© 2026 All Rights Reserved. Do not distribute or repurpose this work without written permission from the copyright holder(s).
Printed from https://www.damninteresting.com/a-possible-future/
Current donations: $20,357 of $40,000 goal
Alan Bellows here, founder of Damn Interesting. For the better part of twenty years, I kept this project afloat by working part-time engineering jobs to pay the bills, and spending the other halves of my work days researching, writing, editing, and podcasting. But in recent years, the landscape has shifted, and those part-time positions appear to have gone extinct. Employers want all or nothing—at least those willing to respond to an application from a graybeard.
So a few years ago, after months of searching, I finally had to just take a full-time position. I had always been a bit of a bottleneck around here, but now I’m a downright cork. Meanwhile, a tsunami of AI slop sloshes over most of the Internet.
Clearly something must be done. So I am trying an experiment—a one-off fundraiser. I know the timing isn’t ideal, but the goal is restrained. My hope today (and possibly again a year from today) is that we can raise the same as I used to make with my part-time salary, which will allow me to return much of my time and attention back to this project for the next 12 months.
If you want to push back against the rising tide of AI, and see more long-form articles from Damn Interesting, here’s how to chip in:
This fundraiser is entirely separate from our Give a Damn donation system, which aims to cover Damn Interesting monthly expenses—web hosting, subscriptions, usage licenses, link curation, and that sort of thing. An amazing array of donors support us through that system, and those lovely people are the reason we survive to this day. This new experiment is specifically so I myself can afford to spend more time writing and running the site.
Thanks for reading, and for helping out if you can.
Pictured at the top of this post is the twenty-sided die from inside a “Magic 8 Ball Novelty Fortune-Telling Toy,” invented in 1950 by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman in Cincinnati, Ohio. When the toy is upturned, the buoyant icosahedron floats to the top of a cylinder filled with blue-dyed alcohol, pressing one of the yes-or-no answers against the clear viewport.
Contrary to common expectations, the toy’s affirmative and negative responses do not appear with equal frequency. There are five “no” responses, five “unclear” responses, and ten “yes” responses. That means the Magic 8 Ball is twice as likely to provide a yes answer than a no. So will my outlandish fundraiser actually work? Odds are, signs point to yes.
© 2026 All Rights Reserved. Do not distribute or repurpose this work without written permission from the copyright holder(s).
Printed from https://www.damninteresting.com/a-possible-future/
Since you enjoyed our work enough to print it out, and read it clear to the end, would you consider donating a few dollars at https://www.damninteresting.com/donate ?
First! I’m in BTW!
Wishing you luck. I donated and hope you can keep doing what you love (whether working or writing or both). I always enjoy reading these.
I’m pulling for you! Donated an I hope to give more.
Thank you for all you do! I turned my 8 y.o onto your podcast and he loves it!
Donated!
$100 sent, thanks for making the old Internet a fun place
Done. Love your podcast!
As of 15 July 2026, the fundraiser is at 33% of the goal!
Hope you reach your goal, I really enjoy your site. Donated $100.
For the non-US contributors like me, how long will the GFM project be active? I donated what I could this month (small amount in USD, because exchange rate). I can donate again next month etc., and at some point the small donations could become a meaningful contribution, if the project remains active.
Alan, just want to offer ya encouragement. I’ve got some posters back behind me all rolled up in the box they came from UT in. If you need any volunteers…
Come on people, we can do this. I myself donated DKK1000 (around $150).
Alan, thank you for putting your brilliant mind to paper. I’ve enjoyed many of your articles over the years.
Donated.
Also, please don’t stop fighting to find a way to keep this dream alive – it’s a special corner of the world.
We’re coming up on one month since this fundraiser began, and we’re approaching 50% of the $40k goal. Thanks to everybody who has chipped in so far!
Did you see the fundraiser Andrew Callaghan started for Channel 5 the day after ours launched? His goal was $800k, and apparently they hit $1.2 million inside 24 hours. Hotchie motchie! Maybe I need to become a YouTuber.
I love this site and hope that Alan can keep finding these informational and interesting stories. I look forward to my lunch break with Alan every day!
Is the fundraiser for 20k or 40k? Wonderful idea, very happy to support :)
Donated. Not a lot, but i have a baby on the way so im afraid I can’t give much.
I first discovered this site 13 years ago when I was pregnant with my first, and it helped me get through endless sleepless nights.
Now im pregnant with my last and the only place on the Internet I want to come to at 3am when I can’t sleep is right here.
Thank you Alan for so many years.
I was a blue-collar oil field worker when I found DamnInteresting. Through the stories my mind would travel to far away places and transverse through time. Over the years as seasons came and went small talk bothered the strangers and among friends was often created from here. It became a birthplace for my random knowledge to impress others and help them escape.
While it’s not much, I wish that I could single-handedly fund this project indefinitely.
Donated. Not a lot but it’s what I could afford. I don’t know how many times I’ve drifted off to sleep aboard a doomed tall ship or somewhere in the dusty American mid-west thanks to this podcast.