I'm subscribed to a lot of email newsletters. I think I use them to fill the void others fill with podcasts. I'm not really a podcast person, though I try! It takes forever for them to get to the point, and I always find myself tuning it out and then realising I have and getting frustrated rewinding and relistening to the same bit over and over again. I'd just always rather listen to music.
So, I'm subscribed to a lot of newsletters, and use filters to put all of them in folders out of my inbox and read them on the tube and when I'm procrastinating at work - I liked getting cool stuff to read delivered right to me, and not having to filter through anything. So I'm reccing the ones I really getting in my inbox!
Does anyone have any newsletters they get that they'd recommend? I read totally anything, from art, fandom stuff, writing, news. I really like seeing what people do with the newsletter format, so I'll try anything!
Anne Helen Petersen - Petersen is a news reporter for Buzzfeed news in the US, and this is her semi-weekly newsletter of her thoughts on the stories she's been working on, recent events, and stuff she's read that week. I like Petersen's reporting - it's not perfect, and I think she sometimes leans too much into "isn't this community ~different and special" but she's obviously talented, and has a background in media studies/celebrity studies which is sometimes a really interesting perspective on the news. One of her newsletters I really liked was a reaction to the profile of goop/gweneth paltrow that was going around that explained the mechanics of how celebrity profiles get made, how negotiations for reporter access to celebrities work and it was really fascinating.
Data is Plural
- I got recommended this by a friend when I started doing more data science work, and learning R. I'm still obviously very very unskilled in coding, since I'm busy and also...am lazy, but it's cool to see the different data sets that have been collected, and think about work that could be done with that data. Every week the newsletter sends you three publicly accessible data sets, and links to any data science/statistics work that's been done with them, and it's a really cool resource.
Infodump
- I actually have no idea how I originally subscribed to this, because I care exactly 0% about the guy who writes it (He's a tv/radio writer? I don' think I've ever knowingly consumed anything he's written). However, the newsletter isn't really about his writing, it's more about the mechanical, technical elements of his process, like what apps does he use, what notebooks, how does he brainstorm ideas etc. It's really nice for getting suggested new apps to try out, and think about the more practical "how" of writing. I've got some good recs out of this!
Lara Olin
- I also have no memory of how I subscribed to this, because I'm extremely unclear on what Lara Olin actually does, for like, her job, but the newsletter isn't about her, it's just a list of cool stuff she's seen that week. Usually a couple articles, but also cool videos, and a gif she likes, and good poems she's read. The poems especially are usually killer, but she's got a good eye for kinda off the way but neat things. I also like it cause it comes on a Thursday and for some reason most newsletters come on a Friday.
Pome
- This sends a short poem to your inbox every day. I really like it, but this one you definitely have to be ruthless about filtering this because it comes every day, and you'll get overwhelmed if you don't. There's a real mix of different kind of poetry, and it's pretty awesome to have a folder in my email just full of nice poems I can read any time.
The Rec Center
- I mean, probably a lot of you are subscribed to this. It's a weekly email with fic recs, and also links to some articles about fandom in the news/meta etc. I don't necessarily think it's the greatest - I think the whole point of recs is that you trust the person, and that's why you check it out, and the email just compiles the recs that hello-tailor and elizabeth minkel get submitted to them, so the stuff that gets recced isn't always the greatest. Plus sometimes gav & elizabeth just go on and on about whatever they're doing and...I don't care. The six months when they were obsessed with black sails was Mighty Boring. However, it's nice to get new fannish stuff every week, and they do different themes all the time which is cool, and I read my first ever hockey fic based off getting linked to it in the rec center so....complaining from me is a bit rich. and the fanart is always cool, and it's really sweet to read people's descriptions of why they liked a fic.
New Statesman Morning Call
- This is one of my few pure news emails, but it's truly one of the best ones I get. It comes daily monday-friday but it's short - just a couple of paragraphs from Stephen Bush, one of the best political reporters in the UK, on the most recent happenings in UK politics. He's excellent at explaining the "tactics" of politics, like what incentives are causing people to act the way they are. Really demystifies a lot of the current news, which is good since the current news is literally the worst thing ever.
Rec me some emails!! I need more!!
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