About Us
Who We Are
Scorched Metal began as a closed circle of writers, audio engineers, and night-shift workers who had each watched someone they love disappear into odds portals and VIP host inboxes. We were tired of glossy campaigns that framed betting as belonging, and tired of silence that made shame the only common language. We built this site the way you would build a fanzine in the 1990s: cheap hosting, loud typography, and zero interest in affiliate revenue.
Today we operate as a small distributed newsroom. We commission essays, verify statistics against primary studies where possible, and pay contributors whether or not their stories have a redemptive bow at the end. We believe harm reduction starts with accurate math and honest emotion in the same paragraph.
Our Team
We publish under first names or pseudonyms so families and day jobs stay insulated from harassment. These bios are real in tone even when names are not.
R. Calder
Editor-in-chief. Former sports desk stringer. Focuses on regulatory filings, lobby spend, and how marketing language migrates from boardrooms to push notifications.
M. Okonkwo
Research lead. Trained in public health survey design. Builds plain-language explainers on prevalence data and keeps our crisis copy medically reviewed by independent clinicians.
J. Voss
Audio and documentary partnerships. Works with filmmakers who want their work screened outside industry-controlled festivals.
T. Reyes
Community intake. Reads every contact form, routes sensitive submissions to legal review, and coordinates with helpline partners when someone asks for a warm handoff.
Why Scorched Metal
Metal that survives a forge is changed: harder, more brittle in some directions, more flexible in others. We are not interested in purity narratives. We are interested in what remains after a person decides to stop feeding a machine engineered to extract. The name is a reminder that survival is material, not magical. Heat is data. Cooling is support. Shape is choice.
Independence
We do not accept funding from gambling operators, affiliate networks, or trade groups whose members sell chance as investment. Grants we do accept are disclosed on our mission page alongside any strings attached. Sponsored sections, if they ever exist, will never sit adjacent to recovery resources. Editorial hires are made without non-competes that would prevent a writer from criticizing a former advertiser.
We partner only with nonprofit helplines and clinical networks that agree to our firewall rules: they cannot preview stories, they cannot veto headlines, and they cannot harvest our mailing list.
Partners We Trust
If you need immediate support in the United States, call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. For the United Kingdom, contact GamCare or the National Gambling Helpline at 0808 8020 133. Canadians can reach the Responsible Gambling Council resources and provincial lines listed on our resources page. Australians should use Gambling Help Online or state-based services. We list full dial strings and chat URLs on Resources & Support so you can click once under stress.
We update partnership links quarterly. If you represent a verified nonprofit and want to be listed, use the contact form with subject Press or Other and we will verify credentials before publication.