Welcome to Inner Life

The three of us — Mary Tabor (Only Connect), Joshua Doležal (The Recovering Academic), Sam Kahn (Castalia) — started noticing, in late 2022, that we tended to be commenting on, and reposting from, Substacks of many of the same people. Our feeling was that a network had formed organically, and that it could be fun to see where collaboration would take us.

We chose the name “Inner Life” as a way of describing what we most value and care about, which is the cultivation of the mind and the kinds of conversations that people have in the quiet of their soul. Politics is interesting, headlines are interesting, but what we most want to develop is a hub for people who are writing personally and thoughtfully, are interested in art and aesthetics, and are looking to find authentic ways to express themselves in this new-ish online space.

Our format is pretty simple. We put out one post per week. Each one of the three of us is ‘in charge’ for two consecutive weeks — which usually means putting up one piece of our own and then asking another writer whom we like and respect to post a piece of theirs the following week. We are collaborative but have a very hands-off approach to what anyone else chooses to post.

The hope is that we can help circulate ideas and introduce you to different writers who are worth your time and possibly your paid subscriptions. And this is meant to be communal and collaborative, so please do reach out to us with posts of your own that you think we should consider cross-posting or with recommendations of writers you think we should be reading. 

Welcome to a place to discover thoughts and ideas — a place where you can participate in the unending conversation.

All best,

Mary, Josh, Sam