Discourse Blog is a leftist politics and culture site.

We started this as a group of friends who just wanted to keep blogging with each other after our last site got shut down. We launched a little free WordPress site on a whim and told each other we'd just see what happened. Now we have one of the best communities of subscribers and supporters anywhere around.

We operate as a fully worker-owned, independent collective. We write a lot about: political movements, uprisings, the woeful Democratic establishment, the conservative death cult, bad journalism, bad bosses, workers, online nonsense, and, naturally, the discourse. We also just like getting weird or personal. Most of all, we like staying true to ourselves and the things we believe in, and doing it all without any corporate bosses.

(Note: we are not associated with Discourse, the open source project.)

Who are you?

Aleks Chan is the publisher of Discourse Blog. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Splinter and an editor at Fusion and Gawker.

📍 New York | aleks@discourseblog.com | @aleksnotalex

📰 “The ‘Teen Vogue’ Mess Is What Happens When Bosses Don’t Listen” | Condé Nast’s catastrophic mishandling of Alexi McCammond's hiring as the editor of 'Teen Vogue' is what happens when management doesn't respect its employees.

Jack Crosbie writes about conflict, politics, labor, and the media. He was previously a contributing writer at Splinter, and has written for Rolling Stone and The Atlantic.

📍 New York | crosbie@discourseblog.com | @jscros

📰 “The NYPD Can’t Protect Us” | This is what happens when everyday incompetence and structural failures mix.

Samantha Grasso is the head of design and writes about social justice, pop culture, and Texas for Discourse Blog. She was previously a staff writer for Splinter. She has also written for subtext by AJ+, Vox, The Texas Observer, and the Daily Dot.

📍 Austin | samantha@discourseblog.com | @samjgrasso

📰 “The Bitter Struggle to Form America’s Biggest Coffee Shop Union” | Colectivo Coffee could become the largest unionized coffee shop in the country. Its owners are trying to stop that from happening.

Katherine Krueger writes about politics and culture for Discourse Blog. She was previously the managing editor of Splinter. She is the features editor for Elle.com and has worked at Fusion, Talking Points Memo, and The Guardian.

📍 New York | katherine@discourseblog.com | @kath_krueger

📰 “‘The Card Counter’ and the Sins of a Nation” | Paul Schrader's latest film asks if we'll ever be forgiven for the War on Terror.

Jack Mirkinson is the editor of Discourse Blog, where he also blogs about politics, the media, and birds. He is also an acting senior editor at The Nation, was previously the deputy editor of Splinter and has worked at Fusion and HuffPost, among other places.

📍 New York | jack@discourseblog.com | @jackmirkinson

📰 “God Damn America” | Notes on a hell country.

Caitlin Schneider writes about culture, labor, and the media for Discourse Blog. She also manages audience development for podcasts at Slate Magazine, and was previously a senior social editor at VICE, and the social editor at Splinter.

📍 Los Angeles | caitlin@discourseblog.com | @caitschneider

📰 “The Bears and Me” | My maddening, thrilling, terrifying journey through the ursine universe.

Rafi Schwartz writes about social justice, protest movements, and the weirder corners of the internet. He was previously a senior writer at Splinter, and has been published in Rolling Stone, Good, Mic, and Heeb Magazine.

📍 Twin Cities | rafi@discourseblog.com | @TheJewishDream

📰 “Another In-Depth Interview With My Sons About Today’s World” | What starts with COVID and ends with butt jokes? This interview!

Click here for a full selection of our favorite work.

Honorary staffer for life:

Paul Blest

Why are you doing this? 

We are primarily motivated by two principles: 

1. We believe there is currently nowhere else to publish the stories we want to write that wouldn’t be compromised by institutional and corporate interests. It’s our fundamental belief that we engender more trust by being transparent and forthcoming about our (political, moral, journalistic) values than pretending we don’t have any. We’re leftists, and we’re happy to tell you so, and it’s our hope that by knowing that, you can read our work more clear-eyed.
   

2. We believe the future of journalism lies in truly independent, worker-owned media. Discourse Blog is owned and operated by its workers, with no outside funding. It’s just us and that’s how we want to keep it. 

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How do I subscribe and how much does it cost? 

You can subscribe on the homepage or by clicking the button below. Subscriptions cost $8/month or $80/year. (We also have a $100 option if you feel like kicking us a few extra bucks out of the goodness of your own heart, and want our eternal gratitude!)

What do I get for subscribing? 

The free plan: 

• A few posts a week 

Paid subscribers: 

• Daily (Monday through Friday) posts and access to the full archives

• Commenting privileges

• Access to our Discord server, which we host along with our comrades in the Discontents collective.

Down the line, the revenue from paid subscriptions will also allow us to: 

• Commission outside contributors 

• Start a podcast

• Do more live coverage (with video?) with reader engagement

When you support us by paying for a subscription, you support our mission to do bigger, bolder work and make independent, worker-owned media publications possible. We split revenue evenly between partners and set aside a portion of that money to donate to funds and causes we believe in. 

Do you have discounts for students?

We sure do! Click this special link for 50 percent off an annual subscription. Note: This link will only work with a .edu email address. Are you a high school student interested in subscribing at a discounted rate? Email us at hello@discourseblog.com and we can help you.

Student Discount

Partnerships

Discourse Blog is a proud partner with the following:

• Discontents, a collective of leftist Substack newsletters.

• OptOut, a non-profit news app featuring exclusively independent media.

Interested in partnering with us? Email jack at discourseblog.com.

How can I get in touch?

Contact us at hello@discourseblog.com.

What’s with the bird?

A starling yelling at the sky perfectly encapsulates what we’re trying to do here. Our starling icon and logo were designed by the incredible Angelica Alzona.