Dan Williams

@conspicuouscognition · Conspicuous Cognition · Substack profile · Science

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Dan Williams has 72,252 followers on Substack as of Nov 1, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #37 on Substack's Science Bestsellers board. 58 publications recommend them, 2 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 33.

Followers read 6 days ago · Boards read 6 days ago

Last read Nov 1, 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: 72,252; read Nov 1
Last 7 days: first number on Nov 7
Last 30 days: first number on Nov 30
Subscribers: 24K+; rounded by Substack
Paid subscribers: 100+; bestseller badge 100+
Recommended by: 58; +2 in 30 days
Recommends: 33
Bestsellers rank: #37; Science

Followers by day

Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. 2 days of readings. 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.

One reading a day, the last of the day. Marked: leaderboard steps (into the top 25, top 10, or #1). Followers are people who follow Dan Williams on Substack; they aren't email subscribers.

Show as a table

Daily readings
Date	Followers	Change	Subscribers	Paid band
Nov 1, 2026	72,252	+150	24K+
Oct 31, 2026	72,102		24K+

Leaderboard positions

Board	Rank now	Best on record	Reads on it
Science Bestsellers	#37	#36	4 of 4

Rank on each read

Rank on each read of each board. Each cell is the leaderboard rank; empty means not in the top 100.
Writer	Oct 3107:00	Oct 3113:00	Oct 3119:47	Nov 621:50	Move
Science Bestsellers	36	36	37	37	▼1

I read every board once a day.

Recommendations

58 publications recommend Dan Williams; 2 started in the last 30 days. Dan Williams recommends 33, and 8 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.

The 9 largest publications on each side, by followers. Bigger dot, more followers. Orange: started in the last 30 days. Gray dots: publications I don't track, so no follower count.

When the recommendations started

Live recommendations by the month each began, using Substack's own start date. Removed ones aren't listed by Substack, so they don't appear. Substack shows only the 50 newest recommenders, so before Dec 2025 (outlined) I see only those from the 6,392 publications whose full lists I read.

Show as a table

Recommendations started per month
Month	Started
2024-01	1
2024-03	2
2024-05	1
2024-07	1
2024-09	1
2024-11	1
2025-11	1
2025-12	7
2026-01	9
2026-02	1
2026-03	4
2026-04	3
2026-05	4
2026-06	11
2026-07	4
2026-08	3
2026-09	2
2026-10	2

Recommended by

Nate Silver457k followers · started Mar 2024 · mutual
Roger Pielke Jr.102k followers · started Nov 2024 · mutual
Awais Aftab36k followers · started Mar 2024 · mutual
Bentham's Bulldog32k followers · started Jul 2024 · mutual
Laura Kennedy31k followers · started Nov 18, 2025 · mutual
Dan Gardner25k followers · started May 2024 · mutual
Lionel Page22k followers · started Jan 2024 · mutual
Eugenio Radin13k followers · started Sep 2024 · mutual
Vivek Sstarted Oct 31, 2026new
Le Substack de Lucstarted Oct 28, 2026new
Guillermo Borregostarted Sep 14, 2026
Lexi's Substackstarted Sep 4, 2026
Jill's Substackstarted Aug 29, 2026
Il Substack di Dicòstarted Aug 24, 2026
Joe Fridaystarted Aug 19, 2026
Soldati dell'Umanitàstarted Jul 23, 2026
Gaëtanestarted Jul 12, 2026
Il Substack di MATTEOstarted Jul 9, 2026
Bryan's Substackstarted Jul 2, 2026
The Exhausted Moderatestarted Jun 29, 2026
Il Substack di Gabrielestarted Jun 28, 2026
Deeper with Hatchstarted Jun 22, 2026
Darlingyeol's Substackstarted Jun 19, 2026
The Legibility Projectstarted Jun 13, 2026

All 58

Andrew's Substackstarted Jun 9, 2026
Bill's Substackstarted Jun 6, 2026
Crossings and Musingsstarted Jun 6, 2026
Déjame Pensarlostarted Jun 4, 2026
Artificial Futuresstarted Jun 3, 2026
Setting Out for Ithakastarted Jun 3, 2026
Substack van Eddostarted May 31, 2026
Dr Ferney Bernal Buitragostarted May 29, 2026
First Personalstarted May 22, 2026
The Unravellingstarted May 2, 2026
Repreneur d'Exceptionstarted Apr 15, 2026
Aiden Choustarted Apr 14, 2026
Le rasoir de pochestarted Apr 8, 2026
El Substack de johannesdesilentiostarted Mar 20, 2026
Il Substack di eLVIAstarted Mar 18, 2026
Kruipruimte: Notes from the Crawling Spacestarted Mar 10, 2026
Caliber Performance Longevitystarted Mar 1, 2026
Thinking Incentivesstarted Feb 6, 2026
Alizeh's Substackstarted Jan 28, 2026
Il Substack di Clarastarted Jan 28, 2026
Jim's Substackstarted Jan 24, 2026
Chuck's Substackstarted Jan 23, 2026
Il Substack di Cloestarted Jan 22, 2026
Weekly Review of Public Scholarshipstarted Jan 19, 2026
Leonard's Substackstarted Jan 19, 2026
Dott.ssa's Substackstarted Jan 7, 2026
Sarah's Substackstarted Jan 5, 2026
Bill's Substackstarted Dec 27, 2025
Seldonian Dancestarted Dec 26, 2025
Daniel's Substackstarted Dec 26, 2025
Le Substack de Williamstarted Dec 23, 2025
How Humans Hang Togetherstarted Dec 18, 2025
Patrick's Substackstarted Dec 16, 2025
Skepto Reviewstarted Dec 15, 2025

Recommends

Nate Silver457k followers · started Mar 2024 · mutual
Roger Pielke Jr.102k followers · started Jan 2025 · mutual
Awais Aftab36k followers · started Feb 2024 · mutual
Bentham's Bulldog32k followers · started Jul 2024 · mutual
Laura Kennedy31k followers · started Nov 18, 2025 · mutual
Dan Gardner25k followers · started Jun 2024 · mutual
Lionel Page22k followers · started Jan 2024 · mutual
Seeds of Science14k followers · started Jun 2024
Eugenio Radin13k followers · started Jan 2025 · mutual
Polytropolisstarted Apr 10, 2026
Popular by Designstarted Apr 7, 2026
Diary of a Punterstarted Aug 2025
Greco & Wansleystarted May 2025
Yassine Meskhoutstarted May 2025
Learning From Examplesstarted May 2025
Uncommon Wisdomstarted May 2025
The Archimedean Point started Apr 2025
Open Questionsstarted Apr 2025
The Motivated Scepticstarted Mar 2025
The Politics of Truth started Mar 2025
And You'll Be Okay Forever | Essays by Will Storrstarted Aug 2024
Nicholas Gruenstarted Jul 2024
Imperfect Informationstarted Jun 2024
Koenfucius’s Substackstarted Jun 2024

All 33

Symbolic Capital(ism)started May 2024
Good Thoughtsstarted Apr 2024
In My Tribestarted Mar 2024
Maarten Boudry’s Substackstarted Feb 2024
Ideas Big & Simplestarted Feb 2024
Reasonable Peoplestarted Jan 2024
Stefan’s Substackstarted Jan 2024
Everything Is Bullshitstarted Jan 2024
Ruxandra's Substackstarted Jan 2024

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.