In her August 2025 Wild Geese podcast episode, How to Manage Multiple Interests & Actually CREATE Something, Anna Howard of Wild Geese goes into her research process. I find it very interesting that, like me, she sees research as a leisure activity! Anyway, the Sublime app she’s talking about is very interesting. It’s a much different notetaking app than Obsidian, and it’s not super expensive, either. This is how I learned about it, and I did sign up through her video. It ended up being worth paying for a year, and I use it constantly to find interesting things to read and think about.

I like that Anna likes to let her curiosity wander… which is exactly what I do, and I get lost in the weeds. How Anna does it and creates these awesome videos, I’d love to do that. In fact, Sublime is how she’s started to digital garden – with no ulterior motive or project she’s actively working on. This is how she comes up with all these great screenshots of quotes that she uses.

This app is basically a bunch of note cards that you can categorize into general concepts, and with a membership ($75/yr) you can export them, too. (Unfortunately without a subscription you can only save a handful, but you can still access it otherwise.) What’s really neat about it though is while it’s not social media (thankfully), you can choose to make cards either public or private. Then when you create or save a card, you can see related public cards being made. To be honest, the related cards are the most worthwhile aspect. It’s a great place to start doing a deep dive.

I love this Rick Rubin quote: “There’s a time for certain ideas to arrive, and they find a way to express themselves through us.” From The Creative Act: A Way of Being. (I found this and a couple related quotes on Sublime)

I like the idea of research being like following a scent. Probably the biggest takeaway of the episode besides learning about the Sublime app itself. Hey, a sponsorship that’s actually useful!