We make the future
A rare deal to join the Ink community
Good Sunday morning, Ink readers!
Thank you for making The Ink part of your life. You are why we work hard to tell the truth, make meaning of these wild times, and remind you that you are not alone.
Today, we’re asking you to help us keep going, keep growing, and reach even more people by becoming a supporting subscriber.
We are hoping that you’ll stand up for an independent media outlet that needs resources to do its work, pay its editing and writing staff a fair wage, and spread its ideas farther. We’re asking you to help us remain free and unafraid.
And we’re offering you a rare incentive: a 20 percent off coupon that will lock you in at that price forever. Support free, bold speech for the price of a coffee a month.
When you become a supporting subscriber, you gain access to four years’ worth of The Ink’s archives, all of our future posts, our lively comments section and chat, and, most importantly, the satisfaction of knowing that you are standing up for the kind of independent media you want to see in the world.
When I started The Ink four years ago, I thought it as a personal project: a way of connecting to people who had found me through words written or spoken, a way of sharing ideas and people worth knowing.
Four years later, it’s hard to fathom how much has changed. And today, this once-Little Engine That Could newsletter, and an archipelago of newsletters like it, have assumed a new significance.
What I didn’t understand four years ago that I see more clearly now is that we are living through a media renaissance. The old sources of trust and authority are crumbling, in some ways because of forces not of their making, and in other ways because of their own frailties and refusals to confront the reality of now.
I believe newsletters like this one are going to be a critical part of the infrastructure of reality in the era ahead. And today I want to invite you to help build it with me.
To make that easier, we’re offering you a special chance to save 20 percent on the cost of an annual subscription — forever — if you sign up today. Come on in!
We understand that, for many of you, it’s been hard to keep up with the flood of new information since the election, and then since the inauguration. And while there is great, essential reporting being done out there, the loudest voices of legacy media sometimes just muddy the waters, equivocating rather than naming clear and vital truths about American authoritarianism.
But, through it all, The Ink has been committed to the cause of calling things what they are. Every day, we try to present critical information through our essays, interviews, and increasingly our Live videos and morning briefings, information that provides the focus and real understanding you need to make sense of the chaotic maneuvers of the Trump regime and the administrative coup orchestrated and currently being carried out by Elon Musk — and to figure out how you can take action and live well through these times.
As an independent media organization supported by and accountable only to our readers, it’s what we plan to keep doing, as long as we can. All we ask is that you keep reading and thinking along with us, and if you find our work valuable, that you join our community as a paying subscriber.
Look: You’re going to get something different here, different from what you may have come to expect from traditional publications: We’re never going to “hand it to” the White House, or wave off an abuse of power as an “audacious” gesture, or tacitly endorse an illegal, unconstitutional attack on our freedoms by marveling at the strategic chess brilliance of the broligarchs.
At The Ink, as we expand and grow and bring you more voices, more perspectives, and more formats — all thanks to your support — we will call things exactly what they are. Here’s some of the best of what we’ve been up to, from video interviews to essays to our morning briefings.
And if you need a little inspiration, our playlist of reader-selected fight songs:
We’re not going to be subtle or vague. This new kind of media depends 100 percent, entirely, purely on you, our readers. Since subscriptions are what makes our work possible, we encourage you to take advantage of this special deal and join today to help us keep on calling things what they are.
And if for whatever reason you can’t afford to subscribe right now, there is another way to support this work. We ask that you share this with five people you know and invite them to sign up as subscribers, free or paid. Tell them why you thought of them specifically.
Your readership matters to us. Help us build this community by reaching more great readers. We couldn’t do this without you!