The hottest Music Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Culture Topics

TGIF: Sorry for all the typos .Sent from my iPhone.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1562 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
📰 News Music
  1. A longtime TGIF contributor was revealed to be part of Jeffrey Epstein’s email circle and has been suspended for one edition and hit with a $5,000,000 fine, though she says she’ll return.
  2. The Department of Justice released about three million pages of Epstein-related documents, including emails, and the revelations are still causing fallout and public scrutiny.
  3. The newsletter has temporary hosts for this edition and is promoting live events and a subscription paywall to access full reporting.

What Are Your Guilty Displeasures?

Atlas of Wonders and Monsters • 492 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. A guilty displeasure is when you actually don't like something but feel you should because it fits your identity or social expectations.
  2. These feelings often come from your social environment, upbringing, or sunk costs in a career, creating a mismatch between your true tastes and what you think you ought to like.
  3. Being honest with yourself usually makes these feelings fade; identify them, decide whether to change or accept them, and focus on positive preferences rather than forcing dislikes into your identity.

Skeletons and Noses

Animation Obsessive • 1704 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
🎨 Art & Illustration Music
  1. Mickey Mousing pairs music tightly with movement so the score mirrors every on‑screen action, a technique Disney perfected in films like The Skeleton Dance.
  2. The Nose goes the opposite way: its music often clashes with the animation, and its metal‑pin animation and wild score create a strange, unsettling effect.
  3. Comparing the two shows that music can either reinforce visuals for clarity and charm or oppose them to provoke and expand what animation can express.

We Are Winning!

The Honest Broker • 29123 implied HN points • 18 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. People are fed up with low-quality AI content and are starting to push back against it. Companies like YouTube are realizing that they need to change how they handle AI-created videos.
  2. Recent events, like the fake AI band Velvet Sundown, have made people question how streaming platforms promote such content. This has led to a public outcry and companies like Spotify are beginning to impose restrictions on AI-generated music.
  3. Many AI projects are failing to deliver good results, leading companies to reconsider their reliance on AI. This might mean more jobs for humans as businesses recognize that AI isn't the answer they thought it would be.

Audiences Prove that Experts Are Dead Wrong

The Honest Broker • 32315 implied HN points • 24 Jun 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. People are now gravitating towards longform content, like movies and videos, instead of shorter clips. This shows that audiences want deeper, more engaging experiences.
  2. Experts have miscalculated trends, thinking that shorter content is the future. However, the audience's preference for longer, immersive storytelling is proving them wrong.
  3. The rise of longform content represents a cultural shift, with audiences rejecting quick, addictive media in favor of richer experiences that build lasting connections.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Happy Thanksgiving

TK News by Matt Taibbi • 6983 implied HN points • 27 Nov 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Upbeat songs and cheerful artists often get politicized when politicians use their music, and that can change how people judge the songs.
  2. Public backlash is uneven and sometimes unfair — saying you don’t want to be political or making happy music can draw heavy criticism.
  3. Take a real break today: enjoy food, rest, and a little gratitude, and let yourself unplug from the daily grind.

SITREP (CONT.) 'WEEN/PORTLAND/FUNDRAISER/FRESH CONTENT

THREE SEVEN MAFIA • 599 implied HN points • 02 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The fundraiser is almost complete, with just $200 needed to reach the goal. Donations can be made through Cash App, Venmo, or Zelle.
  2. The writer will be traveling to Portland on Halloween, so they won't be in Chicago to meet people. There will be a cemetery walk to honor the fallen on October 26.
  3. A friend is moving to Chicago and will collaborate on content, making the project more dynamic and exciting.

A Tale of Two Halftime Shows

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1038 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The Super Bowl halftime is one of the rare national events people watch live together, so whatever happens there carries outsized cultural weight.
  2. Bad Bunny’s halftime leaned into localism and community, recreating a small Puerto Rican town with colorful, multigenerational, human-scale moments.
  3. That joyful, local approach stood in sharp contrast to more sterile or grievance-driven presentations, like the grayscale Turning Point USA-style shows or industrial, cube-lit productions.

The way you wanted to feel

Austin Kleon • 5295 implied HN points • 28 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Riding a bike can make you feel like a kid again, giving you a sense of joy you wanted when you were younger. It's important to give yourself those little joys in life.
  2. Think about what you loved doing as a child because it can help you discover your passions today. Reflecting on those moments can guide your hobbies and career choices.
  3. Creative work often connects with childhood memories. Embracing what made you happy as a kid can inspire you to be more creative and fulfilled now.

15 things I consumed this week

Maybe Baby • 659 implied HN points • 13 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. "Tool Shaped Objects" is highlighted as a particularly thought-provoking response to a viral AI article.
  2. Bear Naked Cacao & Cashew Butter Granola was a memorable food item this week.
  3. The full list and details are available only to paid subscribers behind a paywall.

Indie Culture Is Great—But What's Coming Next is Better

The Honest Broker • 24169 implied HN points • 12 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Indie culture started strong by emphasizing freedom and independence, but over time, it has become less influential as major platforms promote conformity.
  2. There's a need for a new movement that goes beyond indie, focusing on collaboration among artists, protecting their rights, and encouraging creative risk-taking.
  3. We can build a better artistic future by creating supportive communities, developing new platforms, and advocating for artists' ownership of their work.

I'm Recommending 14 New YouTube Videos

The Honest Broker • 5917 implied HN points • 24 Nov 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. You can train the YouTube algorithm to favor higher-quality videos so it starts delivering content you actually enjoy.
  2. Simple street interviews can prompt strangers to share deep, intimate stories, showing the power of genuine conversation.
  3. Great musical discoveries still exist — from lively contemporary pop bands with electric chemistry to brilliant, underrated film composers who never got major awards.

The carousel keeps turning

Austin Kleon • 5495 implied HN points • 21 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The newsletter celebrates reaching 200,000 subscribers with a special offer of 20% off paid subscriptions. This helps support the free newsletter for everyone.
  2. There is a blend of personal reflections, like enjoying a vintage stamp carousel, and sharing creative projects and recommendations, such as books and music.
  3. Useful advice on research techniques includes maintaining a routine, taking notes, and exploring diverse perspectives to enrich creativity and learning.

The New 80% Rule in Culture

The Honest Broker • 25799 implied HN points • 20 Jun 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The entertainment industry is increasingly relying on old ideas instead of creating new ones. Nowadays, a large portion of movies and music comes from remakes or older content.
  2. This trend isn't just in movies; music streaming shows a similar pattern where most songs played are older hits, reflecting a shift from new to past favorites.
  3. People are getting tired of the same old stuff, and this won't last forever. The entertainment industry needs to focus on fresh, original content to keep audiences engaged.

Arthur Brooks: Can We All Relax About Bad Bunny’s Spanish Halftime Show?

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 890 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. A Spanish-language halftime show can still be a purely American event that brings people together through shared entertainment.
  2. You don’t have to fully understand the words or rules to connect or enjoy an experience; being open to not fully understanding others can enrich life.
  3. Calling the performance a political diversity stunt misses the point—these cultural moments can strengthen unity by crossing language and cultural lines.

The Wii Tennis Theme Edition

Why is this interesting? • 3619 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The Wii Sports theme isn't just background music; it connects with people of all ages and reflects a joyful gaming experience. Its upbeat and jazzy style was designed to be inviting, especially for newcomers to gaming.
  2. Kazumi Totaka, the composer behind the theme, has made a significant impact at Nintendo since 1990. He's known for his catchy melodies and has hidden a special tune, 'Totaka's Song,' in many games, showcasing his creativity and influence.
  3. Wii Sports became a huge cultural phenomenon, selling millions and even being used in places like retirement homes for fun and rehabilitation. Its appeal helped redefine who plays video games, highlighting that gaming is for everyone, not just kids.

When you get confused

Austin Kleon • 6454 implied HN points • 31 May 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. It's okay if your writing isn't perfect at first. The important thing is to just get it out there.
  2. Taking time to relax and enjoy lighter activities can help balance out harder work, making you more creative.
  3. When you feel confused or stuck, sometimes just getting on your bike and listening to music can clear your mind.

A process to process

Austin Kleon • 4955 implied HN points • 14 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Many people enjoy reflecting on memories, like going through old photos. It's a nice way to process feelings and experiences.
  2. There are always new books being released by different authors. Checking them out can introduce you to fresh ideas and stories.
  3. Gardening teaches us patience. Just like plants take time to grow, our creative projects need time to develop too.

Things Worth Remembering: Elvis Costello Brought Poetry to Life

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1020 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Music can make poetry feel immediate and accessible. It shows poetry doesn't have to be remote or obscure.
  2. A narrow focus on classical, canonical poetry can make poems seem distant and confusing. That approach can alienate readers and make poems feel chopped up.
  3. Finding a personal entry point, like song lyrics, can change how someone relates to poetry and even shape their creative path. A relatable gateway can open a lasting appreciation for poetic language.

The Profile: Larry Page’s money man & Hollywood’s favorite gangster

The Profile • 198 implied HN points • 13 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Al Pacino is a master actor known for playing memorable villains. His performance in roles like Michael Corleone is often seen as a benchmark for acting excellence.
  2. Pacino believes that to truly act, one must absorb the character deeply, allowing their personality to emerge rather than merely pretending to be someone else.
  3. Creating great art means connecting emotionally with the audience. If you tap into real feelings, your work can resonate much more and leave a lasting impact.

Ampersanding

Austin Kleon • 4995 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The ampersand symbol comes from the Latin word 'et', meaning 'and'. It shows how language can evolve over time.
  2. It's important to revisit your old notes because they can remind you of ideas and thoughts you may have forgotten.
  3. Finding the right music for writing is key; it should be upbeat but not too distracting so you can focus on your thoughts.

Oh, father

Disaffected Newsletter • 2018 implied HN points • 26 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The speaker's childhood was marked by trauma, particularly from their mother's inconsistent love and the presence of an abusive stepfather. They often felt unsafe and questioned their worth.
  2. Music and artists like Madonna became a refuge for the speaker, helping them process their feelings and experiences. Songs like 'Oh Father' resonated deeply with their struggles and emotions.
  3. The speaker reflects on the complexity of their feelings towards their parents, understanding that both love and pain can exist in relationships, leading to confusion about forgiveness and redemption.

A big pile of imperfect things

Austin Kleon • 5815 implied HN points • 24 May 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Reading big books can be enjoyable, especially when you take your time with them. Some people like to read them in parts over several weeks.
  2. It's okay to create imperfect things. The idea is to enjoy the process and keep going despite not being perfect.
  3. Finding joy in what you like can lead to happiness. It's about discovering new things to appreciate and even learning to like things you didn't before.

Success means you get to do it again tomorrow

Austin Kleon • 6554 implied HN points • 10 May 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Success is about doing what you love and getting to keep doing it, day after day. It's not about reaching a final goal, but enjoying the process.
  2. Understanding what you like can help you feel less stressed about being liked, which can make your work more authentic and free.
  3. Artists like Steve Albini believe that goals can create unnecessary stress. Instead, focusing on enjoying the process can lead to true success.

A perfect action flick set in Kowloon Walled City, a brilliant literary debut, and more

Read Max • 395 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Recommendations include a near-perfect martial-arts film set in Kowloon Walled City and a strong debut novel about friendship and ambition in 2000s New York City.
  2. The picks also point to varied longform pieces — essays on Jeffrey Epstein, Infinite Jest, and Criss Angel’s restaurant — plus four music tracks currently in heavy rotation.
  3. Full access is behind a paid subscription that includes weekly emails, curated master lists of good movies and books, merch discounts, and small affiliate commissions on purchase links, and readers are invited to send recommendations by email.

Look what you made us do

read • 13994 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Taylor Swift's influence permeates global culture, politics, and media
  2. Writers on Substack provide original, insightful, and sometimes humorous analyses on Taylor Swift's impact
  3. Taylor Swift's actions, endorsements, and mere existence provoke strong reactions and shape narratives in various spheres

Funny Ha Ha (2002) by Andrew Bujalski

Tao Lin • 879 implied HN points • 18 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The movie _Funny Ha Ha_ shows everyday life without dramatic events. It focuses on real emotions and simple moments between characters.
  2. Marnie, the main character, struggles with her feelings and relationships, reflecting a relatable sense of uncertainty and disconnection.
  3. The ending is unique and surprising, leaving viewers with a sense of closure that feels earned and satisfying, even without traditional resolution.

The Met Turned a Masterpiece Into an Anti-ICE Screed

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1279 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The Met’s new production reimagines Carmen as a contemporary story about ICE agents guarding a gun factory on the U.S.–Mexico border.
  2. While bold reinterpretations can breathe new life into classics, this staging is criticized for stripping away the opera’s original music, color, and sensual charm.
  3. Overlaying current political issues onto Carmen clashes with its traditional themes of passion and natural vitality, making the update feel forced and ineffective.

How We Lost the Flow

The Honest Broker • 31317 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. The flow state is a special experience where everything feels easy and natural, like playing music or sports. It's when you lose track of time and feel completely engaged.
  2. Technology and businesses have taken the idea of flow and turned it into a way to make money, which can lead to negative effects on our well-being. Things like social media and gambling can manipulate our desire for that flow state.
  3. There are many ways to experience flow outside of technology, like dancing, gardening, or spending time in nature. These activities can make us feel fulfilled without giving our attention and energy to profit-driven platforms.

Some kinds of monsters

Austin Kleon • 5115 implied HN points • 17 May 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Taking breaks from technology can be refreshing and help us focus on enjoyable activities like listening to music or reading. Simple changes can lead to significant positive effects in our daily lives.
  2. Finding humor in creative struggles can lighten the load of anxiety and procrastination. Embracing these feelings is part of the writer's journey.
  3. Looking back on influential figures and their work reminds us of their impact on creativity. Cherishing their contributions helps inspire our own artistic endeavors.

I Answer 18 Questions

The Honest Broker • 12600 implied HN points • 14 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Listening and learning are more important than talking about yourself. You can gain valuable insights from others by being open and receptive in conversations.
  2. Continuous learning is essential. Reading widely and learning from your experiences can lead to personal growth and deeper understanding.
  3. Embrace your unique path and avoid being boxed into a single role. Exploring different interests can lead to a more fulfilling and interesting life.

The New Cultural Criticism

Political Currents by Ross Barkan • 41 implied HN points • 15 Mar 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. A new wave of cultural critics mixes novelistic storytelling with serious criticism, producing long, narrative-driven essays that feel more like stories than short reviews.
  2. They favor deep, first-person, character-focused reporting and welcome moral ambiguity instead of quick condemnations, often writing 5,000–17,000 word pieces that let the reporting shape the conclusion.
  3. Publishing on platforms without strict print limits lets this work escape short-form social media, offering a possible antidote to ephemerality and creating criticism that can be read and argued over for years.

A great cyberpunk urban fantasy novel, a throwback corporate paranoia thriller, and more

Read Max • 500 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. A standout speculative fiction novel blends cyberpunk and urban fantasy to explore work, scams, and resource politics.
  2. The roundup points to recent columns and articles about Jade Helm, Peter Attia, and how the left should approach AI.
  3. It also recommends a throwback corporate‑paranoia thriller with Michael Clayton/Enemy of the State vibes, shares four favorite music tracks, and invites reader recommendations while offering paid subscriber perks.

Christmas and Hope and Home

Animation Obsessive • 1973 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🎨 Art & Illustration Music
  1. Bethlehem was Jiří Trnka’s first puppet film and the moment he found a poetic stop-motion language that emphasized space, light, stillness, and cinematic camera moves.
  2. The short transplants the nativity into Czech rural life, mixing folk customs with personal and wartime memories to express home, hope, and the darker echoes of occupation.
  3. Made quickly with limited equipment, the team improvised new puppet-film techniques and a choir-based musical approach, and the film paved the way for Trnka’s later influential feature work.

Like a snail on a cactus

Austin Kleon • 5755 implied HN points • 26 Apr 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Understanding perfectionism can help you recognize it in yourself and find solutions to overcome it.
  2. Reading different kinds of books can expose you to various styles, which might inspire you to explore more related works.
  3. Creative work often comes from what seems like wasted time or materials, highlighting that there’s value in every experience.

The Saturday Selection, Vol. 92

Why is this interesting? • 241 implied HN points • 14 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. Jony Ive put physical buttons, aluminum toggles, and glass controls back into Ferrari’s first electric car as a pushback against the touchscreen-everything trend.
  2. New York’s congestion pricing is creating unexpected winners by speeding up trips in suburbs and easing traffic in outer boroughs.
  3. Well-crafted, beautiful design often loses because decisions are made by people who won’t have to live with the results, so systems tend to punish good design.

Top reads of the week

gender:hacked by Eliza Mondegreen • 238 implied HN points • 05 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. There are top reads each week that can keep you informed and entertained. It's a great way to discover new content that interests you.
  2. You can subscribe to get a free trial and access more in-depth posts. This is a good option if you want to explore more topics.
  3. The featured artwork, like 'Houses by the Sea', adds a visual appeal to the reading experience. Art can enhance our understanding of different subjects.

A phenomenal alternate-Chinese-history noir, a gorgeous new kids' movie, and more

Read Max • 605 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Music
  1. A standout alternate-history noir set in an occupied China is recommended, especially for fans of Fatherland or Disco Elysium.
  2. A gorgeous, moving kids’ movie is praised for holding a five-year-old's attention and being emotionally resonant.
  3. Four new songs are highlighted, and subscribers get weekly curated recommendations plus access to comprehensive master lists and merchandise perks.