Welcome to Trashberg

Whenever anyone asks me what sorts of things I like to write about or what my “beat” is or why am I writing about Newt Gingrich’s neck and will I please stop, I have a hard time coming up with an easy response.

I’m fascinated by the ways politicians use social media—not in a “wow, look at how the information age has democratized our access to lawmakers” sort of way, but in a “wow, this senator keeps accidentally faving amateur drawings of Mario eating Bowser’s ass” sort of way. I love solving virtual mysteries that allow me to get into excruciating detail about absurd topics, like which Supreme Court Justice accidentally flushed during a virtual session or which politicians have secret social media accounts. I’m interested in major media institutions and the ways in which they attempt to perform respectability. And more than anything, I’m still deeply dedicated to getting Kellogg’s to admit that they killed Tony the Tiger’s Twitter account over a constant barrage of aggressively horny replies.

So if I had to narrow it down to a single line, I suppose I’d say Trashberg is about all the grotesque things I love and the infuriating things I hate. But fortunately, I don’t have to narrow it down and can simply say: Trashberg is me, and I’ll be coming to your inbox twice a week. Let’s have some fun.

About Ashley

I’m a writer from Dallas living in Brooklyn, and I’ve worked all over the place, specifically: Gawker, Gizmodo, Wired, HuffPost, and Slate. I also hate talking about myself, so I’ll let some friends take it from here.

Why Subscribe?

You might have heard that Substack is paying some writers to be here. I’m one of those writers, which means that, while most of the subscription fees will be going to Substack for the first year, 15 percent will still be going to me (after that first year, it reverts to a normal Substack deal, with them getting 10 percent of revenue). But whatever that amount ends up being, I’d like to use that money to do some good in the world. Every month, I plan to have paying subscribers suggest and ultimately vote on a good cause that will get that month’s 15 percent—a charity one month, a highway billboard the next, something that will torment Ted Cruz without getting me arrested, you literally name it. And while Trashberg posts will be free for the first few months, some paywalls will go up eventually.

You can send any tips or questions to trashberg@substack.com.

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