Two Years of Episodic Medium
Celebrating what we've accomplished, and a new opportunity—with caveats—to extend your generous support
For the past few weeks, the Substack dashboard has been reminding me to create an anniversary post, as yesterday marked two years of Episodic Medium.
I understand why they recommend this: anniversary posts are a great way to remark on how far a publication has come, and how much you as readers have made that possible. I wrote such a post last year, charting the newsletter’s journey from a solo critical venture to a thriving community:
When I introduced Episodic Medium a year ago, I wrote that “this type of criticism might be going out of style…but it has defined my relationship with so many of my favorite shows, and being able to share that is an immense privilege.” Now, with over 1200 people investing in this project, I feel confident that there is both an audience for this type of criticism and that the community it creates is worth investing in. I remain more privileged than ever to be able to do this work, and now to share the work of others, and I’m excited to have you along for the ride in whatever capacity is within your means in the year(s) ahead.
And certainly, I could write a version of this post again this year. We added new contributors—Dennis Perkins, Les Chappell, Caroline Siede, Alex McLevy, and for a brief period Erik Adams—and delivered 342 episodic reviews to subscribers over the past twelve months. Paid subscribers enjoyed not only those reviews, but also active conversations, extending the dialogue into the comment sections. Your support also allowed me to become a member of the Television Critics Association, and earlier this month I was able to bring subscribers to the ballroom at the bi-annual TCA Press Tour to get insights into upcoming programs from across the industry. While the site’s growth may be incremental from this time last year, roughly 2000 new free subscribers are getting their first ever anniversary update, while 400 more of you became paid subscribers for at least a month since last February.
And so yes, I want to thank you all so much for making all of this possible.
But I’m struggling to write that type of post given how much the past year has been an object lesson in the struggles of ethical capitalism for any of us on the Substack platform. On the one hand, the past month has been a stark reminder of the state of online journalism, with the complete collapse of The Messenger and the recent gutting of Vice making it clear that user-supported ventures like Episodic Medium are going to be critical to sustaining the very existence of this type of work. However, our dependence on Substack as a platform promoting—and profiting from—our attempt to carve out a space for that work has reminded us that venture capital’s ugly stepsister is the toxic neoliberalism of silicon valley, embodied by Substack’s lack of any type of content moderation.
As I wrote in January, our sustainability as a co-operative I’m running part-time makes abandoning Substack too risky, but it’s still hard to consciously seek more subscribers when it means supporting a company so cavalier about the content it chooses to platform provided it creates or suggests corporate growth. And yet when I was in Pasadena for Press Tour, I met so many smart writers whose careers have been upended, and struggled with the realization that I couldn’t realistically offer them the opportunities they deserve. With every new website that folds, and every remaining website that cuts back on freelance budgets, the sustainability of writing criticism shrinks, and it becomes easier to accept the ethical dilemma of Substack in the interest of playing even a small part in addressing the crisis facing the field as a whole.
And so while I continue to grapple with this reality, I’ve decided at this second anniversary to give you a new option to support that work within the Substack platform, if that’s something you’re comfortable with. Substack has a “Founding Members” plan for yearly subscribers, which allows you to extend your contribution beyond the typical yearly rate to further support the work we’re doing here at Episodic Medium if you have the means or desire to do so.
I’ve had this turned off, but I’ve now activated it with a recommended rate of $200 a year—rather than being picked at random, this number roughly means that for every person who signs up for a Founding Membership at that level, we’ll be able to post one extra review this year. For every ten people who have the money to invest in the newsletter, that’s one extra show (on average) we’re able to cover, and potentially one extra freelancer we’d be able to support. That said, I’ve also set it so that if you’re not able to cover $200, you can increase your yearly subscription rate anywhere about $50 to become a Founding Member (this link should take you to managing your subscription if you’re logged in).
At this time, I’m only promising that your additional contributions as a Founding Member will have a clear and tangible impact on our ability to expand our coverage and our number of contributors. However, depending on how many people sign up, I’ll definitely be looking for opportunities for Founding Members to gain more direct access to the site, either in the form of surveys, events, etc.
Obviously, beyond those who have chosen to leave the Substack platform, I am aware that the very same economic conditions that are impacting journalism are happening across the board, and thus I am in no way expecting those in challenging or uncertain financial circumstances to invest more in the site. As always, the nature of our work means that there will be instances where you aren’t watching enough TV to justify the subscription, or when you simply can’t afford to pay at all. I’m creating new opportunities for existing subscribers to support the site, but our model is built on a degree of churn, and so I don’t want you to feel guilty if you can’t contribute more, or need to pause your subscription, or need to remain as a free subscriber.
But if you’re at a point where you want to join for the first time, I’m also offering a 2nd Anniversary Special of 20% off new yearly subscriptions for the next week. That’s $40 for over 300 reviews in your inbox. Every yearly subscription is a guaranteed investment that we can use to help make future coverage decisions, and beyond that it’s a show of support in the work we do that I will never take lightly, especially given the nature of Substack as a platform.
As with last year, I don’t have anything dramatic to say about the future of Episodic Medium. I was incredibly fortunate to have the pieces fall into place quickly in this newsletter’s first year, and year two mostly just gave me and our contributors the confidence that what we’re doing is connecting with readers. My goal at this point is to continue to feel like we’re doing everything we can to support this work, and I’m deeply appreciative of whatever part you’re able to play in that journey in the year ahead.
Episodic Calendar
We’re still waiting on premiere dates for April and beyond before finalizing the rest of the spring schedule, but here’s a reminder of what’s coming up in March. Note some slight adjustments, as ABC is airing a post-Oscars Abbott Elementary.
Good post. Appreciate the work you and the writers and the commentors do. Upgraded to founder.
Me just throwing idea out, and maybe it not practical, but it crossed mind when reading section about Substack.
If Substack not address its Nazi problem, or somehow gets worse and you do want to bail, could you put EM on new platform and also keep it here, and transition gradually? Double-post on both, while encouraging subscribers to move over to new site? And when once critical mass has moved over and you have certain amount of money coming into new platform, then pull plug on this site and hope remaining traffic moves over? Me know that still risk, but it seem like smaller one.