Inspired by my conversation with Noah Smith this week on the podcast, I made a few taps on my iPhone this morning and created my own Substack newsletter. It couldn’t have been easier. I now have a blog combined with an email newsletter that people can subscribe to. So far, I’m going with the auto-generated name, Len’s Newsletter.
I know this blog/newsletter thing is great for readers, because each week I look forward to newsletters by Steven Levy, Austin Kleon, and Jane Friedman. Noah’s posts come even more frequently, and they are terrific—original, timely, unexpected insights into topics I care about. Another weekly treat is Recomendo, a list of cool stuff collated by Kevin Kelly, Wired’s co-founder, and friends. That’s where I learned about Noah Smith, who thought Chinese bots were attacking him the day after Kevin touted Noahpinion on Recomendo. How else explain 6,000 new email subscribers in one day/
That actually has given me an idea for my next Clubhouse experiment. I just scheduled a room titled “What’s YOUR favorite newsletter?” Please drop by today at 5 pm ET and share your recommendations.
I have not yet figured out how to move a photo around in the text, but I’ll leave you with a shot took of the Gulf from the Donax Street entrance to the beach. What a place this is. Sunny, lots of nature, and our current rental is on the second hole of a handsome golf course. We realized the other day that a big alligator lives in the pond, making it a true water hazard. I have named him Captain Hook in honor of all the times I hook or slice a golf shot.
In the meantime, tell your friends!