How to Do Substack

And who to follow...

The mainstream media is in a parlous state right now, bereft of advertising monies and struggling to find an audience amongst younger readers.

From RTE to The New York Times, the storied gatekeepers of the media world are in all sorts of a mess. Some have blown themselves up – Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post! Bari Weiss and CBS! The Board of the BBC! – whilst others simply seem lost in the new mediasphere.

But the answer to finding good reporting and analysis – and food writing – is not to give up, but to redirect your attention to Substack, where many of the leading commentators now pitch their tents.

In just the last few weeks of 2025, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and many others opened their pitch on Substack. They will have some catching up to do, as some of the best-known ‘Stackers have already carved out enormous audiences, and attract huge attention and responses.

We have posted our world on Substack for the last three and more years. We love it. Our work gets the time and space the subject needs, some days a Long Form read, other days a short bulletin, other times a photograph-led piece. It’s pure fun from our end.

But as Substack has grown so rapidly, it can seem like a monolith, a place where it is impossible to know where to start. And it’s very easy indeed to spend your time discovering that Substack is home to an awful lot of narcissistic bores, the sort of people you would dread to be seated beside at dinner.

So, you have to sort the wheat from the chaff, and ignore the chaff posted by amateur-hour solipsists who are unworthy of your precious time.

So, if we are not posting on Substack, who are we reading on Substack? Here are the writers and analysts we turn to every day, often in advance of trustworthy media such as The Irish Times and The Guardian.

Like you, we have eclectic tastes and interests, and we love lots of weird stuff, which explains the higgledy-piggledy assortment of the following:

Tina Brown’s Fresh Hell for politics and gossip. The queen of high-minded goss knows everyone and everything, and everything about everyone, as you would if you had edited both The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Tina also writes like an angel.

Paul Krugman for economics. It’s hard to believe that The New York Times pissed off this distinguished Nobel Laureate so much that he left them, but leave them he did, and his Stack is one of the most essential you can read on politics and economics. Paul also does lots of Substack conversations with other talking eggheads.

Henry Farrell for social analysis via a ‘Stack which is also known as Programmable Mutter. A recent post by Henry included Danny Healy-Rae and the semiotics of tattoos, before zoning in on Donald Trump’s pugilistic ignorance. If that sounds like some fascinating dude you might hope to meet in a pub, well Henry is an Irishman, who just happens to teach at Johns Hopkins. Also the author of Underground Empire, a must-read book.

Ali Dunworth’s Kitchen Press Ali’s cupboard contains all the news, simple as that. If you want to know what’s going on, and what Ali herself is up to in her busy life in the foodsphere, then this is the Kitchen Press that opens to reveal all.

The Borowitz Report for laugh-out-loud satire. Andy Borowitz is some sort of a magician, finding laughter, irony and giggles in every miserable piece of crap that happens in our political and social worlds.

Cooking by Ear by Francesco Turrisi. Francesco lives in Dublin, when he isn’t touring the globe as one of the most sought-after percussionists on the planet. When home, he obsesses about food, coffee and everything edible, and on the road he always finds time to find the best places to eat. Essential.

Phillips Newsletter by Phillips P. O’Brien. Phillips offers the best analysis of the Russia-Ukraine war, basing his analysis on information and research rather than the vibes which the mainstream media projects on the subject. Read him, and you know what is actually happening.

Gary Marcus on AI. Marcus has been writing for years that LLMs = AGI is bunk, and if you want to counter the bs from Silicon Valley nut jobs, he is the soundest bloke on the subject.

Jp McMahon Jp looks at Irish food through a very wide lens, his posts delve into the history and cultural landscape covering everything from crisp sandwiches to Samuel Beckett. You will learn a lot from this chef, food polemicist and West of Ireland countryman and historian.

Just Two Things Andrew Curry always posts fascinating, arcane and original posts, on everything from politics to population to the importance of shade. His posting is irregular, and unmissable.

Eat This, Drink That, Live Well by Fiona Beckett is a vital, sane, ever-sensible analysis of good things to eat and drink by the storied ex-Guardian wine writer. Could also be called a Compendium of Common Sense about Food and Wine.

Flavour Nuggets by Helen Graves. We don’t know how she does it, but every recipe that Helen Graves posts to Substack is so damn delicious, you just need that info. Zing! Kapow! Re-energise your ‘Buds was how she began 2026, and we’re with her all the way.

Noel Casler’s Noel’s Notes Casler worked on The Apprentice when that show made Trump famous, and he knows just what sort of a person we are dealing with. “Have you ever in your life encountered a character as wretched as Donald Trump?” asked David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker. Casler describes the wretch from inside knowledge. Spoiler alert! It’s worse than you think.

Transitional Technology Ethan Iverson is a terrific jazz pianist, and he is even better as an authority and writer on jazz, with no equal. Ethan’s insights make the greatest music sound even greater.

Memex by John Naughton. John is from County Mayo, but has spent his working life at Cambridge. He posts three times a week, discovers rafts of interesting stuff for you to read, and puts up some spiffing photos. Every post makes your day better, three times a week.

The Irish Politics Newsletter You never know quite what to expect from these Irish American observations on global politics, it’s one of those you always have to read.

Omos by Cuan Greene is both Cuan’s Substack, and Cuan’s big County Laois restaurant/guesthouse/farm project, which will be opening mid-way through the year. Somehow he has managed to keep ‘stacking even amidst all the craziness of birthing a huge new concept from the ground up.

Henry Morris Okay, so it’s UK satire, but Henry is a brilliant satirist, able to dissect and dismantle the cast of horrors who populate our public life.

Matt Stoller’s Big Matt’s beat is the world of monopolies, but through that tight focus he explores the modern world of business and all the shenanigans therein. His work is quietly moral and philosophical, and quietly vital.

The Fucking News Hilariously irreverent, but right on the money. The Fucking News is the real news that you might not read in mainstream media.

Robert Reich Kindly Professor, with a biting anger. His chats with Heather Lofthouse are always worth a listen.

Jon Haidt’s After Babel Jon is the reason why we are having the vital conversation about smartphones and tech and young people’s mental health. Fearless, and eye-opening.

Made with Lau The Substack arm of this popular You Tube channel, made by father Daddy Lau, and son, Randy Lau. Dad cooks, son documents. You learn.

Tea and Oranges All about the mechanics and philosophy of Chinese cooking, with recipes from Dongbei Stews to a Beijing Breakfast.

Mark Diacono’s Abundance Food writing as art. You never know quite what to expect from Mark, other than it will be delicious and meaningful.

bosca macántacht | sian conway One of the brightest new voices in Irish food. Sian tells it straight - places i ate & drank that i thought were class.

The Gazpacho Chronicles Blanca Valencia writes beautifully about everything to do with Spanish food. You need this. Start with How to Fry an Egg like a Spaniard.

Join Substack. The rest is just noise.