blog: Unsubscibe from Everything December

src/content/blog/2026-01-11-unsubscribe-from-everything-december.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+---
+title: '"Unsubscribe from everything" December'
+date: 2026-01-11T16:55:48.239Z
+slug: 2026-01-11-unsubscribe-from-everything-december
+author: Thomas Wilson
+
+---
+I am on so many mailing lists (sometimes I'm inexplicably on the same list twice).  A lot of very committed marketing teams want to tell me regularly about all the great prices I can get on bread flour, language learning apps, newsletter subscriptions, mortgages, and anything else.  
+
+I'm tired.  I can't open, unsubscribe, and delete these emails every day of every month of a year.  But for the last couple of years, December has been my month of resolve.  Every email that hits my inbox gets an actual looking at.  Unless I get genuine joy or utility from it: it's going away.  
+
+I was shocked by how *many* emails I was getting, a soon as I started paying attention.  So many emails that mean nothing to me, but take up attention, energy, and water.  
+
+This year I also extended it to my monthly media subscriptions.  Anything that I take joy from, and get real value from, I have converted to a yearly subscription.  Anything else, I got rid of.  
+
+The amount of money I will save each month by not paying for these now-cancelled subscriptions pays for over half the "monthly" cost of these annual subscriptions.  I'm not saying that I'm getting things for free, but the maths *is* persuasive.  
+
+After this cull, I'm left with a handful of newsletters and media organisations that I am happy to support:
+
+- [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/) membership ($50/yr).  They recently released their ad free podcasts.  The twice-weekly episodes of The Vergecast make this price a no-brainer, but their written coverage of culture, media, and tech (read: therefore the economy (read: therefore politics)) are fantastic.  I am very happy to support independent media of this standard *and* at this price.  I particularly like the weekly *Installer* Newsletter.
+- [Leena Norms](https://www.patreon.com/c/thegumptionclub) (£35/yr, but this tier has been discontinued).  Leena is a UK-based creator who speaks about literature, the climate emergency, and sewing.  Marvellous.
+- [If Books Could Kill](https://www.patreon.com/cw/IfBooksPod) ($50/yr).  This monthly-ish podcast takes the question we should all be asking ourselves: "is that true?" and just sort of runs with it.  Of all the podcasts I listen to, this one has the highest chance of making my cackle out loud to myself while I'm on a bike ride, or whatever.
+- [Connected Pro](https://www.relay.fm/connected) ($70/yr).  A weekly podcast about technology news.  The vibes are great, and opinions are always well-considered.  Run by an independent company with founded in the States and UK. 
+- [Garbage Day Newsletter](https://www.garbageday.email/) ($45/yr).  A US-based independent newsletter focusing on the "chronically online".  Very focused on the States but Ryan, the founder, has such a deep knowledge of everything terrible that ever happened online I'm impressed but I'm never sure if that makes him *okay*.  You know?
+- [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/) (£12/mo, no annual digital plan).  Their "All-Access Digital" plan only has a monthly option, but grants access to their app, their food app (Feast, which has a good body of plant-based), and ad-free reading.  Ideally we should all be paying for our journalism and news coverage in a way that doesn't incentivise engagement (e.g. click bait).

src/routes/+layout.svelte

@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@
       value.text
     );
 
+    document.documentElement.style.setProperty(
+      "--colour-scheme-text-secondary",
+      value.textSecondary
+    );
+
+    document.documentElement.style.setProperty(
+      "--colour-scheme-border",
+      value.border
+    );
+
     document.documentElement.style.setProperty(
       "--colour-scheme-background-accent",
       value.backgroundAccent

src/routes/blog/[slug]/+page.svelte

@@ -66,7 +66,12 @@
 
   <article id="article">
     {@html post.content}
-    <a href="/blog">See other articles</a>
+    <div id="disclosure">
+      <a id="see-other-articles" href="/blog">See other articles</a>
+      <br />
+      Everything written here, on my personal blog, is just that: personal. Nothing
+      here reflects, or is endorsed by, my current or previous employers.
+    </div>
   </article>
 </main>
 
@@ -154,6 +159,19 @@
     letter-spacing: -0.5px;
   }
 
+  :global(#article #disclosure) {
+    padding: 4px;
+    margin-top: 48px;
+    font-size: 0.9rem;
+    color: var(--colour-scheme-text-secondary);
+    border-top: 1px solid var(--colour-scheme-border);
+  }
+
+  :global(#article #see-other-articles) {
+    padding-bottom: 4px;
+    display: inline-block;
+  }
+
   :global(li) {
     margin: 0;
     line-height: 140%;

src/stores/colourSchemeStore.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ interface ColourScheme {
     backgroundAccent: string;
     text: string;
     textAccent: string;
+    textSecondary: string;
+    border: string;
 }
 
 export const lightColourScheme: ColourScheme = {
@@ -16,6 +18,8 @@ export const lightColourScheme: ColourScheme = {
     backgroundAccent: '#f8f9fa',
     text: '#212529',
     textAccent: '#495057',
+    textSecondary: '#6c757d',
+    border: '#495057',
 };
 
 export const darkColourScheme: ColourScheme = {
@@ -24,6 +28,8 @@ export const darkColourScheme: ColourScheme = {
     backgroundAccent: '#343a40',
     text: '#f8f9fa',
     textAccent: '#ced4da',
+    textSecondary: '#adb5bd',
+    border: '#343a40',
 };
 
 export const colourSchemes: Record<ColourSchemeName, ColourScheme> = {