Nick Bryant.
@nickbryantoz.bsky.social
📤 5690
📥 22
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Author
I set up the History Never Ended a few weeks back because events were coming at us so thick and fast, and I wanted to try and make more sense of them. It’s given me a new lease of journalistic life. This is my welcome later. I hope you’ll give it a read.
substack.com/@historyneve...
1 day ago
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Those finely-tuned “special relationship” antennae on the roof of the Foreign Office which pick up the faintest tremor have been ripped from their moorings and landed somewhere in the Urals.
2 days ago
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When I first started out as a journalist I thought it paid to have a background in US history when covering America. Then I thought it would probably be better to be a constitutional lawyer with expertise in jurisprudence. Now I think it would be useful to be a psychiatrist.
2 days ago
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Struggling to think of a US military mission where the rationale was so poorly explained, incoherent and inconsistent, where planning for the next day was so shambolic, and where the ultimate aim was so ill-thought out. My latest at History Never Ended:
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
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Trump's expanding war of choice: footnotes #3
Mixed messaging, a man-child at the Pentagon, the unintended consequences of war
https://open.substack.com/pub/historyneverended/p/trumps-war-of-choice-footnotes-3?r=17l32x&utm_medium=ios
4 days ago
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Donald Trump’s expanding war of choice.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
5 days ago
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Under Trump, we are seeing a breakdown in US diplomacy and a broader global diplomatic malaise. The collapse of the rules-based international order is as much an operational problem as a structural one. My latest post.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
7 days ago
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Iran and the global diplomatic malaise. Often we talk about the breakdown of the rules-based international order. We need to talk more about the breakdown of global diplomacy and the decline under Donald Trump of US statecraft. My latest post, free to all
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
7 days ago
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“There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen,” is it often said. Perhaps we should amend that. There are weekends when decades happen. And the past 48 hours have been about much more than Iran. My longread connecting some dots.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
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A weekend when a decade happened
But Operation Epic Fury is not the only potentially epic news
https://open.substack.com/pub/historyneverended/p/a-weekend-when-a-decade-happened?r=17l32x&utm_medium=ios
9 days ago
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“There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen.” Perhaps that should read: there are decades when nothing happens and weekends when decades happen. And it’s only Saturday.
10 days ago
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This looks like one of the most major US strikes of the past decade with the most minimal public explanation beforehand of the past 50 years.
10 days ago
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This generated a lot of interest on ABC Saturday Extra. A conversation with Marianne Williamson, who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. America at 250, the future of the Democratic Party, the illiberalism of the left.
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Marianne Williamson on US politics - ABC listen
Marianne Williamson stood for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and 2024. She rose to national prominence back in the 1980s as a spiritual leader and author of the New York Times bestse...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/marianne-williamson-politics/106396232
10 days ago
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Looks like we are in “drama addiction” mode again at Westminster. I wrote this recently on how reporters often push narratives with maximum journalistic entertainment value - such as the toppling of a prime minister.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
11 days ago
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My latest footnotes at History Never Ended. Trump’s State of the Union, Royal coverage under scrutiny, the dignity of Gisele Pelicot and a Churchillian speech which has echoed down the decades.
#HNE
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
12 days ago
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The State of Donald Trump - the presidency of February 2026 is markedly weaker than the presidency of February 2025. Here are some of the reasons….
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
15 days ago
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A weekend read - my footnotes from the week. A new Kennedy drama, the over-dramatisation of political reporting, MAGA’s clash of civilizations, farewell to a civil rights great, some love for the BBC, when it’s facing an existential funding crunch.
#HNE
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
16 days ago
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Trump obeys Supreme Court is as much the headline as Supreme Court defies Trump. That’s not something we can take for granted any more. Trump is weaker in February 2026 than he was in February 2025. Resistance is coming from more quarters.
17 days ago
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Every week or so at History Never Ended I’ll publish a Footnotes newsletter. Random thoughts, quick takes, updates, recommendations. This week there’s a monarchical theme. Camelot, the House of Windsor, some kings and queens of BBC journalism.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
17 days ago
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The Windsors will face the Watergate question: what did the King know and when did he know it?
19 days ago
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How Jesse Jackson helped Bill Clinton and Barack Obama reach the White House. My latest post at History Never Ended.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
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Lessons from Jesse Jackson
How he helped Bill Clinton and Barack Obama reach the White House
https://open.substack.com/pub/historyneverended/p/lessons-from-jesse-jackson?r=17l32x&utm_medium=ios
20 days ago
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MAGA’s Clash of Civilisations: the west versus the rest. My latest post on my new Substack, History Never Ended.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
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The West versus the Rest
MAGA's clash of civilisations
https://open.substack.com/pub/historyneverended/p/the-west-versus-the-rest?r=17l32x&utm_medium=ios
21 days ago
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This week I launched History Never Ended, a new Substack to make sense of the chaotic present by delving more deeply into the past. This moment feels so urgent and alarming. Old orders are crumbling and we’re not ready for the future. Have a read.
open.substack.com/pub/historyn...
23 days ago
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As an industry, we need to confront a hard truth: the excitable manner in which politics is now covered is contributing to our modern-day democratic malaise. My latest Substack
historyneverended.substack.com/p/politics-a...
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Politics as journalistic entertainment
The scourge of "better story bias"
https://historyneverended.substack.com/p/politics-as-journalistic-entertainment
26 days ago
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Welcome to my new
#Substack
History Never Ended, my attempt to make sense of the chaotic tumble of US and world events by reaching back into an often misremembered past. All content is gratis. I hope you’ll subscribe. https:/historyneverended.substack.com/p/history-never-ended
27 days ago
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Sorry to hear about the death of Mark Tully. Anyone who worked in India for the BBC instantly became the beneficiary of his wisdom, kindness, humour and, above all, reputation. In India Mark Tully was the BBC. An absolute giant.
about 1 month ago
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Coming soon on Substack
about 2 months ago
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Lessons from
#Ashes
so far - which doubles as a statement of the bleeding obvious. Play some proper warm up games. Take the offer of a pink ball warm-up. Look upon driving on the up like swimming in a rip. Staying with that theme, play some between the flags test cricket.
3 months ago
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Of all the interviews we have done on ABC Radio National’s Saturday Extra this year, few have got as big an audience reaction as our conversation with the Australian Governor General, Sam Mostyn.
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Governor-General Sam Mostyn "there is so much good in this country." - ABC listen
Sam Mostyn took up the role of being the Governor-General in Australia in July last year, and she’s only the second woman to perform the role. Nick Bryant caught up with Governor-General at her offi...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/govenor-general-sam-mostyn/106107882
3 months ago
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History never ended - lovely to catch up with The Rest is History boys for a conversation on Saturday Extra @holland_tom @dcsandbrook
#historyneverended
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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The Rest Is History podcast back in Australia - ABC listen
It’s a chart topping podcast with millions of downloads around the world. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland are distinguished historians — Oxford and Cambridge scholars, and bestselling authors. But t...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/the-rest-is-history-podcast-back-in-australia-/106077998
3 months ago
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“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”
4 months ago
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Great to see the updated UK paperback of The Forever War out in the wild in London. New chapters on Trump 2.0 and the 2024 campaign. It’s the 250-year backstory of Trumpism. It’s the history, stupid.
4 months ago
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Even Liberace would have told his interior designer to tone it down a bit…..
4 months ago
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UK publication day for the paperback edition of The Forever War. Two new chapters on Trump 2.0 and the 2024 election. The Trump presidency has been 250 years in the making. If you look at US history in a different light, as I try to do so in the book his shocking presidency isn’t such a shock.
4 months ago
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Coming soon to the UK and US - the updated paperback version of The Forever War
4 months ago
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America needs more Dolly Partons - my latest column
www.smh.com.au/world/north-...
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How Dolly Parton can save Trump’s America
The US is a nation crippled by mutual loathing. But no-one can find a bad word to say about the celebrated country singer.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/how-dolly-parton-can-save-trump-s-america-20250928-p5myfk.html
5 months ago
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Code red for democracy - my interview with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa on the death of democracy - ABC listen
Under the authoritarian rule of President Rodriguez Duterte in The Philippines, Maria Ressa was targeted online, and had 11 arrest warrants out for her in just over a year. Since then, Duterte has be...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/nobel-peace-prize-laureate-maria-ressa-on-the-death-of-democracy/105711736
6 months ago
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The updated edition of The Forever War - with chapters on Trump 2.0 and the 2024 campaign - is out in time for Father’s Day.
6 months ago
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The Trump summer. His presidency in full. My long read on a highly chaotic and highly consequential few months.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
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Trump's presidency is fast turning into one of the most consequential in decades
Returning to the US for the first time in four years, I found a country that didn't want to talk about politics, despite being in the eye of the Trump storm.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-03/it-s-the-summer-of-trump-and-the-world-can-t-look-away/105574002?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
7 months ago
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Delighted that this is now out in the wild - the updated edition of The Forever War: America's Unending Conflicting with Itself. A new chapter on Trump 2.0, and a new forward on the 2024 presidential election. It's the 250 year story of the rise of Donald Trump.
8 months ago
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I post this every year to mark her birthday - a letter to our beautiful daughter Honor. Five years on, she remains an absolute delight - a real joybringer. If I had to pick one piece from my career with the BBC, this would be it.
www.bbc.com/news/world-u...
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A letter to our newborn American daughter - BBC News
You gulped your first lungfuls of air as protesters across America chanted: "I can't breathe."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53181334.amp
9 months ago
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It’s a year since The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself was published. Huge thanks to all those who have read it, listened to it or watched me blather on about it. The book is the 250 year backstory of Donald Trump. 📷 Hugh Stewart
9 months ago
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Always a great pleasure to do the Sydney Writers Festival - feels now like a home fixture. And great to share the stage with Barrie Cassidy, Emma Shortis and Peter Beinart
10 months ago
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A packed Saturday Extra - Donald Trump with Thomas Friedman; Middle East @rmslim; the mushroom case with @thomashayes, a local reporter covering his first trial; Oz politics with two historians Judith Brett and @fbongiornoanu Eurovision @dreurovision
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Saturday Extra with Nick Bryant - ABC listen
Smart analysis, lively conversations, and great company. Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared
10 months ago
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From Donald Trump we get ‘the weave.’ From Peter Dutton we got the unraveling. Voters rejected Americanisation and carried out a collective act of Australianisation.
add a skeleton here at some point
10 months ago
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Australia voted for its politics to remain Australian, using its uniquely Australian model of democracy to re-elect an emphatically Australian prime minister. (And Peter Dutton was more Ron DeSantis than Donald Trump.) My latest.
www.smh.com.au/national/spo...
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Spooked by Trump, Aussies stayed close to home and chose ‘dinky-di’ Albo
Voters rejected the Americanisation of our politics, choosing a leader who is characteristically and authentically Australian.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/spooked-by-trump-aussies-stayed-close-to-home-and-chose-dinky-di-albo-20250508-p5lxqt.html
10 months ago
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ABC Saturday Extra - Gaza war with former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert; an American pope - Scott Stephens @ABCReligion; Indo-Pakistan - @MichaelKugelman; historical roots of Donald Trump - @sarahchurchwell; Australian election fallout @markgkenny @janeenorman
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Ehud Olmert's peace plan at Jerusalem Peace Summit - ABC listen
Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/saturday-extra/105196088?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared
10 months ago
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Thrilled to be at the Australian book industry awards where The Forever War is up for non-fiction book of the year. And honored to be on shortlist of great authors.
10 months ago
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In an election where Australians said they wanted their politics to remain Australian, Anthony Albanese benefited from being authentically and emphatically Aussie. Given the scale of his win, he could become the first PM since John Howard to have the word era attached to his name
10 months ago
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Anti-Trumpism, in Australia and Canada at least, has become a more powerful political force than anti-incumbency.
10 months ago
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Saturday Extra Election Special - packed programme, with a health check on Australian democracy - and listen until the end for a national treasure.
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Australia Votes: Election Day 2025 - ABC listen
Nick Bryant head to the marginal seat of Bennelong in Sydney and does a health check on the state of Australian democracy with the ANU's Dr Jill Sheppard and Iain Walker from NewDemocracy Foundation. ...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/saturday-extra/105223978?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared
10 months ago
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The Economist hasn’t been pulling any punches
11 months ago
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