217: ‘Our Name Is Our Address’ With Jason Kottke

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: A wide-ranging conversation marks kotke.org’s 20-year milestone by tracing the evolution of blogging, web publishing, and independent media. The speakers compare their careers, discuss why some writers avoid calling themselves “writers,” reflect on 9/11’s impact on blogging, mourn influential peers like Dean Allen, and examine the economics of sustaining a site through memberships, ads, RSS, and newsletters.

Main Topics: Kotke.org at 20 years and the meaning of blogging (Priority: 5/5): The discussion centers on Jason Kottke’s site reaching 20 years, how the blog format emerged, and why the site still feels like an extension of his personality rather than a conventional publication. Writer identity vs. blogger identity (Priority: 5/5): They debate what it means to be a writer, arguing that there’s no single hierarchy of legitimacy and that blogging is a distinct form with its own strengths and natural length. Early web design, formatting, and site evolution (Priority: 4/5): The conversation revisits Oscillate, splash pages, hand-coded HTML, FTP workflows, and the transition to blogging platforms like Blogger and Movable Type. 9/11 as a turning point for blogging and online news (Priority: 5/5): They reflect on personal experiences of 9/11 and how blogging became a powerful medium for live, link-driven sensemaking during a national crisis. Dean Allen, Textism, and the art of elegant short-form writing (Priority: 4/5): They celebrate Dean Allen’s influence, his beautifully designed sites, and his ability to write concise, layered, and enigmatic posts that inspired both speakers. Business models: memberships, ads, newsletters, and sustainability (Priority: 5/5): A long section compares membership programs, sponsorships, paywalls, newsletters, and direct reader support as ways to fund independent publishing. Design, mobile responsiveness, and the future of the sites (Priority: 4/5): They discuss site redesigns, mobile traffic, the burden of legacy designs, and the difficulty of making changes that feel both necessary and permanent.

Key Arguments: Blogging’s strength is that posts can be exactly as long as they need to be, unlike the fixed length of newspaper columns or the expansive demands of a book. The best bloggers are not necessarily “lesser” writers than novelists; they are working in a different medium with different goals and constraints. 9/11 demonstrated that blogs were uniquely suited for immediate, link-rich synthesis of sprawling events and helped accelerate political blogging. Direct reader funding feels more stable and freeing than ad-dependent publishing because it reduces pressure to optimize for page views. A strong site design can become a durable personal identity, but older designs can become resistant to mobile and responsive modernization. Many writers and publishers quit blogging because life events, full-time jobs, and startups made sustained independent publishing harder without financial support. The Internet Archive and persistent URL structures matter because link rot destroys the web’s historical memory; Amazon stands out for preserving old links through redirects.

Data Points: kotke.org age: 20 years - The anniversary prompting the conversation Daring Fireball launch: August 2002 - Referenced during discussion of the site’s origins Going full-time on kotke.org: February 2005 - Jason Kottke’s transition to working on the site full time Going full-time on Daring Fireball: 2006 - Comparison point from the interviewer Initial t-shirt revenue: about $30,000 - Early fundraising that helped launch Daring Fireball full-time Membership tiers: $30/year, $60/year, $600/year - Kotke.org membership options discussed Membership support share: more than 50% of revenue - Jason says memberships now provide the majority of kotke.org income Traffic impact from 9/11: 50% increase within three days - Jason’s site traffic rose sharply after 9/11 and stayed elevated Podcast sponsor runtime: 15 to 20 minutes - Tech Meme Ride Home format mentioned during the ad break Podcast sponsor frequency: Monday to Friday - Tech Meme Ride Home posts on weekdays Interview duration: about 2 hours 15 minutes - The conversation runs long, prompting a joking complaint about rambling Guest host count: more than a dozen - Jason has had many guest hosts over the years

Pivotal Quotes: "I just feel like my primary interest is like, I want to share this thing with you." — Jason Kottke: Explaining why he considers himself a blogger rather than a conventional writer "If you bet against text, you will lose." — Jason Kottke (quoting Tim Carmody): Discussing the continuing importance of text even as video becomes more central "I think without that carrot in front of me, it would have been too hard to keep going." — Jason Kottke: Describing how full-time support made sustained publishing possible

Implications: Independent publishing remains viable when it combines durable identity, flexible formats, and reader support. The future likely belongs to creators who mix text, media, and direct funding without losing editorial freedom.