Since 2022, the skeptical cardiologist has been publishing articles both here, at WordPress, which is my original OG blog website and at Substack.
Substack is an online publishing platform and software service that allows writers, journalists, and other creators to publish newsletters, podcasts, and video content and monetize it through paid subscriptions, bypassing traditional media gatekeepers. There are currently 25 million active users.
I started writing on Substack because I was impressed with the thoughtful and interesting long-form written content that I was seeing from authors, musicians, physicians, and scientists.
I also found that creation of articles was much simpler using the Substack format and the articles looked better.
In 2022, subscribers to this blog and by email were invited to subscribe to my Substack newsletter. Around 5000 made the transition at that time. Since then my Substack subscribers have doubled.
In the last few months I have been publishing new content exclusively on Substack and some of those articles are paywalled, requiring a paid subscription.
If you haven’t signed up for Substack and are interested in receiving my new content I encourage you to do so by going to the subscription option page here.
You can also go here to see the HomePage of my Substack website. There you will find a podcast tab, and a tab for any comments I have made on Substack Notes.
In comparison to my Substack Posts which are the traditional, in-depth articles, essays, or newsletters I send to subscribers via email and which are published on my profile, Notes are short-form, microblogging-style updates, similar to tweets, that are visible to the entire Substack network and can appear in readers’ Home feeds, helping with discovery and audience growth.
Think of Notes as a discovery tool for quick thoughts, promote longer posts, and engage with the broader Substack community, while Posts are the core, long-form content for my existing audience.
My most recent post on Substack is concerned with navigating the decision on the risks and benefits of the RSV, flu, and COVID-19 vaccines for 2025 from a skeptical cardiologist’s perspective.Read that post on Substack.
Recently, I wrote this tongue-in-cheek post entitled “California Wants to Deny The Elixir of Life to our Children: The preferred yogurt of Spanish supercentenarian Maria was full-fat unadulterated yogurt, why is it about to be banned from school lunches?” Read on Substack.
I haven’t decided what will be the fate of this WordPress Blog. Traffic is down since I began publishing on Substack so I think many readers have transitioned to following me there.
However, if you want to see what I’ve written on any topic and Google “skeptical cardiologist” plus your search term, articles on that topic by me on this WordPress Blog occupy the first page or so of results. Only by adding the term substack into the search will it prioritize the Substack articles.
I still receive many emails and new patients who have found me by a deep Google search on the topics they are interested in through the blog.
One of the reasons I created a paid subscription for the Substack newsletters was to offset the costs of maintaining this blog so I could leave it safely online as an educational/informational resource for my patients and for members of the public who are seeking reliable, unbiased science-based long-form articles on cardiovascular health.
Therefore, as long as the process of maintaining this website does not become exorbitantly expensive or time-consuming, I’m going to keep it going.
If you want to follow me on Substack but don’t have the wherewithal to handle the subscription cost, email me or contact me through Substack with your information and I will gift you a subscription.
Skeptically Yours,
-ACP
