The other day, my friend
sent me a screenshot of part of my Substack profile, with the number of publications I’m subscribed to circled and the caption “!!!!!!!!”I replied — within the same minute, clearly I was exceptionally hard at work — with “??????” (would you believe we’re both writers and have two English and Linguistics degree between us?)
It turned out that he was gobsmacked by the amount of Substacks I subscribed to - at the time of his writing 81, at the time of me writing now 110. He thought this was a very high number; I thought it was probably below average (I once had someone sign up who was subscribed to over 300 newsletters on here. How many are you subscribed to?)
ANYWAY, it got me reflecting on how much I’ve loved not only using Substack as a platform to write this year, but as a platform to read on too. I’ve learnt so many things from so many brilliant people, and even had the option to support them financially in places.
Thus, in lieu of any of the brilliantly smart things I’d planned to do — gift guides, article round ups, my last Five Star Friday of the year which was meant to be last week — I thought I’d do a guide to all of the Substacks I’m subscribed to, in the hope that you might find a couple of new people to follow.
My thinking is that this will come at a time of the year where you’ve got some time to relax, curled up in an armchair in a Slanket and a glass of Bailey’s in hand — a.k.a. the perfect conditions in which to read some stuff, and revel in the glory of good writing (by which I don’t mean pitch-perfect, award-winning literature necessarily — though many of them may be. I mean words that make you feel something.) And if you are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity, don’t worry! Firstly, remember that some is better than none; so cherrypick what you like. Secondly, I highly recommend getting the Substack app, so that then you only get notifications on there and not in your inbox (I’m a no-red-dot kinda gal.)
I’m kicking off with some specific categories, though this is obviously not to say that it’s all they talk about! (p.s. this post is too long to view in email, so make sure you open in browser/app to see it in full).
Food
A genius concept — making delicious meals out of just 40 ingredients — from a writer I kept saving again and again and again when I had my NYT Cooking subscription last year.
From the author of Just Eat It, CIHAS? explores our relationship with food, specifically appetite, identity, and our bodies. Everything Laura does is so important (and if I have kids one day, I’ll be devouring her parent-specific content too. Though sometimes it helps to treat myself like a kindly toddler when it comes to unpacking food narratives!)
I first found Caroline on TikTok, and like thousands of others, lived for the weekly “what I baked this week” series for the catering company she co-runs. Came for the focaccia (which I just send to my pal Roma, who is my local foccacia queen, I cannot do dough to save my life and yes I worked in a donut shop for a year), stayed for the inspo
by
Salads, amirite? (Canned laugh track, mic drop). I LOVE salads, but I HATE what we accept as salads these days — limp lettuce with lacklustre accoutrements and little to no flavour. Give me SAUCE! Give me PUNCH! Let’s get FREEKEH! That’s where Emily’s newsletter comes in — amazing salad inspo, all the time.
Gristle by
I wrote about Ben’s newsletter in an early iteration of this, because his ham hock terrine recipe helped me get over my fear of looking like a fool when I go into a butcher’s. His recipes are daring yet doable.
by
One of the many parts of American culture that I’m sad we don’t have in the UK is the Bon Appetit celeb status (BA in the olden days, at least). Sohla was a fan fave, but I only know this having come to her late — I now love watching her and her partner Ham on the NYTCooking youtube, making all sorts of delicious dishes. Her excellent taste comes through in her Substack, too.
by
Monthly dispatches from the Sorted Food team, from drinks to desserts and everything in between.
by
This was a contender for entry in the “deep dive” category, which I’ll share over the next week, but ultimately Nicola’s deep-dives are all about food. I love how accessible she makes the intricacies of baking, as someone who enjoys it but doesn’t understand it.
byAlison’s caramelised shallot pasta is the recipe I always have in my back pocket whenever I need to impress, so I was of course going to follow her to Substack when she joined.
byI’ve followed Beth on instagram for a while now, initially drawn in by her incredible 9x9 recipe comparisons. I love her tales of travelling and all the food she’s eating, as well as, of course, the revipes.
bySimilarly, Bre’s smoked mackerel fettucine is a recipe I love to whip out for a low effort yet impressive meal, so it was to be expected that I’d follow her newsletter wherever she took it.
byPioneers in so many arenas, I know I’m going to learn something every time a Vittles newsletter drops — whether it’s the emotional connection to schnitzel from a Jewish person or the best place in London to find (insert food I’d never heard of but now absolutely need to try).
byI can’t remember how I found Hetty’s work, but I’m so glad I did. Her recipe book to Asia, With Love is on heavy rotash in the Kime-Tomlinson household, and I love the way she celebrates vegetables in a totally new, unique way.
byLook, it says what it does on the tin (pun intended); I wanted to ecpand my soup horizons, an Theresa was there.
byI love Becca’s partnership of bakes and feelings, and especially love how she pairs these unapologetically with abortion rights discussions.
byJason’s last edition came out before I’d even signed up to Substack, but I live in hope.
Fashion
by Amy is the author of the Anna Wintour biography that came out this year, and I love her thoughts about the state of the fashion industry, which come from an insider yet competely fair POV.
byRebecca is one of my favourite writers, and I loved the first couple of editions of Beccacore, where she agony aunts for readers with fashion dilemmas. It took me back to heady Polyvore days, which is the highest compliment I can give.
Similarly to food, fashion is one of my interests that requires a hell of a lot of unpacking. Luckily we have brilliant people like Dacy on the case(y), bringing thoughtful, nuanced conversations to the table around all sorts: personal style, consumption, unpacking what we’ve been told, and more.
Similarly, Tiffanie Darke writes about sustainability in fashion, a topic I feel very strongly about.
Being a good human
(As I’ve said before, the categories aren’t watertight — this is kind of meant to be activist-y, but they’re much more than that too, so I wanted to ensure I represented that in the title.)
byGina is one of my favourite people not only on Substack, but on this earth. The Good Chat is a house for all of her musings about moving halfway across the world (!), what’s happening in said world, her work to try and make it a better place for us all, as well as fashion, culture and books.
&Virginia Sole-Smith is yet another person who’s been fundamental in changing the way I look at my body, appetite, and desire, with her brilliant newsletters.
byCame to Fighting Talk as a copywriter wanting to be as accessible as possible, stayed as a human being who wants to make the world a better place and nearly always learns a new way to be so from Ettie’s work.
Phewph! That’s Part 1 — see you soon for Part 2. And if you follow anyone in this categories that I’ve not mentioned and am missing out on, please do comment below — I always want to find more!
I love this! I was feeling a little self conscious about my own high number just last night, but when I went through to maybe do some pruning, I ended up adding far more than I removed. There's just SO MUCH GOOD. I'll have to do a post this style sometime. Thank you for the care you put into your list - looking forward to making mine longer as I go through yours.
Honored to be apart of this roundup!