About the Coming Paywall

Hey, it is Ezra. I'm here with some news about the podcast, about some of our friend podcasts across the New York Times ecosystem. The Times is going to be putting the podcast behind a paywall in the next couple of weeks. That includes this show. The way the paywall is going to work is the first few most recent episodes are going to be free. So if you're listening to the thing we just did or just just did, you're fine. But behind that, the archives are going to be behind a subscription. And if you're already a New York Times subscriber to the sort of broad news product, you'll input that information and you get everything. If you're not, and for whatever reason you don't want to be, there will also be an audio only subscription, about $1.50 a week, that will get you access to all the audio. So us and The Daily and The Run-Up and Hard Fork and Matter of Opinion. The podcast and the amazing work done by the serial team and all the other shows that happen under the New York Times umbrella. There's a lot to say about this. And it is always, I know, because I've been in these processes before, frustrating to see things you were enjoying for free go beyond a paywall. And so I want to make the case that this is actually a good and important thing. I have launched media organizations. And the thing I've come to believe more strongly about is that they're not going to be free. They're going to be than anything else over my now 20 plus years in media, is that if we cannot convince you that what we are doing is worth paying for, then the future of what we are doing is not going to be what we hoped. And frankly, not going to be what you hope either. This is hard work to do. It is expensive work to do over time. The more reporting you want to do, the bigger your teams, and particularly when you want to have teams of skilled journalists who are making their career in a place. You have to be able to pay them good salaries and make sure they can keep growing on your show. It's very much what I want for this show. We have amazing people on it. I want them to stick around. I want to be able to make this a place that works for them. If we can't convince you to pay for it, we're stuck on really one of a couple of things. The thing that got, I think, digital media really wrapped around an unwise axle in the 2010s was we were waiting on the platforms. And in the end, the platforms took that money. If they control the audience, they control the audience. If they control the audience, they control the money. And in the end, it doesn't matter how many nice things they say about journalism, they want the money. The New York Times, of course, went beyond a paywall for most of its news content more than a decade ago. That was a very controversial decision at the time. It's proven to be a very wise one. One thing I also know is true is that this is frustrating. If you've been enjoying the show and you don't have a subscription, now we're asking you to pay for something that you weren't paying for before. And so I do want to make sure we're giving you something extra for that. And so on my show, at least, we're going to start doing subscriber-only Ask Me Anythings. And so hopefully there'll be something regular that at least makes it feel like in paying a bit more for this than you were before, you're getting something you wouldn't otherwise be getting. But I really will emphasize, I do think this is worth it. I think it is worth it to subscribe to The Times, which, in my view, is the best bundle in journalism. It is why I'm here and why I'm proud to be here. And if you just love audio and that's how you do your job, I think there's a lot in The Times audio bundle that will be worth it to you, too. And we'll be highlighting some of that in the coming weeks. As we get closer, there will be webpages I can direct you to about how the signup flow will happen. Apple Podcasts and Spotify have, at this point, really strong processes for signing up. They will remind you and they will make it so you know it when you're hitting the paywall and you know how to subscribe or put in your name. So thank you for your support that you've given us so far. And hopefully we're going to make this worth it to you in the coming months and years.