On Substack, online knowledge olympics, and the fickleness of the www feat. Anurag Minus Verma

In this episode, hosts Snigdha Sharma and Rahel Philipose are joined by interdisciplinary artist and internet truth-teller Anurag Minus Verma to talk about what’s really happening to Substack and why it matters. The online publishing platform began as a utopian space for writers and artists that promised no algorithms, no ads and no hustle for likes. It allowed for writers and readers to forge direct connections for a simple 10% cut. But with a fresh $100 million in VC funding and a growing noise about discovery feeds and advertising, there seems to be a quiet shift toward platformisation. Anurag, the voice behind the Substack newsletter Culture Café, has been writing at the intersection of caste, cinema, digital absurdity, and internet culture long before Substack became a post-Twitter haven. As a digital artist who deeply understands the performance of knowledge in the age of monetised identity, he helps us unpack this growing tension between artistic freedom and growth strategies on online platforms. Is the enshittification of Substack now inevitable? How can artists adapt, resist, and survive in these constantly shifting digital ecosystems? Tune in! Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories. One channel. Every show. No more switching feeds. Follow The Ken on Apple Podcasts or tune in on The Ken app.