“Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective.” Max Weber

Slow Boring is a daily newsletter from Matthew Yglesias (and occasionally others) about politics and public policy, mostly in the United States but occasionally elsewhere. We publish four columns per week (sometimes more) and a mailbag column on Fridays. We also do the occasional interview podcast.  

We believe that a better world is possible, but that its realization requires difficult, rigorous conversations that don’t always flatter our biases, along with a spirit of pragmatism — the slow boring of hard boards that Weber spoke of.

Why subscribe?

Subscribers to the free edition will receive 1-2 articles per week, plus most of our audio. Paid subscribers get:

  • The full text of all articles, including the subscriber-only mailbags and podcast transcripts

  • Access to the complete Slow Boring Archives

  • The opportunity to engage with a community of people who share your interests in the comments sections and on the open threads

  • Invitations to book clubs and other special events, as well as transcripts from events.

You’ll also be supporting some great causes: 10 percent of our proceeds goes to GiveWell’s Top Charities Fund and five percent supports emerging carbon removal technologies through Stripe Climate.

Discounts are available for government employees and students. Email Slow Boring's managing editor, Kate Crawford, at kate@slowboring.com with any questions about subscriptions.

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Start your day with pragmatic takes on politics and public policy.

People

Matthew Yglesias 

Blogger, journalist, podcaster, trying to get back to my roots.

Kate Crawford 

Editor at the Slow Boring newsletter

Maya Bodnick

Slow Boring intern from Atherton, California. Rising sophomore at Harvard College studying Government. Basketball announcer for WHRB student radio. Nueva school alumna. @mayabodnick on Twitter.

Simon Bazelon

Author of Out of the Ordinary. Studying political science and philosophy at Yale University. Slow Boring contributor, working on public opinion research for Blue Rose Research.

Milan Singh

Fellow, Decision Desk HQ. Slow Boring researcher emeritus.

Ben Krauss 

Slow Boring Editorial Assistant

Marc Novicoff

Writing about politics and culture. Alum of Dartmouth, Slow Boring, and Politico. Email me at marcnovicoff@gmail.com

David Shor

I try to elect Democrats