Tag: newsletters

👋 Labnotes (by Assaf Arkin) and
Garbage Day | Ryan Broderick sit as sort of a Yin and Yang in my newsletter life.

I love Labnotes because it scratches a nerdy itch. Much of the developer/coder content goes over my head but there’s enough of that world I find enjoyable. I love reading this newsletter because it’s a fun mix of neat web sites, good jokes and interesting ways to think about tech.

Garbage Day is bathing in the weirdness of the digital world. The content farms and weird stories that resonate. It’s a toe into a pool in spots and other times a deep dive into an ocean of weird. It’s the best of weird Tumblr and weird Tiktok memes. It’s access to those who think deeply about the mechanisms of the world we are experiencing online.

I look forward to reading each of these newsletters because they scratch the same itch but in different ways.

Why I setup an email address to read newsletters

By Carl

On November 1, 2019

In Observations

I setup a dedicated, private email address for newsletters and now they’re a joy to read instead of anxiety-causing clutter. This may not seem like a big deal to you. But it has changed how I read newsletters and reduced my stress in seeing new ones piling up in my Inbox. I enjoy the Newsletter Renaissance and when I see an interesting one, I sign up for it. The problem started as many of them arrive on the same day (like podcasts on a Wednesday, but that’s another story). So I would get overwhelmed by the number of emails in I wanted to take the time to read but would never find that time because they added to a pile of anxiety instead.

The first solution I tried was Stoop. I thought it was a perfect solution. An app for newsletters. I could send them to that email address for Stoop and read them in the app at my leisure. It worked well for awhile, but the problem was I didn’t want another app to remember to open. So again, newsletters I wanted to read would sit unread for months. Also, the app wasn’t a great experience for newsletters I want to open links from in other tabs to read after I finish the newsletter. I want a computer screen for that, not a phone.

The second reason I stopped using it was more than one person writing about (I don’t remember who) how they were starting to remove stoop.email addresses from their lists because part of the point of a newsletter was the intimacy with the audience, being invited into their Inbox. And Stoop was taking those emails and instead of providing the authors with real people, it gave them a pile of junk addresses essentially. It’s hard to get intimate with a piece of code.

So for those two reasons, I deleted stoop and then it hit me.

I want to get these newsletters delivered in email because email is flexible and can be anywhere I want to be. I also want the authors of the letters to know I’m a real person behind the address and when I wanted to reply to them, I could, from a real address. I guess that would have been a problem with Stoop, but I don’t reply very often so I never encountered that problem.

I setup a reading@ address. It’s perfect because it reminds me what it’s for. It gives me a place that’s not my primary mailbox to dive into at length and know I will find long, quality messages there. It’s been a perfect solution for me. I can open it on the phone, or on a computer and dive into as many or as few letters as I want at a time.

I can enjoy them in a quiet, peaceful space without other messages around them screaming for attention. Moving these newsletters out of my screaming, needy Inbox and into their own home, means I can read them with the slowness and patience of a good book rather than a screaming Twitter feed.

I’m starting to think about what other things I can change the context to enjoy more.

Newsletters I enjoy

By Carl

On August 14, 2015

In Observations

Newsletters. They come in the mail. They contain little bits of news or entertainment each week. I quickly fall in and out of love with a lot of things but these newsletters I’ve enjoyed for months with no sign of that changing. Do you have one that you love? Who is creating something awesome I should be enjoying too?

Austin Kleon’s Weekly Newsletter

Every week I send out a list of 10 things I think are worth sharing — new art, writing, and interesting links straight to your inbox.

I always find something fun or interesting in Austin’s newsletter. This week I enjoyed Why “do what you love” is often a fairy tale., the original designs for Pac-Man and newspaper popouts.

Austin maintains an eclectic Tumblr collection of all things interesting to him. It’s always interesting to dip into it and see what he’s been thinking about lately.

CJ Chilver’s A Lesser Photographer

His newsletter always brings a little bits of truth to photography. You won’t find gear recommendations or reviews. You won’t find out the best ways to shoot things. There are plenty of people doing that.

CJ provides a deeper look at photography. This week he offers some truths about mistakes.

If you’re an artist, a mistake is not provoking thought.

Last week, he left us with this thought:

Unlearning photography may be just as rewarding as learning photography.

And before that he reminds us to Stop Making Photographs for Photographers.

He’s a breath of fresh air in the world of photography. Enjoy him in newsletter or blog form.

If his words resonate with you, he sells a book by the same name. It’s $5.

A LESSER PHOTOGRAPHER – Craft & Vision

Escaping the Gear Trap to Focus on What Matters

TinyLetter Forwards

This mailing list is just plain fun!

One great TinyLetter, picked by the folks at TinyLetter, delivered to your inbox every week.

Each Friday, you’ll get an issue of a mailing list by someone using TinyLetter to distribute it. It’s always interesting to see what shows up and I love the idea.

Five Song Fridays by Song Exploder

Every Friday, five songs will be handpicked by me and a few special guests and recommended to you, with links to the tracks right in your inbox.

First, if you’re not listening to Song Exploder sign up immediately. It’s a podcast with musicians talking about how they made their songs.

Five Song Fridays is a playlist hand-picked and delivered by Hrishikesh Hirway and special guests.

Here’s a few to get you started:
– The Long Winter – The Commander Thinks Aloud
– House of Cards theme with Jeff Beal
– Bob’s Burgers with Loren Bouchard

This.

This. is where you find and share the best entertainment, art and journalism on the web. Follow the people you trust, give thanks for their links and share the links you love. Each user can share just 1 link a day.

This is a project from The Atlantic. It’s been in beta for a while and they’ve just opened a newsletter where you can subscribe and get 5 links per day, each chosen by a different person.

I’m trying it out and so far I’ve found one thing I wanted to read each day. It’s too early to recommend but I love the idea and the variety of voices it offers.

Looking at the site, there’s no way to sign up. I got an email this week offering the newsletter, so maybe it’s only open to people who already asked to be notified. I remember signing up months ago when I first learned about it.

Carl T. Holscher fights for the customers.