The Fifth Column
@wethefifth · The Fifth Column (A Podcast) · Substack profile · Culture
The Fifth Column has 89,351 followers on Substack as of Nov 1, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #4 on Substack's Culture Bestsellers board. 59 publications recommend them, 7 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 26.
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
- 89,351
- read Nov 1
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 69K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- Thousands
- bestseller badge 1,000+
- Recommended by
- 59
- +7 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 26
- Bestsellers rank
- #4
- 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.
Show as a table
| Date | Followers | Change | Subscribers | Paid band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2026 | 89,351 | −3 | 69K+ | Thousands |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 89,354 | 69K+ | Thousands |
Leaderboard positions
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture Bestsellers | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Podcasts Bestsellers | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | ▲1 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
59 publications recommend The Fifth Column; 7 started in the last 30 days. The Fifth Column recommends 26, and 7 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2022-04 | 3 |
| 2022-06 | 1 |
| 2023-10 | 1 |
| 2023-11 | 1 |
| 2024-07 | 1 |
| 2025-04 | 1 |
| 2026-01 | 5 |
| 2026-02 | 9 |
| 2026-03 | 7 |
| 2026-04 | 6 |
| 2026-05 | 2 |
| 2026-06 | 3 |
| 2026-07 | 3 |
| 2026-08 | 4 |
| 2026-09 | 3 |
| 2026-10 | 9 |
Recommended by
Andrew Sullivan354k followers · started Jun 2022 · mutual
Yascha Mounk261k followers · started Jul 2024 · mutual
RAYGUN248k followers · started Jun 19, 2026
Mayim Bialik's Breakdown149k followers · started Apr 2025
Ethan Strauss105k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Greg Lukianoff90k followers · started Nov 2023 · mutual
Blocked and Reported85k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Josh Szeps42k followers · started Oct 2023 · mutual
Conor Friedersdorf31k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual- Kirsten's Substackstarted Oct 30, 2026new
- Sue's Substackstarted Oct 30, 2026new
- kevin ghoststarted Oct 30, 2026new
- moussastarted Oct 27, 2026new
- Rebeccastarted Oct 24, 2026new
- Carol's Substackstarted Oct 22, 2026new
- Kiran Subramanianstarted Oct 18, 2026new
- The Daily Teastarted Oct 6, 2026
- TH3's Substackstarted Oct 5, 2026
- The Fifth Cornerstarted Sep 24, 2026
- Todd's Substackstarted Sep 9, 2026
- Abe Goldbergerstarted Sep 2, 2026
- My Life’s Ramayanastarted Aug 29, 2026
- The Gallstarted Aug 19, 2026
- Kiran's Substackstarted Aug 18, 2026
All 59
- Facts Over Factionsstarted Aug 1, 2026
- Rue's Substackstarted Jul 19, 2026
- Chris Reynoldsstarted Jul 18, 2026
- The Liberatorstarted Jul 14, 2026
- Jimmychu_987's Substackstarted Jun 30, 2026
- Carol's Substackstarted Jun 21, 2026
- Pneumastarted May 17, 2026
- The View From Lot F Specialstarted May 13, 2026
- Blonde in Brandstarted Apr 24, 2026
- Pulpinastarted Apr 14, 2026
- Substack de Trovandostarted Apr 10, 2026
- Substack de YWYTYstarted Apr 10, 2026
- Blessings's Substackstarted Apr 4, 2026
- Randy's Substackstarted Apr 1, 2026
- Mkadinali wa Lughastarted Mar 23, 2026
- Kovert Operations Incstarted Mar 22, 2026
- Gymnosticism- Naked Philosophystarted Mar 12, 2026
- George's Substackstarted Mar 12, 2026
- jswisha's Substackstarted Mar 10, 2026
- Nicole's Substackstarted Mar 8, 2026
- Michael Daine, Ph.D.started Mar 8, 2026
- Substack de Umastarted Feb 28, 2026
- 魏隆华's Substackstarted Feb 22, 2026
- El Substack de Lalastarted Feb 20, 2026
- Wellington's Substackstarted Feb 19, 2026
- Behind the Beatstarted Feb 16, 2026
- lin77's Substackstarted Feb 14, 2026
- Monu's Substackstarted Feb 12, 2026
- Field Studiesstarted Feb 3, 2026
- David's Substackstarted Feb 2, 2026
- Lee's Substackstarted Jan 31, 2026
- Kalyan's Substackstarted Jan 30, 2026
- Mehmet'in Substack'istarted Jan 29, 2026
- Carlo's Substackstarted Jan 23, 2026
- Keith's Substackstarted Jan 22, 2026
Recommends
The Free Press2.6M followers · started May 2022
Matt Taibbi584k followers · started Dec 2022- Andrew Sullivan354k followers · started May 2022 · mutual
- Yascha Mounk261k followers · started May 2025 · mutual
Dave Barry127k followers · started May 2025
Matt Labash119k followers · started May 2022- Ethan Strauss105k followers · started May 2022 · mutual
- Greg Lukianoff90k followers · started Oct 2023 · mutual
- Blocked and Reported85k followers · started May 2022 · mutual
Coleman Hughes61k followers · started Jul 2023
Glenn Loury60k followers · started Sep 2022- Josh Szeps42k followers · started Nov 2023 · mutual
- Conor Friedersdorf31k followers · started Oct 2022 · mutual
- Virginia's Newsletterstarted Sep 4, 2026
- TRIBE with Sebastian Jungerstarted Sep 4, 2026
- Expressionstarted Sep 4, 2026
- This Is Now with Trace Crutchfieldstarted Apr 26, 2026
- The usual palm treestarted May 2024
- Longviewstarted Apr 2024
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcaststarted Apr 2024
- Justin Amashstarted Jan 2024
- Mike Pescastarted Dec 2023
- Chosen People Problemsstarted Dec 2022
- Make More Pie started Sep 2022
All 26
- Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcaststarted Sep 2022
- Calm Downstarted May 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 The Fifth Column. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 11 shared
Blocked and Reported@blockedandreported
85k followers - 8 shared
The Free Press@thefreepress
2.6M followers - 7 shared
Nate SilverSilver Bulletin
457k followers - 4 shared
Sam Harris@samharris
506k followers - 4 shared
Matthew YglesiasSlow Boring
365k followers - 4 shared
Andrew SullivanThe Weekly Dish
354k followers - 4 shared
Freddie deBoer@freddiedeboer
168k followers - 3 shared
The Bulwark@thebulwark
1.4M followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Culture writers with 50,000 or more followers (50 writers in that group), but not The Fifth Column.
- recommends 5 of them
Pandora Sykes@pandorasykes - recommends 5 of themLeyli Mahmudi
- recommends 4 of them
RocaNews@rocanews - recommends 4 of them
Nadia Bolz-Weber@thecorners - recommends 4 of themKrupal's Substack
- recommends 3 of themNate Silver@natesilver
- recommends 3 of them
W. Kamau Bell@wkamaubell - recommends 3 of them
Anand Giridharadas@anandwrites - recommends 3 of them
Jessica Valenti@jessica - recommends 3 of themFreddie deBoer@freddiedeboer
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