137 Comments

Commenting has been turned off for this post
Marxist Grandpa's avatar

You are spot on about the reasons why people are subscribing. I too hate the ironic distance, the cloying “lol, lmao” style of brainworms and writing that Twitter has made mainstream.

The reason I subscribe to you and TK news on Substack is because the left press has turned into dogshit as well. I am a former subscriber to the Nation, Current Affairs, In These Times, and The New Republic, and have let my subscriptions to all of these lapse because of their rapid decline and embrace of woke maximalism. Rather than providing alternative viewpoints, they have all turned into cheerleaders for grad school leftism. The catastrophic defeat, preceded by breathless triumphalism, for the India Walton campaign in particular must have come as a shock to these readers, and real reporting might have inspired the campaign to broaden its outreach. Not only is the echo chamber deathly dull, it is actively harmful.

I appreciate your constant challenging of my views, it shows respect to me as a reader, and it makes me think. It provides color to my life, and provides welcome stimulation during dull days. Keep it up!

Expand full comment
RC's avatar

Since you take the risk of putting yourself out there in all kinds of vulnerable writing I guess I’ll take the risk of putting myself out there and telling you how much your writing means to me. Mostly because I have a deep appreciation for good prose, but also there’s just some core worldview in it that I relate to. I know of few other writers with both the quality and the ability to talk about things like body image, mental illness, literature and music, in an earnest and sincere way that doesn’t feel formulaic and expected. It’s strange that people call you a grifter because the lack of pretense is what I like about it. I don’t know if this is a post that got high engagement or not, but the post that made me subscribe as a paid subscriber was the one with book recommendations for middle schoolers. Something about the seriousness of the post and the importance of books for that age group spoke to me. So many of the books that shaped me most and that I remember most clearly were ones I read between the ages of 10 and 13.

Expand full comment
135 more comments...

No posts