Sharon Astyk

"This is what the world thinks of us."

It didn't look to bad for you. Most comments were simply "it's not my cup of tea." The comments on the aesthetics of SB legit; it is bright an busy, especially compared to her current site. That's something you'll have to take up with your corporate masters. The comment about the individual sciblings being aggressive in their atheism and opposition to alternative medicine is also valid. I doubt that there is much you can do about the individual bloggers (who include some of my favorites). As to that attitude forming the general tone of SB, the best way to change that is to add more writers with a spiritual bent to the SB mix.

That said, SB could use a few more nature/environment writers. It sounds like Astyk writes about gardening and, I hope, land use. Both of those would be a welcome addition in my view. I look forward to her arrival.

I wasn't aware of that blog until I saw your link, Joseph, but I agree with John McKay above that it will be a welcome addition to SB. From a scatter-shot reading of some older posts, it seems to me that Astyk is part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, which (IMHO, anyway) is unusual in the blogosphere. Not everyone can live on a farm with goats and solar panels and a huge organic garden, but she has a lot of practical suggestions for us urban and suburban dwellers with little or no land. I look forward to reading her posts on sustainability and gardening. And nothing takes the winds of smug out of the sails of the environmentally and economically sanctimonious, like a person who actually lives according to the principles that she espouses (as opposed to just criticizing others for not doing so).