FYI: Links is currently on parental leave
But I'll still be in your inbox periodically!
Lately I’ve been taking prenatal yoga at a hospital up the street. The tiny class meets in a grim, greige conference room otherwise devoted to Lamaze and infant car seat safety. Last week, while we waited for the fourth yogi to arrive — again, it’s a tiny class! — the teacher asked me and my two other classmates about our work environments. Were we on our feet a lot? Were the leave policies good? Did we have the support of our bosses and our coworkers?
The other two women said yes, they did — they work at a bank and a school. These conversations are always trickier for me, because the “what” and “where” of my work aren’t super-familiar to most people. I’m a journalist, I explained, but I’m self-employed — I mostly work by myself from home. But holy shit, have my “bosses” also been wonderful.
Since I announced my impending maternity leave on March 13, I’ve been flooded with well wishes and advice from readers all over the world. Dozens of people forwarded the newsletter to friends or colleagues or shared it on social media. To date, 90 of you have also upgraded to paid subscriptions, which is three-fourths of my pre-leave goal. It’s kind of hard to explain in 30 seconds to a yoga teacher, but … yeah, I feel pretty supported right now!!
I’m working really hard to get back to everyone who sent a personal message or note. Please know, even if I don’t get back to you before Sprout comes — because that could apparently be any moment now?? — that I’m so profoundly and eternally grateful.
Ahead of that, I also wanted to share a few more details about what you can expect from Links during my leave, where you can find me in the interim and answers to some frequently asked questions.
For All Subscribers: Hot Sprout Spring (& Summer)
First things first: schedule stuff. I’m planning to take three months of full-time, more-or-less completely off-the-grid leave, then ramping back up to normal speed over the course of the summer. That means I won’t be publishing our usual weekly round-ups until at least July, and won’t be back at our typical twice weekly cadence until September. But you will continue to see Links in your inbox a couple of times each month ahead of that.
Free subscribers are getting a run of long-forgotten and delightfully nostalgic posts from this newsletter’s very extensive archives, which I’ve spent the last few weeks mining and polishing up. (Surely childbirth has nothing on the psychic pain of revisiting one’s old material!)
Paid supporters will ALSO receive new writing as I’m able to produce it. This writing will differ from our usual fare. For one thing, I anticipate tapping it into my phone while the baby naps; for another, it probably and necessarily won’t be informed by news or current events. I don’t really know what those constraints will yield, or how often, but I’m kind of excited for it: It’s a creative and intellectual challenge that will brute-force me into growing as a writer as I also become a parent. 🙃
For Paid Subscribers: Links I Would Snail-Mail You If We Were Friends
Speaking of creative and intellectual challenges, I’m also sending Links’ first-ever snail-mail zine in late summer. This is a one-time, exclusive thank you for the paid supporters who are making my leave possible. I may make more zines in the future — y’all have no idea how much I love an offline craft — but this particular piece will not be available again.
Paid subscribers will get a link to submit their mailing information in August, when the zine is ready to ship. In other words, if you want the zine, you need to (a) be a current, paid Links subscriber as of August 2025 and (b) respond to the email asking for your address.
But what IS a zine?, you may well be wondering. It’s essentially a self-published, small-batch and extremely DIY print magazine that “offers a respite from the endless onslaught of … digital media.” I last made one in 2011 at the tender age of 21. I recently found a copy in a box of college stuff, and honestly … it was still pretty awesome.
Where to Find Me/How to Reach Me
I’m going completely dark for a bit. But by summer, you can find me posting links and reading recommendations on Substack Notes. Make sure you’re following me over there to get those posts.
If you need to reach me before then or for any other reason — including pitches, subscription questions, partnership inquiries, existential crises, etc. — please email linksiwouldgchatyou at gmail.com. My dear friend Ryan Kellett is manning that inbox during my leave, which is frankly like having a major-league coach fill in at the Little League level. Y’all should really take advantage of that! Hit Ryan with your hardest, Harvard-iest media questions.
Other More-or-Less Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get my weekly links fix while you’re out?
I’M SO GLAD YOU ASKED. And so delighted to recommend some internet friends and acquaintances:
Matt Muir’s Web Curios is my single favorite curatorial newsletter. Overwhelming in the very best way. (Check out Matt’s best links of 2024 from December.)
The Sunday Long Read is an invaluable weekend round-up of longform journalism from outlets large and small.
Rusty Foster’s Today In Tabs, the GOAT of all links newsletters, is coincidentally also on hiatus. That timing is poor! But perhaps you’d like to subscribe to his hiking newsletter.
- publishes exhaustive round-ups of digital culture news in her newsletter, User Mag, on top of lots of scoopy reporting and analysis.
You can also find many, MANY more reading suggestions via the favorite newsletter’s favorite newsletters map, which remains Links’ most popular (and arguably, most chaotic) edition.
Can I customize the content I get from Links?
During my leave and always — yes. You can access your full subscription settings, and opt-in/out of specific Links verticals, from the Substack account tab. In particular, if you toggle off the “BRB” button under the “notifications” heading, you will not receive any new writing that I publish during leave, which may discuss Sprout or parenting. I don’t anticipate writing on those topics ALL that often — see question below — but I want to be extra-sensitive to readers who might be experiencing fertility challenges or loss of their own.
Are you going to write a lot about parenting now?
I plan to write about my personal life at the same rate and intensity that I do now. In other words, it does come up … and it inevitably shapes my perspective and cultural interests … but it’s not, and will never be, this newsletter’s focus.
Are you accepting pitches or submissions from guest contributors?
Guest contributions aren’t part of my plan for leave right now, but that could change if for some reason I’m out longer than I expect. Interested writers can fill out this very short form so that I have your contact information.
Do you have a baby registry?
This sounds like one of those fake FAQ questions that people make up to flatter themselves … but it is actually, unbelievably, the most (!) frequent question I’ve gotten. Y’all truly are the best bosses.
The short answer: Thank you so very much, but no — our friends and family got us lots of baby stuff. (Baby showers: The closest most Americans will ever get to socialism!)
The longer answer: The best way to support us and Sprout is by becoming a paid subscriber, upgrading from a paid subscription to a founding subscription or gifting a subscription to a friend. That money flows directly to a business bank account from which I cut myself a paycheck every other week and pay all the newsletter’s ongoing expenses. So your subscription very literally supports the long-term financial health of Links AND buys all kinds of other shit for our household: snot-suckers, pacifiers, board books, diapers of the baby and postpartum variety, etc. You can start a new subscription or upgrade your existing subscription here.
If you have a question I didn’t answer, please shoot me an email and Ryan or I will get back to you ASAP. Barring that, thanks again for your love and support while I’m on leave. Whether you’re a longtime subscriber or you just found Links, I appreciate you and look forward to connecting again in a couple of months.
Warmest-ever virtual regards,
Caitlin
P.S. A final link from one pal to another: Here’s where you can also make your own AIM-style away message.