Welcome to the Lucid Support page. Here you will find answers to common questions about communications, subscriptions, Q&As and more.
Please note that the Lucid team does not set payment and subscription policies: that is done by Substack and the Stripe payment portal.
Here is Substack’s own FAQ for subscribers.
To contact the general Substack support team: support@substack.com.
To contact Ruth Ben-Ghiat and the Lucid team: contact.ruthbenghiat@gmail.com.
Subscriptions
Q: I signed up for the monthly rate and instead I was charged for the yearly rate. A: Here is how to change your subscription from yearly to monthly and vice versa.
Q: I signed up and then discovered that my subscription will auto-renew.
A: The Substack model is that monthly and annual subscriptions all auto-renew. That is not something that we at Lucid can change.
Q: How do I cancel my subscription? A; Here are the steps to do that. Or, write to the Lucid team at contact.ruthbenghiat@gmail.com and we can cancel it for you with a pro-rated refund.
Q: My subscription did not renew. What happened?
A: Many renewals fail due to expired credit cards. Please keep your payment information current on your account. Here are instructions on how to update your credit card information.
Q: How do I upgrade from a free to a paid subscriber?A: Click here for instructions on how to do that, or use this link.
Q: How do I give a Lucid gift subscription?
A: You can use the link below to gift Lucid.
Emails and Communications
Q: I signed up for Lucid but am not receiving mailings.
A: Click here to correct that. You also may have accidentally disabled your email on your general Substack account. Click here to learn how to re-enable your email communications.
Q: How do I change my email address?
Click here for instructions.
Please note that I do not monitor messages in the Substack account. If you have an inquiry, please email me at contact.ruthbenghiat@gmail.com.
Lucid Q&As
Q: I am a paying subscriber and registered for the Zoom Q&A but did not receive a link to join.
A: Please check your spam and promotions folders. The join link often goes there. If it’s not there, please try and register again. Many people find that the second time works.
Q: Why aren’t the full Q&As recorded and made available to all paying subscribers?
A: In order to keep the Q&As a safe and supportive space for the free exchange of ideas, I do not record the second half in which members of the community ask questions. I do record the first half. If there is a guest, I record my Q&A with that person; if there is no guest, I record my introductory remarks and my answers to a few questions people have submitted ahead of time via email. If you want to ask me a question that way, email me at contact.ruthbenghiat@gmail.com.
Chat Rules
I have imposed rules on the chat because it had become a place where some people came not to comment on the Q&A but aggressively seek to persuade people of their views (on subjects often different than those under discussion by me and my guests), creating an unpleasant atmosphere for everyone. The chat is not for persuasion or propagandizing. It is not where you engage in lengthy diatribes or post lengthy opinions from those outside the Lucid community who share your views.
I personally rarely engage in or even look at chat discussions when I attend events; I find it distracting. It is easy enough to ignore the chat which may be the best course of action for some of you.
So, here are the chat rules: Those who become persistent, make others feel uncomfortable, or seem to have some kind of influence or conversion agenda will receive one (1) warning during the Q&A. If the behavior does not stop immediately, the person will be removed from the Zoom call. If that person returns to this behavior on a future Q&A they will be removed from Lucid altogether.
Finally, I do not have time to send the chat to people after the Q&A ends.