What the world needs is another newsletter, especially one written by a freelance journalist. The Bender aims to fill that vacant market niche.
I’ve had soft spot for newsletters since before I wrote one during another era of the internet that seemed poised to reward direct and personal communication from journalists to readers. We are now back in another one of those eras and that’s exciting.
The wonder and curse of newsletters is that they’re e-couriered blog posts. As a result, to the extent that there are too many newsletters, the problem is really that too many newsletter writers aren’t saying much. My aim here will be to write what I think is screamingly obvious and important but, nevertheless, not being written.
I’ll be writing about business and finance, and what politics has got to do with both of them, topics that I’ve covered for the better part of a decade at Reuters, HuffPost, the Intercept and Barron’s. And while I write here, I’ll keep writing and reporting elsewhere. But generally, what I write here will only appear here because it will only really make sense as a newsletter slash inbox blog.
The Bender will be free, but at some point it may make sense for some newsletters to be for subscribers only. Power, and how it really works, will of course be covered, but only in premium posts (that’s a lesson in how power works).
If you find yourself reading quarter-sentences off of the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal that the person across from you in the coffee shop brought to put on the table while they read their phone, the Bender is for you.
If you’d like to expense your subscription, let me assure you (and your friendly Concur administrator) that the Bender delivers actionable news, insights and analysis directly to your inbox on a semi-regular basis.