&gt; The assumption that the only way for websites to make money is via ads or paywalls is completely pervasive and it&#x27;s simply not true.<p>Really? Not true because why? You haven&#x27;t actually provided any real counterexample of a 3rd and better option.<p>Payment is either direct (funds transferred) or indirect (attention monetized through ads). The podcast you mentioned is just direct (donations, selling books, selling tickets, etc). In fact they seem to make money doing other things for direct payment and do the podcast for free, so it&#x27;s not even a real business model but rather just a hobby.<p>&gt; The Internet is quite expensive because of ads.<p>The internet is incredibly free, open, democratic and accessible because of ads. If you had to pay for the same amount of content consumption your monthly bill would likely be in the hundreds of dollars per month.