I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and this is love, journalism.
We’ll be taking an intermission as the fall sports and election seasons reach their peak. Thank you for reading. See you in December.
This is a note to say thank you. It has been an incredible seven months, and there is more to come.
Here’s a snapshot of what you got since my latest relaunch. More than 20 conversations so far, and a few things I learned:
Beatrice Peterson: John Bresnahan’s reporting inspired her to get into journalism.
Andy Revkin: He can sing.
Isaac Saul: He loves and misses writing.
Sandy Davidson: She fears the love of truth is slipping.
Taylor Six: She describes the moment she realized journalists needed something different surrounding substance abuse.
Adam Klasfeld: He wants readers to feel less despair in the news.
There were essays, too. How journalism got me to the top of the world, via three weeks in Tibet. My grandfather’s wisdom about presidential candidates and campaigns, in the form of a question. A notebook entry from 9/11/01, when I was supposed to be staking out a closed-door summit on pollution standards but instead ended up writing poems on the Mall. Twelve guests sharing their wisdom on whether journalism loved them back, a video that taught me how good LinkedIn is for journalism networking.
More: the cherry on top of the Obama and Giuliani story readers heard all about in season 1 of love, journalism: how my 2015 Politico scoop ended up at Disney World. And I made myself the 2016 movie I have been dying to make.
(And a book of poems. Subscribers, if you did not get your copy, reply to this email with your address ASAP. I’m writing the letters this afternoon and mailing them tomorrow. More than half of my paying subscribers have theirs so far. I’m also dropping a couple at my local bookstore. They will be worth millions alongside my autographed bar mitzvah programs.)
It has been a productive year. I’m ending 2026 as chair of the National Press Club board, and I’m excited for 2027.
A reader poll is coming in December. I want to hear what you want next year: guest essays, premium content, behind-the-scenes on my own stories, how reporters are handling things today, or a blank for you to fill in.
love, journalism is reader-supported. If you read for free and want to chip in, upgrade to paid.
#30#
Please, God, Let There Be a Bowling Alley in Heaven
I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and this is what Sundays look like at love, journalism — a dispatch from the notebook, unfiltered, from whatever year I happened to be living in.
The Nine-Tenths Underwater
I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and this is love, journalism. Today we have personal news about my leadership role at the National Press Club and a heads up on a self-published book of poems.