The Jason Arday affair offers a tragic case study of a personally destructive media culture which is emphatically, even uniquely, British. My latest post on a backlash years, even decades, in the making. historyneverended.substack.com/p/a-tragical...

“The loftiest chariot that man has yet devised,” was how Time correspondent Hugh Sidey described Air Force One when it was unveiled in the 1960s. Under Trump, it has become a symbol of America’s imperial decline. My latest at History Never Ended. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Six months of Substacking. A huge thank you to everyone who has subscribed or taken a look at History Never Ended, where I’m only just getting started….. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The parable of the Reflecting Pool. In a highly symbolic setting, an emblematic Trumpian tale. My latest. Free to all. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Climate fatigue in a time of climate emergency. Why has media coverage fallen off when the earth continues to hot up? My latest, which comes with a mea culpa….. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

From autonomous weaponry to the political fallout from white collar job losses, many things freak me out about AI. Repeating the mistakes we made with the Internet is another. My latest essay at History Never Ended. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Andy Burnham says our generation of politicians needs to raise its game. He’s absolutely right. But successive political generations have screwed up, and Baby Boomers are too reluctant to leave the stage. A weekend read from me: open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The political generation game. Have my generation of politicians, Gen X, and the Baby Boomers made a complete hash of things? Spoiler alert, yes. My latest: open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Project 2026: Donald Trump’s war on democracy. A field guide to his administration’s lines of attack ahead of the congressional midterms. My latest post at History Never Ended. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

I’m not sure if such a thing as the honeymoon suite exists in UK politics any more but here’s hoping the coverage of Westminster calms down after ten years of excitable and often needlessly destructive coverage. This was my first Substack column. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The Democratic dilemma - does the orthodoxy still hold that centrism wins the Democrats the presidency or should the party pick a populist of the left? My weekend read. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The two Americas - Trump is a president who cannot command majority support and the world is starting to get that. My weekend read. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

One of the few upsides of such chronic US polarization is that people around the world realise it is chronically polarized. So anti-Trumpism doesn’t automatically equate with anti-Americanism. And My latest at History Never Ended. All free. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

It’s been a bad few days for Donald Trump - he’s been upstaged by a beautiful global game and America’s epic 250-year history. Both have made him look peevish and small - a presidential pygmy. My latest at my Substack, History Never Ended. Free to all. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Both America’s 250th anniversary and the World Cup have diminished and exposed Trump. He’s been upstaged by his country’s epic history and a beautiful global game he is now trying to taint. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

What a dark day for FIFA. What next? A word in the ear of the ref? VAR teams siding with the US on margin calls? Something like this was always on the cards. The ridiculous FIFA peace prize awarded by the unctuous Infantino felt like the appetizer.

25 books for 250 years. My big birthday bibliography. Some of the books that have helped me make sense of America. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The myths of American history - my long read about what we often get wrong about the American past and how it animates and distorts the American present. Free to all. #America250 open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The history glut - why are we facing such a historical deluge? Why have the Twenties seen history go into overdrive? open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Great to reunite with my former colleague and fellow trainee Terry Stiastny on the History Never Ended podcast. We talked the post-Brexit chaos in British politics. substack.com/@historyneve...

In the post-Brexit political recession, British prime ministers have become the voodoo dolls. The UK’s culture has got meaner, nastier, more excitable and less serious. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

While brute MAGA force was on display at the White House, Trump revealed American weakness on the international stage, a far more consequential arena. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

America at 250: a bibliography - the first tranche of some books that have helped me make sense of the United States. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

This is the Substack piece upon which the interview is based. “White House correspondent’s ls need to defend their colleagues.” open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

White House journalists need to defend their colleagues against Donald Trump’s attacks. My latest Substack. No paywalls. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

As America marks its 250th birthday, Trump not only wants to render history glorious, he wants it to be vainglorious. The White House is also whitewashing US history. A weekend essay on Trump’s assault on history: open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

“Monthly marginalia” - a new column on my Substack “History Never Ended”. The Pope, the Vicar of St Albion, the best TV show since Succession ended three years ago this week, Professor A.C. Grayling on democratic decay and my brush with Banksy. No paywall. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The Iran war is a strategic defeat for Trump’s America. My weekend read: open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

Watching Trump with Xi is becoming a little like observing the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with Trump. One half-expected the US president to call his Chinese counterpart “daddy.” My weekend read. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

President Xi demonstrates his personal dominance over President Trump, who, as ever was sucked in by the trappings of authoritarianism. My latest at History Never Ended. And, as ever, no paywalls. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...