#Newsletter growth on Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Section 19: Powerful Tools and Strategies to Elevate Your Substack

Summary of my Udemy Course “From Zero to Substack Hero.” Image source from the video location I will also upload them to my Substack soon. Purpose of this Series for New Readers If you are following this series, you can skip this intro and start from the next section. I have to introduce it to new readers as otherwise it will not make sense to them. This is a new series upon request from my…

[bynataliezubi]

Just published a new post on “by natalie zubi”—this one’s all about breaking free from negative self-talk and building self-compassion, with science-backed strategies you can use right now. If you’ve ever struggled with your inner critic, this is for you!

My Substack explores mental health, self-growth, psychology, neurodiversity, and practical tips for living well. Join our community of 170+ readers and help us reach 200! Subscribe for insights on self-care, productivity, and embracing imperfection, plus access to exclusive content and my personal growth shop.

Let’s grow together—read the latest post, subscribe, and share if it resonates!

#MentalHealth #SelfCompassion #PersonalGrowth #Wellness #Neurodiversity #Psychology #SelfCare #Newsletter #Substack #GrowthMindset #Inspiration

[acrowdedtable]

New newsletter is live! Includes some winter reflections, stock recipe and metaphor, and resources. Check it out through this LINK and let me know your thoughts!

[mariacallous]

The market for legal services in the United States was nearly $300 billion in 2024. It’s a major sector of the U.S. economy—and one that the Trump administration has recently targeted with a set of executive orders. Several orders target specific law firms that have opposed Trump in the past or assisted those he considers enemies; another more generally encourages the Justice Department to refer any attorneys for disciplinary action if they file “frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation” against the government. The government’s outright pressure has put the basic stability of U.S. law firms into question.

Does the legal sector play a special role in the United States compared with other countries? Should the system be considered political or technical? And how fragile is the system? Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Adam’s Substack newsletter.

Cameron Abadi: Law schools seem to have a special role in the United States compared with other places in the world, serving as a sink for humanities majors of all kinds who may be unsure of what else to do after their undergraduate education. Is it like that anywhere else in the world? And is that an expression somehow of America’s basic litigiousness, the money sloshing around in the U.S. legal system?

Adam Tooze: I think it’s absolutely true that it’s different to anywhere else. In Germany, lawyers occupy a key position in the power structure, but according to Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in [their new] book Abundance, there are twice as many lawyers per capita in the United States as in Germany and four times as many as in France. So the American story is different, and the law school system that feeds those people into the American economy, American society, is unlike anything that exists anywhere else in the world.

This hasn’t always been the case. It is tempting to fall into this argument of saying, well, America has always been like this, go back to Tocqueville in the 19th century and you see it. The key point to make is that there was a steady increase in lawyers in American society through the late 1960s. But then what happens is there’s this huge surge from the late 1960s onward. And this has added to their share of GDP.

I mean the numbers here are vague, they generally are. Folks argue that the share of lawyering might be between 1.3 percent to 1.7 percent of GDP. That would put you in the $350 billion range in terms of value added. So that’s, as it were, the value generated by legal professionals altogether. That’s about, maybe on a high side, perhaps twice their share of the workforce. So that figures in terms of productivity. You might think of them as relatively highly paid professionals. At the very top of the profession—a lot of the time when we’re thinking about lawyering in the United States or watching legal shows on TV, it’s about Big Law—there’s a listing of the biggest law firms in the United States, and if you look at that listing, the top 80 firms employ about 113,000 people, they generate $135 billion in revenue between them, which cashes out at about $1.3 million per lawyer in that Big Law system.

So, at that end, it’s a very rich business indeed, and the top law schools and the law school hierarchy and the treadmill of those are driven by preparing people who will be hired into that mill of Big Law.

CA: Could artificial intelligence do some of the work that associates—young lawyers fresh out of law school—have tended to do for law firms? And would that then change the entire model that we’re talking about because then you don’t even need the growth at least relentlessly that they’ve had in order to hire these associates into partnership roles.

AT: Yes, I think AI is clearly a threat to this profession, and thank God, good riddance. There’s an awful lot of routine checking, consistency checking, compliance checking, which currently requires legal eyes on it, whereas in medicine, there’s every reason to believe that an AI algorithm, a properly trained one, will have huge impact.

And of course, the lawyers are in the unique position that at least some of them, the most influential among them, will actually define the terms under which AI impacts what they do because what will define is, of course, a business calculation on the part of the law firms but also law. So, at some point, they’re in a position to pull the brake and say, you know, law requires that lawyers do lawyering. And there will of course be a shaking-out process, a market-driven process. But unlike some other professions, you would expect them in the end to be able to regulate this flow. I think the big risk is that it enhances winner-take-all logics in the legal profession as well, in that the firms that will be able to employ the best engines, the businesses that will be able to really harness this, will be the firms that already are able to invest the most in legal competition, legal warfare.

CA: How does the corporate structure of law firms affect how they work? Obviously, law firms are not traditional corporations—instead of shareholder value being the determining factor in making decisions, you have a partnership model of governance. How does that affect decision-making and strategy?

A lot of what they do is helping clients to avoid regulations, whitewashing reputations, avoiding taxes. Should those kinds of legal services, offered to corporations, even be considered in the same category as legal defense for individuals?

AT: I think the short answer is no, and they aren’t. I mean, that’s not what Big Law does, right? Big Law is essentially about that entire other realm that you summarize so well, Cam. Big Law is about corporate interests. Those are, generally speaking, best served by avoiding litigation by various types of more-or-less aggressive, under-the-blanket, inside-struggle [tactics] between similarly equipped corporations on the other side. Litigation, and the threat of litigation, is not with a view to achieving a final judgment but with a view to forcing an out-of-court settlement of some kind before you ever get there. And this has been rehearsed over and over again.

And there’s an entire logic, even with inside the government itself, of how far they want to go in terms of pressing well-lawyered large corporations, how much damage they’re willing to absorb when they risk taking companies to court. I mean, the nightmare case is the Arthur Andersen consulting firm that used to be like this dominant McKinsey rival in the 1980s, 1990s, and was just dissolved by the impact of the Enron debacle. And in the wake of that, apparently in the Justice Department, there was quite a lot of decision-making that said among lawyers that really in the future, they should avoid the disaster bringing down a major corporate player like that and do everything in the form of this corporate-to-corporate legal bargaining, rather than aggressive litigation, which is one of the ways, then, that they proceeded when they handled the financial crisis of 2008. All conflicts, all tensions, in American society at the high level are going to, at some level, have a legal component.

I’m speaking now as an employee of Columbia University, which is involved in precisely such a struggle with the U.S. government, which is threatening us with a variety of different suits, and high-powered legal teams on the Columbia side are strategizing about how best to respond. That’s where they earn their money, that’s where the big bucks are made, that’s what Big Law is about. It’s a key element of brokerage. In the United States even, if you look at the development of the foreign-policy apparatus in World War II, in its aftermath many of the key players of American globalism, in, you know, the emergence of America as a global power, they’re also lawyers. And when we think of businesspeople, quite often what we’re actually talking about is not somebody who runs a factory or somebody who does deals like Trump but somebody who is a lawyer who thinks through contractual arrangements. And that’s where much of the smarts of modern business practice actually resides. So, yes, ethical, unethical aside, in terms of managing conflict, managing tension, they play an absolutely crucial and comprehensive role.

CA: In this context, what role should we think that pro bono work plays? Pro bono work being the kind of volunteer work that law firms offer to those who can’t otherwise afford their services. I mean, is this basically to allow corporate law firms to present their work as attractive to idealistic young legal students? Is it basically a function of laundering Big Law’s public reputation ultimately?

AT: The astonishing thing is the answer is yes and they’re totally explicit about it. So you just have to Google that question, and bunches of articles in professional legal journals come up explaining to you that the advantage of a firm doing pro bono work is it’s great for recruitment, it’s good for corporate morale, it keeps people onside, makes you look good, you know, in so many words. It’s no secret. The question, I guess, is how much do they actually do? And the firms will trumpet that they do a huge amount. But you can actually cash this out because the American Bar Association has a target number of hours of pro bono work. They actually recommend a certain number, and it’s 50 hours per year.

So then the question is, how many billable hours does your typical senior lawyer clock up? And the recommendation in most major law firms is somewhere between 1,700 and 2,300 billable hours per year. So take the middle there. If people met the bar association kind of norm of 50, they would be doing just over 2 percent of their time on pro bono work. So 98 percent of the time would be for fee, 2 percent would be pro bono. If you actually look at what companies incautiously announce as, “We did these hours,” and then you translate that to the number of lawyers they’ve actually got on their books, you’ll find that, more often than not, the biggest firms do rather less.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT SEO & MARKETING NEWS FOR ECOMMERCE, AUGUST 2024

Hello, and welcome to my very last Marketing News update here on Tumblr.

After today, these reports will now be found at least twice a week on my Patreon, available to all paid members. See more about this change here on my website blog: https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2024/8/12/a-new-way-to-get-ecommerce-news-and-help-welcome-to-my-patreon-page

Don't worry! I will still be posting some short pieces here on Tumblr (as well as some free pieces on my Patreon, plus longer posts on my website blog). However, the news updates and some other posts will be moving to Patreon permanently.

Please follow me there! https://www.patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

A US court ruled that Google is a monopoly, and has broken antitrust laws. This decision will be appealed, but in the meantime, could affect similar cases against large tech giants. 

Did you violate a Facebook policy? Meta is now offering a “training course” in lieu of having the page’s reach limited for Professional Mode users. 

Google Ads shown in Canada will have a 2.5% surcharge applied as of October 1, due to new Canadian tax laws.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Search Engine Roundtable’s Google report for July is out; we’re still waiting for the next core update. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Meta’s latest legal development: a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over facial recognition and privacy.  

Instagram

Instagram is highlighting “Views” in its metrics in an attempt to get creators to focus on reach instead of follower numbers. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is testing outside ads on the site. The ad auction system would include revenue sharing. 

Reddit

Reddit confirmed that anyone who wants to use Reddit posts for AI training and other data collection will need to pay for them, just as Google and OpenAI did. 

Second quarter 2024 was great for Reddit, with revenue growth of 54%. Like almost every other platform, they are planning on using AI in their search results, perhaps to summarize content. 

Threads

Threads now claims over 200 million active users.

TikTok

TikTok is now adding group chats, which can include up to 32 people.

TikTok is being sued by the US Federal Trade Commission, for allowing children under 13 to sign up and have their data harvested. 

Twitter

Twitter seems to be working on the payments option Musk promised last year. Tweets by users in the EU will at least temporarily be pulled from the AI-training for “Grok”, in line with EU law.

CONTENT MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Email software Mad Mimi is shutting down as of August 30. Owner GoDaddy is hoping to move users to its GoDaddy Digital Marketing setup. 

Content ideas for September include National Dog Week. 

You can now post on Substack without having an actual newsletter, as the platform tries to become more like a social media site. 

As of November, Patreon memberships started in the iOS app will be subject to a 30% surcharge from Apple. Patreon is giving creators the ability to add that charge to the member's bill, or pay it themselves.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Google worked with Meta to break the search engine’s rules on advertising to children through a loophole that showed ads for Instagram to YouTube viewers in the 13-17 year old demographic. Google says they have stopped the campaign, and that “We prohibit ads being personalized to people under-18, period”.

Google’s Performance Max ads now have new tools, including some with AI. 

Microsoft’s search and news advertising revenue was up 19% in the second quarter, a very good result for them. 

One of the interesting tidbits from the recent Google antitrust decision is that Amazon sells more advertising than either Google or Meta’s slice of retail ads. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

More than half of Gen Z claim to have bought items while spending time on social media in the past half year, higher than other generations. 

Shopify’s president claimed that Christmas shopping started in July on their millions of sites, with holiday decor and ornament sales doubling, and advent calendar sales going up a whopping 4,463%.

[stjohnstarling]

Substack writers are expressing their concerns about the platform’s following feature on social media, which some argue is suppressing their subscription growth. 

Other Substack users replied to the post sharing similar experiences with one writing that their subscriber growth has “flatlined.”

Substack added the follow feature to the platform in August 2023, making the platform feel much more like a social network. The feature allows a user to keep up with a writer without having to subscribe. 

Substack has started making it so anyone with a Substack account functions like a social media follower (i.e. follows you exclusively through the Substack web interface and app) instead of a subscriber (i.e. someone signed up to your newsletter via their email, which can be downloaded and exported to another platform.) I noticed them implement this feature but of my ~4250 subs exactly ten are Substack followers because I don’t use their social network features. Listen I don’t know how many people who follow me on here use Substack and rely on their internal network to drive growth, but if that describes you, I strongly urge you to make an escape plan before your follower count gets to be a large enough percentage of your total base that you become permanently trapped with the platform.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

More on immigration.

In response to my comments on Joe Biden and immigration yesterday, readers sent links to commentary from other Substack writers on the same subject. Dan Kowalski published an article on his blog, Dan’s Substack, An Opportunity, Not a Crisis. (Kowalski is Editor in Chief of Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, available from Lexis/Nexis).

Kowalski writes the following about mass immigration into the US:

In fact, there is no crisis. Yes, there are logistical problems around feeding and housing migrants, and legal problems around sorting out their legal claims in immigration court. But the numbers are the numbers: “[T]he past decade has seen unusually slow growth in immigration. In fact, the period from 2012 to 2022 saw slower growth in the immigrant share of the population than the 2000s, 1990s, 1980s and 1970s. You have to go all the way back to the 1960s, when the immigrant population actually shrank, to find a lower growth rate.” - David J. Bier, Oct. 3, 2023 America is graying. We need more immigrants, not fewer, and the younger the better.

Another reader sent a link to Robert Reich’s recent article on Substack, The Four Big Lies About Immigrants--and the Truth. Reich discusses the net percentage of illegal immigrants living in the US over the last fifteen years:

MYTH: Legal and illegal immigration is increasing. Wrong again. The net rate of illegal immigration into the U.S. is less than zero. The number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has declined from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.3 million now, according to Pew Research Center. 

Many readers said the Biden administration needs to do a better job of communicating the facts about immigration. Others said, in effect, that statistical arguments won’t change feelings about immigration. Fair point. But when the truth doesn’t persuade people, coming up with a message that does is challenging. Share your thoughts in the Comment section (or send me an email by “replying” to this newsletter).

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Tesla’s big hope to get back to sales growth, or to at least stop the immense bleeding, was that the new Tesla Model Y would be a huge hit and make up for the drop in sales in the past year. Perhaps the idea of 50% growth a year is dead now (for Tesla, not for BYD), but could Tesla at least return to some form of sales growth on the back of the refreshed Model Y?

I figured it would take a couple of quarters to get a good sense of this when it comes to steady-state demand. I’d been hearing word that the refreshed Model Y was already running out of steam in China, though! Is that true?(..)

P.S. I recently took a test drive of a Chinese-made electric car in Riga, Latvia, on April 8, 2025: Just one test drive is enough, and it explains everything - the Chinese car market no longer needs Tesla...!

Elon Musk go home and make your home work better...!!! If it weren't for the stupid tariffs introduced by the EU against Chinese-made electric cars, the electrification of the European car market and independence from fossil fuel imports would happen at the speed of light...

[thejackhopkins]

The Truth Behind Pete Hegseth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iosMelolzgk In this conversation, Jack Hopkins discusses the implications of recent revelations about Pete Hegseth, highlighting concerns over journalistic integrity and the need for citizen engagement in the face of political challenges. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining a free press and the role of citizens in demanding accountability from their leaders. 🔔 Looking for new ways to think and grow? Subscribe for inspiring talks on key political issues, life improvement, and strategies to strengthen your resilience! https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealJackHopkins/?sub_confirmation=1 ✅ Important Link to Follow 📰Substack Newsletter Sign-up: https://ift.tt/8caHWKm ✅ Stay Connected With Me. 👉 Instagram: https://ift.tt/BG0qMUj 👉 Threads: https://ift.tt/SoHOL07 👉 Twitter (X): https://ift.tt/QKgHORf 👉 Website: https://ift.tt/KptYEfB ============================= 🎬 WATCH MY OTHER VIDEOS: 👉 The Dark Side Of Trump You Haven't Seen Yet – What He’s Hiding For 2024! Election 2024 Prediction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zJtj9jfJww 👉 How To Deal With A Toxic Boss - Best Trick To Reduce Stress At Work! Mental Health Advice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9wPyjO3Des 👉 How Conspiracies Are Destroying Democracy - Denver Riggleman On 06 Jan Investigation! U.S. Politics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYQfAJXB9g 👉 Lauren O’Brien - How He Became A Comedy Star With Spot-On Celebrity Impressions! Behind The Scenes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmaEd1rIa4 👉 Rep. Esther Panitch - Powerful Stand For Justice And Against Anti-Semitism! U.S. Politics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYPrhx9b_LQ ============================= ✅ About Jack Hopkins. Welcome to Jack Hopkins, where I challenge traditional thinking and explore how to experience life more joyfully, resiliently, and productively. I use my knowledge of human behavior to engage with guests who are experts in their fields, drawing out the best insights they have to offer. While many of my podcast episodes focus on politics and important issues like reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and firearms reform, I also discuss topics related to personal growth, self-improvement, and being a better citizen. Join me in these conversations and learn how to think differently and live better! 🔔 Ready to challenge traditional thinking? Subscribe now for insightful conversations & inspiring stories on politics, personal growth, and resilience to help you live better! https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealJackHopkins/?sub_confirmation=1 ================================= #petehegseth , #journalism, #integrity, #citizenengagement, #news, #Trumpadministration, #60Minutes, #media, #ethics, #protests, #hegseth,#Yemen, #signal ⚠️ Disclaimer: I do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of watching any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research. ✖️ Copyright Notice: This video and my YouTube channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Jack Hopkins. You are authorized to share the video link and channel and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to my YouTube channel is provided. © Jack Hopkins via Jack Hopkins https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4mm8MxCLvehI-6tEXEnnA April 23, 2025 at 05:18AM

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

🎉 Celebrate Your Substack, No Matter the Size!

📢 CONGRATULATIONS on starting your Substack! Whether you have one subscriber or a thousand, every step forward is worth celebrating. 🎊 👇 Drop your Substack link below I will personally check out every single one of them and curators of my publications to amplify them because I believe in the power of connection and community. 🤝 🌟 What’s in it for you? I might discover gems that align with my…

[geopolicraticus]

Friday 21 March 2025

Grand Strategy Newsletter

The View from Oregon – 333

A Thought Experiment in the Aggregation of Civilizations

…in which I discuss the aggregation of social formations, the growth of cities, the aggregation threshold, Sanxingdui, Erligang, Erlitou, and Wucheng in Bronze Age China, the natural spacing of civilizations, and the original sin of warfare…

Substack: https://geopolicraticus.substack.com/p/a-thought-experiment-in-the-aggregation

Medium: https://jnnielsen.medium.com/a-thought-experiment-in-the-aggregation-of-civilizations-739fd1414354

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/The_View_from_Oregon/comments/1jx0x0h/a_thought_experiment_in_the_aggregation_of/

[bynataliezubi]

if you want to achieve something, you have to believe that you can!

your brain processes, functions, and chemicals support this. the more you believe you can accomplish your goals, the more confidence you have, the more your actions will align with those goals, the closer you’ll be to accomplishing them. neuroscience and psychology back this up.

i go more in depth on this topic and break down the science in my latest newsletter post on substack. check it out!

[mariacallous]

Canada, the world’s ninth-largest economy with a GDP of $2.117 trillion, is expected to elect Mark Carney as prime minister on Monday. But Carney’s success is impossible to understand absent the trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Canada’s economy is tightly connected to the United States, and tensions between the two countries have rarely been higher. Carney has promised to push back on Trump and reconsider the relationship.

Has Trump’s trade war against Canada been effective? Why does Canada have trade barriers between its provinces? And how does Canada reconcile its fossil fuel economy with its commitment to climate policy?

Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Adam’s Substack newsletter.

Cameron Abadi: As a matter of U.S. policy, is Trump’s trade war with Canada working, by pushing Canada toward recession? Or are the politics actually working against the U.S., with Carney vowing to lead a fight against the United States?

Adam Tooze: The big issues in the election until Trump came on the scene were slow growth, cost of living, and cost of housing in particular. And now Trump emerges on the scene, and the risk really is of recession. Why? It’s simply because Canada’s economy is so heavily exposed to the U.S. So the U.S. share of Canadian GDP as measured by the share of exports to the U.S. is over 20 percent. That’s similar to Mexico’s exposure, and it’s seven times greater than China’s exposure to the U.S. So that’s the risk. And so if there was a severe blow to those exports, it would really, really hurt the Canadian economy. There are some economists predicting full-on recession by the second half of the year. And all it takes is for that kind of low-ebb lack of confidence to ripple through the Canadian economy and that by itself will damage Canada’s prospects. We could be in a full-blown recession by the end of the year or next year. That’s measured by economists in terms of GDP falling over a period of several quarters, so for more than six months.

Over the long run, which is perhaps even more ominous, a decoupling of the Canadian and the U.S. economies would probably reduce the Canadian growth rate from a modest, say, 1.9 percent—according to the Oxford Analytica outfit, which is one of the leading private-sector commentators on these kind of things—from 1.9 to like 1.1 percent per annum growth. So this would be really bad news. The thing is, though, that Canada actually has leverage. One of the weird scatter-shock aspects of Trump’s trade policy is that though Canada has a trade surplus with the U.S., and so therefore it’s on Trump’s shit list, once you strip energy out and oil is exported from Canada to the U.S. along the border, it’s actually the U.S. which has a trade surplus with Canada. So Canada actually has two different types of leverage over the U.S. One is that America clearly wants the oil, and Trump immediately started negotiating or just declaring exemptions for that. And on the other hand, on net America’s manufacturers and agriculture actually have a trade surplus with Canada.

And that’s really, as you were saying, what has pivoted Canadian politics, which is how are they going to use that leverage to strike back? And indeed, what this has produced is, on both sides of the political spectrum, a major pushback against the U.S. And this has flipped the prospects for the Canadian election from one in which the Liberal Party of former Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau really was reckoned to have zero chance of prevailing to one in which Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England, a leading global economic technocrat, has emerged as, in fact, the front-runner for the Liberal Party that were in the doldrums under Trudeau.

CA: So we shouldn’t think of Canada’s Liberal Party as having any kind of aversion to traditional nationalistic politics?

AT: On the contrary. I mean, in some senses, it is the party that made Canada, if you like. That’s too strong a statement; Canadian history is really complicated, as I’ve been learning fast. But for most of Canada’s history, the Liberal Party has been seen as the dominant party. And so it’s very closely associated with the Canadian national cause, if you like. Also with the deep problems of the relationship between the formerly English majority, British majority, and the French-Canadian minority, it has been the party that sculpted many of the absolutely key compromises out of which modern Canada has emerged since the 1860s. And so, yes, one should see it as very much a party that can wave the flag.

CA: Mark Carney declared upon taking office as prime minister that he would strengthen the Canadian economy by lowering trade barriers between Canadian provinces. And I thought that was interesting because I didn’t know that there were trade barriers between the provinces of Canada to begin with. How significant are these trade barriers within Canada—and what do those barriers reveal about the kind of state that Canada is?

AT: Yes, so Canada is a federation, a very loose federation. None of Canada’s constitutional documents actually specifies free trade as a requirement. The country is also, of course, characterized by its settler colonial demography and geography. Canada has one of the lowest population densities of the world, 4.2 people per square kilometer. That compares to 25 in Brazil, 98 in the U.S., 241 in Germany, right? So hugely different. I mean, there’s a lot of kind of [data] online which I’m a little cautious about quoting, but it said that 90 percent of Canada’s population lives essentially within 100 to 150 miles of the border with the United States, in six big urban clusters, right? So from Vancouver at the one end to Halifax on the other with Windsor, Quebec, as the key central node up against, you know, Michigan and so on. And so the result of this and the huge expanse of Canada is that, in fact, there is less interprovincial trade in Canada than there is trade between Canada and the United States. Which, again, it’s a fact so startling. The two-way trade with the U.S. is rated at a trillion dollars in 2023. The two-way trade of goods and services between these six clusters of Canadian population strung along the demarcation with the United States is only rated at $532 billion. So there is more north-south traffic than there is east-west traffic across the breadth of Canada. Really fascinating economic geography to get one’s head around.

So those interprovincial obstacles to trade are, in part, legislative. It’s largely to do with regulation. It is about licensing and things like this. It isn’t actual tariffs when we talk about this. It’s to do with regulations, whether you have the permit to do something in one province that you have in another province. And it’s also just simply the geographical obstacles of moving things and goods and services across this huge continental expanse, essentially along the thin line of settlement in the southern portion of this giant country. So it’s about state safety certification, regulatory and administrative difficulties.

But there is huge potential here. Estimates vary from 3 or 4 or 5 percent of GDP to something much larger, 20 percent of the GDP, I’ve seen, through the intensification of trade across Canada. That’s why it’s a topic. And it reflects this long history of state-making and the geopolitics, one has to say, right? The internal geopolitics of a settler colonial project, which is now, of course, also a globalized hub of global migration. Forty million people with a very large foreign-born share, 20 percent-plus now, across this territory that is still in the process, really, of consolidating into a nation-state.

CA: It sounds like you’re suggesting that the provinces of Canada are less economically integrated than the various countries of the European Union as a whole.

AT: Oh, significantly so—much, much less so. And however closely, as is the case with the countries of the European Union, quite closely integrated in some cases at the level of the supply chain with their neighboring manufacturing hubs in the United States. Often this goes back to World War II, when, in the World War II alliance, the supply chain was built very explicitly within the Anglo-American industrial complex or the Canadian-American industrial complex across those boundaries. I mean, what this is telling us is that proximity and economic intensity are the key drivers of trade. And when those two things come together, as in Europe, you get these astronomical levels of integration, extraordinary, you know, more than 100 percent of GDP going back and forth in terms of trade. Whereas when you have vast differences separating and relatively similar zones of economic activity, you don’t necessarily get those kind of densities of exchange. You know, again, Latin America comes to mind, or specifically South America comes to mind where, over the vast distances of the South American continent, there’s very remarkably little integration between Brazil and Argentina compared to, say, Brazil’s trading relationship with China. Or the same is true for the African continent, as well, where it’s incredibly difficult to move goods and people between countries on the African continent, but several of the African economies are quite densely connected with the global economy through exports. So yeah, trade and economic geography operate in fascinating ways.

CA: From an American perspective, we tend to think of Canada as a liberal country, broadly speaking, including a commitment to climate policy as reflected in international agreements. But how does that relate to its fossil fuel economy?

AT: I mean, looking in from the outside, Canada seems to be a sort of weird hybrid of a North American-style politics of climate and a European-style politics of climate, sort of sandwiched and combined in the same country.

Mark Carney himself exemplifies this because, you know, he’s perhaps the world’s leading green finance guru. I mean, it was Carney that in 2015 between the Sustainable Development Goals Summit in the U.N. and the Paris Accords and, you know, that dramatic fall of 2015 as governor of the Bank of England, at Lloyd’s, the big insurance market, he gave this famous speech called the tragedy of the horizon—I actually wrote a piece about it for Foreign Policy years ago—which was about the dilemmas posed for finance by climate change. And he really opened that entire debate about the role of the financial regulators, banks, insurers, central banks in dealing with the climate crisis.

So that is one side of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada, and Carney really personifies that. And on the other hand, there are large parts of Canada which are North American. They’re part of the tar sands, some of the dirtiest oil in the world. I mean, it’s overblown as part of the Canadian economy. It’s only 5 percent altogether, natural resource rents as a share of the Canadian economy. The oil and gas components closer to like 3 percent. So this is not a dominant sector, but we know the way in which, in the political imagination, a sector like this, as we’re experiencing in manufacturing and steel in the U.S., can become emblematic of what Canada is.

And if you look at Canadian politics and polling, you’re really seeing a division along lines which are so familiar from the other side of the border, right? So among the liberal voters, there is absolutely solid, hegemonic support for climate as a key concern. Looking at Quebec, 84 percent of people polled there think climate is a big issue. You go to Alberta, and you’re down at 55 percent. If you ask in the current moment who supports carbon taxes, it’s 70 percent-plus of liberals and 13 percent of conservatives in Canada right now. Is climate a big issue? For 20 percent of Canadian voters, it is. These are kind of European-style numbers, right? Whereas 60 percent of Canadian voters consider the cost of living crisis the absolute priority.

[how-to-make-money-in-2025]

How to Make Money in 2025: Smart Strategies for Financial Growth

Making money in 2025 is all about adapting to the latest trends, leveraging technology, and building multiple streams of income. Whether you're looking for a side hustle, a full-time business, or passive income, there are endless opportunities to capitalize on. Here are some of the smartest ways to make money in 2025.

1. Build a Personal Brand and Monetize It

In today’s digital world, personal branding is a powerful tool for making money. Whether you’re an expert in a field, a content creator, or a niche influencer, you can turn your reputation into income.

Ways to Monetize a Personal Brand:

Sell digital products like courses, e-books, or templates.

Offer coaching or consulting services.

Launch a membership community or subscription service.

Partner with brands for sponsorships and collaborations.

2. Master AI-Powered Side Hustles

AI is changing the way we work, and those who use it wisely can create new revenue streams. Many businesses are searching for AI-powered solutions to streamline their processes, and you can provide them.

Profitable AI Side Hustles:

AI-powered content creation (writing, graphics, and video editing).

AI automation services for businesses.

Selling AI-generated assets (logos, stock images, voiceovers).

Creating and selling chatbots for customer service.

3. High-Ticket Service-Based Business

Instead of chasing small sales, focus on offering high-value services that generate large payouts. In 2025, many professionals are turning to service-based businesses that cater to high-paying clients.

Examples of High-Ticket Services:

Business consulting and coaching.

Premium web design and branding services.

AI integration consulting.

Luxury travel planning or concierge services.

If you have expertise in a field, positioning yourself as a premium service provider can lead to big earnings.

4. Monetize Your Knowledge with Online Courses

E-learning is bigger than ever, and people are willing to pay for high-quality educational content. If you have expertise in any subject, you can create and sell an online course.

How to Get Started:

Identify a topic people want to learn about.

Create a course using platforms like Teachable, Udemy, or Kajabi.

Use social media marketing to attract students.

Offer upsells like coaching or exclusive group memberships.

5. Become a Paid Community Builder

More people are moving away from traditional social media and looking for niche communities. If you can create a valuable online space, people will pay to be part of it.

How to Monetize a Community:

Start a paid Discord or Telegram group.

Launch a Patreon or Substack with premium content.

Build a private membership site with exclusive benefits.

Organize mastermind groups or virtual events.

6. Invest in Digital Real Estate

While traditional real estate remains lucrative, digital real estate is becoming a major player in wealth-building. This includes domains, websites, and virtual assets.

Best Digital Real Estate Investments:

Buy and flip domain names.

Invest in revenue-generating websites.

Purchase virtual real estate in the metaverse.

Build and sell authority blogs or niche websites.

7. Create a Subscription-Based Business

Subscription models create predictable income by charging customers on a recurring basis. This can be applied to both digital and physical products.

Subscription Business Ideas:

Exclusive content memberships (newsletters, premium blogs).

Subscription boxes (beauty, fitness, lifestyle).

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

Private community memberships.

8. Leverage the Power of Micro-SaaS

Micro-SaaS is a small, highly specialized software solution that caters to niche audiences. Unlike massive software companies, Micro-SaaS businesses can be launched by a single person or a small team.

How to Start a Micro-SaaS Business:

Identify a niche problem that software can solve.

Use AI tools or hire developers to create a simple software solution.

Offer a monthly subscription for access.

Scale by adding features based on customer feedback.

9. Invest in Alternative Assets

Wealth-building in 2025 isn’t just about stocks and crypto. Alternative assets offer new ways to diversify and grow your money.

Top Alternative Investments:

Fractional real estate investing.

High-value collectibles (watches, rare sneakers, digital art).

Peer-to-peer lending.

Farmland investing.

[kristenbrady]

Use a Newsletter Referral Program on Substack to Increase Subscriber Growth

[ear-worthy]

EuroWaves Newsletter: Connecting Us To European Stories

 Today, Ear Worthy is going old school. We are reporting on a new Substack podcasting newsletter called EuroWaves. 

I want to recommend a new Substack podcasting newsletter that -- in these divisive times -- recounts stories that connect us across borders. These stories from other cultures are more relevant than ever.

The newsletter was created by, and is written by, Andreea Coscai. I'll let her tell you about herself: "I’m from Romania, in the Balkans, where press freedom is customarily restricted, and independent journalism is in a constant fight for sustainability. Having lived in China for two years, the U.S. for five, and now back in Europe, storytelling has become the connecting link of it all for me—a way to make sense of my own journey, connect dots across the world, and bring people together to have interest in issues beyond their borders."

Let me illustrate how the world is connected. An article from Reuters on December 9th reported that Romanian prosecutors searched several properties on Saturday in an investigation into potential illegal financing in the country's presidential election, a day after the top court annulled the ballot following accusations of Russian meddling. Prosecutors have not named the candidate whose campaign is being investigated, but documents declassified by the national security council this week focused on the campaign of Calin Georgescu – a far-right, pro-Russian critic of NATO.

I believe that Andreea has punctuated a simple wisdom: What happens to others can be an object lesson for us. We are one world. There is no more "Too far or too remote." Wars, climate change, pandemics, political instability, corruption, and inequality. It's the butterfly effect, which rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system.

Now, where have we heard reports of Russian meddling in elections? I know this one. The United States. We are all connected, whether we want to admit it or not.  

Our "connector" on this journey is Andreea Coscai, who is a podcaster with experience in marketing, production, social media, and community-building. But more than anything, she's a big podcasting fan and audio nerd.

To Andreea, podcasting is her Taylor Swift fandom. She's not a "swiftie." She's a "poddie."

 Andreea has been working in podcast marketing with an incredible team of podcast-loving superheroes (shoutout to Tink Media!) and most recently joined the Earbuds Podcast Collective as a newsletter and community coordinator.

Some of the stories she's worked on have explored Romania’s struggling healthcare system, reproductive rights and lessons Americans could take from Romania’s Communist past (haunting now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned). She has hosted a podcast about podcasting and currently co-hosts one about podcast discovery.

When we asked Andreea about EuroWaves, she told us: "This newsletter has been simmering for a while, so I’m beyond excited to finally share the news with you."

Andreea continues: "The podcasting scene in Europe is very diverse. Each country has its own approach (learn all about it from this podcast) but the more you look at it closely, you’ll see surprising similarities. Compared to the U.S. space which is well-developed (although debatably shaky), there’s plenty of room and need for growth, funding, and support. The great news is there are many wonderful podcasters working to build those bridges and grow the European podcasting community. And I’m joining in!"

When we decided to be selfish and ask Andreea -- What’s in it for us? -- she explained: 

"We will be embarking on a mission to connect European stories through podcasting by showcase the uniqueness of audio in connecting us, building connections between European podcasting industries AND internationally, and alerting subscribers to podcast trends across the continent."

EuroWaves will be filled with podcast recommendations from Andreea, industry insights, interviews with European podcast professionals, upcoming events and opportunities, spotlights on companies, and organizations driving change in European podcasting.

Andreea cannot contain herself: "And the part I’m most excited about: Every other newsletter will feature a curated selection of podcasts from a different European country—in its native language! If you’d like to be a curator, submissions are open! Reach out at andreea.coscai@gmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn."

"EuroWaves will hit your inbox biweekly," Andreea tells us. "The first full issue is coming your way next Friday, the 13th—a date with a spooky reputation that I hope will bring a lot of good luck."

You know that European vacation you've been dreaming about for years, but inflation, student loans, your rent, and political instability have kept you at home visiting the local water park.

Check out the EuroWaves on Substack.