My Substack is just a little over a year old, but I've been able to build a solid community of academics and former academics who now work in industry.
I've found that teaching in my articles like I might in a classroom is highly effective here on Substack. I hadn't really thought about it being an "online classroom" but that's a pretty good way to describe it.
Thank you for including Beyond Bloomsbury in this round-up of academic Substacks. Not only have you given me a platform to focus my research and writing, but I’ve been introduced to some wonderful fellow academics and historians. Thank you!
I'm a big fan of the idea of "working with the garage door open". And I'm a big fan of collections of essays such as Gaiman's _View From the Cheap Seats_ or Gibson's _Distrust That Particular Flavor_. I'm not yet convinced, however, that there is an easy and direct path from blogging to publishing those musings as a book of essays. I would be cautious of overpromising, if I was writing marketing for Substack.
Thank you for the shout-out - much appreciated. @substack has been great for me to play with new ideas. I've found a comfortable strategy for keeping up with the literature is simply to select a paper or theme of broad general interest that I want to read about/need to read about, and write it up as a 'stack. This way I can be sure I understand it, and get feedback on what people think of it.
My most recent pieces were on stress, trauma and how fear and pain rewire the brain - and what might be done about it.
The trick I have found is to commit - that builds the habit of writing, and it has all sorts of spillover effects into other areas of your work.
Notes provides another outlet - I use it for different purposes - and I've started putting out some of the flash fiction I write on Notes - fits very well there!
Last thought: a substack builds something consequential - a serious body of writing. It is not some evanescent, with a half-life measured in seconds, driven by an algorithm determined to maximise rage and eyeballs (you know what I mean!). It's something to be proud of.
I like that perspective. Teachers and professionals who have educational messages to share could use Substack to reach and impact the masses. Most of all, Substack is filled with smart, motivated writers and learners. Everyone is a student of life here with the goal to learn and grow.
It's so true that substack offers a space for more expansive writing! I'm a political scientist and I write and teach about Black politics, race, and feminism and substack lets me explore these topics through art, music, and my personal experience.
I don’t think we fully understand how powerful substack can be as a marketplace of ideas.
One thing I resonated with in this article right away was the common theme that academia is hierarchal. There are more PhDs than tenure track positions and it’s so important that they have a place to develop and share ideas.
I personally believe the power of diversity in thought and I’d hate to see young academics conform their beliefs to what academia wants.
Substack is powerful because it allows ideas to spread that might otherwise die.
It also gives people access to brilliant minds through subscriptions as opposed to spending tens of thousands of dollars on tuition. ($50 per year as opposed to $50,000)
Substack has been a powerful tool for me as a writer as well. I’m trying to figure out what I want to pursue in regards to my writing and academic career and substack has been a place I’ve been able to post nonfiction, fiction, and my thoughts.
By doing so, I’ve received feedback fro me waders on what’s working and what’s not but I’ve also realized what I’m interested in.
I also love the ability to change on substack. I started my substack thinking I was going to write journalistic pieces but through the substack community discovered that i really enjoy writing poetry.
That’s another plus about substack, you can write whatever you want. No one’s going to tell you not to post or publish something, you have complete ownership over your work.
I encourage everyone to subscribe to a few people who write about topics you’ve never explored, you really never know where it could lead.
If you’re interested in some poetry check out my stack!
Thanks for including me in this round-up! There's a reason so many academics are congregating here.
My Substack is just a little over a year old, but I've been able to build a solid community of academics and former academics who now work in industry.
See The Recovering Academic: https://joshuadolezal.substack.com/
I've found that teaching in my articles like I might in a classroom is highly effective here on Substack. I hadn't really thought about it being an "online classroom" but that's a pretty good way to describe it.
Thank you for including Beyond Bloomsbury in this round-up of academic Substacks. Not only have you given me a platform to focus my research and writing, but I’ve been introduced to some wonderful fellow academics and historians. Thank you!
I'm a big fan of the idea of "working with the garage door open". And I'm a big fan of collections of essays such as Gaiman's _View From the Cheap Seats_ or Gibson's _Distrust That Particular Flavor_. I'm not yet convinced, however, that there is an easy and direct path from blogging to publishing those musings as a book of essays. I would be cautious of overpromising, if I was writing marketing for Substack.
Jillian at Noted is such a JOY!!!! One of my favorite newsletters to read!!!!
Thank you for the shout-out - much appreciated. @substack has been great for me to play with new ideas. I've found a comfortable strategy for keeping up with the literature is simply to select a paper or theme of broad general interest that I want to read about/need to read about, and write it up as a 'stack. This way I can be sure I understand it, and get feedback on what people think of it.
My most recent pieces were on stress, trauma and how fear and pain rewire the brain - and what might be done about it.
The trick I have found is to commit - that builds the habit of writing, and it has all sorts of spillover effects into other areas of your work.
Notes provides another outlet - I use it for different purposes - and I've started putting out some of the flash fiction I write on Notes - fits very well there!
Last thought: a substack builds something consequential - a serious body of writing. It is not some evanescent, with a half-life measured in seconds, driven by an algorithm determined to maximise rage and eyeballs (you know what I mean!). It's something to be proud of.
I like that perspective. Teachers and professionals who have educational messages to share could use Substack to reach and impact the masses. Most of all, Substack is filled with smart, motivated writers and learners. Everyone is a student of life here with the goal to learn and grow.
Thank you for highlighting this aspect of the platform. I joined substack to rethink and rewrite my dissertation for a broader audience!
My substack on life in Japan and the cultural impact has attracted lots of academic response
https://hiddenjapan.substack.com/
Thanks so much for including my perspective! And always exciting to discover new writers to check out!
It's so true that substack offers a space for more expansive writing! I'm a political scientist and I write and teach about Black politics, race, and feminism and substack lets me explore these topics through art, music, and my personal experience.
Substack just keeps getting better!
Any social science and qual researchers on here? I'd love to subscribe to some
And academics can speak freely here, not the case in all universities these days
I don’t think we fully understand how powerful substack can be as a marketplace of ideas.
One thing I resonated with in this article right away was the common theme that academia is hierarchal. There are more PhDs than tenure track positions and it’s so important that they have a place to develop and share ideas.
I personally believe the power of diversity in thought and I’d hate to see young academics conform their beliefs to what academia wants.
Substack is powerful because it allows ideas to spread that might otherwise die.
It also gives people access to brilliant minds through subscriptions as opposed to spending tens of thousands of dollars on tuition. ($50 per year as opposed to $50,000)
Substack has been a powerful tool for me as a writer as well. I’m trying to figure out what I want to pursue in regards to my writing and academic career and substack has been a place I’ve been able to post nonfiction, fiction, and my thoughts.
By doing so, I’ve received feedback fro me waders on what’s working and what’s not but I’ve also realized what I’m interested in.
I also love the ability to change on substack. I started my substack thinking I was going to write journalistic pieces but through the substack community discovered that i really enjoy writing poetry.
That’s another plus about substack, you can write whatever you want. No one’s going to tell you not to post or publish something, you have complete ownership over your work.
I encourage everyone to subscribe to a few people who write about topics you’ve never explored, you really never know where it could lead.
If you’re interested in some poetry check out my stack!
As Forrest Gump might have said: “One day, for no particular reason, I just started writing”. And I chose Substack. 👏🎂