Hey everyone, I’m quickly checking in to let you know that I will stop turning my articles into podcasts.

Why, you might ask…

It is mostly lack of time—writing is something I can do reasonably quickly when inspiration strikes. A podcast takes time: to record, to edit, to get out into the ether. At this point, it simply seems counterintuitive to spend hours on recording and editing something that I have already provided for you in written form.

“But accessibility!” I hear you say.

Well, accessible information does not mean I have to record a podcast. I will still make sure that screen-readers can read out my articles without problems, and the good thing about Substack is that I can also very quickly provide a read-out version for you without having to do all the talking and adding the bells and whistles myself. The Substack read-out function is available via the app—just download it in via your App Store and then click on the little play button near the top of the article. Et voilà! (You can already try it with this one—the AI voice isn’t *too* shocking 🤣. I picked one for you that sounds a lot better than the Substack-native one. It’s really surprisingly okay, give it a chance).

Listening to a podcast over reading an article is a personal preference, and I appreciate that some people have that preference.

Writing and article instead of recording a podcast with more or less the same content is also preference. And I always was and always will be a writer and reader. I hardly ever listen to podcasts myself—it is simply not my medium, and I don’t feel a particularly strong connection to them, neither as a listener nor as a creator.

What does this mean for you?

I have just opened my podcast archive to free access again, so all old podcasts will still be there for you to listen to. I just won’t record any new ones. But the Substack channel will keep on existing—in newsletter form, via the written word only. With Substack-native read-outs in the app.

For those of you who are also subscribed to Shadow Truths: That podcast archive was always freely available anyway, so nothing will change for you apart from no new episodes being added in the future. But the story exploration will continue as usual, and the next issue will land with you soon.

I hope you are okay with “just” reading in the future, and I will see you all soon (and I have other exciting things for this channel in store, but more about that another time).

P.S.: If you would like to connect with other creative artists and keep access to my articles and read-outs: You can do all of this via our community on Substack (it’s free).

If you are interested in exploring mental health and creativity through a lens of storytelling, please also check out my newsletter The Sandman: Shadow Truths, which alternates with The Creative Cure.

You can also follow me on Facebook.