By Steve Sailer
04/01/2021
From the opinion section of the Financial Times:
Substack’s success shows readers have had enough of polarised media
Newsletter platform points to a demand for diversity of views
JEMIMA KELLYThe Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, one of Substack’s biggest names, makes between $80,000 and $160,000 a month in subscriptions to his newsletter. …
Substack, a newsletter platform whose model is based on paid subscriptions, is flying particularly high. It announced on Tuesday that it was raising a further $65m from investors, in a round led by Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz that will reportedly value it at $650m. Established in 2017, Substack now has more than half a million subscribers — double what it had in December. And some of its biggest names are making out like bandits.
Glenn Greenwald, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who in October resigned from The Intercept, the online media platform he co-founded, citing “repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity”, has between 20,000 and 40,000 paid subscribers to his newsletter, each contributing at least $5 a month. Once Substack has taken its standard 10 per cent cut, and after payment processing fees, I calculate that Greenwald is left with between $80,000 and $160,000 a month, or about $1m to $2m a year. Not bad for a mere hack.
“It’s a lot,” Greenwald tells me. “It’s obviously way more money than I’ve ever made in journalism before, or than I ever thought I would make.”
What’s intriguing is that there’s little difference between what is received by Greenwald’s subscribers and by those who sign up for his free content. Greenwald says he only puts about 10 per cent of his writing behind the paywall — publishers can choose how much of their work they charge for — and even this is made available to everyone within 24 hours.
“They’re not paying because they’re getting something in return; they’re paying because they want to support journalism that they think . . . needs to be heard,” Greenwald says. “That’s what Substack in a lot of ways has become: this kind of brand that people are eager to support as a cause.”
Here’s Substack’s most popular Politics accounts (for some reason, I can’t paste links, so you’d have to go the site yourself to sign up for any).
1 Letters from an American
by Heather Cox Richardson · Tens of thousands of subscribers · $5/month
A newsletter about the history behind today’s politics.2 The Dispatch
Tens of thousands of subscribers · $10/month
Fact-based reporting and commentary on politics, policy and culture — informed by conservative principles3 Bulwark+
Tens of thousands of subscribers · $10/month
Political analysis and reporting. No partisan loyalties. No tribal prejudices.4 TK News by Matt Taibbi
Tens of thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Regular news and features by award-winning author and investigative reporter.5 Glenn Greenwald
Tens of thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Independent, unencumbered analysis and investigative reporting, captive to no dogma or faction.6 The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan · Tens of thousands of subscribers · $5/month
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” — Orwell7 Slow Boring
Tens of thousands of subscribers · $8/month
Passion and Perspective from Matthew Yglesias8 Popular Information
Judd Legum · Tens of thousands of subscribers · $6/month
Independent accountability journalism.9 The North Star with Shaun King
Thousands of subscribers · $10/month
Independent, grassroots liberation-journalism focused on politics, power, race, policing, mass incarceration, organizing, and change. No ads, no spam, no hate or trolls because we are 100% supported by members like you.10 The Daily Poster
Thousands of subscribers · $8/month
All the news that’s fit to post on the Internet.11 Steady by Dan Rather · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Hopefully we can build a safe harbor amidst a sea of noise. Please join me.
12 Persuasion by Yascha Mounk · Thousands of subscribers · $10/month
The community for those who believe that a free society is worth fighting for.
13 Common Sense with Bari Weiss
Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Honest news for sane people.14 Krystal Kyle & Friends
by Krystal Ball · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski dive into politics, philosophy and random BS with people they like. Krystal is co-host of Rising on Hill TV. Kyle is host of Secular Talk on YouTube.15 The Message Box
by Dan Pfeiffer · Thousands of subscribers · $7/month
A newsletter about political and message strategy16 PRESS RUN
by Eric Boehlert · Thousands of subscribers · $6/month
Fearless media commentary17 Erick Erickson’s Confessions of a Political Junkie
by Erick-Woods Erickson · Thousands of subscribers · $7/month
Erick Erickson’s writings about the intersection of life, politics, and faith in a divided America.18 Gray Mirror
by Curtis Yarvin · Thousands of subscribers · $10/month
A portal to the next regime19 Wide World of News
by Mark Halperin · Hundreds of subscribers · $50/month
All the latest news, analysis, and links on the coronavirus, politics, America, and the world.20 Tangle
by Isaac Saul · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
An independent, ad-free, non-partisan politics newsletter that offers both sides of the biggest news stories every day.21 Wild Holy & Free
by Austin Channing Brown · Thousands of subscribers · $7/month
justice. beauty. blackness. love. dignity. humor.22 Foreign Exchanges
Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Your own Presidential Daily Brief, and plenty more beyond that.23 Welcome to Hell World
by Luke O’Neil · Thousands of subscribers · $6.66/month
Weekly dispatches from the pit of despair24 Useful Idiots
by Matt Taibbi · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast.25 The Informant
Nick Martin · Thousands of subscribers · $5.99/month
Original reporting and intelligence on hate and extremism in America today.
Other newsletters of interest include, in Technology:
2 Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander · Thousands of subscribers · $10/month
P(A|B) = [P(A)*P(B|A)]/P(B), all the rest is commentary.12 Razib Khan’s Unsupervised Learning
Hundreds of subscribers · $8/month
Conversations on genetics, history, politics, books, culture, and evolution
In Culture:
1 The Audacity.
by Roxane Gay · Thousands of subscribers · $6/month
Writing that boldly disregards normal restraints.3 It Bears Mentioning
by John McWhorter · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
Sometimes race, sometimes language, sometimes something else. Every week.15 Freddie deBoer
by Fredrik deBoer · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
cool but rude21 Model Citizen
by Will Wilkinson · Hundreds of subscribers · $5.99/month
Artisanal takes for the discerning take-consumer (and more!) from Will Wilkinson.
Will, $5.99 looks cheesy. Everybody else uses a whole number, like the price of an appetizer on the menu at a classy restaurant.
In Business:
5 Noahpinion
by Noah Smith · Thousands of subscribers · $10/month
Economics, techno-optimism, and distraction from productive activity
In Faith:
5 Daily Dreher
by Rod Dreher · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month
A portmanteau of culture, religion, books, and ideas10 Chosen By Choice
by Nellie Bowles · Hundreds of subscribers · $5.40/month
This is an essay series about converting to Judaism and living a Jewish life
Nellie Bowles is The New York Times reporter who writes honest articles about how massively destructive the Mostly Peaceful Protests have been.
In News:
2 News Items
by John Ellis · Thousands of subscribers · $9/month
News Items: Interesting, important or both.14 Marginally Compelling
by PoliMath · Hundreds of subscribers · $5/month
An honest attempt to parse data, wrestle with uncertainty, and suss out events in real time. Also cartoons.
In Science:
2 Reality’s Last Stand
by Colin Wright · Hundreds of subscribers · $5/month
Current events, science and pseudoscience, wokeness and the state of academia, free speech, and the sex and gender debate.
Others of potential interest:
Titus Techera @titusfilm
PostModernConservative
Retrieving antiquity at the peak of modernityMichael Tracey @mtracey
Michael Tracey
Counter-hegemonic musingsThe American Mind @theammind
American Mindset
Notes and guidance for dedicated American Mind readers to fight regime failure.Leon Hadar @leonhadar
Global Zeitgeist
Personal musings about world affairsMatt Stoller @matthewstoller
BIG by Matt Stoller
The history and politics of monopoly power.Bari Weiss @bariweiss
Common Sense with Bari Weiss
Honest news for sane people.Melanie Phillips @MelanieLatest
Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. Her work is essential for all who care about creating a more rational, fair and compassionate world. Follow her journey wherever the evidence leads.Andrew Kloster @ARKloster
Right From the Ground Up
Bureaucratic jiu jitsu and building infrastructure on the RightBen Sixsmith @BDSixsmith
The Zone
Politics, culture and professional wrestling.Megan McArdle @asymmetricinfo
The Weekly McMegan
The Official Newsletter of Megan McArdleJonathan V. Last @BulwarkOnline
Thursday Night Bulwark
The Bulwark+ Livestream Show, every week at 8:00 p.m.Anton Howes @antonhowes
Age of Invention, by Anton Howes
Tales from the history of innovation.Gwern Branwen @gwern
Gwern.net Newsletter
Latest gwern.net updates, interesting links, and reviewsJonatan Pallesen @jonatanpallesen
Heterodox thinking
Alternative takes on various topicsEd West @edwest
Wrong Side of History
It’s Ed West’s sub stackhbd chick @hbdchick
hbd chick’s newsletter
hbd and the hajnal lineeugyppius @eugyppius1
A Journal of Conspiratorial Virology, Plague and Sorcery
Conspiracy theories, unserious speculation, and other intellectual fog that will not pretend to be better than the official snake-oil you’re sold every day.Roko @RokoMijicUK
Heretical Update
Trigger warnings: information hazards, thoughtcrime, mathRandom Critical Analysis @RCAFDM
RCA’s data musings
Analytical research pertaining to healthcare, education, economics, and other social sciences.Daniel McCarthy @ToryAnarchist
Notes From the Right
Thoughts on politics, culture, and philosophyWesley Yang @wesyang
The Successor Regime
The Successor RegimeRonan @rfitz77
Ronan’s Newsletter
Ronan’s NewsletterGeoffrey Miller @primalpoly
Special Circumstances
evolution, sex, sentience, freedom, & futurePatri Friedman @patrissimo
Essays By Patri
Long-form, slow-cooked thoughts on virtue, venture, family, freedom, and the next phase of human civilization.Arthur Bloom @j_arthur_bloom
Arthuriana
Big tech, woke empire, informants, and political fissionNiccolo Soldo @Progrockfarmer
Fisted by Foucault
You’ll never think of Foucault the same way againRichard Hanania @RichardHanania
Richard Hanania’s Newsletter
Foreign policy, American politics, and social science
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