The Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything
Newsletter (Digital)
So, I don't want to seem like the online media cliché that I so obviously am here, but welcome to my Substack.
Paying subscribers get a weekly newsletter, every Wednesday at around 4pm, generally composed of the following things:
A brief commentary on the week’s top existential terrors (a.k.a. the news);
A links round-up: infrastructure news, animal videos, memes and anything else that provides comfort to the mildly nerdy and extremely online;
An long-ish article about something extremely nerdy, most likely in the realms of transport, history, geography or language;
A short-ish article concerning the map of the week: you can probably guess what this covers.
Free subscribers get to read some of the weekly newsletter, before the paywall comes slamming down just as they’re getting into it. They also get a weekly email, generally on a Saturday, containing a single article: sometimes that’ll be something new (in which case, paying subscribers will receive it, too; only fair); more often than not it’s something from the paywalled archive, now released to the wider world.
Becoming a paying subscriber isn’t expensive – it’s £4 a month, or £40 a year, so substantially less than £1 a week; bargain! But, if for whatever reason you can’t afford that (unemployed, under-employed, penniless student and so forth) just email me and ask for a free subscription, and you can have one, no questions asked.
I hope the newsletter brings you joy – or, at the very least, that it doesn’t make your life any worse. Source
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Recent Articles
Search ArticlesThe Frog and the Bin
There was a moment yesterday when it felt like he’d done it again. Nigel Farage has had a terrible couple of weeks, giving a series of interviews in which he’s struggled to contain his outrage at being asked about his finances, and appearing genuinely aggressive towards some poor Sky reporter.
How conspiracy theories conquered America
Last month was a big one for the North American book buying public, as The Experiment published not one, but two of my books in updated Region 1 editions. Elledge’s Non-Trivial Trivia is essentially the same book as The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything, with a few phrases americanised and a couple of bonus entries – but rather a lot has happened in the world of conspiracy theories since 2021, meaning that Conspiracy required a more substantial update.
What is “wet-bulb temperature” anyway?
my new book 31 Inventions That Built Our World, a history of the places we live, is available for pre-order now, while • my previous book A History of the World in 47 Borders is currently 22% off in some kind of Amazon sale. Don’t ask me, I just write them. Anyway, this went to paying subscribers last month. I’m releasing it earlier than I normally would because it is quite unpleasantly relevant just at the moment.
Burning Down the House
It’s as regular a feature of the British summer as a once-in-a-century heatwave. Precisely one year and 353 days into his premiership, Keir Starmer got the lectern out, having been forced to accept it was over. Surviving til less than a fortnight off his second anniversary means he did at least outlast his immediate predecessor, Rishi Sunak (1 year, 255 days), who did not, as I had confidently predicted, cling on til the last minute in the hope something would turn up.
“The war system cannot be allowed to disappear”: the report that shocked America
Jonn here. Today’s book extract comes from Phil Tinline’s fascinating Ghost of Iron Mountain, one of the Times’ history books of 2025. It concerns… well. You’ll see. America, winter, 1966. Nearly four hundred thousand soldiers in Vietnam. Underground bomb tests in the desert. The Monkees’ ‘I’m a Believer’ at number one.
Entitlements, grudges and numbats
The subjects I thought extensively about in my week away included popes and antipopes; the French railway system and the Paris Metro; the contrasting visions of Frenchness presented by Marseille and Lille; and the many glorious qualities of the person I was travelling with. A thing I tried to switch off from entirely was British politics. This was, from some perspectives, a mistake, given what I do for a living, but we are where we are.
Is this… normal? On writing a book
There’s a long-standing myth that women are biologically programmed to forget the pain of childbirth. This, as so often happens with myths, turns out to be untrue: while there’s often a halo effect which means that once the baby appears the worst is clouded, the memory of the most agonising birth pains are apparently harder to expunge. The idea that without such tricks fertility rates would fall below replacement rate and the human race would have died out long ago, doesn’t stack up either.
The Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything
Quick reminder that my new book 31 Inventions That Built Our World, a history of the places we live, will be out in August. It’s actually finished now, so I feel confident in saying that. Also, it’s good! Skyscrapers, sewers and streetcars, oh my. You can pre-order now. Anyway, this went to paying subscribers in . Kaleb Cooper, off Clarkson’s Farm, has had an idea.
The Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything
Jonn here. I am on the final, final, FINAL push to get my new book out – so in a change from your regular TNONQE service, here’s an extract from another book which someone, pretty sensibly, has already finished writing. I spend a lot of time thinking about ancient history in general, and ancient Rome in particular – so in 2024, when the historian Rhiannon Garth Jones asked me if I’d like to read her upcoming book on the legacies of the Roman Empire I leapt at the chance.
The Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything
Also, a special offer for Father's Day. Father’s day is coming up, I know my market, so here’s a special offer: subscribe to this newsletter for a year using the link below, and I’ll give you 10% off AND throw in a copy of whichever of my books you think the Dad in your life would most fancy: Get 10% off forever To give you a flavour of the sort of thing you’ll get each Wednesday, here’s something mad about history, borders and British imperialism back in January.