May 10, 2024

When I started moving One Daily Link to Substack, I discovered it was impossible to batch transfer the website. That meant if I wanted to preserve all the links I’d ever shared, I would have to move them over one-by-one, nearly 450 in total. The prospect didn’t overfill me with joy. I could think of about 5,000 other deeply unpleasant things I’d rather do — roll my car again, go through puberty again, visit Scotland again.

Fortunately, revisiting each entry proved to be a good thing. I could see where I’d gone right choosing topics and columnists and, more importantly, where I’d gone wrong. Almost without fail, going wrong meant picking a flashy piece or issue over a substantive one. It thankfully didn’t happen often, and it’s happened less as time has gone on, but it did happen.

And it nearly happened again today. I saw today’s column, loved the half of it I read, and moved on because it seemed too local. It was a silly impulse, and I’m glad I left the tab open and came back to it. Because while there were certainly flashier columns today, there weren’t better ones, and that’s the whole point of this website. To highlight the best political writing of the day no matter the topic… and to remind me nothing is worse than Scotland.