Two Years On Substack, A Review Of 2024, & 30% Off New Subscriptions
I love Substack. I love the freedom it provides and the direct connection it gives me to readers. Plus, a look at 2024 and a big discount.
Two years ago today, I published my first article here on Substack. Looking back, it has been an unbelievably positive experience. It’s not an exaggeration to call it a career-changing and career-affirming move.
Since leaving Mailchimp (which had begun throttling my content with no explanation), I’ve published 131 articles on Substack. My subscriber numbers have grown 10-fold — and most importantly, my enjoyment of my work and eagerness to report and write — has never been greater. I have never had a real job. I’ve spent my career as a reporter. Yes, I’ve written a few books and done a couple of documentaries. But I still consider myself a reporter.
I mention that because I’m so happy to be an independent reporter. Substack allows me to write what I want, when I want, how I want, with the charts, photos, and links that I choose. And I can do so without waiting for someone else’s approval. It allows me to do as Doris Lessing instructed: “You should write, first of all, to please yourself.” That’s what I do here. I write about the issues that are the most interesting to me on any given day. I write to scratch my itch, which is usually a mix of curiosity, outrage, and amusement. My only editors are Grammarly (I use the paid version, which I highly recommend) and my wife, Lorin.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I love Substack. I love the freedom it provides and the direct connection it gives me to readers. As a result, I’m more productive now than at any time in my career. It’s a joyous thing. And I sincerely appreciate your interest and support for my work.
2024 In Review
Since I’m looking in the rearview mirror at my time here on Substack, it’s also worth looking back at the previous 12 months. And I have to say, it has been an epic year. With the help of my ace social media manager, I posted 83 videos on TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. I also recorded 11 podcasts for the Power Hungry Podcast and launched the new Robert Bryce Show here on Substack.
I had 45 speaking engagements this year. Many of them were paid gigs. Some were unpaid. I spoke to university students, high school students, miners, drillers, pipeliners, electric cooperatives, lawyers, infrastructure builders, engineers, and a gaggle of Aussies. I spent a lot of time in airports and hotels on trips to Houston, San Antonio, Washington DC, Bismarck, Tulsa, Tyler, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Scottsdale, Atchison, Savannah, Huntsville, Sunriver, Celoron, Nantucket, Newport, Virginia Beach, Tofino, Calgary, Chicago, Catoosa, Denver, Viña del Mar, Idaho Falls, Orlando, and Wisconsin Dells.
A real and long-awaited highlight of the year was the January release of our five-part docuseries, Juice: Power, Politics & The Grid. That docuseries, which I co-produced, and was directed by my colleague, Tyson Culver, was a tremendous amount of work. It took about four years to finish it. (Covid delayed things.) But I’m super proud of the result. Since we released it (for free) on YouTube, the docuseries has been viewed over three million times. I love all five episodes, but I’m particularly partial to the third one (see below), which focuses on the Osage Tribe’s years-long legal battle with the Italian company, Enel.
As I explained in these pages last year, I have deep roots in Oklahoma. My uncle, Ernie Rapp, was born in Fairfax in 1909 and was a member of the Osage Tribe. To see how Enel thumbed its nose at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribe as it put up the wind project — and to see how the tribe is now whipping Enel in federal court — is a real thrill. I’m sure that my late father, Walter Bryce, who was intensely proud of his Cherokee heritage, and my Uncle Ernie, who had a front-row seat to the Reign of Terror in the 1920s, would have loved to see how the Osage are taking the fight to Enel. (I’m working on an update on the court battle that I will publish soon.)
30% Discount On New Subscriptions
To mark the second anniversary of my arrival here on Substack, I’m offering a 30% discount off annual subscriptions until December 13. As a subscriber, you will:
Get full access to all articles and podcasts.
Be able to engage with the conversation in the comments section on every article and podcast.
Help fund the Robert Bryce Show (more episodes are in the works) and support the maintenance of the Renewable Rejection Database.
I’ve been heartened and flattered by the support I’ve found here on Substack. I sincerely appreciate it.
Before you go:
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Down here in Australia the current leftist government is using climate catastrophism to win votes and sell the idea we can become a "renewable energy superpower". Meanwhile our electric grid is on life support and energy prices are soaring. We are on the road to economic suicide.
All this while our vast exports of coal, LNG and uranium provide the energy to sustain the booming economies of Asia and generate the bulk of Australia's export income - to finance our high spending government and renewable energy rent seekers. It's simply nuts!
Australia, and the world, desperately needs intelligent reporters such as yourself to draw attention to the current ideologically driven energy suicide of Western economies. Thank you Robert, and thank you Substack.
Robert Bryce is a national treasure. His reporting is essential to understanding all events that are energy-related.