What this is

Blogging changed.

The world where I was directly connected to readers, going back and forth in the comments section, with tons of regulars returning every day, and us growing together, is mostly gone. Blogging has become a way to grab new customers, to use SEO to capture new people Googling specific topics. Most of the blogs you see nowadays aren’t written because the author had something interesting to say, but because they’re trying to hit specific keywords. Even that is changing as AI summaries in the results scratch most of the itches searchers have.

I’m not saying that hasn’t always been part of it. It has. But the daily reader, the regular person who comes back time and time again and treats the blog like a town square where they develop relationships? They’ve disappeared. Moved onto other pastures.

Mark’s Daily Apple will remain. We’ll keep putting up content for it. But the regular MDA reader is gone. Most have migrated to social media or newsletters.

So here I am. Mark’s Daily Apple is owned by Kraft. While our missions are aligned around nutrition and food (that’s why I agreed to sell Primal Kitchen to them), I don’t always write about topics that fit neatly into that niche. Some of the things I want to write about don’t have enough Google traffic to justify a post. Some of them aren’t directly related to conventional ideas of health, nutrition, or fitness. Some are a little political.

That’s why I’m starting Untethered.

This is a place where I can write about what I want to write about. No one breathing down my neck. No guardrails beyond the ones I build myself. It’s a place where I can connect with readers and subscribers in a way that feels real again. And it’s a place where you can ask me questions and I can answer them. AMAs, “Dear Mark”s, even in person meet-ups for paid subscribers…

This is my solo, unfiltered voice. Not a project linked to Primal Kitchen or Kraft. This is just me, Mark Sisson, untethered and unfiltered.

Thanks for subscribing.