Episode Details

Hi there,

A lot has changed since I wrote this post back in August ‘25. As I sit here writing this update, it’s November 30th, ‘25.

The first change, the name of this newsletter! It’s now The Nuance Diaries!

The second thing, a post I never thought I’d publish, went viral.

The third thing, and perhaps the most important —

I went against pretty much everything I said in the essay below.

Yes, I have posted some paywalled posts. But a lot of them have been free. I go to paywall something and then think, I don’t want to limit who gets to read this one, or this one, or this one.

I believed everything I wrote below at the time I wrote it. I still like the piece, so I’m not deleting it.

But I am changing my mind. One of my only life-long resolutions is that I can always change my mind.

I’m going to keep paid subscriptions on. If you’re a paid subscriber, you will get everything + some occasional perks.

And if you’re a free subscriber, you will get 99% - 100% of everything, too.

I feel less attached to this metaphor about the ocean that you can read about below. But if I had to use it one more time, I’d say that maybe I’m not the ocean. I am certainly in the ocean. And I’ll write about the ocean forever.

But the whole thing I wrote about absorbing all the debris and letting anyone say whatever they want and throw whatever they want into the ocean if there’s no seawall? I’m not feeling aligned with that mentality anymore.

I have connected with a lot of people I might not have, if certain posts had been paywalled.

And yes, there will always be people who try to pollute the beach. But I think the solution is to deal with those people as they come — not to restrict everyone’s access to the beach. The people who love it here at the beach have also been very kind to help me pick up litter (aka mean comments) when they come.

If you’ve been here a while and want to pay to financially support my work, I deeply appreciate that.

If you’re new and have the means to financially support my work, I deeply appreciate that.

And if you don’t have that ability right now, that is also completely fine. I’m truly just so glad that you’re here.

Does this change mean I don’t care about making money from writing anymore? Of course not. I still want money. I need money. We all do, in this fun little capitalist society. I’m probably going to write about that soon.

I think I just want to make money in ways that feel good along the way. And it doesn’t actually feel good to limit who gets access to this kind of writing, at this point in time.

Love you all,

Alexa

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN AUGUST 2025 - paid policies have now changed (everything’s going to be free again), but I’m leaving the essay up.

Remember when we would go back to school in September and talk about what we did that summer? 

If I had to answer that question today, in the context of how I spent my summer on Substack, here’s what I’d say – 

I did construction work on a beach. 

Huh? (That’s what I imagine my fellow classmates would say.)

What I mean is, I built a seawall. 

You what? Okay, okay. Let me explain. 

Paywalls are often thought of as barriers that keep people out. 

Sea walls are literally built to contain the ocean in places where the land is vulnerable. The wall literally holds the waves.  (We’ll get into a deeper definition in just a second.) 

You can still come down to the beach. You can still get to the waves. With the sea wall in place, there are just different levels of entry. There is still something for everyone at each level, whether you’re up on the c