Invitation to Become a Full Subscriber to Proof
A message to those Proof email-list subscribers who haven't yet become full Proof subscribers about a massive new expansion of the publication's content and features.
{Note: if you’re already a full subscriber to Proof, feel free to read on to get the news about the new features you’re already receiving as a result of a recent massive expansion of the website.}
Introduction
At just $5/month, Proof already uses the lowest monthly subscription that Substack allows, and the annual subscription rate ($50/year) is a 16%+ discount on top of that. The publication has more content on it than any substack out there—with over 125 articles published in under 120 days, and hundreds more to come this calendar year. Proof is now the #2-ranked Culture substack in the United States, with nearly 35,000 email-list subscribers and 6,000 full subscribers signing up in just under four months. Over that time, the reporting at Proof has been so threatening to established political interests that, as the regularly updated history of the publication details, it has been the subject of lawsuit threats from Roger Stone and Michael Flynn; a commission in Brazil to consider the possible involvement of that nation’s ruling family, the corrupt Bolsonaros, in the January 6 insurrection in Washington; and coverage from some of the most respected major-media outlets in America, including New York Magazine and the Washington Post.
Despite all this, I’m not satisfied. I want Proof to be an even bigger and more central part of the national discourse on key topics like politics, media, culture, and the law. And I also want readers of the publication to have access to components of my Twitter feed that have become popular among that feed’s nearly one million readers, including curated musical selections and exclusive book excerpts.
And all this is why—in conjunction with its upcoming four-month anniversary—Proof is now announcing a massive expansion of its offerings.
If you read on and decide you want full access to Proof, just click the red button above. I know you’ll be thrilled with what Proof now offers its rapidly expanding community.
What’s New at Proof
A major announcement by Substack just a few days ago made possible the creation of “sections” within Substack publications, meaning that publications which previously focused just on one topic are now primed to expand their focus to other subjects. So it is with Proof, which has already become known as a top national publication for news of Trump’s ongoing domestic insurgency. The website will now be expanding to cover many other topics as well; this expansion gives me the chance to use all my skillsets as an attorney, investigator, journalist, author, academic, researcher, and editor—and even my history as a disc jockey—to serve the readership of Proof. (See my long-form biography to read more about my credentials and experience in these disparate areas.)
With all this in mind, here are the new sections at Proof, with descriptive sub-headers and instantly viewable samples:
January 6
The most comprehensive coverage of Trump’s January 6 insurrection, and its ongoing impact, of any media outlet in the United States.
Sample 1: “A Comprehensive Guide to Those Responsible for the January 6 Insurrection”
Sample 2: “The Five Must-See Insurrection Videos”
Politics
Political analyses from a political commentator with appearances and interviews at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, PBS, HBO, the BBC, the CBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Time, and many others.
Sample 1: “New Developments Inextricably Link Trump to Gaetz Case”
The Media
Here you’ll find metajournalism on the crises facing contemporary U.S. media from a university journalism professor and working journalist with more than 25 years in the field at six publications. In 2018, the National Council for the Training of Journalists named me one of the ten most-respected freelance journalists in America and the UK.
Sample 1: “University Lecture Series: ‘What Is Journalism?’”
Sample 2: “Twelve Things You Need to Know About Metajournalism”
Culture
Articles and essays on music, film, video games, books, and viral ephemera from the perspective of a professional cultural critic, leading metamodernist, and professor of post-internet cultural theory. I’ve reviewed digital culture for Indiewire, Poets & Writers, the Washington Post, HuffPost (now BuzzFeed News) and many others.
Sample 1: “The GOP Is Contemporary America's Foremost Cancel Culture”
Sample 2 (coming soon): “Metamodernism: The Basics”
The Law
Legal analysis from a former federal criminal investigator and HuffPost Law columnist who also practiced criminal law in multiple jurisdictions, including indigent criminal defense in homicide cases. I graduated from Harvard Law School in 2001, and am now a member in good standing in both the State and Federal bars of New Hampshire.
Sample 1: “Some Say the Criminal Justice System Will Save Us From Trump—But Can It?”
Sample 2: “A Comprehensive Legal Analysis of Trump's Answer to the Article of Impeachment”
The Podcast
”Adventures in Metajournalism” offers commentary on U.S. politics, media, law, and culture by an attorney, New York Times bestselling author, BBC analyst, and Newsweek columnist.
Sample 1: “Episode 3: ‘The Killing of Adam Toledo’”
Sample 2: “Episode 2: ‘Trump’s January 5 War Council’”
Q&As and AMAs
Here you’ll find every single-subject Question & Answer (“Q&A”) session at Proof, as well as every unrestricted Ask Me Anything (“AMA”) session. Anyone can read the sessions; only Proof subscribers can ask questions. Video AMAs are subscriber-only.
Sample 1: “Ask Me Anything #7”
Sample 2: “Q&A #2: ‘The Arizona Insurrection’”
Extras
This section of Proof contains special and exclusive content—from book excerpts to idiosyncratic multimedia, surprising revelations to miscellaneous curios, DJ-curated playlists to assorted fey inanities.
Sample 1: “The Best Videos on the Internet, Vol. 1”
Sample 2: “Lost Classics of the 1960s, Vol. 1”
Sample 3: “The Goodnight Playlist, Vol. 1”
Sample 4 (book excerpt): “Part 1 of 4: Additional Information About the Murder of Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi”
Conclusion
My goal is to make Proof a publication replete with unreplicable content produced by an author working within his areas of professional specialization—and, moreover, one that constantly seeks to expand and improve itself based upon the UX rollouts Substack’s development team periodically announces.
But I also consider Proof a community. The conversations that happen on the comment boards at the site are increasingly both broad and deep, and with nearly 6,000 full Proof subscribers having unlimited access to the boards, not only are the discussions free of trolls and cranks with no interest in discourse, but the range of perspectives available is remarkable. It’s already happened—indeed, more than once—that the discussions that unfold between commenters here have blossomed into full-scale articles at Proof, as community members offer links and leads and scoops (particularly about January 6) that turn out to be fruitful expansions of what we already know about that terrible day.
Substack has made clear that many more UX expansions are on the way, and as with the “link-list expansion” that preceded the “section expansion”—you’ll notice that the main page of Proof now has a sidebar with a listing of both “recent free articles” and “recently unlocked articles”—Proof will always be among the earliest publications to avail itself of such innovations.
As noted above, the history section of Proof confirms that the work of the publication is now gaining the notice of domestic and international villains like Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and the Bolsonaros of Brazil; major-media outlets like the Washington Post and New York Magazine; and an ever-increasing volume of new users at Substack who are discovering, in the buzzed-about newsletter boom of the 2020s, a new way to develop a meaningful relationship with those from whom they receive news. I intend Proof to be a top destination for those who value fully sourced, accurate reporting and analysis as well as provocative considerations of what’s happening in U.S. media and popular culture, the nation’s criminal justice system, and the domestic political arena.
I hope you’ll join the rapidly expanding community here at Proof as we embark on this exciting journey together!