Reviews

7 February 2025: One of the gaps in the Substack system is its lack of reviews. The only metric for newsletters is subscribers. If this applied to books, you’d never hear about anything but a handful of bestsellers. So rather than simply subscribe or recommend, I’m writing a short review of the newsletters I think may be of interest to those interested in the topics I write about. As well as some that I stumble across and admire.

Politics

Paul Krugman

Economist Paul Krugman seems to have come into his own at Substack. He had a lot of freedom as a New York Times columnist until recently (he quit after 25 years, sick of intrusive and stupid editing), but his Substack pieces are even better—freer, longer, more personal. And he has a dry sense of humor.

Wonkette

Frequent and funny, and packed with links to longer news items. Firmly on the “progressive” side of the political spectrum. The sassy writing is consistent, intelligent, and even charming, if you don’t mind references to bodily fluids and male sexual parts, and even the calls for contributions are exceptional.

The Bulwark - Morning Shots

High-minded, old-line conservative vision with quotations from the classics of Western civ and conservative tradition. Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea, but it is in fact a brew that cheers. The writing is very good. The tone is compassionate, and gently fervent about the importance of this moment. One feels that these are comrades to rely on.