Shiny new things

First, the big news! We’ve been busy over here at Degenerate Art. And usually by “we,” I mean “me.” But in this case, I actually have a partner in crime. The fabulous Jason Sattler, the brains behind such projects as the LOLGOP accounts on Bluesky and Twitter, the creator of the earlyworm project, who did yeoman’s work all year to support get-out-the-vote efforts—has joined me to make a podcast for Degenerate Art.

Each week, we’ll produce a new episode that will be available at the end of the week. It’s called “Next Comes What,” and the first installment is up on YouTube! If you’re more of a listener, the show is also available (or will be this weekend) wherever you find your superior quality podcasts.

Jason and I recorded this last Friday, but as you’ll see, he’s interpolated a lot of clips from the last few days with fresh examples of what I was talking about. And now that we’ve got our production system set up, there will be a shorter frame between recording and sharing the episode.

I love words and books, but I realize a lot of people aren’t big readers. To get this kind of information out, it’s probably necessary to do more than just offer text options. We’re not aiming to dethrone your favorite podcasters, so “Next Comes What” will likely keep a DIY vibe. Feel free to give it amazing ratings and share it with your friends.

A weekly schedule!

I realize a newsletter that combines political and historical analysis with posts that are more literary in nature might occasionally be confusing. Though I contain multitudes, maybe you’re only interested in one part of what I’m posting. So I’m setting up a weekly schedule, to help you know what’s coming and to make sure you’ll know when to look for the stuff you want to read.

The first post of the week, which will come out on Mondays or Tuesdays, will be the main story for the week, and will be political or historical commentary. The second post of the week, which will usually go up on Thursdays, will sometimes be political/historical as well, or it might be a story from my reporting around the world or an essay on my childhood.

Friday will be the freewheeling day—like today. I’ll post a short message with links to the podcast episode for those of you who sometimes want to listen or watch instead of reading, or who want to catch any bonus material that we include there. I’ll also post a roundup of things I found important or interesting reading from that week, resource lists, and occasionally tell you about some of the other things I’m up to.

At the end of the month, some posts will start going behind a paywall, which means if you’re just dropping by occasionally, or if you’re a free subscriber, you’ll need to upgrade in order to continue to see everything. There will always be at least one free post a week, however. And for the free post, I’ll be prioritizing political and historical material, since it’s the most immediately necessary and useful writing I can share with readers everywhere.

If you want to help me be able to do more of this work and to share it with others in multimedia form, please consider upgrading to become a paid supporter.

But whether you have a free or a paid subscription, or just pop in from time to time, thank you for showing up. Degenerate Art is a month old now, and I’m thrilled to have you aboard.

Thank you again for your time and attention. There’s nothing more valuable.