When I was a travel writer in the early 2010s, we were all thoroughly besotted - and deeply envious of - travelling chef Anthony Bourdain.

Not only was he hilariously, bluntly honest in a way many of us could only dream of being, he was also saying (without any filter whatsoever) all the right things: that travel teaches you about the essential decency of most people in the world, that other ways of living have so much to teach us if we slow down to pay attention to them - and that the world is filled with wonders that could blow your mind in a thousand directions, if only you indulged your curiosity a bit and let them in.

In 2013 he wrote a piece for CNN that I’ve never been able to get out my head, and it helped me pluck up the courage to start my newsletter:

“I am not a journalist. I am not a foreign correspondent. I am, at best, an essayist and enthusiast. An amateur. I hope to show you what people are like at the table, at home, in their businesses, at play. And when and if, later, you read about or see the places I’ve been on the news, you’ll have a better idea of who, exactly, lives there.

People, wherever they live, are not statistics. They are not abstractions. Bad things happen to good people all the time. When they do, hopefully, you’ll have a better idea who, and what, on a human scale, is involved.

I’m not saying that sitting down with people and sharing a plate is the answer to world peace. Not by a long shot. But it can’t hurt.”

Now it’s 2026, and I wish Bourdain was still around to fiercely stand up for his beliefs - but alas, it’s 8 years since he left the world. That loss is profound.

But like many travel writers and science communicators, I believe in all these things too.

I think cynicism is the enemy of joy, because it stops us seeing something better.

I think pretty much everything has the potential to surprise us if we choose to look hard enough at it - and boredom and hopelessness are what happens when we fail to do that.

And, like Bourdain, I believe in the work of scientists - and even though I’m nothing more than a noisy enthusiast here, I want to do my bit in yelling about all their good work.

It’s almost exactly 5 years since I started Everything Is Amazing - and the mission hasn’t changed.

If anything, with recent attacks on science and our growing news-cycle exhaustion, I feel like I should be doubling-down on reminding you that what you don’t yet know about the world around you might actually make you feel a lot better - not worse - about everything and most of everyone.

That’s the power of a good “wow!”. It says “who knew all this was so awesome? Not me!”

So, this year I am indeed doubling down - hunting even harder for those stories of science and wonder to help remind you that there’s just so much in this world to appreciate, to revel in and to fight for, and that science can point the way towards it. I believe this more than ever.

If you believe this too - well, I’d really love your help.

Only a small fraction of Everything Is Amazing’s 31,000 readers have chosen to support this project with a paid subscription, getting everything I publish and keeping this project running.

I’m grateful to every one of them, and also to everyone reading me for free - but I still need to grow this thing a little more, to be able to do everything I have planned for the rest of 2026 and beyond. (Including paying my own bills - it’s my fulltime gig these days.)

To that effect: just for the next few days, until the end of Monday (the 26th), a yearly or monthly paid subscription to EiA is half price, for as long as you want to remain a supporter. It’d honestly mean the world to me if you chose to upgrade and help me evolve this newsletter into everything I hope it can become.

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Whatever your decision, thank you for reading this far. I promise I’ll keep giving it my best.

- Mike