2.0
Thoughts on Rethinking Fleas and Rats
Today’s musing is the fourth to the last musing of Fleas and rats.
The Little Thing: An essay each month
I Don’t Know
The last two musings have featured the idea of “not knowing” because I have been focusing more on the format for Fleas and rats than on the musings or upcoming essays. What’s up with the Substack? I didn’t know.
The experiment continues…
The original idea for Fleas and rats was to write about:
News of the decade, not news of the day.
Little things that add up to big differences.
Connections between ideas and action, or at least connections between ideas and understanding.
In other words, I want Fleas and rats to be thoughtful, positive, and practical.
I want to write essays about today’s human experience, yes, in the context of the times, but no, I do not want to write a series of commentaries on the politics and theatrics in our social media streams. (Yuck!)
2.0
Fleas and rats was first planned as one short essay (1,000 words) on some small thing each month, with musings posted on the other weeks to keep the Substack hopping.
But this is not working, in part because it takes too much time to write a musing each week and also because, really, what’s that different between a “musing” and an “essay”?
More importantly, the original format doesn’t work well in terms of advancing the three aims above (news of the decade, little things that matter, and connections between ideas and action). Again, the aim is thoughtful (deep dives into trends that will matter into the future), positive (reflections on how we can make a difference as human beings and active participants in our societies), and practical (theories of change and theories of power that can be applied to do what matters to us).
2.0 starts today.
Starting with the second Monday in June, there will be one 4,000-5,000 word essay published in parts (four to five) over the course of each month, with one part posted each Monday. One essay each month; Published in four to five parts (depending on the number of Mondays that month); 4,000-5,000 words on one thesis, one essay; Starting next month.
In the meantime, I will post very short musings for the rest of May, but don’t expect much. And I won’t be previewing the essay. The musings will be short, so I can focus on the first long-form essay. Wish me luck…
Fleas and rats 2.0: Serial essays on small things that matter.