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View this post on the web at https://on.substack.com/p/three-models-for-building-community
Great podcasts have loyal communities: the people who show up for every episode drop, create a dedicated group chat with their friends, or scour the internet looking for takes. We’ve worked directly with hundreds of podcast creators to build tools that allow them to own and grow these communities on Substack—whether or not they’re using the platform as a primary hub for distribution. An email list of people who’ve opted in to hear from you is an asset that doesn’t disappear when a recommendation algorithm changes, a deal expires, or you want to try something new.
Episodes go directly to your subscribers’ inboxes and can be distributed to other podcast platforms via RSS, and you can record natively—including with remote guests—using Substack Recording Studio [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f5746ee-9290-44f2-ada7-c5c13a7d8731?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ]. Chat [ https://substack.com/redirect/9a7c2145-2607-4b14-875b-30f61c340529?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ] functions like a group chat for your listeners, a dedicated place for your audience to talk to each other and to you between episodes. Live video [ https://substack.com/redirect/d3485324-8b89-4cb7-b677-ac475c0e1e10?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ] lets you engage, react, or connect in real time. Notes [ https://substack.com/redirect/1aca4166-1b74-4c0c-bc98-768841404fd3?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ], Substack’s short-form feed, is where new listeners find you: post a clip, a quick thought, or a moment from a recent episode, and it surfaces to people who aren’t subscribed yet. The Substack network drives more than 50% of all subscriptions on the platform, meaning growth is built in when you post.
In partnership with the Signal Awards [ https://substack.com/redirect/71ae0eaa-0dfc-4d66-9b7d-3473d3f326d6?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ], we recently spoke with Biz Sherbert , a host of Nymphet Alumni , and Richard Johnson from Split Zone Duo about how they use Substack to host their shows, distribute episodes, and build community through Chat, Notes, and more.
“We’ll throw on the Substack live chat feature on a Saturday and interact with our people there,” Richard said about using Chat on game days. “”It helps to know that we’re being supported by like-minded community.” Once Nymphet Alumni started building its community, Biz said, it took on a life of its own: “The community is self-sustaining. People do meetups and stuff all the time that have nothing to do with us. That’s one of the beautiful things about making something like this—it takes on its own life without you.”
There are a lot of ways to think about building and growing your podcast community on Substack. Here are three models we see working well:
A lightweight companion and fan community
Use your Substack publication to send episodes directly to your listeners’ inboxes. To take it a step further, you can add a lightweight companion newsletter and a chat where your audience can find each other. Companion posts don’t have to be elaborate: a weekly recap, links to things mentioned on the pod, or a short note from a producer or the host can all work. In the simplest version, the chat can be set up as fan-to-fan, so you don’t have to moderate it.
This is a good starting point for podcasters who aren’t ready to launch a paid tier but want to start building an owned audience. It’s free to run, and it builds daily engagement quickly. The people who show up here are dedicated fans who are likely to convert to paying subscribers, should you choose to launch a paid tier—and now you can reach them directly whenever you need.
Case study: Giggly Squad
Giggly Squad ’s Substack is where their show lives between episodes. Hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo use their newsletter for weekly roundups of what they’re wearing, watching, and obsessing over and their Chat as a dedicated space for the community to talk to each other.
Bonus paid content layered on top
Use Substack to add a paid tier to your podcast that includes bonus content, like behind-the-scenes extras, episode research, or cutting-room-floor material from your conversations with a guest. The additional material might be an extra 20 minutes or so of more personal and candid conversation, with the option to take listener questions.
A paid bonus model structurally changes the relationship with your listeners. Paying subscribers aren’t buying a product; they’re supporting your work. That’s a different dynamic than ad revenue, and it tends to create deeper loyalty.
Case study: Wiser Than Me and Bialik Breakdown
Julia Louis-Dreyfus sends her Wiser Than Me subscribers exclusive background notes and research behind each episode, like a deep dive on actress Glenn Close [ https://substack.com/redirect/c33ff708-9f3c-4f09-a21b-7baac257775c?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ] that supplemented their episode together. It’s context that didn’t make it into the show itself, delivered directly to the people who want to go deeper.
Mayim Bialik uses her Substack to share a host of extras, like bonus clips, exclusive letters, and live content, for Mayim Bialik's Breakdown subscribers.
A full multimedia content hub
Use Substack as the comprehensive home base for distribution and community for your show. Send your episodes directly to subscriber inboxes, and distribute them automatically to YouTube, or to Spotify and Apple Podcasts through RSS. Offer bonus drops, extended cuts, AMAs, essays, lives, and collabs with other creators. It’s the whole world of your show, in one place, with community and network growth built in. For many creators, subscription revenue at this level becomes more lucrative than ads. But the more durable thing it creates is a self-sustaining community.
Case study: Pantsuit Politics and Diabolical Lies
Pantsuit Politics publishes four or more premium episodes a week, distributing directly through Substack. They also send a newsletter, host regular live sessions, and keep an active chat for their community.
Diabolical Lies uses Substack as their full distribution channel, paywalling their deeply researched, hour-plus episodes that drop twice a month. Subscription revenue has enabled them to do fewer episodes and go deeper on each one, a model that works because their subscriber community is so engaged in the work and each other.
However you decide to set up your community and your show on Substack, the underlying logic is the same: your audience wants somewhere to be, and it’s to your benefit to be able to reach them directly. At the Signal Awards event, Biz and Richard shared some of what they’ve learned from building their shows and finding new audiences on Substack.
Biz on starting a show from zero: “[At first] we didn’t have an audience. I had a little bit of a following online, but the show was very much started from scratch. I think people really connect to that—listening to a show from the beginning when your mics are so bad and you really don’t know how to do literally anything. Starting from scratch kind of builds its own specific connection.”
Richard on finding new subscribers through Notes: “Notes is, for us, the best and most direct connection to what we do. Our episodes basically automatically go out as Notes posts. People can find it, and it becomes another means of discoverability.”
Biz on their between-episodes newsletter offering: “ People really like to know what you’re up to. Our podcast takes a lot of work to make, but people in the community love to know what book you’re reading or a song you really like. [A companion newsletter] is a really nice way to create something regular for your audience that’s not so intensive.”
Richard on why community converts: “People are paying for you to keep doing this because they understand that you have this other thing that takes so much time, effort, energy. It helps us to know that we’re being supported by a like-minded community of people. And frankly, I think if CBS had a subscription for $10 a month, I don’t know if people would want to pay for that. But people do want to pay for [me] and Alex [Kirshner] at $10 a month because it is a touchstone. And they know where [the money is] going. And I think that’s really important.”
Biz on world-building around a show: “You want to make a universe. The word ‘alumni’ is in [our name], so we ended up making this fake university called the Nymphet Alumni Institute of Continuing Education on Fashion and Culture. And then all of our tiers would be like ‘PhD in Beauty Pseudoscience.’ And then our written weekly newsletter is called Course Materials, and it’s like a bibliography of everything we’re consuming that week. I think [Substack] can be a place to make a fantastic world that is really fun. I think it’s really gratifying as a creator as well.”
Podcast success is often built on intimacy—the sense that someone is talking to you specifically, that you’re in on something special. Regardless of how you set up your community, Substack is where that feeling finds a home, and where built-in engagement tools and network growth make sure more people find it.
The Signal Awards recognize podcasts that define culture. The early entry deadline for the 2026 awards is May 8. Enter your podcast for consideration [ https://substack.com/redirect/d72a0000-21ff-46c6-bdc2-d06264bebed3?j=eyJ1IjoiNGl3b2U2In0.sVDxRtmZ85v8kfdamY0krRXGMy3p768BWtuZifRB-Zs ].
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