Indie Media Circus

Technology journalist Casey Newton left The Verge in 2020 to go independent, launching Platformer as a member-supported newsletter to “cover news at the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy.” Earlier this year, Casey quit Substack to join Ghost, taking more than 140,000 readers along with him. He'll be joined by Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge.

Founded in 1998, Kottke.org is one of the oldest blogs on the web, produced and written by Jason Kottke about the “adjacent possible of humanity” and financially supported by his members since 2005. Tokyo-based author and photographer Craig Mod launched his Special Projects membership program in 2019, producing newsletters, long-form essays, and stunning books with the support of thousands.

Emerging from the ashes of Vice’s bankruptcy, four ex-Motherboard journalists launched 404 Media only one year ago as a writer-owned, reader-funded publication, quickly finding an audience with constant scoops, deep reporting, and an irreverent sense of humor. Co-founders Samantha Cole and Jason Koebler join us to talk about it.

Five years ago, Ryan Broderick launched Garbage Day, “a newsletter about having fun online” tracking bizarre memes, social media brainrot, and other internet subculture ephemera, expanding to a community Discord in 2020 and, most recently, Garbage Day Live shows with special guests.