The unshocking oil shock: the known known of the Iran war. My weekend History Never Ended Substack open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

The holy warriors of Operation Epic Fury - my latest Substack post at History Never Ended. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

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...

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.

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.

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...

Donald Trump’s expanding war of choice. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

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...

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...

“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...

“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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

The Windsors will face the Watergate question: what did the King know and when did he know it?

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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.

Coming soon on Substack

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.

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...

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...

“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.”

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.

Even Liberace would have told his interior designer to tone it down a bit…..

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.

Coming soon to the UK and US - the updated paperback version of The Forever War

America needs more Dolly Partons - my latest column www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

Code red for democracy - my interview with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

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.

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...

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.

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...

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

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

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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

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

Anti-Trumpism, in Australia and Canada at least, has become a more powerful political force than anti-incumbency.