Casey Newton

Founder of Platformer, the independent tech newsletter; co-host of Machine Gods

@CaseyNewton San Francisco, United States238K followersCreators & Writers

Casey Newton at a glance

Known for: Founder of Platformer · Co-host of Hard Fork and Machine Gods · Former senior editor at The Verge
Born: June 19, 1980 in La Habra, California, US (age 46)
Nationality: American
Education: B.S. in Journalism, Northwestern University, 2002
Working on: Editing Platformer and co-hosting Machine Gods with Kevin Roose
Based in: San Francisco, United States
Indie since: 2020
Active products: Platformer, Machine Gods and Sidechannel

Facts checked 2026-10-29

About Casey Newton

Casey Newton is an American technology journalist best known as the founder and editor of Platformer, an independent newsletter about AI, social platforms and the people shaping technology. He left a staff job at The Verge in 2020 to start it and has run it as a small, reader-funded publication ever since.

Newton was born in 1980 and grew up in La Habra, California. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2002 with a degree in journalism, then covered the Arizona State Legislature for The Arizona Republic before moving into tech reporting at the San Francisco Chronicle and CNET. From 2013 to 2020 he was a senior editor at The Verge, where he wrote the daily newsletter The Interface. His reporting on Facebook's content moderators was a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award and helped lead to a $52 million settlement for moderators who developed PTSD on the job.

He launched Platformer on Substack in 2020 at $10 a month, turning down an advance from the platform. The newsletter publishes at least one free edition a week, with extra editions for paying members, who also get access to Sidechannel, a Discord community for subscribers and independent journalists. In January 2024 he moved Platformer off Substack to Ghost over Substack's handling of extremist publications; at the time it had about 170,000 free subscribers. The masthead is still tiny: Newton as founder and editor plus a links editor and a fellow.

From late 2022 Newton also co-hosted the New York Times tech podcast Hard Fork with Kevin Roose. The show ended in 2026, and the pair announced Machine Gods, a video-first, independently produced podcast made in partnership with NPR, which debuted in October 2026. Newton has said Platformer will lean further into original reporting so it does not have to compete with AI summaries.

Newton is a reference point for journalists going independent: he showed that a beat reporter can leave a major outlet, own the subscriber relationship and build a sustainable one-person media business around reporting rather than commentary alone.

Products by Casey Newton

Platformer

platformer.news

Independent newsletter about AI, social platforms and tech policy, with free weekly editions and paid member updates.

Machine Gods

machinegods.fm

Independent, video-first tech podcast co-hosted with Kevin Roose in partnership with NPR.

Sidechannel

platformer.news

Discord community for Platformer's paying members and independent journalists.

Videos with Casey Newton

Casey Newton on launching Platformer, the future of journalism, and diversity in paid newsletters

InterviewMeans of Creation· 2020

Interviews & press

About Platformer
Platformer · Profile

Casey Newton's journey, 2020–20267 milestones · self-reported

First product
Launch / milestone
Started 2020

2002Milestone: Graduated from Northwestern University with a journalism degree
2013Milestone: Joined The Verge, later becoming senior editor and writing…
2020First product: Left The Verge and launched Platformer on Substack at $10 a…
2020Milestone: His reporting on Facebook moderators was a National Magazine…
2022Launch: Started co-hosting the New York Times podcast Hard Fork with…
2024Milestone: Moved Platformer from Substack to Ghost in January
2026Launch: Hard Fork ended and Newton and Roose launched the independent…

Timeline

2002 — Graduated from Northwestern University with a journalism degree.
2013 — Joined The Verge, later becoming senior editor and writing The Interface newsletter.
2020 — Left The Verge and launched Platformer on Substack at $10 a month.
2020 — His reporting on Facebook moderators was a National Magazine Award finalist.
2022 — Started co-hosting the New York Times podcast Hard Fork with Kevin Roose.
2024 — Moved Platformer from Substack to Ghost in January, with about 170,000 free subscribers.
2026 — Hard Fork ended and Newton and Roose launched the independent podcast Machine Gods with NPR in October.

How Casey builds

Own the subscriber relationship rather than depending on a platform.
Original reporting is the moat that AI summaries cannot copy.
Keep the team small and the editorial standards high.
Leave a platform when its values conflict with yours, even at a cost.

Learn from Casey Newton

[newsletter]$10/mo at launch

Platformer

Reporting and analysis on AI, platforms and the people shaping technology.

by Casey Newton

[podcast]

Machine Gods

Weekly tech show with Kevin Roose, made with NPR.

by Casey Newton

Casey Newton FAQ

Who is Casey Newton?

Casey Newton is an American technology journalist best known as the founder and editor of Platformer, an independent newsletter about AI, social platforms and the people shaping technology.

Who founded Platformer?

Platformer was founded in 2020 by Casey Newton, a tech journalist who previously spent seven years at The Verge. He still edits it with a very small team.

Why did Platformer leave Substack?

In January 2024 Casey Newton moved Platformer from Substack to Ghost in response to how Substack handled pro-Nazi publications on its platform.

What is Casey Newton doing now?

He runs the Platformer newsletter and co-hosts Machine Gods, an independent video-first podcast with Kevin Roose made in partnership with NPR, which debuted in October 2026 after Hard Fork ended.