Substacks recommended by Alicia Kenworthy

Recommended by Alicia Kenworthy

A newsletter about all things Black travel, Black history and Black culture.

Once Upon a Hill chronicles the power struggles, policy battles, and personalities shaping Congress—and the country—so you can create the change you want to see.

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.

StoryWorlds with Junot Díaz

By Junot Díaz

“So howled out for the world to give him a name. The indark answered with wind.” ― Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren :: Reflections on fiction and worldbuilding, on diasporas and elsewheres.

A Sassy Little Substack

By Sandra

Talking about creating and maintaining authentic happiness. Especially now. No toxic positivity allowed, but swearing is. Especially now! (Yes, it's possible to be happy in 2025. And it's needed! Let's do this!) New posts each Wednesday. xo

Incandescent Palace

By Juliette Cove

Storylines and variety interludes sprinkled in comedy bring reality into the grand ballroom of fiction, and fiction into the courtyard of reality. ⭐️ Intro (+video) ⭐️ Script ⭐️Featured Song ⭐️ Writer’s Notes ⭐️ (ZERO-AI & COMPLEMENTARY 💋)

Singular, lively, vivid. Juliette has VOICE. I'm not sure I've ever read prose so brimming with metaphor and surprise at every corner.

- Alicia Kenworthy

SubMakk

By Rebecca Makkai

Rebecca Makkai's Substack: mostly writing and books! but also Zillow, true crime, etymology, food, general inanity

Michael Mohr's Sincere American Writing

Thoughts on books, literature, philosophy, politics, culture, travel, life and death.

Inner Workings

By Rachel Katz

Literary essays, published occasionally. On work culture, mothering, mysterious women’s diseases, and redefining success. Striving to deliver little nuggets of beauty and sparks of insight.

Incisive, incredibly relatable essays on what it means to be a woman and a mother in a world run by Silicon Valley.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Fictitious

By Oleg

A weekly newsletter dedicated to fiction of all shapes, creativity, language learning, linguistics, rhetoric and much more

Oleg always teaches me something new!

- Alicia Kenworthy

olurinatti

By Olayemi Olurin

Olayemi Olurin exploring the issues facing us today

Expertly crafted essays from a singular movement lawyer and thought leader on abolition. I learn from Olayemi every day.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Sparks from Culture by David Roberts

By david roberts

Weekly personal essays about wealth, class, and capitalism from someone with generational wealth, writing with transparency

Nicci’s Notes

By Nicci Kadilak

A weekly mashup of reflections on writing, motherhood, and what it means to be a human in this messy world. Equal parts empathy, deep breaths, and levity.

Nicci writes beautifully from the frontlines of motherhood. Equal doses empathy, relatability and humor.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life

By Terry Freedman

Reflections on literature * Musings on everyday life * Book reviews * Experiments in creative nonfiction writing * Humour

Witticisms and eclectic musings from across the pond. Seeing Terry's name in my inbox always makes me smile!

- Alicia Kenworthy

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.

There's an immediacy to Lauren's prose that is unparalleled. I don't think I ever tire of her voice in my inbox.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Full Sentimentale

By Josiane Stratis

Full Sentimentale est une infolettre de type carnets d'autoréparation sous plusieurs formes. Entre le journal, la réflexion sociale et psychologique. Texte de type long format.

By far my favorite French-language discovery on Substack. Josiane is a superbly talented writer who tackles cancel culture, trauma and its after-effects with nuance and vulnerability.

- Alicia Kenworthy

The Intentional Hulk

By Amy Yuki Vickers

I’m an autistic writer. Please come take a look. You might like it.

Vivid imagery and strikingly elegant prose. I love the way Amy looks at the world.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Story Club with George Saunders

A place to explore the way the short story works.

Mary Karr calls George Saunders the "best short story writer in English." If you're not reading him already, you're in for a treat.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Write What

By Stephanie Danler

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

Beautiful essays, incisive literary criticism and an invaluable resource on craft. There are few writers whose work I admire or learn more from than Danler's.

- Alicia Kenworthy

Freddie deBoer

cool but rude

Just Enough to Get Me in Trouble

By Lyle McKeany

Personal, vulnerable, and sometimes funny essays from a husband, father, and disability advocate, delivered whatever days he wants at exactly 8:08 am PT.

Weekly dispatches of vulnerability and top-notch prose. I look forward to Lyle's singular essays about fatherhood, writing and this thing called life every Saturday. (He's quite the talented fiction writer, too!)

- Alicia Kenworthy

Mind Meld

By Kushaan Shah

New musings at the corner of marketing, technology and culture

Marketing, tech and culture insights from one of my favorite humans

- Alicia Kenworthy

Great Books + Great Minds

By Diamond-Michael Scott

Great Books, Great Minds is a member-supported digital community with a mission of “Igniting a New World of Community, Connection, and Conversation, One Book at a Time

Both Are True

By Alex Dobrenko

Funny, deep, relatable stories from a dad to two, husband to one, friend to all (except himself who he doesn't like v much but is working on it but like how can you really like yourself knowing everything you know about yourself, you know?)

a newsletter

By Alison Roman

recipes, stories and unsolicited advice from alison roman

For when you need both a recipe for caramelized shallot pasta and a good laugh. Were it not for Alison Roman, I'm not sure I'd have ever learned to cook.

- Alicia Kenworthy