“There Has to Be a Line”: Substack’s Founders Dive Headfirst Into the Culture Wars

But until Substack makes it clear that it will take proactive steps to remove hate speech and extremism, the current size of the problem isn’t relevant. The company’s edgelord branding ensures that the fringes will continue to arrive and set up shop, and its infrastructure creates the possibility that those publications will grow quickly. That’s wh... See more

In a typical Act III, Substack would abandon intellectualism entirely. But it has an edge—a potential way out: the inbox is still Substack’s secret weapon.

Its direct creator-to-subscriber model can temper the algorithmic flattening that plagues other platforms. E-mail as a channel allows high-brow, middle-brow, and low-brow content to coexist whil... See more

On whether Substack can justify its 10% revenue share for top writers: