Introducing “The Ancient and the Ultimate on Substack

I know what you’re thinking. Another Substack newsletter?

Yes, I have a Substack newsletter that will debut tomorrow. It’s called “The Ancient and the Ultimate” and it’s a place where I plan to focus specifically on writing about my reading. I describe it as follows:

I have an insatiable curiosity about the world around me. Reading feeds that curiosity and builds upon it. Old questions are answered and new ones arise. Frequently, I try to apply what I read to life in some practical way. I wanted a place where I can write about this curiosity, where it leads me, and what I learn from it.

If you are interested, you can subscribe here.

A few notes:

1. Unlike many Substack newsletters, mine is totally free, just like this blog. There isn’t even a paid subscription option.
2. This blog is not going away.
3. I still hope to continue writing here. although clearly, I haven’t been writing here much lately. Sometimes, a change of venue helps with getting the words flowing again.
4. When I do write here, it will be less about what I am reading and more about the random stuff that I’ve always written about. I wanted to carve out a separate place where I could write about my reading exclusively.
5. Why “The Ancient and the Ultimate”? I wrote about it here.

Recall that I had some thoughts on Substack a few years ago. The newsletter is a place for me to experiment a bit. I have no idea if it will work out, or if anyone will read it, but I had no idea if anyone would read what I wrote here when I started writing online back in 2005. Time will tell.

Please feel no obligation to subscribe, just because you read here. I’m announcing it here because it seemed weird and awkward not to say anything about it at all — almost like I’d be cheating on you all somehow. Indeed, that’s how I felt about it for a while. And then I remembered that when I was writing fiction, I didn’t write exclusively for one magazine. I wrote for as many as I could. That’s what happens when you love to write.