THE SWAMP LOG

Your weekly dispatch from the nation's capital

EDITOR’S NOTE: Introducing The Swamp Log: Washington is the seat of power for the most influential country on the globe, but reading about the city somehow always feels like homework. Shouldn’t palace intrigue be … intriguing?

Washington’s morning newsletters are the source and instrument of the city’s blinkered narratives. You know the ones. A “consummate insider” prates about the city’s bloodthirsty lobbies, sclerotic politicians and tyrannical bureaucrats in copy as stale as the air in a Senate cloakroom. But there are fascinating stories going on in Washington: courageous officials battling the managerial class/state and spineless ones succumbing to it, intraparty struggles for dominance, and face-melting corruption.

It’s just that our uniparty press is not capable of meeting the moment. Presenting The Swamp Log, a product that demystifies Washington. We’re not insiders trading elite knowledge for a price. We’re out to prove that with public resources and a mind uncluttered by Washington’s toxic conventional wisdom, anyone can understand this town. Sometimes it may even be intriguing.

In the future, expect this newsletter to hit your inboxes Monday morning. While the focus of Racket will be on investigative reporting, we hope this will be a fun feature that keeps you up to date on DC without having to tolerate NPR in your Uber or catch all the bewildering clips from Capitol Hill gaggles on X. - Emily Kopp, Editor-In-Chief