30 Comments

I think you have a fourth product too - you are really good at explaining modeling issues. That need not be limited to election models! (I teach a masters level quantitative methods class and I used lots of examples from the newsletter and encouraged my students to read/subscribe). There are loads of models being (mid)used out there in public policy - it would be great to have you talk to people in those areas and discuss the pros and cons of the models. You could start with the excellent Roger Pielke Jr, who has a great substack on climate issues and sports. I’d love to read a transcript of you two talking modeling!

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I don’t care about sports. Is there a way to opt out of your sports newsletters? I love when you analyze anything else, especially politics. But no sports, thanks. 💜

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To my knowledge...

There is no "opt out plan" for sports.

Why would you care about having an "opt out" plan?

Why not just quickly delete any notification you reccieve about sports?

f your concern is getting a lower price, personally I believe the annual subscription fee is pretty inexpensive for what you get. I say that even though in my past posts I've criticized Nate for what I believe to be a pro-Democratic bias in his writing.

Or just cancel your subscription and re-new it when it becomes a political season again.

Fnally, Nate's Substack is only a two-person operation. Wouldn't you rather have Nate spending his time thinking and writing rather than figuring out how to manage his subscription list every day, or, pay for software to do it for him?

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If he starts to go heavy on sports, I’ll cancel. Always subscribe by the month as opposed to the year as there are no refunds if you cancel in the middle of a year.

I suppose you could go annual (cheaper) if you’re positive it’s worth it.

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"Bird by Bird" Some Instructions on Writing and Life", by Ann Lamont, September 1995

Yes, this book is nearly 30 Years old. It is STILL CONSIDERED A "BIBLE" BY ANYONE WHO WANTS TO WRITE. Ann Lamont is an amzaing writer herself and has published a large number of highly-successful books, mostly novels. And, wait until you get to an early chapter where she reveals the source of the Title.

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I’m pretty sure she’s Anne Lamott. Ha! My autocorrect tried to make it Lamont, so maybe that’s what yours did!

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Nope. Anne Lamont is correct. I keep her book handy and heard her speak this past summer at the Sun Valley Writers Conference. But I did make one mistake. Her first name is "Anne", not "Ann" as I wrote earlier.

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Anne Lamott is correct. Look at Wikipedia article under nonfiction; it has the book you mentioned.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lamott

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YOU ARE SO RIGHT AND I AM SO WRONG!

Even though I've read the book twice, I've had the spelling of her name wrong for a very long time!

Thanks for the correction.

I think Bird by Bird by Anne Lamontt is just as good as Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott!

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I don’t care about being right; I just wanted her name to be where someone could find her book since you spoke so highly of her. I also like “Help Thanks Wow.”

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If you like that kind of stuff, this little book, written about 20 years ago, is amazing. "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" Why can a book about punctuation be so amazing? It is hysterical, ahort and has wonderful lessons on appropriate punctuation.

Consider the title. Think about the difference between:

"Eats, shoots and leaves" and "Eats shoots and leaves".

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This post illustrates one of the things I like best about Nate Silver - his deep-seated practicality.

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This was a kind thing to do. Thank you.

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The first should be, be right. 😉

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This is a cool article and seems like a lot of good advice. I like that you're not afraid to mix things up a little bit if you think you have something useful to say about a different topic.

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Highlight of this post is "Misleading headlines may even produce unsubscribes instead." I believe it's the number one reason why traditional media has faltered (i.e., sensational headlines backed up more with opinions than solid sources), and a the primary reason why online/social media users must use caution (i.e., click bait). Personally, I am quick to unsubscribe after receiving even one article/post with what I consider a click bait headline.

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I really loved that McDonald's inflation post!

I definitely think the content is what determines how people respond to a post, not the title or image.

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"Draft No. 4" by John McPhee is a great complement to "4. Measure twice and cut once"

Think of writing as building something.

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You definitely are inspiring me to blog some more now, even though my newsletter is not a full-time thing, rather a passion project.

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LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME

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Nate, you are a person I’d have at my imaginary dinner party.

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I also shared this post with my two kids — one in college and one in the process of applying. Both enjoy writing in a way I never have. In 6th grade, my daughter blew my mind, explaining to her little brother that writing was just thinking on paper. You’re a good antidote to their risk-adverse up-bringing.

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Anticipation of pieces like this is why after two months of monthly subscriptions I switched to an annual one (the discount helped, too). Congratulations, and keep it up as best you and Eli can.

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JFC, Nate is an interesting columnist/blogger/whatever to follow and read, along with all other sorts of content. Leave it at that, FFS…

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Nate is unfortunately quite wrong on his take on Bluesky. Both EFD and Ben Ryan have rapidly built up followings in recent days. They are both grifters.

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