Things Worth Paying For
The incentive structure of what you pay for matters. These suggestions align with what this site argues. Referral relationships disclosed in full.
This site earns small affiliate commissions from Bookshop.org links. All other recommendations are editorially independent — no payment received. Commissions fund hosting costs; full financial transparency is on the Donate page.
Quality journalism
Subscribing to investigative journalism creates a financial incentive structure that does not depend on engagement metrics or advertising. The Guardian (theguardian.com) — reader-supported, independent, correction-transparent. The Correspondent (thecorrespondent.com) — member-funded, slow journalism, no breaking news. De Correspondent (decorrespondent.nl) — the Dutch original, for Dutch readers.
Books
When buying books from the reading list, use Bookshop.org rather than Amazon. Bookshop.org was created to support independent bookshops as an alternative to Amazon — consistent with what this site argues about incentive structures. We earn a small commission and disclose it openly.
Privacy
Proton (proton.me) — Email, calendar, VPN, and cloud storage with end-to-end encryption. Swiss-based, privacy-first, non-advertising business model. Paid plans start at €4/month. Free tier available.
Kagi (kagi.com) — Search engine funded by subscriptions rather than advertising. From $5/month. The incentive structure is aligned with user interests rather than advertiser interests.
Education
The Bad News game (getbadnews.com) is free. Cambridge University's prebunking curriculum is free. The books on the reading list are available through libraries — checking them out supports the library system and costs nothing.