Mark Jacob is the former metro editor at the Chicago Tribune, and former Sunday editor at the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s the co-author of 11 books, mostly on history.

In this episode, the first of two with Mark, he and John Cole talk about the history of the New York Times and why it has consistently missed the moment, going back to the turn of the last century.

If you’re interested in this topic, Mark has a piece on it at his Substack, called “The New York Times is on the wrong side of history”: https://www.stopthepresses.news/p/the-new-york-times-is-on-the-wrong

Mark’s Substack Stop the Presses: https://www.stopthepresses.news/

Courier is a journalism initiative that supports Mark’s Substack and other journalism: https://couriernewsroom.com/

Mark’s recommended links:

Jennifer Schulze’s Substack Indistinct Chatter: https://jenniferschulze.substack.com/

Greg Sargent at The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/authors/greg-sargent

Pro Publica: https://www.propublica.org/

Mark Histed is a neuroscientist by day, but in his personal capacity, he has a deep interest in how to re-build and sustain local media. Today’s audio-only podcast with Mark, DougJ (NYT Pitchbot) and mistermix focuses on Mark's interests that he pursues in his personal capacity, including the concept of media as a public good, how that media could be financed, why wealthy donors probably aren’t the answer, and what can’t be done by individual reporters on their own Substacks.

Here’s Mark’s Linktree, with all of his links: https://linktr.ee/markhisted

Links to some of the sites/authors Mark discusses:

Rebuild Local News: https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/

Micah Sifry’s Critique of the Substack model: https://theconnector.substack.com/p/the-bad-news-echo-chamber-of-pro

Elizabeth Spiers: https://linktr.ee/elizabethspiers

The Democracy Policy Network: https://democracypolicy.network/

Gary Trauner ran for Congress in Wyoming twice, and for Senate once. In 2006, he lost the closest race in the nation to incumbent Barbara Cubin. Gary talks about his history as a candidate, what it takes to run as a Democrat in a red state, and what it was like to interact with the national Democratic infrastructure. He’s dealt with both the DCCC and DSCC, as well as the consultants they wanted him to hire. He also gives us a rundown on the sad state of Democrats in the reddest state in the country, Wyoming.

This episode is something you don’t see or hear all the time: a politician who shares his frank take on his experiences with the Democratic establishment.

More about Gary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Trauner