‘Substack’s Nazi problem’ - By the Numbers

Significant metric changes on Substack began about the time this independent writers' platform was attacked as being a haven for Nazis. Plus, other interesting Substack readership metrics.

The Establishment/Deep State played the Fascism Card to “fire a shot against the bow” of Substack in November 2023. The ridiculous smear campaign probably produced its intended effect.

Author’s Note: The reason I’ve presented the numbers in this dispatch should become clear to readers as they absorb the data that follows. My bottom-line might be that conservatives or “dissident” voices have no where else to go, at least anywhere that’s important.

Democrat writers dominate the MSM and, now, Substack …

212 - Number of Substack newsletters with at least 100,000 total subscribers.

(Source: This podcast interview with a lady from France who analyzed all “available” Substack data. Note: The time period of this analysis was not stated, but the article and podcast aired on January 22, 2025.)

9 - Number of “Covid Contrarians” with at least 100K subscribers. (4.25 percent).

95.75 percent - Number of Top Substack Newsletters published by authors who (imo) identify with the Democratic Party.

50 percent - Percentage of American voters who voted for the Republican presidential candidate in the November 2024 presidential election.

99 to 100 percent - Estimated percentage of leading MSM journalists, editors and publishers who supported Democrat Kamala Harris (and, before her, Joe Biden) over Republican Donald Trump (or who consistently promote platforms and agendas of the Democratic Party).

Take-aways:

• Based on an analysis of its most popular newsletters, Substack is approximately 95 percent “Democrat.”

• (Excluding Fox News), the MSM is approximately 99 to 100 percent “Democrat.”

• “Diversity of opinion” does not exist in hundreds of establishment or corporate mainstream news organizations.

• Hundreds or thousands of refugees from the dying MSM have now started Substack newsletters, many of which (see below) have experienced incredible and rapid subscriber growth.

• In contrast, Substack authors who challenge conventional wisdom or might identify as conservative or libertarian are either losing subscribers … or the rate of growth of their newsletters has been massively lower than “Democrat” newsletters.

Bottom-line:

• Dissident commentary and journalism is not found at all in the corporate and establishment news organizations. On Substack, relatively speaking, such commentary/journalism is now dwarfed by the number of “Democrat” influencers.

• Applying a risk-benefit paradigm to “curious changes on Substack,” I believe Substack’s founders concluded the risk of being perceived as a haven for right-wing or contrarian thinkers might, ultimately, spell the death of this “independent” writers’ platform.

• Probably, due in part to a pressure/smear campaign (see future article), Substack launched a pro-active campaign to recruit and then “amplify” writers and public figures who support the Leftist/Globalist/Democratic POV.

IMO, the “benefit” of this strategic pivot is the company would not only continue to exist, but would likely experience rapid growth and become a far more valuable media property to prospective future buyers.

For the segment of the public that does not endorse the views of the “establishment” or the “authorized narratives,’ the risk/cost is that an important speech tool to challenge harmful and false narratives would be significantly “de-amplified.”

I believe the statistics/numbers that follow support these conclusions or opinions.

Top Covid Contrarian Newsletter authors with increase/decrease in subscribers

Note: Referenced subscriber data was taken in a period of approximately 4 months (early January 2025 to May 7, 2025). Source documents:

• My article on the “Top 144 Covid Contrarian” authors. (See here.)

• My analysis article “Liberals have taken over Substack” (See here.)

Dr. Robert Malone: + 11K (to 358K) in approximately 4 months.

Joseph Mercola: Decrease of 39.8K in four months (to 353K).)

Steve Kirsch: + 3.1K (to 260K) in four months.

Alex Berenson: No change (244K in early January and May, but now 238K - a decrease of 6K).

A Midwestern Doctor: + 45K (to 215K) in four months.

Jeff Childers: + 21.1K (to 184K) in four months.

Courageous Discourse (Dr. McCullough & others): + 5.1K (to 135K) in 4 months.

Naomi Wolfe: + 11.1K (to 120K) in four months.

Dr. Pierre Kory: + 11.1K (to 120K) in four months.

Key result/observation:

Subscriber increases/decreases ranged from 45,000 to negative 39,000. None of the leading “Covid Contrarians” saw increases of more than 45,000 and the average increase of these nine “Covid Contrarian” All-Stars was + 7.52K subscribers.

Sample of Top ‘Statist’/Status-Quo authors on Substack

Note: (Same period of time, except for YLE).

Heather Cox Richardson: + 600K in 3 1/2 months (to 2.6 million!)

Robert Reich: + 459.1K in four months (to 978K, now over one million).

Paul Krugman: +250.9K in 3 1/2 months (to 369.9K).

Jim Acosta: + 307K (in four months, from zero).

The Bullwark: + 295K in a little less than four months (to 825K).

Your Local Epidemiologist: + 169K in 17 months (to 369.9K).

Scott Dworkin: + 67K in 3+ months (to 216K)

Key results/observation:

Subscriber increases ranged from 67,000 to 600,000. The average increase for Substack’s Liberal All-stars was + 306,857 total subscribers (40.8 times the increase for the “Covid Contrarians.”)

Substack’s “Nazi problem” - By the Numbers …

I’m finishing a story which will attempt to identify when things began to change on Substack.

Per my research, major changes occurred around the same time an obviously-coordinated attack campaign was launched to smear/label Substack as a “haven for Nazi’s” and/or as the preferred speech platform for extremists and/or practitioners of dangerous “hate speech.”

One of the major points made by authors of The Atlantic, Platformer and other sources was that Substack was “monetizing” or trying to profit from newsletters that promoted Nazi or fascist speech.

This effort, per The Washington Post, The Guardian and many other prominent MSM journalist organizations produced a growing “revolt” of offended citizens and Substack authors concerned with the growth of “neo-Nazi” and “white-supremacist” groups on this speech platform.

Note: This flurry of articles and commentary occurred between November 2023 and January 2024.

With this background, I present these germane numbers …

*** (According to my research, authors like myself once grew rapidly, largely due to like-minded readers who shared content they enjoyed or thought was important. This does not happen to the extent it once did - at least among the “Covid Contrarian’ cohort of authors.) ***

Key Substack Numbers …

75,000 - Number of newsletters on Substack (source: Google AI)

Note: some reports say “millions” but many newsletters are “not active.”)

27,000- Number of newsletters that accept paid subscriptions (36 percent)

48,000 - Number of newsletters that are free-only/do not accept paid subscriptions (64 percent).

35+ million - Number of people who subscribe (free or paid) to at least one Substack newsletter.

“Hundreds of millions” - amount of money paid to Substack and its authors by the company’s 3 to 4 million paid subscribers (multiple sources).

Key Nazi Numbers …

6 to 16 - Out of 75,000 newsletters, number that published “Nazi content (0.00008 percent of newsletters).

Note: Original Sources: The Atlantic and Platformer, a popular tech blog started by a former staffer of the NY Times.

100 - Out of 35+ million readers, number of Substack readers who read these allegedly Nazi sites = 0.0000028 percent of readers (or 1-in-3.5 million Substack readers. Expressed differently, 34.9999 million of Substack’s readers did NOT see these “Nazi” posts.) Source: Substack.

0 - Number of paid subscribers to alleged Nazi sites (Source: Substack).

0 dollars - Out of “hundreds of millions” of dollars taken in by Substack and its 27,000 paid authors, the dollar amount distributed to Nazi authors.

Bottom-line:

Substack’s “Nazi problem” was not much of a problem and Substack was making no money from any alleged outreach effort to recruit authors from the lucrative Nazi target market.

Still, this “shot across the bow” of Substack seems to have had its desired effect.

As I will note in my upcoming article, any exodus or “revolt” among offended Leftist authors didn’t have legs and quickly petered out.

In fact, as often happens, the Opposite of what was predicted to happen actually happened. Instead of legions of Leftist “free-speech warriors” leaving Substack, legions of professional and citizen journalists decided to join Substack’s “Extremist” Team.

Generally speaking, based on my analysis of published subscriber numbers (see above), these authors are experiencing tremendous growth and, have, in fact been “monetized” (perhaps by non-organic means).

Per my analysis and from feedback from many “Covid Contrarian” colleagues, this is the cohort of authors who are now increasingly becoming demoralized or who are wondering “what just changed … and why … and when?”

Writer gratuities via Ko-Fi.

Bonus Content

For more Substack metrics I found interesting, please see today’s Reader Comments.

Speaking of Reader Comments, I greatly appreciate everyone who participated in my recent “study” dealing with my Reader Comments. The kind and flattering comments were a dose of sunshine (Vitamin D) for my recent “Metric Blues.” Later today or this evening, I’ll post the findings and my key conclusions from this Substack experiment.