Welcome to the Bars and Hearts of the Midwest

Bar\Heart is getting a makeover -- but don't worry, Cocktail Hour isn't going anywhere.

Jan 10, 2023

Hi, y’all!

Welcome back to Bar\Heart and into our new digs over here at Substack. I’m so glad to have you! Pull up a chair and stay a while.

Just in case you’ve forgotten, I’m Amy Haimerl, and I’m the journalist, author, and pitbull lover who writes Bar\Heart. My husband, Lovey, and I — along with our #bougiebull and two cats — live in Detroit in a home that was once owned by Arthur Herzog, who wrote the song “God Bless the Child” with Billie Holiday. I think a lot about small business, community, belonging, real estate, economics, cocktails, books, art and finance.

Lovey and me with Lincoln the #bougiebull at our rehitching this fall.

Thanks so much for your patience over the past few months while Bar\Heart was on hiatus. While I was gone, Lovey and I got rehitched, I helped friends renovate their kitchen, and I did some metaphorical repainting and furniture moving around here. Much is still the same at Bar\Heart, but you should notice three primary differences.

I narrowed the focus of Bar\Heart to “love letters from the bars and hearts of the Midwest.”

Why? Well, when I launched Bar\Heart on Meta’s Bulletin platform in summer 2021, I had the big idea to write about belonging in America. Turns out, that was just too much territory to cover. I got overwhelmed by all the stories that could be told and fell victim to option paralysis. So I’m going to try focusing on stories, interviews and reportage – aka love letters – here in my backyard. We’ll see how it goes.

I certainly never had “middle aged living in the Midwest” on my life’s bingo card. After all, I’m a former Brooklynite and an avowed daughter of the American West (with the cowboy boots and rural pedigree to prove it). For a lot of years I, honestly, sort of resented being in the Midwest even though I arrived here by choice.

Lovey and I moved from Brooklyn to Michigan in 2012 so I could do the Knight Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan. We intended to go back but instead we fell in love with Detroit and bought this historic house. (You can read that whole saga in my book, Detroit Hustle). Still, I resisted being a Michigander let alone a Midwesterner. I considered myself a Detroiter, but in a way that was a dotted line straight back to Brooklyn, as if all the space and states in between didn’t exist.

But something unexpected happened in the intervening decade: I’ve found myself falling for the charms of Michigan and the broader Midwest. Instead of seeing what wasn’t here (mountains, green chile, dry air, etc.), I began to see what was: Great Lakes! Cool birds! Sugar sand beaches! Supper clubs! Hotdish! Interesting people filled with interesting stories.

I found myself wanting to explore, to understand the Wisconsin Old Fashioned (seriously, help me understand; I don’t get it!) and the region’s history of abolitionism and inclusiveness. And what is going to happen if the experts are right and climate change migrants come in droves. In short … I want to better understand the people and culture of this place I now call home.

So that’s what we’re going to do. My Tuesday Bar\Heart will be love letters - i.e. essays, reportage and intimate conversations — from the hearts of the Midwest.

And on Friday, we turn to the bars. That’s right … Cocktail Hour is staying! With all the drink recipes, book recommendations, and the weird Internet detritus you’ve come to love.

Hopefully, the “bars and hearts of the Midwest” is a conceit that finally makes my newsletter name make sense. (Yes, I get that nobody but me got the name 🤣) But it also honors where I started … with my family’s livestock brand — literally the symbols \♡ (pronounced bar heart) — that got me thinking about belonging, community and the places that define us.

Better community and conversation features! We can actually have a discourse!

One of the things y’all told me in reader surveys was that the commenting function on Bulletin was clunky. You wanted to be able to communicate with me – and each other – more easily. We’re going to be able to do that here on Substack!

For now any subscriber can comment; you’ll just be asked to create a Substack account, which is free. You’ll be able to leave comments for me – which I respond to – and talk amongst yourselves right on each post.

I’m also going to try out weekly Discussion Posts to foster conversation and ask questions about what I am reporting on – and what I should be reporting on. We can also share book recommendations, cocktail recipes, road trip suggestions, playlists and more. Plus, we won’t have to deal with the trolls and the bots that festered over on Facebook. As

Culture Study

's Anne Helen Petersen would say, we’re going to keep this one of the last good places on the Internet.

That leads me to our third change:

Paid subscription options with reader benefits!

I’ve created a paid subscription option ($5/month or $50/year) for those of you who want to financially support my work. Thank you in advance for those of you who can.

Until April, everything will remain in front of the paywall. That way you have time to decide if you think having me in your inbox every week is worthwhile. After April, commenting will be restricted to paid subscribers, as will the archives of Cocktail Hour and some other content.

Let me backup for a minute and explain why.

Previously, Bar\Heart was funded by Facebook. That gave me the time to report and write and think and research (those cocktails don’t research themselves!), and you know, cover my mortgage. With that support ending, I had to think about whether I could continue Bar\Heart for free.

And the truth is, I can’t afford to devote the time. Before Bulletin decided to close, I chose not to renew my teaching contract at Michigan State. I wanted to put everything toward Bar\Heart and a writing practice that dealt with nuanced stories and the complicated issues of belonging and community.

I got what I wished for – but without long-term corporate support. So that’s why your subscriptions are important to keeping this going.

Look, I know money is tight for everyone. I’m really attune to that, especially as the economy seems uncertain. So if you would like a paid subscription but just can’t afford one, I understand. Email me at amy@barheart.us and ask. No need to explain why. I won’t let money keep out anyone who truly wants to be here.

Ok. That’s it for this week. Much love from the Midwest, y’all.