Three Years of How Things Work
A brief annual update on this nice place.
The publication you are reading, How Things Work, turns three years old this week. Incredible news. On these birthdays, I like to write a little overview of what we did here in the past year, and where we are going in the coming year. If you are interested, please read on.
When I had my first real journalism job, which was neither fun nor glamorous nor especially creative, I developed one basic desire: To one day be able to write what I want, and have enough people read it to make it worthwhile. I have that at How Things Work, and I am grateful to all of you for helping to make that possible.
The Most Popular Stories of the Past Year
You’re a Bunch of Cowards! On ICE agents.
The Subway Is Not Scary. On urban fear.
We Are the Bad Guys. On foreign policy.
Getting Yelled at By Dumbasses. On fascists.
Remove Your Ring Camera With a Claw Hammer. On home improvement.
Intolerable Things. On the Minneapolis Alex Pretti protests.
Hate Has to Scatter When Minneapolis Arises. On the Minneapolis general strike.
Go Ahead and Use AI. It Will Only Help Me Dominate You. On writing.
America Is Becoming Dallas. On our Texas future.
Cold City, Hot Heart. On Minneapolis.
In addition to these pieces, in the past year we have also published interviews with authors, politicians, government officials, and union leaders. We have published on-the-ground reporting on immigrant persecution in Ohio, ICE in New Orleans, Kamala Harris on book tour, Bernie Sanders in Indiana, centrist zombies in DC, Zohran on the campaign trail, and more. And we have published plenty of other writing about the labor movement, the media, the military, the police, solidarity, AI, racism, climate change, class war, billionaires, idiots, jerks, frauds, and other topics.
The full archive of three years of How Things Work can be read here, for free.
The Socialist Media Model
This site began as an experiment. I wondered if it would be possible to build a sustainable publication without a paywall. As you can tell by the fact that you can read our entire archives for free, nobody is required to pay to read How Things Work. Instead, I simply ask those of you who are able to pay to do so, by becoming paid subscribers. This model appealed to me for a few reasons: First, because like all writers, I want my stuff to be read as widely as possible; second, because as more high quality writing and reporting moves behind paywalls due to the collapse of journalism’s traditional business model, lower income people are left with a lower quality information environment than higher income people, which is just not good; and third, because as a believer in the general principle of “those who have more should kick in a little more in order to help take care of everyone” that underpins socialism itself, I was curious as to whether this system would work in the real world.
Happily, thus far, it has. Every single one of you who has become a paid subscriber or otherwise donated to How Things Work have proven that this model can succeed. I think that is just nice. Thank you, all of you.
That said, I want to be honest about the challenges here as well. From a business perspective, giving your product away for free is obviously not recommended. It incentivizes people to take it and not pay, even if they could. In order to make this work, I have to be able to convince readers to embrace the (thoroughly unfamiliar, in a capitalist world) idea: You don’t have to pay for this, but if you can, you (please) should.
This can sound akin to paying taxes, which feels dreary, or it can sound akin to charity, which feels wheedling and unimportant. I don’t love these comparisons. I like to think of this place more like a public park: It’s open to all, it’s free to use, and there is donation box that pays for the upkeep. If you are not destitute, it is a social good to toss in your fair share to help keep the park open. If you are destitute, don’t worry about it. We’re all in this together. This is the business model of this publication. I do not like asking for money any more than you like being asked for money, but in general I think that it is a good thing to promote this sort of business model, and make it viable, and help it spread.
Here is a simple illustration of who I want to encourage to embrace this model:
HOW THINGS WORK READERS
AROUND 7%: Paid subscribers.
LET’S SAY, GENEROUSLY, 50%: Cannot afford to pay.
REMAINING 43%: Could afford to pay but do not.
When I ask people to consider becoming paid subscribers, I am not trying to squeeze more out of those of you who already pay. Nor am I trying to harangue people who cannot afford to pay. Rather, I am trying to speak to the 40%+ of readers who could pay, but don’t. I am not trying to guilt trip you! No! Ugh! I myself read a number of publications that I like but don’t pay for, simply because there are so many of them. Mine is not the only site worth paying for. I do not expect all 43% of those readers to immediately become paid subscribers. Even better, I don’t need all of you to become paid subscribers. If we can just get a decent chunk of those of you who read this site more than occasionally, and find it valuable, and can afford to pay for it without financially harming yourself, we can keep this place sustainable and growing.
If you fit in that category, I would truly appreciate it if you become a paid subscriber today, to keep How Things Work going for another year. Paid subscribers create a predictable income stream that allows me to do this like a job, not a daily scramble for tips. There are a variety of subscription rates you can choose, to fit your willingness and ability to pay.
You can also make a one-time or recurring donation to our reporting fund.
If you are interested in organized labor, politics, and America’s crisis of inequality, you can buy my book “The Hammer” from an independent book store.
Over the past three years, a small number of supporters have made larger donations to support How Things Work. If you would like to make a larger donation—or if you would like to invite me to speak to your group, or if you just want to say hi—you can email me directly at Hamilton.Nolan@gmail.com.
Journalists take a backseat to no one when it comes to navel-gazing and self-importance. I apologize if you find these periodic updates about this place tedious. In the grand scheme of things, this is just one small independent publication in a large sea of media. Then again, a lot of small things together can become big things. To be able to write what I want, to speak my mind freely, to go to where things are happening and write about them, to interview interesting people, and to have readers willing to take their time to read this—this, my friends, is the dream. We are living it together. How Things Work would not have made it one year, or two years, or three years without all of you. Thank you. We won’t stop.
-Hamilton
Wow. I can't believe it's been three years. Keep fighting the good fight, brother.
I don't find these tedious at all. It's good to know how things are going. I encourage anyone who can to subscribe. Please keep doing what you're doing, Hamilton!
A question (that I'll understand that you may not want to address or already have addressed and I missed it): Is Substack okay to work with? Not just financially, but I frequently see comments in other places that raise some ethical questions. Just curious, but it might just be None of My Business.