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It began as an iMessage group among perplexed immigrant friends, entertained, alarmed, and occasionally in shock, after a surreal Hudson City Hall meeting. We weren’t paying close attention before, but now we could not unsee it.
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Some of us were new to America, asking things like: Why can’t a town stop 18-wheelers from barreling through its main street? Others were sixth-generation locals clarifying that Diamond Street was once devoted to brothels and cards, not illicit trade. The chats were lively. The questions sincere. Then we discovered the video recordings, Gossips’ archive, and the tax situation. Then came the realization.
We had arrived in a town where Common Sense felt subversive, Enlightenment values were forgotten, and many residents seemed oddly unbothered by how much America had changed post-pandemic. Do they not read The Free Press? How many Economist subscribers would join us for tea? The answer: not many.
Hudson is rich in local media. Gossips of Rivertown is a civic institution, part archive and part forum, edited with discipline and care. The Hudson Wail provides satire with speed. Cidiot soothes. Trixie’s List sparkles. Mark Allen is in his own category. But what we missed, and many locals certainly didn’t was a global view, double entrendres, and ideas that could be disagreed with in good faith. We longed for something in the tradition of The Economist and The Free Press, even The Onion, but rooted in Hudson. Is this our therapy?
Today, our readers include landowners, artists, architects, public housing residents, entrepreneurs, developers, retirees, and the occasional mildly paranoid journalist. Some avoid Warren Street in Hudson on weekends because it feels crowded by country standards. Others seek out Warren Street in Manhattan because it feels empty by city standards. Most are at ease in both settings, sometimes on the same day. We do not aim to be widely read, only well read.
A short weekly or fortnightly briefing. Not news. More of a recap for busy folk. A distillation of what matters and why, with links, essays, and the occasional unorthodox opinion.
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Basically we were too busy to follow it all, so we got it summarized.
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We do not ask for money. Instead, we invite you to join our Civic Ritual; we call it Engaged Email:
*[Kamal’s lawyers joke that the “e” in email stands for “evidence”… but we’d like to think it stands of “engagement”]*What is this newsletter?
Editorials
Written by our editors. These pieces reflect the editorial voice of Hudson Common Sense. We use them to examine issues of local governance, civic life, and public accountability —grounded in facts, driven by curiosity, and aimed at a wide audience.
Guest Op-Eds
Written by Hudson residents and stakeholders. We invite a broad range of voices to contribute informed, fact-based commentary on matters affecting the city and its citizens. We publish Guest Op-Eds as submitted, subject only to basic review for clarity and civility. You can find out how to submit one here.
Reprints
Occasionally we reprint Guest Op-Eds that were first published elsewhere, verbatim and without edits, with the original source clearly noted. This allows important civic arguments to reach a wider audience.
Our goal is to inform, not to overwhelm. We focus on publishing content that helps residents better understand how power works in Hudson — and what they can do about it.
A rotating cast of classical liberals from at least three continents, and 4 Hudson Wards, each abducted to Hudson by loving spouses who promised the Cotswolds or Napa but forgot to mention the socialists. We are not right-wing. We are not alt-right. We hold no Tesla puts or shorts (at this time). We believe in freedom, pluralism, and the dignity of argument. If the phrase classical liberal is new to you, stay with us.
Our contributors include friends and acquaintances spread across the city and county. Sometimes they are readers. Sometimes we call the active ones Bureau Chiefs, especially in places like Athens (NY) and Cairo (NY). We do not take ourselves too seriously. The original iMessage thread still exists. It has become a source of editorial ideas, and Guest Op-Ed pitches.
Join us if you dare. As immigrant hitchhikers through the City of Hudson galaxy, perhaps seeing the town through fresh eyes will make it make sense. Or perhaps, together, we can imagine a better Hudson.
And if it was not already obvious, we have a healthy addiction to The Economist and The Free Press. We intentionally borrow their tone, remix their style, and emulate their ambition. It helps pass the time on long Zoom calls and layovers, while injecting a dose of Classical Liberalism and independence into the Hudson media ecosystem. It is also meta-commentary on the practical application of big ideas and trends, to the best small town in America.
Welcome.
— The Editors, Hudson Common Sense
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ4GDvnxUmR/?img_index=1
We built the Common Sense Datagraph on a simple premise: knowledge strengthens civic life. By mapping the people, institutions, and issues that shape Hudson, we aim to make local power structures more legible — and more accountable. Our focus is strictly public. We document only the actions and roles of public figures and officials, not private individuals or private matters. Privacy is a principle, not a courtesy. We also believe in accuracy. If you find errors, wish to update an entry, or prefer a different image, we welcome your input at [email protected]. This is a living resource, and like any commons, it benefits from the care and contributions of its community.
“take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”
Honest. Independent. Fearless. A free press for free people. Listen to @thehonestlypod
Subscribe: https://t.co/xUrlJtH24v
Our World in Data’s mission is to publish the ”research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems.”
satirize current events, media, politics, and culture through parody and absurdist humor.
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Hudson Common Sense takes inspiration (read mission-driven earnestness, occasional satire and parody, brand guideline emulation, and often direct media art) from The Economist Magazine, The Free Press, and rarely others. We intentionally "remix" content and ideas from these and other publications that we admire to uplift local dialogue in Hudson, NY.
Steve Jobs said “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something." (1996, Wired)
Picasso said “Good artists copy, great artists steal”.
In some ways, Hudson Common Sense is a love letter to The Economist, to London, and greater Commonwealth and democratic culture. Published since September 1843 to take part “in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress".
We see a cultural and historical connection between The Economist’s defense of classical liberalism, free markets, and liberty, and Hudson’s pioneering early settlers from New England. We’d like to imagine that in the 1894 there was a young Hudsonian sitting on Warren Street in a cafe, sipping tea and reading The Economist’s take on the United States Constitutional Convention.
We also reference facts, historical documents, and other historiography from The Gossips of Rivertown, and for some contemporaneous photos and live event transcription we occasionally reference the Registrar Star (Daily Gazette). We are in debt to the citizen journalism of The Gossips of Rivertown and Carole Osterink’s tireless 15 years of service.
It should go without saying that we do not profit in anyway from this project, pay any of our guest Op-Ed writers, and have no formal affiliation with The Economist, Free Press etc. other than being long-time subscribers and readers.
In the future we will further clarify and publish any possible conflicts-of-interests. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. If any factual information on this page is wrong or out of date, please send us a correction (ideally with a citation) to corrections [email protected].
Furthermore, Hudson Wail, Trixie's List, Gossips of Rivertown, HPD and other referenced entities, have no formal affiliation with HCS and we only re-post their content.
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✒️ **COMMON SENSE EDITORIALS**
🗣️ GUEST OP-ED
📕 **101 BRIEFINGS**
📣 **ISSUES**
💡 **IDEAS**