Which clicks I track, and whether other Residents subscribe to True. Plus, what stories readers whine about.
The Secret to True’s Success
It’s not “because of” a grumpy unsubscribe, but despite it.
True Business
Connections
I Love Little Coincidences.
Ask Me Anything 003 …the Most Interesting Honorary Unsubscribe
Let’s get away from ship life for a bit!
Ask Me Anything 001 …An Introduction
My concept seems to be good: I’m getting lots of questions. So let’s begin!
Tagline Inspiration
So Often My Taglines are simply what went through my head while reading a news story. Let me give you an example.
Should I Keep Submitting Articles to TRUE?
Paul in Virginia “refound” This is True in 2021. He re-subscribed and sent a note, “I used to get ‘News of the Weird’ until Chuck Shepherd took ill. I ran into one of my old GOOHF cards and hoped that you were still publishing and am delighted to see that you are. Please stay healthy!”
The Plus Edition
Announcing a new edition of This is True: the Plus Edition, only available on Substack, a paid newsletter platform.
Paypal: Driving Inflation Higher
Now and Then Premium Subscribers ask which I prefer, credit cards or Paypal, with the intention of using whatever costs me less. I’ve always appreciated the thought, and always said to use whichever works best for you, since by some weird coincidence, Paypal charged the same fees that card processors do — 2.9 percent of the total charged plus a 30-cent processing fee.
We Just Need a Little More
What do you need to break out of your rut? You might have a business idea, or something you want to do with your life.
Shades of Gray
A Recent Story brought several questions from readers wanting to know why it referred to a Black guy and a white guy — with those specific capitalizations:
The First True Member of the Creator Economy?
Probably the Most Thorough Interview I’ve been subjected to happened in mid-June. It took journalist Simon Owens (who writes with great insight about the “Creator Economy”) until today to distill his notes down …to only 4,000 words! He was boggled that True was able to start, let alone survive, in the ancient days of the Internet, when there were no tools to do what I’ve been doing since 1994.
“Please Stop Pushing the Vaccine”
“Please stop pushing the vaccine,” wrote a 16-year Premium reader (and who knows how long on the free distribution before that). That was in response to last week’s issue. I just reviewed it: I’m not sure the link in “Other Good Reading” to an article titled Treating the Unvaccinated constitutes “pushing” the vaccine. But perhaps … Continue Reading
The Pulitzer Prize & This is True
When muckraking New York newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer died in 1911, he left a $2 million endowment to Columbia University. To this day, Pulitzer’s name is best known for the resulting Pulitzer Prizes, given each year in multiple categories by the university.
This year, This is True was under consideration for the Prize in three categories.
Florida Man: Not a Recent Phenomenon
An academic’s “history” of “Florida Man” makes some startling — and completely wrong! — claims about how the “Florida Man meme” got started online. No, it wasn’t in 2012, or even the “mid-2000s”!
What It’s Like to…
I’ve Always Liked the “Inside” Stories — What It’s Like to… Save a Life. Be a Surgeon. Pave a Road.
072: Not Perfect
In This Episode: Sure, it’s cool to hear stories of famous (and completely obscure) people who exhibit Uncommon Sense. But there’s one other thing you need to know about every one of them: they’re definitely not perfect, and that’s important to know because neither are you.
Kup-pa Ko-fi
True has had a presence on Patreon for a few years now. Patreon is one of several sites that helps “creators” get support from patrons. In late 2017, Patreon made a bone-headed decision that resulted in well over half of True’s patrons bailing, mostly for my own home-rolled alternative. The downside of both: having to create yet another “account” on yet another site. At least using my shopping cart there’s no 5 percent fee scraped off the top for Patreon.
Top 3 (x4) of 2019
Looking at the stats for 2019 is showing what you all found the most interesting or entertaining to read (and listen to!) of my offerings this year.