If you are a new subscriber, welcome aboard the Foghorn Express.
It looks like 2026 is going to be a wild trip down the tracks.
But honestly, thank you for jumping on this ride with me. This isn’t just another newsletter; it’s a little corner of the world where we get to step beyond the fog together -- past the censorship, spin, and carefully curated confusion -- and actually talk like grownups about what’s really going on.
Here’s what you can expect on The Foghhorn Express:
Candid, unpaywalled reporting and commentary, because your right to be informed isn’t a luxury item.
Stories, investigations, and dots connected from the perspective of someone who has been inside local government and at the mic with the public.
Handholding through the wonky stuff --clear breakdowns of policies, regulations, and power plays so you’re never left scratching your head.
Action items that go where the rubber meets the road: specific calls to contact your reps, template letters, event sign-ups, and grassroots strategies you can deploy tomorrow.
A conversational tone with a bit of tongue-in-cheek edge, because if we can’t laugh while we push back, we’ll burn out.
You’re not just a “subscriber” to this space -- you’re part of a citizenry that still cares enough to look deeper, look for solutions, and refuse to be lulled back to sleep. So grab your metaphorical seat, keep your hands inside the car, and let’s get beyond the fog together.
STOP HOLDING THE TRUTH HOSTAGE
Bloggers, independent journalists, substackers: this is a plea. Not a branding strategy, not a “growth hack,” a plea. In a moment when speech is under open assault and reality is being professionally airbrushed in real time, hiding hard-won reporting behind a paywall is starting to look less like a business model and more like assisted censorship.
We all see it: throttled posts, disappearing channels, “violations” that somehow always land on the wrong side of the narrative. Social media platforms have become chokepoints, and the First Amendment is treated as a suggestion rather than a standard.
If the battlefield is information, then every paywalled investigation, interview, and analysis is a sandbag stacked in front of the very people who most need to get through.
In a war on speech, paywalls function as friendly fire.
WHAT PUBLIC COMMENT TAUGHT ME
For eight years on the Nevada City city council (CA) -- whether wearing the vice mayor, mayor, or councilmember hat -- there was one non‑negotiable: keep people informed.
Not placated, not entertained, informed.
The difference at the podium during public comment was night and day. When people knew the lay of the land -- the playing field, the risks, the opportunities -- they walked up to that mic empowered enough to actually sway votes at the council table.
PAYWALS VS. AN INFORMED CITIZENRY
Translate that local lesson to a national crisis. Right now, Americans are trying to sort out truth from carefully manufactured obfuscation and outright lies. They are wading through propaganda with nothing but intuition and a thumb on a screen.
Remember, information IS power.
And what do we too often do as “independent” media?
We put the information that matters behind a paywall.
We lock the receipts, the exposés, the context -- the very tools of self‑governance -- behind a monthly subscription.
While the buck matters, an informed citizenry matters more.
The republic does not survive on “exclusive content”; it survives on accessible truth.
A DIFFERENT STANDARD: NO PAYWALL
I thrive on the merits of my work and activism, not by paywalling the truth.
That is why nothing on the Foghorn Express -- no exposés, no interviews, no personal or political commentary -- will ever sit behind a paywall. The standard used as a city council member is the same standard carried into this work as a substacker.
If information is powerful enough to change a vote, a policy, or a culture, it is too essential to meter out only to those who can afford “premium access.” The people who most need the signal are usually the ones already being priced out of everything else.
Now, to be clear! I make a part of my living from Substack, so my paid subscribers mean the world to me. However, I never want money to be a barrier to accessing anything I post.
A CALL TO FELLOW JOURNALISTS
This is a direct ask to every sharp, courageous, independent journalist doing remarkable work right now: make 2026 the year the paywalls come tumbling down. Not because money is irrelevant, but because the moment is too consequential to keep the truth gated.
Find support through voluntary subscriptions, donations, events, merchandise -- anything but a tollbooth on vital information. If you want news you never have to worry about losing behind a paywall, you know where to find it: the Foghorn Express is open access by design.
If you find these interviews and articles informative, please become a paid subscriber for under 17¢ a day. I don’t believe in paywalls, but this is how I make a living, so any support is appreciated. If you prefer to send a check, send it to Reinette Senum, PO Box 1972, Nevada City, CA 95959. It’s much appreciated.
