lilithnocturne

[macwantspeace]

Words. I got words for you. Don't got an image, except in my little brain. ‘A less sterile derangement’

It’s okay to summon the demon—just make sure you don’t become it

Hamish McKenzie

Sep 4READ IN APP

In a footnote at the end of an essay about aging, eternalism, and (um, I think) the unreality of time, the writer Sam Kriss dropped an observation that encapsulates one of society’s most annoying problems. 

“We are no longer comprehensible to each other,” wrote Sam, after 3,500 words that included a deft defense of Lena Dunham’s singular voice and a brief visit to a school of Buddhist thought that posits that the present, and therefore every graspable fact, is constantly being extinguished. [pish. the present is always here. it's you that ain't.]

I read the essay on Monday afternoon, after I had written a bad draft of a post that we intended to publish today about a package of work Substack has been doing to promote better discourse around the U.S. election.

I had sent the draft to my colleague Fiona. Obviously, I was supposed to have written the piece well in advance, but I have a charming tendency to ignore writing assignments until the deadline has passed. Did she have any thoughts about it? 

“It seems clear and straightforward,” she texted. “It doesn’t stir any emotions. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

That’s Fiona’s way of saying it sucks. 

I wasn’t sure I was up for improving it. Honestly, I am quite tired of writing and thinking about politics. Maybe it would be best to just blurt out a few perfunctory paragraphs about how some of the best political writing in the world is on Substack and then move on. Unfortunately, I was born with a conscience. I didn’t want to disappoint Fiona.

“We are no longer comprehensible to each other, we inhabit different systems of signifiers, and all the mediating fantasies have melted away,” wrote Sam, in his little afterthought. 

Well, damn, I thought. That’s exactly how I think about the problem we are facing. As mainstream media has become more ideologically narrow, with each outlet speaking only to a cultivated perspective, and as social media has turned political discourse into a game with the greatest rewards going to those who can most spectacularly bash their opponent’s head against the wall in front of a crowd of braying supporters, humanity has been reduced to a seemingly infinite number of bands of political tribes and subtribes, each with their own language and purity codes, each dedicated solely to the inflation of themselves and their in-group members as The Most Righteous, a dynamic that teeters on the edge of a catastrophe should the most ardent of the online warriors risk logging off for even a few minutes so they can translate their febrile ravings into something akin to real-world action. (Come to think of it, you don’t have to look hard to find some very prominent names among their number who are trying to do just that.) 

Which is to say that the dominant media system’s incentives are busted.  ~~~~~~~ I adore that batch of words. Keyboard warriors battling for clicks and views.

[younes-ben-amara]

بعد 300 حصة مُراجعة لكتابات الزملاء: إليك 9 أخطاء يرتكبها الكُتَّاب يسهُل جدًا تجنُّبها 🔐

ما هذه المجموعة من المختارات تسألني؟ إنّها عددٌ من أعداد نشرة “صيد الشابكة” اِعرف أكثر عن النشرة هنا: ما هي نشرة “صيد الشابكة” ما مصادرها، وما غرضها؛ وما معنى الشابكة أصلًا؟! 🎣🌐 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #51 مساء -أو صباح- السعد حسب الوقت الذي تقرأ فيه هذا. 👋 جمعة مباركة. 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #51📝 اِشترك في رديف واحصل على جلسات تقييم لا محدودة لأعمالك النصيّة*👌 ديبوراه كارفر (Deborah Carver) أفضل…

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

The Convert ('15'): "The Story of My Life... So Far".

One Mann's Movies FIlm Review of "The Convert". Guy Pearce tries to stop bloodshed in 1830's NZ. Solid adventure film. 4/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Convert” (2024). “The Convert”, starring Guy Pearce, is due for release on Video-on-Demand platforms on October 14th. (I’m not sure of which platforms at the moment – please check the Justwatch widget at the bottom of this page for details when available.) It’s really a great shame that this didn’t get a UK cinema release (as far as I can see, it didn’t).…

[lucas-koh]

I wrote three little fics for @mrsbsmooth for Christmas ! Happy holidays to you and ily 💞

Gold

Lewie x MC

This guy is incredibly cute. His eyes are blue and his hair is blonde—no, wait, golden —and he’s got that lean muscular figure a lot of footballers do. Sweet and handsome and charming at just one glance. She doesn’t know if she’s found someone this cute, this quickly, since Idris Elba in The Wire.

Frankincense

Bobby x MC

Unfortunately for her, or for Bobby, or for both of them; Aisling is too horny and too tipsy to not be feeling a little flustered about this position. He’s… His body parts fit nicely into hers, and he’s harder than she expected because—my god, does Bobby McKenzie have muscles? Shit. That’s the last time she drinks dark ‘n’ stormies and lets her brother’s best friend take her home.

Myrrh

Hamish x MC

He’s working her harder than she’s ever worked for him for real; he’s relentless, uncompromising, determined. Just like he is behind the desk in those glasses, chewing on that pen, spreading his legs as he leans back in his big leather wheely chair.

[angelsandarsenic]

An ever after high oc?? In this economy??

Guys im having so much trouble with outfits. I have a ton I could show but idk if they're good/eah enough

It is so hard to find Scottish female voices I was about to bite the bullet and make it Kelly macdonald  anywayyyyy there's a short version of their story under the cut i'm not gonna write out a whole long thing so pardon the straightforwardness

Voice claims: Lachlan—Jamie Fraser, outlander  Saoirse—Laoghaire McKenzie—outlander

This story goes…a little differently. 

After the events of Brave, Clan Dunbroch continued to prosper, now in closer link than ever with the other clans. Princess Merida ascended to the throne, but she never did take a lover or have children. Hamish, Hubert and Harris, all grown up, went on to find their own partners and lead their own lives. Their eldest children—Shaun of Macguffin, Ailsa and Alec Macintosh, and Lachlan of Dingwall—are now all eligible for the Dunbroch throne

Now let’s turn back time a little bit.

The ancient kingdom is crumbling. The first prince has gone on a rampage and Isla has just watched her husband turn into a massive bear. 

She flees. 

It takes her two days to find the witch’s cottage. By then the spell had been set in stone, and the witch can tell the woman is with child. She’s not heartless, she wants to help, but all magic comes with a price. So she does the only other thing she knows how and shepherds them through the magic circle to the realm of the faeries, where no one will ever find them. 

~~~

Lachlan is certain he can win the competition for the throne. He wants it. His grandfather definitely wants it. He’s strong, skilled and fast and not afraid to knock his cousins out of the way, however close they may have been as children. Besides, he’s the Queen’s favorite—how could he lose?

The four clans have all gathered for three weeks of festivities and friendly competition before the actual games. After one too many ruthless victories, Lachlan gets in a fight with his cousins. After being scolded by his father for his behavior as well, the young prince has had enough and takes off into the woods to cool down. 

He brings back a girl.

An odd girl, to be sure; her thick braids make two strange piles on her head and she won’t ever tell him where she’s from, but there are no kingdoms or settlements around here, so a girl lost in the forest needs help! She introduces herself as Saoirse before the Queen and quickly gets welcomed to stay. 

Lachlan likes her at first. She’s fiery and mischievous and actually manages to beat him in combat. It’s just a sparring match, he tells himself, it doesn’t actually matter. Except it does matter. Because Saoirse is getting way too close to the Queen and she’s too good at everything for her- her existence to be natural. Lachlan's cousins loved her, meanwhile Lachlan himself was only growing more irritable and distant. Was she replacing him? What was more, there were rumors that the Queen wanted to let Saoirse, an outsider, compete for the throne! Too bad no one believed Lachlan when he tried to tell them. They all think he’s simply jealous. 

And then one night there’s a bear in the castle.

Understandably, Lachlan panics and draws his sword. He’s heard the stories. What happened to his father, his brothers and the late Queen Elinor. Heard about the demon bear Mor’du. If he doesn’t slay the beast then-

But just before Lachlan calls for help, the bear disappears and a wide eyed Saoirse is standing in its place. Her hair fell loose down her shoulders, revealing furry ears atop her head. 

“W-wait! It’s not- Lachlan listen-“

“Monster!”

“No!”

He had won. He had proof, right there under her hair! If he brought her before the Queen and lords, they’d probably kill her, but so what?

In a desperate flight for life, Saoirse ran through the palace as a bear to escape. The clans awoke with much clamor and the hunt was on, but the beast had disappeared into the night. 

The very next morning, the clans set out again, splitting into groups to canvas the forest more thoroughly. Lachlan set off on his own--he knew just where to go. 

He didn’t find the bear at the stone circle like before. He did find a wisp. A will-o-the wisp! Here to lead him to his fate, undoubtedly. 

Lachlan followed the little spirits eagerly, ignoring the way the trees grew thick and dark, and stone jutted further from the ground. At first, he thought the stone archway was a cave. Inside lay the bear, curled up by a pile of rubble, asleep.

“Wake up.” Lachlan kicked it. He had more honor than to kill a sleeping enemy. 

She transformed back as she startled awake. That was fine, a human was easier to drag back anyway. She was clutching a bow, a sword lay on the stone steps behind her. 

“Did you steal these from the castle?!”

“No, I made them you brute!”

Lachlan scoffed. “You made them?” 

“Yes. Did you think your weapons just popped out of thin air, your highness?”

“I- w- no. But you’re a beast, what the devil do you need weapons for?”

“I'm a human,” she hissed. It was then that Lachlan noticed. Stairs?? And were those carvings? 

“Is this the ancient kingdom? Do you live here?”

“No. I just…come here sometimes.”

“Why?”

The look on her face made him think she might snap at him, but she kept herself in check. Instead, she said, “becoming the kingdom hero won’t make you loved, you know.”

“What? I’m loved, what are you talking about?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because you don’t act like it. Are we sure I’m the monster here?”

“Yes!”

The girl huffed. “Well, I hope you figure yourself out soon, before it’s too late. You’re really lucky you know. You have so many people who care about you. Four whole clans at your fingertips.” Her own fingers traced a withered carving on cracked stone. She muttered something about “mum told me not to come back here” and stood. Lachlan readied his weapon again, not realizing he had ever lowered it. She didn’t attack him. She simply hefted another massive rock over to her spot from the other side of the cave and laid back down. “Do it then. Go on, I’m ready.”

…

“What?” 

Saoirse actually managed to look annoyed. “You’re planning to kill me right? For ‘attacking your castle’?” Her voice ridiculed him, yet she seemed completely serious. “Go on then.”

Lachlan actually dropped his weapon then. “What is wrong with you?” What was so important about the stone then that she wanted it close? “Don’t you- I mean okay, I understand being suicidal, but don’t you have someone who would miss you?”

“Nope.”

Lachlan’s heart fell. He dropped down beside her. Surely she couldn’t be serious. “Where do you live?”

A mournful frown pushed her bottom lip out like she was about to cry. “Right here. I was supposed to live here. Ages ago. But it- it got destroyed.” As if an afterthought, she added, “I was never going to hurt you, you know.”

Lachlan finally took a look at the carvings she had rolled over to lean against. The four brothers, he could recognize easily enough. He had heard the story more than enough times for a lifetime from his father and aunt. There were people with them. The king, he assumed, was one, standing in the middle with the crown. The others were three women—the fourth brother didn’t have one, but he held a little boy in front of him. All of the brothers had a family, Lachlan realized. Even the eldest, though he didn’t seem to have a child yet. 

“We never learned about them,” the prince murmured.

“No, you wouldn’t have. They all died.”

“But- but this is all ancient.” She must be crazy. “You can’t live here.”

“Time moves a lot slower in the realm of the faeries.”

Now Lachlan looked at Saoirse like she was in fact crazy. Then it clicked. “The circle…”

Well, that's...kind of sad... “You’re another victim of the witch,” he surmised. He hadn’t thought they could turn into humans again but maybe she had gotten a different spell?

Saoirse snorted. “No, the witch is married to my mum now. She’s lovely, really. I’m-“

“A victim of Mor’du then? Did he kill your family?” 

Saoirse cut him off with a roll of her eyes. “Mor’du was my family ya gommy nyaff.”

…

“Oh.”

~~~

All in all, they returned to the castle. Lachlan apologized and made up with his family. Saoirse, with some trials of trust, was welcomed back as well. Eventually, Lachlan does take the throne. Except there were never any competitive games. Or rather, the lead up was the competition, in a sense. The Queen wanted to test the heirs' genuine traits and familial bonds. With the ability to admit he was wrong and put family above himself, Lachlan passed with flying colors.

[rebelrayne]

2023 Fic Year in Review

thank you, @longbobmckenzie for tagging me!

In 2023, I...

Started/worked on the following chaptered WIPs:

off the market | Hamish/MC | Villa Fix-It

and the day after that, too | Tom/OC | AU (rewrite)

jealous | Ryan/MC | Villa Stick or Twist Fix-It

Jurassic Island | Noah/OC | AU - Jurassic Park/World

Wrote/completed the following oneshots:

fast car | Hamish/MC | Villa | Finale Fix-It

end game | Elliot/MC | Villa | Stick or Twist Fix-It

let's play | Elliot/OC | AU

the checklist | Ivy/OC(s) | Post-Villa

Sterling McKenzie, Inc. | Valentina/OC | AU - The Office

evenfall | Bruno/OC | AU - Twilight

Define: Falling | Hamish/OC | AU - Christmas

Ten Things I Hate About You | Harry/OC & Joyo/OC | AU

Model Santa | Youcef/OC | AU - Christmas

Reached the following milestones:

My stats are not impressive I promise you. Honestly more embarrassing to list than not to 😂 so instead, I'll say that I started a somewhat popular okay villa fic? And it made people love a character they otherwise found repulsive. You're welcome, everyone!

tagging @operationnope @whatisreggieshortfor @perfectlysunny02 @0shewrites0 @justtuesdays

no pressure (especially you, Reggie, I know you have a ton 😂)

[lastscenecom]

月額 5 ドルは米国ではコーヒー 1 杯の値段です (ヨーロッパでは 3 ユーロ)。つまり、私が楽しみと知識のために実際に読んで、スタイルと著者への好感を抱くようになった 4 ～ 5 のニュースレターを購読するとします。つまり、週に 1 杯のコーヒーを「あきらめる」だけです。私が得る価値としては大したことではありません。

The age of the sovereign creator - by Hamish McKenzie

[thatstormygeek]

So, after the day where a shitload of substackers posted an open letter against the platform hosting, profiting from, and promoting Nazi creators, Hamish McKenzie finally deigned to respond yesterday. This is (the first couple paragraphs of) what he said:

Hi everyone. Chris, Jairaj, and I wanted to let you know that we’ve heard and have been listening to all the views being expressed about how Substack should think about the presence of fringe voices on the platform (and particularly, in this case, Nazi views).  I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either—we wish no-one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don't think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse.

Basically, what he said here is "we don't like Nazis, but we do like their money." And they don't find the views of Nazis so abhorrent they do not want their business associated with them and its resources used by them. So, really they don't mind Nazis all that much.

What this does is create yet another Assholes Club.

The comments in the image are in the responses to McKenzie's note.

Asshole. Club.

Substack said "Hey, everyone welcome!" Then some assholes showed up and started making more and more people uncomfortable. People were like "um, could you do something about these guys? They are kind of making this whole place suck?" And Substack said, "Yeah, they might be jerks, but we said everyone welcome, so they can stay."

The folks who were already fed up take off at this point. They had one foot out the door already and were only sticking around because their friends weren't ready to leave. Their friends watch them go and consider heading out as well, especially the more they see the club owners palling around with the jerks.

Naturally, this emboldens the assholes, so their assholery becomes even more pronounced and harder to ignore. They are shouting and taking up much more space than they need. The group is a little bigger because some of the lower-level bullies were encouraged by the warm reception the bigger assholes were getting. The club has gotten quite a bit emptier, but it's hard to notice because the assholes insist on being the center of everyone's attention.

It doesn't take all that long before "everyone welcome" turns into "asshole fans welcome" which functionally makes it an Asshole Club because it's full of assholes and people who enjoy assholery, which are, by definition, assholes.

And as we all know, the one thing the internet needs more of is places for assholes to gather.

So congrats, Substack. You've followed the well-worn path of every other fucking website. Such bravery.

[ktempestbradford]

Content Moderation Isn't As Hard As They Say

Another issue from the Atlantic article on Substack that bears discussing is this bit:

Moderating online content is notoriously tricky. Amid the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza, Amnesty International recently condemned social-media companies’ failure to curb a burst of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic speech, at the same time that it criticized those companies for “over-broad censorship” of content from Palestinian and pro-Palestinian accounts—which has made sharing information and views from inside Gaza more difficult. When tech platforms are quick to banish posters, partisans of all stripes have an incentive to accuse their opponents of being extremists in an effort to silence them. But when platforms are too permissive, they risk being overrun by bigots, harassers, and other bad-faith actors who drive away other users, as evidenced by the rapid erosion of Twitter, now X, under Musk. In a post earlier this year, a Substack co-founder, Hamish McKenzie, implied that his company’s business model would largely obviate the need for content moderation. “We give communities on Substack the tools to establish their own norms and set their own terms of engagement rather than have all that handed down to them by a central authority,” he wrote. But even a platform that takes an expansive view of free speech will inevitably find itself making judgments about what to take down and what to keep up—as Substack’s own terms of service attest. ... Ultimately, the First Amendment gives publications and platforms in the United States the right to publish almost anything they want. But the same First Amendment also gives them the right to refuse to allow their platform to be used for anything they don’t want to publish or host.

I don't agree that moderating online content is "tricky" in the way that the article writer posits it. Even that first example is presented as if it's somehow talking out of both sides of one's mouth to condemn social media companies for allowing anti-Semitic and Islamophobic speech while suppressing pro-Palestinian posts and accounts. What?

And that bit about partisans using a network's propensity to use the banhammer as a tool to silence their opponents is indeed a thing, but is only effective if the network's banning "policies" (used very loosely here) are vague and mostly run by bots. It can even be a problem when humans get involved in the moderation if said humans don't truly understand what they're looking at or they have been trained improperly.

Back in 2017 ProPublica published a deep dive into what people who are tasked with reviewing flagged content are trained to see as appropriate or not. It wasn't a pretty picture.

There's also the part about language and cultural understanding. If a platform outsources their content moderation to a country where they can get that labor for "cheap", the individuals reviewing the content may not know English well enough to spot a problem or know the culture of the post origin well enough to understand dog whistles or even outright bigotry if it's not on the list given to them of what's not acceptable.

For issues at the scale of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other very large networks, the main solution is and has always been money. Money to pay people inside of a country or culture to review the materials. Money to train them properly. Money to support the mental health tolls this work takes on people. You know what companies hate to do? Spend money on stuff that isn't CEO pay.

But let's be real here: the ultimate problem in content moderation isn't that it's tricky, it's that corporate owned networks aren't willing to take an ethical stand on things like what constitutes racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other true bigotry. They're also not willing to take a stand against ideas like "reverse racism" or "reverse sexism" and similar. You won't see them saying: Those reverse isms aren't a real thing and we won't tolerate that crap around here.

You can't create a moderation policy that covers every tiny detail of what is and isn't okay and what words are and aren't okay and such granular stuff as that. You can have a code of ethics and a morality that prioritizes harm reduction, especially for marginalized groups. Not so ironically, I've seen these kinds of policies most when looking at various Mastodon instances suggested to me and others. Here's a good example.

Yes, I know that scale is a huge factor here and I don't discount it. Scale doesn't mean this kind of moderation is impossible, just more difficult or costly as things grow. Yet it's not difficult to take a stand and say: We don't want white supremacists or Nazis on our platform, period. As The Atlantic points out, platforms and social networks have a First Amendment right to do that.

The Substack CEOs? Aren't willing.

[redspacewriter]

3, 7, & 13!

OP! Thank you for the ask. I apologize beforehand if none of this is relevant to you. But, giant thank you for the game!

03 - First fic you Bookmarked this year

Truth be told, I barely use the bookmark feature in ao3 because I actually bookmark it via my browser. So...that would be Off the Market by @rebelrayne.

07 - Your most read pairing this year

Hamish and MC and that's been voluntarily. What my bestie has done for him, has kept my tied to the pairing for the majority of this year. Oh, and this one's tied with Jake and MC, it's my comfort pairing. And yes, I read my own stuff.

13 - Your personal favorite fic you read this year

My favorite fic would be Are You a Manwhore? by @whatisreggieshortfor , Perfect Birthday Celebration by @whatisreggieshortfor & the crew, and Sterling McKenzie Inc. by @rebelrayne. These fics say a lot about me. And, yes, I do love Tim!

Ask game here!

[tieflingkisser]

Substack says it will not remove or demonetize Nazi content

More than 200 Substack authors asked the platform to explain why it’s “platforming and monetizing Nazis,” and now they have an answer straight from co-founder Hamish McKenzie:

I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either—we wish no-one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse.

Substack has banned sex workers but not Nazis!!

[younes-ben-amara]

أحيانًا ترفضُ وسائل الإعلام التقليدية أن تشير لنا برابط بل وحتى مجرد ذكر اسم منصتنا في مقالاتهم

ما هذه المجموعة من المختارات تسألني؟ إنّها عددٌ من أعداد نشرة “صيد الشابكة” اِعرف أكثر عن النشرة هنا: ما هي نشرة “صيد الشابكة” ما مصادرها، وما غرضها؛ وما معنى الشابكة أصلًا؟! 🎣🌐 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #93 السلام عليكم وتوكلنا على الله وبسم الله، العنوان هو شكوى من الشريك المؤسِّس لمنصة صبستاك هاميش ماكنزي (Hamish McKenzie) وهي شكوى يتفق معها كل صانع محتوى ورائد أعمال مجتهد. تجد الاقتباس الكامل…

[chaotic-hypnotic-erotic]

Substack Chaos Magic Sigil

Substack now supports nazis.

This chaos magic meme is to convince the CEO, Hamish McKenzie, to change his mind. Like to charge; reblog to cast.

To help, I invoke The Fixer. I am doing whatever I can to spread the word and to get the CEO of Substack to change his mind.

I'm ready to withdraw from Substack permanently, if that's what it takes.

To spread the word, I invoke The Media. May the action against the CEO of Substack be swift. May it come at him from all sides.

[yourreddancer]

I am (not) one of the 57 most powerful people in media

Power to creators

Hamish McKenzie

Oct 22

Yesterday, New York Magazine, a biweekly periodical produced in the state of New York, released its “Power Issue,” featuring insidery talk about the state of the media business from “57 of the most powerful people in media”—including, most importantly, me. 

The black-and-white photos printed with the spread are dark and striking, making all the subjects—plain in appearance, unalluring in visage—look like characters from a moody Martin Scorcese movie. While I was sitting for the shoot, the photographer—who had been flown in from the Netherlands for the assignment—asked me questions to get me talking while he snapped away. At one point, he asked: “So, how does it feel to be one of the most powerful people in media?” My instinctive response was: “It’s a delusion. It means absolutely nothing.”

There are few things that the media industry likes to talk about more than itself. The pity is that it is an increasingly small and irrelevant bubble, and so there are fewer and fewer people around to listen. The Group of 57 (as no one is calling us) is mostly made up of executives, anchors, and editors (and, to be fair, a smattering of Substack publishers), and the idea that we are powerful is a bit sad. While I remain a believer in traditional media, very few of those featured are relevant in today’s culture and in what the media landscape has become. Even the reporter who wrote the piece implicitly acknowledged this as she yawned her way through our interview. “You are so bored!” I yelled, in the most gentlemanly way possible, while trying to come up with spicy quotes like: “Anything that looks or smells like The New Republic is going to die.” 

The real power in media today lies with the writers and creators who have a direct line to their audiences. They are the ones who shape minds and shift culture, not the mahogany-desked bosses at CNN, the worn-sole executive editors of Hearst, or the TV anchors who serve as white noise for septuagenarians to fall asleep to after their 8 p.m. brandy. With few exceptions, the media power brokers of yesterday now oversee a series of properties with dwindling reach and a limited ability to convince anyone of anything, while the stars of new media attract larger audiences and harbor more diverse perspectives. The difference between most of the Group of 57 and independent creators—the Substackers, YouTubers, TikTokkers, and podcasters of the world—is that people actually care to listen to the latter, and their businesses are growing alongside their influence. 

And thank god. We sorely need alternatives to centralized power in the media. The world’s most important writers and creators deserve autonomy from the Borg and independence from Official Opinion and ad-based aggregators of all sorts, whether it’s NBC and the Wall Street Journal or Facebook and X. 

It’s the creators’ economy now, and the momentum in this shift will only accelerate as more creators realize the power of owning their communities and of being paid not by advertisers but by subscribers whose trust they have earned. 

The best part of New York Magazine’s spread was a small section titled “Some Newsletters People Fork Out For…,” which was a list of Substack writers and publications that the media luminaries pay for. To my mind, it’s a much better power list. I encourage you to check them out: 

Rachel Karten 

Drop Site News

The Free Press

Zeteo

Matthew Yglesias

Hunter Harris

Notes From Auntie's Desk

Emilia Petrarca

Leandra Medine Cohen

Amy Odell

John Ellis

Andrew Sullivan  

Tina Brown

Joe Klein

Judd Legum

Emily Sundberg

Roger Pielke Jr.  

Nate Silver

Noah Smith

Cartoons Hate Her

Timothy B Lee

Casey Lewis

Andy Borowitz

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Steve Schmidt

Alison Roman

Janice Min

[moviereviews101web]

The Convert (2023) Movie Review

The Convert – Movie Review Director: Lee Tamahori Writer: Shane Danielsen, Lee Tamahori, Michael Bennett (Screenplay) Writer: Hamish Clayton (Novel) Cast Guy Pearce (Memento) Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) Antonio Te Maioha (Spartacus) Jacqueline McKenzie (Deep Blue Sea) Te Kohe Tuhaka (Love and Monsters) Plot: A lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in…

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2024 olympics New Zealand roster

Athletics

James Preston (Wellington)

Sam Tanner (Papamoa)

Georgie Beamish (Hastings)

Hamish Kerr (Dunedin)

Ethan Olivier (Vereeniging, South Africa)

Jack Gill (Auckland)

Tom Walsh (Timaru)

Connor Bell (Auckland)

Zoe Hobbs (New Plymouth)

Maia Ramsden (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Camille French (Hamilton)

Imogen Ayris (Auckland)

Eliza McCartney (Auckland)

Olivia McTaggart (Auckland)

Maddison-Lee Wesche (Auckland)

Tori Peeters (Cambridge)

Laura Bruce (Christchurch)

Canoeing

Finn Butcher (Auckland)

Hamish Legarth (Hastings)

Max Brown (Cambridge)

Grant Clancy (Auckland)

Kurtis Imrie (Wellington)

Luuka Jones (Tauranga)

Lucy Matehaere (Dunedin)

Lisa Buck (Ōhope)

Aimee Fisher (Rotorua)

Alicia Hoskin (Gisborne)

Olivia Brett (Auckland)

Tara Vaughan (Auckland)

Climbing

Julian David (Tauranga)

Sarah Tetzlaff (Tauranga)

Cycling

Laurence Pithie (Christchurch)

Corbin Strong (Invercargill)

Sam Dakin (Auckland)

Aaron Gate (Auckland)

Keegan Hornblow (Nelson)

Tom Sexton (Invercargill)

Campbell Stewart (Palmerston North)

Sam Gaze (Tokoroa)

Rico Bearman (North Harbour)

Niamh Fisher-Black (Nelson)

Kim Cadzow (Tauranga)

Ellesse Andrews (Christchurch)

Shaane Fulton (Hamilton)

Rebecca Petch (Te Awamutu)

Ally Wollaston (Waikato)

Bryony Botha (Auckland)

Emily Shearman (Palmerston North)

Nicole Shields (Clyde)

Samara Maxwell (Taupō)

Leila Walker (Cambridge)

Diving

Elizabeth Roussel (Auckland)

Equestrian

Clarke Johnstone (Matangi)

Tim Price (Rangiora)

Melissa Galloway (Tuamarina)

Jonelle Price (Rangiora)

Field hockey

Dom Dixon (Hawke's Bay)

Brad Read (Auckland)

Malachi Buschl (Dunedin)

Scott Boyde (Brisbane, Australia)

Dane Lett (Carterton)

Simon Child (Auckland)

Charlie Morrison (Christchurch)

Joe Morrison (Christchurch)

Jacob Smith (Wellington)

Sam Lane (Temuka)

Simon Yorston (Christchurch)

Nic Woods (Hamilton)

Kane Russell (Dunedin)

Blair Tarrant (Timaru)

Sean Findlay (Taradale)

Hugo Inglis (Dunedin)

Hayden Phillips (Levin)

Isaac Houlbrooke (Auckland)

Leon Hayward (Darwin, Australia)

Golf

Ryan Fox (Auckland)

Daniel Hillier (Wellington)

Ko Bo-Gyung (Orlando, Florida)

Gymnastics

Dylan Schmidt (Auckland)

Georgia-Rose Brown (Melbourne, Australia)

Maddie Davidson (Christchurch)

Judo

Moira Koster (Christchurch)

Sydnee Andrews (Camberley, U.K.)

Rowing

Tom Mackintosh (Hastings)

Dan Williamson (Beachlands)

Phillip Wilson (Wellington)

Robbie Manson (Hamilton)

Jordan Parry (Tauranga)

Matt Macdonald (Auckland)

Ollie Maclean (Auckland)

Tom Murray (Blenheim)

Logan Ullrich (Brisbane, Australia)

Emma Twigg (Napier)

Kate Haines (Hamilton)

Alana Sherman (Auckland)

Brooke Francis (Te Kauwhata)

Lucy Spoors (Christchurch)

Phoebe Spoors (Christchurch)

Jackie Kiddle (Wellington)

Shannon Cox (Whangārei)

Jackie Gowler (Raetihi)

Kerri Williams (Raetihi)

Davina Waddy (Christchurch)

Rugby

Scott Curry (Rotorua)

Brady Rush (Kerikeri)

Tone Shiu (Napier)

Akuila Rokolisoa (Lautoka, Fiji)

Dylan Collier (Ōpōtiki)

Ngarohi McGarvey-Black (Rotorua)

Fehi Fineanganofo (Auckland)

Andrew Knewstubb (Wellington)

Regan Ware (Tokoroa)

Tepaea Cook-Savage (Kaitaia)

Moses Leo (Auckland)

Leroy Carter (Tauranga)

Tevarn Webber (Hamilton)

Sione Molia (Pukekohe)

Michaela Blyde (New Plymouth)

Jazmin Hotham (Hamilton)

Sarah Hirini (Feilding)

Tyla King (Auckland)

Jorja Miller (Timaru)

Manaia Nuku (Hamilton)

Mahina Paul (Whakatāne)

Risealeaana Pouri-Lane (Auburn, Australia)

Alena Saili (Porirua)

Theresa Stefano (Auckland)

Stacey Fluhler (Papakura)

Portia Woodman (Kawakawa)

Sailing

Josh Armit (Auckland)

Lukas Walton-Keim (Auckland)

Tom Saunders (Auckland)

Isaac McHardie (Hamilton)

William McKenzie (Auckland)

Micah Williamson (Hamilton)

Greta Pilkington (Auckland)

Justina Kitchen (Auckland)

Joanna Aleh (Auckland)

Molly Meech (Auckland)

Erica Dawson (Auckland)

Shooting

Owen Robinson (Morrinsville)

Chloe Tipple (Christchurch)

Soccer

Alex Paulsen (Auckland)

Michael Boxall (Auckland)

Sam Sutton (Auckland)

Tyler Bindon (Los Angeles, California)

Finn Surman (Christchurch)

Joe Bell (Christchurch)

Matthew Garbett (Porirua)

Ben Old (Wellington)

Ben Waine (Wellington)

Sarpreet Singh (Auckland)

Jesse Randall (Wellington)

Kees Sims (Bracknell, U.K.)

Lukas Kelly-Heald (Wellington)

Jay Herdman (Invercargill)

Matthew Sheridan (Wellington)

Fin Conchie (Hamilton)

Lachlan Bayliss (Darwin, Australia)

Oskar Van Hattum (New Plymouth)

William Gillion (Auckland)

Isaac Hughes (Wellington)

Anna Leat (Auckland)

Kate Taylor (Christchurch)

Mackenzie Barry (New Plymouth)

Catherine Bott (Wellington)

Meikayla Moore (Christchurch)

Malia Steinmetz (Auckland)

Michaela Foster (Hamilton)

Macey Fraser (Rangiora)

Gabi Rennie (Rangiora)

Indiah-Paige Riley (Albany Creek, Australia)

Katie Kitching (Well, U.K.)

Victoria Esson (Christchurch)

Rebekah Stott (Papamoa)

Katie Bowen (Auckland)

Ally Green (Sydney, Australia)

Jacqueline Hand (Auckland)

Milly Clegg (Auckland)

Grace Jale (Auckland)

Annalie Longo (Auckland)

Surfing

Billy Stairmand (Raglan)

Saffi Vette (Gisborne)

Swimming

Kane Follows (Auckland)

Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (Christchurch)

Cameron Gray (Auckland)

Lewis Clareburt (Wellington)

Nina Brown (Auckland)

Eva Morris (Tauranga)

Laticia-Leigh Transom (Brisbane, Australia)

Erika Fairweather (Dunedin)

Eve Thomas (Auckland)

Vanessa Ouwehand (Auckland)

Caitlin Deans (Dunedin)

Tennis

Lulu Sun (Geneva, Switzerland)

Erin Routliffe (Caledon, Ontario)

Triathlon

Dylan McCullough (Auckland)

Hayden Wilde (Whakatāne)

Ainsley Thorpe (Auckland)

Nicole Van Der Kaay (Rotorua)

Weightlifting

David Liti (Auckland)

Wrestling

Tayla Ford (Christchurch)