Michael McFaul has 118,474 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #7 on Substack's International Bestsellers board. 57 publications recommend them, 5 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 11.
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
- 118,474
- read Oct 31
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 44K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- Thousands
- bestseller badge 1,000+
- Recommended by
- 57
- +5 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 11
- Bestsellers rank
- #7
- International
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 | 118,474 | 44K+ | Thousands |
Leaderboard positions
| Board | Rank now | Best on record | Reads on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Bestsellers | #7 | #7 | 4 of 4 |
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Bestsellers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
57 publications recommend Michael McFaul; 5 started in the last 30 days. Michael McFaul recommends 11, and 2 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2022-12 | 1 |
| 2023-03 | 1 |
| 2023-07 | 1 |
| 2023-11 | 1 |
| 2024-03 | 1 |
| 2025-05 | 1 |
| 2025-10 | 3 |
| 2025-11 | 2 |
| 2025-12 | 5 |
| 2026-01 | 6 |
| 2026-02 | 4 |
| 2026-03 | 2 |
| 2026-04 | 8 |
| 2026-05 | 5 |
| 2026-06 | 4 |
| 2026-07 | 5 |
| 2026-08 | 1 |
| 2026-09 | 1 |
| 2026-10 | 5 |
Recommended by
Timothy Garton Ash71k followers · started Dec 2022 · mutual
Mick Ryan70k followers · started Nov 2023
Viktor Kravchuk68k followers · started Mar 2023
Grounded Podcast40k followers · started May 2025
Dominik Presl11k followers · started Jan 5, 2026 · mutual
Nicolas Tenzer7k followers · started Jul 2023
Anna Fifield6.8k followers · started Apr 23, 2026
Thomas PM Barnett1.2k followers · started Mar 2024- John's Substackstarted Oct 30, 2026new
- John Nordinstarted Oct 25, 2026new
- JEFFREY MASONstarted Oct 21, 2026new
- Laurel Michaelsstarted Oct 11, 2026new
- Jan's Substackstarted Oct 9, 2026new
- How to Slay a Dragonstarted Sep 20, 2026
- Ann Bosestarted Aug 10, 2026
- Theodore's Substackstarted Jul 25, 2026
- Eli's Substackstarted Jul 20, 2026
- Solomon's Substackstarted Jul 16, 2026
- TGOG - Tall Guy Old Guy Podstarted Jul 15, 2026
- Mike's Substackstarted Jul 1, 2026
- Lakshmi's Substackstarted Jun 23, 2026
- Roger's Substackstarted Jun 23, 2026
- edit's Substackstarted Jun 16, 2026
- Yasna's Substackstarted Jun 1, 2026
All 57
- The Bigger Picturestarted May 27, 2026
- Ellenda Wulfestiegstarted May 22, 2026
- R.'s Substackstarted May 11, 2026
- Jerrystarted May 11, 2026
- Pat's Substackstarted May 7, 2026
- Carl's Substackstarted Apr 22, 2026
- Comings's Substackstarted Apr 21, 2026
- Mark A. Fowlerstarted Apr 13, 2026
- Diary of an Oridinary Manstarted Apr 12, 2026
- Dennis’s Substackstarted Apr 10, 2026
- Elizabeth Cousensstarted Apr 7, 2026
- The Grove, At Nightstarted Apr 6, 2026
- Catherine's Substackstarted Mar 24, 2026
- [Re]Group: A Playbook for Turbulent Timesstarted Mar 24, 2026
- Gbenga's Substackstarted Feb 25, 2026
- Meshack's Substackstarted Feb 7, 2026
- ESA's Substackstarted Feb 4, 2026
- Mike O'Toolestarted Feb 1, 2026
- What Is To Be Donestarted Jan 26, 2026
- Alysa's Substackstarted Jan 16, 2026
- Substack von Juttastarted Jan 15, 2026
- Edward Hutchesonstarted Jan 9, 2026
- Erik's Substackstarted Jan 5, 2026
- Ahmad's Substackstarted Dec 18, 2025
- Marin's Substackstarted Dec 17, 2025
- Aharon's Substackstarted Dec 15, 2025
- Grounded Perspectivesstarted Dec 11, 2025
- Those Who Remainstarted Dec 5, 2025
- Mark's Substackstarted Nov 29, 2025
- Inside the Russian Economystarted Nov 10, 2025
- Moswee's Substackstarted Oct 2025
- Mike's Substackstarted Oct 2025
- Elsa’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
Recommends
Heather Cox Richardson3.5M followers · started Dec 2022
Timothy Snyder650k followers · started Dec 2022
Bill Bishop569k followers · started Dec 2022
Jordan Schneider137k followers · started Dec 2022
Persuasion133k followers · started Feb 2025- Timothy Garton Ash71k followers · started Dec 2022 · mutual
- Dominik Presl11k followers · started Apr 20, 2026 · mutual
- America Abroadstarted Jan 1, 2026
- Larry Diamondstarted Feb 2025
- China Articlesstarted Dec 2022
- Drezner’s Worldstarted Dec 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 Michael McFaul. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 5 shared
Timothy SnyderThinking about...
650k followers - 4 sharedSam FreedmanComment is Freed
128k followers - 4 shared
Timothy Garton AshHistory of the Present
71k followers - 4 shared
Mark Leon GoldbergGlobal Dispatches
34k followers - 3 shared
The Bulwark@thebulwark
1.4M followers - 3 shared
Tim MakThe Counteroffensive with Tim Mak
290k followers - 3 shared
Persuasion@persuasioninstitute
133k followers - 3 shared
Mick RyanFutura Doctrina
70k followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other International writers with 50,000 or more followers (12 writers in that group), but not Michael McFaul.
- recommends 3 of them
Alexander Vindman@avindman - recommends 3 of themTim Mak@timkmak
- recommends 2 of them
Aaron Rupar@aaronrupar - recommends 2 of them
Simon Rosenberg@simonwdc - recommends 2 of them
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum - recommends 2 of them
Jeff Stein@spytalk - recommends 2 of them
Sam Matey-Coste@sammatey - recommends 2 of them
Sasha Ingber@sashaingber - recommends 2 of them
Jacob Kaarsbo@jacobkaarsbo - recommends 2 of them
Terry Glavin@therealstory
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