I’ve been writing this newsletter for nearly two years. It feels like ten.
Covid took baseball away, then the MLB team owners did the same. They didn’t want to pay the players during the pandemic, which resulted in an abbreviated and mostly pointless 2020 season. Then the billionaires locked out the players in a labor dispute, which delayed the 2022 season. Then the Philadelphia Phillies went on a miraculous run to the World Series. I wanted to write about all of it, so I started Out in Left.
These events feel like they happened in another galaxy, in a different century. Life is not short. It is long as shit.
I said my piece about baseball and politics, so several months ago I changed the newsletter to a general format because I have an opinion on everything. In this way, Out in Left became a blog. So it goes. I also instituted paid subscriptions because writing is labor. I am now a rich man.
Just kidding.
But to those who decided to pay me: you give me hope, for your investment proves there are still people who appreciate good, long-form writing. It motivates me to get better and more prolific.
To those who don’t pay me: wrong.
As part of the changes last year, I committed to twice-weekly posts, one for paid subscribers on Thursdays and one for everyone on Sundays. I’ve loosely followed that, but I’m changing that (again).
I will post on Out in Left once a week, on Sundays, in my typical fashion.
And I started a new Substack called Listen Up, which I’m billing as the definitive newsletter about Oasis. I will post there on Thursdays. The introductory piece at Listen Up goes out later today. Subscribe below.
2025 is the year of Oasis—I have tickets to five of their shows for their reunion tour later this year—but I don’t want the band to dominate this channel. I want to keep Out in Left focused on sports, politics, and American life without a car.
Paid subscriptions will remain on here, and they will be on at Listen Up, but they will not result in additional benefits or access. Perhaps down the line, when I am rich and famous, I will reinstitute a paywall, but now everyone will have access to everything. I want to focus on writing and getting better at it and creating the content I wish there was more of. Paywalling is a whole thing. There are best practices and theories to maximize revenue, and it takes administrative work. Focusing on that wasn’t making me a better or more productive writer. To those who will remain paid subscribers: thanks very much for your continued support.
With that, let’s cheers to another ten years of Out in Left.