How'm I doin'?
Please give me feedback on how to make this Substack (even) better!
When he was mayor of New York, Ed Koch would famously ask anybody he encountered: “How’m I doin’?”
That’s a smart move for a politician, and one from which some contemporary practitioners of the craft could learn a whole lot. But I am a writer, not a politician. And in the age of audience capture, I have some hesitation about being too responsive to the feedback I get. If I focused my writing wholly on what gets me the most likes on Substack or what makes an article most likely to feature in the most-read list of some legacy outlet, I would write obvious, boring, and utterly evanescent diatribes every day.
Still. I am deeply honored that more than 100,000 people now choose to get my emails delivered directly into their inboxes. Many of you even choose to put your money where your eyeballs are, helping to make this Substack and the podcast financially sustainable. And of course I do very much want your considered feedback on how you would like to see my writing and the podcast evolve. (We hope to do a similar survey for Persuasion sometime in the coming months.)
So, if you have about 90 seconds to spare, please fill out this survey. Or just share your thoughts with me by hitting “reply” to this email!
And if you are not yet a paying subscriber, please do consider upgrading your membership today. It would give you access to all the great content you’re missing—such as every essay I write and all full episodes of The Good Fight—and absolutely make my day.
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for reading in 2025, and see you in the new year!
Yascha
P.S: As you may know, I’ve become a little obsessed with artificial intelligence over the past months. So this January and February, I’ll be offering a small-group class to think about the impact that AI is likely to have on society, politics and democracy! You can learn more about The Seminar here or fill out this form to sign up.