The Splice guide to some of Asia’s most useful newsletters
This is just the beginning of a list. But this is a good start if you’re looking for Asia-based newsletters. We’ll keep this updated.
Not ranked in any particular order until we have a bot to do that for us. And at some point, we’ll get around to putting this into a sortable Airtable. But for now, this will have to do.
Tell us what’s missing here or if any the links don’t work. But tell us if this is useful.
REGIONAL
Asia Undercovered A weekly roundup of the news, events, trends and people changing Asia — but not getting enough attention in the U.S. media. By Nithin Coca.
Sanity by Tanmoy Started by India-based Tanmoy Goswami covering aspects of mental health. “I left behind a settled career path to work full time in mental health, driven primarily by my own two-decade experience of living with depression, anxiety, and self-harm, and a close view of mental illness and suicide in my personal circle.”
Coconuts Funky stories out of Asia, like Prayuth’s latest poem. Based all around Asia.
Asian Scientist Covers science, tech, and medical news across Asia.
WWWarisan: Heritage Sites Soon-Tzu Speechley’s newsletter on conservation, heritage, and architecture in Asia.
Solidaritas Kate Walton‘s (almost) fortnightly newsletter on gender, women, and feminism in Asia. Comes out of Jakarta.
Borderless Written by Taipei-based consultant Jonathan Brown. A weekly digest of regional news and business strategies serving a community of executives and entrepreneurs in Asia.
Green Echoes From the folks behind the Environmental Reporting Collective. Targeted at reporters and editors interested in environment-focused investigative journalism. Features environmental stories from around Asia, as well as funding opportunities.
Eco-Business Targeted at the sustainable business community in Asia. Singapore-based.
Health Analytics Asia Connects journalists, data analysts and technologists with the health community.
International Intrigue A tongue-in-cheek look at foreign affairs written by two former diplomats in Australia. Imagine Foreign Affairs and Quartz having a baby.
Aseophile Kevin McSpadden’s weekly wrap of stories in East and Southeast Asia. (Inactive)
SOUTHEAST ASIA
We, The Citizens Kirsten Han‘s weekly news from little Singapore. Beautiful in its simplicity.
Dari Mulut Ke Mulut Our favourite weekly wrap of Southeast Asia by Australian journo Erin Cook. Covers politics and society. Recommended. Jakarta-based.
Between The Lines A summary of Malaysian news with plenty of context, bite, and wit. Edited by former Malaysiakini journo Darshini Kandasamy.
Mekong Review Asia’s version of the London Review of Books (and better!). This quarterly magazine covers “Asian histories, lives and cultures through emerging regional voices.”
ArtsEquator Covers the art and culture scene in Southeast Asia. Singapore-based not-for-profit.
#BeritaBaruNakUp Essays that explains Malaysian social media, online trends, and pop culture. The Reply All of Malaysia. Written by journo Zurairi AR.
Campuccino Started by Cambodia-based Darathtey Din “out of my own need to get major news headlines from Cambodia in one place.”
Slow News Days By Jonathan de Santos, news editor at Philstar.com. He covers Philippine politics. Dispatched every Sunday.
Notes From The Equator A gorgeous newsletter carrying storytelling tips and tales from the world of data storytelling. Based in Singapore.
Frontier Myanmar Reports on news and issues in Myanmar.
Vietnam Weekly A personal project by Mike Tatarski, the editorial head at Saigoneer in Ho Chi Minh City. Covers the latest politics and social changes in Vietnam.
Weekly Burma Newsletter People Another one on Myanmar, written by ex-Frontier AP journo Victoria Milko. Recommended. (Inactive)
CHINA
Chaoyang Trap Looks at everyday life on the Chinese internet. Started as a “spiritual sequel” to Magpie Kingdom.
RADII Weekly Runs stories at the center of China’s youth culture.
The SupChina Newsletter Business, political and cultural news about China.
Sixth Tone Reports on issues and events across China. Part of Shanghai United Media Group.
Sinocism The granddaddy of Substack newsletters. Bill Bishop’s daily updates, $15-a-month subscription. The New Yorker calls it “the presidential daily brief for China hands.”
Far & Near Created and published by Chinese visual journalists, artists, and filmmakers. Promises stories that are “not typically seen internationally.”
Chinese Storytellers Does exactly what it says on the tin. Showcases the writing of Chinese storytellers.
Magpie Kingdom A fascinating look at contemporary youth in China. Hip hop, marriage, male idols, video. A favourite. (Inactive)
DIVERSITY
Girlhood The world as seen through girls’ eyes. By Masuma Ahuja.
MEDIA
10000Hacks There aren’t that many media newsletters in the region, so this is a nice discovery out of Bangalore. This is written by Jayadevan PK, the product head at FactorDaily. It goes to journalists, decision-makers, and product people. (Inactive)
TECH
The Daily Briefing by TechNode Beijing-based, covers the Chinese tech and startup space. Asia’s TechCrunch.
Analyse Asia Weekly Review by Bernard Leong Bernard’s weekly newsletter on tech and investments in Asia. Singapore-based.
Stratechery by Ben Thompson Taipei-based, known for its deep insights into the tech space. Paid subscription. Indispensable reading for many in the tech startup space.
TechInAsia Daily briefings on the Asian tech space. Singapore-based.
e27 Covers Asia’s tech startup ecosystem. Singapore-based.
Newley’s Notes by Newley Purnell WSJ reporter Newley Purnell’s writings on tech and startups. Delhi-based.
The Moonlight Clan Jakarta-born Nadine Freischlad‘s weekly roundup of the tech industry and the digital-led transformation of Indonesian society.
Singapore Internet Watch A student-run group covering censorship, surveillance and misinformation.
Asia Tech Review by Jon Russell Jon writes for The Ken. This weekly newsletter wraps up the week in Asian tech. More than 3,500 subscribers. (Inactive)
BUSINESS
Forward Guidance Asia Edition by Bloomberg The latest on what’s moving markets across Asia, sent every morning. Via Hong Kong.
The Daily Brief by DealStreetAsia Tracks investment deals — PE, VC and M&A — across ASEAN and India.
Bluenotes A newsletter from ANZ offering insights, opinion and research on the region’s economy and financial services.
MARKETING
Daily Briefing Asia Pacific by The Drum A daily roundup of stuff happening in marketing and advertising. Edited out of Singapore by Charlotte McEleny.
Marketer Asia Started by Devansh Bhikajee and aims to create a marketing playbook for Asia through case studies and interviews.
NOTABLES
Squiz Today A fun weekday news email targeted at “time-poor, information-hungry girlfriends.” Sydney-based.
Our Better World Funded by the Singapore International Foundation, which aims to bring together communities to do good.
Honeycombers Singapore-headquartered lifestyle content publisher. Covers food, dining out, and beauty.
Fosfr by Santosh Nair An eclectic mix of intellectually fascinating stories on entrepreneurship, creativity, science, technology. Aims to be “The Economist” of newsletters. Twice a week. Recommended. Singapore-based. (Inactive)
Remo Daily A daily newsletter out of Ulaanbaatar, covering general news. In Mongolian. (Inactive)
ALSO USEFUL?