Introducing Delving Deeper: Why I'm blogging

Hey everyone,

It's me, Conall. If you know me reasonably well, you know that I take an interest in politics and current events in the broader world. I also have a fervent passion for history.

I've had a lot of thoughts, worries, frustrations, hopes, and ideas swimming around in my head for quite some time. Borne out of this frothy mixture, I have decided I need a place to delve more deeply into what I've been thinking... hence, the title. (I may change it later, full disclosure)

Another reason I've decided to start this blog is I need somewhere to put long-form thoughts and takes without feeling like I need to argue my point with several random internet strangers. Twitter used to be a pretty good website for politics, even if highly imperfect. These days, it's... bad.

I'm also of the increasing belief that some topics - especially contentious topics - need more space to be addressed in a way I find adequate. And some topics are really not good for the bite-sized, engagement-driven world of mass social media.

A bit about me for those who don't know me well: I have a Bachelor's degree in history, and currently work as a librarian. I have been doing work in politics and organizing, mostly in Wisconsin, on and off, for about 10 years. This work has been mostly done with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Sometimes this will be relevant to a post I make; other times, it won't be. But I figured I'd give people who don't know me as well some notion of where I'm coming from.

Some examples of topics I have every intention of covering in the near future include: Russia's war with Ukraine and the response to it in the West, the role of libraries in contemporary American society, the politics of policing, and the influence of Israel on American politics. I also plan to delve deeper into Wisconsin-related topics, as this is a specialty of mine and I know some people know me for my Wisconsin-related politics content from my podcast, The Great Purple State, co-produced and co-hosted with my friend Emerson (https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8zNDM1MjMucnNz).

So, if any of that interests you - consider financially supporting the blog and myself! All money will go to supporting me as a writer and used to defray the costs I have for the blog. I also intend to give special access to paid subscribers, which will include such perks as being able to vote on topics I write posts on and access to behind-the-scenes musings.

Frankly, reader, I am alarmed by many things happening in the world today. And I believe some people, perhaps understandably if incorrectly, are turning to nihilism - or, when not doing that, embracing strategies for change that I find ineffective. So this will be my tiny corner to argue for my own views, which reject such modes of thinking. Will this influence anyone? That remains to be seen!

A final note on my maiden post: while discussion is great, I don't view this principally as a forum for constant debate and argument. I am sure I will write things people disagree with - that is a natural thing that happens in political discourse. That's fine. But I admit, I do not have a desire to endlessly engage in debate with people whose feathers have been ruffled by things I said - especially if I get the strong vibe that such "debate" would be unconstructive. Above all, this is a place for me to share thoughts in an unvarnished way. Most of the takes I plan on sharing I think are fairly straightforward. Others I know will cause people to want to argue. That happens. But I just want to be clear about my intentions here - I sometimes have not always shared my opinions when I know it's a topic others disagree with me on. Here, I have no such intention of self-censoring. The honesty is the point. Your understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated.