My career and intellectual life have been built on the daily habits of reading and writing. However, in recent years, the practice of writing has largely fallen away, as I’ve devoted more time to public speaking, hosting the Making Sense podcast, and developing the Waking Up app.

Incentives rule our lives, and my life has been no exception: For me, speaking into a microphone is easier, more lucrative, and reaches a larger audience than writing. And so, as if by magic, that’s what I’ve done for the last decade.

But I miss writing. More than anything, I miss how writing improves the quality of my thinking. I know of no better way to discover new ideas.

• A New Community (replacing Twitter/X): Since leaving social media, I’ve missed being able to quickly share my thoughts on current events and recommend the work of others. Substack will allow me to do these things again, for a select audience. For years, many of us have lamented the toxicity of online discourse. I want to change this (at least for my readers). I hope to build a community here that engages with my work, and with each other, in meaningful ways.

• Essays and other writing: Substack has built an outstanding platform for writers. For those of you who want to see more of me in print, you will find my latest work here. I also plan to solicit feedback on works in progress. (And once live video becomes available on the platform, I look forward to experimenting with that as well.)

I'm tremendously honored to have a community of readers who value what I do. Your support makes my work possible.

Wishing you all the best,

Sam

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