২১ নভেম্বর, ২০২৫

I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there.

That provokes me to resistance. I've been writing this blog for almost 22 years, and the reason it works for me is that I only do what motivates me. I realize that this feeling that you're leaning on me to write about [whatever] must necessarily come from within — It's coming from inside the Althouse — but please know that if it were coming from you, I would be asking you to cut it out.

৮৮টি মন্তব্য:

Danno বলেছেন...

Ann, only write on what interests you. We (the readers and commenters) can sort out what interests each of us.

Danno বলেছেন...

Also, I see you have taken charge and put that idea you should do 3,000+ posts per year and discarded it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

Yep. Probably have done that myself. The only “success” amongst the commenters in sparking the host’s writing is when one of us, perhaps accidentally, mention something about the current topic from which Althouse somehow draws inspiration to write about it and if so usually because she already “had a browser open” to the topic or a post started in her Idea Mill.

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

Danno’s first comment is wise. After a long time here I have learned to skip the many topics that don’t interest me or have a strong On Language vibe that moves me. The banter is not so lighthearted as it used to be. But then some subjects are deadly serious ones that are treated seriously by most commenters.

Dave Begley বলেছেন...

A major attraction of the Althouse blog - at least for me - is that Ann selects the topics and articles of the posts. That process gives the blog a unique feature. If Althouse wrote about what everyone else was writing about, the blog would get stale. How many times could she write about Epstein?

lonejustice বলেছেন...

Agree 100%. Don't become part of the "hive," the "Borg," the "echo chamber." Just continue to write about what interests you. That is why I come here every day.

Joe Bar বলেছেন...

Guilty, I think. I have have posted links to other articles I have found relevant to the conversation. If this is not allowed please let us know.

rhhardin বলেছেন...

People are always telling me what to comment.

Ann Althouse বলেছেন...

Silence is violence.

Eric the Fruit Bat বলেছেন...

The imaginary voices seem to come and go pretty much on their own, much like tinnitus.

Inga বলেছেন...

Cafe threads are safe spaces for topics Althouse chooses not to blog about, am I correct?

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

Real writers have to write. You didn’t have to choose blogging but thank God you did. So many voices I loved to read have ceased blogging or changed their focus. Althouse is still here, still interesting, and best of all IMO so unpredictable.

stlcdr বলেছেন...

"What would Althouse say?"

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

Yes Inga, I take great pleasure in confirming that the cafe posts are exactly for that. It reminds me of the pressure release valve my mom had: “You kids go outside and don’t come in until I call you for lunch.” Except instead of lunch Althouse calls us to the next post.

Derve বলেছেন...

You should stop faking facts, professor.
If you ARE going to write about something, you owe readers a duty to be honest.

Stick with the silly topics, because it is clear from your career you have no desire to actually do the work. (Grok--tell me what to think about this... and "What do the polls show? If we're all dumping on an unfavored minority -- no, not the Jews -- then I'm in. You're a real winner like that, annie...)

Jaq বলেছেন...

Avoiding the issues that commenters here obviously want to talk about keeps your blog fresh. If people want red meat, there is always Instapundit, a place I visit less and less.

Derve বলেছেন...

It's all old undereducated middle-aged men who don't work anymore. That's who you've collected here, in your second husband's image. Be proud, I guess? The little girl in the little mini-skirt went into the pool room and is a smashing hit.

Derve বলেছেন...

Ann Althouse said...
Silence is violence.
---------
No, but if you play the damsel in distress -- "everyone is threatening me!" you draw more of these types of male's attention... Just keep packing. So you can eliminate any potential threats like the boogeymen chasing you in the woods. Don't shoot meade though. The cops will question why you killed your husband...

Once written, twice... বলেছেন...

Don't worry Ann, you aren't the only person who fell for Trump’s obvious bullshit.

Derve বলেছেন...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
Yes Inga, I take great pleasure in confirming that the cafe posts are exactly for that. It reminds me of the pressure release valve my mom had: “You kids go outside and don’t come in until I call you for lunch.” Except instead of lunch Althouse calls us to the next post.

11/21/25, 6:12 AM
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Sounds like mikey wants to suckle, mama althouse... lol.
Yep, quite the salon you have created here. (open the windows though... it always smells like old farts. lol. Onward, plenty of sites to check up on each day...)

Derve বলেছেন...

Once written, twice... said...
Don't worry Ann, you aren't the only person who fell for Trump’s obvious bullshit.
-----------
LOLOL. And there it is! Truth comes out if you let the class discussions be real... You've lost control of the classroom when students challenge your (dizzy) take on the facts...

You can take the gal off the east coast, but you can't take the East Coast out of the gal! lolol

NKP বলেছেন...

Silence is violence

Profound.

R C Belaire বলেছেন...

I'm still trying to figure out what an "unseen reader" is and how such a reader can affect what the blog author decides to write about. If a reader comments is that reader now "seen?" A reader who does not comment remains "unseen?"

Kevin বলেছেন...

It's coming from inside the Althouse

Have you checked the commenters?

NKP বলেছেন...

If people want red meat, there is always Instapundit...

Yeah, but where else you gonna go to find good rotating toenail clippers?

Rob বলেছেন...

Writing a blog is work. You do it because you enjoy it or it's a job.

Mr. D বলেছেন...

It's one of the primary annoyances of blogging. When I was blogging regularly, I had a few commenters who had axes to grind. The refrain was "I noticed you haven't written anything about [some crap]. Why not?" It's a question that does not merit a response other than, "if [some crap] interests you that much, you can start your own blog, but I'll choose the topics here, by your leave."

michaele বলেছেন...

Reading the Althouse blog right off the bat in the morning and then checking off and on throughout the day seems to keep me ahead of the curve on some interesting topics in my small household.

mezzrow বলেছেন...

I'm taking this opportunity to observe that a corn dog and a Beef Wellington are basically the same idea for different socio-economic strata. A corn dog is not a sandwich, but the question is more ambiguous if a bun is involved.

Thanks to our host for the opportunity. I feel seen.

rehajm বলেছেন...

That provokes me to resistance

Sure write about what you want but this as a governing principle makes devoted to bikeshedding…

rehajm বলেছেন...

…and you become forever be vulnerable to the con.

BudBrown বলেছেন...

Huh? I'll be reading something and think hey the professor'll write about this sucker so I hustle over for the trees but stay for the forest. Ok. Sometimes I.m wreong but...

Mr. T. বলেছেন...

Professor Althouse's and Professor KC Johnson's are my favorite blogs.

Temujin বলেছেন...

We were all attracted to this blog to begin with by the variety of topics. We can pick and choose which to take part in, which to read, which to send to others to read, and which to link through the Althouse portal so that can buy something.

I love looking at the range of topics and the dives into 'proper' English and the origins of words.
And it's good to know you have those voices from within trying to direct you. They certainly can be annoying.

Mr. Forward বলেছেন...

Logging vs blogging
Axes to grind
Can't hear voices
Cutting out leaners

MartyH বলেছেন...

I said I was sorry to presume such a thing…

bagoh20 বলেছেন...

I have unseeingly demanded every post including this one. There is no free will but mine.
My mini Australian Shepard made me to say that.

Beasts of England বলেছেন...

’Yeah, but where else you gonna go to find good rotating toenail clippers?’

Reynolds is under the control of Big Clipper.

narciso বলেছেন...

Like the rotating knives in the python abbatoir sketch

RCOCEAN II বলেছেন...

Unseen readers,
Whispering and pointing.
Unsatisfied Shadows,
Being assholes.

Old and slow বলেছেন...

No one likes to be told how to run their own show. Back when I had a bar, I had one customer who would repeatedly say to me "You know what you ought to do Danny?" My name is not Danny, and he spent a lot of time waiting for his drinks.

rehajm বলেছেন...

unseen readers

..one thing I learned a couple days ago from that poll with over 1,700 votes is the unseen reader group is likely quite large. I thought it was just us...

Wince বলেছেন...

“I am not going to be ignored, Dan.”

Dunham বলেছেন...

This is your church and you can preach the sermon however you see fit.

Aggie বলেছেন...

Yeah, not seeing those unseen readers, either. Have you considered the NSA?

rehajm বলেছেন...

night vision goggles help sometimes...

Valentine Smith বলেছেন...

By what means can unseen readers urge Althouse to cover topics they want? None that I can see or imagine. Perhaps there is A shift occurring within Ms. Althouse and she is resisting.

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

Well I might have seen Jamie and Gharie at one time, given Gahrie and I worked at the same High School in Fontana, and Jamie said a couple days back that she grew up with him (I don't know where). But that was pre-Althouse.

Except for Mead we are all to an extent unseen here. I have a standing offer to provide a beer for Howard (yes that Howard) if he ever wanders down the coast and inland to Gainesville. We make a LOT of good beer.

boatbuilder বলেছেন...

Are the unseen readers in the room with us?

Josephbleau বলেছেন...

“In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.”

Readering বলেছেন...

It worked? I hid as I thought hard about Althouse blogging on the potentially deadly effects of banning mail in ballots, and she maybe felt it.

n.n বলেছেন...

The phantom readers. Vote for me my Althousiastic bloggers.

boatbuilder বলেছেন...

Just having some fun, Althouse. Keep doing what you are doing.

Randomizer বলেছেন...

Talk about what you want. That's why I've been coming here for so many years. The majority of your posts are about something that I wouldn't have known about.

There are plenty of other blogs to read about topics in which I have a specific interest.

BarrySanders20 বলেছেন...

Is this a small problem, a big problem, a small problem the size of a big problem, or a big problem the size of a small problem? Size matters.

Rusty বলেছেন...

The interest, for me, is the variety of topics. If it interests me I'll comment.

Howard বলেছেন...

Nights in white satin
Never reaching the end
Letters I've written
Never meaning to send
Beauty I'd always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can't say anymore

Ice Nine বলেছেন...

What's wrong with simply ignoring these (for some reason) onerous "unseens" and not even thinking about them enough to bother writing about them?

Whoops, I think I might have just told Althouse what to do. My bad.

Iman বলেছেন...

You are getting drowsy… your eyelids are getting very, very heavy…

Howard বলেছেন...

I admit, I like giving you a hard time when you don't cover a story that would obviously upset your Trumper clients and/or Husband.

I am assuming you are referring to us whom comment: We are not seen but heard. I guess that means we are the opposite of children.

Big Mike বলেছেন...

Is Meade whispering into your ear at night?

Iman বলেছেন...

an insurrection
woman with barrels of ink
army of rat finks

FredSays বলেছেন...

The scariest revelation in a horror movie is when the characters realize the noise they’re hearing is inside the ‘house’. Never fear, the lead usually survives.

Iman বলেছেন...

“Made it through another week without turning my thoughts and feelings into felonies”

Lawcruiter বলেছেন...

What Wince said! LOL

Dude1394 বলেছেন...

Keep doing what you are doing. This is my first stop in the morning.

Narr বলেছেন...

"This is my first stop in the morning."

This is the only blog I frequent. I wouldn't dream of suggesting topics for the Prof and am amused when others do.

That said, I skip 60-75% of the posts, particularly the political-legal ones, to concentrate on what interests me.

robother বলেছেন...

Am I the only one who wondered which of her commenters are these "unseen readers" pressuring Althouse? My inner Travis asks "Are you talking to me?" Kind of like the nuns and priests who suddenly began cautioning us about impure thoughts in 7th Grade. I understand trying to get ahead of the curve, but in my experience, that triggered the curiosity that eventually lead to the very problem they were worried about. So what is she resisting blogging about: the Cheney funeral?

Shouting Thomas বলেছেন...

Matt Taibbi’s X feed is consumed with exactly this, but real. Everyday, some commenter tells him he should immediately cease writing about the subjects of his choice, and start writing about what interests the commenter.

hombre বলেছেন...

The topics are fine, mostly. It’s a very good, usually interesting blog.

Skeptical Voter বলেছেন...

Ah we'll take what crumbs we get. Intelligent observers (and our host is one) often hopscotch around ideas and events to find one that takes their (note "their" includes both his and hers) interest that day.

LibertarianLeisure বলেছেন...

Rightly so! You spelled it out. From ' Who is Ann Althouse?' " ...This blog is about nothing more than what interests Althouse at any given moment. She encourages comments but don't try blaming her for not getting to a subject you think she should be talking about..."

Lazarus বলেছেন...

Yes, and beware of the time-travelling hackers who are changing your earlier blog posts.

John Marzan বলেছেন...

I only read blog post that interest me by looking at the tags.

wildswan বলেছেন...

Blog on. But maybe?, let us know if AI starts to be an unseen reader and how that works. We know how the real people are doing it. I think.

Levi Starks বলেছেন...

The nerve, to imagine Althouse has ever done something she was told.

Smilin' Jack বলেছেন...

"I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there. That provokes me to resistance."

Aha.

You should write more about Epstein. You must. We want Epstein. Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. Give us more Epstein. Do it!

Rabel বলেছেন...

There's a Groucho joke about too dark to read inside of Althouse.

I can't see how to make it work.

Achilles বলেছেন...


I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there.

That provokes me to resistance. I've been writing this blog for almost 22 years, and the reason it works for me is that I only do what motivates me. I realize that this feeling that you're leaning on me to write about [whatever] must necessarily come from within — It's coming from inside the Althouse — but please know that if it were coming from you, I would be asking you to cut it out.


I post on the open threads.

I realize you are going to post what the NYT's and the other shill media like Ben Shapiro have to say. You are attracted to the comfortable acceptable topics that the elite like to push out in front of people.

I am also interested in the generational gap between information spheres. This is a boomer space. It is interesting to me to watch you people react to the changing landscape in real time rather than see you get caught unaware like you did during COVID.

Achilles বলেছেন...

Howard said...

I admit, I like giving you a hard time when you don't cover a story that would obviously upset your Trumper clients and/or Husband.

I am assuming you are referring to us whom comment: We are not seen but heard. I guess that means we are the opposite of children.


The topics on this blog aren't the interesting part.

The interesting part is watching people adjust to things that force adjustment to their paradigm.

Craig Mc বলেছেন...

Stick to your whimsy guns Prof. It's why we came here.

Leslie Graves বলেছেন...

I don't know what inspired this but stories like that of Olivia Nuzzi, who it turns out also had an affair with Mark Sanford when she was writing about him as he ran for POTUS, a story her ex-fiancee Ryan Lizza dropped on his Substack earlier this week just as excerpts from her book about her RFK Jr relationship made the rounds, and an insanely flattering profile in the NYT came out, feel like maybe you're supposed to write about what her whole deal is, or your readers think you should, or wish you would, because they'd kind of like to know what your take is on her. Yeah, I would resist that, and be irritated about the pressure, even if no one actually said that to me. It's what I would think they might be wishing for.

BudBrown বলেছেন...

Prof helps to see the forest. Where bears and commenters do our thing.

Two-eyed Jack বলেছেন...

I say sincerely, "You can write about whatever you like."

Pj বলেছেন...

You go girl! Sometimes we do like to know what you think on something……but what motivates you tracks.

Jasmina Boulanger বলেছেন...

Kudos to keeping your blog true to yourself. While I don't recall how I found your blog, I have been reading it for close to 20 years. It is refreshing and often refers to things I might not otherwise read. And, as a long-ago UW Law School grad, it was a delight to find out we (finally) had interesting faculty.

john mosby বলেছেন...

Rabel: "There's a Groucho joke about too dark to read inside of Althouse. I can't see how to make it work."

I read Althouse in my pajamas. How she got in my pajamas, I'll never know! CC, JSM

Ann Althouse বলেছেন...

@Leslie Graves

Ha ha. Yeah, that's definitely one!

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