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When Danielle Weisberg<\/strong> and Carly Zakin<\/strong> first launched TheSkimm,<\/em> a daily news-digest email aimed at busy young women, back in 2012,<\/a> media critics dismissed the conversational tone, mix of low and highbrow content, and use of memes. In 2017, Slate<\/em> dubbed it<\/a> \u201cthe Ivanka Trump<\/strong> of newsletters\u201d that \u201ctreats its readers like they\u2019ve never read an article, looked at a map, or accidentally seen a CNN segment in their dentists\u2019 waiting rooms.\u201d How times have changed: With more than 5 million active subscribers across its email products, according to Axios, TheSkimm<\/em> has earned its reputation as a crucial media resource for female readers who are interested in the world. And TheSkimm<\/em> itself is doing important things for that world.<\/p>\n When, by the end of the first day<\/a> of Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s second term, a government-run website with reproductive health information, ReproductiveRights.gov, abruptly vanished, TheSkimm<\/em><\/a> absorbed the content and republished it. The Skimm<\/em> plans to host the resurrected page in perpetuity. The move wasn\u2019t about partisanship for Weisberg and Zakin, who, in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair,<\/em> say they have no plans to endorse candidates in the future. The person whose team they\u2019re on hasn\u2019t changed since they launched the business from their shared couch: It\u2019s \u201cher,\u201d their one-word shorthand for their readership.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat our audience realized, probably even before we realized, is there was no knight in shining armor from the government\u2014no matter what government was in power\u2014that was coming to save her,\u201d Zakin said. \u201cWhen I say \u2018save her,\u2019 I mean give her the support that she needs and the economic policies that she needs to continue to be a contributor to the economy, to be able to have a family so that we don\u2019t have a dwindling population rate. I think it is made very clear to our audience, millions of her across this country who all represent different political arms, that nobody is ever coming to help. And that\u2019s a really bitter pill to swallow.\u201d<\/p>\n TheSkimm<\/em> is still as likely to give Kardashian shenanigans top billing in a newsletter as it is to spotlight the latest in ceasefire talks. Now, though, instead of deliriously refreshing the wires themselves all night before the morning send, Weisberg and Zakin head an operation made up of more than 75 full-time employees, according to Axios.<\/em> Digital media giant Ziff Davis, which owns What to Expect, Mashable, BabyCenter,<\/em> and more, recently bought the company<\/a> for an undisclosed amount. (Weisberg and Zakin declined to discuss specifics of the deal.)<\/p>\n For this conversation, we sat down at Cafe Cluny in New York City\u2019s West Village, right around the corner from the walk-up they used to share when they launched TheSkimm.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually how we got the earliest celebrity fans,\u201d Zakin said of the restaurant that once served as their de facto office, which a friend sent a sketch of as a gift celebrating the acquisition. \u201cJulianne Moore<\/strong> was there all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The roommates turned cofounders are clearly still close: They still order fries (Weisberg checks that Zakin is getting fries as a side before she opts for greens as her own, then the two align on their dip choices) and nudge each other as multiple celebrities walk in, and they\u2014no joke\u2014finish each other\u2019s sentences several times throughout the conversation.<\/p>\n Read on to find out which politicos read TheSkimm,<\/em> what the algorithm dishes out to Weisberg and Zakin, and how the founders plan to help women be their own heroes.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n Vanity Fair:<\/strong><\/em> The voice of TheSkimm<\/em> has changed a lot over the years. Can you talk about finding the balance for a conversational tone about serious topics?<\/strong><\/p>\n Carly Zakin:<\/strong> Back when we started, we called it news, but it was zeitgeist.<\/p>\n Danielle Weisberg:<\/strong> It was inclusive of the news, but also what was happening in our generation and being talked about.<\/p>\n Zakin:<\/strong> Our ethos was like, it doesn\u2019t matter who you are, what your job is, if you are at a work-networking thing, or a wedding, or whatever, and somebody is talking about something happening in the world, you should know what they \u2019re talking about. We never wanted anybody to have a deer-in-headlights moment.<\/p>\n The algorithm seems to be everywhere these days. You spend a lot of time together and have a lot of the same interests\u2014are you two on the same internet?<\/strong><\/p>\n Zakin:<\/strong> Danielle and I are on the same internet.<\/p>\n Weisberg:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n Zakin:<\/strong> Our spouses are not.<\/p>\n Weisberg:<\/strong> Definitely not.<\/p>\n How would you describe your internet?<\/strong><\/p>\n Weisberg:<\/strong> We were on the way here together sitting next to each other in an Uber. And I texted my sister, who works in art, something from the Daily Mail<\/em> about a gallery, and seconds later Carly texted my sister and me the exact same thing. And my sister was like, \u201cAren\u2019t you guys next to each other?\u201d<\/p>\n How would you characterize your readership, and has it changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Weisberg:<\/strong> We talk about \u201cher\u201d or \u201cshe\u201d\u2014that is who we have obsessed over. She\u2019s so educated. She has been told growing up that she could do anything. And then the expectation was, \u201cYou can have it all.\u201d But do you want<\/em> it all? What does that mean and how do you actually keep that up without losing yourself or your mind? We really saw, especially in the pandemic, was no one\u2019s coming to save her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n