Substacks recommended by Sari Botton

Recommended by Sari Botton

Wordy Bird

By Susan Orlean

A few thoughts on what I'm wearing, words I'm writing, and the world we wander.

Susan Orlean is the G.O.A.T.

- Sari Botton

The Dry Down Diaries 💅

By Christina

Thoughts and recommendations on my favorite scents, jewelry, and beauty stuff. With regular appearances from my nails.

The Culture Study Podcast

By Anne Helen Petersen

A podcast about the culture that surrounds you — with Anne Helen Petersen and a bunch of very smart co-hosts

SHINE BRIGHT HQ

By SHINE BRI🔆HT HQ

sentences, and music. and the culture. author Danyel Smith writes, recalls, recommends, and overshares.

Crone Sandwich

By Catherine Newman

A weird newsletter about all the midlife things: kids, parents, food, sex, holidays, rage, and sweating at night, by the author of Waiting for Birdy and We All Want Impossible Things.

Anna’s Substack

By Anna Limontas-Salisbury

My personal Substack

After Dinner Conversation - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story

"Top 10 LitMag 2023" Curated short story fiction (Thursday) with a philosophical/ethical focus from our monthly literary magazine. Perfect for a quiet read, classrooms, or books clubs. $ subscriptions pay writers!

Don't Make Me Stop This Car!

By Chris J. Rice

I grew up in a car. On the road with Mama and her carload of kids. It took everything I had to leave. Leaving made me who I am.

Backstory Serial

By Mary L Trump

How three friends came together to write a romance novel

Shalom Auslander's Fetal Position

"Just to spite the world, don’t cry! Just to spite the world, only laugh, only laugh!" - Sholom Aleichem. Amen, Brother.

Ancestors to Elements

By Sebene Selassie

A moonly newsletter exploring the central paradox of being human: we are not separate AND we are not the same. Sent on 🌑 New, 🌕 Full, and 🌗 Last Quarter Moons (+ a First Quarter Moon 🌓 Chat). Welcome to the Paradox Party!

FOUND NY

Quality recommendations and actionable intel about New York City and surrounds, from the team that started Eater and Curbed.

Open Secrets

Open Secrets is an online magazine for memorable, revealing personal essays about all the subjects we're taught to keep "secret." Contact Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel at opensecretsmag at gmail.com

Over the Influence

By Jo Piazza

A hilarious and often factual romp through the world of social media, old-school media, publishing and whatever else catches our fancy.

It's Not Us

By Sara Eckel

The system is crazy. We don't have to be.

☆ Black Lipstick ☆

By Black Lipstick / Mila Jaroniec

off-center beauty, literature and culture.

Tusk

By Seth Masket

Inside the Republican invisible primary of 2024, from the perspective of a political scientist

Kurt Vonnegut Radio

By Gabe Hudson

If Kurt Vonnegut had a podcast, it would sound like this.

Shaved Meats, Piled High

By Laura Lippman

Blatant self-promotion for my novels because I never want to have a real job again. But, hey, it's only monthly and it's free.

I'll read anything Laura Lippman writes.

- Sari Botton

Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert

This is heart work

Joyce Wadler

An occasional humor column, much like the one I did at The New York Times, which was called "I Was Misinformed". But now, the only gatekeeper is me. I hear I will let me get away with anything.

Here Today

By John + Patti

Explorations on living a vibrant life from John + Patti, the authors of The Way of Wonder.

LATCHKEY TOWNSHIP

By jacinta bunnell

You can hold the keys to Latchkey Township or wear them around your neck on a homemade lanyard. Turn the key to find some correspondence and nontextual matter by Jacinta Bunnell.

How To Be Old

By Lyn Slater

Essays and Dispatches From My Shed by Lyn Slater

Pushing My Wheel of Love

By Cari Luna

Your occasional Cari Luna

That's Marvelous!

By Josh Gondelman

A newsletter for pep talks and general enthusiasm.

The Maris Review by Maris Kreizman

We're here to talk about books and do a little shit-talking.

Writing in the Dark with Jeannine Ouellette

For people who do language.

THE KUREISHI CHRONICLES

By Hanif Kureishi

Dispatches from my hospital bed. Writing on writing; sex and drugs and music, TV shows and writers I admire, my memories, among other matters.

How To Get Unstuck

By Amy Shearn

Writing your way out of the restlessness

Everything is Personal

By Laurie Stone

The story is not about what happened, it's about what the narrator makes of what happened.

For Dear Life with Maggie Smith

A newsletter about writing & other things that make this life dear—from the poet, not the dame

Maggie Smith's gorgeous writing is always a balm for the mind and the soul.

- Sari Botton

Ask Erin

By Erin Khar

She’s made all the mistakes, so you don’t have to… Ask Erin is a weekly advice column, in which Erin answers your burning questions about anything at all.

Hotflash inc

By Hotflash Inc

I’m a journalist and this is Hotflash inc, a newsletter about navigating peri/menopause and taking radical responsibility for yourself. On a short pause to reboot so I can be more helpful than ever. Stay with me – this is going somewhere good.

Juvenescence

By Leah McLaren

A newsletter about curiosity, writing, the creative unconscious and the tragicomic struggle to live a fully examined life.

Writing Our Lives

By Vanessa Mártir

My work is grounded in 1980s Bushwick, Brooklyn, a neglected Black and Brown neighborhood that I left when I was 13. I return to my home hood in my stories to make visible the invisible, & chronicle my life in the tradition of Esmeralda Santiago.

The Long Middle

By Lisa Renee

Letters about life in the middle.

I'm Listening

By Ann Faison

A podcast and newsletter about understanding grief

The Hyphen by Emma Gannon

✨ a cosy online space for curious readers ✨ from Sunday Times Bestselling author Emma Gannon. On books, work, wellbeing & creativity. 5th literature Substack globally. "One of Britain’s most prominent Substack writers" —The Times

Beyond with Jane Ratcliffe

The internet’s most intimate, illuminating interviews with today’s greatest writers—get an in-depth look into the craft of writing and what it means to be a heart-centered human in a hard world.

Before and After the Book Deal

By Courtney Maum

Real talk about the writing + publishing industry by an author who doesn’t want you to feel confused, bewildered, or alone. Plus: craft tips, reading recommendations, writing support + solidarity (unless you are a jerk to people in the comments).

Badreads

By Lauren Hough

Essays, bad jokes, rants, and unsolicited advice from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Hough, and a dog named Woody Guthrie.

Poor Man's Feast

By Elissa Altman

The James Beard Award-winning narrative journal about the intersection of sustenance, nature, and the creative spirit (and sometimes, a recipe).

A Considerable Age

By Alice Goldbloom

Widely authentic stories delivered to you every Sunday morning.

52 Writing Prompts

By Suzanne Roberts

Writing prompts, inspiration, notes on the writing life, and virtual writing workshops

Seltzer Rocks by Sarah Levy

weekly essays on motherhood, life in your 30s, and sobriety by Sarah Levy, the author of Drinking Games

Girls of a Certain Age

By Kim France

Style advice, shopping picks, pop culture, and opinion for over-40 women and the over-40-curious, from former Sassy staffer and Lucky Magazine founding editor in chief Kim France.

Out of It

By Mary Gaitskill

Notes from outside the consternation machine

Paper-Pencil-Pen

By Nicole R. Zimmerman

resources for writers, including workshops, prompts, sub ops & other tidbits

Sitting in Silence

On writing, craft, worry & joy.

The Sword and the Sandwich

By Talia Lavin

Covering far-right extremism, sandwiches, and everything in between.

Write What

By Stephanie Danler

A newsletter about reading & writing & the never-ending conversation.

Just Circling Back

By Kristin Iversen is Circling Back

books and other things

Arts & Letters Daily

The best literary and arts writing on the internet

The Real Sarah Miller

A newsletter for people who like the work of (the real) Sarah Miller.

Who are Nature?

One small step for woman, one giant leap for...never mind. Enough with the baby steps.

Recovering

By Holly Whitaker

Examining current cultural trends through the lens of addiction, recovery, alcohol, and all the other drugs like your smartphone

The Nature of the Fun

By Kristopher Jansma

A newsletter about the role of "Fun" in creative writing (and how we can find it again)?

Ask E. Jean

By E. Jean Carroll

Tormented? Driven Witless? Whipsawed by Confusion? Ask E. Jean is the longest currently-running advice column in American publishing.

ToonStack

Weekly Cartoons, Jokes, Musings

Embedded

By Nick Catucci

Your essential guide to what’s good on the internet. Written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.

Austin Kleon

Weekly art, writing, and creative inspiration from the author of Steal Like an Artist and other bestsellers.

Patti Smith

The reader is my notebook

Walk It Off

By Isaac Fitzgerald

That was tough. Let's go for a walk.

DrawTogether with WendyMac

By Wendy MacNaughton

Drawing explorations, lessons, and weekly art assignments from New York Times-bestselling artist Wendy MacNaughton. Paying subscribers get full access to the DrawTogether Grown-Ups Table creative community and the 30-Day Drawing Habit.

extended scenes

By Jenn Romolini

ambition+ aging but sometimes i talk about face creams (from the co-host of the 'everything is fine' podcast and author of the new book 'ambition monster.')

How Not to F*ck Up Your Face

By Val Monroe

philosophical and practical advice for anyone who's ever looked into a mirror

A Writer's Notebook

By Summer Brennan

essays, art, and inspiration from an American writer in Paris

Say Less by Larry Smith & The Six-Word Memoir Project

By Larry Smith

The art of short-form storytelling for self-expression, focus, and connection.

The Audacity.

By Roxane Gay

Writing that boldly disregards normal restraints.

Cheryl Strayed's Dear Sugar

This is the home of two newsletters. Paid subscribers get Cheryl's Dear Sugar Letter monthly, plus her free newsletter several times a year, which includes her "Tells Us" author series. Free subscribers get everything but the monthly Dear Sugar Letter.

The Truth Does Not Change According to Our Ability to Stomach It

By Leah Sottile

Journalism + Essays + Thoughts on Writing from Leah Sottile

Leah Sottile is one of the sharpest, bravest journalists and essayists of our time.

- Sari Botton

Perfectly Imperfect

By ⭐ Perfectly Imperfect ⭐

"A Taste of Taste" 2ish times a week.

The Querent

By Alexander Chee

The person asking a question at the beginning of a Tarot card reading. Or, a newsletter project by Alexander Chee.

A Home Within Myself

By Sherisa

A newsletter that explores the meaning of finding and loving the home within yourself. Personal essays & conversations on love, parenthood, identity, culture, sex, midlife, relationships and Blackness. Written by Sherisa de Groot with special guests.

Ephemera from Carolyn Kellogg

By Carolyn Kellogg in the Paperhaus

A sometime newsletter

The Review of Beauty by Jessica DeFino

A critical review of beauty culture from “the woman the beauty industry fears” (the Sunday Herald).

The Melt by Jason Diamond

By Jason Diamond

The Melt is Jason Diamond's reader-supported look at old, new, and evolving classics.

Blackbird Spyplane

Your No. 1 source for style, culture, & “unbeatable recon”

surfacing

By Mikki Halpin

Surfacing is a newsletter about the things I see and hear. Topics may include: puffin erotics, conceptual art, robots, sharks, media criticism, correct pop culture opinions, spies, disability, and the daily indignities of being me.

Subtle Maneuvers

By Mason Currey

A fortnightly newsletter on routines, rituals, and wriggling through a creative life, from the author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

Ask Polly

By Heather Havrilesky

Advice and wisdom from Heather Havrilesky, published since 2012 (formerly at The Awl and NY Magazine). Paid subscribers receive twice weekly posts on how to navigate our broken world with compassion, realism, and an open heart.

The TueNight Social

By TueNight

A grab-bag of Gen-X goodies: midlife stories, pop culture, and a community for grown-ass women

The Corners by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Grace for fuck-ups. Prayer for the impious. A space for spiritual misfits.

The Small Bow

Recovery stories for everyone. "The Small Bow is not just for those in recovery. Lots of stories with a huge heart that manages to be hilarious and easy while making you question everything you were certain of about yourself.” – Esquire

I read The Small Bow the second it arrives. Officially about recovery and mental health, it's more broadly about being fallible and human, and learning how to do the best you can from where you are. I love A.J. Daulerio's writing and that of his contributors, as well as Edith Zimmerman's wonderful illustrations.

- Sari Botton

Drawing Links

By Edith Zimmerman

Slice-of-life comics by Edith Zimmerman.

Notes from a Small Press

By Anne Trubek

Think of these as signatures, unbound. Thoughts, explanations, and screeds about the publishing industry by Anne Trubek, founder of Belt Publishing. For the bound version, pick up "So You Want To Publish A Book?" Belt Publishing, July 2020.

Foreign Bodies

By Fiza Pirani

An award-winning newsletter centering immigrants with a mission to de-stigmatize mental illness and encourage storytelling

The Will Leitch Newsletter

By Will Leitch

Will Leitch's weekly free newsletter with an original essay, and links to everything he writes.

INDIGNITY

By HMM DAILY

HAS MOVED TO WWW.INDIGNITY.NET

CRAFT TALK

By Craft Talk

CRAFT TALK is a weekly newsletter about writing, creativity and productivity from author Jami Attenberg. This is also the home of #1000wordsofsummer, where, once a year, we write 1000 words a day together for two weeks straight. (In 2024 it begins 6/1!)

ASK MOLLY

By Heather Havrilesky

Essays by Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly columnist and author of Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage (2022), What If This Were Enough? (2018), How to Be a Person in the World (2016), and Disaster Preparedness (2011)

Jill Filipovic

Politics, women’s rights, foreign affairs, and law

From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy

Essays, criticism, and interviews on food culture, media, and politics sent out on Monday morning. Paid subscribers receive additional posts on Fridays and have access to commenting, the recipe archive, and more.

Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith

Dismantling diet culture and anti-fat bias, especially in health, fashion, and parenting. (But non-parents like it too!)

S/FJ

By Sasha Frere-Jones

photographs enthusiasms essays speculation interviews conjecture

bitches gotta eat!

By samantha irby

judge mathis recaps + occasional sad garbage

Read everything Samantha Irby writes. You'll never regret it.

- Sari Botton

Men Yell at Me

By lyz

Written from a journalist in a red state, this newsletter is personal, political, sometimes funny and always raises hell.

HONEY STAY SUPER

By Kimberly Harrington

A newsletter about creating a new life after 50, after marriage, after kids, and after publishing. So sick of learning and growing I could barf. Making you think, cry, laugh, and feel. Read me, won’t you?

caryn rose's jukeboxgraduate dot com

By Caryn Rose

please go to jukeboxgraduate.com to subscribe! the newsletter no longer exists on this platform

Culture Study

By Anne Helen Petersen

Think more about the culture that surrounds you