When the Art of Manliness podcast started in 2009, we offered listeners one episode per week. Later, we expanded to two episodes weekly.
Starting this year, we’ll be returning to publishing one episode a week.
There are two big reasons we’ve decided to do this:
1) We want to continue to be highly selective in choosing guests.
We’ve always been highly selective in choosing guests to have on the show, looking for people with interesting, unique, edifying, and useful ideas who are able to express those ideas articulately. The interviews almost always center on an author and their book, and while there are endless so-so books and guests out there, we’re not looking for so-so, we’re looking for great.
Now, with over a thousand books read, and a thousand episodes recorded, we’ve hosted some of the best thinkers (multiple times), covered hundreds of subjects (multiple times), and already highlighted many, many of the best books out there. Subsequently, it’s become harder and harder to maintain our standard of guest selection — to find topics we haven’t already done and done well, and to book folks who have something fresh and worthwhile to say.
We’ve never wanted to find ourselves in a position where we have to book someone we only think is so-so simply to fulfill a contractually-obligated slot on the calendar. Moving to one episode a week ensures that we can continue to maintain our standards of selection and only offer our listeners episodes that are truly valuable.
Each week, there will be an episode that is definitely worth listening to.
The trend these days, of course, is for podcasts to add more and more episodes and even spinoff podcasts in order to maximize downloads and thus revenue. But quality has always mattered more to us than earnings.
2) Moving to one episode a week will allow us to spend more time on our first love: writing.
This shift isn’t just about doing less—it’s about making room for something Brett and Kate have had the itch to do more of the past few years: deep, thoughtful writing.
Before the AoM podcast became a twice-a-week show, we were able to write more longer-form articles, which we really enjoyed. We haven’t had much time for that since, and miss it.
We’ll be using the time that opens up from moving to one podcast episode a week to write articles for a new Substack we’re starting: Dying Breed.
Now, we know the idea of starting a Substack may induce some eyerolls, as everyone and their mom is doing likewise.
But allow us to explain why we’re really excited about creating this new publication:
- It gives us a chance to write on some topics that don’t quite fit under the AoM umbrella. There are some things we’d like to write about that are a little outside AoM’s purview, whether because of the particular topic or because it’s something that just wouldn’t be appreciated by the masses and is better suited to a more dedicated audience.
- It gives us a chance to write longer-form articles in a sustainable way. We understand that the trend of content moving behind paywalls is annoying for readers, but there’s a straightforward economic reason it’s happening: The revenue to be made from web ads has fallen something like 85% over the last ten years. There simply isn’t enough ROI in spending hours creating an in-depth, quality article that will be posted for free on an ad-supported website. Paid Substack subscriptions make the time and effort spent on quality articles sustainable.
- It gives readers a more focused and less fragmented reading experience. It’s frustrating as writers to have a text you’ve penned, which you think has value, broken up with ads for toenail clippers, and it’s frustrating for readers not to be able to read something holistically. Substack articles are ad-free, so you can enjoy the content without distractions.
- It allows readers to comment. In the early days of AoM, we had comments on our blog posts. But we took them off a decade back, because their quality varied wildly, and it took too much time and bandwidth to moderate them. The anonymity and drive-by accessibility of an open comment section — the lack of the necessity of having skin in the game — sabotaged the quality of the conversation. But we’ve actually missed the comments; it was fun to have them and be able to interact with readers. The Substack setup will allow for comments, while mitigating their former problems. Only those who have paid for a subscription will be able to comment, thus filtering for those folks who do have skin in the game and have already made an investment in a healthy dialogue.
Why “Dying Breed”?
When everyone’s compromising
I’ll be your diehard
I’ll be there when water’s rising
I’ll be your lifeguard
We’re cut from a stained glass mountain
Baby, we’re a dying breed—”Dying Breed” by the Killers
The name and logo for our newsletter were inspired by the Killers’ song “Dying Breed” off their album Imploding the Mirage. The song is primarily about commitment in marriage, and it resonates with us on that level, and a couple others as well.
We’ve been married for almost twenty years now, and over that time, we’ve seen plenty of couples break up, including a seemingly disproportionate number who are involved in making their living online. In a world that doesn’t prize til-death-do-you-part devotion, our union is as strong and joyful as ever.
Over those two decades, we’ve also seen a lot of digital outlets come, go, and alter themselves beyond recognition. We’re proud that AoM is not only still around and thriving, we’ve never sold out our principles or watered down our quality for the sake of clicks and downloads. In an online ecosystem in which many influencers and publications are willing to chase trends, sacrifice the things that made them great in the first place in the neverending pursuit of relevancy, and do whatever dance corporate algorithms are currently dictating, we’ve tried to march to the beat of our own drummer and put respect for ourselves and our followers first.
The phrase “dying breed” not only encapsulates how we operate in our personal and professional lives, it embodies the ethos that will underlie our newsletter. The articles we’ll be writing will discuss topics that don’t get talked about as often as they deserve and be aimed at an audience that appreciates and is interested in ideas and values that can seem increasingly rare, but shouldn’t be lost without a fight. If you value depth over virality, long-term commitment over quick wins, and timeless wisdom over trending takes, then Dying Breed is for you.
What Are We Going to Be Writing About on Dying Breed?
Think of Dying Breed as our equivalent of a musician’s side project — like when Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard created The Postal Service or Weezer’s Matt Sharp formed the Rentals. These ventures weren’t complete departures from the original band’s core sound, but gave these artists greater space to explore new territories in their music.
That’s Dying Breed: recognizably us, but with the freedom to do things on a slightly different wavelength from AoM.
Both Brett and Kate have stuff they’ve been chewing on for years and would like to share with others, but would be a better fit in a different format than on the AoM blog.
So what sorts of topics are you going to find on Dying Breed?
Here are some tentative themes we plan on hitting:
- The business of making a living online, while trying to maintain your dignity
- The intersection of technology, philosophy, and media
- Faith in a secular age
- The role of luck and skill in life
- The philosophy of ambition
- Making sense of the “Triumph of the Therapeutic”
- A deep dive into the history of “wellness culture”
- And much more!
If any of those topics sound interesting to you, subscribe to Dying Breed. While AoM is aimed at men (though we’ve always had some very dedicated female readers), Dying Breed will be for men and women alike. So come one, and come all.
Bringing Back Sunday Firesides
For the last five years, Sunday Firesides — short, thought-starting, devotional-esque pieces — grew into one of AoM’s most popular features. The Firesides took a hiatus this year, but will be returning in 2025, exclusively in the Dying Breed Substack, which we feel is a better home for them.
What Do You Get When You Subscribe?
When you become a Dying Breed subscriber, you’ll receive:
- Deep Dives: Every week, we’ll publish a longer-form article exploring historical figures, forgotten virtues, cultural phenomenon, and timeless wisdom.
- Sunday Firesides: Each Sunday, you’ll receive a thoughtful reflection to help you start your week. All the archives of previously published Firesides will be available exclusively on Dying Breed as well.
- Community Discussion: Drop a line in the comment section to interact with Brett, Kate, and other Dying Breed readers.
- Focused, Ad-Free Reading Experience: No distractions, no sponsored content, no algorithms — just thoughtful writing crafted to help you think deeper and live better.
For $5/month or $50/year, you’ll receive two quality pieces weekly, plus access to our growing library of archived content and our community of like-minded readers.
Directly Support the Work We Do!
We’re Not Abandoning AoM! And AoM Will Continue to Be Free!
While we’re starting a new project with Dying Breed, we’re still committed to the Art of Manliness.
Our plan is to continue publishing at least one article here each week along with one podcast episode each week. We’ll also continue publishing the ever-popular Odds & Ends each Friday. And the classic illustrated guides we’re known for will continue as well.
AoM will continue to be 100% free.
There will be no paywall to read AoM.
If you subscribe to AoM’s weekly or daily email, that will continue to be sent out and will remain free.
The podcast will continue to be free.
Basically, nothing is changing at AoM except the quantity of new stuff we put out each week.
For those who’ve been with us since the early days when we were posting about safety razors and Victorian gentlemen’s etiquette, thank you for growing with us.
For those who joined somewhere along the way, welcome to the next chapter.
Whether you stick to the free AoM content, join us over at Dying Breed, or both — we’re just grateful to have you along for the ride.
Stay manly. Get action.
