Which topics dominated Substack's most-read newsletters in 2025?
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Executive summary
Substack’s most-read newsletters in 2025 were overwhelmingly driven by politics, culture and explanatory journalism, then supported by strong followings for business/tech, international affairs and niche lifestyle verticals; platform charts and multiple year-end lists repeatedly show that a handful of topics captured most attention and paid subscriptions [1] [2]. Data-driven analyses of hundreds or thousands of newsletters also find a concentration of engagement in a small set of categories—news/politics, culture, business/tech—while creator guides and rankings point to how consistency and clear topical focus fuel the hits [3] [1].
1. Politics and explanatory history: the big draw
Politics—especially U.S. politics approached through regular explanatory dispatches and historical framing—dominated readership, with writers who turned daily or nightly briefs into huge audiences; independent lists and platform “top politics” pages highlight newsletters that built tens of thousands to millions of readers by translating current events into context [4] [2]. Multiple rankings and features underscore that Substack’s breakout stars often anchored their growth in politics and civic analysis, a trend reinforced by Press Gazette and Substack category charts that list politics-first publications among the most-subscribed [5] [6].
2. Culture, literature and personal essays: premium attention for depth and taste
Long-form cultural criticism, letters from writers, memoir-adjacent essays and literary Substacks held a parallel prominence—CULTURED’s roundup of editors’ favorites and curation lists point to high engagement with culture, fiction and craft-based newsletters that offer intimacy and taste-making rather than daily breaking news [7] [8]. These pieces sell well on Substack because they trade immediacy for perceived authority and community, and curated lists of “best” Substacks repeatedly feature culture-first newsletters [9] [7].
3. Business, product design and tech deep dives: specialist audiences scale
Business and technology newsletters—ranging from product-design deep dives like ByteByteGo to entrepreneur and growth-advice letters—were reliably among the platform’s largest, proving niche expertise can reach mass scale when packaged as consistent, practical analysis [2] [1]. Industry lists and “biggest newsletters” roundups name business-focused authors (e.g., Lenny Rachitsky) as top performers, while revenue rankings show many high-earning Substacks monetize this specialization effectively [2] [5].
4. International reporting and geopolitics: demand for on-the-ground perspective
International affairs, regional geopolitics and global health reporting were prominent in Substack’s international charts and category pages—readers gravitated to newsletters that offered context, translations and boots-on-the-ground perspectives about conflicts and policy, a pattern visible across Substack’s international lists and curated pages [10] [6]. These newsletters often serve professionals and engaged citizens seeking analysis beyond headlines, reflected in platform top-lists for international and foreign-policy content [10].
5. Niche lifestyles, travel, science and “how-to” media: breadth underneath the peaks
Beneath the headline categories, niche lifestyle mailers—travel guides, science roundups, history deep dives and practical how-to/PR advice—generated large, loyal readerships and frequent “most-read” mentions within their verticals, as shown by travel writers’ year-end popular-post lists and PR/industry outlets that flagged Substack-focused how-to pieces as among their most-read stories [11] [12]. Growth guides and analytics posts reinforce that consistency, a clear value proposition and community features are the mechanics by which these niche newsletters punch above their size [3] [13].
6. What the reporting doesn’t settle—and why rankings vary
Public reporting and charts converge on the same handful of dominant topics, but limitations are notable: Substack does not publish comprehensive subscriber or revenue data, so outside rankings rely on partial datasets, recreated charts or publisher disclosures that can skew toward the biggest, most transparent accounts [5] [14]. Analyses of thousands of posts help reveal engagement patterns, but cannot fully capture private paid-subscription dynamics, meaning claims about “most-read” must be read as indicative patterns rather than an exhaustive census [3] [1].