As you will see from a companion post, we are saddened to announce that Lambert is retiring, but he has exciting projects beckoning. He has given us a very generous notice but we want to respect his departure plans and thus must get cracking on finding some new voices. Even though Conor has graciously offered to take up most of Lambert’s open slots, and I could take on more too, it would be a tough lift on an ongoing basis. Plus the site will benefit from having some fresh perspectives and interests.
The conundrum we face is that Links has become Naked Capitalism’s flagship. Many of you say at fundraiser time that you wake up in the morning with Links. But it does take more “production” than a regular post. That plus having to become an informational whale filtering the ocean for krill is also not necessarily for everyone.
Note we could divide the work between contributors who do only Links and ones who do only commentary. But there are benefits to keeping the broad view that Links requires, both in terms of deeper mining of important stories and finding connections between seemingly remote ones.
So we hope you can help us find talented, energetic, and tough-minded candidates.
As much as we’d like a contributor to have a long and happy tenure here, past site writers have used Naked Capitalism as a stepping-stone to even bigger and better things. Our scammer-buster Richard Smith went on to more systematic tracking of international con artists, which included among other things occasional pieces as Herald Scotland (he could have taken a higher profile but chose instead to work mainly with other investigators). Philip Pilkington is now happily ensconced at the storied asset manager GMO. Nathan Tankus is now a recognized economics commentator, both on Substack and Twitter.
Having said that, old graybeards (yours truly must confess to being long in tooth) are welcome too!
We anticipate that a new contributor will have written often on a professional basis, say as journalist, commentator, analyst, or even an old-school blogger, would like a regular part-time gig and/or would also like exposure to Naked Capitalism’s engaged readership. Being unphased by deadlines is important. Being willing to have a point of view is also critical.
Lambert has prepared a detailed production guide, and Naked Capitalism isn’t big on fussy formatting. So while there is a learning curve for how we do things, it isn’t very steep.
If you have someone to recommend, please write Yves at yves-at-nakedcapitalism-dot-com and put “Site Writer” in the subject line. Thanks!
Woe – those are some pretty big waders!
Calling Mark Ames -?
Jeffrey St. Clair would be great too but has his own gig at Counterpunch.
Damn.
Please tell us that Lambert will keep a hand in on occasion!
I’ll try to toss a story over the transom come Spring (it’s in the works, but some things need to play out further) regarding government corruption, Medicare Advantage, and murder by neglect– far more sinister and twisted than what one may expect, this in itself a commentary on our times.
I’ll send a brief email this week to give you a flavor of the situation.
I’m an NC outsider, but I have wondered for some time if the links postings couldn’t draw more heavily on the readership and have a crowdsourced element that would lighten the load or at least broaden the reach somewhat.
Perhaps it is already this way on an informal basis, but those of us who read NC doubtless read myriad other sources daily and collectively could contribute material or at least candidate material to links.
I’m not sure whether something like this actually ends up saving labor in the end, since I have no personal experience with anything similar. But it might be something worth considering or trying out if it hasn’t been done in the past.
A well-earned retirement from lambert! You will be sorely missed!
Wow, enjoy your retirement Lambert. Thanks for everything.
Sad news, but if anyone deserves a restful retirement, it’s Lambert. As for any voices I would love to see here, I can’t really point to anyone who could fill those shoes entirely, but THAT’S a truly heavy lift.
That said, many hands make light work, and there are at least a few people whose work might fit among the rabble here. They’re all people I’ve heard in conjunction with the “American Exception” podcast, and may be able to contribute a piece here and there, mostly in the field of Deep Politics, as popularized by Peter Dale Scott:
Aaron Good – Podcaster and historian, PhD
Ben Howard – Frequent guest on “American Exception”
Gumby4Christ – (Twitter Handle, don’t know real name) Frequent guest on “American Exception”, and seeming expert (if self-taught) on bioweapons research
Robert Skvarla – Frequent guest on “American Exception”
As for any finance heads, they all seem to have regular gigs. Maybe Liz Franczak of TrueAnon knows some people? She seems to be friendly with Alexandra Skaggs. Liz, at least, seems to be a regular reader of NC, since she’s mentioned the site more than once on the podcast.
I wish my suggestions were better.
Only a suggestion, but perhaps Ian Welsh would be of interest.
I know he has his own website, with several of his articles having been featured in links.
Last but not least, I wish Lambert an enjoyable retirement.
Malcolm Kyeyune is an interesting young heterodox writer. He seems like he’s at a stage of his career where he would be interested in “exposure.” I don’t know him personally and have no idea if he is a reliable meeter of deadlines. He can definitely be a loose cannon and has been banned from Xitter multiple times. His current handle is @jucherespecter (I am not on Xitter so I can’t contact him through there and suggest he contact you).
Can Conor step up? I love his work.
See the first paragraph above, he has offered to do more
Whether he can or not, I love Conor’s work, too! (And, BTW, I love Nick’s work also.)
Yves, I wish you good luck in filling Lambert’s yellow waders and while words cannot express how much I will miss Lambert, I look forward to this new chapter in Naked Capitalism. I love Conor’s work and look forward to more from him.
It may be true that no one is irreplaceable but I find the volume and quality of work that Lambert (and you) do to be unmatched and unmatch-able. I don’t have any names to put forth but I do think that more than one new person contributing could keep everyone sane and free from burnout. Not suggesting that I think Lambert is leaving due to burnout, everyone deserves retirement.
And to quibble with your notion that retirement is about avoiding golf and shuffleboard, I am thoroughly enjoying my retirement, living life at my own pace – golf and shuffleboard are not issues. Anyone with imagination can enjoy retirement and I am pretty sure that Lambert is a very imaginative fellow who will find many interesting and worthwhile things to do – some of which I hope will be shared with the NC community.
Lambert, you dah mahn! We appreciate you so, so much. Do have a great retirement or shift in focus. Truly creative people, such as yourself, don’t actually “retire” they just focus differently – and hopefully without a requirement of making money.
My suggestion for a new wader wearer is to check in with one (or more) of the list of people in the “More Good Reads” section (often on the left of his Debt Rattle page) of Automatic Earth. It’s my second favorite list of links each morning. In fact, Yves is one of the suggested “good reads” on that list – a reflection of its quality. New Year soon, must to go. Whirled Peas to all!
Arnaud Betrand?
I like Bryce Greene and his work. He seems to be coming up rapidly in the world of commentary and journalism.
https://brycegreene.substack.com
I think it would be wonderful if Jerri-Lynn Scofield could/would return on some sort of basis.
That is a kind thought but Jerri was very clear she wanted to devote herself to writing novels and travel. Jerri (unlike Lambert and me) was very committed to not having her work run her life, despite being very efficient and hard-working when on duty. She spent a big chunk of her life being a ski bum and then spending the rest of the year supporting that habit.
I still have this link open in one of my tabs because I was so impressed:
https://albrtsblog.substack.com/p/twirling-toward-freedom
How about this person?
Thanks for the kind thought, but I am in the reverse situation from Lambert – I need to retire before I can write more. Also I would be a terrible moderator.
I don’t want to offend anyone accidentally because I have no idea of either party’s situation, but what about integrating Moon of Alabama?
Bernhard covers an awful lot of ground and the MOA platform is groaning under the strain of moderation.
Kim Kelly would probably be a great fit for NC. Most of the other people/sites I follow tend to be focused on anti-imperialism or let their anger drive their writing a bit too much for NC.
The labor writer? If so, I somewhat know her and can send her the link to this post.
[And nice KSR reference. :-) ]
I enjoy WC. Sorry to see him go, good luck in your new gig!
Dammit, Lambert! Be good, man! I hope you know you’re expected still to contribute regularly as a reader, commenter.
Richard D. Wolff?
Arnaud Bertrand?