A Special Anniversary 🎂
This space turns one tomorrow
blog.eighty-three // Tomorrow represents a special anniversary.
On August 11, 2024, I wrote a blog and shared it. There wasn’t much thought or “strategy” behind clicking send on a Sunday evening. I was living in Los Angeles at the time, and I needed an outlet—to check in with my creativity, formulating my thoughts and reconnecting with friends and family along the way.
It snowballed from there. For whatever reason, I kept myself accountable and continued checking in every Sunday. I began taking things more seriously in January, sharing additional interviews and essays on Thursdays. I wrote from sunny parks and dark, cramped airplane seats. I even welcomed on guest contributors, editing their work and expanding this publication’s voice past my own.
Most importantly, though, I kept showing up, never missing a single send.
And one year later, this space has become the nexus point for so much more, as our small, scrappy team has united around a shared mission to Make The Internet Feel Smaller. We’ve shared excerpts from our print magazine, and wide-ranging conversations with some of the Internet’s favorite tastemakers. We’ve announced (and recapped) our Block Parties, bringing this creative neighborhood together in person.
We even unveiled a collaborative apparel collection with one of our favorite designers and creators, Jesse Nyberg. That was pretty cool.
It hasn’t been easy. But throughout everything, what’s made this space special is you. You’ve continued to show up, checking in with us and supporting our work. And whether you’re a block away in Chicago or a world away in New Zealand, whether you’ve read every single blog or just subscribed last Sunday, I wanted to say thanks—for spending a little bit of your week, every week, in our little pocket of the Internet.
What can you expect moving forward? Well, for one, we’ll continue to share our upcoming events and drops through here. But we’ll also serve up fresh essays and interviews that place an emphasis on thoughtful commentary, from Internet culture and creator coverage to perspective on storytelling and social infrastructure.
And to celebrate our anniversary, we have a special campaign rolling out over the next thirty days. The best part? You get to be a part of it—with exclusive prizes (and more) up for grabs.
We’ll reveal more tomorrow. For now, here’s a new edition of Five Things I Think (I Think).
— NGL
P.S. Today is the last day to pitch a story for our next magazine! Submit something here.
P.P.S. Last blog, we revisited video journalist CHUPPL’s quest to unravel “The Glitter Conspiracy.” You can read it here.
One:: I think hard work compounds in ways you can never predict. Throughout 2022, I published the first four editions of Creator Mag.
There was no textbook, or rolodex I inherited. There were only some lessons I learned in journalism school, and my ability to write a good cold email.
It was not easy, and I was all on my own. But I pursued stories I believed in, met a lot of amazing people, and continued to level up as a writer and communicator.*
When I began working at The Publish Press, it almost felt like I had a head start. For the next two years, I co-wrote the creator economy’s premier newsletter publication, conducting interviews with the Internet’s biggest names along the way. I went above what was asked of me—editing and producing podcasts in my down time, shipping two print zines, and even speaking at conventions like VidCon.
I made something of a name for myself in the industry, and had fun doing the LA thing for a while. Eventually, though, I knew it was time to leave.
Really? That was the first thing anyone would say to me in Fall 2024. Not only since I was leaving a W2 job, but also because I said I wanted to go back and do the same thing (again). And I wanted to do it right here, in Chicago.
It wasn’t the same, though. I formed a team, and we invested more energy into video. The newsletter muscle I built writing Publish three times a week remained strong. Above all else, we prioritized bringing people together in person, creating a welcoming space that went beyond whatever our business focus was every month.
None of this was obvious. I don’t expect the path ahead to become more obvious, either.
Yet my gut has always told me to bet on depth—whether it manifests itself through our stories or the relationships within our community. Writing this Sunday evening letter with candor. Making last-minute runs to the bodega to ensure every gathering is stocked with snacks. Placing handwritten notes in customers’ orders.
And slowly but surely, we’re starting to see the quantitative impact. Still, numbers aren’t everything, because…
Two :: I think our internal narratives are built off of qualitative wins. Sure, a million views is cool. But you know what’s really cool? Comments.
In all seriousness: Returning to the media startup thing has really reminded me how the most important factor to success (however you frame it) is time. Acting with a sense of urgency is certainly important. However, it’s abundantly necessary to foster a long-term vision while figuring out how to remain in the game.
Take our first video of the year. We released it in February; five months later, it was still sitting under 1,500 views. Yet in the last week, it’s gained…ten thousand.
What changed? We didn’t update the title or thumbnail. We didn’t change any sections. We just told more stories, dropped more magazines, and hosted a dozen events.
The YouTube algorithm works in mysterious ways. But it clearly helped us find our people—all you have to do is read the comment section under this video. And many of you have now joined us here.
One person who watched the video actually works at the Art Institute of Chicago. If you’ve never been, it’s one of the best art museums in the world; you’d probably recognize it for its extensive collection of Monets or that one scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
I fell in love with the Art Institute when I moved here for college. The museum was just a train ride away, and Teenage Nate sought out the timeless Impressionism just as much as contemporary artists like Takashi Murakami.
I wanted to know if I’d be able to purchase your most recent Creator Magazine so I can give it to my supervisor to review for our Reading Room in the museum, the Art Institute employee DM’d me. I love your mission…thanks for creating something so cool and necessary!
The views will always ebb and flow. But when crafting the internal narrative that keeps us in the game, these are the types of full-circle moments I always look back on.
Three :: I think stories about authoritarianism and oligarchy are making their way back into the mainstream. No need to unpack the why here, methinks.
Three of my favorite pieces of media this year have been Mountainhead, The Memory Police, and the second season of Andor. Mountainhead, for Jesse Armstrong’s prescient commentary on AI—and what happens when power is held in the hands of the few. The Memory Police, for Yoko Ogawa’s novel-long metaphor for how life goes on under totalitarianism (until it doesn’t). And Andor, for Tony Gilroy’s gripping depiction of how resistance forms, arguably the most powerful work to emerge from the Star Wars sandbox.
Traditional media isn’t the only theatre where we’re seeing this play out; look no further than the comment section under your least favorite person’s favorite podcast. I do believe the tide is starting to turn, and people are starting to gravitate towards stories of pushback and accountability rather than laissez-faire ignorance.
In other words: It’s the Thought vs. the Slop, and Thought is gaining ground.
Anyway, speaking of ignorance…
Four :: I think I’m not a “Performative Male” (I think). In the last week, I was informed by two separate people of this archetype—and how it’s blowing up online. The term really hit the zeitgeist last weekend when hundreds of onlookers descended upon Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood for a “Performative Male Contest” last weekend.***
Do you rock a tote bag? Baggy trousers? Espouse the virtues of vinyl? Carry around a book you’ve never actually opened? Congrats: You’re officially a Performative Male (bonus points if the book is Atomic Habits).
Speaking of which…did I just embed a photo of a novel in this very newsletter? Yes. But I did finish it! I promise!
Five :: I think you should send this newsletter to a friend. And if you made it this far, keep your eyes peeled tomorrow. We’ll be announcing our new “Thirty For Thirty” campaign!
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
* I made a mini-doc of sorts about that year. You can watch it here.
** Apologies if the reference is too obscure—Succession just happens to be my favorite show.
*** The real question on my mind: Is this the Celebrity Lookalike Contest’s spiritual successor?
Time moves fast wow