Top Substack Newsletters in 2022
Recommendations for further reading, a casual list. Skewed to Tech and Business.
On April 12th, 2022 Substack launched a Beta of Substack Newsletter Recommendations. This creates a way for your new readers to discover other Newsletters at the time of sign-up. This led me to explore hundreds of Newsletters to find out what other Creators are up to. This list offers you my top Newsletters from that intense week of reading.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but I thought I’d share it nonetheless to support other Creators. Do note that my interests are skewed to tech and business reading.
Do note, I’m liable to give said Newsletters emojis, quotes, tags, random tid-bits. And possibly neglect them terribly due to lack of reading time!
Let’s get into it:
The Abby of Misrule
“Everything is changing, and there is no going back.” There is more than a grain of truth to Paul’s assertion. This Newsletter is a fascinating case study for Substack’s core audience. Entertainment, political thinking, and the incredible powers of storytelling about this “new reality” we are witnessing. Paul’s support of other especially England based Newsletters is also really heartfelt to me via Substack Recommendations. “The 2020s have seen us us staggering, masked and muted, into a new time.” Storytellers who are able to help us make sense of the times are phenomenal, this is one such voice.
⌚️ The AI Ethics Brief
Brought to you by the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, we know that Montreal, Canada is a major A.I. talent pool due to a high concentration of Universities and academic leaders. They are an international non-profit organization democratizing AI ethics literacy. As such, the Newsletter is up to issue #96 as of April, 2022. It's full of actionable links, videos, emojis and good section headings.
A-Mail
Anna is a journalist, author and podcaster and on her LinkedIn says she Talks about #careers, #success, #business, #creativity, and #storytelling. As such A-mail really summarizes the feeling. My Brain pops for this Newsletter since I identify with it from the writer's perspective. She's self-employed and is sharing her musings about the process. This is an A-grade Newsletter about Meta writing with some nice sketches and art. The branding is crisp and the honesty is hospitable.
🍵 Alphabet Soup
Sometimes your brain needs a content snack that's pure and distilled. That's why you need Alphabet Soup. Etgar has a knack for stimulating creativity with weird and lovely creations. Micro fiction has a role in society. Super-short weird stories, poems, thoughts about writing, ideas and usually super funny and or freeing.
“In my mind just keeps simmering” (link)
#5 in Humor
Tags: Inspiration, content snack, atmosphere.
💲 Apricitas Economics
Joe on his LinkedIn says he Talks about #policy, #finance, #business, #economics, and #labormarket. His Newsletter is a best-in-class quick take on economic and monetary policy trends. He talks about stuff that matters with tons of graphs. His topic choice is very on point. If you care about Economic trends, his coverage will serve you well.
“The beauty of economics is in its humanity.”
Tags: Economics, Monetary policy, Labor markets.
Reads: 58 others.
Delivered: Every Saturday.
🌏 Ari Melber
Ari according to his LinkedIn Talks about #law, #news, #music, #justice, and #politics. His essays are great Zeitgeist framing. He shares reporting, writing, dispatches on news, law, culture along with random insights. Impressive comment section on his work always.
“This is what history feels like.”
Tags: News, Culture, Quick takes.
Content: Is free
💡 Artificial Intelligence Survey
Full disclosure this is one of mine. AIS curates and provides overviews of stories from around the Web, research, paper summaries and hot trends in machine learning and developments in A.I. This is a weekly Newsletter, but sometimes appears more or less frequently. It is yet another good summary of what's going on in the space.
“Artificial Intelligence in the News”
Tags: Trending on Google, Links, AI in Title
Topic Coverage: Less technical
Asian Century Stocks
Who says quality deep-dive evergreen content doesn't rise to the surface in a valuable niche? Michael Fritzell who is a Swedish citizen, living in Asia since 2009 writes some of the most amazingly detailed and professional reports on the topic. He's also one of the Substack Creators I actually look up to the most in how professional his branding and work is. The only real con is how expensive paid access to the material is. But if you are a real investor, cost is not an issue for the potential benefits.
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Asia Tech Review
Jon lives in Thailand and wrote for TechCrunch for many years. Congrats to Jon, he now works for Crypto.com. According to this LinkedIn he talks about #startups, #technology, and #southeastasia. I consider him a subject matter expert on Asia Tech. He also wrote for TNW. He can cover South-East Asia better due to his proximity to it.
Asking Amy
Sometimes you just want to read about Life! Amy Dickinson is an American newspaper columnist who writes the syndicated advice column Ask Amy. Along with a few key contributors Amy has created a lovely atmosphere Newsletter that's hospitable and wholesome. Its subjective slant is like a personal essay that touches on aspects of psychology, well-being and life itself.
Bankless
5 actionable newsletters every week
Bankless has a massive presence on Substack. For crypto education it's also pretty awesome. Practical tactics to level-up your crypto money skills. Long-term strategies to help you maximize returns & avoid pitfalls. You get the gist. Every day of the week a different kind of article. David Hoffman has an army of contributors. In Bankless you feel the ecosystem. Easily the most improved Crypto Substack of 2022.
Banking on the Market
According to her LinkedIn, Ayesha Talks about #ipos, #stocks, #investing, #usequities, and #financialmarkets. Her Newsletter is full of graphs and infographics which I really like for tl;dr reading. I'm looking forward to see how she covers Earnings. I think her style fulfills a niche for easy access to information.
The Bear Cave
Edwin implements a very original idea for a Newsletter here and attracts everyone from short-sellers, journalists, and skeptics to those that find the intrigue in corporate mishandling interesting. This leads to some good reading on Leadership, PR issues, lack of transparency and ethical misconduct. Edwin counts himself as an individual investor with a degree from Stanford. As such his conversion rate of free to paid readers is relatively high.
benn.substack
Benn Stancil is the founder of Mode. His background in Analytics give his Newsletter some breadth of insight. Benn has a knack for writing about the Forest, not the Trees. It's that ability to spot macro trends that mostly makes his Newsletter fun reading. He's a bit like a blogger that just has that itch, even 20 years later. There's thus this nostalgic, retro and compulsive element to his work that keeps the reader coming back.
BIG by Matt Stoller
Matt on his LinkedIn says he Talks about #tech, #monopoly, #antitrust, and #regulation. Big is all about monopoly power. Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, I mostly follow him for his commentary on Capitalism today. Namely BigTech and antitrust. America is in a monopoly crisis. A monopoly is, at its core, a private government that sets the terms, services, and wages in a so-called "free market". Thankfully much of his writing is free.
Be Your Own Hero
Louise really has an incredible concept here. This inspirational Newsletter is highly accessible. She states "being a hero is about being brave in small moments, the ones you think nobody notices but you." I love that. What is the bravery required of everyday life? Find out.
Big Technology
Alex covers BigTech in a consistently good way. He Talks about #apple, #amazon, #google, #bigtech, and #facebook. The weekly Newsletter is one of the better free coverages of the subject matter currently on Substack. I like Free Newsletters. Alex covers social media and some more surprising and original topics that pop up.
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Broke Millennial with Erin Lowry
Erin is an acclaimed author of this series. She is a speaker, writer and financial translator of some of the most important issues of our times for Millennials and GenZ. Guys personal finance and financial literacy really matters. Her Newsletter is literally filled with useful tips and important considerations.
In case you are wondering her book series includes: (Broke Millennial, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing and Broke Millennial Talks Money).
Adulting is exhausting enough without also feeling a consistent, low-grade anxiety about money. She’s a financial translator guiding us through the jargon.
She represents a new wave of (established) book authors embracing Substack. On Wednesdays, all subscribers receive an “Ask Me Anything” newsletter — which will answer one or two money questions from subscribers. On Fridays, paid subscribers get the “Insider’s Scoop” second newsletter. So that’s the story, definately a “what’s hot” Newsletter of the Summer. (June 15th, 2022).
Category Pirates
How do you even define Category Pirates? It's a team of three writing some pretty eclectic and inspirational content. Every week, they publish a newsletter for the radically different—who want to see, design and claim the future. It's audience are entpreneurs, makers, crafters and startups. It's part motivational but also real case studies for how successful companies have successful created and/or redesigned existing categories. Inspirational!
China Research Group News
This is my go-to news for China in the morning. It has all-in-one most of what I'm looking to know when it's difficult to get news about China in the West. It's easy to read and great to skim.
Codon
Niko is one of my go-to guy son Substack for Synthetic biology news and insights. Here you can get latest peer-reviewed research, preprints, and reviews about CRISPR, biotechnology, synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Curated links on said topics and gene-editing news. Niko is a former bio-engineer turned science journalist.
ChinAI Newsletter
This top #50 in Tech Newsletter really does a good job of covering its niche. Jeff understands how China will play a huge role in the future of A.I. and this is a hidden gem in Substack technology Newsletters. It is a bit Tl;dr friendly too and has just enough content to keep my interest.
💃🏻 China Boss News
Shannon on her LinkedIn says she Talks about #law, #china, #europe, #business, and #geopolitics. She’s an American attorney living near Brussels, Belgium and she offers a lot of value about on Substack and LinkedIn posts. I'm obsessed with China so I need to follow the best. Her content is super relevant to many trends in China, analysis, news and context.
“The geopolitical dimension of China business is changing at lightning speed.”
LinkedIn: Shannon hustles on LinkedIn a lot, it’s rare since many Substack Creators build on Twitter.
Background: Shannon is a long-time China watcher, having studied Chinese language, politics and economics for over two decades.
China Superpowers
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. China Superpowers covers ChinaTech and China BigTech, in a positive light. Shocking, I know! Moreover the insights are good summaries of how China is innovating, leveraging massive economic growth and scaling their consumer economy in a Neo-Surveillance architecture of smart cities and A.I. Some good coverage of China trends in tech.
ChinaTalk
Jordan talks about #China #ChinaTech and #Tech. China talk was founded 4+ years ago. Now Jordan is a Senior Analyst at the Rhodium Group focusing on China's technological rise, US-China tech relations, and the impact of Chinese technology policy on the broader economy. I consider Jordan an expert in China-U.S. dynamics. His China policy analysis is spot on and valuable.
Chinese Characteristics
Lillian is an Author, Angel investor and pioneer of inclusion in the Creator Economy. Her deep dives are legendary with that VC angle that has access to better data and a high level of due diligence. Like so many Chinese in America, she exhibits a high degree of hybrid awareness. Her writing is simultaneously balanced, provocative and trustworthy.
Codon
Niko is one of my go-to guy son Substack for Synthetic biology news and insights. Here you can get latest peer-reviewed research, preprints, and reviews about CRISPR, biotechnology, synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Curated links on said topics and gene-editing news. Niko is a former bio-engineer turned science journalist.
Common Sense
Power Twitter user Bari wrote for the WSJ and NYT. She specialized as an op-ed staff editor and writer on culture and politics, hence her massive following. Common Sense has a decent mission statement. There is a veritable army of contributors here. Subscriber-only salons, book talks, and debates, all of this awaits you! Important debates too: Science is at the mercy of politics. Identity trumps ideas. In the name of progress, art is erased and history is rewritten.
Creator Economy Tips
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. In this Newsletter the author debates various trends of the Creator Economy as well as gives tips for Substack Writers specifically to paid members. Some of the summaries of Creator Economy insights here shows some original coverage and understanding of the future of social media.
Culture Study
Anne his a high volume writing who writes on topics of grand importance (I'm not kidding). A graduate of BuzzFeed News, Anne's writing tackles some of the most important issues in American politics, economics and culture. Her essays are littered with links, which I adore and feels more credible. Anne is a Zeitgeist report, a dweller in the fabric of the collective unconscious. Her work is thus symbolic and stimulating.
Data Engineering Weekly
From Github links to Medium links, if you are into data science this is a pretty useful Newsletter. I have to point out as a Data Engineer at Slack and now Zendesk, Ananth is uniquely qualified here. He's already done 82 weekly editions. He brings a lot of real life enterprise examples that's pretty unique sprinkled with some sponsored content. He links to a lot of industry blogs that's actually fairly useful for those learning about the field and its applications.
Datascience Learning Center
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. Datascience Learning Center deals with tech articles related to programming, datascience, machine learning and a variety of related topics. It has some educational material but also some op-eds on diverse topics discussing software engineering in an unexpected way.
Deep Learning Weekly
Miko provides an Industry, MLops and Learning take that is very good for people working in the field. If you like links, this is a good place to get them from. Not many decent DeepLearning Newsletters exist yet, so this is promising.
DeFi Education
DeFi is becoming a major pillar of the Web 3.0 movement. The channels seems stepped in crypto lore and culture. This Newsletter is almost like an intro to the terms and culture. DeFi is a complicated sector rife with opportunities and risks. Knowing how it evolved and what's new is helpful if you invest, trade or are into blockchain tech.
Doomberg
Doomberg is an anonymous team of Creators but their Financial writing is highly accessible and mainstream, easy to digest and dumbed down enough. There is a lot of intersectional content here of finance, politics and even Canada. I'd almost call this Pop-Finance for dummies, it's oddly appealing.
Digital Native
Rex is a VC Stanford Cat. His Op-Eds have a good Macro angle. His visuals and infographics are good and covers GenZ content like #BookTok. I like the VC lens on data graphs of industries and a sort of business familiarity you can over time with his Newsletter. Pretty high-value.
The Dispatch
The Dispatch was founded in October, 2019 and is a network of Newsletters and Podcasts founded by prominent political journalists Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg and promoted by Substack. I like their political analysis, fact-checking, and the breadth of their 15 affiliated Newsletters.
DrawTogether with WendyMac
Wendy MacNaughton, aka “WendyMac” is a NYT best selling illustrator.
Tags: Art, illustration, kids.
Emily Posts
Author and Award-winning, investigative journalist Emily has a deep history in Comms and Political analysis. Her Newsletter really captures the heart and soul of the American zeitgeist and current affairs with plenty of images, stories and news. Her highly readable summaries are also filled with comments and valuable interactions. She's a "DC Insider" and it really elevates her work, it shows. Her intersection in mainstream and conservative media means her coverage is rather holistic.
Fabricated Knowledge
I'm really a fan of industry knowledge that's packaged about a niche. This Newsletter brings the Semiconductor industry and companies into the light in plain English. Doug's dark mode template is also easy on the eyes. Dough is a CFA in real life and his deep dives are what you'd want to see - filled with subtitles, graphs, infographics and links.
💍 Finding Home
Jan Peppler is like a psychological expert of mythology to guide us on our journey. I really like the vibe of this. On LinkedIn she says she Talks about #home, #wellbeing, #archetypes, #findinghome, and #loveandbelonging. Sounds splendid! Count me in.
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The Fintech Blueprint
Lex Sokolin is a FinTech Futurist and covers Web 3.0 with neon lights and a lot of great crypto data. From artificial intelligence, to decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain and crypto assets, to mixed reality, chatbots, neobanks, and roboadvisors — the finance industry will never be the same. Filled with graphs and Blockchain startup data, Lex has a good formula for an engaging Newsletter. His use of infographics, lists and broad coverage is fantastic!
First 1000
Ali understands a good Newsletter has a strong unique value proposition. This is one of the best I've ever seen. How startups scale from 0-1000 is a fascinating topic. His OnlyFans coverage was pretty popular. Ali is a Cornell trained Product Manager (in training), so I trust his word. Startup culture demonstrates the scalability factors that separate winners from losers. Growth hacks, company case studies, Ali demonstrates some wizardry.
Fennel AI
Nikhil's first article on Recommendation engines trended on Hacker News. The piece elicited 124 comments on April 10th and 11th. On his LinkedIn he says he Talks about #recsys, #pytorch, #machinelearning, and #recommendations. Hopefully his series of Newsletters is about more than just his product and stealth startup. If you are interested specifically in Recommendation engines this Newsletters might be revealing. Further reading: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30991392
From Data To Product
Eric of Stitch Fix lead us on data science journey. Hey says, in an era when companies are moving heavily into thinking about data science and data as a product investment, it is important we have a place for the industry to form a community of practice to learn from each other.
Geistic Musings
I really want the Dystopia commentators to win on Substack, I really do! David Nicol is pretty gangster. It’s not what you think. He’s the author of Subtle Activism and founder of EarthRising. He’s more of a utopia person, actually!
He’s brought his massive following to Substack. When I was a teenager, I debated going to the place where he teaches, or once taught. David Nicol teaches in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is also executive director and cofounder of the Gaiafield Project and cofounder of BeThePeace.
He is an essayist and sometimes throws in Astrology. Subtle activism represents a bridge between the consciousness movement and the movements for peace, environmental sustainability, and social justice.
Geneva Health Files
Priti according to her LinkedIn Talks about #geneva, #covid19, #journalism, #globalhealth, and #worldhealthorganization. GHF is an investigative, inter-disciplinary, reporting initiative that seeks to capture the power and politics in global health. It's an interesting way to listen to the Pandemic. The approach is a bit highbrow and polished, combining perspectives from science, trade, economics and governance to look at global health critically.
💟 Get Together
Bailey has been head of community at Substack for around one year. Yet this Newsletter is about 2 years old. It turns out Bailey started People & Company that was acquired by Substack in March, 2021 so the co-founders now work at Substack in 2022. Get Together is a trail-guide to bring community to life. Although communities feel magical, they don't come together by magic.
Although communities feel magical, they don't come together by magic.
Tags: Social media, building community, human-centric.
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn is a co-founding editor of The Intercept which he left in late 2020. The star author and constitutional lawyer is also one of the top Substack writers in political analysis. He lives in Brazil with his husband. He writes a lot and paid subs to his Podcast are very reasonable. "Outside Voices" in particular is fascinating.
Hands-On Quantum Machine Learning
Frank takes you on a practical journey of Quantum machine learning with Python. This weekly series is very valuable to those wanting to know more about the field. This weekly column covers the basics of quantum computing and machine learning in a practical and applied manner. You will learn to use state-of-the-art quantum machine learning algorithms, too. Frank is also an author on books on Quantum Machine Learning. The series currently talks a lot about IBM and Qiskit.
💻 Hardcore Software by Steven Sinofsky
Steven has a pretty awesome table of contests. He's also adapting a lot of his work to audio as well. On his LinkedIn he says that he Talks about #innovation, #leadership, #management, #technology, and #productmanagement. What does 20+ years at Microsoft and being a board partner of Andreessen Horowitz get you? Some pretty hardcore software and business analysis. This might be some of the best history of modern computing and Microsoft Software that you can find online!
“The rise and fall of the PC revolution” as narrated and viewed by Steven Sinofsky.
Experience: few Substack Creators have had 20+ years working at Microsoft in the years of the PC revolution.
Fan favorite: This Substack is cited randomly and beloved by fans all over the world.
High ROI Data Science
Vin on his LinkedIn says he Talks about #strategy, #leadership, #datascience, #careeradvice, and #machinelearning. His essays are very fluid, but he makes some good insights, summaries and educational points. His format is night mode with a rolling blog, intimate and subjective in train of thought.
History Club
Jason works and writes at the intersection of tech, media, politics & history. History Club began on Clubhouse in August 2020 and has grown into a massive community. Jason hosts a popular show that occurs on Thursdays, 10pm ET on Clubhouse.
His Substack emerged out of two connected projects: his History Club show/podcast on Clubhouse, which has a large following, and his best-selling book "History, Disrupted: How Social Media & the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past." His newsletter became a way to bring together those who follow the show and have read the book into a community that asks how tech and media are shaping our world, with the unique vantage point of a historian.
It’s super interesting to see how book authors use Substack Newsletters. Jason is particularly active in events that intersect with his domain. The rating of his book on Amazon is pretty high.
Jason is a podcaster, author, public historian and Global Fellow at The Wilson Center.
🔥 Hot Takes
Adam has been a Digital trends blogger since 2006 and his lucidity cuts deep. With 70k followers on Twitter he does wax poetic about all kinds of things. He dabbles in tech, investing, digital trends, creativity and more. His range and power of synthesis is festive and resonates. I also like that he recommends other Substack writers.
“No Niche is Every Too Crowded for Fresh Thinking”
Top 100 in Technology
Tags: Mar-Tech, Productivity, Creativity.
Did you know? Adam is a composer and Marketing Exec who still has time to be a prolific blogger.
Internet Princess
GenZ Rayne leads her huge TikTok following to her Newsletter pieces.
See her TikTok on Raynecorp and how she combines TikTok into a funnel for Substack.
Intrinsic Perspective
For more info go here. TBA
Investment Talk
Conor has a pleasant casual tone that covers a nice overview of topics. In February, 2022 he decided to end the paid version of Investment Talk. In 2021 Over 3,590 new readers have joined Investment Talk this year (+108%) and the total number now stands at 6,900 readers as of December, 2021. A talented stock commentator and networker, I hope he continues to pursue the paid version of the Newsletter one day. After opening the Discord server on the back of a reader’s suggestion earlier this year there are now 150+ members.
Kerman Kohli
Kerman is a DeFi evangelist and startup founder that brings a lot of perspective about real domains of Web 3.0. Based Down Under he brings some real perspective to trends like how will decentralized social come about? He summarizes his thinking well and bring you entrepnreural clarity in interviews, books and on the heart-beat of the space.
Kyla’s Newsletter
Kyla is a pretty deep thinker and a safe haven of data-centric wisdom. Musings on stocks, crypto, the economy, and sort of the zeitgeist really. When she gets philosophical it turns out to have a comic twist. I feel like I'm reading a diary of the world with Kyla, & it is good.
Last Week in AI
I consistently look forward to the [bold] "our take" part of this Newsletter. They break down the Newsletter for easy scanning into titles like Policy, Business, Fun and so forth which makes it very easy to consumer rapidly. Weekly digests on AI are plentiful but this is one of the best!
Leading with AI
Katharina Miller on her LinkedIn says she Talks about #esg, #aiethics, #equalpay, #compliance, and #anticorruption. There are other contributes too, active in 2021, not sure if they will become active against in 2022. Still the themes of AI ethics and ESG in A.I. are noteworthy and important. I see this as an important AI for Good Newsletter on Substack. This is like a WEF publication but better, written by real people. ESG in A.I. is astoundingly important. Sadly they seem to have discontinued the work in 2022.
🔥 Lenny's Newsletter
Lenny's Newsletter is famous for product managers. On his LinkedIn he says he Talks about #growth, #product, #startup, and #productmanagement. Lenny's Newsletter is now 3 years old and ranked #1 on Business on Substack. A California Native, Lenny formerly worked at Airbnb.
“Each week I humbly tackle reader questions about product, growth, working with humans”
Fun Fact: by far the most lucrative Newsletter models on Substack is offering premium value to real professionals that could impact their Salary. Lenny is for Product what Pragmatic Engineer is for software engineers.
Substack Hack: the ultimate Substack hack would be to replicate this model for C-suite executives like Founders, CEOs, Startup Co-founders, CFOs, CMOs, and so forth.
Letters from an American
Heather embodies a political coverage rarely seen in new media. How better understands that a civil war may becoming to America, than the American historian and professor of history at Boston College who often teaches about the Civil War? She is at the height of her career and powers. Richardson has authored six books on history and politics, dabbled with Podcasting, founded websites. Now she is one of the main political draws on Substack.
Li's Newsletter
Li Jin is a major Creator Economy Evangelist (she might call herself an activist) and Venture Capitalist at Variant Fund. She does not update her Newsletter often but has a certain amount of reverence as a Creator Economy optimist and advocate as covered in the NYT and elsewhere. Her commentary on BigTech vs. the emergence of the Creator Economy is fascinating and symbolic, as are her own side-gigs related to her interest in it.
Liberty’s Highlights
This Newsletter turned Podcaster brings it down to earth! I call this "actionable inspiration." Perk: The Québécois accent is easy on the ears for me. Liberty combines the Podcast interview with summaries in just the right blend. Consuming content should not feel like work! If you can get into the topic, it's really a pleasure stroll of listening.
Linas's Newsletter
Linas on his LinkedIn says he Talks about #finance, #fintech, #innovation, #technology, and #entrepreneurship. His value is that intersection between tech and finance. So you get the best of both worlds, FinTech and blockchain, and more. Also you get a high cadence of articles that is really impressive. The Subheadings really lead you on in his work.
Linas’s Newsletter Take #2
I’ve been following Linas on LinkedIn for many years and with regards to the intersection of FinTech and Technology he’s one of the best. With over 200,000 LinkedIn followers he’s my favorite thought leader from Lithuania. His summaries, graphs and emojis actually make his Newsletters really easy reading. Pretty high ROI for a quick browse.
Link in Bio
Rachal writes about things anyone related to marketing, social media or developing a personal brand online should read. While I wish she wrote more about the Creator Economy, that does not seem to be the case, yet. The word "Social" is in most of her titles, and I love that!
👀 Mackenzie Andersen's The Individual vs The Empire
Here is a Newsletter with a very good title. The Individual vs. the Empire is a paradigm we can all relate to in an era where capitalism, democracy, free speech and truth online are all under threat. Susan talks about this all from a lens of design, and talking about wealth inequality embedded at some many levels. Substack is the author's raw space. And it works. Susan is Baby Boomer raised in an off the beaten track business in a home on the coast of Maine.
“An independent researcher is not compensated by outside funding.”
Fun Fact: The Newsletter was formerly called “Butterflies and Rocketships”, here’s why it got it changed.
🗿 Fun Fact #2: Her background is super rustic! Baby Boomer raised in an off the beaten track business in a home on the coast of Maine, independent researcher and hand made entrepreneur
Maybe Baby
Haley is a star culture analyst, I wish she wrote more about relationships, but she doesn't. Functionally she writes a mix of cultural critique and personal essay forms. For the reader there's personal stories that chip away at the inscrutability of modern life. There's deconstructionism happening and subjective lens that is darn relatable. Paid access to Podcasts! Why are culture folks underpaid on Substack? Why?
Michael Moore
Did you know that At 22, he founded the Flint Voice, a nationally-recognized alternative newspaper? There may be a lot you don't know about Michael Moore. He's of course that American documentary filmmaker, author, and left-wing activist. His podcasts are raw and his content is free. His the “Rumble with Michael Moore” podcasts may be one of the better ones on all of Substack.
Murray Bridge News
Peri is a pioneer in the future of local journalism. I have huge respect for projects that improve local and community news to an area or region. He's the founder of Murray Bridge News, in regional South Australia. I have no idea where that is, but his coverage is pretty awesome. He breaks down the Newsletter into "Things to Do", "Citizen's Agenda", "Come and Try", and "Join In", and a host of other regular columns. In essence he gives a template of how any local journalism could flourish.
The Museum Gaze with Marina Gross-Hoy
Marina captures some incredible imagery. The Newsletter is brand new and explores how looking at ordinary life with the same gaze we use with art in a museum can open us up to wonder, wholehearted living, and empowerment.
Marina is a Museum Studies PhD candidate so she’s an expert in this guys. When museums closed at the beginning of the pandemic, she became curious about what it would mean to look at daily life with the same attention we use when looking at an artwork.
She’s also a toddler mom and takes playing in museums very seriously though her issues aren’t so frequent so when they come they feel like a real treat!
Never Not Nervous
Brooke is a genius, in that Instagram cartoon journalist sort of way. Witty, wacky and endlessly entertaining. Substack hosts some incredible artists.
Brooke offers a small weekly collection of stories and drawings (she’s being modest!). She manages to use cartoons and sketches as a hypnotic form of narrative and social commentary.
Her content is so random it’s literally like a “brain rest”, from whatever you were doing the moment before, in a good way!
She draws diary comics but it’s one of those the sum-of-the-parts is greater than you think. Brooke is like an Instagram viral account that has graduated to Substack. If you want to experience cartoons, humor and weird parts of your brain lighting up, she’s your girl! The content is immediately relatable and intimate.
New World Same Humans
NWSH is an "Intelligent Meme" Newsletters with sections that are like stand-alone episodes on innovation and trends. On David's LinkedIn he says he Talks about #future, #trends, #society, #innovation, and #technology. With a history background he's a real professional futurist, and his content is top notch. He often has a YouTube embed and a bunch of links at the bottom, so you get a lot of insights and news, truly the best of both worlds.
Newslit Daily
I'm a fan of Tl;dr skimming meta content. I think Jose pulls stories that do summarize well on the whole if you like tech, business and news. I'm a big fan of embedded Tweets, check! Breaking news quick content snacks. This helps me listen to Twitter, so I don't have to!
Newcomer
Eric formerly worked at Bloomberg and did his B.A. at Harvard in Philosophy but he covers the VC world really well. Substack is definately his full-time gig. He writes about where Technology and VC intersect and that's a really fun niche for business minded professionals. So even if you had vague interest in the Web 3.0 and the Metaverse, this is a good Newsletter to keep tabs on. His Podcasts are also good. Same if you are a prospective company founder.
Night Water
When I first visited Night Water, the black and neon purple really jumped off the page to me, I immediately knew that this was an aesthetics and unique vibe I needed. Adam has created a vibe which is rare on Substack I find, I like his concept. He is a podcasting expert and works around fiction and tweens. I wish he covered more gaming content and Twitch culture to be honest. Night Water is a late night and refreshing pop culture newsletter, bit it honestly could be so much more. I’m glad to hear he has decided to offer a paid sub.
Normcore Tech
Vicki brings a fresh perspective to her essays on tech and the internet. She covers business, social media, trends and meta-essays on the world in a fresh and original way on topics that are highly readable. This is not a weekly or a monthly Newsletter, but essays are sporadically spaced. Vicky is a Machine Learning Engineer at Tumblr in her day job.
Noahpinion
Noah Smith I think was a columnist at Bloomberg, with 250k Twitter followers and huge reach on Substack, he’s sort of made it big as one of the top op-ed writers on the Economy. Noah Smith is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.
So what does that translate to on Substack after a couple of years?
The answer? A good 50k followers, after 18 months. Notice it took him about 2 months to get to 10k followers.
That means between 25-50 comments per issue.
So what sets him apart?
High volume writer
Great Zeitgeist to be an Economy Op-ed writer 2020-2023
Oversharing
Ali a real pioneer, she's been at this for 4 years already. Oversharing is my eyes are ears on the Sharing, Gig and Passion economy. She's going to start to offer a Paid version with three posts a week. Caveat, with a two year break I expect big things from this Newsletter. You might know Ali from Quartz. She's also written for Slate and Insider. Oversharing is going to feel like a cocktail party about many topics I care about. This is the kind of creator you just feel like you want to support.
Oversimplified
Oversimplified is both an underestimated Newsletter and little nuggets or random curiosity. Conor manages to compress the value in a minimalistic form which I like. He operate at the intersection of product, growth, and data science so the result is just very tech general. He shares links on product, growth, data science, and life in general, some of which are very good.
Pandaily’s Newsletter
If you like ChinaTech, this is a must-have Newsletter on your list. They cover Everything about China's innovation. As a website their volume is also way higher than TechNode. This absurd volume means you should add it to the iOS app or bookmark the Newsletter on the web. The content is crisp and stories are plentiful.
Persuasion
Persuasion is a collaborative who uphold free speech and even have their own Manifesto. Yascha Mounk is one of the world's leading experts on the crisis of liberal democracy and the rise of populism. Some of the content here is thus what you might find on The Atlantic. Here we find exquisite coverage from a variety of contributors on themes like a philosophically liberal perspective on the most urgent debates of the moment, from racism to populism.
Petition
Petition has a great unique value proposition. It provides analysis, commentary and curated links about financial markets, distressed investing, restructuring and bankruptcy. They discuss disruption, from the vantage point of the disrupted. Must like fire emoji in titles!
🔎 Platformer
I follow Casey Newton mostly for his network, i.e. for Silicon Valley trends. When he joined Substack for Tech News, it was a big deal. I like how he embeds Tweets and is like a passage to the Twitter Metaverse on BigTech. Platformer feels like a "Substack Magazine" a bit how Medium once created its own "Publications". I admire Casey's courage and hope to support it by being a reader.
One Year: read Casey’s one year review of how it is going on Substack.
The Pragmatic Engineer
Gergly has hands-on experience at Uber and Skype and this really shines through. Written by an engineering manager for engineering managers and tech engineers at large, the Newsletter is both educational and useful. Get tools and insights to become a more efficient engineering leader.
Tags: Engineering, Professional hacks, productivity.
Worth mentioning: This Newsletter may be one of the fastest growing Newsletter’s in Substack’s history.
Preseed Now
Martin is the founder of technology and media consultancy Big Revolution. He is also a speaker, writer, and educator in the fields of technology and media.
Martin is a journalist and editor with 13 years’ experience of the early-stage startup space, and he’s taking the UK space to the next level on Substack. Discover the founders developing cutting-edge deep tech and building market-transforming B2B products. They publish an in-depth profile of a different startup every Tuesday and Thursday, drawing from UK universities, accelerators, workspaces, and beyond.
Martin has a clear value proposition and a hyper-focused audience. PreSeed Now digs into the product, market, and founder story of startups so you can understand how they fit into what’s happening in the wider world and startup ecosystem.
PiggyBack
According to his LinkedIn Johan talks about #markets, #equities, #stockpicking, #valueinvesting, and #investmentstrategy. I like his (new) Newsletter on Substack that’s focused on value investing. Europe if anyone needs a reminder about value investing in the current climate. He is equipped with a factual disclaimer and a good logo.
PiggyBack Letter (PBL), a free weekly stock market newsletter. PBL brings you free opportunities to learn from proven and promising capital allocators – via their present, past, and potential future public stock market investments. The tried, the true, the PBL.
Because, who doesn’t want to buy on sale equities with good fundamentals at reasonable intrinsic value? This publication and all related communications are for informational and educational purposes only.
The Pitch from Civic Ventures
The ex-Re/code turned Ventures guy who writes this on behalf of Civic Ventures writes some excellent long-form economic summaries. From Maine to Washington State, there’s a lot of depth here. The economy is more than a set of numbers in an Excel spreadsheet, or a series of arrows in a quarterly earnings report. Economics is the story of power, here we find storytelling about the social reality of inequality.
The Pitch demystifies economics and charts a course to a better future—one in which we all do better when we all do better. The link and chart full Op-eds have an equality bent of mind, and that’s fulfilling a higher purpose. Capitalism should benefit everyone.
Civic Ventures is a small group of political troublemakers devoted to ideas, policies, and actions that catalyze significant social change. And, I’m glad they are representing on Substack. The “Pitchfork” metaphor on their podcasts is in some sense what Substack as a political movement, is all about.
The Profile
PMP on her LinkedIn say she talks about #success, #business, and #entrepreneurship. As a lover of biographies, what's not to like? The Profile studies the most successful and interesting people and companies in business, entertainment, tech, sports, and more. Everyone has a story, and Polina is brining them to life!
Proof
Seth is a metajournalist with nearly 1 million Twitter followers. He's come a long way from reviewing poetry for the Huffington Post. If you like articles on Donald Trump, he's your guy! As a professor he also understands cultural paradigms. He's somewhat skilled at capturing the breaking political news and synthesizing the zeitgeist in the moment as it relates to American politics. His Substack is Proof.
Oversimplified
Oversimplified is both an underestimate Newsletter and little nuggets or random curiosity. Conor manages to compress the value in a minimalistic form which I like. He operate at the intersection of product, growth, and data science so the result is just very tech general. He shares links on product, growth, data science, and life in general, some of which are very good.
Quantum Foundry
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. Michael Spencer writes at the intersection of quantum computing and news about some of the biggest stories in this new emerging and nascent field. An amateur futurist, Michael shows some aptitude for summarizing some of the VC, stealth startups and even academic trends related to A.I. in quantum computing. Quantum Foundry is a new sister Newsletter of his AiSupremacy Newsletter.
Quantum Pirates
Sergio gives a nice weekly overview of the Quantum computing space. If curated link is what you are after, this is a very good source. On his LinkedIn he Talks about #ai, #data, #investment, #quantumcomputing, and #softwareengineering. Quantum Pirates largely reflects his perspective. It's a great find.
Reboot
Jas and Jess have formed a techno-optimistic community. Reboot is an independent and volunteer-run nonprofit with volunteer contributors, and supported by a community of many students, educators, writers, engineers, historians, activists, and scientists. They have a Manifesto, Meetups and Sponsors, but they feel more like a Discord than a Publication. I think they are trying to build a movement.
More: If you love Reboot you might enjoy this.
SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter
Among many who make educational posts on LinkedIn here.
Simmer
Simmer may be the fastest growing Foodie Newsletter I know of on Substack as of Mid, 2022. They have a pinky promises to provide everything you need to know about your favorite foods in a way you never knew you wanted! Since they are Instagram pros, you can count on the visuals to be stunning.
Ever find yourself spending hours browsing the web figuring out what to make for your everyday meal or your next big party? Then Simmer has got you. Dhaval and Tarun are Chefs at heart with good entrepnreural habits.
Dhaval and Tarun are among a host of Creators proving IG Creators can transition easily and successfully to Substack. To see the source: https://www.instagram.com/chefhusband1607/
🔗 Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
According to his LinkedIn Simon Talks about #media, #journalism, #podcasting, and #creatoreconomy. A Newsletter can save you time, and his new media analysis is such an example. He also provides some tips on Substack. The real value here is to go back into his archives and find some of his more original work. His analysis of Newsletter sustainability is interesting.
“ A Newsletter that covers everything from the Creator Economy to traditional media.”
Noteworthy: Simon’s archives go back a long ways, he’s one of the early adopters of Substack who methodically built up his audience.
Please support our Creators: (You can give them a Tweet testimonial too and I will embed it here)
Testimonial Tweets
Sinocism
Bill Bishop and various contributors really do great coverage of China. China is so important yet good information can be scare about it. Analysis, commentary, occasional original reporting and curated links are all excellent. The Newsletter is trusted by diplomats, policymakers, investors, executives, journalists & academics alike. Bill left Beijing in 2015. Formerly with Axios China, China Insider among others.
Slow Boring
Matthew Yglesias is co-founder of Vox.com. As we head into the 2022 election hoop la, this Newsletter is really specialized in Campaigns and elections influence policy. Slow boring? That's reverse psychology. After all as Matt states "High-minded ideals are worth nothing unless accompanied by a strategy to win." Slow Boring has a bunch of writers including paid access to Weekly Podcasts. Matt's last free piece has 128 comments, that's absurd traffic. Not so boring too!
✏️ The Sneaky Art Post
I'm not certain but Nishant may be an artistic genius. I've never experienced anything like this! It's an effort to capture the accidental art produced by human interactions in cities and public spaces. There's also drawing challenges, it's interactive. It makes you see your city of residence differently, it's utterly transformative. Like an exhibition that evolves, on Substack.
“Accidental art produced by human interactions”
Top 50 in Art & Illustration.
Tags: Art, Inspiration, Creativity
City of Residence of the Author: Vancouver, Canada.
Testimonial Tweets
Please support our Creators: (You can give them a Tweet testimonial too and I will embed it here)
Sourcery
Molly on covers the biggest VC deals of the week. Here you will get to know many companies in a list that you can research further. They are ranked in size but the lack of bullets and lack of sub-headings make it a bit tough to read. But the data is useful if you are VC-obsessed like I am.
Space Y
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. Space Y aspires to be a Space tech Newsletter, but also especially around SpaceX, Blue Origin and the future BigTech companies around Space exploration and making humanity a multi-planetary species. The Newsletter is pre-launch and might also focus on Space science articles covering news.
Stock Quest
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. StockQuest has a focus on swing trading, buy the dip strategies, penny and micro stock coverage and about investing, companies and startups in general. Some of the macro market analysis is good and covers mainstream investor analysis as well as some pretty outlandish calls on trending penny stocks.
Strands of Genius
Faris Talks about #brands, #consulting, #creativity, #advertising, and #advertisingandmarketing. Rosie (Siman) is on a similar wave-length. In this Newsletter they deconstruct the world, branding and marketing and reach some original conclusions together with you the reader.
Sublink
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. Sublink is a Futurist's take on BigTech stories and those related to innovation, VC and meta trends across industries like Retail, Finance and technology. The cadence is weekly and most of the content is free. From Tesla to Magic Leap, Amazon to Peloton, Sublink covers some interesting new from both established and rising companies.
The Daily Bitcoiner
Cory is a Crypto CEO, on his LinkedIn he says he Talks about #crypto, #finance, #investing, and #wealthmanagement. The concept is a curated high-quality piece about Bitcoin every day. Cory serves as an advisor to Riot Blockchain and The Bitcoin Venture Fund, so maybe he knows how to pick good articles on his industry. I really admire TBD for its daily pace and doing this saves us time.
Techno Sapiens
Jacqueline has one of my favorite Substack Newsletter names. That she informs us about mobile habits and parenting is apt. She is after all a Professor of Psychiatry. My favorite work of hers is when she covers social media and online culture. Her topic choice is sometimes remarkable.
TechTalks Newsletter
Ben lives in London and this Newsletter is very above average in essays on A.I. at the intersection of technology. He also writes quite often which I like very much. He takes a topic and offers book links and learning links, very actionable, if that's your thing. Ben Talks about #science, #technology, #deeplearning, #machinelearning, and #artificialintelligence.
The 21 Hats Morning Report
Loren formerly Inc, Forbes and NY has been growing 21 Hats for nearly 4 years, now with Podcasts. Lorne has built a business owners network, where daily analysis intersects with business empowerment and tips. Weekly podcasts, webinars, there's a lot of value packed in here. His Career speciality I would say has been entrepreneur coverage.
The New Fatherhood
Kevin reminds us that a Creator isn't just a product but a person on a hero's journey to unlock something about the human condition itself. The Newsletter explores modern fatherhood, providing an open and honest conversation between community of dads who are trying to be a little bit better. It's more philosophical than I expected, which is a good thing. I like how Kevin deconstructs purpose, male identity and post-modern life. His work bonds you to his journey as well, which is enriching.
The Transcript
TBA
Transcript doing awesome with Recommendations!
Tessa Fights Robots
TBA
The Novelleist
Elle really is something. On her LinkedIn she says she Talks about #nfts, #web3, #fiction, #writing, and #creatoreconomy. I adore how she has adapted to the future of publishing and she really empowers other authors and writers. From NFTs to community building, I love that after just one year: she had 4,000+ newsletter subscribers and $10,000 in annual revenue. Omg, this is someone I want to cheer for!
The PhilaVerse
Phil Siarri shares bite-sized tech news on a diversity of topics, often on topics I care about like FinTech and the healthcare industry. The Founder of Nuadox says on his LinkedIn profile that he covers #Ai, #mobile, #fintech, #healthtech, and #innovation.
The Quest Digest
This free, readable and emoji filled informative Newsletter is one of the fastest growing Newsletters in tech on Substack in 2022. Justin Co-founded Twitch and Justin.tv. He then went on to podcasting and being an investor. On his LinkedIn it says he Talks about #tech, #career, #founder, #startup, and #selfdevelopment. His insights into founder life and Silicon Valley are kind of amusing! After selling Twitch to Amazon for (nearly) $1 Billion in 2014, you can learn a lot about life and startups!
TQD is one of the fastest growing Newsletters in tech on Substack in 2022.
This is the old version of the Newsletter.
They have developed a pretty decent Brand page on LinkedIn here. The No.1 🥇 LinkedIn page on Silicon Valley & tech content. Follow us for daily knowledge drops
Thinking about...
Historians make fun philosophers and methodical futurists. Tim's coverage of Ukraine has really elevated his work on Substack for me. A Yale professor with a deep understanding of Eastern Europe, his insights into Ukraine are frighteningly accurate. I cannot think of many people more qualified to give us glimpses of the conflict. As a prolific author his essays are like carefully crafted works of art. In political theatre, historians break free of their inhibitions.
Uncharted Territories (TBA)
Tomas on the Future of Substack.
Warm Hands
Amy is the co-owner of Secret Studio, LLC. is a new first-class recording studio opening in the Franklinton Arts District of Columbus, Ohio. She’s a poet who works at IBM.
She’s a gifted mage of the pen effortlessly combining social commentary, personal experience and poetry snippets. It all blurs together on her Newsletter in an appealing way. She cultivates something I cannot quite put my finger on.
I think her work is pregnant with empathy, I don’t know how else to say it. For instance in her about section she starts off by saying “I want to make you feel loved.” I wasn’t expecting that, but her warm logo is like a sunrise, so I’m not complaining!
I’m ready to pray at dawn with Warm Hands. Amy is a Creative Director by day, but her studio will also serve as a creative space/hub for artists, musicians and writers with resources to collaborate, network and create. Columbus, keep this sharp pen close!
Web3 Digest
Full disclosure this is one of my Newsletters. Michael explores crypto trends with the lens of the devil advocate. Not your ordinary Crypto Newsletter praising the elegance of Bitcoin and its HODL cult like followers. This Newsletter requires a somewhat open mind, and introduces the reader to some of the less glorified topics in the Web 3.0 movement.
Wiser! Newsletter
Rick Huckstep on LinkedIn says he Talks about #bigtech, #metaverse, #techtrends, #brandstrategy, and #cryptocurrency. In his deep dive Newsletter, I resonate with the topics. He's also pivoting to include podcasts. I see Rick becoming a Metaverse futurist. His best work is when he discusses social media trends. I believe Rick may be hosting his Newsletter now on Ghost.
This is a work in progress. How I hope to develop this list + further looking up on Substack’s leaderboard lists.
Blurb Writing Free Service
Do you have a Newsletter to recommend or your own perhaps? I am happy to write a blurb about it and include it in this list, especially if it’s in Technology or Business. Just leave me a comment here.
Oh wow, Michael, thank you!! I feel terribly embarrassed that you published this in April and I'm only seeing it now. You are incredibly gracious to Finding Home! I'm also in awe of your list. Quite extensive! I feel like you are my personal curator - lol. I've already signed up for 3 more newsletters in your list and honestly, I've only made it to the Ps :)
Thanks for the inclusion. 🙏