An Open Letter to Heather Cox Richardson

Re: Substack's "nazi newsletter problem"

Dear Professor Richardson,

I am writing to you as both an admirer of your Substack newsletter and as a fellow Substack writer myself. 

I start most days by reading the latest post from your Substack blog, “Letters from an American”, which is delivered daily to my email inbox. Your informed and passionate advocacy for the preservation of our democracy could not be more welcome in today’s polarized and toxic political environment. As so many of us must regretfully acknowledge, we live in a time in which hateful shouting all too often passes for serious political discourse.

A quick search on Google tells me that your “Letters from an American” newsletter is by far Substack’s most popular blog. While popularity in and of itself is not always indicative of a proportional level of quality, in my opinion your newsletter is every bit as worthwhile as it is popular.

I also presume that you have been made aware, through some or other news outlet by now, of Substack's “nazi newsletter problem”. Please accept my apologies if I am wrong, but this issue has been reported on recently in The Atlantic Magazine, The New York Times, and The Guardian. If need be, you can read any of these reports to catch up on the gist of the issue. Additionally, a letter protesting the Substack company’s official policy and response has been circulated and signed by about 250 Substack writers.

For my part, without getting into the details, I am flabbergasted by the Substack founders’ utter moral confusion and hypocrisy on this issue. It seems the founders have somehow deluded themselves into internalizing the belief that Substack is a free and open public square, when in fact Substack is a privately owned for-profit company, freely choosing to commodify hate speech for its own financial gain.

I wrote about this issue in a recent Substack newsletter of my own. As I stated there, it is my hope and belief that Substack writers of great influence like yourself will come around and choose to leverage that influence to persuade Substack's owners to change their policy of monetizing these hateful newsletters. The ethical bind for all Substack writers, of course, is that any of us who profit from paid reader subscriptions are by default subsidizing this hate speech. And so, this letter is a plea for you to use your substantial influence with Substack’s ownership to help rid the platform of these toxic newsletters.

For myself and many others, your calm and articulate voice during these incendiary times has brought welcome clarity, inspiration and hope. Given these qualities, and your unwavering commitment to democracy and justice, I must confess that I find your public silence on this issue up to now puzzling. Perhaps, as I write this, you are working behind the scenes to do exactly what I am asking. I can only hope that this is the case.

We live in a time of vitriolic polarization, with unbridled and increasing levels of bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. I thank you for considering what I find to be a serious issue of conscience in our deeply troubling current political climate.

Sincerely,

Richard Tuschman