Hello friends and happy New Year!
It’s been a while. Some of you may have realized I stopped sending out newsletters and suspended the Patreon last spring. The TLDR is that between too much work, some unexpected travel and then getting a new staff job, I let it go dormant. But I’m now starting the newsletter back up — although without the Patreon.
Before I lay out the next chapter of the newsletter, I want to express my deep gratitude for, and, if I may, some degree of pride in how the past one went. The newsletter was a tremendously fulfilling side project while I embarked upon my first stint as a freelancer for a couple of years. Thanks to a modest but oddly enthusiastic readership, I was able to use the newsletter as an experimental space to discuss big picture thoughts, micro-level thoughts, and notes that fell between the cracks while working on other pieces. I also got in a bit of memoir, international reporting, film criticism, and Q&A’s along the way. It was a thrill when the newsletters made a splash, sometimes on politics Twitter, sometimes by getting cited or republished in various publications (seeing a blog post republished in a print edition of The Chicago Tribune was both amusing and satisfying), and once serving as the basis for an episode of “The Daily” for The New York Times.
Your feedback was a huge source of motivation. Whether in the form of criticism, a question, praise, or just unloading some thoughts on what was stressing you out about our political situation, every note was appreciated and helped provide fuel. I regret every failure to reply to an email — I always read them and intend to respond, but out of the naive hope of finding time for a thoughtful response I sometimes let some slip.
I was also very grateful for the support for my short-lived Patreon, which I suspended the moment I knew I was not going to be able to carry on with the traditional newsletter. I know that I owe patrons at the higher tiers one big item — the notes on writing, which I still plan to complete — but if anyone feels that they didn’t get what they were owed for any reason, please feel free to request a refund. (While the Patreon posts went out for longer than the public newsletter ones, I did miss out on a scheduled piece of content amidst the chaos in that last month or so.)
The big change happened this summer. MSNBC reached out to me regarding a position as an opinion columnist and an editor, and I’m happy to report that it was a great decision to have taken a job with them. Some of you follow me on social media and may have been keeping up with my published writing there. But I'd also like to once again share my writing here, where it’s not subject to the whims of The Algorithms.
Due to my employer's editorial policy for staffers, I won’t be producing original articles for the newsletter itself. What that means is that going forward this space is going to be a way for me to share a) my columns and blog posts for MSNBC and b) select social media posts / threads on Twitter and Facebook. The Patreon and Patreon-only posts will remain suspended indefinitely.
From a functional standpoint, not much will be different. I’ll be sending along my thoughts, and you can read them if you’d like to. As always I welcome correspondence and comments, and a share if you’re moved to. I'm not yet sure how often I'll be sending out the newsletter, but my hope right now is a few times a month.
I’ve been writing a lot. I’ll probably share more of the bigger picture pieces I’ve worked on in future newsletters, but a few highlights from the past several months for now:
The real takeaway from the Rittenhouse verdict
Anand Gopal turning my understanding of the Afghanistan War upside down.
What we might learn from India Walton's failed bid to become the first socialist mayor of a major city in decades, riffing in part based on my interview with her
The folly of AOC’s iron dome vote
How “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty” are beacons of imperial ignorance
Should Democrats use “Latinx”?
What Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” gets right and wrong. (My views of the film have changed a bit since then, I’d say.)
Excited to have this back up. More soon.
Thanks for this post. I had missed these columns and enjoyed reading them.
Anxiously awaiting your future newsletters! Congrats on the new job!