It’s hard to believe we’re already closing out our third year of Planet Nude. What began in 2023 as a hopeful experiment has grown into a steady, daily publication with a clear voice and a deeply engaged community. These last few years have been a ride, and 2025 in particular felt like a year of settling into our identity—not settling down, but settling in. Planet Nude now feels like a reliable and important journal of the nudism movement worldwide, built with and for the people who show up here every day.
In this, our third annual Year-in-Review, we’ll look at how this project grew this year, the stories that defined it, the history we uncovered, the comics and culture we nurtured, and the community that carried us. We’ll finish with a look back at last year’s predictions—what we got right and what surprised us—and then we will share our guesses for 2026. 🚀
Planet Nude’s 2025
This year saw more posts than any year before — well over 450, likely more than 460 by year’s end — and more contributors, partnerships, and perspectives than at any point in our short history. Free subscriber growth slowed, as expected for a maturing publication, while paid support rose sharply. We ran two deliberate member drives, in March and September, avoiding upgrade prompts inside posts and hoping to create a clearer reading experience. Now we’re asking readers to tell us how that felt, what keeps some from upgrading, and whether the balance seems right. And for our free readers especially, sharing remains the most powerful way to support this work.
Planet Nude reached readers in all 50 states and more than 125 countries. Traffic topped three million views. And beyond the screen, our presence deepened: we sponsored Moon Groove in Pennsylvania and Skinny Dip Day at Golden Valley Sun Club in Arizona, attended the AANR Convention at Oaklake Trails, and joined the TNSF Western Gathering at Glen Eden. These trips made clear that Planet Nude is more than just a Substack Newsletter; it is a shared project, and a community.
We also formed corporate partnerships with INF-FNI and AANR and now offer their members discounts on paid Planet Nude subscriptions. Our existing partnership NAC/NEF continued to support us and our work this year through a generous sponsorship grant, and we are eternally grateful for that support. All of these organizations do incredible work to protect and preserve nude recreation in the United States, and are worthy of your support if you care about naturism as a practice, a philosophy, or a movement.
In the realm of joy, we launched the Planet Nude Sticker Club this year. This club has already blossomed into a world of its own—monthly hand-stamped envelopes filled with original art, themed drops, stickers, magnets, zines, comics, and “The Skinny,” a tiny newsletter just for members. It has become one of the bright threads running through the year.
Planet Nude also continued evolving across many fronts. Strips expanded with new titles like Valentine! and Nudie Shack, with Strips: One-Shots now offering a space for standalone comics and special collaborations. International reporting broadened with dispatches from Germany, Brazil, Spain, Seattle, Florida, and beyond. We reorganized the homepage for better flow, allowing subscribers to follow only the sections they want. And most recently, with editorial help from Dustin Cox, the Weekly Wrap returned in a streamlined form, allowing our readers to enjoy Planet Nude once a week instead of cluttering your inbox each day.
We could go on and on about some of the amazing stories we shared this year, but instead, let’s just re-share a few of our favorites for you to review at your leisure. But stick around for the end if you want to see my follow up on last year’s predictions for 2025, as well as my new predictions for next year. 🚀
The year in stories
Modern perspectives
This year’s essays reflected the anxieties, contradictions, and creative sparks shaping modern naturism. We examined synthetic bodies, censorship, symbols, and shifting cultural meaning—pieces that helped map where the movement is headed and how nudity continues to challenge and illuminate the world around us.
Nudist news and politics
News and policy reporting remained a defining part of Planet Nude’s work in 2025. From beach battles to court rulings, international protests to local fights over public space, our coverage followed the places where law, culture, and the body freedom collide. This year’s stories charted the ongoing friction—and occasional breakthroughs—in the struggle for body freedom.
History
History remained one of the pillars of Planet Nude this year, with profiles of photographers, artists, activists, and forgotten leaders. We explored the visual language of nudism, revisited pivotal women in naturist history, and examined how earlier movements shaped today’s culture and conflicts. These pieces kept the lineage of naturism alive and connected.
Art and culture
Art and media remained fertile ground for exploring nudity’s expressive power. This year’s cultural pieces examined comics, cult films, illustrated erotica, and new independent creations. Together, they traced how artists use nudity to unsettle, illuminate, or simply humanize the worlds they build.
Women’s stories
Women’s voices and histories remain essential to understanding naturism’s past and future. Through interviews, profiles, and archival storytelling, these pieces highlighted leadership, creativity, and the ongoing work of challenging gendered expectations around the unclothed body.
LGBTQ+ stories
LGBTQ+ stories have always shaped the narrative of Planet Nude, reflecting the longstanding ties between queer liberation and body freedom. These posts highlighted artistic legacy, political symbolism, and moments where nudity became a lens for understanding queer history and culture.
Planet Nude Strips
Strips had a vibrant year, with new series debuting, established titles evolving, and one-shot experiments expanding our comic universe. These stories — playful, strange, tender, or satirical — showed how naturism lends itself naturally to visual worlds. Below are our recurring regular titles and a few posts from this year!
Asada & Mischa
Asada never takes off his monster suit. Mischa never wears clothes. They’re best friends and two sides of the same coin, reflecting our own bodily feelings.
New Asada & Mischa strips drop on the 2nd Sunday of every month!
Diary of the Astro-Nudes
Inspired by 1960s nudist camp films like “Diary of a Nudist,” and sci-fi shows such as “My Favourite Martian,” Diary of the Astro-Nudes is the story of Ar and Arreya, two inter-dimensional explorers who come from a parallel Earth where clothes don’t exist. They crash-land into an Earth very much like ours circa 1950s, and, living there with a couple named Brad and Janet while they try to fix their ship, they examine our attitudes towards nudity and the human body.
New Astro-Nudes’ come out on the first Sunday of every month!
Greyfriars Isle
Greyfriar’s Isle is a comic about an island and the people who live there. A small family runs Marsh Light, a naturist campsite connected to the beach where locals and tourists spend their vacation time. The island is historically friendly to naturism, but not universally so. Also, there are ghosts and strange, eldritch island customs.
New episodes come out on the first and third Wednesday of every month!
Nudie Cutie Comics
Zaftig Pink’sNudie Cutie Comicstakes a look at life in a completely absurd world and asks, “Why not be nude for all of this?”
Every 2nd and 4th Wednesdays exclusively on Strips!
Nudie Shack
Nudie Shack is a cartoon series by legendary humorist Jerry King, set in a delightfully unhinged nudist resort where the only thing looser than the dress code is the punchline. Known for his prolific work with Playboy and other major publications, King brings his decades of cartooning chops to the naturist world, populating it with oddballs, eccentrics, and sun-loving weirdos who always find new ways to bare it all—sometimes literally, sometimes emotionally, and usually for a laugh.
Nudie Shack appears on the 4th Friday of every month at Planet Nude.
Nudie Toons
A cherished part of the community since 1998, Ron Coleman’s ‘NudieToons’ blends humor and nudist themes, showcasing the lighter side of the naturist community. Through his classic cartoons, beloved for their spirited take on the clothing-optional lifestyle, Coleman delivers chuckles and nods of recognition, sketching the communal quirks and sunny mishaps of nudism with a friendly wink.
Nudietoons comes out on the 5th Friday of the month, whenever there is one! Find more at ColemanToons.com.
Strips One-Shots
Strips One-Shots is Planet Nude Strips’ banner for stand-alone comics. It’s where we publish single pieces that don’t belong to an ongoing series, giving artists the freedom to drop in a one-off gag or idea without needing a regular commitment.
Readers can expect an assortment of different artists to rotate through under this banner every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month (and sometimes intermittently).
The Nudist Newbies
Meet The Nudist Newbies! Nate and Nikki are in their first year of discovering social nudism and the freedom of a clothing-free lifestyle. Join them as they learn about nudism and try to share their newfound love with others.
These two quirky nudists are relatable to anyone who is new to nudism, thinking about giving it a shot, or has been practicing it for decades.
This strip is best enjoyed in the nude. New comics every 4th Sunday!
Valentine!
Valentine (or just Val) moved to a new town in search of a fully nude lifestyle. Now that she’s here, she’s making new friends, having new experiences, and relaxing in her new cozy life!
Welcome to Nudeville
Welcome to Nudeville is a comic strip that showcases the lives of a town’s residents who embrace a clothes-free lifestyle. Each frame is packed with the lighthearted, bare-all adventures of everyday nudist living.
New Nudeville comics come on the 3rd Sunday of every month.
2026 Predictions
Reflections on last year’s predictions
Last year we made three predictions for 2025. Let’s review those predictions and how we did before we offer our predictions for 2026.
A social-media reckoning arrives
We expected a public confrontation over content moderation, and it came, at least a little bit. Organizations have started to recognize the inherent biases these social algorithms have against mere nudity, and have started to realize their own responsibility in advocating and interfacing with tech firms to advise on how to produce more humane content filters—though the necessary inroads of influence are not yet built. Still, they’ve started making noise. Early this year, INF-FNI issued a formal letter to Meta, signed by over forty nations, a move which drew at least some international press. Beyond naturism, reproductive-rights groups, political organizations, queer advocates, and art institutions all reported widespread removals of posts featuring ordinary nudity or educational content. What once felt like a niche naturist grievance revealed itself as part of a broader struggle over visibility and digital power, and hopefully with some organizations, we can wage a stronger battle for control and respect in the near-term future.
Nudity reemerges as political expression
We also predicted that naturism would appear more clearly as political resistance in 2025. That prediction unfolded across borders: nude protesters in Los Angeles confronting ICE detention, an “emergency” WNBR in Portland, a Ugandan activist receiving a major European human-rights award, and record crowds at Mexico City’s Día al Desnudo. Each event differed in tone and intent, but together they affirmed that nudity remains a potent civic language when deployed with purpose.
Clubs evolve slowly, but momentum builds
Our prediction of a structural reinvention within nudist clubs took a subtler form. Landed clubs did not transform wholesale in one year of course, yet non-landed, member-driven, and not-for-profit models did gain some measurable traction. AANR released its first non-landed startup guide and began rethinking the terminology itself. The Naturist Society Foundation highlighted cooperative frameworks in a series of well-attended zoom events, and more recently a new SIG was launched devoted to supporting and creating resources for member-owned and not-for-profit clubs. These are all positive signs for diversifying the landscape of options for nude recreationists and naturists, and hopefully they’ll lead to some new clubs and groups being more successful than they would have otherwise. I have to admit, I have had some involvement in these specific initiatives in my roles with AANR and TNSF. Reinvention never comes all at once, but the groundwork is clearly taking shape.
Predictions for 2026
Based on our observations from reporting closely on the trends involving nudity in our culture, here are three predictions we’d like to make for 2026:
1. Deepfake laws collide with naturism
The first involves synthetic imagery. As deepfake laws expand and platforms attempt to stem abuse, nonsexual nudity will inevitably be swept into automated filters. Many naturist creators will find their legitimate content rejected not for what it is, but for what algorithms imagine it might be. Advocates will need to sharpen the distinction between bodily authenticity and exploitation, insisting on consent-based frameworks that protect the real without criminalizing the unadorned.
2. Naturism in the U.S. feels the strain of political turbulence
The second prediction concerns the political climate. With Trump’s second term underway, naturism in the United States may face a more difficult year. I live in Las Vegas, and tourism here is down from past cycles. The outlook grows dimmer as new travel bans take shape and announcements circulate that international visitors may soon be required to submit five years of social media history upon entry. Nude tourism, a multibillion-dollar global industry by many estimates, will feel the impact sharply. The ripple effects will move from clubs and beaches to festivals, gatherings, and even small local scenes. North American naturism will continue, but under heavier strain.
3. Independent naturist media and organizations begin to coalesce
The third looks inward at the movement’s infrastructure. Across 2026, we may see naturist creators, journalists, clubs, nonprofits, and advocacy groups begin gravitating toward a more cohesive cultural presence. Not a merger, but a loose alignment—a shared orbit. Independent media like Planet Nude, grassroots organizers, and established institutions may find themselves working in closer rhythm, recognizing the value of coordinated messaging and mutual amplification in a fragmented digital landscape.
Okay, this third prediction might involve a little bit of wishful thinking, but sometimes we need a little bit of that. To borrow a line originated from Herzl and amplified by Walter Sobchak, if we will it, it is no dream. And with some luck and effort, 2026 may be the year our movement starts acting like it believes that.
What do you think of my predictions? Am I on point or way off? Leave a comment with your thoughts, or your own predictions. 🚀
Wrap up
Thank you for being part of this community. Planet Nude grew again this year — not in the explosive leaps of our earliest days, but in substance, participation, and trust. The publication feels more grounded than ever. We want to keep opening doors for new writers, new contributors, new perspectives, and new creative risks. If you’ve thought about pitching something, let 2026 be the year you say hello.
To keep Planet Nude thriving, we need your support. Join the more than 400 paid subscribers who help sustain and expand the thoughtful, bold content we deliver daily. Your subscription fuels everything we do and ensures we can continue to explore the stories that matter most.
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Thank you for an unforgettable year. Here’s to an even bigger 2026. Happy New Year! 🪐
Read previous years-in-review:
Planet Nude in review: 2024
Planet Nude’s 2024 year in review takes stock of its second year as a daily publication, tracing how the newsletter grew into a central hub for naturist news, history, culture, and comics while expanding its global readership and community of contributors. From investigations into nudist club closures and legislative threats to in-depth essays, international reporting, and the launch of the Strips webcomics platform, 2024 marked a year of creative and political momentum. Alongside revisiting the standout stories that defined the year, the piece closes with fresh predictions for 2025, outlining emerging battles over social media, public protest, and the future of nudist clubs.
Planet Nude in review: 2023
Planet Nude takes stock of its first year as a publication, highlighting key milestones, standout stories, and the impressive growth of its global community. From breaking news on legislative threats to naturism to thought-provoking essays on body freedom, 2023 was a year of challenges and triumphs. Alongside revisiting the year’s top articles, the piece also offers bold predictions for 2024, setting the stage for another year of impactful storytelling and advocacy in the naturist world.