Dear Friends,

Time to exhale. We’ve provisionally gotten our democracy back, and Joe Biden has made some decent appointments. And the Prospect had something to do with that.

Over the past several months, we’ve done a number of investigative pieces that headed off some bad appointees and helped secure some good ones, beginning with a piece that I wrote in March titled "The Biden DNR (Do Not Reappoint) List."

Of twelve prominent Wall Street Democrats involved with the campaign whom we flagged as toxic, eleven did not get jobs. We also scooped bigger media in early reporting on good people who were on track to get major posts, from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai, and several others.

Our stories were picked up hundreds of times. It’s a sign of how this small magazine punches above our weight.

Having co-founded the Prospect 31 years ago, this year has been a renaissance for me personally as a writer. My wonderful colleagues David Dayen as executive editor and publisher Ellen Meany are doing such a great job running the place that I can return to my passion as a journalist. As 77, I feel like an energized cub reporter.

I hope our country will experience the same renewal. And I hope you can give the Prospect a generous year-end gift. Even better, become a Prospect sustainer, with an automatic monthly donation.