A Newsletter on Newsletters

META

My name is Sophie Roberts, and I am a newsletter addict.

It’s beginning to be a bit of a problem. At last count I was subscribed to 100+ and counting. I used to be constrained by the limits of my inbox, but with the launch of the Substack App I let things get out of hand.

There’s no doubt that there’s been an EXPLOSION in self published newsletters - seemingly every day another writer or influencer announces they’ve started one. And while it’s easy to get cynical whenever something gets this saturated, I can’t help but love it. If I squint when I’m scrolling through the Substack app I almost feel like the blogs of my youth are back!

If, unlike me, you don’t want to spend hours of your one wild and precious life rummaging through people’s suggested reads or googling “best food newsletters”, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading for a round up of the best self-published, independently funded, intermittently sent, newsletter writing you can find on the web!

The OGs

• The Ann Friedman Weekly
  I feel comfortable saying that Ann Friedman is one of the people responsible for the newsletter era we find ourselves living in. The absolute original - and the only one on this list not actually ON Substack - I’ve been subscribed to her weekly missive for at least a decade and always end up opening every link. A thoughtful take on news and culture, with her characteristic humour and whip smart takes on current affairs.

• Maybe Baby, Hayley Nahman
  SoMo has been reading this since Hayley first kicked it off after leaving Man Repeller and striking out on her own. Like a one woman magazine, subscribe for thoughtful essays on life and culture, curated recommendations and a great comment section for paid subscribers.

• Read Look Think, Jessica Stanley
  A recent addition to substack, but one of the original inbox missives. Jess has the best eye for long form cultural reads, Helen Garner news/interviews, house interior instagram accounts, psychology papers, climate existential terror and art world ephemera. Every link a window into a world I’d like to live in (except for the climate ones).