Substack is full of personal brands announcing their journeys, Discord servers host influencers disguised as community leaders and Patreon bios promise exclusive access that is often just recycled content. Still, something has shifted. These are not mass arenas; they are clubs — opt-in spaces with boundaries, where people remember who you are. And... See more

👋 Welcome to Hot Tub Talks, a monthly whenever-I-feel-like-it newsletter inspired by the conversations I would have in a hot tub with my friends (you!)

Then it occurred to me: I could write a special essay every month and simply mail it to dues-paying members as a letter. It just clicked: We’re readers, we’re writers, we’re a new breed of independent scholars bootstrapping a new republic of letters... I should just write you... letters, to bring everyone off the computer screen regularly, to share... See more