onfocus

Substack is, just as a reminder, a political project made by extremists with a goal of normalizing a radical, hateful agenda by co-opting well-intentioned creators' work in service of cross-promoting attacks on the vulnerable.

It's always good advice to avoid Substack because they’re platforming Nazis and racists. And if for some reason you need another reason to avoid it, why not consider their truly hostile web user experience:

I absolutely despise that a Substack publication’s home page is, typically, nothing more than a sign-up field for your email address to get the publication by email, and a small “No thanks” link to actually read the damn thing. Half the time when I see that page, I just close the tab out of spite. In what world is “No thanks” a good link to convey the meaning “Let me read the thing I came here to read”?

Their awful fade out to sign-up popup as you scroll is also a dark pattern. Willingness to treat readers as rubes you need to trick into subscribing should be a red flag about how the company will continue to make decisions. The fact that so many talented writers and podcasters go along with this is disappointing.