It happened on Medium: February 2025 round-up
Essays that moved us, aviation photography, and how to find new and interesting writers to read.
How do you discover new writers on Medium? I love that a pretty big part of my job is being an enthusiastic Medium reader / fan girl. I’m lucky — in my role, I check in with my colleagues to ask “what have you read recently?,” and I always use those moments to get their tips and tricks on finding new writers on the platform.
When asked that question of how to find new and interesting writers, responses seem to cluster around a few main themes: Take a look at a story’s responses and go read the writing of the person providing the most interesting feedback. Or go deep on our Staff Picks, where said colleagues flag the pieces that have made them think or smile or cry over the last few weeks, or make sure you’re subscribed to our Medium Newsletter, where we aim to deepen your understanding every weekday morning. Or explore your Medium homepage by spending a few minutes scrolling your “For You” selections tab to see if any new voices pop up that tickle your brain.
Speaking of your Medium homepage, if going deep in your tabs is a favorite way to discover new writing, we’ve got something new for you to check out. Our team recently added a “Featured” tab–which you’ll see if you are logged in and go to Medium.com or open your Medium app–where you can scroll through all of the stories that publication editors have chosen to feature for their readers. Personally, it’s my new go-to way to keep up with my favorite publications, as well as discover new writers I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading, and where I’m now starting my Medium reading day every day when I log on.
With everything going on right now, I’m trying to read as many new and curious voices as I can — and I’m grateful that this community of writers has so much to share.
Happy reading!
— Amy Widdowson, VP Communications
Platform and product updates
Lots of small but mighty additions to publications:
- The story page now better shows publication information and a more prominent follow button.
- We’ve simplified publication navigation on a story page
- With Featured stories, editors now have the ability to send notifications when stories are featured
- As mentioned above, for writers and readers, there’s a new tab on your homepage that showcases the Featured stories of the publications you follow
In highlights, we’ve added:
- Small changes that help the writer easily see activity and responses and better help the reader jump into conversations
- The ability to hide highlights while reading a story
What we couldn’t stop reading
Over eight days in February, author Jon Krakauer published chapters of a response to a public controversy around his 1997 book “Into Thin Air.” Start reading here: “The YouTuber on a Mission to Trash My Book: Chapter One”
Selected top highlights from February
“When did we forget how to do something purely for its own sake?”
“If this Act becomes law, the National Organization for Women estimates that 34% of female voters could be turned away at the polls for incorrect paperwork. And most of them won’t know it until it’s too late.”
“Am I underdressed,
or under duress?”
“So, again, how could it be ‘irrational’ for anyone to have strong feelings about that?”
- Gladys of Monmouth in her 2024 piece on what it felt like to work at the Capitol on January 6th.
From the Medium Newsletter
The most clicked February issue of the Medium Newsletter was #279, “The most moving essay I’ve ever read,” and the most-read was #260, “Being a ‘learn-it-all’ will get you way further than being a ‘know-it-all.’” And while you’re here, you should check out Medium Newsletter editor Harris Sockel as a guest on NPR’s “It’s Been A Minute”, where he discusses issue #222, “Untangling the “male loneliness epidemic.”
New writers, long reads
Grab a seat and your favorite hot beverage, and settle in for a good long while.
- For the reader interested in learning more about recent events: “Constitutional Erosion: Two Weeks of Rapid Government Structure Change” by Damian Manda
- For the reader who’s dreaming up the next big idea that could change your life: “To future entrepreneurs in health tech” by executive Mark Cavage
- For the reader obsessed with data visualization: “fastplotlib: driving scientific discovery through data visualization” by Caitlin Lewis
- For the reader implementing enterprise-scale software systems: “Micro Frontends with Angular and Native Federation” by consultant Manfred Steyer in Angular Blog
- For the reader curious about how tech companies change when moving from small to massive scale: “Buckle Up: What Meta’s Leaked All-Hands Meeting Reveals About Scaling Smart and Staying Ahead” by researcher, analyst, and CEO K.W. Hampton, PhD, MPA in The Preamble
- For the reader with their eyes on the weather report: “The Day We Chose Ignorance: NOAA, Science, and the Price of Stupidity” by documentary producer David J Ruck
- For the reader looking for visual inspiration: “At sea with the Black Knight” by aviation photographer EYE IN THE SKY
- For the reader looking for a better way forward: “A Radical Proposal for Modernizing U.S. Foreign Assistance” by retired USAID foreign service officer Patrick Fine
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For more great stories from Medium’s writers and publications, check out our Staff Picks. To learn something new from Medium writers every weekday, subscribe to the Medium Newsletter.
