Happy Halloween everyone. You know we’ve hit peak meta in the industry when there’s a new podcast about dead podcasts.
I’m popping briefly into your inbox just to say thank you so much for all your notes and emails asking if I’m OK. It is so uplifting to hear from you, from all around the world. (Collectively, we hail from 105 countries at this point. That’s kind of amazing, no? The sun never sets on Rough Transition.) And a huge welcome to those of you who subscribed during my 7 weeks of self-imposed silence. I’ve seen you introducing yourself and I’ll be coming over to say hello soon.
Here’s an update: I’m still having conversations with people about a future home for the Rough Translation podcast. I’ve been fundraising and knocking on doors and exploring the weird world of grants and philanthropy to support this work. I’ll be in Toronto later this month, speaking at the American Anthropological Association’s annual gathering.
In the coming weeks, expect more stories from around the world (Canada I’m coming for you) and from around the country, as well as podcast recommendations to make your daily playlist a little less American. (Suggestions welcome.)
Thanks for your faith in this project, and thanks to the many generous people I’ve met who believe in this storytelling and want more. My feelings of gratitude are perhaps amplified by the arrival of Halloween, a holiday that somehow manages to be simultaneously a commercial onslaught and a DIY renaissance; the one day a year that some of us (I, at least?) brandish a needle and thread and remember how powerful (and humbling) it can be to wear one’s imagination on one’s sleeve. I toast you all, with hot apple cider and a box of Singaporean bloodshot donuts (h/t Folu Akinkuotu, of the incomparable Unsnackable newsletter).
Speaking of sugary circles, for those of you who have very sweetly informed me that - while you very much want to be updated on the future of me and the podcast - you “prefer me in audio” - I totally get it. Expect more audio in the future. (I actually just finished a new story - an unusually personal one, for me - all about the mystical and medical experience of letting go, but I’m not allowed to play it for you for another 10 days).
However, if you want more of me in audio instead of email, and want to hear me read these posts aloud (and possibly accidentally say some other stuff), reply to this note with “subscribe to audio” (or shoot me an email at roughtransition [at] gmail dot com) and I’ll send you a secret link to join a special “audio-only” list.
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