Substacks recommended by Joshua Doležal

Recommended by Joshua Doležal

Welcome to Beyond Academia, a guiding light for PhDs navigating the transition from academia to industry. In this Substack, I curate practical strategies and share inspiring testimonials to empower you on your journey.

Beyond the Bookshelf

By Matthew Long

Personal essays exploring the intricate relationships between life and literature through the profound narratives that bind them together, penned by a Navy veteran and trauma survivor reflecting on a lifetime of service and healing.

Matthew brings a unique perspective to literature after a career in the military. You'll be in good hands with his careful reading and research.

- Joshua Doležal

Story Waves

By Kelly E. Keough

Make your story unforgettable. Dive deep into screenwriting craft with Kelly Keough, your award-winning mentor. From the building blocks to winning your audience's hearts, gain top-tier techniques that amplify your story's clarity, appeal, and creativity.

Everything Is An Emergency

By Bess Stillman

I'm Bess Stillman: ER doctor, writer, and wife to Jake Seliger, who is currently dying of SCC of the tongue. I write about the challenges of being corporeal. Here you'll find essays on life, death, cancer, love, health & healthcare.

Bright Side Writings

By Matthew Curlewis

Optimism-led, fortnightly stories to brighten these dark times of climate crisis and global strife. I believe we must never lose sight of joy, because that is where hope resides.

Woman of Letters

By Naomi Kanakia

I write about the Great Books, classic literature, and the contemporary publishing world. I am also not a transphobe.

Jennifer’s Substack

By Jennifer Harmon

My personal Substack

The Possibilities Project

By Julia Gray

For creative thinkers and thoughtful creatives who want to build a world that is caring, sustainable, respectful, and joyful.

Drake's Garage

By Drake Thomas

My personal substack for various musing and records of projects

The Declining Academic

By Chuck Rybak

Lover of poetry who also asks, "What should educators and the Arts & Culture community care about as the world speeds along?"

The Books That Made Us

By M. E. Rothwell

Discover the books that shaped your favourite writers.

How Stories Tell Us

By Miguel Clark Mallet

Meditations on the nature of narrative, and on what the narratives we consume and choose can tell us about ourselves.

Personal Canon Formation

By John Halbrooks

A newsletter about how we read and listen to enrich our lives

Cedar Creek Nature Notes

By Robert Leonard

Almost daily, Violet the Dog and I take a walk at the Cedar Bluffs Natural Area above Cedar Creek in Mahaska County, Iowa, and these are my observations, photos, and Merlin bird logs.

Auraist: picking the best-written books of the month

By Sean

Join 15k Substackers for our picks of the most beautifully written books from US and UK prize shortlists and major reviews, extracts from these picks, and masterclasses by their authors on prose style. The Demon Inside David Lynch forthcoming.

Helen's Word

By Helen Sword

Expert guidance for scholarly and professional writers who aim to lift their writing game

Homo Vitruvius by A. Jay Adler

Essays on literature, culture, society, and all things human. Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir. A writer's renascent light against the darkness. "Sing of human unsuccess / In a rapture of distress."

Iowa Revolution

By Robert Leonard & Spencer Dirks

Political change is needed in Iowa and across the land. Republicans are dismantling democracy brick by brick, and we provide analysis and commentary.

Discursions

By M. L. Rio

I've got three books under contract while writing on the backs of napkins and living on the road. Jump in the passenger seat if you want to see where this goes.

PhD to Industry

By Aditya

A newsletter for academics & PhDs looking to launch and grow their industry careers. Delivered directly to your inbox every 2 weeks with read time < 5 mins.

LOUDLY

By Matěj Mišurec

Talking about things that have to be talked about.

Nurturing The Song Within

By Heron Dance Art Journal

Receive a notification each time we publish a new post. It's free.

Good Humor

From the famous quote, “Arise good humor. Thou hast given me a joust of moral flavor.” Sir Wellington of Argyle, the discoverer of a heavy beef dish and a sock for golfers.

Timeless - With Felix Purat

Seeking the eternal in literature and cultural philosophy.

Substack Writers at Work

By Sarah Fay

The only expert guide to Substack ✦ Connect with other Substack writers ✦ Join the Substack Growth Cohort to achieve your goals

Eleanor’s Substack

By Eleanor Anstruther

Short Stories, A Memoir In 65 Postcards, The Recovery Diaries, In Judgement Of Others, This Writing Life, Soundscape Stories

Going Gently

By Satya

...helping you be kinder to yourself, to others & to our dear Earth

Inner Life

By Joshua Doležal

An open conversation about the life of the mind.

An open conversation about the life of the mind with emphasis on literature and the arts.

- Joshua Doležal

Zuko's Musings

By Jenn Zuko

Stuff and nonsense about the intellectual and otherwise nerdings-out I do on a thrice-weekly basis. Cultural commentary, literary analysis, theatrical and academic rantings. Cool? Cool.

Poetry Today

By Maya C. Popa

deepening your practice of poetry, mindset, and wonder

A Twist on the Everyday

By Cathy Haustein

science, society, stories

High Reach

By Director Jake

Elite admissions advising.

Jake is a pro with the results to prove it. He has the inside scoop from admissions officers and administrators, and he's helped thousands of students get admitted to top schools. When my children reach college age, High Reach and Hippocampus Academy will be our first stop.

- Joshua Doležal

Get Real, Man

By Latham

A newsletter exploring the search for more: more humanity, more honesty, more Truth

Michael Mohr's Sincere American Writing

Buy my YA literary punk novel, THE CREW. Find me on Facebook. Author. Book editor. Thinker. Contrarian. Essays. Politics. Memoir. Book reviews. Fiction. No teams. No loyalties. Straight bourbon honesty.

Michael writes about his own life and the writing life with honesty, humility, and humor. I love his reflections on literature, especially.

- Joshua Doležal

Mary Swander’s Buggy Land

By swandermary@gmail.com

The Amish, sustainability, and the wider rural environment.

Art Cullen’s Notebook

A view from rural America: immigration, agriculture, environment, politics

All Science Great & Small

By Eric Fish

Your source for independent news, analysis, and commentary in veterinary medicine. I also write about science, technology, and public health.

PubStack Success

By Karen Cherry

A weekly newsletter for new Substack creators: how to start, how to grow, and how to monetize by a $17K Substacker.

Iowa Writers Collaborative

By Julie Gammack

Linking readers and writers who care about Iowa.

The Gallery Companion

By Dr Victoria Powell

Art without the confusing art speak. Stories about all the stuff that artists explore and question: what’s going on, how we think and behave, and the role of art in our world.

We Hold These Truths: Understanding the Rural Midwest

By Dennis Christopher

Essays and commentary on the realities of the rural Midwestern United States.

Quiet Reading with Tara Penry

Connecting people through story and language

If you want a break from hustle culture, a dose of optimism and humor, and quiet insights, Tara is the guide for you. A balm for the soul.

- Joshua Doležal

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

By Robert Leonard

The politics and culture of Iowa, the midwest, and beyond.

Homo Imaginari

By James F. Richardson

popular social science thinking for curious folks.

Recalculating, by Ignacio Pereyra

Masculinity, fatherhood and identity crisis. Men and fathers, let’s talk.

Publish Not Perish

By Jenn McClearen

Let go of the "publish-or-perish" mindset and discover a holistic approach to academia with Publish Not Perish. Access valuable resources, tools, and expert advice from professor and author Jenn McClearen. Start flourishing instead!

Mary Tabor "Only connect ..."

By <Mary L. Tabor>

The arts, books, movies, all things literary--and a course: Write it! How to get started, The Writing Life and (Re)Making Love: a memoir in serial chapters

The Editing Spectrum

By Amanda B. Hinton

Weekly doses of creative nourishment and hands-on editorial guidance. If you're seeking practical, intuitive ways of developing your craft and carrying it into the world (that are also neurodivergent-friendly), you're in the right spot.

Unprofessoring

By Liz Haswell

Stories, community, and support for anyone seeking to consciously uncouple from the ivory tower

Castalia

By Sam Kahn

Intellectual Journal - essays, stories, reflections

Sparks from Culture by David Roberts

By david roberts

Personal essays on life, literature, and privilege from the POV of generational wealth and living within the Manhattan bubble.

Footnotes and Tangents

By Simon Haisell

A community for curious and creative readers. Slow book groups reading Leo Tolstoy and Hilary Mantel. Fiction by Simon Haisell.

Of a Sober Mind

By Dee Rambeau writes Of a “Sober Mind"

Wisdom and humor from a grown-ass man living in recovery.

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios

A podcast about language, with host John McWhorter.

Of Boys and Men

By Richard V Reeves

rising to the challenges faced by the modern male

The Beauty of Things

By Zina

Posts about arts and culture from a classically-minded, personal perspective coming to you in the form of essays, poetry, and podcasts.

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

if not, Paris

By Samuel Lopez-Barrantes

a novelist writing tall-tales, essays & music from Paris

Dad Notes By Jamar Hudson

Chronicling my journey through fatherhood one post at a time.

Jamar is a thoughtful and welcoming guide to fatherhood.

- Joshua Doležal

literature & culture

Letters to Z are Sean Talbeaux's future epistles to his young son, which weave love, heartbreak, work, spirituality, masculinity, and depth with value of risk, ritual, and staying present when things get hard.

Sean is a new father with more questions than answers and a lot of soul.

- Joshua Doležal

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

By Joyce Vance

Worried about the state of the republic? Get the legal knowledge & analysis you need to be an advocate for democracy, along with a dose of savvy optimism.

JB Minton

Weekly critical writing on films, shows, books, music, and inciteful, insightful cultural analysis. I also publish art here for free and paid subscribers.

Story Club with George Saunders

A place to explore the way the short story works.

Sophia

Head of Writer Relations @Substack

The Author Stack

By Russell Nohelty

Helping create a sustainable path forward for authors to build businesses that allow them to thrive and lives that light them up inside.

AI Supremacy

By Michael Spencer

News at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, technology and business including Op-Eds, research summaries, guest contributions and valuable info about A.I. startups.

Departure Points

By Thomas Chatterton Williams

Reading, writing, thinking, improving

Eight by Seven

By Timothy Burke

Organized distractedness: regular doses of history, politics, photography, cooking, academia and geek culture.

Unschool for Writers

By Alison Acheson

Playing and working with words: finding your own way to fiction and nonfiction, poetry, and writing for young people

The Intrinsic Perspective

By Erik Hoel

Bridging the two cultures of science and the humanities

Sherman Alexie

poems, short fiction, essays, opinion, audio, video

Non-Boring History

By Annette Laing

Substack Featured & Bestselling Newsletter! Join renegade historian and Brit in the US Dr. Annette Laing on her witty history mystery tour

Finding Home

By Jan Peppler

Insights to finding home & creating home from a home researcher who has lived in many places. Using psychology, myth, popular culture, religion, the hero's journey, and more.

The Hartmann Report

By Thom Hartmann

A Daily Newsletter of Renaissance Thinking about Progressive Politics, Economics, Science, and the News Issues of Our Day

The Honest Broker

By Ted Gioia

A trustworthy guide to music, books, arts, media & culture by Ted Gioia

Beyond Survival with Clare Egan

Weekly essays written with “authenticity, vulnerability and insight” about grief, trauma and rebuilding my life in the aftermath of sexual violence. My mission is to change how we think (& talk) about life after trauma.

Academia Made Easier

By Loleen Berdahl

Academia Made Easier: teaching, productivity, and work-life balance for people working in higher ed

Loleen offers a nice mix of practical tips for productivity and strategies for self-care. Academics need this!

- Joshua Doležal

The New Fatherhood

By Kevin Maguire

"Like one big group text with other guys fumbling their way through fatherhood." — Esquire

Great interviews, personal anecdotes, and resources. Also appreciate that Kevin tackles the big picture of fatherhood (career, identity) in addition to the practical side.

- Joshua Doležal

Jennifer’s Newsletter

By Jennifer Askey

Mindful Academia

Lit Mag News

By Becky Tuch

The Recovering Academic

Recommended by Joshua Doležal