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"I don't wanna do your dirty work"

To my detriment, I’m perpetually online. It’s how I’ve made a career, both in writing and in my day job; I quite literally wouldn’t have a professional occupation without the Internet — specifically social media. I realize, however, not everyone is as online as I am, which means you might not know what’s currently happening with Substack.

If you’re clued in enough, you might have realized Substack was able to lure away some talent from major publications to join them in an initiative known as Substack Pro. Basically, Pro was a way to provide notable writers with enough resources — minimum income thresholds, editors, etc. — to move over to the platform and have it be their sole income. Substack didn’t — and most notably still hasn’t! — disclosed who all is a part of the Pro group. Again, if you read the tea leaves enough, you can assume folks like former Vox writer Matt Yglesias were given cushy Pro deals to bring their audiences to Substack.

This paid stuff didn’t bother me. I’m no Yglesias. I was never going to get a rumored $250,000 salary to write newsletters for Substack. It feels weird for me to charge for my newsletter, which is why I prefer a tip-based model. I was thinking of introducing some element of paywall content for Season 2 since it’s going to require more work on my end, but the paid element was always going to be extra content instead of withholding.

No, my issue isn’t with who or who isn’t getting paid. It’s how Substack has let “people who actively hate trans people and women, argue ceaselessly against our civil rights, and in many cases, have a public history of directly, viciously abusing trans people and/or cis women in their industry,” as put very succinctly by writer Jude Doyle.

Writers like Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, Bari Weiss, Jesse Singal, and others are actively united in their disdain for any progressive politics. Doyle has another great breakdown of this for those more curious, but basically, the whole situation has left a bad taste in my mouth. I knew some of these writers were making a move to Substack, but the platform (or I guess I should call it a publisher now, since it’s keen on offering payments like, uh, an actual publication) seems fully content to let these folks run wild.

I’d hoped Substack would do a better job addressing some of the concerns writers had — which is why I skipped publishing last week — but it’s clear they don’t.

So, it’s time to get going. Season 1 of Whys and Wherefores will end now. I was kind of out of stories to tell for it anyway — and was far more excited about what Season 2 had in store. I’ll be moving over to Ghost before Season 2. Don’t worry; you won’t need to do anything on your end. I’ll transfer everything over.

I really am excited about Season 2, but it’ll take a few weeks to get everything squared away because I want to bank a few week’s worths of content before I start publishing anyhow. So I’m, heh, ghosting for a bit. Thanks for taking part in this journey to begin with — and I hope you’ll stick around for what’s next.