STEADY AS HE GOES

In Praise of Dan Rather, and Why You Should Subscribe to Him Right Now

There have been flashier anchors. Shinier ones. Anchors with hair like lacquered marble and teeth so white they could guide ships through fog. But Dan Rather was never one of those anchors. Dan Rather was the anchor—solid, heavy, reliable as hell. The kind of anchor that didn’t drift because the tide knew better than to test him.

He didn’t just report the news. He hauled it through hurricanes, coups, assassinations, and scandals, and dropped it on your doorstep with the quiet authority of a man who had seen things and lived to tell about them. When Dan Rather said “Good evening,” America shut up and listened.

Now, here's the deal: Dan Rather is #24 on Substack's “Rising in U.S. Politics” list.

We at Closer to the Edge just hit #16.

We’re honored. We’re humbled. We’re also a little pissed.

Because if we’re in the top 20, Dan goddamn Rather should be too.

THE MAN WHO NEVER LEFT THE STORY

Dan Rather was there—knees in the mud in Vietnam, jaw set in Dallas the day Kennedy died, eyes steeled on the morning of 9/11. He asked the hard questions. He stood his ground. And when the Bush administration tried to kneecap him in 2004 over a National Guard story, he didn’t whimper. He took the hit. Not because he was wrong—but because telling the truth in this country will get you crucified if you do it well enough.

CBS forced him out. So he built something new. Steady—his Substack—is exactly that: a lighthouse in the age of clickbait. It's not trendy. It’s not frantic. It’s not dunking for likes. It’s journalism. It’s integrity. It’s Dan, doing what he’s always done—speaking hard truths to a nation still trying to pretend everything’s fine.

And yeah, maybe he’s not climbing the algorithm as fast as Michael Cohen or whatever cartoon version of God is currently sitting at #22. But that’s on us—not him.

STEADY ISN’T TRENDY. BUT IT’S WHAT WE NEED.

Dan Rather doesn’t sell you hope. He doesn’t sell you fear. He doesn’t sell you shit. He just tells the truth and trusts that you can handle it. That’s rare now. That’s precious. That’s why we’re writing this.

Because it’s not enough for Dan Rather to still exist in the media landscape. He should be leading it.

He’s the last of a dying breed—an anchor who didn’t sell out, burn out, or melt down. He’s 93, still working, still writing, still fighting to keep the signal clear through the noise. And if that doesn’t deserve to rise on Substack, what the hell are we even doing here?

SUBSCRIBE TO DAN RATHER, GODDAMMIT

Let’s make this right.

Subscribe to Steady on Substack.

Because Dan Rather shouldn’t be #24. He should be Top 10. Minimum.

Let’s show the algorithms what matters. Let’s boost the voices that never stopped telling the truth. Let’s put Dan back on top—not because of nostalgia, but because he still deserves it.

And yeah—keep riding with us here at Closer to the Edge. We’re honored to be climbing that same mountain, fueled by fire, facts, and the occasional panic attack. But if you're only subscribed to us and not Dan?

Let’s fix that.

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Dan is steady. We’re the tremor. Let’s make some noise.