New Feature on Democracy Americana: Article Voiceovers

I am trying something new – an audio version of the newsletter essays, for those who prefer to listen rather than read

Hey everyone, just a quick note to alert you to a new feature on Democracy Americana: An article voiceover – an audio version of the newsletter.

I am posting the first voiceover, for my latest piece on “The Right’s Politics of Revenge,” here and I have also added it to the essay itself. You’ll find the recording of me reading the piece at the top of the post. You can just click on it and either play it on the web or in the Substack app, if you are using that. No need to download or install anything.

I’ve been thinking about this for some time. As you know, my pieces tend to be very long, generally in the 4,000-word range, and often significantly longer. This allows me to go beyond a quick take and provide some in-depth reflections on the issues I believe are shaping American politics, past and present. I am genuinely grateful to anyone who takes the time to read my essays, but I am also acutely aware that I am demanding quite a lot from my readers in terms of time and attention. My hope is that the voiceovers might make the pieces more easily accessible for some people.

I am a passionate podcast and audio book listener myself. When I am doing chores in and around the house, commuting to work, exercising (not nearly enough!), I can’t read anything – but I can listen. If you are like me, and consuming audio products in those types of situations has become a crucial part of how you keep up with the world, these voiceover articles may make it easier to engage with the newsletter.

Please don’t expect too much: This is not some spectacularly produced audio experience. It will literally just be me reading and presenting the piece, with all the imperfections that necessarily entails. Nothing will change about the way I write these pieces either: They are, first and foremost, written essays, intended to be read. But nevertheless, I believe these readings should provide some additional value and utility.

As summer is coming up, and we have a much-needed vacation planned (hopefully a chance to properly recover from some health issues with which I have been dealing lately), I am also toying with the idea of maybe re-posting some older pieces I particularly care about, from the archive, so to speak, with added voiceover – add the audio version as a chance to present this to people who have subscribed or started reading the newsletter more recently.

Please let me know – on social media, in the comments below – what you think about all this, if this is something that does indeed appeal to you, adds value… because if it doesn’t, then it’s obviously not worth putting in the extra time and effort. I am really eager to hear from you and find out.

Thank you!