Five Questions: Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance; this week Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen, co-founders of The CONTRARIAN

 

The Contrarian

From Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

Eisen and Rubin join us as tonight’s guests for Five Questions. I’ll let them tell you the story of how they hatched a plan to create a new media company called The Contrarian and what they hope to achieve. It’s a compelling story of how, through community and support for fellow pro-democratic voices, we’re going to make it through Trump 2.0 and come out strong on the other side. You can subscribe to The Contrarian here.

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Joyce: So, tell us how you came up with the idea for The Contrarian? How did you get from Jen wanting to step away from her job at The Post to, “Hey, let’s start a whole new media company?”

Jen and Norm: It was all one big leap of faith. Jen had grown disgusted with The Post’s capitulation to Trump and was convinced we needed an alternative to the billionaire and corporate owned media. Norm had a vision for an unabashed, pro-democracy outlet that would not only feature politics and law but also culture. [...]

Joyce: What has the early response been like? And what about The Contrarian do you think people are responding to?

Jen and Norm: We are blown away! It has been one of the biggest launches in Substack history. Not only have we passed 275,000 subscribers in just a few days but we have been flooded with writers wanting to contribute and other outlets who want to collaborate. Our early success completely confirms our thesis that people are hungry for something like this.

Joyce: I’m incredibly excited that my project, The Democracy Index, will be part of the Contrarian.

Jen and Norm: Yours is at the top of the list. Helping people process the daily barrage of authoritarian maneuvers is critical. In the short run we are very excited about our Inauguration Day coverage. Can’t bear to watch those who will normalize and even venerate Trump? We are going to have satire, mockery, and gleeful derision.

Get the rest of this week's Five Questions (and answers) and subscribe to Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance and to The Contrarian. I am a paying subscriber to both.