About

Welcome to The Awl, the last weblog.

The Awl was started in 2009, at least four Internets ago. It was edited by Alex Balk and Choire Sicha. It was subsequently edited by Matt Buchanan and John Herrman. It is now edited by Silvia Killingsworth. Its prior mission statement read as follows:

We believe that there is a great big Internet out there on which we all live, and that too often the curios and oddities of that Internet are ignored in favor of the most obvious and easy stories. We believe that there is an audience of intelligent readers who are poorly served by being delivered those same stories in numbing repetition to the detriment of their reading diet. We believe that there is no topic unworthy of scrutiny, so long that it is approached from an intelligent angle, but that there are many topics worthy of scrutiny that lack coverage because of commercial factors. We believe that the longform essay has a home on the Internet, and that the idea of “too long; didn’t read” is exactly as shortsighted as its TL;DR acronym.

This does not mean that we eschew frivolity; far from it. Who doesn’t enjoy a funny video, a current meme, or anything about bears? We love bears. And Science!

In the end, however, we return most frequently to New York City and its self-centered, all-consuming industries: media and publishing, finance and real estate, politics and capitalism and gamesmanship.

These sentences still apply, mostly, except the whole #longform thing — now all the bad things are twice as long. (Also hahaha, “current meme.” Good Lord, were we ever that young?) The Awl was and is a site that publishes things only because we think that they are good or smart or funny or weird or interesting or surprising (and sometimes all of those things), and that other reasonable people might enjoy them too.

The Awl Network’s publisher is Michael Macher. Please contact him regarding any sort of business activity, including advertising and other opportunities for your brand. You may reach him at [email protected].

The Awl Network is independently owned and operated. It has no venture capital backing nor any outside investment whatsoever.

(An “awl,” by the way, is a “pointed tool used for punching small holes,” often utilized in wood and leather craft. Here is how you pronounce the word “awl,” both with UK and US accents. Finally, our motto, “Be Less Stupid,” is a goal we try to live up to every day. Most days we fail, but the point is in the trying.)

Thanks again for dropping by. We appreciate it.