Overwhelmed by Substack?

Everyone now has a Substack, what to do?

Something has shifted over the past year — Substack has become flooded with newsletters.

Between the breakdown of X, the lack of faith in major newspapers, the need for writers to make a living, and the vapidness of social media, Substack has become the go-to place for personal platforms.

It turns out I'm not the only person thinking this. Newsweek recently wrote a piece titled "Why is Everyone Suddenly on Substack?"

They share the story of Jim Acosta, the former CNN anchor known for challenging President Trump during his first term, who had never heard of Substack just two months ago. Now, after parting ways with the network, he has more than 280,000 subscribers on the platform.

Acosta's decision to launch a newsletter on Substack rather than seek another cable news gig reflects a growing consensus among journalists: the traditional media landscape is disintegrating, and it's increasingly every man and woman for themself.

Beyond journalism, every other industry has its reasons for showing up on Substack: creative writers, marketing experts, coaches, recipe developers — anyone saying anything has a Substack now! Even brands are creating substacks now. Today, there are over 50,000 Substacks, and more are coming online every day.

As a reader, it can feel overwhelming, almost debilitating. Social media is designed to be scrolled through quickly: watch for two seconds, smile or laugh, and move on. Substack, on the other hand, is mostly long-form — you have to slow down, read, and actually learn something! There is not enough time in the world to read all the Substacks, and now, if I am scrolling one, I am only skimming it to try and get to the next one! It's madness

Beyond the sheer number of Substacks, there’s also the elephant in the room: paying for them. Established writers have an easier time convincing people to pay and creating paywalled content, but for smaller platforms like this one and thousands of others — it’s much harder to get people to pay for our work (though I’m deeply grateful to the handful who do!). But I completely understand. There are only so many Substacks you can support financially, and that’s a lesson I’m learning, too.

This feeling of overwhelm from so many choices has made me hesitant to pay for Substacks, but for less than the price of a latte, as they say, I want to commit.

Here’s the two-fold motivation:

• Learn about what’s going on in the world outside of the traditional media outlets that I skim

• Support up-and-coming writers on the platform

I did some digging over the past week, and here are some substacks I am adding to my rotation, especially to get myself out of my food bubble.

Established Writers:

✨ The Weekly List - by Amy Siskind

✨ This is Precious by Sarah Wilson, whose book I like “This One Wild and Precious Life”

✨ Culture Study - Anne Helen Petersen

Up and Coming:

• Grace Oedel - Describes herself: Rabbi. Executive Director. Mama of 3. Song leader. Butter enthusiast. Doula for people + change. I came across her Substack from this piece about Money.

• Agriculture and Activism - How a Fictional Economist Helped Shape US Trade Policy: Meet "Ron Vara," the fictional Harvard-educated trade expert invented by Peter Navarro

• The Unsettled - Kristin Lawless - a deep dive on “Beef Tallow vs Seed Oil”

So, if you are like me and overwhelmed by the possibilities of Substack, my plan is to stick with 5-6 I actually want to read and call it a day.

Thank you for choosing mine to be in your world of endless content and limited time.

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❗ Pay Attention ❗

• The SAVE Act Could Make It Harder for Married Women to Vote

• Judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported

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✨ Gems of the Week ✨

• Dana Cowin hosted a wonderful potluck all about mushrooms last week. Check out my video of the event here.

• My new rose popsicle mold 🌹

• Tariff bark - I was feeling extra grateful for all the food we import and made a dessert with all the things we can’t grow in the US - bananas and chocolate!

• Tashkent - Uzbek grocery chain with an incredible prepared foods section. A location just opened in Manhattan but go to the Brooklyn locations for better prices.

• Flower Aggregate - new wholesale and retail shop in Brooklyn sourcing only local, pesticide-free flowers.

• 10 Creative (and Healthy) Things You Can Do With Beans

Tashkent prepared foods, tariff bark, rose popsicles, mushroom potluck