101 Free Newsletters that Will Expand Your Mind
How to Learn More Every Day
Snail Mail (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Kyra Maya Phillips
Author: Nico Luchsinger
Read This Thing (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Austin Smith
This’s Editors Picks (Daily — Subscribe)
I have yet to open an email without a clickthrough. Really great thought provoking reads. Also, This. just opened up to the public! Sign up here:
Author: Editors at This.
Brain Pickings (Weekly — Subscribe)
Awesome stuff — not necessarily always directly applicable for a general audience, but definitely great for people who find art and writing and thinking curious.
Author: Maria Popova
theSkimm (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: theSkimm
Quora Digest (Weekly — Subscribe)
Gotta be Quora user to get it (as it’s tailored for each user. See link below).
Author: Quora
Aeon Ideas Weekly Roundup (Daily / Weekly — Subscribe)
Here’s what a sample looks like:
Author: Paul Hains
Paul doesn’t seem to be on twitter.
Author: Brigid Hains
Book Recommendations (Monthly — Subscribe)
Really, really, really great reading recommendations. Also Ryan’s writing has benefited my career and thinking immensely. Unfair for me to lump it into any bucket, even General.
Author: Ryan Holiday
NextDraft (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Dave Pell
The New Yorker Minute (Weekly — Subscribe)
Interesting links from The New Yorker archives.
Author: Tilly Minute
Sunday New York Times Digest (Weekly — Subscribe)
Interesting links from the Sunday New York Times.
Author: Matt Thomas
Everything Changes (Daily / Weekly — Subscribe)
Changes every week. It lives up to its name! Really good read for folks in technology as well, though.
Author: The Awl
The Ann Friedman Weekly (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Ann Friedman
This Week on the Internet (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Jessica McCarthy
Pep Talk (Daily — Subscribe)
Motivational quotes accompanied by fun GIFs.
Author: Sami Main
6 (Weekly / Bi-weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Charlie Loyd
Further (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Brian Clark
TinyLetter Forwards (Weekly / Bi-weekly — Subscribe)
This is a bit meta, but basically this is a newsletter that helps you find better newsletters.
Author: TinyLetter
Five on Friday (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Rincey
Dispatches (Weekly — Subscribe)
Really great long reads.
Author: Andrew McMillen
Now I Know (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Dan Lewis
Up, Down, All Around (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Lindsey Cook
Shelf Awareness (Weekly — Subscribe)
Book reviews!
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/maximum.html
Author: John Mutter
Emerald Street (Daily — Subscribe)
Skip past the eCommerce reviews (or don’t) and you’ll find interesting reads.
Author: Anna Fielding
Bey Cheat Sheet (Bi-Weekly — Subscribe)
If a Ye cheat sheet existed, I’d subscribe in a heartbeat.
Here’s a sample:
Author: Chesley Andrews
Uptalk (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Leila Cohan-Miccio
Jack Cheng (Weekly — Subscribe)
Jack is one of the coolest people, and his newsletters are thought-provoking.
Author: Jack Cheng
The Jill Margo Mini-Mag (Bi-Weekly — Subscribe)
The idea of a reassurance column (entitled, There, There) is interesting.
Author: Jill Margo
Mel’s Sandbox (Weekly — Subscribe)
https://melodykramer.github.io/
Author: Melody Joy Kramer
Noon Pacific (Weekly — Subscribe)
Music!
Author: Clark Dinnison
This is True (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Randy Cassingham
Sean Blanda (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Sean Blanda
Sketchplanations (Weekly — Subscribe)
I thought I’d lost this until I found it again. Had to include it. Its format is really interesting.
Author: Jono
Technology
Other Valleys (Bi-weekly — Subscribe)
Really great perspective from outside North America and Europe.
Author: Anjali Ramachandran
Asia Tech News Review (Weekly — Subscribe)
Good for breaking out of the North American filter bubble.
Author: Jon Russell
Pocket Hits (Semi-weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Pocket
Benedict’s Mobile Newsletter (From daily to every 3–7 days — Subscribe)
If you’re in tech (particularly mobile) you have to at least read this guy’s stuff. If DJ Khaled met Benedict Evans, for once he certainly wouldn’t be exaggerating when he says, “You’re smart. You’re a genius.”
Author: Benedict Evans
MediaREDEF (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Jason Hirschhorn
Hacker Newsletter (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Kale Davis
EdSurge (Weekly — Subscribe)
There’s a link to see the preview at their landing page:
Author: Mary Jo Madda
Data Elixir (Weekly — Subscribe)
Thoughts on data.
Author: Lon Riesberg
The Exponential View (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Azeem Azhar
Nalden (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Nalden
AI Weekly (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: David Lissmyr
Notes From The Near Future (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Amy Webb
Career
I Will Teach You to Be Rich (Almost daily — Subscribe)
Holy mackerel, Ramit’s free advice is truly better than most other people’s paid advice. It was crucial as I built my freelancing business and now my agency, and in my early days networking. (Hell, it’s still useful right now.)
Author: Ramit Sethi
Inside Startups (Weekly — Subscribe)
Really solid newsletter with opportunities in NYC and SF. If I remember correctly, I actually landed a couple of interviews through this list in my senior year.
Author: Dan Porter
Granted (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Adam Grant
Productivity
Four Hour Work Week (Weekly — Subscribe)
Contrast between these two photos is really funny.
Author: Tim Ferriss
Dan Pink (Inconsistent — Subscribe)
You’ll have to sign up/sign in to access past newsletters. Here’s his most recent one:
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Think Clearly (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Mathias Jakobsen
Author: Violet Yue Guo
The Modern Desk (Weekly — Subscribe)
OFFSCREEN MAGAZINE IS SO COOL.
Author: Kai Brach
How Humans Use Technology
The Lunch Read (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: The Lunch Read Team
The Ed’s Up (Weekly — Subscribe)
Bordering on General.
Author: Ed Yong
Lauren Haug (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Lauren Haug
So What, Who Cares?(Monthly — Subscribe)
(Seems like aiming for twice weekly.)
Author: Lisa Schmeiser
Modern Mindfulness (Weekly — Subscribe)
Seems like they’ve taken a break since August. Nonetheless, a great newsletter.
Author: Terry
Media
The Local Fix (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Josh Stearns
Author: Molly de Aguiar
3 To Read (Weekly — Subscribe by sending an email to 3toread@gmail.com)
Author: Matthew Carroll
Erin Griffith’s Tribute to the Heroes of Business (Weekly-ish — Subscribe)
Ooh, this one is so hard to fit into a category. Really solid newsletter.
Author: Erin Griffith
API’s Need to Know (Daily — Subscribe)
American Press Institute, NOT application program interface.
Author: American Press Institute
Images and Voices of Hope Community (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Mallary Jean Tenore
Today in Tabs (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Rusty Foster
Links I would gchat you if we were friends (Daily — Subscribe)
Author: Caitlin Dewey
Only Dead Fish (Semi-weekly-ish — Subscribe)
Author: Neil Perkin
C_NCENTRATE (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: HERE/FORTH
Cloud Friday (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: CloudNine Social Media and Digital Talent
Simon Owen’s Tech and Media Newsletter (Weekly — Subscribe)
Oh man, this guy’s take on self-employment hits home.
Author: Simon Owens
Mobile Media Memo (Bi-weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Cory Bergman
Society
Ghostwritings (Weekly / Bi-weekly-ish — Subscribe)
She just started her column with The Atlantic. Nonetheless, optimistic she’ll occasionally find time to tend to her newsletter.
Author: Melinda D. Anderson
AAPI Rewind (Weekly — Subscribe)
Perspective and food for thought from Traci and Jenn.
Author: Traci Lee
Author: Jenn
Going Viral (Monthly — Subscribe)
Author: Our Viral Lives
Taking Stock (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Susan MacMillan
Sajith’s Higher Education (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Sajith Pai
Naive Weekly (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Kristoffer Tjalve
Art
Austin Kleon (Weekly — Subscribe)
Could easily also fit into the Entrepreneur or Productivity category. Really great newsletter both in original content and curated content — for example, recently resurfaced this gem.
Author: Austin Kleon
A Poem Miasma (Monthly — Subscribe)
Conflicted on whether to put this in general or art. I think a lot of people will enjoy this poetry and didn’t want to box it as “art”, but it is art.
Author: Erin Watson
therealchadhall (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Chad Hall
Design
Mergelinks (Weekly — Subscribe)
Not sure if it’s still active (last posted in August). Cool design resources and articles.
Author: Derek Shirk
Neo’s Innovation News (Bi-weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Neo Innovation Team
Dezeen Magazine(Daily / Weekly — Subscribe)
Almost like a professionally curated Tumblr feed, where comments take precedence.
Author: Dezeen Team
The Atlantic Citylab (Daily / Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Sommer Mathis
Sidebar (Daily / Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Sacha Greif
UX Booth (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: UX Booth
UX Essentials (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: UX Essentials
All The Small Things (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Tijs Vrolix
Beautiful Pages (Weekly — Subscribe)
One of the few times I broke the rule of no purely self-promotional emails. But the newsletter really is unique and pretty good looking.
Author: Beautiful Pages
Cooper Press (Weekly — Subscribe)
Wow obviously I need more dev stuff. But I’m not even close to being a dev! Would be happy if devs could submit any newsletters that they love.
Author: Peter Cooper
Entrepreneurs
Mattermark Daily (Daily — Subscribe)
Great food for thought for VCs, entrepreneurs, and anyone remotely interested in technology.
Author: Nick Frost
Snippets (Weekly — Subscribe)
Good source of tech info. I appreciate the idea, which is selling the byproducts of your company.
Author: Amit Arora
Farnam Street Brain Food (Weekly — Subscribe)
Shane not only shares great summaries and reads, he also does a great job finding articles online. When I was writing for Lifehacker, this would be one of my favorite sources of info.
Author: Shane Parrish
Desk of Tobias van Schneider(Weekly — Subscribe)
It’s password protected, you’ll get it when you sign up. If Tobias wants to share, he can comment in line.
Author: Tobias van Schneider
Requests for Startups (Weekly-ish — Subscribe)
Author: Isaac Madan
Foundcy (Semi-Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Foundcy Team
SaaS Weekly (Weekly — Subscribe)
Not strictly for all entrepreneurs but they tend to be applicable.
Author: Hiten Shah
Baremetric’s Dispatch (Weekly — Subscribe)
Author: Josh Pigford
The Podcast Wire (Weekly — Subscribe)
There are way too many great ideas “trapped” in unsearchable podcasts. No one has time to listen to all of them. I think Erik is on to something here.
Author: Erik Bison
Some other gems I found along the way
And, a non-email newsletter:
If you liked these newsletters, try mine out! I’ll help you stay on top of marketing, tech, and media. And I’ll be taking deeper dives into these newsletters and sharing my learning.
What do you think? If you liked this piece, you might also like:
Herbert Lui works with businesses to tell compelling stories at his marketing agency, Wonder Shuttle. He was previously a staff writer for Lifehacker, and his work has appeared in TIME, The Huffington Post, and Fast Company. He writes a newsletter that explores media, information, and marketing.
