Alan Barnes

I write about how to live deliberately, stay curious and therefore stay relevant. Author of the "Faark I Hope It's Not Too Late" newsletter

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Weekend reading: May recommendation week on Faark I Hope It's Not Too Late.

Books, podcasts, film, and independent media worth knowing about. 👉 https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

I've been recommending Claire Keegan to people for months.

Small, quiet books that do something most long ones don't: they make you think about what kind of person you actually want to be.

That's a rare thing.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

End of week thought:

The month's best media story wasn't from a major outlet. It was about an independent publisher crossing one million subscribers by saying the things everyone else was too cautious to say.

That's still possible. Probably more possible now than ever.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Weekend reading: May recommendation week on Faark I Hope It's Not Too Late.

Books, podcasts, film, and independent media worth knowing about. 👉 https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

I've been recommending Claire Keegan to people for months.

Small, quiet books that do something most long ones don't: they make you think about what kind of person you actually want to be.

That's a rare thing.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

End of week thought:

The month's best media story wasn't from a major outlet. It was about an independent publisher crossing one million subscribers by saying the things everyone else was too cautious to say.

That's still possible. Probably more possible now than ever.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Independent media has one structural advantage over legacy media: it can afford to be honest

No board to placate

Just the reader and the writer, making a deal

The Bulwark proved that model works at scale. They're just one of this months recommendations https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Substack are building something interesting with their Presents series.

Interviewing newsletter founders in a bar, filmed properly. Not polished to death. Honest.

That’s exactly why it works.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Try this:

Next time you catch yourself sizing up someone else's project or following, and you feel the comparison creep in, come back to Rich Roll's line:

"The hare always loses."

Not an excuse to go slow. A reminder that the race isn't the one you think it is.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

A thought for anyone building something slowly: the hare always loses. I believe it.

The question is whether you can resist the urge to sprint. A story for the ages amongst my other May recommendations. https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Martin Short has known genuine tragedy.

His wife died. Close friends have gone.

He doesn't perform resilience. He just keeps being interested in things.

There's something quietly instructive about that, if you're paying attention.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

What makes The Bulwark interesting isn’t just that it works.

It’s the origin story.

Built from the wreckage of a shutdown. No plan, no runway. Just people who were angry enough to keep going, and an audience that showed up before they were even asked.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

“The hare always loses.”

If you find yourself measuring your progress against someone else’s, bookmark this.

The comparison is almost never accurate, and it’s always expensive.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Claire Keegan wrote "Small Things Like These" in 2010. It didn’t get much attention at first

Then it got adapted into a film. Then everyone read the book

The lesson isn’t about the film. It’s about what happens when good work keeps existing long enough for the world to find it

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Substack Presents "Open Tab" is worth finding.

Substack interviewing newsletter founders, shot like a late-night TV interview.

First episode is Emily Sundberg from Feed Me An honest conversation about what it actually takes to run a daily newsletter.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

May recommendation week is up.

Books, podcasts, media, film—and a message from my daughter in London about bake sales and earthquakes. 👉 https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

I keep recommending *Small Things Like These* by Claire Keegan.

120 pages. Will take you two hours. You'll think about it for weeks.

The question it asks is deceptively simple: what does it cost to do the right thing when everyone around you has decided not to?

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

The Bulwark was built on the wreckage of The Weekly Standard.

No corporate backing. No VC money. Just a point of view, the courage to hold it, and an audience that could see what was being built.

Seven years later: one million subscribers.

That model works.

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

"The hare always loses." Rich Roll. I keep this one close. For when I catch myself measuring against someone else's highlight reel.

Full May recommendations:👉 https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Recommendation week is here: an independent media comeback story, a novella that will quietly wreck you, a documentary about a genuinely good person, and a message to myself about the hare and the tortoise.

New article out today. https://t.co/LGHhEgvQE8

[Alan Barnes @GeneralistAlan]

Martin Short's documentary is different from the other comedy docs doing the rounds. Marty Short isn't a tragic figure. He's had tragedy. But the film isn't built around it. Just refreshing to watch something about someone who is, genuinely, nice.