One Year of “Cramming for the Apocalypse”

52 weekly newsletters later I’m still here

A couple weeks ago on September 7th marks one year since I officially launched the Cramming for the Apocalypse newsletter! 

I feel especially inclined to celebrate this moment because I wasn’t exactly sure what would come of this Substack. I knew I wanted to chronicle the journey on a regular basis. I had been working on the book in some form for months and had been gathering research and developing ideas, but all in isolation. I felt inclined to share these ideas with the world in some way. I also thrive off of community. I need to hear people’s thoughts and ideas to help me reflect on my thoughts and ideas. And, of course, I wanted to have a public way to hold myself accountable to this project. 

And a year later, here I am. 

In my inaugural post on September 7th, 2022, I attempted to make no promises on frequency. “The dispatches will be posted a few times a month (~4)—likely weekly, but I can’t promise you any specific days of the week (I’m all about managing expectations),” I wrote. Ever the expectation manager, what I didn’t realize is that I had expectations for myself. And the goal of weekly newsletters was exactly what I needed to keep me in the writing game while still just developing the theoretical foundations of the book-to-be.

And so, here we are, a year later and I’m proud of what I’ve built. I’m not into the thousands of subscribers category, but definitely in the hundreds and it’s gratifying to see how Cramming for the Apocalypse has resonated with people. 

With that–and because I am still recovering from my vacation in Sweden–I’m going to give you a quick round up of my and your favorite posts (the ones that I loved to write the most and the ones you clearly read the most).

And, as always, thank you for reading. And you do really read these posts (I’m always astounded by the open rates!) and I’m forever grateful for your support and encouragement along the way.

My Favorite Posts

• Diving into the World of Preppers: As my first post after the introductory article, I spent a lot of time thinking about this one. It talks about my natural aversion as a progressive to the “prepping” brand and kind of excavating that. It was a fun and interesting one to write and, the act of which, actually helped bring my mom around to this project. 

• The Existential Dread of Creating a Family Emergency Plan: The thing that makes writing an essential part of my being is that it is my way to process the world and identify how to take action on whatever subject it is I’m writing. This is one of those articles that I needed to light a fire under my ass to put together some kind of family emergency plan. The act of writing it made me do something about it. I can’t say it’s a comprehensive plan, but my family has something in place.

• In Defense of Anarchy: This project has introduced me to so many different political ways of thinking, the most resonant of which is anarchism. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve realized how much our society has been duped into thinking anarchy is synonymous with chaos. It is, in fact, the opposite of that. Both with discussions with friends and reading and learning more about the concepts of anarchism, I’m coming around to the idea that not only is it everywhere already, but that it is a viable alternative to the capitalist system that we currently live in.

• Communal Care for a Better Future: This not only was a favorite of mine, but one of readers as well. I think about caring for our children in community all the time. I have since my son was born six-and-a-half years ago. I think about how capitalism has made us do all of it on our own when we evolved to do things–like raise our children and live and thrive–in community with other people. Yet our society is built on individualism and that’s hurting all of us. Writing this helped me tap into that and think about what that means for me, my family, and society writ large.

Your Favorite Posts

• Emergency Prep as a Social Responsibility: The February snowstorm in Portland really stuck with me (hard to even think of now as I write this in 90+ degree weather). It created a debacle of traffic due to lack of planning and communication and it still makes me mad to think of how the systems and structures failed people in our city. And it brought up a lot about our responsibility, those of us in privileged circumstances, to prepare when many who aren’t afforded financial stability don’t have the same opportunities to do so. It seems this struck a chord with you all as well.

• Why Progressives Should Become ‘Preppers’: I love that this was a favorite as it was something I was so compelled by that I pitched it to The Progressive and got to write all about it. It’s an extension of that “Diving into the World of Preppers” story where I wondered what it would look like to subvert the prepping brand and make it progressive. 

• Women are Building a Green Community to Control Climate Collapse: I loved this story so much because, well, it wasn’t written by me. It was written by

  Dr. Parva Chhantyal
  from Dr. Green Economy with whom I developed a partnership when she reached out. It’s an example of her great work and ideas and I’m excited for more partnerships in the future.

• Existential Ruminations on Aliens: I love so much that this story resonated with you all. It’s an example of how I’ve been able to channel one of my many going-down-a-rabbit-hole ruminations into an article (thanks to actual news). And it seems like I’m not the only one out there that has existential ruminations on aliens and other such things.

• The Intertidal System and Foraging with Alanna Kieffer: This was a really fun story to do because it was my one and only (so far) audio version of the newsletter and I was thrilled it struck a chord with you all. Alanna Kieffer from Shifting Tides NW is an incredible person doing such cool things and I loved talking with her. I hope you’ll get to hear more of these kinds of interviews in the future. Alas, I realized through this post that even the very small amount of editing I did was more work than I expected. But this won’t be the last audio content you get from me.

What is to Come

Now that we’ve looked into the past, what comes next? Well, for one, you’ll continue to get more of the same newsletter articles you know and love from me! 

I do plan to continue the audio format of the newsletter down the road when I’m able to dedicate more time (and maybe even money) to the audio editing necessary to make them listenable. I’ve already recorded a number of interviews. While they’ll be useful when I get to the book-writing part, they’re also going to be great for podcast/audio format publications. So stay tuned.

And, of course, I’m steadily on the road to getting my book proposal into the hands of publishers. I’ve signed on with an amazing agent, Amanda Bernardi, who is as excited about this project as I am. We’re working together over the next few months to refine the proposal, but especially to help build my platform. So please share Cramming for the Apocalypse far and wide.

Thank You!

And of course, thank you all for being along for the ride with me. I have loved writing this newsletter and I’m excited to keep it going in community with all of you.

And with that, I’ll blow out Cramming’s one little birthday candle!