Over the weekend I started up a Substack publication. If you’re interested, you can access it here: NaganOfCopenhagen.
It was work enough just to get the settings configured, so the only post over there for the time being is an introductory one that’s probably entirely redundant to anyone who’s visited this blog more than a couple of times. (So that’s both of you.)
I’m aware the graphics are kind of a mess, but that’s what I get for trusting their guidelines. I’ll straighten them out eventually.
Is the Substack going to replace this blog?
No. The blog stays in the picture.
Why are you going to Substack when you already have a blog on your own URL?
I think a Danish URL like “AmerikanskeTilstande.dk” is a tough sell for Americans, and although I’d been aiming this blog at Denmark and Danes all along, the majority of its traffic is coming from America. So it’s not reaching its intended audience and has a built-in challenge in terms of expanding its actual readership.
On Substack I’m just “Nagan of Copenhagen,” which besides being extraordinarily accurate will be a lot easier to push out to Americans. (Plus it rhymes, which is cool.) The subtitle of the Substack is “An American conservative in Denmark,” which is also nicely concise and accurate, and gives me a lot of room to maneuver in terms of subject matter.
It also gives me a broad niche: one of the things that’s annoyed me as an American expat in Denmark is the monolithic leftism of the American expat community in Denmark. I’m not aware of any conservative voices coming out of Denmark in the English (American) language. The Substack channel will ensure there’s at least one.
This blog has mostly been, and will mostly continue to be, about the way Danish media misinform Danes about America. The Substack thing will often address itself to correcting American misconceptions about Denmark, but will also allow me to riff more broadly on whatever strikes my fancy.
What about the audio experiments?
They’ll resume soon. I’ll probably keep them here on the blog until I’m comfortable that I’ve got the medium down. Once that time comes, I’ll start doing them on Substack, which has a built-in podcasting feature that doesn’t require separate plug-ins or apps.
Should I subscribe to the Substack channel?
Yes. Immediately, please. It’s free. Get your friends and family to sign up, too. And your colleagues. And their friends and families.
How often are you going to post here in the future?
I honestly don’t know. A couple times a week, probably—I’ve been averaging about 3-5 posts a week pretty consistently, but in the future it will probably be just 2-3. Or maybe there’ll be more, and they’ll just be shorter. There’ll only be one or two posts a week on Substack, and those will probably be longer and meatier… like my coffee.
But who the hell knows? Not me.
Don’t you have a full-time job and a family?
Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Actually a full-time job and a part-time consultancy (but just one family). And a couple of books in the works: one of which is very closely related to the kind of stuff I’ve been writing about here, the other of which is just some demented fiction I’ve been playing around with for about, oh, I don’t know—twenty years?
But I get your point, obviously, since I’m the one that made it for you. Yes, I’ve got a lot of competing priorities and this blog and the new Substack channel rank pretty low on that list. So I’ve stated my intentions: whether I can actually keep them is anyone’s guess.