History: The Heterodox STEM substack started in late 2021. It grew out of the Heterodox Academy STEM email list. The original idea was to create a place for people to develop their ideas and work on turning them into products, such as papers and opinion pieces. That is still happening, but we also have a lot of more informal posts that serve as a way for people to share their thinking and get feedback, without a clear external product in mind.
Typical Activity: I aim to post an article every Sunday. I sometimes release time-sensitive posts off schedule. Posts typically get about 4-5k views, 20-50 likes, and pretty good conversation in the comments. Here are statistics on the last 5 posts.
Greatest Hits: Here are the most viewed Heterodox STEM posts of all time:
Harvard's double standard for Gay, 20.2k views, Dec 13, 2023
From Russia with Love: Science and Ideology Then and Now, 17.5k views, Nov 28, 2022
Faculty, wake up to the woke agenda behind your department’s DEI program, 13.1k views, Dec 31, 2021
“This has GOT TO BE bullshit!”… Personal reflections on the Ranga Dias affair, 11.7k views, Aug 18, 2024
The MIT Gender Admissions Controversy, 9.1k views, Sep 17, 2023
Growth: Here are time series plots of Heterdox STEM subscribers and followers. Subscribers get posts emailed to them. Followers get information such as post likes in their Substack feed, and can click and view an article if they are interested.


Submissions: Heterodox STEM is a community. It works because readers like you submit posts. Posts can be anonymous or pseudonymous. If you would like to submit an article, send it as a Word or Google doc to dorian.abbot@gmail.com. I will read and give feedback. Heterodox STEM is free-speech, so I do not restrict posts based on intellectual content or perspective. That said, sometimes I decide a post topic isn’t appropriate for this substack or suggest that references to particular individuals be anonymized.
Thanks for the overview! I'm proud to be a member of this group. I appreciate all the hard work you are doing. Keep it up!
This is a lot of work, and I'm grateful you're doing it. I'm glad it's succeeding!