“I have to tell you that [Chris Riback’s Newsletter] has “won the battle” of my morning emails.  Yours is the only one I read now, and it is ALWAYS informative.  Truly.  I count on learning something new when I read it, and I look forward to its arrival.”

— Reader email, Cathy K.

About Chris Riback’s Newsletter

My thesis for this newsletter is straightforward: 

  • There is too much content. We all need a good editor. I can be one.

My goal is to help readers: Save time and stay smarter.

To do this, 6 days a week I offer the ideas, trends and events you need to know. I read (mostly) everything so you don’t have to. I try to factor in: What you surely already know, what you might have missed, and what bears repeating — but with a boiled-down emphasis on what’s essential. I try to add engaging videos, tweets, graphs, and more.

I also try to show as little bias as possible, connecting insights from multiple sources — even when covering a single topic. Of course, little bias ≠ no editorial judgment.

Why subscribe?

The key reason – Because my thesis and goal resonate with you:

  • There’s too much news; good news judgement matters; and you’re a smart person who wants to stay that way.

I hope what makes the newsletter useful isn’t what I read, but rather how I edit. A great briefing does more than explain what you should know — it omits what you don’t need to know.

That approach is the exact opposite of most media properties, whose business model depends on endless content (more web pages = more ads to be sold against those pages). I have to earn and keep trust with my subscribers: Here’s what matters; here’s how it connects; I won’t waste your time.

Subscribers support the ongoing creation of this newsletter and podcasts.

Members also exclusively get:

  • Edited digest of the day’s smart ideas & news with daily delivery scheduled M-F at 7 am ET and Sundays at 8 am ET

  • My very popular “Smart Links” and “Good News” sections to keep your spirits up

  • Trial Balloon: Weekly podcast with Political Wire that rises above the political chatter

  • Occasional podcasts + transcripts of my Chris Riback’s Conversations. Guests include Nobel Prize winners, US National Medal of Science laureates, CEOs, scientists, technologists, Congress members, Presidential Cabinet members, economists, academics, educators, etc. I’ve been very fortunate to access some of the top thinkers of our day.

  • Augmented offers including live events, books, and access to additional content.

About Me

I’m a digital media entrepreneur.

In addition to Chris Riback’s Newsletter, I host Chris Riback’s Conversations, live events (Harvard Kennedy School, Cornell University’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, and others), and several other podcasts and content sites on business, technology, health care, education, and more.

I started life as a journalist, working in broadcast news, print and web. Stops included CBS 60 Minutes, ABC News, the AP… as well as CBS Sports in the US and overseas. I reported from North Carolina tobacco fields, Kentucky emergency rooms, Georgia prisons, the Albertville Winter Olympics, post-Ceaușescu Romanian coal mines, and many other locations.

I am co-author of You Won, Now What? How Americans Can Make Democracy Work from City Hall to the White House (Scribner), a political management book widely hailed by prominent politicians and journalists as a must-read for “anyone seeking to understand how American politics operates.” I was co-founder of Political Insider, one of the first political websites.

I have a wife, three kids, and some friends.

Me

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