This month THB turns 6. To say that the journey over the past six years has far exceeded my expectations would be an understatement.
I started THB as an experiment in a new way to perform and communicate public-facing research and commentary. At the THB second anniversary, I shared where I hoped things might be headed:
It is no secret that I am using Substack as a sort of professional experiment. I’m 54 and have been a full professor for 17 years. It has been great (mostly). But I don’t see myself doing this same thing for the next 17 years. . .
For the next stage of my career I am ready to explore new possibilities for doing independent research and writing as a sort of junior varsity public intellectual. Based on the incredible growth of The Honest Broker to date, I am convinced that Substack can be a big part of such a model. I know that I am truly privileged to have such possibilities and I am determined not to let them pass by.
I expect that I will always want to have a university affiliation of some sort, since I also love to teach and also to learn from smart students and colleagues. Whether that will be in Boulder or elsewhere is to be determined — but that is a discussion for another time.
I left my tenured, full professor position at the University of Colorado Boulder just over two years later. I have been incredibly fortunate to have joined the American Enterprise Institute — who host an impressive range of scholars and a vibrant intellectual climate, fully committed to academic freedom.
When I wrote that THB second anniversary post, THB had less than 10,000 subscribers. They now total more than 40,000 from 181 countries around the world. I am deeply appreciative of each of you, especially those who have chosen to support my work with a paid subscription — your support makes THB possible.
On the occasion of THB’s sixth anniversary I want to share some guidance for how to read THB — for newish subscribers and as a reminder to folks who have been here for a while. I also want to give a preview of what is to come in year 7.
How to Read THB
Free posts. I often hear from paid subscribers that they support THB so that everyone can read the work — and I keep most posts free for that reason. THB gets around: on Tuesday, my post from earlier this week exploring the implications of this year’s rise in fuel prices as a carbon tax-equivalent was picked up and amplified by the Wall Street Journal.
Paid subscriber benefits. Even though almost all posts are open access, I still want to provide exclusive benefits to THB paid subscribers. I have just created a new THB For Paid Subscribers portal that collects in one place all of the THB resources exclusive to paid subscribers.
A newly available book for paid subscribers. For almost a decade I was a regular columnist for Bridges, the quarterly newsletter of the Office of Science and Technology Austria, in Washington, DC. I have compiled all of my columns1 — covering a wide range of topics in science and technology policy — into a new volume with 172 pages: Bridges: Pielke’s Perspective. Paid subscribers can download it at the bottom of this post or from the THB For Paid Subscribers portal where you can find three of my other books available for download.
Series and syllabi. Here at THB I organize various topics into series that I explore in depth — climate scenarios, normalized disaster losses, nuclear costs, and the economic costs of the Iran war. I collect them on the THB Series page. For readers who want a semester’s worth of depth, I roll some series into syllabi, beginning with Extreme Weather and Climate.
The archive. Readers can browse the full archive or sort it by most-read posts. I have also created a new search function where you can search the entire THB archive.
The data dashboards. The dashboards accessible from thehonestbroker.org give anyone access to official data on extreme weather, decarbonization and emissions scenarios. These have generated enormous interest and traffic. I continue to improve them so please send me your suggestions.
Comments and discussion. Under each post, paid subscribers join a discussion with me and with one another, and I learn something new there almost every day. I ask one thing of commenters: intellectual hospitality, meaning achieving disagreement with respect and collegiality. THB has one of the best comment communities I’ve experienced online.
Coming in THB’s Seventh Year
I am very excited about what is to come in year seven of THB. Here are just some of the things that are in the works:
A new THB G20 Energy Security Index dashboard. I received a lot of positive feedback and constructive critique on my post last March prototyping such an index. The new dashboard will also include a tool allowing the user to build their own bespoke G20 energy security index. I expect to have this launched this fall.
A new THB emissions projection tool based on per capita carbon dioxide emissions. Like decarbonization of the global economy, per capita emissions offer a metric that integrates an enormous amount of complexity into a meaningful measure. This tool will allow users to project future global emissions based on a range of assumptions about population, economics, and energy. The graph below shows that per capita carbon dioxide emissions have barely budged over the past half century, despite enormous changes in population, economics, and energy. What will the next 50 or 100 years look like?
Defining Women: The battle over science, sex, and fairness in elite sport. I have a complete draft of my new book. I am thrilled how it has turned out. This time, I decided to write the book before finding a publisher. We will see how that works out! The book is my favorite that I’ve written.
If you are a publisher, please get in touch — this one is great.
THB Academy. I am going to start rolling out courses on topics in my areas of expertise that will allow users to learn more about complex and contested issues where science meets politics. The first course is titled: Making Sense of Climate Science and Policy. This has been a huge effort and it is just the start of a series of such courses. I haven’t yet decided how to roll it out — paid subscribers first? only? free to all? — I welcome your advice. I expect to launch the THB Academy by the end of the year.
Upcoming Public Events
I have some upcoming public lectures on diverse topics and to diverse audiences — if you attend, please come say hi!
In Oslo, Norway next week I will be giving two lectures:
6 October — University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences: How Climate Science Got Off Track With Scenarios
7 October — The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: The battle over science, sex and fairness in elite sport. This is my first public lecture on my new book.
In the Netherlands: October 11, 2026: Roger Pielke Jr. to Speak at Clintel Event in Driebergen — From their announcement: “The American scientist Roger Pielke Jr. is one of the most interesting and outspoken voices in the international climate debate. On Sunday afternoon, October 11, he will come to Driebergen, the Netherlands, at Clintel’s invitation for an extensive lecture on extreme weather, climate-related damages, climate scenarios, and the politicization of climate science” — If you are among THB’s 700+ subscribers in the Netherlands, please let me know at the talk!
In November I’ll be lecturing at Rutgers and Notre Dame, with details to come in a future post.
Thanks!
Let me close by once again expressing my appreciation for your readership and support over the six years of THB on Substack. Honest brokering is a group activity!
Show your support for THB with a click of that “❤️ Like” button!
Comments welcomed!
Reminder: Paid subscribers can download Bridges: Pielke’s Perspective below, and access all other paid subscriber benefits at the new