About Changing the Channel
Welcome to the Substack bestseller, Changing the Channel, where New York Times bestselling author Kirsten Powers offers fresh thinking about how we can make big changes in our lives, communities and country.
What you will find here are essays and interviews that challenge core ideas and beliefs many Americans and people in other hyper-capitalist countries take for granted, as well as encouragement for readers to question what seems to be true but often is not. Perhaps, for example, efficiency, productivity, non-stop work and material success are not the most important values to order a life or country around.
Change is only possible once we stop accepting the premises we are taught about what makes for a good and healthy life—individually and communally—and how to create such a life. Unlearning this way of thinking is how I was able to align my life around more life-giving values and I share a lot about my story here to help others who feel as stuck as I once did.
What I’ve learned is that life can be different if you are willing to go outside your comfort zone and try a different way of living.
Hi, I’m Kirsten! I left the (media) circus.
If you are new to my work, I'm a New York Times bestselling author who spent the better part of the last two decades covering politics as an on-air analyst, most recently as a CNN senior political analyst. I also worked as a columnist at USA Today for a decade and before that at the Daily Beast, covering politics, faith and culture. If you use Notes here at Substack, you can follow me here.
My most recent book is Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered and Learn to Coexist With People Who Drive You Nuts. Jon Meacham called it "a great gift at an urgent hour," and Kate Bowler praised Saving Grace as a "courageous call to truth and love existing side by side." I am currently working on on a book for Harper One based on my viral Substack essay, “The Way We Live in the United States is Not Normal.”
Before beginning a career in journalism, I worked in government, the private sector, for nonprofits, and in New York City and state politics. I've been published all over the place.
I was raised in Fairbanks, Alaska but spent most of my adult life on the East Coast (either Washington DC or New York City). I now live in the Puglia region of Italy and I write a lot about what led me to move and what I’m learning a long the way.
How Does This Work?
By signing up as a subscriber, you will never miss a post—essays and interviews will be sent directly to your inbox each week.
Newsletters are sent out once a week, typically on Wednesday or Thursday. Most of the information is shared behind the paywall since writing is my full-time job now, although there will be at least one free post each month. Paying subscribers have access to the entire archive, the ability to join the discussion in the comments section, and exclusive access to the chat. At just $5/month, a subscription is hopefully still less than your coffee order!
We have a great community, which means the comments section is a place to connect, learn and have fun. I do my best to respond or react to every comment.
Hope to see you there!
