Some news...
Hi Folks:
I have some announcements to make... all good, I hope.
First of all, the Letters I post here every night will stay exactly the same, so if that's why you're here, you can relax and stop reading right now.
Also, I will continue to do the Tuesday and Thursday videos on Facebook, as I have been doing since the pandemic hit us. I'll keep doing those as long as there is interest.
And now, some changes: For those of you looking for the weekly videos as a series, they are currently going up on my new youtube channel, linked at the bottom of this message.
And here's the big news: I am expanding my Substack webpage. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary reason is that it is clear that you all have built a strong community, and you have asked again and again for me not only to talk about the past, but rather to talk about how to move forward to a more just and equal and prosperous society.
That's a discussion I feel would thrive best with a lot of back and forth, with all of us contributing new ideas, but I have learned from hard experience on Facebook that I have to find a way to do that without trolls and bots. To that end, I am instituting a $5 a month subscription fee on Substack for access to those discussions.
The Letters themselves have always been free, and will always stay free. Paid subscriptions will help them, too, though: the money we raise will help me pay for the assistance I so clearly need to keep all this going. And, of course, it will help the Substack folks, who provide the platform here without the support of advertising.
I will quietly add that I am also hoping to have a place to share more speculative thoughts about our country and its politics than I feel comfortable putting into public. Frequently, there are things I'd like to comment on, sometimes in a personal way, but don't dare do it because I don't have the time to turn those thoughts into a well-researched essay and, if they are more personal, don't want to deal with hateful strangers spewing right-wing talking points to attack principles or people I care about. So, with luck, I can use this space to develop real debate and discussion... and maybe even a little art... apart from the daily Letters.
I’ve been taking this new format out for a test drive for the past few days by instituting comments on the Letters-- which I am totally enjoying-- and on Friday will try out a discussion thread. I’ll post a discussion topic mid-morning, and we’ll see how an on-line chat works out.
Still not sure how all of this is going to work, or work out, and the truth is that I am more than a little apprehensive about such a big leap. But if there is one thing you all have taught me, it is to let this project grow wherever you all want it to go. What we are doing here has always been the very best kind of collaboration.
So, many thanks for the faith and the prodding, and here's to the future!
P.S. This doesn't count as today's Letter. Sorry. :)