How to Listen to Substack Newsletters on Your Commute
Your Substack inbox is overflowing. Here's how to turn those newsletters into audio and finally catch up during your commute or daily walk.
Substack has changed how we consume written content. The best writers are now directly in your inbox with long, thoughtful pieces. The problem? Your inbox is overflowing, and you never have time to actually read any of them.
Sound familiar? You're not alone. The average Substack subscriber receives 10+ newsletters per week. Most go unread.
But what if you could listen to them instead?
The Substack Audio Problem
Some Substack writers offer audio versions of their posts. Most don't. Even when they do, you're tied to the Substack app and their playback experience.
What you really want is simple: take any newsletter, turn it into audio, and listen on your terms—in your podcast app, on your phone, offline at the gym.
The Solution: URL-to-Audio Conversion
Services like Rambl can take any Substack URL and convert it to a downloadable audio file. Here's how it works:
- Open the newsletter in your browser or email
- Copy the URL (it looks like `newsletter.substack.com/p/post-title`)
- Paste into Rambl and select your preferred voice
- Download the MP3 and add to your listening queue
The entire process takes about a minute. The result is a clean audio file with just the article content—no ads, no app required.
Which Newsletters Work Best?
Perfect for audio:
- Matt Levine's Money Stuff (long, narrative finance)
- Lenny's Newsletter (product management essays)
- Slow Boring (policy analysis)
- The Browser (curated links with commentary)
- Most personal essay Substacks
Less ideal:
- Newsletters heavy on charts and data
- Highly visual content (design newsletters)
- Link roundups without commentary
As a rule: if you'd read it in a magazine, it'll work as audio.
Building Your Audio Newsletter Routine
The magic isn't in the conversion—it's in the habit. Here's a simple system:
Saturday morning batch: Spend 10 minutes converting the week's unread newsletters to audio.
Download everything: Move audio files to your phone for offline access.
Weekday walks: One newsletter per walk. A 20-minute walk = a 2,500-word newsletter.
By Friday, you've consumed 5 newsletters you would have otherwise skipped.
Voice Selection Tips
For newsletters specifically, voice choice matters. Most newsletters have a consistent tone—pick a voice that matches:
- Conversational newsletters: Warmer, more casual voices
- Analysis/research: Clearer, more measured voices
- News commentary: Slightly faster, more energetic voices
Rambl offers 30+ voices. Experiment until you find one that feels right for your favorite writers.
Substack Sections and Threads
One nuance: Substack posts often have comments and discussion threads. Text-to-speech converters typically grab the main article content only, which is usually what you want anyway.
If a post has important inline comments from the author, you might miss those. For truly discussion-heavy posts, reading on the platform might still be better.
The Freedom of Audio Newsletters
There's something liberating about untethering newsletters from your inbox. Instead of guilt-scrolling through unread emails, you're actually consuming the content—while doing something good for yourself.
Your commute becomes productive. Your walks become educational. Your inbox becomes manageable.
And those writers you subscribed to? You're finally reading them. Well, listening to them. Same thing.
Get Started
Pick one newsletter you've been meaning to read. Just one. Convert it to audio and listen on your next walk.
If it works, do it again tomorrow. Within a week, you'll have a new habit.
Convert your first newsletter. It takes 60 seconds.