Editor’s note: I’d love to hear what you thought of this special Big Story—anything surprising, interesting, amusing, umm, confusing? And how do you see splainer? Do let me know at lakshmi@splainer.in.

First, WTF is going on with the dog?

Let’s start with the really pressing question on the mind of any new subscriber: Why does this news product have a dog everywhere on their website?  For starters, that’s Khabri—named by our subscribers, btw, not us. And he is the perfect mascot for splainer and sums up our relationship with you. We are also loyal, trustworthy and friendly—and super-smart, as all mutts are lol! 

We have a direct personal relationship with our subscribers that we take very seriously. This is why our team email is called talktous@splainer.in—and that’s exactly what you should do. Talk to us. 

Our subscribers routinely write in with suggestions for items, big stories, sanity breaks—and complain about stuff they think we got wrong. Some recent examples: beating up on Elon Musk and not paying enough attention to Palestine. We are always listening, talking right back—and most importantly, getting better at what we do for you. 

Also this: Khabri is ridiculously cute, as you can plainly see in our lead image today.

Video to note: Nothing better sums up our relationship with our subscribers than the birthday bash we recently hosted in Bangalore. So many people came out to just hang with each other and the team. We don’t know any other media brand that has so much fun with their subscribers:)

Why does splainer even exist?

This is a very good question. News is everywhere, right? Endless app notifications, all over social media, on television, even WhatsApp. This is the era of ‘news pollution’—there is so much clickbait, fake news, angry rants. The digital revolution has brought us a tsunami of  information—good and bad! Do you really need yet another news source when all of us are drowning in news?

Our answer is ‘yes’—and it has little to do with ‘news’ as a category, be it in your mind or out there in the world. Let us explain why—because we clearly can’t help ourselves:) This is what we’re trying to solve:

Problem #1: Contrary to popular belief, there is plenty of good information out there. But we have a problem of ‘too much’. Every day, people are being deluged by so much content—good, bad and mediocre. But we all have lives filled with work, play, chores, family, friends etc. We don’t have time, energy or even interest to sift through all the noise to understand what is happening in the world. The irony: we have more information than ever in human history, yet we find that we find it harder than ever to be well-informed.

Splainer’s goal: is to do the heavy lifting every day for you—sifting through all the junk, drama and pop-up ads (🙄) out there so you don’t have to. We scan through 100-plus sources each day to find what is relevant, valuable and interesting. No single news product anywhere in the world matches the sheer breadth of our sources—from The Guardian to Hollywood Reporter, Indian Express, South China Morning Post, and The Cut. We want to make it pleasant, even enjoyable to know what’s up with the world.

Problem #2: It is conventional wisdom to say “we live in a polarised world.” We disagree. We would instead say “we live in a polarising world”—as in everything is structured to create two ‘sides’ and everyone is expected to pick one or the other. This is true of politics, news and social media. 

The moment anything happens anywhere in the world, the noisiest folks determine its meaning—and what opinion you must have on the matter. If we do not share that opinion, or if we are still unsure—or there are any nuances or caveats to our support–-then we run the risk of being labelled or dismissed. A good example: Even a celebrity lawsuit like Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp has become a litmus test for personal values. 

Splainer’s goal: is to treat each of our subscribers as thinking human beings. We offer the best, verifiable facts. Our aim is not to trigger outrage or anger or fear—though that may be what you feel sometimes when you read or watch something. Our intent is to give you room to make up your own mind, in your own space and in your own time. We also hold this to be true: well-meaning people who share the same set of values can disagree. There aren’t just two ‘teams’ or ‘sides’ to anything as complex as human existence. 

FYI: Our mantra is best summed up by Madonna’s immortal words: ‘Papa Don’t Preach’. 

Point to note: We are not shy about what we stand for. We strongly believe in a set of core democratic values—including equality, inclusiveness, personal freedom—and the Constitution. These values shape our editorial judgement and our mission. We also believe that democracies cannot thrive when citizens don’t have good information. We are therefore deeply committed to bringing you the best available facts. This is also why everything we write is carefully fact-checked and linked to its source—so you can decide whether to give it credence or not. 

Problem #3: We’re all a bit tired of the bad news. This is a big one, especially these days—after years of a pandemic, in the midst of the Ukraine invasion, climate change, and economic fears. It’s tempting to just block out the world. There’s been many a morning where we personally want to stay in bed—not rise up at the crack of dawn and wade into details of a another Hindu-Muslim row or Covid scare or war… again! Information fatigue is real. 

Splainer’s goal: is to always remind you that the world isn’t a sum of our fears. There is so much that is delightful, intriguing, inspiring and just plain lovely—in nature, art, science, technology or history. We are immensely lucky to be right here, right now. Also: there is no greater skill of self-preservation than a sense of humour:) 

This is why our Sanity Breaks, Smart & Curious, Reading Habit and Feel Good Place sections exist. This is also why we have partnered with The Heritage Lab, Urbanaut and Champaca to create wonderful weekend newsletters—all of which nudge us to remember that our world is worth cherishing and preserving. 

Very nice, but who are you people?

Lol! If you want a serious answer, they’re available on our Meet the Team page. We have suitably respectable resumés. But here are more important things you really need to know about us:

One: We are a team of four women plus one man (bechara Ishaan)—who hopefully will have more company in the future. We all work remotely and are spread across the country. Lakshmi and Ishaan live in Bangalore—while Vagda is in Jaipur, Sara in Kochi and Prafula in Faridabad. Our current trainee Sheya is in Pune. Sadly, our team photos require serious photoshopping, like so (L to R: Prafula, Sara & Vagda):

But, hey, every once in a while, some of us manage to meet in one place and take a bad selfie (L to R: Ishaan, Sara and Lakshmi):

Truth be told, despite the distance, we are absurdly bonded to one another. Call it the magic of incessant WhatsApp messages and Zoom calls.

Two: Thanks to splainer’s insatiable demands, we keep odd hours. Our first shift starts at 6 am and lasts until about noon—when we take a break and chill. Then we start again around 3:30 pm to start on the next day’s edition. Our only full day off is Saturday. This is what our average mood board looks like… Yes, our editor is a panicked raccoon. 

Three: While we may look cute (and we do), our real aim is global domination! We are building the first out-of-India global product for 40 million global Indians around the world. We’re not really a newsletter or news publication or ‘news’ anything—though you’re welcome to call us anything you want. Our real intent is to help you be well-informed about your world—in the best and broadest sense of the word. News is one part of it. And we want to make the experience effortless and enjoyable—so you look forward to your daily edition every day. 

Umm, are you expecting a birthday present?

Yes, we’re totally setting you up:) The answer is a big ‘Yes’. Anything you do to help us grow is a gift to us. And here are four we’d totally appreciate:

• Gift a subscription to a friend, colleague or family member.
• Become a founding member—giving between Rs 3-10K—to support our growth as a company.
• Cost-free option: Just share your referral link everywhere you can so folks can try us for one month absolutely free. It’s right below the daily quote up top on browser and email—or at the end of every section if you’re reading us on the app.
• Let us know if we can partner with your organisation or community to offer a bulk discount.

The bottomline: Splainer would never have been born without the love, support and money of our subscribers—especially our generous founding members. So we leave you with this little ‘thank you’ speech from our editor—given at our birthday bash last weekend: