Are you in? (an interview with myself)
Hi there, it’s me again, David, your diligent curator of all great things on the web. Every Friday, I send out the Weekly Filet, a unique set of great recommendations. Wait, but today is…not Friday? This is a special edition of the Weekly Filet, a free amuse-bouche of sorts. Let’s get right to it. Here’s one of five recommendations I’ve sent out to paying subscribers this week.
Against all odds: The inside story of how scientists produced an Ebola vaccine
Imagine this: You have developed a vaccine against Ebola, but no one is interested in bringing it to market – there’s no money to be made. Then, there’s a large outbreak in West Africa, the whole world becomes afraid of Ebola. You do have the vaccine, but it has never been tested with humans. What now? Thanks to some outstanding reporting from STAT, a publication dedicated to life sciences by the Boston Globe Media group, you will find answers. In essence, a story of how our globalised, interconnected world works, for good and bad. Read it now.
I hope you have some appetite left for more. If you’d like to see this week’s entire Filet, click here and become a member.
Now, what if you kinda like these filets, but don’t feel like paying for them? What a funny coincidence that I have just recently interviewed myself, pretending to answer your most pressing questions on this topic 🤓. Here we go:
So, this Weekly Filet, why should I pay for it?
Bluntly, because it gives you more joy and makes you smarter than this one extra cup of coffee on the go or this one last glass of beer that was responsible for your headache the next day. Four filets per month for the price of one coffee.
And less bluntly?
A product like the Weekly Filet can only exist long-term if enough people are willing to support it. As an ad-free product that doesn’t cross-sell anything else, as a completely independent one-man-show, there are only two ways to finance it. By having its users pay a small amount, or by exploiting my own time for free.
And you melodramatic capitalist chose to go after users’ money!
Well, yes. I’m already drowning in money, that’s how lucrative this is (not). As I’ve written before, I'm doing this out of equal parts necessity and curiosity. As a father, my spare time has become too rare and too precious to invest it in the Weekly Filet. As a journalist, I'm curious whether I'm able to provide a product that people are willing to pay for.
But, look, I already ha…
Sorry to interrupt you, but have you seen this nice-looking button right here?
…as I was saying: I already have too little time for everything that’s interesting in the world and on the web. You’re only making things worse with your excellent recommendations.
Ok, that’s a nice complimentary reproach. And I get it. Indeed, if you just look at my newsletter in isolation, it certainly steals time from you. Time well spent, but still. Let’s look at it from a different perspective for a moment. You have all your feeds and newsletters and podcasts and news sites that constantly ask for your time by offering you things to read, listen to, look at. The Weekly Filet is different. Since I share only five links per week, the bar for inclusion is very high. I strive to offer you a good mix of definitive pieces on issues everyone is talking about and hidden gems you didn’t know you’ll find interesting. If I’m doing my job well, those five links save you time because they replace the need for hunting down all those not-so-definitive pieces you come across during the week.
Thanks, that makes sense. So it’s a matter of trust then. I pay you and trust you to save me time.
Exactly.
I’m this close to subscribing, but there’s this one thing that keeps me from opening my wallet…
Ok, now I’m curious. Why don’t you write me an email to david@weeklyfilet.com and tell me what it is? I’ll gladly take up the challenge. Now that you’ve teased me, I’d actually be disappointed if you didn’t write me.
Nah, sorry, I appreciate your effort here, but it’s just not worth my money.
Give me a second, I need to do a quick Federer to process this 😭😭😭…
(deep breath) Sure, no problem. Here’s what our future relationship will look like:
Every Friday, you get a shortened version of the newsletter, with two recommended links.
I might, on these occasions, put on my sales hat and kindly ask you if you’ve changed your mind.
That’s cool. Have a nice day!
You too, thanks for taking the time. You’re awesome.
Scrolled all the way down here because you wanted to read the whole thing and now you’re looking for that damn button to subscribe, but your thumb is too tired to scroll up again? My friend, I’ve got you covered, have another button: