I don’t buy newspapers. But I regularly miss the weekend ritual of fishing out a bright, glossy colour supplement from between that heavy wad of never-to-be-read-by-me grey paper.
Growing up in a household where The Guardian came thudding through the letterbox religiously… in those rose-tinted days before the internet, before social media overflowed our senses with beauty and style and cultural commentary 24/7… back when culture was a treat…
A weekend colour supplement landing on the kitchen breakfast table was like a magic talisman that made the clocks slow down.
Imbued with the power to soften your heartrate and dim the internal volume on any urge to be useful, a colour supplement could make your senses more receptive to the depth of richness in the coffee. It had the power to put more toast on and sprinkle calm between the cracks of relationships in kitchens all around the world.
Lately, I’ve been rediscovering the art of weekending and have caught myself mentally reaching out for a colour-supplement-style fix through Instagram, or whichever book I’m currently reading.
Nothing has ever quite hit that spot.
Until last weekend…
…when Rebecca Franks, a good friend I used to work with at BBC Music Magazine, started her own excellent new newsletter – Words on Music. I devoured it. And then found myself browsing the ‘discover’ section of Substack to see what other goodies might be lurking. Lo and behold, two whole weekend mornings I lost (or found) myself drifting in sweet, deep contentment through brief arrays of beautifully intriguing worlds.
Not unlike social media, Substack is an extraordinary free-for-all space where writers from Salman Rushdie to Patti Smith to little old me can all come together in the same space with equal opportunity to share our blah.
Politics, fashion, gossip, psychology, poetry, nutrition, music of every genre, woodworking, embroidery, soil science, sailing, the history of antique jewellery, recipes from any culinary corner imaginable…
Name your most niche interest, and I promise there’ll be a writer in some far corner of a little-known American state eloquently exploring your mutual passion.
But before I share with you my top finds, a quick word of warning. There’s an art to getting stuck in to Substack.
The art of getting stuck in to Substack
When I first started writing here a year ago, I diligently went about the business of following other writers and found that within about 3 minutes I’d unwittingly subscribed to dozens of publications.
Why?
Because when you follow one new writer, Substack also offers you the chance to subscribe to all the other writers they recommend with one dangerously quick click. This can be a exciting opportunity to discover brand new content. It can also be far too much of a good thing.
Over the last twelve months, bizarrely titled newsletters have been flooding in to my email and I’m not ashamed to say that I read only the smallest handful of them. Actively unsubscribing from everything seemed the only viable way to get my inbox back, so this year I’ve been trying more consciously to unearth and commit to writers I actually enjoy reading.
Those I do now choose to follow reward my attention in spades.
I love that for a few minutes I’m dunked into a richly detailed otherness, hanging out with astute, curious minds taking a moment to make sense of life and share their strange private passions.
Interspersed with unedited photos and impromptu video chats, a Substack publication is a more intimate, experimental experience than you’ll get from most conventionally published articles. And without doubt it’s a deeper exchange of space and time than the flick-focused sea of attention-grabbing you get from social media.
Ultimately, for me, the best Substack discoveries have been memorable, thought provoking, fun and, that holy grail: life-affirming.
So, here are some of my favourites thus far. No doubt, there’ll be many more to come. If you’re already a Substack pro, please go ahead and share links to your favourite writers in the comments below. I’m more than okay with you feeding my addiction for unique voices.
16 Substack writers worth spending your time with
My lazy descriptions are inspired by a very easy read I’m quite enjoying at the moment (William Boyd’s Sweet Caress), in which the characters share a game describing strangers with only 4 words. You should try it.
1. Make Space:
unmissable, beautiful, poetic + playlists
2. A Newsletter:
my favourite kitchen voice
3. This week in Sound
just click and explore
4. Make me good soil:
fascinating mind-altering soil philosophy
5. Dearest:
crafting delightful jewellery histories
6. Poetry Today:
Maya’s impeccable poetry curation
7. Radicle:
museum for niche botany
8. Substack Reads:
discover more great writers
9. Flow State:
weekly work focus playlists
10. Words on Music:
insider classical music gems
11. Vittles:
an atlas in food
12. To vegetables with love:
yum yum yum yum
13. Inneresting:
eclectic screenwriting and stuff
14. What is it I think I am doing:
politics literature astute perspective
15. sweater weather:
juicy nerdy lit crit
16. this is precious:
downright excellent fluffy journalism