A new narrative history / true crime tale from me on the Bard's day: The Man Who Stole Shakespeare's Skull: www.narratively.com/p/564674f3-0...

In July 1979, a porn magazine called Gallery released a JFK assassination special, with a flexidisc of the gunshots. A drummer called Steve, from Ohio, listened to it repeatedly until he heard something no one else had. This is just one of the stories in The Umbrella Man and Other Stories. Out now.

Giles Coren on pop music in today's Times. ☹️

I rarely post about #NUFC (or anything) anymore, but yesterday felt like a season ending (and perhaps era ending) performance, so a few quick thoughts... 1/

NEW: Music and the Microbe: Cloudbuster uses organ to kill bacteria in a strange story involving UFOs and Kate Bush; PLUS book recommendations: Umbrella Murder; No Road Leading Back; John & Paul. All in the latest free edition of Singular Discoveries: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/music-and-...

New edition of my newsletter out on Thursday featuring cloudbusting, umbrella murder, escape from WWII death forest, new Beatles book, and grumbles about Substack Nazis and other big tech dilemmas. Subscribe for free here: singulardiscoveries.substack.com

The latest edition of my newsletter is a dive into a morphine murder mystery. Read and subscribe here, always free: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/countess-a...

A few days before Christmas in 1885, a household servant found a boy in a dustbin... New edition of Singular Discoveries out today, including a 2025 round-up and a load of year-end mixtapes. singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-boy-in...

If you don't already subscribe to my free newsletter, Singular Discoveries, now would be a good time, as there's a new edition out on Thursday featuring a brand new strange but true story and a 2025 round-up. Come join "thousands of subscribers..." singulardiscoveries.substack.com

Obviously.

Interesting change of direction for New Order on Spotify.

My book The Tyne Bridge is available for just £6.49 in the Hurst Black Friday Sale. That's 50% off the paperback price of £12.99. Offer valid until Tues 9th Dec, automatic 50% discount applied at checkout, no promo code required: www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-tyn...

Our Black Friday sale is live! 🎉 Get 50% off ALL books until midnight on 9th December. This year, you can get your hands on a free eBook when you spend over £50 (excl shipping). Browse our full list ➡️ hurstpublishers.com

Nice review of the Ruhleben book, glad Matthew liked it.

I wrote about an apparent epidemic of people getting crushed by steam rollers. singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/crushed-by...

Newcastle says no to fascism. The far right brought a hundred or so with them, bussed from far and wide. This city turned out 1000s, from local communities, estates and streets. Geordies of all backgrounds coming together and outnumbering the purveyors of hate by some distance. Newcastle united.

"Stop the boats and paracetamol."

Question arising from #NUFC vs #FCB last night. Why did Barca have a coach standing with the subs who were warming up near the corner flag? He also walked behind the goal to pass instructions to the keeper. I thought the rule was "coaching staff are restricted to the confines of the technical area"?

In the new edition of my newsletter, out today, a young boy battles a boogle of weasels. Yes, "boogle". It also features George Robledo, Sam Fender, and Nuremberg. You can read "Attacked by Weasels" here: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/attacked-b...

I reviewed the book Postcards from Santiago: The George Robledo Story by Spencer Vignes for the latest edition of @wsc.co.uk magazine, WSC 457, in shops now or get it here: www.wsc.co.uk/shop/wsc-457/

I'm selling a prized possession, a complete hardcover edition of the 1906 Book of Football, possibly the most sought after football book ever published: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28680790...

So misunderstood.

For a suitably scorching Singular Discoveries summer special, I wrote about an astronomer who blamed heatwaves on Jupiter: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/blaming-he...

Hmm. This says less "Tyne Bridge" and more "Saudi Arabia" to me. And yours for just £120... #nufc

Ahead of this weekend's Durham Miners' Gala, I wrote about the birthplace of the working class for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social tribunemag.co.uk/2025/07/dmg-...

Football fans: Ever been inside an empty stadium—on a tour, after a match—and felt something strange? A lingering echo of noise, emotion, presence, like it's still alive, even when no one is there? Have you ever experienced the uncanny atmosphere of an absent crowd? Let me know, for a thing... ⚽👻

"Lying face down." Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @paulbrownuk.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-red-cr...

New Singular Discoveries newsletter out today: I wrote about three murders linked to a strange red cross. Also Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, Orlando Whitfield’s All That Glitters, the forthcoming AI apocalypse, and the late, very great Brian Wilson: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-red-cr...

This month's Substack post is just your everyday true story of a man who killed the king to become ruler of England, and his association with a stake-through-the-heart vampire… singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/oliver-cro...

Die kleine Freiheit in der Gefangenschaft: Vor 110 Jahren #OTD gründeten britische Kriegsgefangene in Spandau die „Ruhleben Football Association“. Auch Nationalspieler waren auf der Trabrennbahn interniert. @paulbrownuk.bsky.social hat ihre Geschichte erzählt. www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/bezir...

NEW: In 1859, villages in the North East of England were plagued by sightings of a terrifying individual known as "the Winlaton Wild Man". A posse was formed to hunt for the Wild Man led by local hero and "Blaydon Races" legend Coffee Johnny... singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/coffee-joh...

Happy Kevin Keegan's Birthday. youtu.be/yJdW7-MnXtc

Today's NEW edition of my free newsletter Singular Discoveries contains self-help advice from a murder suspect with a backwards name; PLUS Extrasensory, Rocketbelt doc, and big tech takeover: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...

This is a bad decision by the way. VAR's tech isn't accurate enough to overrule something this tight. Striker's elbow vs defender's shoulder? The linesman had a better view. Onside. Great goal. 3-0 (5-0 agg.) #NUFC

That's not a sword dance. *This* is a sword dance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6GA...

"A rare instrument known as a 'recorder'". Resembles a flute, popular in Elizabethan times, mentioned in Hamlet... and foisted upon every 1980s schoolkid when they really would have preferred to learn the guitar. Source: Daily Chronicle, 15 May 1919, via BNA.

Brand new Singular Discoveries out today. A royal visit reveals a subterranean mystery in a strange ancient village, plus Killing Thatcher and 20 years of The Rocketbelt Caper: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-prince...

2024 round-up: The Singular Discoveries podcast was shortlisted for the Independent Podcast Awards. It didn't win, but what the hey. You can listen "wherever you get your podcasts" or find episode links here: pod.link/1708869129 Thanks for reading/listening in 2024.🎄 Best wishes for 2025.🥂

2024 round-up: In Singular Discoveries, my free newsletter, I wrote a four-part Victorian pot-boiler about the mysterious case of The Vanishing Bank Manager, and also wrote about giants, whirlwinds, monkeys, the moon, and lots more — you can find the archive here: singulardiscoveries.substack.com

2024 round-up: The Great British UFO Hoax is a real-life sci-fi caper involving an apparent invasion of flying saucers that rattled the authorities but wasn't quite what it seemed. You can read it on Narratively and also in the Smithsonian Magazine. bit.ly/49NehZz / bit.ly/4iRRu2y

2024 round-up: The Snowdrop: Lost in the Arctic was published on Shorthand Stories. It's the true story of Scottish whaler the Snowdrop, young seaman Alex Ritchie, and a battle to survive and escape from the Arctic. You can read it here: singulardiscoveries.shorthandstories.com/the-snowdrop/

2024 round-up: The Tyne Bridge, my book about the iconic landmark and the people who built and use it, was published in a handsome paperback edition with lavish illustrations and fancy French flaps. You can see more and get the book here: tynebridgebook.com

A few days before Christmas in 1869, locals from the Connecticut town of Cromwell found a British family living in a cave... New from me today, read Lord of the Cave, plus a 2024 round-up: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/lord-of-th...

Well, there’s a story.

I have a limited number of signed copies of the new paperback edition of The Tyne Bridge available at the reduced price of £10 with free UK delivery. An ideal Christmas gift for friends, relatives, neighbours, casual acquaintances, enemies, and chiefly yourself. Buy them here: square.link/u/8gXjMMoI

New from me today: The Belle of Shepton. The case of a missing bank manager becomes the case of a missing house servant. What happened to Julia Vining? I got my research assistant to investigate, and make a podcast... singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-belle-...

My latest book The Tyne Bridge is half price until 2 Dec in the @hurstpublishers.bsky.social Black Friday sale. Get the "lavishly illustrated" paperback for just £6.50. Buy 2 and get free postage (Christmas sorted👍). Discount applied automatically at checkout: www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-tyn...

Very sad to learn that this renowned music shop is closing in Newcastle. As a teenager I used to visit after school and listen to Bowie in one of their stereo listening booths and then browse through the records and sheet music and wish I could afford a posh guitar. It will be much missed. Neil x

Gruff Rhys and Bill Ryder-Jones at Gateshead Sage / Glasshouse last night. Tremendous. @gruffrhys.bsky.social @billryderjones.bsky.social

New from me today: More than half a century after he disappeared, a mysterious cedar box provides a clue in the case of the vanishing banker, “one of Britain’s biggest mysteries”. Plus Troubles on TV, Ben Mezrich, Rocketbelt, Tyne Bridge, UFOs, NUFC: singulardiscoveries.substack.com/p/the-cedar-...