Announcing the Stat Significant Premium Subscription
Sign up for exclusive data essays, member-only graphics, curated datasets, data tool recommendations, and hand-picked journalism worth your time.
Stat Significant turns three next month and recently crossed 23,500 subscribers. To celebrate these (somewhat arbitrary but also exciting) milestones, I’m introducing a premium subscription—for those who want more data-centric pop culture goodness.
What Is the Stat Significant Premium Subscription?
Starting today, I’m launching a set of bonus emails exclusively for paid subscribers. These emails will arrive in addition to the free weekly essays you already receive. I’m adding, not subtracting.
So what do paying subscribers get?
1. The Stat Significant Friday Edition (Twice Monthly):
A curated round-up for culture lovers, data enthusiasts, and aspiring analysts. Each edition will include:
📈 Three Bite-Sized Stat Significant Stories: Mini data deep-dives, featuring a custom graphic and commentary.
📰 Data Journalism Recs: Links to standout data-driven writing and visualizations from across the web.
🎭 Fun Culture Reads: Recommended longform stories exploring the entertainment industry and pop culture.
🛠️ Curated Data Tools: Cool finds for data nerds and the data-curious—ranging from productivity boosters to fun analytical toys.
📊 Hand-picked Datasets: Unique datasets so you can do your own analysis.
2. An Exclusive Data Essay (Once Monthly):
Each month, paying subscribers will receive a bonus Stat Significant essay that uses data to unpack some of pop culture’s most vexing questions. Full transparency: I’ll probably try extra hard on these.
Upcoming Exclusive Data Stories Include:
Are Love Songs in Decline?
Which TV Shows Were Cancelled Too Soon?
How Review Aggregators Overtook Film Criticism
Where Do Popular Memes Come From?
A Data-Driven Guide to This Year’s Oscar Race
Why Support Stat Significant?
Data journalism is time-intensive. The typical Stat Significant story takes between ten and fourteen hours to complete. The challenge of sourcing data, conducting bespoke analyses, and writing essays from scratch is why many newsrooms have downsized their data teams, and why FiveThirtyEight no longer exists (R.I.P.).
I love writing Stat Significant. I get to analyze Coldplay, Nicolas Cage, Forrest Gump, TV sitcoms, and DVD collecting. But up until now, the newsletter has been a labor of love—one I’ve had to balance against my actual adult job.
My goal is to make Stat Significant a bigger part of my day-to-day. Currently, I work as an hourly consultant, which means the more support the newsletter receives, the more time I can dedicate to Stat Significant (and the less time I need to spend on client work).
Which brings me to the seven reasons why you should give Stat Significant’s premium subscription a try:
Because you value data journalism and cultural commentary—hopefully the exact right combination of the two that is Stat Significant.
Because you want more Stat Significant. Once a week is not enough! Though three times a week is probably too much.
Because you’re a data person looking to sharpen your skills, discover helpful resources, and explore the weird and wonderful ways data can deepen your understanding of the world.
Because you want to read exclusive data essays about topics like Weird Al Yankovic, pop punk music, the Despicable Me minions, true crime documentaries, and other pop culture phenomena.
Because you find arguments convincing when detailed in list form.
Because you’re curious about the best data journalism and culture deep-dives the web has to offer.
Because you want to support independent creators, both philosophically and literally.
How Much Does It Cost?
Substack offers several subscription options that differ by payment frequency and your level of appreciation for the newsletter. There will be no difference in what each tier receives—the difference lies in how the reader wants to support Stat Significant.
Monthly: $5.99/month. The cost of a coffee (venti-size). With this subscription, you’ll get access to The Friday Edition (published twice a month) and an exclusive Stat Significant data essay (published once a month).
Annual: $59.99/year. This gets you all the same stuff as the monthly tier, except you’re committing for a year and receiving a discount.
Founding Membership: Pick your price. The suggested amount is $120/year, but you can adjust it to anything above $100/year. You’ll receive the same benefits as the monthly and yearly tiers, which means this option is less about perks and more about gratitude. I’d recommend this subscription if you really love what I do and want to support the long-term future of Stat Significant. Hopefully, the newsletter makes your week a little better, and maybe that means something.
Launching paid subscriptions is a leap of faith. I’m trying to turn Stat Significant from a passion project into a full-time job. If you’re coming along for the ride—thank you.
What Is the Launch Timeline?
October 6th (Today!): You can sign up for a paid membership (by clicking here, or any of the other buttons on this page).
October 10th: Our inaugural Friday Edition will be delivered, with full access reserved for paying members. 🎉
October 24th: The second Friday Edition of October will hit inboxes. 🥳
October 30th: Paying members will receive an exclusive data essay.
Have Thoughts or Feedback?
If you’d like a subscriber benefit added to the premium subscription—especially one that would make the offer more attractive—respond to this email or send me a message at daniel@statsignificant.com.