Every night 5 days a week - Monday to Friday (and sometimes on Saturday), my husband writes a politically progressive newsletter. In his own words:
The newsletter started in January 2017 as my effort (as a father and husband) to provide hope and perspective to my family after the unexpected results of the 2016 election. Over time, my family email was shared among friends and became a community of like-minded citizens devoted to preserving American democracy.
The newsletter began 5 years ago, after the election of Trump, when our 3 daughters and I were devastated, and found it hard to watch the news, and find hope in the years ahead.
Robert's answer to our despair was to write a nightly newsletter to provide perspective about the day's political events, and to allow us to avoid the news, but still remain informed citizens.
Robert writes the newsletter wholly on his own. He and I talk and share ideas throughout the day, and he may also confer with readers about the contents of the newsletter. But at the end of the day, it's Mr. Hubbell's enterprise. I try to keep him well fed, and caffeinated, and I do edit the document when he has completed his final draft. But that's really the scope of my responsibilities as "Managing Editor." I also try to make sure that he gets to bed at a reasonable time, but I rarely succeed in this regard.
I say this because some readers think that we have a "staff" of researchers, or writers, or editors who are part of the process of publishing the newsletter. But, it's just Robert and me, and really mostly Robert, every single night.
The first newsletter went to just family members via email - all 6 of us at the time. By January 22, 2017, the readership included family and 5 friends. Today Robert's newsletter is opened by an average of 45,000 readers a day with a high of 80,000 opens on critical news days.
Readers often remark how important the newsletter has been to them, providing them with hope and purpose as we navigate these difficult times.
I am more proud of Robert than I can say. Not just because he has written over 2,300 newsletters, one every single weekday for the last 5 years (even when we were vacationing in France!) but because of the reason that he writes.
Robert writes for me and for his daughters, but he also writes for those like minded readers who are passionate about preserving the democracy of our great nation, and its Constitution. As a former lawyer, Robert brings a particularly keen lens to issues of law and policy, and many readers say they feel enlightened by his analysis.
But Jenny, Jackie, Julia, and I are enlightened and fortified not just by his analysis, but by his love. And so what may seem like a great sacrifice to many, is really an act of devotion to a very small group of people, his family. His readers are the beneficiaries of that loving devotion.
Proud to be your Managing Editor, Mr. Hubbell. Proud to be a reader of Today's Edition. Thank you.
If you're not already a subscriber, here's the link to his newsletter.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com
Amazing to see the time and dedication that goes into writing the newsletter. Thank you both so much Robert and Jill for keeping us all grounded and on course to protecting democracy!
Thank you so much for this post, and all of Robert's posts. I've just posted this on my FB page because though I've shared this newsletter with many people over the years, it seems like another important time to get the word our even more widely. Thank you, Jill, and Robert for all you continue to do for so many of us - democracy feels safer because of you, though believe me, I am in no way feeling complacent!