At the Substack House, Media Is Still Fun

“Have you seen the indoor pool?” Matt Starr asks. The founder of Dream Baby Press, Starr made a name for himself via Perverted Book Club, a New York City literary reading series held at amusing, lowbrow venues like a three-story Burger King, a train-station Sbarro, and the cruising spot Blue Door Video. But Starr is also a key member of the Substack elite, the man behind one of the most popular newsletters on the publishing platform, which positions itself as the future of media. And today, Starr is emceeing not at a fast food joint or a sex den, but at 214 Lafayette Street, a swanky SoHo townhouse that has been done up in bright-orange, Back to the Future-inspired decor, and temporarily dubbed “The Substack House.”