traditional publishingThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. This episode was produced by Sophia Efthimiatou and Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

I met Robert Reich in his overstuffed corner office on U.C. Berkeley's campus, housed in what looked to me like a midcentury villa that could double as a restaurant that sells speciality bratwurst. I was shown into Reich's office by Heather Lofthouse, his collaborator and media partner, who pointed out a mahogany armchair by the window, just past some boxes overflowing with books. It was the chair he sat in while serving in Bill Clinton's cabinet as Secretary of Labor in the 1990s. Naturally, I asked him to sit on it to pose for a photo (see it below!).As well as being a leading academic and former government official—he also advised President Obama—Reich has published 18 books, produced and fronted a Netflix documentary, mastered Facebook and Twitter, and has a hugely successful Substack. He is, in short, a master communicator. But when I asked Reich, with our mics perched on a long table adjacent to his desk, how he thinks of himself—is he a writer?—he chose “educator.” He has been teaching at universities (Harvard, Brandeis, Berkeley) for 40 years and today delivers his lectures to a room of 800 people. He sees his prolific media work (oh, by the way, he's also a talented illustrator) as being in service of his mission to advance a progressive view of economics, to reduce inequality and, in his framing, stand up to bullies. He is, he says, responding in particular to the way power distorts America. “I saw how power was being abused and how people were being bullied in all sorts of ways,” he says. “If I didn't do what I could to stop the bullying, then I failed.”https://robertreich.substack.com/Show notes* Subscribe to Robert Reich on Substack* Find Robert on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and his personal website* Inequality Media* It's a Wonderful Life* Robert Reich's writer advice column on combining illustration and writing, for On Substack[03:26] teaching at U.C. Berkeley[05:54] Teaching over 40 years[07:31 ] Young people today[10:15] The need for humor in teaching[15:36] Socialism for the rich[18:45] The void of a working class party[27:03] The reset[31:16] Pressing the reveal code key[32:32] A childhood protector murdered[34:43] Democracy against the bullies[37:26] Taking sustenance from family[43:43] Talking to people who disagree with you[46:30] Reaching beyond the bubble[49:04] Being an “educator” and writing well[50:12] Using multiple modes of thinking[50:55] Getting older[57:16] Worry is a waste of energyThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Last week, Elon kicked off a feud with both Substack and his very own former Twitter Files ingénue (and Substack star), Matt Taibbi. Kara and Nayeema break down the battle of the bros before turning to an interview with those at the center of the storm: Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie. The two address questions about Substack Notes (which Elon dubbed, and they deny, is a “Twitter clone”), the challenging business model of newsletters and their stance on free expression. Somehow, they manage to avoid uttering the name “Elon.” Kara doesn't shy away though.  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When he's about to hit publish on a take that he knows will catch some heat, Ethan Strauss feels like he is about to step off a high diving board. He's scared, but he knows he will do it anyway. “That, to me, feels good,” he says. “The entirety of the process and that particular catharsis feels good.” Ethan writes about the intersection of sport and culture—especially when it comes to the NBA—on House of Strauss, where he also hosts a cult-favorite podcast. He made his name in sports media through covering the Golden State Warriors for ESPN and The Athletic (they're also the subject of his book, The Victory Machine), but more recently he has become known for defying a silent consensus in his industry. Hence the wobbly knees on the diving board.In August 2020, he wrote a piece analyzing the NBA's ratings decline and wondered if it could, in part, be explained by the league's social justice politics. That piece, coming at that time, won him some enemies. But he hasn't backed off.Ethan continues to explore positions that might otherwise get a sports writer cast out from polite society, whether it be an examination of Nike turning away from masculinity in its marketing, or talent agencies' secret power over the NBA, or Kyrie Irving's punishment for refusing to take a Covid vaccine.The result? A body of work that can feel bracingly different, that often provokes, and that always creates room for thought—demonstrating that sports are so much bigger than the game on the field.https://houseofstrauss.substack.com/ Ethan's recommended reads:https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/ https://www.blockedandreported.org/https://wethefifth.substack.com/ https://nancyrommelmann.substack.com/ https://smokeempodcast.substack.com/Show notesSubscribe to Ethan's Substack, House of StraussFind Ethan on TwitterThe clip Ethan discusses from Comedian with Jerry SeinfeldEthan's book, The Victory Machine[02:10] The horseshoe effect[04:14] The sports and culture intersection[12:15] Speaking out on the NBA's declining viewership[23:19] Having moral Tourette's[24:44] Ethan's childhood[28:09] Jumping off the diving board[36:34] Twitter and conformity[48:02] Ethan's early career[51:21] The Ricky Rubio story[58:16] Covering the Golden State Warriors[01:05:11] Being laid off[01:09:27] Writing a book in lockdown[01:14:49] Running an independent business[01:21:05] Ethan's recommended Substack writersThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Alison Roman is enjoying being an “elder millennial” and not feeling the pressure of being on TikTok or even doing all that much on Instagram, the platform that helped make her reputation (although she did meet her boyfriend when he slid into her DMs). “I do furniture shopping on Instagram,” she says, describing what she calls her fraught relationship with the app. “That's what I use it for.”The queen of viral recipes is no longer as known for #TheCookies or #TheStew as she is for simply being a food and media personality. She has just published her third book, Sweet Enough (already a bestseller), she has a thriving YouTube channel, her A Newsletter boasts more than 220,000 subscribers, and she very almost had a CNN show that ultimately hasn't seen the light of day because of the network's fickle business strategy. But there's also that other thing: the cancellation. In a May 2020 interview with a small newsletter, Alison criticized Marie Kondo and Chrissy Teigen's business empires, which led to critics—and then a Twitter mob—accusing her of anti-Asian racism. Alison apologized and self-criticized, profusely, but she lost her New York Times column and some friends along the way. Three years on, she's feeling a lot better about her career and position, but it still smarts. “To have the entire world, what feels like the entire world, wanting you dead and telling you what a bad person you are and how horrible you are, and just wild stuff—I wouldn't wish that upon anybody.”This conversation is packed with Alison's insight and wit, and a steady dose of self-reflection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. https://anewsletter.alisoneroman.com/  Show notes * Subscribe to A Newsletter on Substack* Find Alison on Instagram, YouTube, and her personal website* Alison's books: Dining In, Nothing Fancy, and, published this week, Sweet Enough* Alison's New York Times column* The milk girl meme mentioned* [02:39] Using Instagram as a tool* [06:32] A writer rather than a creator* [09:23] Trying journalism * [11:08] Starting the newsletter * [17:14] Alison's fraught relationship with social media * [20:54] Reaching “visual success” * [28:00] Becoming a pastry chef * [31:03] Writing tips from Bon Appétit * [37:01] Striving for longevity * [40:16] Sweet Enough * [43:25] The exorcism of writing * [46:48] On speaking out * [49:49] Being canceled in 2020* [54:49] On resilience* [1:03:31] Future AlisonThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Powerful AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Lulu Cheng Meservey was formerly head of comms at Substack (where I host my newsletter and podcast) and is currently the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard. She also writes one of my favorite newsletters, “Flack,” where she shares tactical advice for company comms, PR, and messaging. In today's episode, we dive deep into the world of PR and comms. We discuss why taking risks is crucial, how to gain attention as an underdog, and why it's important to have a super-specific audience. Lulu outlines several frameworks I'd never heard of before, including a concentric circles framework for identifying your audience, the cultural erogenous zones, and even a physics-based framework for comms.Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng-meservey-substack-activision-blizzard/#transcriptWhere to find Lulu Cheng Meservey:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lulumeservey• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lulu-cheng-meservey/• Newsletter: https://www.getflack.com/Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/Referenced:• “Binders full of women”: Mitt Romney's four words that alienated women voters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/oct/17/binders-full-of-women-romneys-four-words• Bill Bishop's newsletter on Substack: https://www.sinocism.com/• Hamish McKenzie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hamishmckenzie• The Network State: How to Start a New Country: https://www.amazon.com/Network-State-How-Start-Country-ebook/dp/B09VPKZR3G• How to increase virality: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/increasing-virality• Ryan Petersen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/typesfast• Brian Armstrong on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong• Palmer Luckey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey• Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/• NYX: https://www.nyxcosmetics.com/• Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• Lex: https://lex.page/In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Lulu's background(04:36) What helps an idea spread(06:17) Mitt Romney's “binders full of women”(07:19) Advice for coming up with contagious phrasing(08:36) Lulu's esoteric reference that left her Twitter followers confused(11:08) The importance of taking risks, and Lulu's thread on standing for free speech(12:53) An example of another sticky phrase(14:40) The cultural erogenous zones framework(16:08) How Kamala Harris made people care about education(17:29) How to get attention as the underdog(20:25) How Substack used the concentric circles framework to spread information(21:32) Understanding the layers in those concentric circles(25:44) How to get started figuring out your concentric circles(27:03) An example of aligning messaging with people's values (28:19) Lulu's mathematical formula framework for comms for a purpose(28:54) A physics-based framework for comms(35:56) How Balaji Srinivasan used the concentric circles approach with his book The Network State(39:46) The importance of a super-specific audience(41:12) Reasons your comms are failing(42:40) Why you should focus on one direct communication channel at first(46:58) Why not every founder needs to be on Twitter(48:02) Who LinkedIn works better for(49:23) Examples of messaging with a human voice and hopping on trends quickly(51:11) Reasons for direct comms (53:52) How to get started setting up a direct channel(56:09) Why consistent, good content is better than trying to go viral(59:28) Lightning roundProduction and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

I met Patti Smith at Electric Lady Studios, the studio in New York's Greenwich Village opened by Jimi Hendrix a few weeks before he died, and she immediately walked me down to the basement level to show me the original murals—psychedelic, space-themed—that Hendrix had commissioned for the walls. She had first seen them in 1970, at the studio's opening, when, before she was a well-known artist and the “godmother of punk rock,” she bumped into Hendrix on the staircase. “He stopped and talked to me and told me that he was also shy,” she says. “We talked about his vision for the studio.” Five years later, she recorded the groundbreaking album Horses in Studio A. “It was beautiful but heartbreaking when we started recording to realize that he had such visions for the studio and never got to realize them.”Our initial plan was to do our interview in Studio A, but a miscommunication meant that it was already occupied by a film crew, so we instead went upstairs to a much smaller room, where Patti sat on a brown leather couch and I planted myself on an office chair opposite her. We sat there in conversation for two hours, and most of the time I was just thinking, “I'm sitting with Patti Smith, I'm sitting with Patti Smith,” breaking every so often in an attempt to produce a smart-enough question. Confined to her home during the pandemic, Patti started publishing on Substack to serialize a story, “The Melting,” and then began sharing poetry, songs, audio notes, and videos where she read to her subscribers and shared memories. “It kept me engaged with the people in the world.” Once she was free to tour again, she shot video on her iPhone to take her subscribers backstage with her band. She also performed a concert from Studio A that was livestreamed for her subscribers. Her Substack is her only online presence other than Instagram, where, at her daughter's urging, she opened an account and now has more than 1 million followers. She's 76 years old but still rocking hard, as demonstrated by her energetic birthday performance at Brooklyn Steel. In this conversation, I ask her about how being an artist in 2023 compares to 1973, and how she views this current moment in culture. We talked about building things up versus tearing things down, about friends loved and lost, and about living with gratitude. The opening line from Hendrix's epic song “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” has become something like a mantra for Patti: “Hooray, I wake from yesterday.”Hooray indeed.https://pattismith.substack.com/ Show notesSubscribe to Patti Smith on SubstackYou can also find Patti on Instagram[03:37] Meeting Jimi Hendrix[10:28] Learning to write[12:18] Transcribing with Lenny Kaye [14:40] Lost loved ones[15:53] Friendship at its best[25:09] Writing The Melting[20:01] Trying Twitter, then Instagram[36:31] Taking subscribers behind the scenes[38:56] Being an artist in 1973[41:46] Patti's “not so secret” goal[44:09] On Picasso and social media[57:00] On being misrepresented in the media[59:06] Still mourning John Lennon[1:02:23] Contributing something of qualityThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

When Emily Oster wrote an article for The Atlantic to suggest an amnesty in the pandemic wars, she received a shockingly sharp rebuke from those who weren't ready to forgive. On the left, there were people who felt that the unvaccinated jeopardized untold lives; on the right, there were people still furious about the way they were treated for not going along with the lockdowns. But by that time, social media cancellations were a familiar ritual for Emily, who had already upset some souls with articles about school closures (she was against them) and the Covid risks faced by children (minor) relative to older people (less minor). Even though she was developing a thicker skin, the force of the response to the amnesty piece threw her a little. The worst part? She couldn't tell from the angry emails who was who. “The thing that was in some ways incredibly sad about that reaction was I would get then so many emails, and they were all very mean, most of them. And sometimes I would start reading and I would just think, ‘I don't even know which side you're on.' ”When the pandemic struck, Emily was already well known as the author of the data-informed pregnancy and parenting books Expecting Better and Cribsheet, both of which have become wild bestsellers. But Covid only accelerated her ascent, as anxious parents turned to her for wisdom in navigating uncertain times. She started a Substack newsletter, ParentData, which has become a phenomenon in its own right, with more than 160,000 subscribers. The newsletter was a lifeline for many of its readers, who treated Emily like a trusted advisor or a friend. Those relationships reminded her that, even as the worst of the attacks rolled in via email and social media, she was making a positive difference in people's lives. It gave her the confidence to say important and true things, even when there was a social cost to doing so. “There was a connection that was forged there that I think helped people in a time that was really hard, and I'm really proud that I got to do that,” Emily says. “I think that that is totally worth it from that standpoint. So I'm not sorry.”https://www.parentdata.org/Emily's recommended reads:https://whattocook.substack.com/https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/https://substack.com/profile/12430253-nellie-bowlesShow notesSubscribe to ParentData on SubstackFind Emily on Twitter, Instagram, and her websiteEmily's writing in The Atlantic: on school closures and a pandemic amnesty[02:41] Wanting to be a writer[04:41] Writing Expecting Better[07:15] The Amy Schumer moment[09:22] Writing Cribsheet[12:16] The tension of social media [14:41] Writing about Covid-19 and school closures[18:33] The cost of being yelled at on Twitter[21:32] Developing a thickened skin[25:49] Writing The Atlantic piece [26:55] Dealing with abusive comments[28:03] Humanizing both sides[29:49] Learnings from the blowbacks[32:09] Weighing up taking the heat[35:25] The value of writing on Substack[39:18] On going paid[42:00] Academia and writing[45:50] Teaching students[49:00] Emily's recommended readsThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Etgar Keret's parents, both of whom survived the Holocaust, gave him the gift of imagination, a garden he has been watering with stories since he was a child. His father crouched in a hole in the ground for more than 600 days to escape the Nazis in Belarus, getting through the time by telling himself stories of a parallel universe in which everything was the same except for one detail (like that there were still Nazis who chased Jews, but when they caught them they would give them sweets). Etgar's mother crafted bedtime stories with as much care as if she were doing needlepoint, passing on a tradition cultivated by her parents in the Warsaw Ghetto. “I grew up with the fact that making up a story for somebody is the ultimate act of generosity,” Etgar says. Now in his 50s and living in Tel Aviv, Etgar has published prolifically, most prominently short stories, many of which can be found on his Substack, Alphabet Soup, but also essays, poems, and films, including 2007's Jellyfish, which he co-directed with his wife, Shira Geffen (see his latest short film below). He's also a favorite guest of Ira Glass's on This American Life. In this conversation, we go deep on the importance of storytelling, how to find contentment in an age of social media, and the thorny issue of sensitivity readers in publishing. I am sure you will enjoy it.Etgar's recommended reads:https://joycecaroloates.substack.com/https://georgesaunders.substack.com/https://salmanrushdie.substack.com/Show notes* Subscribe to Alphabet Soup on Substack* Find Etgar on Instagram and his personal website* [05:39] Etgar's father's hiding * [19:23] Memories of his mother* [20:14] Having a rich inner life* [22:19] Balcony living* [24:00] A metaphor for life* [27:33] Create a small village* [30:23] On sensitivity readers* [41:07] Etgar's new short film* [42:04] On artistic identities* [43:25] The hustler's reality* [45:55] The world's biggest problem today* [52:00] Recommended writersThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Heather Havrilesky's writing career has spanned the life of the internet, starting with the satirical site Suck.com, moving through Salon, The Awl, and New York Magazine, and ending up on Substack, where she publishes two much-loved newsletters: Ask Polly and Ask Molly. Heather has mastered the art of reinvention, bending with the winds of the web, as news sites have variously chased SEO, blogging, Facebook traffic, and the rest. She settled on an approach that has worked for her: doubling down on what she likes. That attitude ultimately took her into advice giving, where she has carved out an immense reputation as one of America's preeminent practitioners of the form, primarily through Ask Polly, for years a mainstay of New York Magazine's The Cut. Polly got her start, though, at The Awl, the fan-favorite blog co-founded by Choire Sicha that was home to many of the best and most obsessive online writers of the 2010s, before social media had completely corrupted the landscape for essayists and delightful internet weirdos. While writing Polly for The Cut, Heather saw social media grow in reach and then start to infect the minds of fellow writers who toiled under its constricting influence. “It's almost like an issue of when the auditorium becomes too big and filled with voices,” she says, “you start to feel self-conscious about making sounds when everyone is in the room.” Those pressures came to bear on Heather with exaggerated force after the New York Times published an excerpt of her latest book, Foreverland, an irreverent marriage memoir that comes out in paperback this Valentine's Day. The excerpt carried the subheading “Do I hate my husband? Oh for sure, yes, definitely.” It was enough to create a meme, and Heather spent the next few days being knocked around Twitter for being a husband-hating harlot (or worse, depending on the tweets). What was that experience like for someone who has been writing online for 27 years? Well, it turns out, not easy at all—even for an advice columnist who always manages to find the right words for those who are brushed by misfortune. However, in the pain, she has managed to find a balm for herself in a book idea that emerged from her essay writing on Substack. “One thing that kept me feeling good,” Heather says, “was this idea that life could be deeply romantic even when everything felt terrible.” Her new obsession with finding the romantic in the mundane is proving to be more than just a coping mechanism—it's a way of looking at life. “Discovering new ways of being happy in spite of a lot of things that are aggravating you is—it's the most romantic thing of all.” https://www.ask-polly.com/ Heather's recommended reads:https://www.todayintabs.com/https://therealsarahmiller.substack.com/https://hunterharris.substack.com/https://laurenhough.substack.com/https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/https://cintra.substack.com/https://griefbacon.substack.com/https://indignity.substack.com/Show notesSubscribe to Ask Polly and Ask Molly on SubstackFind Heather on Twitter and InstagramSuck.com, Salon, The AwlHeather's books: Disaster Preparedness (2011), How to Be a Person in the World (2017), What If This Were Enough? (2019), Foreverland (out in paperback on Feb. 14)Excerpt of Foreverland in the New York Times, and the New York Post responseWriting about voice lessons on Ask Molly[02:17]: Working at Suck.com[08:31] Changing San Francisco[09:13] The “jackassery” of boomer optimism [10:58] Smart, weird, fun people everywhere [12:57] The shape-shifting nature of being an online writer [16:12] Becoming an advice writer [18:43] The awe of the Awl [24:58] The freedom, and danger, of social media [30:00] Ask Molly, Polly's evil twin[31:57] Publishing books [36:59] Being misinterpreted in mainstream media  [40:55] Reacting to being attacked online[46:44] Workshopping her next book [50:31] Writing an advice column for 10 years [52:53] Recommended writers on SubstackThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

In the 1990s, the English writer Paul Kingsnorth was a radical environmental activist, taking part in road blockades and protesting at WTO summits. Today he calls himself a “recovering environmentalist” and doesn't believe people can do all that much to halt the march of the markets and technology. For instance, he thinks of climate change as a predicament to be endured, not a problem to be solved. His focus instead is on making sense of this revolutionary time we are living through and finding wisdom in old stories, especially religious ones, to help us live well through civilizational collapse. Paul is not like many other writers on Substack. He is uneasy with technology, worrying about how humans use it to become gods, driving ourselves ever further from a state of nature, losing touch with the wild. That might sound depressing, but if you read his essays on his Substack, The Abbey of Misrule, you are likely to find the opposite. Paul writes in search of beauty and, in my opinion, strikes on it quite often. Amid the assessment of cultural breakdown, he offers some comfort and release, giving the reader permission to turn away from technological distraction and focus on the simple things in life: family, nature, love, and intellectual nourishment. https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/Paul's recommended reads:https://carolineross.substack.com/https://martinshaw.substack.com/https://theupheaval.substack.com/https://angelanagle.substack.com/Show notesSubscribe to The Abbey of Misrule on SubstackFind more books and information on Paul on his personal websiteThe Dark Mountain ProjectPaul's mentioned books: Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist, Real England[02:20] Words as supreme communication [04:34] Being an activist writer[06:45] Environmentalism[15:39] Turning to religion[24:25] Having a famous compost toilet[32:41] Being attacked as a “fascist”[40:17] On the tension of censorship and integrity[44:37] Debating the Covid-19 vaccine[50:30] Substack as old-fashioned, in a good way[53:01] Liberation after losing a father[56:00] Advice to other writers[57:42] Recommended writers on SubstackThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Jessica DeFino's face literally had to peel off before she gave up on beauty products and turned a critical eye on the beauty industry. As a journalist covering the industry, she had been inundated with free beauty products, which she enthusiastically accepted. Then she developed dermatitis and had a bad reaction to the steroids she was prescribed to treat it.“My skin started peeling off of my face in chunks,” she says. “For months, my skin was just oozing red. I couldn't put makeup on. I couldn't use products. I could barely splash water on my face without being in immense pain.”She fell into a deep depression and had a crisis of self. “It really made me examine who I was when I didn't have this armor of beauty products,” she says, “because when I felt like I was ugly, I felt absolutely worthless.” Today, Jessica writes The Unpublishable, a cult-favorite newsletter with the tagline “What the beauty industry won't tell you, from a reporter on a mission to reform it.” In it, she critiques obsessions with Botox-like injectables, the sleight of hand behind “no-makeup faces,” and the social implications of nose jobs, among other exceptionally hot topics. This unapologetic coverage, unusual in the beauty space, has helped The Unpublishable grow from 2,000 subscribers to more than 50,000 last year, with boosts from a viral Twitter thread in which she exposed what it was like to work for the Kardashians and a shout-out from Dua Lipa. In this episode of The Active Voice, I talk with Jessica about the effect social media is having on how we think about beauty, her struggles with writing a book, and why her death-and-redemption experience with beauty culture is definitely just like Jesus dying on the cross for his followers. If you, too, want to see the light, I encourage you to listen to her testimony. https://jessicadefino.substack.com/Jessica's recommended reads:Back Row by Amy OdellHow To Cure A Ghost by Fariha RóisínHEATED by Emily AtkinShow notesSubscribe to The Unpublishable on SubstackFind Jessica on Twitter and Instagram[04:15] Anti product, pro people [06:12] Participating in beauty pageants [07:30] Working on the Kardashian-Jenner apps [09:34] Developing dermatitis [13:17] Beauty as religion [14:45] Going viral on Twitter [17:52] Working harder than ever before [20:15] The reality of attention [21:18] Getting death threats from nail artists [25:19] Writing a book[29:19] The mind of an online writer [32:08] Instagram face [40:16] Beyond beauty[51:40] The Unpublishable audienceThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Ted Gioia, the great music and cultural critic, has never lived in New York and it has cost him. He knows he is completely out of touch. “I didn't make the relationships, I didn't have editors opening doors for me,” he says. “Things were harder for me at every step along the way because I wasn't at those cocktail parties.” But not being in New York has its upsides. Perhaps most importantly: it has helped Ted retain the mindset of an independent outsider, less vulnerable to the groupthink that can overtake the modern media. From his perch in Austin, Texas, and previously in Silicon Valley, the author of 12 books on music and co-founder of Stanford University's jazz studies program sees things that his peers tend to miss. On his Substack, The Honest Broker, Ted has taken the music industry to task for its failure to discover and nurture new music; he has argued that despite a time of democratized access to publishing, society is missing a counterculture; and he has pointed to indicators of Facebook's impending collapse. Occasionally, he'll write a deeply researched series about a figure from rock history that would never find its way into a mainstream outlet.In this conversation for The Active Voice, we discuss how internet platforms are changing our cultural industries for better and worse, how the rise of the likes of YouTube and Substack are helping creators subvert the gatekeepers to outshine traditional channels, and how social media has become a sameness machine—a perpetrator and victim of crowd psychology based on people's intense need to be just like everyone else. “Platforms like Twitter, which should be independent voices saying fresh things, start to feel like everybody's shouting the same thing all at once.”The way out? Find the person who can rise above the fray. Find the honest broker…Ted's recommended reads:https://lewisporter.substack.com/https://greilmarcus.substack.com/https://iverson.substack.com/https://jeffreysultanof.substack.com/Show notesSubscribe to The Honest Broker on SubstackFind Ted on Twitter, Instagram, and his websiteElias Canetti, Crowds and Power[02:39] The story behind the name, The Honest Broker[08:41] Journalism and the media[11:17] Avoiding politics[12:10] Perks of being a music writer[15:27] On being the outsider[17:02] Ted's background[21:12] How the internet destroyed music culture[26:56] The role of TikTok in the music industry[33:09] Mimetic desire, René Girard, and social media[36:21] The exception of Kenny G[40:02] Choosing the writing life[44:05] Advice to young writersThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Why Glenn does The Glenn Show … Glenn: “If I was going to vote for Trump, I wouldn't tell you” … “The cat is out of the bag” on election denial … Modeling epistemic modesty … Why is race such an important issue for Glenn? … The Old Glenn and the New Glenn … Confronting […]

Why Glenn does The Glenn Show ... Glenn: “If I was going to vote for Trump, I wouldn't tell you” ... “The cat is out of the bag” on election denial ... Modeling epistemic modesty ... Why is race such an important issue for Glenn? ... The Old Glenn and the New Glenn ... Confronting the past ... Putting “the funk” on the story of your life ...

Why Glenn does The Glenn Show ... Glenn: “If I was going to vote for Trump, I wouldn't tell you” ... “The cat is out of the bag” on election denial ... Modeling epistemic modesty ... Why is race such an important issue for Glenn? ... The Old Glenn and the New Glenn ... Confronting the past ... Putting “the funk” on the story of your life ...

In this week's QFF episode, Michael interviews Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of McKenzie Pitch Partners. He's based in Toronto, Canada, however, Hamish's a proud Aussie from Tasmania. He studied accounting at a university, then went into corporate banking. Gathering experience and wisdom, paving the way to what he is now, a sought-after pitch consultant. As Hamish defines it, pitching is the effort to win a piece of business. It is the final nail in the coffin to entice investors. This is why it's critical to understand and to be efficient with what you're pitching; Hamish McKenzie specializes in this field. He helps small-medium business owners develop and refine their pitching and presentation skills. As Hamish quotes what famous American William Edwards Deming says, “If you can't describe what you do, as a process, you don't know what you're doing.” Very well said. This Cast Covers: The concept of pitching. Who is Hamish McKenzie? How Michael and Hamish knew each other. Hamish's career before becoming a renowned pitch consultant. How the term pitch should be defined. The real reason behind people buying things. Involvement of psychology in pitching. The importance of initiating a relationship before pitching. Criticalness of small-medium business owners' understanding of what they're pitching. Listening attentively to clients. Links:  Hamish's Linkedin Hamish's Website Hamish's Twitter Additional Resources: Pitch: What you're not doing makes all the difference by Hamish McKenzie Why People Don't Listen? by Hugh Mackay     Quotes: “We define pitch as the effort that goes into winning a piece of business.” — Hamish McKenzie. “People buy things for two reasons, the right reason and the real reason … But the real reason is emotional.” — Hamish McKenzie. “Discipline is more important than talent.” — Hamish McKenzie. “As famous American William Edwards Deming says, ‘If you can't describe what you do, as a process, you don't know what you're doing.'” — Hamish McKenzie. “The more you listen, the more you get to understand the client, and the more you're going to be able to develop a solution.” — Hamish McKenzie.     Music from https://filmmusic.io “Cold Funk” by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com. License: CC by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

I can't imagine what it must be like to grow up on social media, especially as someone who says things in public—to try to figure out who you are as an adult while living under the panoptic gaze of TikTok and Instagram, or to have one's intellectual identity shaped by the performative shoutysphere of Twitter. I'm old enough to have missed all that, but Rayne Fisher-Quann, a 21-year-old Canadian writer who has built a large presence on social media and a cult-favorite Substack called Internet Princess, has forged her life and career in the attention economy. How has she dealt with it? With a soul-saving dose of self-awareness. “I think almost everybody who posts to some degree on the internet is addicted to attention,” she says. “I mean, most of these apps literally try to make you addicted to the attention, actively.” And she's acutely attuned to the dark sides, noting that the things that win the most attention on social media are those she considers ethically wrong. If she has her way, she'll be living on a farm by the age of 35, largely disconnected from the internet. For now, however, she remains very online and very interesting. Rayne communicates on social media and Substack with intelligence and wit to a devoted audience mostly made up of teenagers and young women. Her followers devour her takes on the shaming of public-facing women, the real motivations behind the takedowns of “West Elm Caleb,” and the attacks on Amber Heard. They laugh at her jokes on TikTok, thrill to her (sometimes private) tweets, and go deep with her in Substack Chats.In this conversation, which we recorded live in front of an audience at Substack HQ, we talk about the hostility of TikTok, where people are constantly seeking to misunderstand each other; how she cultivates an online persona that's close to, but not quite, her real self; and treading the fine line between an open discussion of mental illness and the commodifying of it through social media. “It's tough,” she says, “because the fan base that I have, and the way that I can present myself, almost anything that I do can become an object of envy or an object of romanticization, which is really strange.”https://internetprincess.substack.com/Publishing note: The Active Voice will be on break for a few weeks over the holidays. See you in January, 2023!Rayne's recommended reads:https://franmagazine.substack.com/https://kieranmclean.substack.com/https://evilfemale.substack.com/Show notes* Subscribe to Internet Princess on Substack* Find Rayne on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok* Rookie Mag by Tavi Gevinson * [4:53] Becoming famous on TikTok* [6:31] Being misunderstood online* [10:54] Insulating against the backlash* [13:00] The performance of women writers* [14:40] Creating an internet persona* [16:34] Growing up with blogs* [17:56] Writing in lowercase* [20:40] Mental health communities * [23:25] Being made into a Spotify playlist* [27:01] Pitching to Vice* [27: 53] Rayne's writing process* [30:17] Roots in activism* [33:37] Being chemically addicted to attention* [40:07] Big tech * [40:59] Dreams for Rayne's future* [42:14] Role models* [46:17] Making a living as a young writer* [49:27] Dropping out of university* [51:21] Getting a job* [54:17] Recommended writersThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Perth Scorchers replacement player & Wrist Spinner for Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club, Hamish McKenzie, joined Scott Cummings & Paul Hasleby ahead of the Scorchers first game of BBL12, against the Sydney Sixers on Saturday.

You'll have to forgive my self-indulgence in this conversation, because I've gone deep with Joshi Herrmann—not a celebrity name or a celebrated author, I hope he won't be offended by me saying—about a bunch of things that scratch my particular interests in media: local news, New York media-startup scandals circa 2016, subscriptions versus ads, venture capital, and canceled Netflix comedians. Joshi is the founder of a fledgling media empire anchored by The Mill, a local news publication covering the city of Manchester, England, that he launched in 2020. The Mill, which is based entirely on Substack and funded by subscribers, just reached profitability—a rare success story in a space (local news) that hasn't exactly been booming in recent years. Encouraged by The Mill's progress, Joshi has since launched similar publications in Sheffield and Liverpool based on doing high-quality, low-volume longform reporting on issues that matter to cities that are poorly served by the existing media structure. Joshi was a reporter for the Evening Standard in London for four years before, in 2015, he moved to New York for a dream job as the editor in chief for a startup that published The Tab, a news site written by university students and young people about the cultural issues of the time. The Tab quickly gave rise to a spinoff publication called Babe.net, which shot to notoriety after publishing a story that detailed a young woman's bad night with Aziz Ansari, which led to the comedian's “cancellation.” The story came at the height of #MeToo, causing a fiery debate between people who felt it was an important reckoning for behavior that happens often but is under-discussed and those who felt it muddied the lines between truly abusive behavior and something closer to a bad date. Joshi watched it all unfold from an uncomfortable position: he was the editor on that story…Joshi's recommended reads:The Bluestocking, PassTheAux, and Vittles.Show notes* Subscribe to The Mill in Manchester on Substack, as well as its sister sites, Sheffield Tribune in Sheffield, and The Post in Liverpool* The Tab and Babe.net* Aziz Ansari story on Babe.net and Ansari's response* NYT commentary on the Babe.net piece* The Cut on Babe.net* [1:46] Breaking even in local news* [1:55] Feeling like a fraud* [4:48] Getting into local journalism* [8:07] On losing a parent* [12:00] Pursuing an unpromising venture* [13:55] Redefining the problem of local news  * [18:56] Joining The Tab in New York* [22:41] Steroidal audience growth vs. community* [25:25] The “bullshit” of new media's gold-rush era* [26:37] How Babe.net started* [28:28] How Babe broke the Aziz Ansari story* [30:17] How the Ansari story relates to Me Too* [38:06] Lessons from being on the other side of the story* [39:51] Reflections on that time* [41:40] Adapting a new approach to longform* [44:48] Shutting down The Tab and Babe.net* [46:06] Life lessons for The Mill* [47:55] Launching two sister sites in the U.K.* [48:38] The public hunger for great local journalismThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Doomberg, the top-earning finance publication on Substack, is led by a cartoon chicken that previously worked in heavy industry. Okay, so it wasn't the chicken that worked in heavy industry—but its anonymous creators, with a background in hard sciences and energy, did. They chose the green chicken as their publication's logo because they want it to be instantly recognizable on Twitter, which they use as their main marketing channel (it is, after all, the bird app). The plucky avian also fits with the cheeky “defensive pessimism” of Doomberg's ethos, as captured in its tagline: “Chicken Little Gets a Terminal.” Doomberg is a small team (“you could count us on one hand and have a few fingers left over”) with one man as the lead writer. I talked to that man for this episode, but he used a voice modifier to protect his identity. He's worried about being discovered by his peers and prefers for people's focus to be on his analysis rather than his personality.And what of that analysis? Well, it's strong-minded, intelligent, and entertaining, featuring bold statements, such as predicting the onset of a “global famine of historic proportions” and classifying “nuclear waste alarmism” as a way to “rob humanity of carbon-free energy.” The aim, they say at Doomberg, is to be “provocative but not polarizing.” I've talked to hundreds of writers over the years at Substack, but none has applied quite so much rigor to growing a media business from scratch as Doomberg. For Doomberg, the content creation is just a small (but important) piece of the process. They spend just as much time obsessing about brand, technology, and operations. For any Substack strategy nerds, this episode is a must-listen.Show notesSubscribe to Doomberg on SubstackFind Doomberg on TwitterThe Brand Gap by Marty NeumeierHead coach of the University of Michigan football, Jim HarbaughWe Are About to Run Out of Some Stuff, June 15, 2021Farmers on the Brink, Mar. 26, 2022 [discussed at 26:21][02:17] The mindset of Doomberg [03:36] The path to Doomberg[05:28] Previous consulting business[06:50] Doomberg's five strategy pillars for success[07:42] The bin of great writing never read[09:43] Brand sketches and objective[11:13] What type of writer are you?[13:38] The people behind Doomberg[15:53] The customer journey[17:43] The media business is dying[20:37] Editorial integrity [23:05] Twitter is a toxic hell[27:00] On being provocative, not polarizing [30:11] The state of leadership today [33:00] Corporate elitism [37:21] The future of consumption[38:22] Enjoying personal sovereignty[41:00] Starting a media business from zeroThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Chris Hedges is surprisingly cheery for someone who has, by his own admission, “a dark view of human nature.” When we met for this conversation at Substack's office in San Francisco, he was full of smiles and good humor—at least during the times we weren't discussing death and destruction. He had just come from the gym, a habit that borders on a fixation for him, since he works out as a way to deal with the trauma from years of covering war in some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones: the former Yugoslavia, El Salvador, and Iraq, to name a few. It has been 20 years since his groundbreaking book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning came out. Its force was so powerful that it was quoted at the start of Kathryn Bigelow's 2008 film The Hurt Locker: “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” At the time, Chris was a bureau chief for the New York Times, covering the Middle East and the Balkans, but he quit that position following criticism of a speech he gave denouncing the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He has been publishing in independent media ever since, first at Truthdig and later with an interview show, On Contact, on Russia Today (RT). YouTube wiped out the archives to that show when it removed RT from the platform following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. “They're embracing censorship, let's be clear,” Chris says. In this conversation, we talk about why journalists like him keep getting drawn to war despite its dangers, why he sides with the suffering (including in his side role as a Presbyterian minister), and what he thinks is wrong with today's media.Chris recommends this post from Jonathan Cook's newsletter.Show notes* Subscribe to The Chris Hedges Report on Substack* Find Chris Hedges on Twitter (as explained in the episode, not run by him)* War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning* Other writers on Substack Chris recommends: Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, Paul Street, Jonathan Cook* The Catullus poem Chris quotes* Eunice Wong's website* [02:05] Navigating war zones (and avoiding being killed)* [04:43] Being taken prisoner in Basra* [5:55] The mental stability of a war correspondent* [06:51] How Chris got into war reporting* [08:40] “You don't stay lucky forever”* [09:09] Becoming a recluse* [15:19] Writing a memoir * [21:03] The Presbyterian minister* [22:33] The ordination to journalism* [25:47] The state of today's journalism * [31:33] Why social media sound bites are “world without context”* [33:27] The problem with independent media* [34:06] Mainstream media and WikiLeaks * [36:37] What has happened to our institutions* [37:03] Is there hope? * [40:40] Meeting his wife, Eunice WongThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Did you know that a votive candle is one of those short, squat candles that people use for prayer or, like, to put on their outside stairs when they're hosting a fancy party? I did not. But “votive” is the word I blurted out when Cheryl Strayed was trying to describe the type of tall candle she lit as a way to psychically summon Reese Witherspoon. A decade ago, Strayed was waiting to hear whether or not the actor was interested in taking the lead role in the movie adaptation of Wild, her best-selling 2012 memoir. So she lit the big candle (maybe it was a pillar or a taper, now that I google it) and every time she walked by it, she whispered “Reese… Reese.” It worked! Witherspoon indeed took the role, the movie was a hit, and the two became great friends. Strayed is super-famous because of Wild, which is the same reason Oprah loves her, but she's also beloved for her advice column, Dear Sugar, which she started writing at The Rumpus around the time that Wild was about to blow up. She wrote it anonymously at first, and for no pay. She just fell in love with the idea of turning an advice column into a forum for literary essays about life. She had ample material to draw on: an impoverished childhood in rural Minnesota; a much-loved mother who passed away when Strayed was 22; a downward spiral that ensued and involved a lot of sex and heroin; and a life-changing, soul-finding, shoe-destroying solo trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. A couple weeks ago, I met Strayed in Portland, Oregon, where it was raining for the first time in several months, and we talked about how she still feels abject terror when faced with a blank page, how if she goes to the Oscars again, she'll wear Dr. Martens, and about some mountain-themed advice George Saunders gave her about finding her own way forward as a writer. “I really believe story is essential to us,” Cheryl told me, lighting a candle for all who believe in the power of writing, “and we need it individually, collectively; we need those stories to tell us who we are, to show us who we can be.”https://cherylstrayed.substack.com/Cheryl's recommended read:Oldster by Sari Botton:[Sari] has this wonderful take on aging. And what I love about her focus is she always says, “Oldster is not for people who are getting older.” The whole idea of aging at whatever age you are—when you're 12, you're aging. We use that word to only mean old people, but really it's about what does this experience of aging teach us? What do we learn from being 22 and 42 and 72 and 102? And people write about that and they answer this questionnaire. And it's always very inspiring and interesting to read. I love that.Show notesCheryl Strayed's Dear SugarFind Cheryl on Twitter and her personal websiteWild by Cheryl Strayed (paperback)[01:46] Her mother being portrayed by Laura Dern in Wild[05:56] Losing someone close to you[10:58] Working with Reese Witherspoon[16:21] Finally finding financial freedom[20:08] Having “How did I get here?” moments[21:20] Falling in love with words[23:00] Murder on my feet[24:00] Dear Sugar in The Rumpus[26:47] Taking over the Dear Sugar column[30:09] Early writing on the internet[31:20] The power of story[35:25] Social media as a gift for writers[40:40] Restarting Dear Sugar as a Substack [45:00] Keep Walking, by Cheryl Strayed, a scene cut from Wild [48:20] Advice from George Saunders [52:25] Going into the cave, as a writer[53:35] Oldster by Sari Botton[54:33] Advice writers Cheryl recommends: Ask E. Jean by E. Jean Carroll, ¡Hola Papi! by John Paul Brammer, and Ask Polly by Heather Havrilesky.[55:04] Other Substacks Cheryl loves: Craft Talk by Jami Attenberg, Story Club by George Saunders, Your Local Epidemiologist by Katelyn Jetelina, Austin Kleon's newsletter, and The Audacity by Roxane Gay.The Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Among many notable things, Glenn Loury has been the first African American economics professor to get tenure at Harvard, an author and essayist, a firebrand on race issues from both the left and the right, and, in one dark chapter of his life, a cocaine addict who led a secret life on the streets.Now in his 70s and a professor at Brown University, Loury leads a semi-retired life, publishing video conversations with fellow academics and intellectuals for an audience of tens of thousands on his Substack, an endeavor that includes a long-running dialogue with the Columbia University linguistics professor and New York Times columnist John McWhorter. In covering some fraught territory—such as “The Unified Field Theory of Non-Whiteness,” “Living by the Race Card,” and “Turning the Tide on Affirmative Action”—Loury sometimes attracts intense criticism. When University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax came on his show and made controversial remarks about Asian immigrants, he copped an earful. When he challenged recent anti-Trump comments made by Sam Harris, he upset a bunch of Harris stans (“I didn't quite get right what he had said,” Loury says in our conversation. “My apologies, Sam, if you hear this, because I do like you”).But Loury has a long history of being an outsider and is unafraid to take principled positions that get him in trouble with his peers. He has an almost constitutional resistance to conformity. One thing he prides himself on, though, is having tough discussions on big topics, even with those who disagree with him. “I'm proud to be able to say that I can have cordial and productive conversations with them,” he says, “and I intend to do more of that.”We have video!Quotes from the conversationOn productive disagreementI've tried to have people on the [Glenn Loury show] who challenge me... Had Cornel West on the show and we had a wonderful conversation. I've had Briahna Joy Gray on the show. I've had Richard Wolff, the Marxist economist, on the show. These are people that come at the issues that I'm concerned about rather differently than I do, but I'm proud to be able to say that I can have cordial and productive conversations with them and I intend to do more of that.On being hard to pin downDuring the 2020 election season, I had a formula, which was I'm going to vote for Biden, but you shouldn't believe me because, if I were going to vote for Trump, I would never tell you. So if you ask me who I'm going to vote for, there's no information in my response. On discussing TrumpOne of my points that I've been making over and over again in conversation with John McWhorter, who very forthrightly as a good New Yorker denounces Trump at every opportunity – he's a moron, he's an idiot, whatever – is that, hey, man, 45% of the population thinks the guy should be President. I mean, maybe we ought to think about why they think that. On watching what he saysI'm managing my brand, I must confess, by carefully selecting how it is that I react to the Trump phenomenon so as to be able to maintain plausible deniability.On independent thinkingI could report to you that I hate to be bullied. Don't tell me what to think and don't tell me what to say. You want to call me a name? Call me a name. But if you want to change my mind, you had better make an argument and it had better be a good one.On Sam HarrisSam Harris made a comment about suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story and then I made a comment about Sam Harris. John McWhorter and I kicked that around. I took exception to what I understood Sam to say, but I didn't quite get right what he had said. My apologies, Sam, if you hear this because I do like you.On how the internet is affecting cultureMaybe I'm going to say pessimistic because we are so polarized. I mean, to the point where large numbers of people question the outcome of elections. And that goes in both directions, by the way. Trump lost the most recent election for President and he's an election denier – and his followers to the extent that they don't acknowledge the legitimacy of Biden's election – but believe me, that's not over. There will be other elections. There will be different outcomes... On the other hand, it is possible to have a conversation with just about anybody instantly and to send it out to millions of people. And that's really pretty cool. I don't blame the medium for the fact that it can abet partisan polarization and division because it can also facilitate a different kind of discourse.On making the best case for the other sideI try to do that a little bit with the so-called steel-manning function in my own podcasts. When I hear an argument, I try to imagine and then articulate what I think the best case for the other side is. Ideally, if I do that well, the listener, if they tune in in the middle of the podcast, won't know what side I actually hold. To the extent that I can succeed at that, I'm hopefully modeling a kind of intellectual openness and a kind of, if you will, epistemic modesty. This may be what I think, but I'm not sure it's right. What's the best case for the other side? That kind of thing.On his partnership John McWhorterI have great respect and admiration for John. I mean, we have this rapport. It's kind of a shtick now. It's kind of an act that we perform every other week, and I look forward to it.On the state of race relations in the USI think the idea that the United States of America is a white supremacist, racist nation founded on slavery and genocide... That idea in the 21st century is wrong.On holding unpopular positionsI'm worried about the victims of crimes, not only about the way we treat people who commit it... Have I lost friends? Yes, I've lost friends. And I've gained new friends.On changing his mindI've, over the course of my life, taken this position and taken that position and so on. And it's not a pendulum swinging back and forth. That's the wrong metaphor. I'm deepening and making more subtle and more nuanced the sensibilities that I bring to these questions... I don't know how this all ends. And it does end. I'm painfully aware of the fact that we are all mortal. But I like to think that I'm on a higher plane today than I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago.On his double life while at HarvardI was a cocaine addict. Did stuff like that. I had a mistress stashed away that had blew up in my face when we got into fight that became public and she accused me of battery, which was not what happened... I was this bad boy with a nightlife and a kind of reckless disregard for the normal constraints. I thought I was Superman. I thought I was the baddest cat on the block.On finding religion and recoveringI went through the valley of the shadow of death and came out on the other side.On writing a memoirFor me, it's very obvious that you must disclose discrediting information about yourself in order to win the confidence of the reader such that, when you get to the part where you want to glorify yourself, you have the reader's credibility. So even if my goal is to toot my own horn, at the end of the day when they turn the last page of the book and I want them to think Glenn is really a wonderful guy, what a human being, what a life, to get there, we have to go through the valley of the shadow of death.On being a contrarian I call myself a contrarian. I say I don't like bandwagons. Am I being a contrarian for contrarian's sake? Am I refusing to acknowledge things that are true simply because most people think them to be true and I have to therefore be on the other side? Do I get a certain amount of self-aggrandizement and satisfaction from sneering at the popular opinion and taking the slings and arrows that come from that? Probably.Show notes* Glenn Loury on Substack and Twitter* Old-school video blog publication, Bloggingheads.tv, where it all started for Glenn * [10.00] Amy Wax saying controversial things on The Glenn Show* [12.00] Criticizing Sam Harris* [15.00] Talking about Trump* [17.50] Disagreeing with his own family* [20.45] Having people on the show who challenge him* [23.20] Not blaming the internet * [25.00] Hate Inc, by Matt Taibbi (paperback)* [27.00] Woke Racism, by John McWhorter* [28.45] Glenn's tribute to John McWhorter* [31.45] State of race conversations in the U.S.* [34.00] “Unspeakable Truths About Racial Inequality in America,” by Glenn Loury, Quillette* [38.00] Glenn's intellectual obituary to James Q. Wilson, from 2012* [41.35] Old Glenn/New Glenn* [50.00] Substack writers mentioned: Robert Wright, Matt Taibbi, Nikita Petrov, John McWhorter, Emily Oster, Alex Berenson* Bari Weiss interview with Glenn Loury, Honestly podcastThe Active Voice is a new podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro.Postscript  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Hamish McKenzie is a Co-founder of Substack, a platform that makes it simple to start a paid newsletter. Substack is currently valued at $650 million, and has raised over $80 million dollars from a16z, YC among other top funds. Prior to founding Substack, Hamish is a journalist and former lead writer for Tesla, and a one-time reporter for tech blog PandoDaily. He is also the author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil.  You can learn more about:  How to build a successful media tech company  How to start a highly earned newsletter on Substack  How to succeed as a non technical co-founder  Check out our brand new YouTube Video Podcast!  https://www.SmartVenturePod.com IG/Twitter/FB @GraceGongGG LinkedIn:@GraceGong YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, super star founders, as well as well known tech executives in the silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company. ===================== Brought to you by: https://momentonft.com

I was hoping to meet Samantha Irby in person, since podcast interviews are more fun that way and she is a fun person, but she is obstinately committed to Kalamazoo, the small Michigan city plonked equidistant from three Great Lakes. This podcast has not yet reached the point where I can justify the expense of a Courtyard Marriott in Kalamazoo for one interview. So, Zoom it was. Kalamazoo looms so large in Samantha's bio that it has become part of her brand. She doesn't care for the literary cool clubs of New York and Los Angeles. She's an outsider, but loved by insiders. She has a voice all her own—energetic, profane, wacked-out—that is of some place other than where all her peers seem to reside (physically and psychologically). And she is very nice, in that way that obliges everyone to remark on how nice people from the Midwest are. Relatedly, she quit Twitter. Unrelatedly, she has a Substack about Judge Mathis. Actually, on second thought, I am pretty sure that is related. Relatedly, she has a new book of essays called Quietly Hostile, her fifth (“please buy it or I will die,” she implores readers). Relatedly, she writes for TV shows, including Shrill, Tuca & Bertie, and most up-to-datedly, And Just Like That… (the Sex and the City reboot). These are impressive achievements for someone who started her writing career with a MySpace blog in 2008 (“I met this dude who was like, ‘I'm really into writers' and I wanted him to be really into me”). That background, with a love for writing online developed before social media became a Thunderdome, has helped her find freedom in her art, so she can really let loose with foul language and exquisite potty humor. Samantha Irby gets to be who she wants on the internet. If only she could do it without the death threats… Samantha's recommended read*  Now That I Mention It by Meecham Whitson MeriweatherShow notes* Subscribe to bitches gotta eat! by Samantha Irby* Find Samantha's author profile and personal website* Quietly Hostile, published by Penguin Random House, is out in May 2023* Follow Samantha on Instagram* [01:27] On that phone call from Cynthia Nixon* [07:25] Writing for And Just Like That…* [11:38] Receiving feedback online* [13:44] Shutting down comments* [15:48] Being tagged by “some bitch”* [19:17] The challenge for modern writers* [27:27] Advice for emerging writers* [33:11] Becoming a writer, not giving up the day job* [35:32] From Myspace to Substack* [44:39] The newsletter as a job* [46:44] Getting voicemails from Warner Bros* [50:30] Living in Kalamazoo, Michigan* [56:06] Depression memes and hopefulness* Samantha's profile piece on Lizzo for Time Magazine in 2019* miranda??? texting me?????The Active Voice is a new podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

What does it take to succeed on Substack today? And if you're thinking of starting your Substack newsletter, are you too late to the party? Over the past few years, I've interviewed several popular Substack newsletter owners. I even interviewed the co-founder of Substack, Hamish McKenzie.Substack has gotten a lot more popular since I first featured it on the Become a Writer Today Show. Now it's used by journalists, writers, fiction writers, novelists, bloggers, and all types of creatives worldwide. In fact, it's so popular that it can seem difficult if you're using Substack for the first time to build a popular newsletter. This week, I caught up with a Substack fellow, her name is Elle Griffin, and she runs the popular Substack newsletter, The Novelist. It has excellent advice and a great take on book writing and becoming an author versus writing a Substack newsletter. Elle also used her newsletter to serialize a book of fiction that she wrote during the pandemic.In this episode, we discuss:Why you should consider a newsletter over a bookHow Substack has evolvedThe inbuilt discovery in the platform to attract subscribersThe future of publishing for creators and writersElle's take on Web 3.0 platformsResources:NewsletterSupport the show

No one covered the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard trial in quite the way that Jessica Reed Kraus did on Instagram and Substack, taking her readers into the courtroom, behind the scenes, and into some of the most salacious details of the actors' personal lives. Near the start of the pandemic, the relatively unknown writer and influencer had pivoted from writing about home renovations and her four children in Orange County to something that she felt could bring people together in more civil conversations: celebrity gossip. Nearly two years on, Jessica has accumulated more than 1 million Instagram followers and more than 100,000 Substack subscribers. Now some of Hollywood's biggest names turn to her to tell their sides of complex stories.. She got there thanks to her bold and gleefully obsessive coverage of trials involving Britney Spears, Ghislaine Maxwell, and—her breakout moment—Depp-Heard. When the Depp-Heard case began in April this year, Jessica recognized its significance and felt compelled to cover it, despite having no prior professional journalism experience. Through daily Instagram Stories and then in-depth Substack posts, Jessica relayed gossip she had gathered through the proceedings, as well as phone calls, texts, DMs, and more, much of it from close-to-celebrity sources who would never talk to the mainstream media. Her scoops—unfiltered, unsanctioned, and unabashed—touched on the tawdry and the truly scandalous, almost daring the powerful subjects to respond. So why has Jessica, who has been unafraid to take sides in the stories she's covering, become one of the most trusted gossip writers among the Hollywood elite? What does her sudden success say about the rise of the influencer-reporter in the new media economy? And can the art of gossip be rediscovered on new platforms? All this, and more, in this week's episode of The Active Voice.https://jessicareedkraus.substack.com/Show notes* Recommended read: The Queen: What She Meant to Me in Vicky Ward Investigates:* House Inhabit by Jessica Reed Kraus* Jessica Reed Kraus on Instagram and Twitter* Depp Vs. Heard / Pt .1—The Phone Call* [01:13] Speaking to Johnny Depp on the phone* [08:00] Growing an audience through the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard trial* [09:18] On respecting the art of gossip* [13:00] The reaction from mainstream media* [18:32] On gaining the trust of sources* [19:35] How it all started* [22:01] On being branded as an “anti-vaxxer”* [27:06] Being banned on Instagram* [29:31] Making turning a passion into a career* [31:39] On speaking to Courtney Love while washing the dishes* [32:50] Preferring being behind-the-scenes* Newsletter Breakdown—A Welcome Guide for NewcomersThe Active Voice is a new podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Welcome to The Active Voice, a new podcast with Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie about how great writers reckon with the only thing in the last 17,000 years to challenge the technological supremacy of writing: the internet. Through these conversations, we'll explore how the world's most important stories are told in a time when social media has come to dominate our minds and attention. Today, we start with George Saunders, one of America's greatest living writers (and author of the wonderful Substack Story Club).This podcast is called The Active Voice because we enjoy the double entendre, and because it is about the writer in the arena: the writer who, despite the pressures of the social media moment, has the courage to say what they believe needs to be said; the writer who finds a way to speak truth to power; the writer who seeks understanding over takedowns. This podcast is for those who know that what you read matters and that great writing is valuable.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

A couple of days after I interviewed George Saunders for the first episode of this podcast, I caught up on some of his recent posts on Story Club, his writing-focused Substack. In “A Lost Speech, Found,” he wrote about rediscovering the script for a graduation speech he had given many years ago. The speech would earn him a reputation as “The Kindness Guy.”  “If the question ‘How should I live' can be answered: ‘Live so as to minimize your regrets,'” he had said in that speech, “then I have to tell you: What you actually regret, when you're older, is very simple: You regret the times you could have been kind, and weren't.”Saunders, one of the world's greatest short story writers and winner of the 2017 Booker Prize for his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, was certainly kind to me. We sat together at a lunch table under a tree in a Santa Monica park for an hour and half. George patiently answered my questions about how to live a good life as a writer when so many social and economic forces make it so complicated. We talked about modes of thinking and how to negotiate with one's ego, and how he writes to tame his “monkey brain.” We talked about the trope of the starving artist, and what it takes to make a living as a modern-day writer. And we talked about the corrosive effects of social media, which in so many cases encourages and rewards the opposite of kindness. I can't think of a better first guest for this podcast than The Kindness Guy. After the interview, George texted me to say, “Feel free to edit out any stupidity.” I couldn't find any.Show notes*Story Club with George Saunders*Liberation Day: Stories, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Tenth of December: Stories, and Lincoln in the Bardo*Reporting on Trump rallies*[5:15] Reading comments and reviews*[8:07] Artistic pride and ambition*[11:25] The social media self *[16:13] Becoming a short story writer*[21:00] Life at 60*[27:55] Online personas and the act of writing*[37:57] The craft of story*[46:48] Story Club on Substack*[50:10] Juggling writing and life*[55:04] On Liberation Day*[1:00:39] Trying to be happyThe Active Voice is a new podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is edited and produced by Hanne Winarsky, with content production by Hannah Ray and production support by Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com

Welcome to our new podcast, The Active Voice. It's about how great writers are reckoning with the challenges of the social media moment, how they find the space for themselves to create great literature and journalism despite the noise, and how to make a living amid the economic volatility of the 2020s.In the first episode, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie talks to George Saunders, one of America's greatest living writers (and author of the wonderful Substack Story Club). You can listen to it and subscribe at read.substack.com. This podcast is called The Active Voice because we enjoy the double entendre, and because it is about the writer in the arena: the writer who, despite the pressures of the social media moment, has the courage to say what they believe needs to be said; the writer who finds a way to speak truth to power; the writer who seeks understanding over takedowns. This podcast is for those who know that what you read matters and that great writing is valuable. I can't wait to share all these conversations with you. The Active Voice is produced and shared using Substack for podcasts. Find out how Substack makes a richer podcasting experience, supporting multimedia and subscriptions, and fostering a direct relationship with your listeners here.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Hamish McKenzie is the Co-Founder Of Substack. In this conversation, we discuss the downfall of legacy media, the rise of independent media, where money is being made in this new industry, supporting free speech, the creator "middle class", and the Substack subscription model. ======================= Arculus is the next generation crypto & NFT cold storage wallet that combines one of the world's strongest security protocols with the easiest to use form factor and app. Arculus requires 3-Factor Authentication to ensure only you have access to your digital assets – something you know – a PIN, something you have – the Arculus Key Card, and biometrics. Learn more and buy it now on getarculus.com. Use promo code POMP to save 15%. Remember, with Arculus, it's your keys, your crypto. ======================= If you're trying to grow and preserve your crypto-wealth, optimizing your taxes is just as lucrative as trying to find the next hidden gem. Alto IRA can help you invest in crypto in tax-advantaged ways to help you preserve your hard earned money. Alto CryptoIRA lets you invest in more than 200 different coins and tokens with all the same tax advantages of an IRA. They make it easy to fund your Alternative IRA or CryptoIRA via your 401(k) or IRA rollover or by contributing directly from your bank account. So, ready to take your investments to the next level? Diversify like the pros and trade without tax headaches. Open an Alto CryptoIRA to invest in crypto tax-free. Just go to https://altoira.com/pomp ======================= FTX.US is the safe, regulated way to buy and sell Bitcoin and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors. There are no fixed minimum fees, no ACH transaction fees, and no withdrawal fees. Download the FTX App today and use referral code “Pomp” to earn free crypto on every trade over $10. The more you trade, the more you earn. ======================= Amberdata provides the critical data infrastructure enabling financial institutions to participate in the digital asset class. We deliver comprehensive data and insights into blockchain networks, crypto markets, and decentralized finance. Download our Digital Asset Data Guide at https://www.amberdata.io/pomp ======================= Exodus is leading the world out of the traditional financial system by building beautiful and user-friendly blockchain products. With its focus on design and user experience, Exodus has become one of the most popular and loved cryptocurrency apps. It's supported on both desktop and mobile, allowing you to sync your wallet across multiple devices so you can have access to your funds anywhere. You can instantly exchange around 100 different cryptocurrencies straight from your wallet. Interactive charts let you view an asset's price history and your portfolio's performance over time. And maybe the best part, Exodus is integrated with the Trezor hardware wallet - making advanced security easy for everyone. Visit exodus.com/pomp for your free download or search Exodus on the App Store or Playstore. ======================= The number one name in NFT domains and the world's most powerful wallet are teaming up to bring something new to the crypto and Web3 world: That's right, Unstoppable Domains and Blockchain.com partnered to create NFT domain names ending in .Blockchain. It's the perfect ending to show that you're a believer in a decentralized future. Either sign up for a free blockchain.wallet or visit Unstoppabledomains.com to buy your domain today. =======================

In this episode we go behind the scenes with writer and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie  (@hamishmckenzie) to explore his journey from journalism to working at Tesla, writing a book about Elon Musk, and his motivation for creating Substack, a newsletter platform that allows independent writers to publish directly to their audience and if they choose to, monetize their writing. We discuss what commonalities he sees with the more successful writers on the platform, why he's excited about new writers that will emerge in the coming years and his take on the future of publishing and newsletters.*ABOUT HAMISH MCKENZIEHamish McKenzie is the co-founder of subscription publishing start-up Substack and author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil. In recent years, he has been the lead writer for Tesla, an advisor to Kik, a tech reporter, and a freelance journalist covering everything from the World Beard and Moustache Championships to the world's most comprehensive face transplant. Hamish is a New Zealander who lives in San Francisco.*RESOURCES:Connect with Hamish:Twitter:@hamishmckenzieWebsite: Hamish's SubstackOther resources mentioned in the interview: SubstackPodcasting with SubstackHamish's Book: Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of OilKurt Vonnegut quote: If this isn't nice I don't know what isFor show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon

A day of drama for the Dutch at #Wollongong2022 as Annemiek van Vleuten crashed not long after the start and a mechanical for Mollema. We recap all the results from the day and Australian Hamish McKenzie joins us live after his silver medal in the junior TT.

A few weeks ago, with Matt Welch bleeding out of his ears and supposedly forbidden from flying, Kmele and Moynihan hopped a plane to a post-apocalyptic hellscape called “San Francisco” to kibizt with their new benevolent overlords at Substack. Unlike the boring prigs at Patreon (whose “Trust and Safety” commissars never even returned our calls), Substack rather generously hosted the Fifth crew for drinks, drinks, some more drinks, and a live show at company HQ. In Matt's stead, the lads called up FOTF (Friend of the Fifth - ed.) Lara “Che” Bazelon, a local law professor and communist revolutionary, and Substack co-founder* Hamish McKenzie, a reactionary publisher of fake news. They discuss San Francisco, the state of the media, the future of free speech, and much, much more. Enjoy.*Note: We previously referred to Hamish as CEO of Substack. He is, we are reliably informed, the "chief writing officer," which sounds to us like a fake job. As such, we now have significant doubts he even works at Substack and suspect he's never even been to New Zealand (which he told us “is the country where Kyle Minogue and Yahoo Serious are from”). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethefifth.substack.com/subscribe

This week I contrast the views of Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie and Vox's Peter Kafka. And I couldn't resist a few suggestions to Hamish. The Future of the Newsletter is the future of the network, whatever the outcome, so this is important.

Substack — the popular newsletter and publishing service — has made a name for itself by swimming against the current: As many technology companies devise new ways to censor or moderate content on their platforms, Substack made free speech one of its core values and, in doing so, has attracted bloggers and journalists from across the political spectrum.“While we have content guidelines that allow us to protect the platform at the extremes, we will always view censorship as a last resort, because we believe open discourse is better for writers and better for society,” proclaimed Substack's founders.Lulu Cheng Meservey is Vice President of Communications for Substack. She went viral earlier this year when she tweeted about why free expression is an important principle for Substack. She joins us this week to discuss Substack, free speech, and the new media ecosystem. Show notes: Transcript Lulu's viral tweet thread “Society has a trust problem. More censorship will only make it worse.” by Hamish McKenzie, Chris Best, and Jairaj Sethi Substack's “Content Guidelines” Substackers mentioned: Andrew Sullivan, Casey Newton, The Fifth Column, Patti Smith, George Saunders, Salman Rushdie, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Freddie deBoer, Nikita Petrov, Blocked and Reported John Stuart Mill's “On Liberty” www.sotospeakpodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SotoSpeakTheFreeSpeechPodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freespeechtalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechtalk/ Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org

Live Sports – The Next Streaming WarTHE DIGITAL SEATS REVOLUTIONBy Keith Teare • Issue #316 An average sports stadium can hold 50-100,000 fans. But teams have millions and sometimes billions of fans. What is the true value of the rights to stream games? This week Amazon bought UK Champions League rights. Can we expect more money to come for sports rights and who should own them?ContentsLive Sports — The Next Streaming WarEssays of the Week* Will China Build Your Next Car?* China EV Battery Breakthrough* Howard Morgan's Amazing Career* Critiquing Crypto Promoters* Startup Workforce Trends from Carta* Does VC Investing Violate Crypto Ethics* Software Salaries — Europe and USA* Web3 Use Cases Part IIGood News* Sequoia raising $2.25bn?* EF raises $158m Series C* Plural launches €250m Entrepreneur Led Fund* Long Term Stock Exchange Raises $100m* Normalyze Series ABad News* A16Z slows pace of investments* VCs advise company sales* Substack cuts 13 jobs* Unity loses 4% of workforceStartup of the Week* PaveTweet of the Week* BlockFi sold for $25m after raising $1.2bn?EditorialSoftware is about to eat live sports. The signs have been coming for some time. Apple pioneered the trend by buying the rights to Friday night baseball and MLS soccer. It is rumored to be interested in Sunday Ticket for NFL streaming.Now Amazon is strongly favored to buy the rights to one of the biggest football competitions in the world — the UEFA Champions League — in one of its biggest markets — the UK. This follows the deal announced in March, an 11-year deal, valued at $1bn (£824m) annually, for Amazon to broadcast live NFL football in the US.These deals highlight the next stage in the competition between broadcast, cable, and satellite networks on one side and streaming giants on the other. Live sports and live news are the only significant content that consumers want and streamers historically did not have.The value of live sports to a rights owner is that it compels sports fans to buy subscriptions to services that host their favored events.Rupert Murdoch pioneered the approach with Sky Sports when building out his BSkyB franchise. It required every football (soccer) loving home to install a satellite dish and set-top box. And they did.Now Apple and Amazon are playing their game and have very deep pockets for doing so.The key to understanding how to play the game is to understand its value. I am familiar with the English Premier League so using it as an illustration here are the facts.The EPL has 20 teams. Between them, they have over 2 billion global fans who have 380 games per season. That is a total market available of 760 billion viewers. The EPL is currently planning to sell the rights for £10.5 bn ($14.2) for 3 years:For the 2022 to 2025 rights cycle, The Times says international deals will be worth UK£5.3 billion (US$7.1 billion), up 30 per cent, while domestic deals bring in UK£5.1 billion (US$6.9 billion), with commercial partnerships taking the total to UK£10.5 billion (US$14.2 billion).That makes $4.73 bn per year. On a per viewer/game basis that is point six of a cent per viewer/game in revenue.* Games Per Week 10* Total Fan base 2,000,000,000* Number of Weeks 38* Total viewer/games 760,000,000,000* Rights per year $4,730,000,000* Revenue per viewer/game $0.006Of course, the rights buyers monetize the games at a multiple of their cost, by selling subscriptions and advertisements. The total value of the league measured in income is unknown. But clearly, it is well over $4.73bn a season. Perhaps 9–10 times that.The income goes to the rights buyers, not to the League.So if streamers gain control of the EPL, how much might it be worth?Let us assume that 50% of the fan base watches one game a week and pays $1 a game. That would be as follows:* Total Fan Base 1,000,000,000* Number of weeks 38* Games Per Week Per Fan: 1* Viewer Games Per Week 1,000,000,000* Price per game: $1* Weekly Revenue: $1 billion* Seasonal Revenue: $38 billion* Revenue per viewer/game $1So at 1 game per week, at $1 a game, streaming could generate $38 billion per season. In reality, the price per game can be higher and most fans would watch more than one game per week.The untapped fortune here is what I call digital seats. Liverpool FC can fit under 70,000 fans into its Anfield stadium. But over 500,000,000 would pay to watch live games. Double that for Manchester United. Streamers can create these digital seats. Over time they can deliver a better than stadium experience to those seats.This means that the price Amazon is paying for European football is very small compared to the opportunity.Beyond that, the EPL itself should probably retain the rights and offer ticket-based streaming directly to fans globally. In that case, the revenue would come back to the EPL and not be placed into the hands of middlemen.The real promise of streaming is to cut out the middlemen and simply pay for production and transport, as a cost. Movies, TV series, News, and Sports will all go that way. This week Amazon is shining a light on this.VideoThat Was The Week's video cast streams live each Friday. The recorded version is available only to subscribers. Subscribe here.Live Sports — The Next Streaming WarAmazon close to deal over Champions League rights in UKUS retailer and streaming giant set to split UK rights with BT Sport, while BBC to broadcast highlights in new Match of the Day editionAmazon is close to securing a groundbreaking deal to broadcast live Champions League football in the UK from 2024, with highlights returning to terrestrial TV for the first time in nearly a decade in a midweek BBC Match of Day show.The US internet retailer and streaming giant, which already has a broadcast portfolio spanning Premier League football, tennis and rugby, is understood to be set to split the UK rights with existing holder BT Sport in a new deal with the governing body, Uefa, running from 2024 until 2027.Continue reading…www.theguardian.com • ShareEssays of the WeekChina Built Your iPhone. Will It Build Your Next Car?RUMORS OF AN Apple electric car project have long excited investors and iPhone enthusiasts. Almost a decade after details of the project leaked, the Cupertino-mobile remains mythical — but that hasn't stopped other consumer electronics companies from surging ahead. On the other side of the world, people will soon be able to order a vehicle from the Taiwanese company that mastered manufacturing Apple's gadgets in China. Welcome to the era of the Foxconn-mobile.In October 2021, Hon Hai Technology Group, better known internationally as Foxconn, announced plans to produce three of its own electric vehicles in collaboration with Yulon, a Taiwanese automaker, under the name Foxtron. Foxconn, which is best known for assembling 70 percent of iPhones, has similar ambitions for the auto industry: to become the manufacturer of choice for a totally new kind of car. To date it has signed deals to make cars for two US-based EV startups, Lordstown Motors and Fisker.Foxconn's own vehicles — a hatchback, a sedan, and a bus — don't especially ooze Apple-chic, but they represent a big leap for the consumer electronics manufacturer. Foxconn's ambitious expansion plan also reflects a bigger shift across the auto world, in terms of technology and geography. The US, Europe, and Japan have defined what cars are for the last 100 years. Now the changing nature of the automobile, with increased electrification, computerization, and autonomy, means that China may increasingly decide what car making is.If Foxconn succeeds in building a major auto-making business, it would contribute to China becoming an automotive epicenter capable of eclipsing the conventional powerhouses of the US, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Foxconn did not respond to requests for an interview.The automobile industry is expected to undergo big transformations in the coming years. An October 2020 report from McKinsey concluded that carmakers will dream up new ways of selling vehicles and generating revenues through apps and subscription services. In some ways, the car of the future sounds an awful lot like a smartphone on wheels.That's partly why there's no better moment than now for an electronics manufacturer to try car making, says Marc Sachon, a professor at IESE Business School in Barcelona, who studies the automotive industry.www.wired.com • ShareChina's CATL Announces 1,000-Km / 620-Mile CTP 3.0 EV BatteryThe company says its energy density is 255 Wh/kg and that it will debut in 2023, although it did not mention for which application.insideevs.com • ShareThe Petty Pleasures of Watching Crypto Profiteers FlounderBehind all the Web3 bluster is just “hollow abstraction.”I cannot stop watching videos of Web3 boosters failing to explain the usefulness of the technology. I realize this is petty, but the videos are deeply cathartic.I'm talking about two clips in particular, both of which were posted by Liron Shapira, a tech investor and writer, and a critic of crypto and Web3. The first is of Packy McCormick, a newsletter writer, investor, and advisor to A16z's crypto venture-capital team. I urge you to watch this clip before reading any further (but I'll also summarize parts of it below):McCormick is questioned by Zach Weinberg, a crypto skeptic who asks McCormick to reason through why a given problem might be better solved with a Web3 or blockchain-based project. McCormick offers up the example of a blockchain-based real-estate transaction, which he says hasn't been done yet but is touted as one of Web3's “promised” examples. Property buying outside of the blockchain is a long, onerous process, McCormick argues. He suggests that, “theoretically, you could make all these things NFTs … you could transact very quickly, borrow against them in the global market as opposed to going to Bank of America to take out your mortgage. You have a more open system that people are able to transact in more creative ways in.”Weinberg stress-tests this particular scenario (putting your house on the blockchain) first by asking: What would happen in a decentralized mortgage market if a mortgage lender couldn't get its money back? McCormick responds, essentially, that the lender could take legal action via the courts. They go back and forth a bit about smart contracts, and at every turn Weinberg pushes McCormick with some version of the same question: What makes this blockchain version better than the current system? McCormick has no answer. Here's a transcript of the end of their exchange:newsletters.theatlantic.com • ShareCompensation report: The state of startup compensation, H1 2022For most startups, payroll is the primary driver of cash burn. And with inflation and economic unease on the rise, knowing trends within compensation is critical. How can a founder balance the need to conserve capital with the imperative to grow? How can leaders pay employees fairly through boom and bust cycles?At Carta, we see it as our responsibility to share the insights that come from an unmatched amount of data about the private market. That includes data on startup headcount, payroll and equity metrics, salary medians, and remote work. We created this compensation report from data using more than 127,000 employee records from startups that use Carta Total Comp, the premier compensation management platform for private companies.Key trends:* Remote hiring soars: In 2019, about 35% of new hires were based in a different state than the primary company headquarters. So far this year, that number has ballooned up to 62%.* Geo-adjusting is the norm: The vast majority of companies (84%) take employee location into account when deciding on compensation packages.* Engineering is a key hire: Engineering accounts for nearly half of payroll spend in companies valued between $1 and 10 million.* Terminations rise: Across all of Carta's platform, involuntary terminations made up 29% of departures in May 2022 (the rest were employees leaving their jobs by choice). That's nearly double the 15% termination share recorded in August of 2021.Note: If you're looking for compensation benchmarks against companies like yours, you can also download the addendum to this report to get an extended dataset.www.carta.com • ShareDoes Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No — Ep. 367unchainedpodcast.com • ShareThe Trimodal Nature of Software Engineering Salaries in the Netherlands and EuropeUpdate: dozens of hiring managers confirmed this trimodal model applies to all global markets: from the US, through Asia to Latin America as well. Also see TechPays.com for data recorded for a growing number of countries in the three tiers. (Watch this article as video narrated by me, withblog.pragmaticengineer.com • ShareWeb3 Use Cases: The FutureWill web3 justify the hype?Today, real people are spending real money to use real products, even if some seem silly or circular.But the real question isn't whether there are any use cases, but whether there will be use cases that, collectively, are worth the hype.In other words, will web3 produce use cases that justify all of the venture dollars, investment, and talent dedicated to the space? I think it will. That's what today's essay is about.There are two time-scales on which I'm excited about web3's potential: the next few years and the next few decades.If there is another bull cycle in the next few years, I think it will happen on the backs of real products that people use at scale, not speculation. When those hit, speculation will follow, but that will look more like a traditional tech bull run than pure speculation. These products are on the way — the applications are coming and the infrastructure continues to improve.In the next few decades, I believe that web3 infrastrastructure will become the fabric of much of what we do online and in our financial lives. I also believe that the experiments web3 protocols are running in economic design, incentive alignment, and governance will jump out of the internet and impact “real-world” institutions.Today, I'll dive into some of the future use cases and potential benefits I'm excited about.The Next Few DecadesSo let's begin with the future. If all of this pans out, so what?www.notboring.co • ShareGood NewsSequoia Capital Targets $2.25 Billion for Two U.S. VC FundsSequoia Capital, defying the tech market sell-off that's chilled startup fundraising, is asking investors to commit money to two new U.S.-focused funds, according to two people familiar with the matter.The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm behind Airbnb and DoorDash expects to dedicate $1.5 billion to a U.S. growth fund focused on more mature companies, the people said. It's also planning a $750 million fund focused on earlier-stage deals, one of the people said. The firm expects to close the new funds in July.They're the latest of what Sequoia is calling “sub-funds,” launched after the firm overhauled the structure for its U.S. and European business. In a bid to make it easier to hold stock in companies after their initial public offerings, Sequoia set up an evergreen main fund called the Sequoia Capital Fund. The firm is now inviting investors in that fund to place their money in these new sub-funds.www.theinformation.com • ShareWhy we've raised our $158M Series C to invest in the next generation of co-founders — Entrepreneur FirstEntrepreneur First (EF) is the best place in the world to find a co-founder and start a startup from scratch. We are excited to announce we've raised a $158 million Series C round from a global alliance of some of the world's top technology founders and investors. They include: Patrick and John Collison, co-founders of […]www.joinef.com • ShareWise's Taavet Hinrikus among four co-founders in group seeking to disrupt traditional venture capital in the regionPlural launches €250mn entrepreneur-led fund for European tech start-ups — Financial TimesFour European entrepreneurs have launched a €250mn fund to back tech start-ups across the region, seeking to disrupt the traditional venture capital model by creating a peer-to-peer investment platform. Called Plural, the new fund's co-founders are Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of the international payments company Wise; Ian Hogarth, the co-founder of Songkick; Sten Tamkivi, the co-founder of Teleport; and Khaled Helioui, the former chief executive of Bigpoint. The group aims to invest in more than 25 start-ups over the next 18 months, taking early-stage stakes of between €1mn and €10mn. If successful, Plural will enlist dozens more entrepreneurs as investors and raise bigger funds to boost the European start-up sector. The move comes during a tech downturn which has led many VCs to slow investment, complaining that it has become difficult to value start-ups at a time of turmoil in public and private markets. But Hinrikus, who last year floated Wise in London at a valuation of close to £9bn, said the fund was a response to the European start-up sector beginning to mature like Silicon Valley, with one generation of successful entrepreneurs backing the next.www.ft.com • ShareStock-Exchange Startup Gets $100 Million Investment Funded by Walton Family Member — The Wall Street JournalThe Long-Term Stock Exchange, a Silicon Valley firm trying to push for sustainable investing, said it raised $100 million in June from James Walton, part of the famed family associated with Walmart Inc. WMT -0.16%▼The investment comes as traditional venture-capital firms are pumping the brakes on funding startups right now, wary of taking on new risk when the markets and economy appear to be in a tenuous position. Companies are instead having to strike deals at big discounts to their prior funding rounds, cut costs or look to less common investors, such as corporations, to write checks.Mr. Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is a philanthropist and conservationist, a co-leader of the social impact fund Wend Collective. He and The Space Between, the venture fund with which Mr. Walton partnered to provide the funding, started discussions with the exchange months ago.The exchange was talking to Mr. Walton, TSB and several other investors about a Series C funding round this winter when the markets “dropped out on us,” said LTSE founder and chief executive Eric Ries. Other investors who said they would participate in the funding round backed out, skittish from a stock market roiled by soaring inflation, a war between Russia and Ukraine, and a swift retreat from fast-growing companies, including most tech stocks.www.wsj.com • ShareNormalyze's multicloud management tools aim to tighten security and lower cost | VentureBeatData security has become more complex due to the proliferation of data, an explosion of microservices, rapid cloud adoption, hybrid work environments, compliance, remote work and more.“Today's enterprises find their data scattered throughout their various cloud environments with limited visibility of where sensitive data resides. It's a massive problem that current cloud security offerings aren't equipped to handle,” said Amer Deeba, cofounder and CEO at Normalyze.“We built Normalyze to classify and secure sensitive data across all public clouds,” Deeba said. Normalyze announced today that it's coming out of stealth with $22.2 million in series A funding. This round brings the company's total funding to $26.6 million to date.“Our graph-powered platform is a hub that connects all data with assets, identities, accesses, misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to help security teams continuously discover sensitive information, determine attack paths and automate remediation efforts to secure it,” said Ravi Ithal, Normalyze cofounder and CTO.venturebeat.com • ShareBad NewsEven A16z Is Slowing Its Investing PaceAndreessen Horowitz is one of the most-recognized venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and it just keeps growing. But amid a broader pullback in venture investment, the firm also appears to be slowing down its investing pace this quarter, at least compared to where it was last year.To be clear, a16z hasn't hit the brakes. In fact, it's still one of the most active investors in the United States, according to Crunchbase data, along with Tiger Global Management.It's just not investing at the same rapid pace it adopted last year, according to our data.The firm has participated in 46 funding rounds totaling around $2.5 billion so far in the second quarter, the lowest levels since before 2021, Crunchbase data shows. The number of rounds it has participated in and the amounts raised in those funding rounds is also down quite a bit from the first quarter of this year, when the firm participated in 62 funding rounds that totaled around $6.1 billion.Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment or to verify our data.news.crunchbase.com • Share‘Put up the for-sale sign,' more VCs tell founders as market sours — PitchBook News & AnalysisAfter years of telling their portfolio companies to grow at all costs, investors are dishing out an entirely different type of advice.Cut expenses, borrow venture debt, or raise additional capital at a flat or even slightly lower valuation than the previous round.But if after trying to take those steps the startup is still at risk of running out of cash in 12 months or less, then some investors are telling companies to resort to even more drastic measures: try to sell to a strategic buyer at a discount rather than risk going out of business.“I've called founders [to say], ‘I think you should sell,'” said Chris Farmer, a partner and CEO at early-stage firm SignalFire. “A sale could be attractive to founders because they don't have to lay off everyone, and investors can get some or all their money back. It's a soft landing.”Some startups that are short on capital are trying to raise a financing round and run a sale process simultaneously, said Wayne Kawarabayashi, a partner and head of M&A at Union Square Advisors, a technology-focused investment bank.“There are a lot of these dual-track conversations now,” Kawarabayashi said.So far, there haven't been many low-priced acquisitions in this market cycle. But we may soon see more sales like that of Tile, in which investors barely make their money back. Tile, a developer of tracking devices for personal items, was sold to Life360 for $205 million. Prior to the January sale, the company had raised a total of $150 million from investors like Bessemer, GGV and Khosla Ventures, according to PitchBook data.pitchbook.comSubstack cuts 13 jobs to avoid raising more venture capital — TechCrunchThe newsletter platform Substack laid off 13 employees today, mostly in HR and writer support roles.Co-founder and CEO Chris Best informed the company after holding meetings with the affected employees. The meetings also included founders Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi. That's probably a better way to deliver the news than some other companies' approaches (cough, Coinbase), but the news is still rough for a company that raised $65 million from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) just last year. Even then, we were skeptical about how the company managed to earn a $650 million valuation so soon.Like several other companies that boomed in a time when venture capital flowed more freely, Substack must figure out how to survive in a hostile economic time.Substack reportedly tried to raise another venture round as recently as last month, but the platform chose not to take on more funding. According to The New York Times, Substack earned about $9 million in revenue in 2021, which comes from the 10% cut it takes from writer subscriptions. Aside from a 3% credit card processing fee, that means that Substack writers are earning around $90 million a year — though the top 10 writers earn $20 million of that pile of cash. These figures would have made it challenging for the company to raise at a higher valuation than its last round.techcrunch.com • ShareUnity lays off 4 percent of its workforce to realign its resourcesUnity has laid off hundreds of employees in its offices across the globe, according to Kotaku. The video game software development company known for its popular game engine has reportedly let around 300 to 400 staffers go so far. Layoffs are still ongoing, sources said, so those numbers may be higher by the time the company is done. Unity has confirmed to Engadget that it's “realigning some of [its] resources,” which has led to the dismissal of approximately 4 percent of its entire workforce. That's consistent with the report that it has let around 300 people go, since its LinkedIn page lists 8,048 employees.The company told Engadget:“As part of a continued planning process where we regularly assess our resourcing levels against our company priorities, we decided to realign some of our resources to better drive focus and support our long-term growth. This resulted in some hard decisions that impacted approximately 4% of all Unity workforce. We are grateful for the contributions of those leaving Unity and we are supporting them through this difficult transition.”While the mass dismissal affects Unity's entire workforce, Kotaku said it's mostly concentrated on its AI and engineering divisions.www.engadget.com • ShareStartup of the WeekPave, whose software analyzes HR data to help companies close pay and equity gaps, raised a $100M Series C at a $1.6B valuation and acquired rival Option ImpactAllison Levitsky / Protocol:Option Impact, a benchmark compensation product from Advanced-HR, has a new owner. — Pave, a fast-growing Option Impact competitor …www.techmeme.com • ShareTweet of the Week This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thatwastheweek.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friends, In this conversation, I talk with Hamish about the experiences have shaped his journey through life so far, and the societal problems he is trying to solve through developing Substack. Hamish shares how connection with a special tribe when he moved to study at Dunedin was an important part of his journey, as well as his sink-or-swim move to Hong Kong, and then joining Tesla as Lead Writer.  Hamish is the author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil. He is a New Zealander living in San Francisco. Enjoy our conversation and be sure to drop a comment about what you think. Please leave a review on Apple podcasts - it helps people find the show, and helps me out a ton too. Thanks. If you’re a paid member, thanks for your support. I couldn’t do this without you. Please consider becoming a paid member if you aren’t already. Cheers,Sarb Get full access to Noise Reduction by Sarb Johal at noisereduction.substack.com/subscribe

With Prof Ian Lambie, Ron Mark, Terry Baucher, Jenée Tibshraeny and Hamish McKenzie.

**This week on The Download; digital ads evolve as online privacy increases, Substack poaches podcasts from Patreon, and iHeartMedia is buying NFTs to make podcasts about them.**A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. Throughout the piece Chen and Wakabayashi alternate between birds-eye views of the tech industry and personal anecdotes from small business reflecting the changing landscape of traditional digital ads. “The rise of this tracking has implications for digital advertising, which has depended on user data to know where to aim promotions. It tilts the playing field toward large digital ecosystems such as Google, Snap, TikTok, Amazon and Pinterest, which have millions of their own users and have amassed information on them. Smaller brands have to turn to those platforms if they want to advertise to find new customers.” Where in previous years a business would be able to purchase ad space on services like Instagram or Facebook, famous for their tracking providing fine-tuned results, now the pendulum has shifted. “Shawn Baker, the owner of Baker SoftWash, an exterior cleaning company in Mooresville, N.C., said it previously took about $6 of Facebook ads to identify a new customer. Now it costs $27 because the ads do not find the right people, he said.” With the devaluing of assumed default channels of advertising, more budgets are being redistributed to new avenues of advertising. Especially options with first-party data. While podcast advertising doesn’t offer that data for users, the contextual nature and growth of podcasting-first data solutions are becoming appealing options for those buyers Dave Jones (no relation to the undersea legend) posted a blog to Substack Monday with intent to clear the air on Podcasting 2.0. What exactly is Podcasting 2.0? As Jones puts it: “The Podcasting 2.0 project is simply this: A vision of what podcasting experiences can be in the future, and a set of free, open source standards for how that vision becomes reality.” Jones goes on to give context for what some of these open-source standards could look like, folding them into a fictional day in the life a podcast super-listener named Joy. Throughout Joy’s typical work day she uses a one-size-fits-all podcatcher app that folds features and functionality from existing first-party services into one place. Whenever a video podcast she likes goes live, Podcast 2.0 framework allows her to join in and listen to just the audio (much like YouTube’s audio-only feature). When she dips into the video portion of the stream she can tip money to the hosts, causing an on-screen notification akin to Superchats on YouTube and donations on Twitch. Her app displays episode-specific links and data mentioned in podcasts manually placed by the hosts. It automatically switches to lower bitrate versions of audio feeds when traveling into areas with poor signal. In Joy’s Podcast 2.0 world she can check comments and reviews aggregated from other podcasting apps. “Every bit of the above scenario is perfectly possible using only RSS and open source standards. Much of it is already functioning today in apps and services that are early adopters.” For those who’ve only heard of Podcasting 2.0 in passing, Jones’ piece aims to explain the passion and potential open-source future the concept could provide. We move from a story posted on Substack to a story about Substack. On Tuesday Ashley Carman published the Bloomberg piece Substack Poaches Patreon Stars for Expanded Push into Podcasting. Substack now offers two resources popular with monetized podcasts: a newsletter and a private RSS feed for paying subscribers. Substack’s COO Hamish McKenzie says the company is giving grants to certain podcasters who make the switch from Patreon. Though, like a recent report on YouTube offering grants for podcasters to pivot to video, Substack is keeping quiet as to which specific podcasts got grants. Currently only four are known. The grants Substack offers serve to soften the blow of abandoning an existing service. Patreon does not offer the ability to take paid subscriptions to a competitor’s platform. Podcasters making the switch will lose patrons, moreso than they normally would to monthly churn. Marketers have been telling podcasters that newsletters are a successful way to create and own an audience. Substack taking initiative shows they might begin to own and understand the market of podcasts centered around communities. And, by extension, own the revenue derived from said market. That said, this introduces another hosting solution that does not appear to be following IAB standards. Substack joins Apple’s subscription product, Supercast, and Supporting Cast in that crowd. This isn’t necessarily an issue for the individual user because they provide first party info. Nevertheless, it does show the IAB standard doesn’t have the teeth many hoped it would as this industry continues to grow ****Soon it might be time to break out the picket signs and pro-worker chants at Spotify. On Monday Ashley Carman, making her second appearance this episode, published the Bloomberg article *Spotify Podcast Union is Ready to Strike Over Contract Terms*. Barring successful negotiations, the Parcast Union is poised to execute the first ever strike at Spotify. The union cites unaddressed issues include basic concerns like pay, but also staff diversity concerns and IP rights. “The bargaining committee told Bloomberg News that Spotify specifically doesn’t want to commit to a request that half of job candidates who make it past the phone interview stage be people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities. They also added they haven’t agreed on acceptable salary minimums.” 97% of Parcast union members have pledged to join the strike, spanning multiple departments. “A strike would be a first for Spotify and would come at a particularly fraught time for its podcast ambitions. The company laid off the internal team at its fourth podcast studio, known as Studio 4, in January, and has struggled to get much of its headline-driving content off the ground.” For more information on that reference to unreleased headline-driving content, we direct you to the March third episode of The Download for coverage of that particular story. Here’s hoping the union walks away from the bargaining table with their goals achieved. People deserve to be paid a fair living wage, and podcasting on the scale Spotify operates at is certainly big enough to handle that. For our final story of the week, something bizarre. Non-fungible tokens, a digital collectible known for being rife with pump-and-dump schemes and other classic forms of financial scams, are potentially getting their first big break in podcasting through iHeartMedia’s new scheme. Sara Fischer, reporting for Axios, broke exclusive news on Tuesday: iHeartMedia is building a podcast network around NFTs they’ve purchased. “iHeartMedia is currently in talks to make 10–15 investments in prominent NFT collections over the next few days — including CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and World of Women — per Khalil Tawil, EVP of strategy at iHeartMedia.” As Tawil describes it, iHeartMedia will purchase NFTs from various internet-popular collections and then craft a slate of podcasts that retroactively create a series of stories and characters around the algorithmically-generated artwork they sort-of own. Fischer quotes Khalil Tawil as saying there is “no real precedent for this.” While technically true in the context of podcasting, it’s not new in other forms of media. Most notable are the multiple attempts at getting NFT animated series off the ground, as Vice covered in November. Though, iHeartMedia has the scale needed to truly take advantage of the IP inherent in their purchases. From Hot Pod on Thursday, “One of the unique features of these character-based NFT series is that they often hand IP rights over to whoever owns them. That means if you buy a Bored Ape, you can print your Bored Ape on a T-shirt, market that shirt online, put it on a billboard, and so on. Folks who believe in the NFT hype want to turn these collections into a sort of decentralized Disney, which, I suspect, will overshoot reality by at least a few orders of magnitude.” Whether iHeart’s decentralized Disney will profit or not remains to be seen. The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable. Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**This week on The Download; digital ads evolve as online privacy increases, Substack poaches podcasts from Patreon, and iHeartMedia is buying NFTs to make podcasts about them.**A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You're Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You're Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. Throughout the piece Chen and Wakabayashi alternate between birds-eye views of the tech industry and personal anecdotes from small business reflecting the changing landscape of traditional digital ads. “The rise of this tracking has implications for digital advertising, which has depended on user data to know where to aim promotions. It tilts the playing field toward large digital ecosystems such as Google, Snap, TikTok, Amazon and Pinterest, which have millions of their own users and have amassed information on them. Smaller brands have to turn to those platforms if they want to advertise to find new customers.” Where in previous years a business would be able to purchase ad space on services like Instagram or Facebook, famous for their tracking providing fine-tuned results, now the pendulum has shifted. “Shawn Baker, the owner of Baker SoftWash, an exterior cleaning company in Mooresville, N.C., said it previously took about $6 of Facebook ads to identify a new customer. Now it costs $27 because the ads do not find the right people, he said.” With the devaluing of assumed default channels of advertising, more budgets are being redistributed to new avenues of advertising. Especially options with first-party data. While podcast advertising doesn't offer that data for users, the contextual nature and growth of podcasting-first data solutions are becoming appealing options for those buyers Dave Jones (no relation to the undersea legend) posted a blog to Substack Monday with intent to clear the air on Podcasting 2.0. What exactly is Podcasting 2.0? As Jones puts it: “The Podcasting 2.0 project is simply this: A vision of what podcasting experiences can be in the future, and a set of free, open source standards for how that vision becomes reality.” Jones goes on to give context for what some of these open-source standards could look like, folding them into a fictional day in the life a podcast super-listener named Joy. Throughout Joy's typical work day she uses a one-size-fits-all podcatcher app that folds features and functionality from existing first-party services into one place. Whenever a video podcast she likes goes live, Podcast 2.0 framework allows her to join in and listen to just the audio (much like YouTube's audio-only feature). When she dips into the video portion of the stream she can tip money to the hosts, causing an on-screen notification akin to Superchats on YouTube and donations on Twitch. Her app displays episode-specific links and data mentioned in podcasts manually placed by the hosts. It automatically switches to lower bitrate versions of audio feeds when traveling into areas with poor signal. In Joy's Podcast 2.0 world she can check comments and reviews aggregated from other podcasting apps. “Every bit of the above scenario is perfectly possible using only RSS and open source standards. Much of it is already functioning today in apps and services that are early adopters.” For those who've only heard of Podcasting 2.0 in passing, Jones' piece aims to explain the passion and potential open-source future the concept could provide. We move from a story posted on Substack to a story about Substack. On Tuesday Ashley Carman published the Bloomberg piece Substack Poaches Patreon Stars for Expanded Push into Podcasting. Substack now offers two resources popular with monetized podcasts: a newsletter and a private RSS feed for paying subscribers. Substack's COO Hamish McKenzie says the company is giving grants to certain podcasters who make the switch from Patreon. Though, like a recent report on YouTube offering grants for podcasters to pivot to video, Substack is keeping quiet as to which specific podcasts got grants. Currently only four are known. The grants Substack offers serve to soften the blow of abandoning an existing service. Patreon does not offer the ability to take paid subscriptions to a competitor's platform. Podcasters making the switch will lose patrons, moreso than they normally would to monthly churn. Marketers have been telling podcasters that newsletters are a successful way to create and own an audience. Substack taking initiative shows they might begin to own and understand the market of podcasts centered around communities. And, by extension, own the revenue derived from said market. That said, this introduces another hosting solution that does not appear to be following IAB standards. Substack joins Apple's subscription product, Supercast, and Supporting Cast in that crowd. This isn't necessarily an issue for the individual user because they provide first party info. Nevertheless, it does show the IAB standard doesn't have the teeth many hoped it would as this industry continues to grow ****Soon it might be time to break out the picket signs and pro-worker chants at Spotify. On Monday Ashley Carman, making her second appearance this episode, published the Bloomberg article *Spotify Podcast Union is Ready to Strike Over Contract Terms*. Barring successful negotiations, the Parcast Union is poised to execute the first ever strike at Spotify. The union cites unaddressed issues include basic concerns like pay, but also staff diversity concerns and IP rights. “The bargaining committee told Bloomberg News that Spotify specifically doesn't want to commit to a request that half of job candidates who make it past the phone interview stage be people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities. They also added they haven't agreed on acceptable salary minimums.” 97% of Parcast union members have pledged to join the strike, spanning multiple departments. “A strike would be a first for Spotify and would come at a particularly fraught time for its podcast ambitions. The company laid off the internal team at its fourth podcast studio, known as Studio 4, in January, and has struggled to get much of its headline-driving content off the ground.” For more information on that reference to unreleased headline-driving content, we direct you to the March third episode of The Download for coverage of that particular story. Here's hoping the union walks away from the bargaining table with their goals achieved. People deserve to be paid a fair living wage, and podcasting on the scale Spotify operates at is certainly big enough to handle that. For our final story of the week, something bizarre. Non-fungible tokens, a digital collectible known for being rife with pump-and-dump schemes and other classic forms of financial scams, are potentially getting their first big break in podcasting through iHeartMedia's new scheme. Sara Fischer, reporting for Axios, broke exclusive news on Tuesday: iHeartMedia is building a podcast network around NFTs they've purchased. “iHeartMedia is currently in talks to make 10–15 investments in prominent NFT collections over the next few days — including CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and World of Women — per Khalil Tawil, EVP of strategy at iHeartMedia.” As Tawil describes it, iHeartMedia will purchase NFTs from various internet-popular collections and then craft a slate of podcasts that retroactively create a series of stories and characters around the algorithmically-generated artwork they sort-of own. Fischer quotes Khalil Tawil as saying there is “no real precedent for this.” While technically true in the context of podcasting, it's not new in other forms of media. Most notable are the multiple attempts at getting NFT animated series off the ground, as Vice covered in November. Though, iHeartMedia has the scale needed to truly take advantage of the IP inherent in their purchases. From Hot Pod on Thursday, “One of the unique features of these character-based NFT series is that they often hand IP rights over to whoever owns them. That means if you buy a Bored Ape, you can print your Bored Ape on a T-shirt, market that shirt online, put it on a billboard, and so on. Folks who believe in the NFT hype want to turn these collections into a sort of decentralized Disney, which, I suspect, will overshoot reality by at least a few orders of magnitude.” Whether iHeart's decentralized Disney will profit or not remains to be seen. The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable. Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**This week on The Download; digital ads evolve as online privacy increases, Substack poaches podcasts from Patreon, and iHeartMedia is buying NFTs to make podcasts about them.**A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. A fair amount of coverage has been written about the so-called death of targeted advertising. Privacy changes implemented by Google and Apple have made some waves, but said waves are having interesting effects on the industry. On Wednesday Brian Chen and Daisuke Wakabayashi published a New York Times piece called *You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way*. Throughout the piece Chen and Wakabayashi alternate between birds-eye views of the tech industry and personal anecdotes from small business reflecting the changing landscape of traditional digital ads. “The rise of this tracking has implications for digital advertising, which has depended on user data to know where to aim promotions. It tilts the playing field toward large digital ecosystems such as Google, Snap, TikTok, Amazon and Pinterest, which have millions of their own users and have amassed information on them. Smaller brands have to turn to those platforms if they want to advertise to find new customers.” Where in previous years a business would be able to purchase ad space on services like Instagram or Facebook, famous for their tracking providing fine-tuned results, now the pendulum has shifted. “Shawn Baker, the owner of Baker SoftWash, an exterior cleaning company in Mooresville, N.C., said it previously took about $6 of Facebook ads to identify a new customer. Now it costs $27 because the ads do not find the right people, he said.” With the devaluing of assumed default channels of advertising, more budgets are being redistributed to new avenues of advertising. Especially options with first-party data. While podcast advertising doesn’t offer that data for users, the contextual nature and growth of podcasting-first data solutions are becoming appealing options for those buyers Dave Jones (no relation to the undersea legend) posted a blog to Substack Monday with intent to clear the air on Podcasting 2.0. What exactly is Podcasting 2.0? As Jones puts it: “The Podcasting 2.0 project is simply this: A vision of what podcasting experiences can be in the future, and a set of free, open source standards for how that vision becomes reality.” Jones goes on to give context for what some of these open-source standards could look like, folding them into a fictional day in the life a podcast super-listener named Joy. Throughout Joy’s typical work day she uses a one-size-fits-all podcatcher app that folds features and functionality from existing first-party services into one place. Whenever a video podcast she likes goes live, Podcast 2.0 framework allows her to join in and listen to just the audio (much like YouTube’s audio-only feature). When she dips into the video portion of the stream she can tip money to the hosts, causing an on-screen notification akin to Superchats on YouTube and donations on Twitch. Her app displays episode-specific links and data mentioned in podcasts manually placed by the hosts. It automatically switches to lower bitrate versions of audio feeds when traveling into areas with poor signal. In Joy’s Podcast 2.0 world she can check comments and reviews aggregated from other podcasting apps. “Every bit of the above scenario is perfectly possible using only RSS and open source standards. Much of it is already functioning today in apps and services that are early adopters.” For those who’ve only heard of Podcasting 2.0 in passing, Jones’ piece aims to explain the passion and potential open-source future the concept could provide. We move from a story posted on Substack to a story about Substack. On Tuesday Ashley Carman published the Bloomberg piece Substack Poaches Patreon Stars for Expanded Push into Podcasting. Substack now offers two resources popular with monetized podcasts: a newsletter and a private RSS feed for paying subscribers. Substack’s COO Hamish McKenzie says the company is giving grants to certain podcasters who make the switch from Patreon. Though, like a recent report on YouTube offering grants for podcasters to pivot to video, Substack is keeping quiet as to which specific podcasts got grants. Currently only four are known. The grants Substack offers serve to soften the blow of abandoning an existing service. Patreon does not offer the ability to take paid subscriptions to a competitor’s platform. Podcasters making the switch will lose patrons, moreso than they normally would to monthly churn. Marketers have been telling podcasters that newsletters are a successful way to create and own an audience. Substack taking initiative shows they might begin to own and understand the market of podcasts centered around communities. And, by extension, own the revenue derived from said market. That said, this introduces another hosting solution that does not appear to be following IAB standards. Substack joins Apple’s subscription product, Supercast, and Supporting Cast in that crowd. This isn’t necessarily an issue for the individual user because they provide first party info. Nevertheless, it does show the IAB standard doesn’t have the teeth many hoped it would as this industry continues to grow ****Soon it might be time to break out the picket signs and pro-worker chants at Spotify. On Monday Ashley Carman, making her second appearance this episode, published the Bloomberg article *Spotify Podcast Union is Ready to Strike Over Contract Terms*. Barring successful negotiations, the Parcast Union is poised to execute the first ever strike at Spotify. The union cites unaddressed issues include basic concerns like pay, but also staff diversity concerns and IP rights. “The bargaining committee told Bloomberg News that Spotify specifically doesn’t want to commit to a request that half of job candidates who make it past the phone interview stage be people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities. They also added they haven’t agreed on acceptable salary minimums.” 97% of Parcast union members have pledged to join the strike, spanning multiple departments. “A strike would be a first for Spotify and would come at a particularly fraught time for its podcast ambitions. The company laid off the internal team at its fourth podcast studio, known as Studio 4, in January, and has struggled to get much of its headline-driving content off the ground.” For more information on that reference to unreleased headline-driving content, we direct you to the March third episode of The Download for coverage of that particular story. Here’s hoping the union walks away from the bargaining table with their goals achieved. People deserve to be paid a fair living wage, and podcasting on the scale Spotify operates at is certainly big enough to handle that. For our final story of the week, something bizarre. Non-fungible tokens, a digital collectible known for being rife with pump-and-dump schemes and other classic forms of financial scams, are potentially getting their first big break in podcasting through iHeartMedia’s new scheme. Sara Fischer, reporting for Axios, broke exclusive news on Tuesday: iHeartMedia is building a podcast network around NFTs they’ve purchased. “iHeartMedia is currently in talks to make 10–15 investments in prominent NFT collections over the next few days — including CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and World of Women — per Khalil Tawil, EVP of strategy at iHeartMedia.” As Tawil describes it, iHeartMedia will purchase NFTs from various internet-popular collections and then craft a slate of podcasts that retroactively create a series of stories and characters around the algorithmically-generated artwork they sort-of own. Fischer quotes Khalil Tawil as saying there is “no real precedent for this.” While technically true in the context of podcasting, it’s not new in other forms of media. Most notable are the multiple attempts at getting NFT animated series off the ground, as Vice covered in November. Though, iHeartMedia has the scale needed to truly take advantage of the IP inherent in their purchases. From Hot Pod on Thursday, “One of the unique features of these character-based NFT series is that they often hand IP rights over to whoever owns them. That means if you buy a Bored Ape, you can print your Bored Ape on a T-shirt, market that shirt online, put it on a billboard, and so on. Folks who believe in the NFT hype want to turn these collections into a sort of decentralized Disney, which, I suspect, will overshoot reality by at least a few orders of magnitude.” Whether iHeart’s decentralized Disney will profit or not remains to be seen. The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable. Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hoy: los anuncios digitales están evolucionando ya que está aumentando la privacidad en línea, Substack roba podcasts de Patreon y iHeartMedia está comprando NFTs para hacer podcasts basados en ellos. Se ha hablado mucho sobre la supuesta muerte de la publicidad dirigida en la internet. Los cambios de privacidad implementados por Google y Apple han hecho ruido, y este ruido está teniendo efectos interesantes. El miércoles, Brian Chen y Daisuke Wakabayashi publicaron un artículo en el New York Times llamado: You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way. Es decir, “Todavía te rastrean en el Internet, solo que de una manera diferente” En esta lectura, Chen y Wakabayashi alternan entre vistas panorámicas de la industria tecnológica y anécdotas personales de pequeñas empresas que reflejan el entorno cambiante de los anuncios digitales tradicionales. En palabras de ellos: “El aumento de este rastreo tiene implicaciones para la publicidad digital, el cual ha dependido de los datos de los usuarios para saber a dónde dirigir las promociones. Favorece los grandes ecosistemas digitales como los de Google, Snapchat, TikTok, Amazon y Pinterest, que tienen millones de usuarios y han acumulado información sobre ellos. Las marcas más pequeñas tienen que recurrir a esas plataformas si quieren anunciarse para encontrar nuevos clientes.”. En años anteriores una empresa podía comprar espacio publicitario en servicios como Instagram o Facebook, famosos por su rastreo que antes brindaba resultados precisos, pero ahora todo ha cambiado. Según el artículo, “Shawn Baker, el dueño de Baker SoftWash, una empresa de limpieza de exteriores en Mooresville, en la Carolina del Norte, contó que previamente necesitaba unos seis dólares en anuncios en Facebook para identificar a un nuevo cliente. Ahora cuesta veintisiete dólares porque los anuncios no encuentran a las personas correctas.” Aunque los temas centrales de esta historia no son particularmente nuevos, el artículo de Chen y Wakabayashi los agrega para brindar una visión general de cómo están afectando el mundo de la publicidad. Esta es la primera gran cobertura del New York Times sobre el tema, lo que significa que esta historia ha florecido oficialmente más allá de los blogs nichos de tecnología. Dave Jones publicó un blog en Substack este lunes con la intención de iluminar lo oscuro sobre Podcasting 2.0. ¿Qué es el Podcasting 2.0? Como dice Jones, "El proyecto Podcasting 2.0 es simplemente esto: una visión de lo que pueden ser las experiencias de podcasting en el futuro, y un conjunto de estándares gratuitos y de código abierto sobre cómo esa visión se convierte en realidad.” Jones provee contexto sobre cómo podrían verse algunos de estos estándares de código abierto a través de un día ficticio en la vida de un súper oyente de podcasts llamado Joy. A lo largo del día de trabajo típico de Joy, ella utiliza una aplicación universal de podcatcher que combina las características y la funcionalidad de los servicios de primera parte existentes en un solo lugar. Cada vez que se publica un podcast de video que le gusta, el marco de Podcast 2.0 le permite unirse y escuchar solo el audio (bastante similar a la función de YouTube que reproduce solo audio). Cuando se mete en la parte de video de la transmisión, puede dar una propina de dinero a los anfitriones, lo que genera una notificación en pantalla similar a Superchats en YouTube y donaciones en Twitch. Su aplicación muestra enlaces específicos de episodios y datos mencionados en podcasts que son colocados manualmente por los anfitriones. También cambia la transmisión de audio automáticamente a versiones con una tasa de bits más baja cuando ella viaja a áreas con poca señal. En el mundo Podcast 2.0 de Joy, puede consultar los comentarios y reseñas agregados de otras aplicaciones de podcasting. En palabras de Jones, “cada parte del escenario anterior es perfectamente posible usando solo RSS y estándares de código abierto. Una gran parte ya está funcionando hoy en aplicaciones y servicios que son adoptadores tempranos, es decir early adopters”. Para aquellos que solo han oído hablar un poco del Podcasting 2.0, el artículo de Jones aspira explicar la pasión y el futuro potencial de código abierto que podría brindar el concepto. Cambiamos de una historia publicada en Substack a una historia sobre la plataforma. El martes, Ashley Carman publicó el artículo en la editorial Bloomberg, llamado: Substack Poaches Patreon Stars for Expanded Push into Podcasting. Es decir, “Substack se roba a las estrellas de Patreon para entrar más al podcasting”. Substack ahora ofrece dos recursos populares entre los podcasts monetizados: un boletín informativo y una fuente RSS privada para suscriptores que pagan. El director de operaciones de Substack, Hamish McKenzie, dice que la compañía está otorgando subsidios a ciertos podcasters que hacen el cambio de Patreon. Sin embargo, al igual que un informe reciente en YouTube que ofrece subsidios para que los podcasters hagan videos de su contenido, Substack mantiene una boca cerrada sobre cuáles podcasts específicos obtuvieron subsidios. Actualmente solo se conocen cuatro. Según Carman, “Los cuatro programas que hacen el cambio como parte de este anuncio incluyen el programa de política exterior “American Prestige”, que tiene más de dos mil suscriptores de pago de Patreon, y el programa de análisis de noticias “The Fifth Column”, que tiene más de cuatro mil. Kmele Foster, coanfitrión de “The Fifth Column”, dijo que su equipo recibió dinero para hacer el cambio y “se sintió lo suficientemente cómodo para hacer la mudanza.” Los subsidios que ofrece Substack sirven para ablandar el golpe que viene con abandonar un servicio existente. Patreon no ofrece la posibilidad de aceptar suscripciones pagas a la plataforma de un competidor. Los podcasters que hagan el cambio perderán patrocinadores, más de lo que normalmente perderían debido al cambio mensual. Los especialistas en marketing les han dicho a los podcasters que los boletines son una forma exitosa de crear y mantener una audiencia. La iniciativa de Substack muestra que podrían comenzar a comprender cómo manejar el mercado de podcasts centrado en las comunidades, incluso manejar los ingresos derivados de dicho mercado. Dicho esto, la noticia presenta otra solución de alojamiento que no parece seguir los estándares del IAB. Substack se une al producto de suscripción de Apple, Supercast y Supporting Cast en esa multitud. Esto no es necesariamente un problema para el usuario individual porque proporciona información de primera parte. Sin embargo, muestra que el estándar del IAB no tiene los dientes que muchos esperaban que tendría a medida que esta industria continúa creciendo. Pronto podría ser el momento de sacar los carteles de protesta y los cánticos a favor de los trabajadores en Spotify. El lunes, Ashley Carman, haciendo su segunda aparición en este episodio, publicó el artículo en Bloomberg, llamado: *Spotify Podcast Union is Ready to Strike Over Contract Terms, o sea,“*El sindicato de podcasts en Spotify está listo para la huelga por los términos de contrato Salvo negociaciones exitosas, el sindicato de Parcast está listo para ejecutar la primera huelga en Spotify. El sindicato cita cuestiones no abordadas que incluyen preocupaciones básicas como el pago, pero también preocupaciones sobre la diversidad de los empleados y los derechos de propiedad intelectual. En palabras de Carma, “el comité de negociación le dijo a Bloomberg News que Spotify específicamente no quiere comprometerse con una solicitud de que la mitad de los candidatos que superen la etapa de la entrevista telefónica sean personas de color, personas que se identifiquen como LGBTQ o personas con discapacidades. También agregaron que no han acordado salarios mínimos aceptables.” El noventa y siete por ciento de los miembros del sindicato de Parcast, el cual incluye varios departamentos, se han comprometido a unirse a la huelga Según el artículo, “una huelga sería la primera para Spotify y llegaría en un momento particularmente tenso para sus ambiciones de podcast. La compañía despidió, en enero, al equipo interno en su cuarto estudio de podcast, conocido como Studio 4, y ha tenido problemas para hacer despegar mucho de su contenido que genera titulares La descarga tiene la esperanza de que el sindicato se aleje de la mesa de negociaciones con sus objetivos realizados. Las personas merecen que se les pague un salario justo y digno, y el podcasting en la magnitud en la que opera Spotify es ciertamente lo suficientemente grande como para cumplir con eso. En nuestra historia final de esta semana -- algo muy extraño. Los tokens no fungibles, o NFTs, coleccionables digitales conocido por estar plagado de esquemas de pump-and-dump y otras formas clásicas de estafas financieras, están posiblemente obteniendo su primera gran oportunidad en los podcasts a través del nuevo proyecto de iHeartMedia. Sara Fischer, informando en la editorial, Axios, dio noticias exclusivas el martes: iHeartMedia está construyendo una red de podcasts basados en los NFTs que la empresa ha comprado. En palabr as de Fischer, "iHeartMedia actualmente se encuentra en conversaciones para realizar entre diez y quince inversiones en colecciones destacadas de NFTs durante los próximos días. Estas incluyen tokens no fungibles conocidos como CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club y World of Women -- según Khalil Tawil, vicepresidente ejecutivo de estrategia de iHeartMedia." Tal como lo describe Tawil, iHeartMedia comprará NFTs de varias colecciones populares de internet y luego creará una lista de podcasts que crearán retroactivamente una serie de historias y personajes basadas en la obra de arte que, en ciertos modos, poseen. Fischer cita a Khalil Tawil, "no hay un precedente real para esto". Aunque técnicamente es cierto en el contexto de los podcasts, no es nuevo en otras formas de medios. Lo más notable son los múltiples intentos de hacer series exitosas animadas de NFTs, como lo cubrió la editorial Vice en noviembre. Sin embargo, iHeartMedia tiene la magnitud necesaria para aprovechar verdaderamente la propiedad intelectual inherente a sus compras. La editorial Hot Pod dijo el jueves, “Una de las características de estas series de NFTs basadas en personajes, es que ceden con frecuencia los derechos de propiedad intelectual a quien sea que los posean. Eso significa que, si uno compra un bored ape, uno puede imprimir el bored ape en una camiseta, comercializar esa camiseta en línea, ponerla en una valla publicitaria, etcétera. Las personas que creen en el potencial de los NFTs quieren convertir estas colecciones en un cierto tipo de Disney descentralizado que, sospecho, superará la realidad.” Queda por ver si el Disney descentralizado de iHeart ganará dinero La Descarga es una producción de Sounds Profitable. El episodio de hoy fue presentado por Manuela Bedoya y Gabriel Soto, y escrito por Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta y Evo Terra son los productores ejecutivos de La Descarga de Sounds Profitable. Un agradecimiento especial a Ian Powell por su majestuosa ingeniería de audio, y a Omny Studio por alojar La Descarga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John interviews Hamish McKenzie, one of the co-founders of Substack. Since its start in 2017, the company has managed to upend the relationship between journalists and news outlets. A good number of prominent writers, including Anne Helen Peterson, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, Matt Yglesias — and John Ellis himself — have started newsletters on Substack, and some of them make a good deal more money than they did when they were employed at traditional outlets.Of course, the company hasn't been without some controversy. John and Hamish talk about that, as well as the company's newly announced effort to attract comic book creators — and how it plans to fend off competition from giants like Facebook. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

New Zealand-hailing Hamish McKenzie co-founded Substack with the goal of helping journalists get paid for writing newsletters. McKenzie worked as a journalist in New Zealand, Hong Kong and the US, and is now based in LA. McKenzie - who has also worked for Tesla, and is the author of ‘Insane Mode' about the arrival of the battery revolution - joins Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes to chat about his departure from journalism and eventually creating Substack.Substack is only 4 years old, but is already being talked about in the same way that journalists were talking about WordPress 15 years ago. Its valuation is already close to a billion Aussie dollars. McKenzie goes deeper on the Substack model, and why the platform doesn't support advertising, something its founders have “no intention” of bringing in.He also speaks about Substack Pro, the company's international ambitions, and what happens if the founders sell out.

Welcome to episode 89 of the Blind Tech Guys. We trust you will enjoy this episode. As always, we thank you for your support and for being a part of the community. Please see this announcement from Strap regarding a special code for Blind Tech Guys listeners. Three years in the making, STRAP is an innovative, wearable device that fits over the chest and is designed to detect any type of obstacle. STRAP's vast array of sensors works by sending real-time information that detects obstacles at your head, chest, and below your waist - including bumps, holes, and steps, then notifying you with haptic language vibrations. Designed for all ages and shipped globally later this year. At STRAP Technologies we believe autonomy and independence are human rights, not luxuries. Our goal is to be the first replacement of the white cane, giving the visually impaired a long overdue hands-free experience. Use code BlindTech strap.tech, for 50% off the current total price of a STRAP device. Preorder today at this discounted price of $250 and pay only $50 at this time to reserve your STRAP. Once STRAP is shipped to you, you will be billed the remaining $200. This offer is just available with this Blind Tech Code. Main Topic We continue our series on accessibility by inviting a number of digital accessibility experts to the stage and discussing a variety of topics in the accessibility sphere, including websites, accessibility training, and numerous other topics that came up throughout the hour. A third instalment on this topic will take place over the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for this to hit your favourite podcast app and thanks so much to all of you for the extremely positive feedback that we have been receiving so far and for the encouragement to truly explore what is, without doubt, a discussion that is so especially important to all of us. We sincerely thank Rabeea Wajeeha, Catarina Rivera, Marco Salsiccia, Taylor Arndt, and Ted McCoskey for giving up so much of your valuable time and for such a frank and insightful discussion on digital accessibility and a massive thank you to Hamish McKenzie for assisting on the day to ensure that things ran smoothly on ClubHouse. Podcast Ideas and Being Involved You are welcome to write to us or send us links to recordings. Either visit www.blindtechguys.com and complete our form or email us at contact@blindtechguys.com. We welcome user questions, requests for interviews, and user-submitted tips and tutorials. Consider a Donation Did you know that we pay more than $50/month to bring this content to you? If you enjoy and value our content, please consider buying us a coffee. Any contribution, no matter how small, helps us  give you more app demos, device reviews, and tips to help you make the most of your technology. You can either make a one-time supporter donation, or you can become a Blind Tech Guys member with an ongoing monthly or yearly contribution.  If you are an individual or business and wish to sponsor the podcast and would like for us to advertise your business or social channels, please get in touch with us via email.    For our community to continue growing, we would very much appreciate it if you would consider sharing our podcast with your friends and let app developers know that you heard a demo of their app on our podcast by tagging them in your preferred social medium.  We thank you for your support, and we appreciate you being involved in our community. Get in Touch  To get in touch, you can fill out the contact form on our website.  Alternatively, our direct email is contact@blindtechguys.com  You can also join our mailing list by sending a blank email to blindtechguys+subscribe@googlegroups.com ·  You can find and interact with us at the following:o   ClubHouseo   Facebooko   Twittero   YouTubeo   Telegramo   WhatsApp★ Support this podcast ★

Last week, we hosted a workshop with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger to discuss covering local news on Substack. Tony worked in journalism as the business reporter and editor with the Charlotte Observer before he decided to strike it out on his own. He started The Charlotte Ledger and grew it the old-fashioned way, building relationships locally and relying on word-of-mouth from friends. Today, The Charlotte Ledger is a thriving business with a team of freelancers and regular contributors.Writers like Tony have paved the way for independent local news on Substack. In our workshop, we brought together the greater community of local news writers to learn from Tony’s experience and absorb best practices for local news publishing on Substack.  Hamish McKenzie, the co-founder of Substack and a writer himself, hosted the interview with Tony and discussed his journey publishing, growing, and going paid. At the end of this post, we also share Tony’s quick tips for polishing your newsletter.The interview has been edited for length. You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in this post. To sign up for future writer interviews and workshops, head here. Why do you care so deeply about local news?My background is in local news. I worked as an editor and reporter here in Charlotte for more than 10 years. I saw the connections that you can make here reporting, and how important it is to have somebody in your local community who is watching out for citizens, not paid for by marketing or advertising, and who can actually report honestly and straightforwardly. We've lost that, especially in smaller to mid-sized markets like Charlotte. As local news in Charlotte weakened, I started looking at my options. I wasn’t going to move somewhere else. I don't want to move to Washington or New York for a job in journalism. I've lived here for more than 20 years. My home is in Charlotte and I care about Charlotte. So I thought, well, maybe I can start something.At this time, there were a lot of national newsletters – Morning Brew, The Hustle – but there weren't a whole lot of folks using the newsletter format as a vehicle to report original local news.Tell me about the moment you decided to go independent. What were you most nervous about?The difference between writing nationally and locally is that your potential audience is a lot smaller when local. If I'm writing about cybersecurity or technology or national politics, the whole country may read that. Charlotte's a city of about 900,000 people in a county of 1.1 million in a region of 2.3 million. But I just thought, let’s try it. I started in March of 2019. The first editions went to 12 friends and family members. My mom was very happy to get it. I posted it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, since our focus is business-adjacent news in Charlotte. I asked that folks read, and if they liked the writing, that they please tell people about it. I had no idea what was going to happen. What I found was the readership just kept growing. The total list is just a very steady upward line. That made me think, okay, I've got something here. We were publishing three mornings a week, and it was all free at that point. How did it feel making the leap to paying subscribers?The Charlotte Ledger was free for almost an entire year. The typical advice from Substack is to wait three months, or less in some cases, before going paid. But I was nervous that our growth would slow down once because we'd be putting a lot of writing out for paid subscribers that would no longer be shareable.That actually hasn't been true. That first day when we turned on the paid subscriptions, I expected that a handful of people would sign up, but money just started pouring in. It was a few thousand dollars, and I thought, wow, this actually resonates with people. People are willing to pay for this.It was a tremendous feeling. It wasn’t as if it was so much money that I could retire, but it was a good feeling to know that what you're producing is worth something to somebody.If I had to do it over again, we probably wouldn’t have waited an entire year before turning on paid subscriptions. That hesitancy was just because of my nervousness. Waiting a year, with no income, with no revenue coming in is a long time. It worked out – my wife works, and we had some severance from a previous job and all that – but in hindsight, we should have turned on paid a little faster.Why did you decide to cover business news rather than just local news in Charlotte?I'm not opposed to doing local news, and we do a fair amount of general news, but our theory has always been that we want to do writing that's better than what's already in Charlotte, and we want to do writing that's different than what's already in Charlotte.The number of business reporters here in Charlotte had declined, and I saw an opening content-wise. My background was in business news. It’s something that I knew and felt comfortable covering. There's a pretty big market for it in Charlotte. We’re a business town with banks and tech companies. It's a pretty big city. Business writing also has the advantage that if the newsletter is useful to an employee, they can charge the subscription cost to their company as a business expense. What wisdom can you pass on to other local news writers who are considering Substack?Two things. First, it's hard for journalists whose background is in reporting a story to all of a sudden have to think like a business person. But you need to think about your audience. There's a temptation with local journalism to think, “I'm writing about Charlotte, so anybody in Charlotte is going to be interested in it.” To succeed, you’ll need to hone that down a little bit more. Ask: Who are you trying to appeal to? And how will you find them? You need to think strategically about who the people are who are most likely to read your work, then determine where they hang out physically or online and how you could reach them where they are. Use your marketing or business brain on those strategy questions.Second, you're not alone. I've gotten a lot of good advice from fellow local news writers – City Hall Watcher in Toronto, The Mill in England. I'm not saying that we've got all the answers, but we've done this for longer than most people in the local news space on Substack. Steal good ideas from other people.Tony’s quick tips for local news writersDon’t overthink your paid vs. free strategy. The Charlotte Ledger has days of the week where their posts are free. Their “paid days” are Wednesdays and Fridays. On occasion, they cover free topics that may be outside their publication scope because the team believes they may be shareable.Let free readers know what they are missing. For every paid post, The Charlotte Ledger sends out a shorter “teaser” version to their free subscribers. If free subscribers want to read the rest, they need to subscribe. Because of this tactic, The Charlotte Ledger sees new subscriptions even on “paid days.” Include guidance about subscribing at the top of every email. “Although we don’t want to be ‘annoying,’ we do have to think like a business.”To promote locally, consider partnerships. There are no magic growth hacks with local news. Instead, you’ll need to do a lot of little promotions consistently. Partner with a variety of people in your community to get in front of different groups. Tony has partnered with Charlotte’s local radio station, local Facebook Groups, and even hosted an awards show to ensure members of his community bump into The Charlotte Ledger. 10,000 readers is a useful benchmark. If you believe you can build a list of 10,000 free readers, you have a strong chance of converting 10% (1,000) of those people into paid subscribers. That’s enough to support a livelihood.Hoping for more tips on how to start a local news publication on Substack? Check out our comprehensive playbook here. Spotlight On is a series of live events hosted by Substack. The goal is to learn from writers across categories who have experienced success on Substack. Join us for our next Spotlight On: Fiction with Elle Griffin. Get on the email list at on.substack.com

Last week, we hosted a workshop with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger to discuss covering local news on Substack. Tony worked in journalism as the business reporter and editor with the Charlotte Observer before he decided to strike it out on his own. He started The Charlotte Ledger and grew it the old-fashioned way, building relationships locally and relying on word-of-mouth from friends. Today, The Charlotte Ledger is a thriving business with a team of freelancers and regular contributors.Writers like Tony have paved the way for independent local news on Substack. In our workshop, we brought together the greater community of local news writers to learn from Tony's experience and absorb best practices for local news publishing on Substack.  Hamish McKenzie, the co-founder of Substack and a writer himself, hosted the interview with Tony and discussed his journey publishing, growing, and going paid. At the end of this post, we also share Tony's quick tips for polishing your newsletter.The interview has been edited for length. You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in this post. To sign up for future writer interviews and workshops, head here. Why do you care so deeply about local news?My background is in local news. I worked as an editor and reporter here in Charlotte for more than 10 years. I saw the connections that you can make here reporting, and how important it is to have somebody in your local community who is watching out for citizens, not paid for by marketing or advertising, and who can actually report honestly and straightforwardly. We've lost that, especially in smaller to mid-sized markets like Charlotte. As local news in Charlotte weakened, I started looking at my options. I wasn't going to move somewhere else. I don't want to move to Washington or New York for a job in journalism. I've lived here for more than 20 years. My home is in Charlotte and I care about Charlotte. So I thought, well, maybe I can start something.At this time, there were a lot of national newsletters – Morning Brew, The Hustle – but there weren't a whole lot of folks using the newsletter format as a vehicle to report original local news.Tell me about the moment you decided to go independent. What were you most nervous about?The difference between writing nationally and locally is that your potential audience is a lot smaller when local. If I'm writing about cybersecurity or technology or national politics, the whole country may read that. Charlotte's a city of about 900,000 people in a county of 1.1 million in a region of 2.3 million. But I just thought, let's try it. I started in March of 2019. The first editions went to 12 friends and family members. My mom was very happy to get it. I posted it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, since our focus is business-adjacent news in Charlotte. I asked that folks read, and if they liked the writing, that they please tell people about it. I had no idea what was going to happen. What I found was the readership just kept growing. The total list is just a very steady upward line. That made me think, okay, I've got something here. We were publishing three mornings a week, and it was all free at that point. How did it feel making the leap to paying subscribers?The Charlotte Ledger was free for almost an entire year. The typical advice from Substack is to wait three months, or less in some cases, before going paid. But I was nervous that our growth would slow down once because we'd be putting a lot of writing out for paid subscribers that would no longer be shareable.That actually hasn't been true. That first day when we turned on the paid subscriptions, I expected that a handful of people would sign up, but money just started pouring in. It was a few thousand dollars, and I thought, wow, this actually resonates with people. People are willing to pay for this.It was a tremendous feeling. It wasn't as if it was so much money that I could retire, but it was a good feeling to know that what you're producing is worth something to somebody.If I had to do it over again, we probably wouldn't have waited an entire year before turning on paid subscriptions. That hesitancy was just because of my nervousness. Waiting a year, with no income, with no revenue coming in is a long time. It worked out – my wife works, and we had some severance from a previous job and all that – but in hindsight, we should have turned on paid a little faster.Why did you decide to cover business news rather than just local news in Charlotte?I'm not opposed to doing local news, and we do a fair amount of general news, but our theory has always been that we want to do writing that's better than what's already in Charlotte, and we want to do writing that's different than what's already in Charlotte.The number of business reporters here in Charlotte had declined, and I saw an opening content-wise. My background was in business news. It's something that I knew and felt comfortable covering. There's a pretty big market for it in Charlotte. We're a business town with banks and tech companies. It's a pretty big city. Business writing also has the advantage that if the newsletter is useful to an employee, they can charge the subscription cost to their company as a business expense. What wisdom can you pass on to other local news writers who are considering Substack?Two things. First, it's hard for journalists whose background is in reporting a story to all of a sudden have to think like a business person. But you need to think about your audience. There's a temptation with local journalism to think, “I'm writing about Charlotte, so anybody in Charlotte is going to be interested in it.” To succeed, you'll need to hone that down a little bit more. Ask: Who are you trying to appeal to? And how will you find them? You need to think strategically about who the people are who are most likely to read your work, then determine where they hang out physically or online and how you could reach them where they are. Use your marketing or business brain on those strategy questions.Second, you're not alone. I've gotten a lot of good advice from fellow local news writers – City Hall Watcher in Toronto, The Mill in England. I'm not saying that we've got all the answers, but we've done this for longer than most people in the local news space on Substack. Steal good ideas from other people.Tony's quick tips for local news writersDon't overthink your paid vs. free strategy. The Charlotte Ledger has days of the week where their posts are free. Their “paid days” are Wednesdays and Fridays. On occasion, they cover free topics that may be outside their publication scope because the team believes they may be shareable.Let free readers know what they are missing. For every paid post, The Charlotte Ledger sends out a shorter “teaser” version to their free subscribers. If free subscribers want to read the rest, they need to subscribe. Because of this tactic, The Charlotte Ledger sees new subscriptions even on “paid days.” Include guidance about subscribing at the top of every email. “Although we don't want to be ‘annoying,' we do have to think like a business.”To promote locally, consider partnerships. There are no magic growth hacks with local news. Instead, you'll need to do a lot of little promotions consistently. Partner with a variety of people in your community to get in front of different groups. Tony has partnered with Charlotte's local radio station, local Facebook Groups, and even hosted an awards show to ensure members of his community bump into The Charlotte Ledger. 10,000 readers is a useful benchmark. If you believe you can build a list of 10,000 free readers, you have a strong chance of converting 10% (1,000) of those people into paid subscribers. That's enough to support a livelihood.Hoping for more tips on how to start a local news publication on Substack? Check out our comprehensive playbook here. Spotlight On is a series of live events hosted by Substack. The goal is to learn from writers across categories who have experienced success on Substack. Join us for our next Spotlight On: Fiction with Elle Griffin. Thank you for subscribing. Share this episode.

Top writers are leaving publishers like the New York Times to become newsletter writers on Substack. How will the rise of the solopreneur author impact the future of journalism? Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie join PressClub host Josh Constine to break down why individuals have more power than organizations in the modern media landscape. Listen to learn:Can newsrooms survive the brain drain?Will creators earn a better living on their own? How did the move from desktop to mobile favor email over websites? Can Substack provide star writers enough growth to earn its 10% cut?Why newsletters are unlocking a weirder, more self-expressive way to build community?Plus, get thoughts on how these trends play out from top Substack writers including NYT columnist Zeynep Tufekci, Sinocism's Bill Bishop, and Ask Polly's Heather Havrilesky. Recorded live on Josh Constine's PressClub, on Clubhouse Thursdays at 6pm PT. Subscribe: http://constine.club/PressClub is one of Clubhouse's first and most popular shows, where top business leaders discuss the big issues. It's hosted by Josh Constine, an investor at early-stage venture fund SignalFire and the former Editor-At-Large of TechCrunch. PressClub is a relaxed venue where luminaries can share their stories, passions, thoughts on trends, and visions of the future. Past guests include the CEOs of Facebook, Instagram, Slack, Shopify, Spotify, Substack, WordPress, Craigslist, Dollar Shave Club, and more. Topics have included the creator economy, back to offices vs remote work, the rise of newsletters, the future of celebrity, the ethics of doxxing, and founders becoming philanthropists. Josh and PressClub's content have recently been covered by the New York Times, TechCrunch, Vogue, Bloomberg, Forbes, AdWeek, USA Today, and more.

Substack is known for recruiting high profile writers to leave the big name publications and start their own newsletter businesses. Now it wants to recruit writers you haven’t heard of, and get them to cover local news. Cofounders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie talk to Recode’s Peter Kafka about their plans — as well as criticism and controversy their startup has kicked up in the last year. Featuring: Chris Best (@cjgbest) Co-Founder of Substack Hamish McKenzie (@hamishmckenzie) Co-Founder of Substack Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I think of myself as having decent critical faculties, but somehow I got suckered again by a bog-standard publishing venture masquerading as a useful ... Here's why Substack's scam worked so wellAnnalee NewitzHamish McKenzie callswritesin their newsletterinveighing against trans rightsdirect harassment at a female New York Times reporterrapistsdomestic abusers“generous financial offer”against “censoring” Nazisagainst the cis writer Sarah Jonespublicly cites polite pushback from a trans femme colleaguemassive harassmentUber reps claiming drivers aren’t “core” to their business.Our Opinions Are CorrectTwitterInstagramThe Hypothesis

In this episode of The Spinoff's media podcast The Fold, Duncan Greive is joined by Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack.For years, the media landscape has been filled with publications making money by filling up ad space. While an effective mode of funding for the already underfunded sector, Hamish McKenzie saw an alternative. Alongside co-founders Chris Best and Jairaj Sethi, McKenzie developed Substack, an online platform for writers to send newsletters directly to paying subscribers.In the three years since its inception, the platform has become host to some of the most well-known names in New Zealand and international journalism, including Vox co-founder Matthew Yglesias and local writer David Farrier, and some writers are making a lot of money from subscriptions.Today on The Fold, McKenzie joins Duncan Greive to talk about a new era of publishing, driven by readers, not ads. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

US news media took a beating from Covid-19 in 2020. Kiwi journalist and entrepreneur Hamish McKenzie runs a publishing platform-Substack - that boomed in 2020, giving journalists important audiences and income. But that success has also given him editorial conundrums to confront.

US news media took a beating from Covid-19 in 2020. Kiwi journalist and entrepreneur Hamish McKenzie runs a publishing platform-Substack - that boomed in 2020, giving journalists important audiences and income. But that success has also given him editorial conundrums to confront.

​The Kiwi co-founder of a successful digital publishing business in the US says the chaos of our media's current crisis obscures an opportunity to break their dependence on dwindling volumes of ads. That's easy to say - but wouldn't that mean throwing out the journalism baby with the dirty economic bathwater? 

​The Kiwi co-founder of a successful digital publishing business in the US says the chaos of our media’s current crisis obscures an opportunity to break their dependence on dwindling volumes of ads. That’s easy to say - but wouldn’t that mean throwing out the journalism baby with the dirty economic bathwater? 

The internet is a noisy place for writers. If you want to build a relationship with readers and earn more from your creative work, consider starting a newsletter. Substack is an example of a popular service that you can try.I recently interviewed co-founder and COO Hamish McKenzie. In this interview, he explains: Why newsletters are a great way of earning more money as w writer Why your first newsletter starts with an ideal reader How to build a relationship with readers and fans What it takes to grow a newsletter that people will pay forAnd lots more.I started by asking McKenzie to explain what Substack is and why he set it up in 2017.Resources:The Blank Page with Bryan CollinsSubstackThe GaryVee Content Model1000 True Fans by Kevin KellyAttention writersGrammarly is one of my favourite proofreading tools. Now, claim a 20% discount with this Grammarly coupon--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/becomeawritertoday/messageSupport the show (https://becomeawritertoday.com/join)

Venture capitalists last month pumped $US 15.3 million into Substack - a start up the New York Times has described as "the new social network that isn't new at all." Mediawatch's Jeremy Rose talks co-founder Hamish McKenzie a Kiwi journalist now based in San Francisco.

Venture capitalists last month pumped $US 15.3 million into Substack - a start up the New York Times has described as "the new social network that isn't new at all." Mediawatch's Jeremy Rose talks co-founder Hamish McKenzie a Kiwi journalist now based in San Francisco.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with New Zealand journalist, Hamish McKenzie about his book: “Insane Mode – How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil”. Then, testing for Alzheimer’s Disease long before any outward symptoms appear. Carlo Medici, CEO of Alzeca describes their efforts, and our chief correspondent, Dr. Daniel Kraft, talks about the ability to control technology with voice and how it will significantly impact medicine.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with New Zealand journalist, Hamish McKenzie about his book: “Insane Mode – How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil”. Then, testing for Alzheimer’s Disease long before any outward symptoms appear. Carlo Medici, CEO of Alzeca describes their efforts, and our chief correspondent, Dr. Daniel Kraft, talks about the ability to control technology with voice and how it will significantly impact medicine.

With social platforms like Facebook throttling distribution for news and the online ad market collapsing, more and more writers are turning to paid newsletters as a way to make a living. In a November 2018 episode of this podcast, I interviewed Hamish McKenzie, the co-founder of Substack, a platform that made it easy for writers to launch newsletters and charge subscribers to receive exclusive issues of those newsletters. At the time, McKenzie said that Substack writers had converted a combined 25,000 readers into paying subscribers. Flash forward to today, and that number is up to 40,000. In fact, BuzzFeed recently reported that the 12 top writers on Substack make over $160,000 a year each. For this week’s episode, I interviewed one of those writers: Robert Cottrell. Ten years ago, Cottrell founded a website called The Browser. He would comb through thousands of articles a day and pick the five he found most interesting, adding a dash of commentary to go along with each pick. As time wore on, he began to notice that many of his readers were signing up for an email digest of his daily recommendations. In 2013, he launched a paid version of the newsletter, and in the intervening years it’s grown to over 10,000 subscribers. I interviewed Cottrell about how he goes about choosing articles every day, what his longterm ambitions are for the newsletter, and why he recently hired a CEO.

Hamish McKenzie lives and works on the highly unique houseboats he designs and builds. Think Mad Max more than the quaint canals of Amsterdam. Hamish is as an engineer by trade and an artist by nature. The first thing you notice when you meet Hamish is his stripey beard and the words fate, hope and clarity tattooed across his face (he traded the tattoo for a raptor skull). Then, as soon as you start talking to him, the tattoo and the stripes disappear. We only thought to ask about his tattoo as we stepped off the boat. He's a frugal doer. When he has an idea he gets stuck in and then works out how to fill the spaces that remain. They might be gaps in the structure he's building or gaps in his knowledge, either way, he works out how to fill them. He's a natural recycler which explains why so many gaps need to be filled and how he's developed the knack of seeing beyond an object's current form. When we see a bus for sale. Hamish sees all the windows he needs for £200. He sees money as fuel. When he's running low he'll work for others to refill the tank but he has no interest in money unless he knows exactly what he's going to use it for.

Directly above, my conversation with Hamish McKenzie, the COO of Substack, this wonderful newsletter platform. As you know, I discovered Substack through an article in the NYTimes this week, signed up, checked it out, and have been testing it this week. Jeff being Jeff, I naturally invited Hamish from Substack the next morning to join me for a #Talking Tech extended interview, asking all the questions I'm sure you have all had about how to use this platform, and why it got started in the first place. Then below, that Santa Barbara #Photowalk I've been telling you about all week. From the hip waterfront to funky State Street to my favorites, the really old Spanish style buildings that make the best photoshoot backdrops ever. That's it for today—let me know what you think of the Santa Barbara #Photowalk please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you'd like to see more from Santa Barbara….my gallery of images: https://www.jeffersongraham.net/Jefferson-Graham-Portfolio/Travel-Photography/Santa-BarbaraAnd my timelapse from Stearns Wharf and the Court House. I'm off to Apple this morning and back at you soon. Jeff This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffersongraham.substack.com

Hamish McKenzie is the cofounder of substack, a subscription based email newsletter service that is revolutionizing the way we publish content. Go to https://www.substack.com/ to create an account and go to http://hamishmckenzie.com/ to learn about Hamish's work with journalism, read his book and learn about his work with Tesla.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with New Zealand journalist, Hamish McKenzie about his book: “Insane Mode – How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil”. Then on this week’s Tech Nation Health, testing for Alzheimer’s Disease long before any outward symptoms appear. Carlo Medici, CEO of Alzeca describes their efforts, and our chief correspondent, Dr. Daniel Kraft, talks about the ability to control technology with voice and how it will significantly impact medicine.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with New Zealand journalist, Hamish McKenzie about his book: “Insane Mode – How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil”. Then on this week’s Tech Nation Health, testing for Alzheimer’s Disease long before any outward symptoms appear. Carlo Medici, CEO of Alzeca describes their efforts, and our chief correspondent, Dr. Daniel Kraft, talks about the ability to control technology with voice and how it will significantly impact medicine.

From a young age in New Zealand, Hamish McKenzie always had a passion for writing and he knew he was pretty good at it! He pursued an English degree and eventually earned a graduate degree in journalism. Hamish went on to be a reporter and wrote for PandoDaily, the Guardian and the Toronto Star. His […] The post Hamish McKenzie appeared first on Story in a Bottle.

Trump threatens to cut subsidies to GM after layoff report. Economy still doing well. HAMISH McKENZIE,Journalist and former Tesla employee discusses how Elon Musk’s Tesla sparked an Electric Revolution. Giving Tuesday. Paul Manafort accused of lying to investigators. . China reports editing genes in babies.

In 2014, Ben Thompson, a blogger who writes about the business of technology, announced he was quitting his job so he could write full time. His business model? He would send out four newsletters a week. One of those newsletters would be free, and if you wanted access to the other three, then you had to pay $10 per month. Within a year, Thompson had 2,000 subscribers, which, if you do the math, means he was generating $200,000 a year. At that point, he stopped publicly disclosing his subscriber numbers, but some predict that he’s increased his subscriber numbers by several thousand. Thompson was an early pioneer in the realm of paid newsletters, and since then there have been several other writers who struck out on their own with similar models. There’s Nick Quah’s podcast newsletter Hot Pod. There’s political writer Judd Legum’s Popular Information. Many of these newsletter writers have had to string together multiple services, from Mailchimp to Stripe, in order to manage their businesses. Now we’re seeing a few new companies on the market that want to serve as all-in-one platforms for paid email newsletters. Once such platform is called Substack, and it recently surpassed 25,000 paying subscribers for its participating newsletter writers. I interviewed the company’s cofounder Hamish McKenzie about the rise of paid newsletters, how to convert readers of a free newsletter into paying subscribers, and why his service is preferable to other membership platforms like Patreon.

In this episode, meet CEO of Menlo Innovations, Richard Sheridan—although you may want to refer to him as Chief Joy Officer—therapist and meditation teacher, Ralph De La Rosa, and journalist Hamish McKenzie. From stories of joyful leadership to why we need a more joyful meditation practice, you’ll be inspired by the fascinating lessons and research these authors have to share. Chief Joy Officer by Richard Sheridan: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/557539/chief-joy-officer/ The Monkey Is the Messenger by Ralph De La Rosa: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/576131/the-monkey-is-the-messenger/ Insane Mode by Hamish McKenzie: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/549834/insane-mode/