Happy 1st Birthday to Small Potatoes

Three days ago marked the one-year birthday of Small Potatoes. I couldn’t be happier about how it’s been going.¹ My first post began with this.

I’m starting this Substack because of a personal failure. A writing project that I had been counting on fell through suddenly and unpleasantly. I was complaining to a friend (hi, Azim!) and he suggested that I do something entirely new with my writing, I should start a Substack. And I thought: Huh. Worth a shot.

It does seem like fun to have a place to just write and get feedback on my ideas, without editors and other gatekeepers. A while ago, I read Erik Hoel’s piece on the joys of Substack writing and though I’m more pro-editor than he is—I’ve had some wonderful editors, especially at The New Yorker and The Atlantic, who have made my essays much better—he made a convincing case for the value of this less constrained sort of writing. So here we go.

Since August of 2023, I’ve had a new post every week. I now have over 10,000 free subscribers, and have enough paid subscribers to be a Substack Bestseller—they sent me a sticker!

Most of all, I’ve been having tons of fun. Writing is how I think, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to think about all sorts of things, such as envy, loyalty (paid-subscribers only), moral progress, tantrums, trigger warnings, behaving badly on Twitter, AI companions, how to give a good academic interview (paid-subscribers only), how to teach and much else. (54 posts in total—plus two guest posts). I learned a lot from the discussions in the comments sections, getting emails from subscribers, and by being invited to discuss my posts on podcasts like Econtalk.

In March, I added a paid tier, and this gave me the extra bonus of talking to subscribers over Zoom “office hours” every two weeks or so—also fun and interesting.

Which reminds me. [Clears throat]. If you are tempted to buy Small Potatoes a birthday present, can I recommend a paid subscription? You get posts that are just for paid subscribers, such as this one, released a few weeks ago:

… and you get access to my subscriber-only conversations with Robert Wright on NonZero and all other pay-walled podcasts and, of course, the bi-weekly Zoom office hours.

Click the button below for a special Birthday Offer, which is good for until the end of September. (You can also click on it to sign up for a free subscription.)

---

So what’s next? Mostly more of the same. Here are some posts that I’m currently working on:

How I use AI when I’m writing
What’s wrong with dehumanization research
Loopholes
Strange parenting tips
What makes someone likeable

The big change for my second year is that I’m planning to release an increased number of posts that are available to paid subscribers only—as a thank you to this engaged and growing portion of my subscribers. These posts will focus on the same sorts of topics, but will often be more exploratory—and more controversial—than other posts.

So, happy birthday to Small Potatoes and huge thanks to everyone reading this for their support and engagement.

1. Why in the world is it called Small Potatoes? I tell the story here.