Substack 101 by Ruth Neuwald Falcon

These days, I have more faith in independent media than in what is being called legacy media. For the most part, the corporate press is still operating as if “on the one hand, on the other hand” is a legitimate way of meeting this moment. Once again, they are, for the most part, not calling out the illegality of this regime’s actions but reporting them as if it’s “business as usual.”

Fortunately, there’s a wide range of writers, podcasters, journalists, historians, economists, lawyers, and even some politicians — all of them deeply concerned and involved Americans — whose words of direction and encouragement and contextualization are keeping me (relatively) sane and focused on hope (at least some of the time) rather than despair. Most, if not all, are on Substack.

If you don’t know what Substack is, you are not alone:

Jim Acosta, the former CNN anchor known for antagonizing President Donald Trump during his first term, did not know what Substack was two months ago, when he was suddenly on the outs with the network he had called home for nearly two decades. Today, he has more than 280,000 subscribers on the platform. — Newsweek

According to Forbes, “Substack is a subscription-based platform that allows writers, journalists, content creators (and everyone in between) to publish newsletters to their audience directly. Readers can subscribe to free or paid newsletters, allowing creators to build a direct relationship with their audience and generate income through subscription fees.” To clarify, “newsletters” can also be videos and podcasts.

I don’t know how much Joy Reid and Katie Phang knew about Substack when they recently left MSNBC, but they wasted no time bringing their skills and outspokenness there. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is there, as is Mehdi Hasan, who quit MSNBC and started Zeteo News.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, is there, as well as Michael Fanone, the former DC police officer who, on January 6, “was assaulted so badly at the U.S. Capitol, he suffered a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury.” As you might imagine, both Mikes have strong feelings about and insights into what is going on now. So does Mary Trump.

There’s activist Jessica Craven and her fabulous Chop Wood, Carry Water. In her bright and quirky way, she informs and suggests actions we can take every day. She even gives us scripts.

I start each morning with Robert Hubbell, a lawyer, political commentator, and author. His level tone, as he offers both information and encouragement, helps calm me so I can meet whatever new atrocity the rest of the day will bring. He is clear-eyed about what is happening and optimistic that if we just keep at it, we will beat the bastards. And he does all this in less than twenty minutes.

Okay. I could go on, but I will do that another day. Sometimes, less is more. I hope this is one of those times.