Ross Barkan

@rossbarkan · Political Currents by Ross Barkan · Substack profile · Culture

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Ross Barkan has 101,742 followers on Substack as of Nov 1, 2026. On the latest board read, Nov 6, 2026, they were #65 on Substack's Culture Rising board. 59 publications recommend them, 3 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 38.

Followers read 6 days ago · Boards read 2 h 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: 101,742; read Nov 1
Last 7 days: first number on Nov 7
Last 30 days: first number on Nov 30
Subscribers: not shown; rounded by Substack
Paid subscribers: Thousands; bestseller badge 1,000+
Recommended by: 59; +3 in 30 days
Recommends: 38
Bestsellers rank: none; Rising #65, Culture

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 Ross Barkan on Substack; they aren't email subscribers.

Show as a table

Daily readings
Date	Followers	Change	Subscribers	Paid band
Nov 1, 2026	101,742	+105		Thousands
Oct 31, 2026	101,637			Thousands

Leaderboard positions

Board	Rank now	Best on record	Reads on it
Culture Rising	#65	#9	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
Culture Rising	9	18	18	65	▼56

I read every board once a day.

Recommendations

59 publications recommend Ross Barkan; 3 started in the last 30 days. Ross Barkan recommends 38, and 5 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 Apr 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
2022-04	1
2022-06	1
2022-07	1
2023-08	1
2023-09	1
2025-02	1
2025-03	3
2025-04	3
2025-05	3
2025-06	3
2025-07	2
2025-08	3
2025-10	2
2025-11	1
2025-12	8
2026-01	6
2026-02	2
2026-04	3
2026-05	2
2026-06	4
2026-07	4
2026-09	1
2026-10	3

Recommended by

Nate Silver457k followers · started Sep 2023 · mutual
Matt Stoller341k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Freddie deBoer168k followers · started Jul 2022 · mutual
Ethan Strauss105k followers · started Jun 2022 · mutual
Jason Chatfield79k followers · started Oct 16, 2026 · mutualnew
Jared Henderson62k followers · started Oct 2025
Chris Dalla Riva20k followers · started Mar 2025
Jeremy Appel8.9k followers · started Jul 20, 2026
Noel Maurer2.1k followers · started Aug 2023
Suzanne's Substackstarted Oct 25, 2026new
Marc's Substackstarted Oct 9, 2026new
Where Do You Go When the Record is Over?started Sep 12, 2026
CakedaddyINTLstarted Jul 28, 2026
Steven Potaczekstarted Jul 14, 2026
Selah's Substackstarted Jul 11, 2026
Anthony's Substackstarted Jun 17, 2026
David Bramerstarted Jun 9, 2026
Snooze Nitestarted Jun 5, 2026
A B's Substackstarted Jun 2, 2026
Sahil bullstarted May 20, 2026
Magic Loves the Hungrystarted May 1, 2026
Ranya's Substackstarted Apr 28, 2026
A Place of Unrealitystarted Apr 6, 2026
Krupal's Substackstarted Apr 1, 2026

All 59

State Capacity Ecosystemstarted Feb 4, 2026
The Jason Dubow Projectstarted Feb 2, 2026
Eddie Borgesstarted Jan 28, 2026
chachistarted Jan 17, 2026
Stephen's Substackstarted Jan 17, 2026
Jonas's Substackstarted Jan 11, 2026
J.M.'s Substackstarted Jan 6, 2026
coffeevibesncatsstarted Jan 4, 2026
Static Bluestarted Dec 30, 2025
Paul's Substackstarted Dec 29, 2025
Sharp Corners started Dec 27, 2025
Santiago Arriaga del Torostarted Dec 23, 2025
Eileen's Substackstarted Dec 8, 2025
Graham Talks Politicsstarted Dec 8, 2025
Jeanine's Substackstarted Dec 7, 2025
Steve's Substackstarted Dec 5, 2025
Park Thoughtsstarted Nov 18, 2025
Corky's Substackstarted Oct 2025
A Scanner Dumblystarted Aug 2025
Matthew’s Substackstarted Aug 2025
no pomostarted Aug 2025
No Reservestarted Jul 2025
OntLaerstarted Jul 2025
Pink Salt started Jun 2025
Fawad’s Substackstarted Jun 2025
Day’s Substackstarted Jun 2025
Ezra Slefstarted May 2025
The Civic Pulsestarted May 2025
jim’s Substackstarted May 2025
mentalslopstarted Apr 2025
Jacobs's Substackstarted Apr 2025
thomas’s Substackstarted Apr 2025
Isaac’s Substackstarted Mar 2025
New York Politics & Peoplestarted Mar 2025
frank’s Substackstarted Feb 2025

Recommends

Nate Silver457k followers · started Dec 2023 · mutual
Ted Gioia381k followers · started Jun 2022
Matt Stoller341k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Freddie deBoer168k followers · started Jul 2022 · mutual
Ethan Strauss105k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Jason Chatfield79k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Paul Wells57k followers · started Nov 2024
Anne Kadet36k followers · started Feb 2023
Molly Crabapple22k followers · started Feb 2023
The Metropolitan Reviewstarted Sep 2025
big reader bad gradesstarted Mar 2025
Peaceable Landstarted Feb 2025
Hidden Japanstarted Feb 2025
Vantage Points started Jan 2025
12 Questions by Gordon Glasgowstarted Sep 2024
tosiello reviewstarted Sep 2024
The American Saga started Sep 2024
Woman of Lettersstarted Aug 2024
The Daily Conceptstarted Aug 2024
Lost in Left Fieldstarted Jun 2024
DECENTRALIZED FICTIONstarted May 2024
Listening Sessionsstarted May 2024
Grand Hotel Abyssstarted Apr 2024
Class is in Sessionstarted Jan 2024

All 38

The Agonist with Shadi Hamidstarted Jan 2024
Salieri Redemptionstarted Jan 2024
Cross Currentstarted Jan 2024
Socialist Realismstarted Nov 2023
Fake Chuck Knoblauchstarted Aug 2023
Dwell by Andrew Borygastarted Jul 2023
The Legislative Routestarted Jun 2023
Notes from a Small Press started Dec 2022
Society & Standpointstarted Dec 2022
Nick Rafter Writes started May 2022
The Narrative Warsstarted Apr 2022
CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN'S DIARYstarted Apr 2022
Works Progressstarted Apr 2022
The Will Leitch Newsletterstarted Apr 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.