Note to Readers

As some of you have likely noticed — and we've heard from a few! — it has been two weeks since I published my last new article here, easily the longest amount of time that has elapsed since we created this new platform back in October, 2020. This pause is primarily due to the way I work. I am always very conscious that whenever we click “publish” on a new article, we are making an implicit claim to our readers that — given the infinite choices that exist, not just on the internet, but in life, to which you might choose to devote your energies — what we have produced is worth your time to read, that it will be provide something of real value. Out of respect for my readers’ time and the high quality we try to maintain here, I have always preferred to publish nothing rather than publish something banal, cursory or that lacks the passion, energy, depth and unique perspective that I try hard to ensure shapes all the articles that appear under my name. Publishing articles that fall short of those standards can erode the trust that I want to ensure readers have that whatever I am highlighting for them represents my best efforts.

As I have noted before, one of the skills I lack is taking scheduled vacations from work as a way of re-charging. As a result, my body and brain end up volunteering for that important task by occasionally refusing to rise to the level of engagement and excitement that has always driven my work. I have learned over the years to listen to them — they rarely err in this regard — by taking a couple of weeks off from the more grueling and demanding work of writing the in-depth reporting and analysis that we hope and believe characterizes this page. If I feel myself producing journalism out of obligation rather than passion, that is a strong sign that not publishing until that passion returns is the optimal course. Publishing out of burden and duty rather than fervor and a sense of cause can easily produce not just mediocrity but also burnout over the long term, especially given the intensity of the work here.

These moments of rest rarely last long. As I noted, two weeks is easily the longest time I have gone in the last eighteen months since I arrived at Substack without producing new articles or videos. It will not be long before the drive and zeal return. I can feel its stirrings already, particularly with so much mischief going on: from Canada's invocation of shockingly authoritarian powers to crush the trucker's movement, to the avalanche of multi-pronged propaganda from many directions over Ukraine. I am certain this short hiatus has little time left.

So for now, I will take the opportunity to once again express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has subscribed here and has made this platform thrive and develop a reach and influence beyond what I ever imagined was possible when I left The Intercept to once again become a fully independent journalist. The success of this sector of independent media is easily one of the most encouraging signs in our political landscape, and, by definition, none of that is possible without those who support these independent platforms and thus enable them to succeed.