Updates, Substack Chat, New Merch...

Dec 09, 2025

Hey all,

A number of people have asked about progress on the book. Things are going well. Spending more time writing has been a good exercise in clarifying the ideas that I have been developing over the last 5 1/2 years. It’s a larger undertaking than I initially expected, but I think the increase in the scale of the project will be worth it. I’ve written a couple hundred pages at this point, with many more to go, in addition to the articles you have seen here on Substack. The work that appears here will be entirely separate from what will end up in the book.

For those of you who have continued to support my work throughout this period without the regular podcast, I do truly appreciate it. I do not take that for granted and I will not let you down.

With that in mind, I want to let you know about a change that (barring a significant change of heart) I will be making in a few weeks. Over the summer, as I was preparing to take this hiatus from the show, I discussed shutting down my Telegram chat and my social media profiles (Telegram and Truth Social) and focusing my time and energy here for the benefit of my paid subscribers.

For a time, the prevailing wisdom said that the work needed to be freely available on social media to make sure everyone had access to information. The argument supporting that point of view has gotten significantly weaker over time. Legacy social media seems to have peaked as people realize they’re being emotionally manipulated and intentionally disinformed. The algorithm still controls who sees what, which means that it still controls who thinks what, in a self-perpetuating cycle of nonsense. The result of this is that “content” not actively seeking approval from the algorithm—and from those who spend their days under its control—simply disappears into the void or it is captured and redeployed by people tailoring disruptive ideas to the needs of the Machine, neutering them in the process. I do not believe that my participation in this process is worth my time or your attention.

Consider, in the three years since “Elon Musk bought Twitter,” the style and quality of conversation on the platform have not improved (and may have degraded), the popular figures (as determined by the algorithm and Elon’s reposts) are the very same people taking the very same approach to constantly recycled narratives, and the platform is still heavily censored and manipulated.

Why, then, are “the smartest people” attempting to win arguments about fake news against bots, paid information operators, and angry Standard-Issue Villagers who are addicted to the soap opera appearing daily on the Screen rather than searching out parallel approaches? I left XformerlyTwitter two full years ago because the visibility of my posts was limited, I was barred from accepting subscriptions and participating in the ad model, and I was routinely banned for language that has been (somehow!) re-popularized. I have suffered no negative consequences from being absent from all legacy social media platforms. Instead, I have avoided being taken in by the daily disinformation operations, the struggle sessions forcing ideological conformity, the incessant harassment, and the useless time-suck.

My intent is to focus my attention on Substack for however long it remains viable as an open platform for sharing ideas. I will be writing articles here, I will be posting an ‘information stream’ similar to what I posted on Telegram and elsewhere, and I will be involved in my chat. I am not reducing my output, merely consolidating it and focusing my attention on the people actively seeking out my work and supporting it.

If people are engaged and enjoying this new approach, I will try to figure out additional ways to provide value to my subscribers. I am open to doing live Q&As here, if people have questions or issues they would like to hear me address, and perhaps short-form videos on specific topics. As always, I am open to feedback.

Finally, I figured I would take this opportunity to let you all know that I have been designing new merch. It is now available in the merch store on Spreadshirt. You can go to cancelcouture.com (alternate link) if you want to have a look. The presentation on the site is a bit awkward, and I will attempt to improve that. It’s easiest to see everything available by scrolling down the page and clicking ‘discover designs.’

Thanks again for your support. I wish you all happy and healthy holidays, a very Merry Christmas, and a happy new year, and intend to make this next chapter even better.

New designs: