🚨 Welcome to the party, pal! 🚨
“A newsletter from content strategist Ernest Wilkins meant to keep business folks updated on culture and culture folks updated on business. A great blending of two industries that are often divided, each newsletter features some combination of information on culture, music and marketing.” - The Best Single-Operator Newsletters on the Internet
Let’s get right to it:
THANK YOU.
I know you have millions of options to occupy your time with, so I’m really grateful that you are sharing some of that time with me. Reporting to you live from Chicago, this is Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins (that’s me). Hi, I’m Ernest! I’m a writer, media entrepreneur and content strategist.
Two truths and a lie:
I have gone viral on the internet 8 times.
Depending on who you believe, I either created or popularized the #ThrowbackThursday hashtag on Twitter.
2000’s rock phenomenon Andrew WK taught me how to ride a bike.
Respond to this email with which # you think is the lie and I’ll tell you the real answer (I promise!)
Here’s how this works: Twice a week, you’ll get a newsletter curated for busy people like you, packed with best marketing tips, cultural analysis, and music emailed to your inbox.
One of those emails will be a curated mix of culture, music and marketing. One week it might be an essay, one week might be just links, one week it might be a deep dive into a topic in one of those categories packed with data and insights.
One of those emails will be a podcast featuring a conversation with experts and up-and-comers across culture, marketing and music. These are going to be a little more inside-baseball, so these are better for people who work in the marketing, music, or media industries (or want to one day!)
No matter what, you’ll get immediate value from this newsletter. If you don’t find something valuable in 3 newsletters, I invite you to unsubscribe! No harm, no foul.
To get a taste of what to expect from Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins, here are some of the most-read issues:
đź”® #9: Meet the woman who will tell you what you're going to wear next year
đź’Ş #39: How to Create Your Own Cultural Movement
đź‘ź #52: Balance and Fit - A conversation with Joe Freshgoods and DJ Clark Kent
🎙📀 #109: How Quality Control Music Took Over Atlanta
🇺🇸 #148: The Janitor Generation
For more Office Hours goodness, I invite you to become a paying subscriber. Paid subscribers receive access to our private Slack channel, subscriber-only content and the occasional surprise gift. Paid subscriptions are $7 a month or $75 a year.
Loving what you read?
In the meantime, the more I hear from you about your interests and curiosities, the better this newsletter gets. I’ll put my money where my mouth is here: If you reply to this e-mail with something you’re currently reading and something you’re really curious about, I’ll reply with a link I think you’ll enjoy.
Enough talking, let’s get to the fun stuff!
Ernest
Private podcast setup:
To set up your podcast app, click this link on your phone.
© 2026 Ernest Wilkins, in partnership with W&A
The City of Chicago, USA