#401: Make the most of Article Club

Plus: A great article on school integration and my annotations of a SCOTUS decision

Jul 06, 2023

Dear Loyal Readers,

Now that we’re in the middle of summer and on the other side of Issue #400, I’m taking July off to step back a bit: to reflect on the last eight years of doing this newsletter and to figure out what’s next.

Don’t worry, because I can’t help myself: You’ll still receive issues every Thursday this month. They’ll just be a little different from the standard fare.

Today’s issue focuses on four ways you can make the most of Article Club. Some are simple; some are more advanced. My hope is that you’ll try at least one and let me know how it goes.

If you’re perfectly happy with your current experience with Article Club, and all you want to do is read more good stuff — well, I’ve got you. Scroll down past the pet photo, and you’ll find a great article on school integration, followed by my annotations of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, the Supreme Court case that pitted freedom of speech against the rights of queer people. Please enjoy.

Happy reading,

Mark

A sunrise outside Sebastopol, California.

4 ways to make the most of Article Club ⭐️

For many of you, this weekly newsletter is enough. It’s exactly what you want. You’re happy with the articles, the blurbs, and the pet photos. Nothing else is needed.

But for many of you, you want more. Here are a few things you can try to make the most of your Article Club experience.

1️⃣ Join a discussion (or other event)

Sometimes when I read an amazing article, I don’t have any urge to share my thoughts about it. I just want to sit with it. But other times, I want someone to talk to. The problem is, It’s rare that folks are reading the same articles at the same time.

Article Club fixes that problem. Our monthly discussions bring together kind people eager to read, share, listen, and dive deep. If you’re a new subscriber, or if you’ve never participated in a discussion, I recommend that you try it out.

How about you join our discussion of Matthew Desmond’s “Why Poverty Persists in America” on August 27? It’d be great to have you. Here’s more information. If you’re interested, click the button below to sign up.

If talking about an article isn’t your thing, you may prefer connecting with other thoughtful readers in other ways. Here are two upcoming gatherings:

Quiet Reading Hour, July 16
A dedicated space to read whatever you like
NYT by the Lake, July 23
An experiment in live public community reading

2️⃣ Share what you think

Most of you get this newsletter in your email inbox, so it might feel like a one-way interaction. But there’s me on the other end, plus more than a thousand other kind people, and we’re all reading the same articles. As they say in Great Britain (or so I’m told), don’t be a stranger. Sharing your voice makes our reading community stronger.

If you’re moved by an article, or you just want to reach out, here are some ways to engage with Article Club:

To reach me: Write me an email or leave me a voice message
To reach others: Write a comment — to share your thoughts on an article, or to share what you’re reading, or to offer suggestions for how to make AC better

3️⃣ Make it easier to read the articles and listen to the podcast

No doubt the biggest complaint I get from readers about Article Club is that the newsletter doesn’t get delivered to their inboxes. Without fail, every Thursday at approximately 9:13 am (or sometimes 9:17 am), I get emails with messages like, “Where’s my issue?” and “Did you skip a week?”

This happens because Google likes to send newsletters to people’s promotions and updates folders instead of their inboxes. Silly Google. To fix this annoying problem, you have to train Gmail in these three ways:

Reply to the email — a quick “hi” to me will do the trick (go ahead, do it now!)
Add articleclub@substack.com as one of your contacts (it takes just a second)
Mark the email as “not promotions” or “not updates” and drag it to your inbox

Worse news is if you’re on Yahoo, Outlook, or a school-based email. Sometimes they think Article Club is spam. The horror!

➡️ Here are two more tips to improve your reading and listening experience:

Save articles to read later
There’s too much good stuff to read, I know. And it’s impossible to get a 30-min break from your workday to dive into an article. Plus maybe you suffer from Too Many Tabs. Many of you have said you skip articles you otherwise would read because it’s too much trouble saving them for later. My go-tos to solve this problem have been Pocket (free) and Reader (paid), two great apps that let you save articles and then read them later on any device. I’m a big fan of both.
Listen to the podcast on your phone
Many readers have told me they appreciate the author interviews but that “listening with the player thing you send out isn’t ideal.” You mean, the one that looks like this?

Well, I have good news for you: Article Club is not just a newsletter. It’s a podcast, too, that you can get on your phone. (Who knew?) All you need to do is search for “Article Club” in Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast player you use, and voila! Success.

4️⃣ Download the Substack app

Now comes an advanced move, thanks to loyal reader Nick, who years ago said, “You know what your real problem is? You need an app!” Well, I don’t personally have an app, but Substack does, and I have to say, it’s awesome. You can:

Have a dedicated, uncluttered place to read Article Club (and other newsletters)
Get notifications (if you want a reminder) or turn them off (if you want peace)
Have newsletter issues read to you (the voice is pleasant)
Listen to the author interviews and podcast episodes
Engage and interact more easily (you can share, comment, and chat)

Get the Substack app

I fully acknowledge that this advanced tip might not be for everyone. After all, who wants to download yet another app? I was skeptical at first, too. But now I’m a believer. If you try it out (or have already been using it), let me know. One big danger: It might be very easy to get the app, forget about it, and never read Article Club again. That would make me sad. 😔

Peppercorn, who belongs to loyal reader Rebecca, is a loyal and intrepid dog. Once when he was staying with friends for the weekend, Peppercorn bolted and ran 1.5 miles through Oakland to get back home to his owner. hltr.co/pets

Two things to read ⭐️

I’m purposely trying this month not to be on the lookout for articles to feature in Article Club, but I really can’t help myself. Here are two selections that I think you might find valuable.

Is the Fight for School Integration Still Worthwhile for African Americans?

Last week’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action reminded me there was a time when more people in our society believed in integration in order to remedy past injustice. Stefan Lallinger, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, explains why the majority of Black people favored integration in the 1960s and 1970s and how that support reversed over time. He also discusses the power of all-Black spaces, the racism of our K-12 educational system, and the difference between data (that shows school integration “works”) vs. lived experiences (that highlights the suffering).

➡️ Read the original article• Read the article with my annotations

303 Creative LLC v. Elenik

You’ve likely read about Lorie Smith, the website designer from Colorado who loves all people and has no problem with gay people — unless they want to get married, which she calls a “gay marriage,” and which she believes is “false.” But have you read the Supreme Court decision and annotated it? I bet you haven’t! Good thing I have. Reading the actual decision didn’t make me any less frustrated with the Supreme Court’s decision, but as a former journalist and advocate of the First Amendment, I appreciated reading Justice Neil Gorsuch’s opinion and his discussion of free speech. (Justice Sonia Sotomayor brought the shade in her scathing dissent.)

➡️ Read the decision • read the decision with my annotations

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 8 new subscribers — including Ajay, Ryn, Anita, Sarah, Barry, Kit, Kristina, and Karin — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Mel! Melanie! Melany!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Enrick, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

📬 Invite your friends to subscribe. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? I’d love it if you encouraged them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you for spreading the word.

Share Article Club

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Monica (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value Article Club. Plus you’ll gain access to our monthly discussions, our monthly quiet reading hours, and my personal audio letters from me to you. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.