Bess Kalb has 81,925 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #5 on Substack's Humor Bestsellers board. 73 publications recommend them, 2 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 20.
Last read Oct 31, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.
- Followers
- 81,925
- read Oct 31
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 49K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- Thousands
- bestseller badge 1,000+
- Recommended by
- 73
- +2 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 20
- Bestsellers rank
- #5
- Humor
Followers by day
Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. This is the first reading. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.
Show as a table
| Date | Followers | Change | Subscribers | Paid band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2026 | 81,925 | 49K+ | Thousands |
Leaderboard positions
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humor Bestsellers | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Humor Rising | 3 | new |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
73 publications recommend Bess Kalb; 2 started in the last 30 days. Bess Kalb recommends 20, and 8 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2022-06 | 1 |
| 2022-07 | 1 |
| 2022-10 | 1 |
| 2023-03 | 1 |
| 2023-06 | 1 |
| 2023-07 | 1 |
| 2023-10 | 2 |
| 2024-01 | 2 |
| 2024-09 | 2 |
| 2024-10 | 1 |
| 2025-02 | 1 |
| 2025-05 | 1 |
| 2025-06 | 1 |
| 2025-10 | 1 |
| 2025-11 | 6 |
| 2025-12 | 8 |
| 2026-01 | 9 |
| 2026-02 | 4 |
| 2026-03 | 1 |
| 2026-04 | 4 |
| 2026-05 | 7 |
| 2026-06 | 4 |
| 2026-07 | 3 |
| 2026-08 | 3 |
| 2026-09 | 4 |
| 2026-10 | 3 |
Recommended by
Jessica Valenti283k followers · started Jun 2022 · mutual
Joanna Goddard267k followers · started Sep 2024 · mutual
RAYGUN248k followers · started Jun 18, 2026
Maggie Smith100k followers · started Jun 2023 · mutual
Jacqueline Nesi, PhD97k followers · started Mar 2023
Clare de Boer86k followers · started Jul 2023 · mutual
Kate Manne81k followers · started Sep 2024
Liana Finck75k followers · started Jul 2022 · mutual
Plum Sykes35k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
The Green Spoon34k followers · started Jan 2024 · mutual
Deborah Copaken33k followers · started Oct 2023
Erin Boyle30k followers · started Nov 7, 2025
Phoebe Lapine25k followers · started Oct 2025
Jacqueline Novak17k followers · started Jun 2025 · mutual
Lisa Sibbett15k followers · started May 2025
Emma Golden Miller4.6k followers · started Jan 2024
Grace McClure2.6k followers · started Feb 2, 2026
Mary Flannery2.4k followers · started Oct 2022
Shira Hoffman1.8k followers · started Sep 21, 2026
Olga Massov1.3k followers · started Sep 30, 2026
Jacob Reed852 followers · started Oct 2024
Rachel Stevens657 followers · started Oct 2023
Chase Cohl611 followers · started Aug 20, 2026- Paul's Substackstarted Oct 23, 2026new
All 73
- The Carrierfilestarted Oct 10, 2026new
- Lili's Substackstarted Oct 2, 2026
- Emily Williamsstarted Sep 16, 2026
- you've got mailstarted Sep 12, 2026
- Jack Carpenterstarted Aug 24, 2026
- The Bar Bathroomstarted Aug 2, 2026
- Demetria's Substackstarted Jul 18, 2026
- A Weary Messstarted Jul 9, 2026
- Nicole's Substackstarted Jul 7, 2026
- Jessica's Substackstarted Jun 21, 2026
- Katie Jones Writesstarted Jun 14, 2026
- Cover Lettersstarted Jun 9, 2026
- Fnikadiss Substackstarted May 24, 2026
- Kristy Hansonstarted May 21, 2026
- Raspberry Oatmealstarted May 18, 2026
- An unbranded substackstarted May 16, 2026
- Elaine McLemorestarted May 15, 2026
- Alex's Substackstarted May 4, 2026
- Margin of Victorystarted May 4, 2026
- Bre's Substackstarted Apr 30, 2026
- Epeloguestarted Apr 26, 2026
- Nithya Ramanstarted Apr 23, 2026
- Sekar's Substackstarted Apr 15, 2026
- Jillian's Substackstarted Mar 1, 2026
- Dawn's Substackstarted Feb 10, 2026
- Katro's Substackstarted Feb 9, 2026
- Tracy's Substackstarted Feb 4, 2026
- Parga's Substackstarted Jan 27, 2026
- Art Room started Jan 24, 2026
- Neil's Substackstarted Jan 22, 2026
- Pardon Me, What the Hell?started Jan 21, 2026
- the unsent lettersstarted Jan 17, 2026
- Loranda's Substackstarted Jan 16, 2026
- zzoyerdua's Substackstarted Jan 13, 2026
- Menu Machine: Reality-based cooking for people who love foodstarted Jan 3, 2026
- Ellen's Substackstarted Jan 2, 2026
- Throwing Straysstarted Dec 31, 2025
- Ecom's Substackstarted Dec 31, 2025
- Stephen's Substackstarted Dec 24, 2025
- The Unravellingstarted Dec 17, 2025
- David's Substackstarted Dec 14, 2025
- Kate's Substackstarted Dec 13, 2025
- John's Substackstarted Dec 11, 2025
- Life in AWstarted Dec 2, 2025
- martha's Substackstarted Nov 29, 2025
- Tobi's Substackstarted Nov 27, 2025
- OG's Substackstarted Nov 25, 2025
- Elk Earsstarted Nov 25, 2025
- Fxtrader's Substackstarted Nov 21, 2025
Recommends
Roxane Gay308k followers · started Jan 2023- Jessica Valenti283k followers · started Jun 2022 · mutual
Hunter Harris270k followers · started Jun 2022- Joanna Goddard267k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Miranda July109k followers · started Feb 2025- Maggie Smith100k followers · started May 2023 · mutual
- Clare de Boer86k followers · started Jul 2023 · mutual
- Liana Finck75k followers · started Jan 2023 · mutual
Amber Tamblyn65k followers · started Apr 12, 2026- Plum Sykes35k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
- The Green Spoon34k followers · started Sep 2024 · mutual
- Jacqueline Novak17k followers · started Jun 2025 · mutual
- Crème de la Crèmestarted Feb 2025
- Wait, What? with Aparna Nancherlastarted Feb 2025
- Snack Chatstarted Jun 2023
- Emma Straub's Newsletterstarted Mar 2023
- MouthBrainstarted Oct 2022
- Butt Newsstarted Jun 2022
- Bright Spotsstarted Jun 2022
- The Chatnerstarted Jun 2022
Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.
Recommended by the same publications
Writers who share the most recommenders with Bess Kalb. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 5 shared
Caroline ChambersWhat To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking
690k followers - 4 shared
Hunter HarrisHung Up
270k followers - 4 shared
Joanna GoddardBig Salad
267k followers - 4 shared
Emily NunnThe Department of Salad: Official Bulletin
168k followers - 4 shared
Erika VeurinkLong Live
85k followers - 4 shared
Caroline MossGee Thanks, Just Bought It!
50k followers - 3 shared
Suleika JaouadThe Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad
378k followers - 3 shared
Roxane GayThe Audacity.
308k followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Humor writers with 50,000 or more followers (21 writers in that group), but not Bess Kalb.
- recommends 3 of themKrupal's Substack
- recommends 2 of them
Nate Silver@natesilver - recommends 2 of them
Andrew Sullivan@sullydish - recommends 2 of them
THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali@thelefthook - recommends 2 of them
Blocked and Reported@blockedandreported - recommends 2 of them
Gene Weingarten@geneweingarten - recommends 2 of them
David W Fitzsimmons@davidwfitzsimmons - recommends 2 of them
Andrew Heaton@mightyheaton - recommends 2 of them
Collins@mrtoons - recommends 2 of them
Stephen Beals@stbeals
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