Hi everyone,
A quick note to wish you all best for 2026—and to remind you that The Berkshire Argus has transitioned to The RGM Dispatch e-mail newsletter and the Reason Gone Mad (RGM) website, which is now live.
As described last month, what you’ll see going forward is a broader lens: statewide and national reporting alongside those important stories from the Berkshires and western Massachusetts that no one else is taking on.
RGM also makes room for what feels essential in this moment: engaging with today’s surreal political and media environment with a measure of absurdity—without sacrificing rigor, fairness, or fierce independence.
Importantly, in this age of Inbox Overwhelm™, The RGM Dispatch will arrive roughly every two weeks. When there’s a larger investigation or feature, you’ll get that in full, separately. Other work will surface as notes, short dispatches, and strange byproducts of reporting and creativity that don’t fit neatly into a traditional box.
To wit: I’m experimenting with alternative news delivery methods like smoke signals, mental telepathy, and revolutionary “spooky-action-at-a-distance” content distribution. So please keep your windows, mind, and quantum-physics chat group open.
If you’re inclined toward social media, now you can find me at:
✔ BlueSky: @billshein.bsky.social
✔ Facebook: @BillShein
✔ Instagram: @rgmstudios
By the way: Paid membership tiers have been renamed to match this fraught moment for independent journalism:
Helpful Stranger ($6/month or $60/year)
Known Associate ($10/month or $100/year)
Person of Interest ($25/month or $250/year)
(Charges now appear on statements as Reason Gone Mad / RGM Dispatch.)
One-off “tip jar” contributions of any amount are always appreciated. And stay tuned for next month’s relaunch of The RGM Investigative Fund, still managed by the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation to enable tax-deductible donations in support of major, time-intensive RGM reporting projects.
Please continue to be in touch with ideas, news tips, or just to say hello.
Happy New Year,
Bill
bill@reasongonemad.com
