“HARK”, listen closely!, English, c. 1225How and Why Hark

HARK!NEWS

Wednesday, August 12, 2026News YOU Care About

The lead

All the news(letters)
you swore you’d read,
read to you.

Without ever handing an app your inbox

(Not AI, not feed slop)

Listen to our founder’s newscast from his newsletters, updated daily

Today’s Breaking NewsWednesday, August 12, 2026From our founder’s personal newsletters6:57Total runtime

Today’s Major Headlines (tap to listen)

  1. Trump Secret Flight Details EmergeThe Washington Post · The New York Times
  2. Nvidia Assembles 500 Billion Dollar AI Financing PushSemafor Business · Axios Macro
  3. Meta Releases AI Manifesto and Muse Glimmer ModelThe Neuron · Morning Brew
  4. Voters Head to Polls in Six Midterm PrimariesPOLITICO Playbook · The New York Times
  5. More Major Storiesfrom 25 total newsletters
Make your own, free

5 minutes to be the most interesting person,
from the carpool to the boardroom

A matter of record

The newsletters you love, distilled into a 5-minute morning audio newscast you can listen to walking your dog or doing the dishes.

Done with ZERO access to your email, whatever provider you use.

All Other Apps, inbox access

Every other newsletter reader asks you to connect your email, an OAuth grant that hands a startup standing permission to read your entire mailbox. Bank alerts. Medical results. Tax documents. Password resets. A decade of private correspondence. A breach at a company small or big, and all of it leaks.

The Hark way, no access exists

You never connect your email, because there is nothing to connect. The newsletters you select and manage easily are delivered to a private Hark email address and inbox that belongs only to you. No OAuth grant, no password, no standing permission to revoke, because none exists.

“Your bank statements are none of our business and it shouldn’t be anyone else's either.”

How it works

① Pick your topics. Our editors constantly scour for the best journalists writing the most informed, highest-quality newsletters, and sign you up for the top picks in every topic you choose. Already love and even pay for certain newsletters? Follow our auto forwarding wizard to include them in your daily audio newscast.

② We distill every issue. Real journalism kept, marketing dropped, stories deduped and synthesized across your sources, and none of it ever clutters your personal inbox.

③ Every morning, a simple text with a link to your audio newscast so you can feel ready for the day. Five minutes, and you're ready for any conversation from the board room to the carpool.

How Hark setup works and protects privacy

Today's Featured Newsletter · Our Editorial Review and Why It May Be for You

4.9Money Stuff“Wall Street's inner workings, explained daily by the only writer who makes securities law funny.”Our editorial review · read time, ads, and who it's for

See past featured newsletters →

Why it sounds different

The best sources, your final say. Our editors hand-pick the finest newsletter journalism for every topic, so you get the highest-quality news without curating a thing. Then it's yours to shape: add or forward the newsletters you love, drop any of ours, and your newscast matches exactly what you value.

Synthesis with a point of view. “Everyone called the pause expected; only WSJ flagged the bond market.” We dedupe stories, analyze where different media have different angles and point out all of the nuances so you have the full picture.

Capped at five minutes. A briefing, not a feed. It ends. Serious news consumer? There’s an optional 15-minute newscast that goes deeper on every story.

Sources one tap away, every story links straight to the full article it came from, always.

Small pleasures

  • Audio read by a news anchor
  • Every source a tap away to dig deeper
  • Audio player custom-built for the newscast
  • Bookmark any story
  • End-of-briefing quiz
  • Listening streaks
  • Share a story or entire episode as a playable link
  • Offline? No problem, download and listen anywhere

The price

Try completely free.

Try free for an entire week.

Want more? A 15-minute newscast upgrade available too. Cancel anytime from your account settings.

Make your own, free

Questions from the floor

Do I need to download another darn app?
No way, we’re all tired of downloading an app for everything. Hark is a simple link sent by text each day that opens an audio player with the day’s news, all wrapped up in a 5-minute bow. No website to track, no app to download, no annoying notifications, just one simple text daily as a reminder.
Do you see my personal email?
Never, and not because we promise to look away, because no connection exists. Your newsletters are delivered to a private Hark address that belongs only to you, including an inbox in case you ever want to view the original newsletters. Your personal email stays wherever it lives, Gmail, Outlook, anywhere, untouched and uncluttered.
Which newsletters make my newscast?
The best in journalism. We constantly scour for the sharpest, most informed independent journalists writing today and hand-pick the top newsletters for every topic. Pick your topics and you get our editors' picks instantly, no research required. Love particular newsletters already, maybe even pay for a subscription? Add or autoforward them yourself, and truly curate and personalize the news that readies you for life. Not generic AI news, not RSS feeds, not aggregator slop.
What does it cost?
Try completely free for a week with no credit card to input when you sign up (unlike most slimy apps), then $8 a month for the 5-minute newscast. Want more depth? There's an optional $20 a month 15-minute newscast too. Cancel any time.
Does it work with my email provider?
With all of them, because Hark never touches your email. Your newsletters arrive at your private Hark address, so it makes no difference whether your personal mail lives in Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, or anywhere else.