Ghosting Substack

because there's no such thing as a Roman Salute.

Hi friends,

I hope you are finding ways to care for yourself and your dearest ones as we hurtle into this month. I have stopped trying to keep up with either the news or the weather, which is to say I only check them once a day. But I do have some news to share with you.

I'm gonna take a deep breath and then say something important but overdue.

I admit, I have been naive. Last year, I was hopeful that Substack leadership was working on their Nazi problem. They removed some especially vitriolic publications and seemed to be listening to the users who demanded deplatforming of violent rhetoric.

At the end of 2024, however, it became apparent to me that not much had been done since that initial "effort," and I began to work on moving my newsletter to (yet another) platform, Ghost. In order to make the transition without disrupting paid subscriptions or losing all of my posts, this required some significant backend work and took me some time to learn. I started my account in December and have been chipping away at importing everything, disconnecting Substack from Stripe (because even if you move your account, they still try to take their 10% from your subscriber base! coolcoolcool) and trying to set things up on my own domain.

Some part of me held out hope that I wouldn't have to migrate again. Then, last week, Substack leadership posted this. Aside from the continued willful misunderstanding of the notion of Free Speech, this announcement, claiming to be principled, is an absolute example of their willingness to lick the boots of the Broligarchy.

To wit:

Elon Musk has been a vocal supporter of free speech. It’s no secret that we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but he deserves a lot of credit for advancing freedom of speech on X, before it was popular and in the face of fierce criticism and opposition... Mark Zuckerberg recently announced favorable changes in policy for Meta that should result in freer expression on its platforms...Those who welcome the press freedom changes at Meta owe a debt to those who took a principled stand when the wind was blowing the other way.

Had this announcement come at another time, I might have been able to continue to stick my head in the sand and think that Substack leadership were clueless tech bros backing the wrong horse.

BUT it didn't come at another time. It came just days after Musk, an open supporter of the far-right German AfD party, Apartheid's proudest nepo baby, gave what cowardly publications deemed a "Roman Salute" in plain view of millions of people. I was watching it live - it was not an accidental gesture or a casual wave clipped by an editor to appear damning. He did it. Twice.

Historians of Rome and a certain other 20th century period in European history will tell you that there is no evidence that a "Roman Salute" ever existed. It was a retcon created in fascist Italy to connect Mussolini to some proud ancient heritage based on some isolated artwork that didn't even show up until the 18th Century (way after the Roman Empire, if you weren't sure.) In short, the phrase is a Nazi dog whistle and has always been a Nazi dog whistle.

All this to say, I began more serious migration of all of my data, domains, and posts that day. Today the new site is live (writeplayrepeat.julianafinch.com) and, while I'm still working out the kinks, it seems to have worked.

What does this mean for you?

Hopefully, you won't notice any disruption in your subscription or much difference in your experience of this newsletter.

It should still arrive in your inbox, and posts will be available on my site if you prefer to view them directly there.

You don't need to do anything to stay subscribed or keep receiving my posts.

That said, the backend stuff with Stripe is proving hard to navigate, so if you do notice something weird, like double charges or your account showing as free when you're a paid subscriber, please let me know right away and I'll work on it!

I want to especially thank those of you who reached out to me privately over the last few months to express your concerns about Substack. I promised you I was working on it, and it was important to me to not let you down. I'm sorry it took this long.

Thank you for reading and for your understanding as I make this switch. Thank you for being here.

And hey, I love you.

Xo,

J.

P.S. If you think Roman Salutes are real, I encourage you to go with grace and unsubscribe. We obviously disagree on some pretty important stuff.