Substacks recommended by Jonathan P. Thompson

Recommended by Jonathan P. Thompson

Lands Lost

Public Domain

Investigative reporting on public lands, wildlife and government

Water Agenda

By Hank Stephenson

The Water Agenda is a weekly newsletter covering water policy in Arizona.

Conservation Works

By Michelle Nijhuis

News & ideas for ecological repair

Earth Hope🌎

By Amanda Royal

Collecting environmental success stories from around the globe, because hope is the foundation of progress. Writing solutions-based eco-news seasoned with media critique. Focusing on solutions. Inspiring action.

Wonkette

By Rebecca Schoenkopf

Wonkette is filthy, hilarious, liberal news. YOU CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH!

Invisible Waters

By Daniel Rothberg

Research, writing, and history on our relationship to water in the Western U.S. and arid places.

All At Once by Dr. Len

By Len Necefer

The internet brought to you all at once. A focus on environmental topics, indigenous issues, technology, politics, and humor.

Forgotten Lands Project

By Josh Jackson

Written and visual dispatches from our least understood, least protected, and largely unknown public lands managed by the BLM. Part guidebook, inspiration, and travelogue.

More Than Just Parks

Public lands face mounting threats: exploitation, overcrowding, underfunding, privatization, climate, & policies that prioritize profit over preservation. Written by award-winning filmmakers & conservationists, the Pattiz Brothers.

How Things Work

By Hamilton Nolan

Labor, politics, and power.

Ag Data News

By Aaron Smith

Agriculture, Economics, and Data

The Civil Conversations Project

By Wayne Hare

Changing the narrative that America tells itself about race.

Mountain Running & Living

By Sarah Lavender Smith

Personal essays with practical advice about trail running, mountain life & midlife grit.

Ausländer

By Wendy and Jonathan

Dispatches from a life, abroad. By Wendy and Jonathan Thompson.

Keep track of the zany adventures of Wendy and Jonathan (of the Land Desk).

- Jonathan P. Thompson

Arizona Agenda

By Nicole Ludden

The Arizona Agenda makes you a smarter citizen. Get the free daily briefing that takes you behind the scenes in Arizona politics, to where the decisions are made.

Posse Comitatus

By Jessica Pishko

Sheriffs and the Political Power of Law Enforcement

SoCal Water Wars

By John Earl

A local and reliable source of investigative journalism and in-depth reporting about SoCal water wars

The Truth Does Not Change According to Our Ability to Stomach It

By Leah Sottile

Journalism + Essays + Thoughts on Writing from Leah Sottile

Sage and Sand

By Patrick Donnelly

Notes on the fight for desert biodiversity in the Great Basin and Mojave deserts, from the edge of Death Valley

Patrick is a passionate desert defender who deeply understands the issues facing the arid ecosystems of the West.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

The Utah Monthly

Thoughtful perspectives on all things Utah.

Wild Words

By Morgan Sjogren

Writing about Western lands and water––past, present, future––from the heart of the desert. 🤎

Mo's the consummate desert-canyon rat and her writing lovingly captures the spirit of Standing Up Country.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

Green Rocks

By Ian

A newsletter that doesn't want dirty mining to ruin clean energy

Ian has a uniquely intelligent perspective on a controversial, complicated, and important issue.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

WILDERNESS

By River Selby (they/them)

Historical and current perspectives on conceptions of wilderness, ecology, and fire-suppression, written by River Selby, author of HOTSHOT, doctoral candidate, and former firefighter.

Fires is an insider look (written by a former hotshot) at the complex world of wildfires, what's fueling them, and at the often confounding politics surrounding fire-suppression and prevention.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

Wordloaf

By Andrew Janjigian

A twice-weekly, IACP-nominated breaducational newsletter from Andrew Janjigian. (Find new posts at newsletter.wordloaf.org.) "Pedantic crap!" — A (former) reader

GODDAMN BUFFALO

By John Hamilton Farr

PERSONAL ESSAYS & VISIONS by writer, artist, photographer, musician in Taos, NM.

Great photos and observations from an old adobe in northern New Mexico.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

The K Paoletter

By Kyle Paoletta

Monthly commentary on history, climate change, political tom-foolery, literature, and the media from the author of American Oasis: Finding the Future in the Cities of the Southwest (out January 14th, 2025 on Pantheon).

Letters from an American

By Heather Cox Richardson

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

An Irritable Métis

By Chris La Tray

Email newsletter from Chris La Tray, member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, author of "Becoming Little Shell" from Milkweed Editions (8/20/2024), and 2023–2025 Montana Poet Laureate.

Letters From the Desert

By Letters From The Desert

Natural history, environmental issues, and other ruminations from the Mojave Desert by Chris Clarke

Chris knows and loves and fights for the Mojave Desert and illuminates its beauty with lovely words.

- Jonathan P. Thompson

Revolving Door Project Newsletter

The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes the subtler ways corporate wealth corrupts our politics, starting with the federal executive branch and branching out to the federal judiciary, economic media, and state constitutional officers.

The Land Desk

Recommended by Jonathan P. Thompson