Things are changing around here

Only a few things, and all for the better

I’ve been on Substack for several years over several iterations. I love the platform. (At one point, I was writing a long love letter to Substack, but I never got around to finishing it.) As a writer, Substack has made my life significantly better.

In 2025, I’ll be continuing on Substack, and I would say I’m going all-in on the platform. But I’m going to change things up just a bit. There is one big change and two or three small changes; however, the mission of this newsletter remains the same. We’re here to talk about how philosophy, along with the great books, matters for you in your day-to-day life.

I’ll talk about the big changes, then the small changes, and then I’ll do a bit of big-picture reflection. But first, let me tell you what is not changing.

Read-alongs, Zoom calls, and regular essays are here to stay

I started this newsletter to do a read-along of the Meditations, and then we read the Nicomachean Ethics together. I made a promise from the very beginning that read-alongs would be a part of this newsletter and that they would always be free — and that is still true.

We’re reading Mrs Dalloway starting in October, with a schedule coming soon. We’ll still have our members-only Zoom calls on the third Sunday of the month, too. I have a list of books that I want to read together – some fiction, but mostly philosophy – so we’ll be able to read some great works together.

In addition to those posts, I’ll be continuing to write essays. Like before, about half of them will be paywalled; the other half will be free. I think this is a good balance, letting many people read my work while also helping me earn a living.

Speaking of which, if you want to support me or you want to start joining those Zoom calls, you can subscribe here.

Sadly, I must rebrand

On the internet, you live and die based on the ability of people to find you. I struggled with this early on on YouTube, as I share a name with a former gubernatorial candidate; my Google search results weren’t strong. (I’ve since overcome this through the sheer volume of content.)

Walking Away, however, cannot seem to overcome this problem. There are some popular songs with the title, and in general, it is just too generic. I can’t get traction in search, at least off the platform.

I love the name, and I wrote about why I picked the name before. Sadly, it must go.

What will be replacing it? You’ve probably already seen the new name, as it would be in the email you’re currently reading. Walking Away is now Commonplace Philosophy.

There are some good reasons to pick this name, some very business-minded and some very personal.

First of all, the very first YouTube video I made was about commonplace books. That launched my career. I then went on to name my business Commonplace Media. I love commonplace books, and I like to give them a nod.

Second, I like the connotation. We’re talking about how philosophy matters in your everyday life. This is ordinary, not even remarkable. That’s true if we’re reading Hegel, Aristotle, or whatever — these big ideas are actually relevant to you right now.

Third, the name does well in search results because nobody else uses this particular string of words.

Fourth, the new name tells you exactly what this newsletter is about. It is more transparent.

Here’s the thing I want to emphasize: the newsletter itself is staying the same. If you like Walking Away, you’ll like Commonplace Philosophy because they are the same thing.

Long-time readers will think this is all a bit familiar, and that’s because this is the second time that I’ve renamed the newsletter. But it will be the last! I hope!

This change has already happened, but the smaller changes will start in 2025. So, let’s talk about those.

I’m going to experiment with a second newsletter

Substack allows you to have multiple sections of your newsletter. This lets people subscribe only to the content that they want to read. Some newsletters have many sections; I think the maximum I have seen is eight.

I’m going to have two. There is the main newsletter, the one you’re used to reading, and then a second one. You’ll start to receive it in 2025.

I’m calling this The Plod, and I really hope to never change that. In 2025, I have a number of big works of philosophy I plan to read; I will be slow and irregular and might juggle a few at once. I’ll document that on The Plod. If you want to read about that journey, which will be less structured than our read-alongs (and certainly less didactic), you can read The Plod. If you don’t care about those posts, you can opt out in your Substack settings.

I plan to read three major works of philosophy in 2025: Spinoza’s Ethics, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, and Plotinus’ Enneads. Over on The Plod, you’ll be able to see my progress and my thoughts as they come to me. I won’t be guiding you or teaching you, however. (A note, added later: I may also comment on selections of Montaigne, who I’ve been reading slowly for a little while now.)

The Plod is not, by the way, a separate subscription. If you subscribe to this newsletter, The Plod is included in your subscription.

I’m going to slow down just a little bit

I currently publish anywhere from 3 to 5 times per week. Given that I’m now writing a book, I can’t do that sustainably. I also think some of my ideas would benefit from forcing myself to slow down.

So, I will be publishing at a maximum 3 times per week in 2025. (I can’t see myself publishing less often than twice per week, so you will still get regular posts.) For most readers, I expect this is welcome news; few people could reasonably read everything I send, and I’m not sure it has all been worth reading. By setting a hard cap on my weekly output, I’ll force myself to slow down, let the ideas develop, and be selective about what I write. I’m also looking into hiring a freelance copyeditor to review my posts before I send them, and that would keep me from publishing so quickly.

I am always worried about taking things away from the community, but I think this will ultimately be better for everyone.

If you have thoughts, questions, concerns, or quibbles, you can let me know down below.