Things I’ve built.

Stories

How the Weekly Thing gets made

Nine years of Shortcuts, a summer with a team of four agents on Discord, and then WT Builder, the app that now writes and sends every issue and makes the podcast too.

May 13, 2017 to now · 3 things

In order

  1. Weekly Thing Active

    My weekend newsletter of links with commentary, sent since May 2017 and published as a website, email, and podcast.

    – now Latest commit Oct 28, 2026 2025-11: 42025-12: 22026-01: 22026-02: 32026-03: 22026-04: 1002026-05: 4132026-06: 582026-07: 102026-08: 152026-09: 592026-10: 155
  2. Weekly Thing Workshop Abandoned

    Four AI agents on Discord, Eddy, Linky, Marky and Patty, who helped me edit, research, promote and fund the Weekly Thing in 2026.

    2025-11: 02025-12: 02026-01: 02026-02: 02026-03: 02026-04: 02026-05: 02026-06: 02026-07: 02026-08: 02026-09: 02026-10: 0
  3. WT Builder Active

    The app I use to write and send the Weekly Thing as a website, an email, and a podcast, and to make Another Thing.

    – now Latest commit Oct 27, 2026 2025-11: 02025-12: 02026-01: 02026-02: 02026-03: 02026-04: 02026-05: 02026-06: 02026-07: 12026-08: 772026-09: 2962026-10: 106

For nine years I assembled the Weekly Thing with Shortcuts. It worked, but the workflow “only runs when I engage with it. It is also brittle and ‘one way’.” I wanted help that didn’t wait for me.

In May 2026 I introduced the Weekly Thing Team, four agents on Discord, each with the whole archive as a tool. Eddy edited, Linky researched the links I flagged, Marky brought the newest issue to new readers, and Patty ran the Supporting Membership calls to action. “My words are mine!” I wrote. They were a support team, not writers. Weekly Thing 349, on May 23, 2026, was the first issue made start to finish in the Workshop, “by far the biggest change I’ve ever made to the Weekly Thing automation.”

Then over the summer my work on an Agent Studio “kind of blew up my own publishing process.” What came out of that was WT Builder, which I started building with Claude in July 2026. It keeps an issue structured until it is sent and then renders three editions: the website, the email, and the audio edition for the podcast. Weekly Thing 350, on September 20, 2026, was the first issue made in it, with Claude watching me use it that first time and fixing problems as they came up. In October it took over the Another Thing podcast too, and an MCP server lets Claude follow along as I write and point out typos.

The Workshop lasted four months. It taught me what I actually wanted from the tool that replaced it. I still keep the Shortcuts workflow around as a fallback.

What happened when

  1. launch The first Weekly Thing

    A newsletter experiment begins with issue one. Source

  2. milestone Weekly Thing moves to MailChimp

    Issue 23 is the first sent from MailChimp, after 22 on TinyLetter. Source

  3. milestone Weekly Thing 100

    Issue 100 goes out. Source

  4. milestone Weekly Thing moves to Buttondown

    Issue 131 is the first sent from Buttondown. Source

  5. milestone Weekly Thing 200

    Issue 200 goes out. Source

  6. milestone r/WeeklyThing

    I create a subreddit for discussing issues. Source

  7. milestone Weekly Thing Forum opens

    I open a forum for readers on Ponder. Source

  8. milestone Weekly Thing automation rebuilt

    I rebuild the Weekly Thing workflow as native Shortcuts with Data Jar caching and an automated photo section. Source

  9. milestone Weekly Thing 300

    The 300th issue, seven and a half years after the first. Source

  10. milestone Weekly Thing Forum closes

    Ponder shuts down, and with it the Weekly Thing Forum. Source

  11. launch Yearly Thing 2025 is published

    A year of the Weekly Thing becomes a book, in print from Lulu and as an eBook, organized into ten topic chapters. Source

  12. development Weekly Thing: recorded development begins

    The first commit to the Weekly Thing repository. The idea came before the code. Source

  13. launch New Weekly Thing site and Thingy

    I build a new Weekly Thing website that puts all nine years and 345 issues of the archive on show, with Thingy as its librarian. Source

  14. launch The Weekly Thing Team

    I introduce four Discord agents, Eddy, Linky, Marky and Patty, to help edit, research, promote and fund the Weekly Thing. Source

  15. milestone WT349 made in the Workshop

    The first Weekly Thing made start to finish in the Weekly Thing Workshop. Source

  16. development WT Builder: recorded development begins

    The first commit to the WT Builder repository. The idea came before the code. Source

  17. launch WT350 sent from WT Builder

    First issue fully published from WT Builder. Source

  18. milestone Every issue in audio

    I restructure the Weekly Thing archive and render every issue in audio, so the podcast feed reaches back to the first issue. Source

  19. milestone Two publications, one builder

    Another Thing becomes a second product in WT Builder; its earlier authoring application is retired. Source

  20. milestone Cards for Weekly Thing, Another Thing, and Linking Things

    Every newsletter issue, podcast episode, and saved link starts sharing a card of its own, drawn from its page. Source