Great way into the Financial Times - please circulate to aspiring young journalists

Really good from @simonkuper.bsky.social on the increasing appeal to Europeans of importing foreigners to do their dirty work while keeping them in a second-class status, as in Gulf states. This is the gist of Dutch moves to make immigrants wait longer for citizenship.

😂 This level of self-control has to be taught.

Good interview in the paper, this. I think Sadiq is right: London 'needs' to be less successful than it is for a bunch of political arguments here in the UK to work, hence the fictions being invented about it:

Nieuw hier op Bluesky. Ik ben betrokken bij hulp aan Oekraïne via Stichting Diel / Vrienden van Oekraïne. Deze winter leveren we generatoren aan legerhospitalen en eenheden waar stroomuitval levens raakt. Meer over de actie: 🔗 vvodiel.nl/winteractie-...

This is a really good piece about the status of our immigration debate. Hits the nail on the head.

The doom and gloom about London is ridiculous and harmful. Team FT is Team London - as.ft.com/r/19d3d36d-e...

Why the suburbs of Paris are the world's biggest hotbed of football talent. Beautiful short film by Copa 90, with brief appearance by me www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4wM...

Very pleased to see this paper published

European states need immigrants but don't want them. How to square that circle? Posture against immigrants while taking in more than ever before but treating them as a permanent second-class serving caste with few rights. Me @financialtimes.com on European kafala as.ft.com/r/7e2026f8-5...

Cindy Pom has made a brilliant video telling the story of British-Dutch KGB double agent George Blake and his escape from Wormwood Scrubs prison, with bits from me talking about my book on Blake (called Spies Lies and Exile in the US, and The Happy Traitor in UK) www.youtube.com/watch?v=r23C...

The English can opine away about other countries and their histories, but boy, must the BBC have sunk deep to ask someone from another country to give his perspective. Some English are so arrogant they don't even seem to notice it.

For anyone interested in how cities are changing: I spoke to the Challenger Cities podcast about my memoir of modern Paris, Impossible City. About the good, the bad, and the almighty anarchy that is Parisian cycling challengercities.substack.com/p/challenger...

The Jesus chatbot. How AI accelerates the trend of religions disintegrating from "faith communities" into solitary pursuits. Group religions don't die - they morph into identitarian movements, like Trump's evangelicals, Russian orthodox church etc. Me @FT as.ft.com/r/46e73092-9...

Ik sprak de sportboekenpodcast Oranje Blauw Flitsen over mijn nieuwe boek, De wereld aan mijn voeten - over mijn ervaringen op alle WKs sinds 1990. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1aW6... en iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/a...

Renewed free to read link. as.ft.com/r/2706dddc-f...

The bizarre story of the Louvre heist, which has done its bit to cheer up the French public. And why do these things keep happening in France? Me for @TandCmag, including a revisiting of Picasso's sideline in stolen Louvre stuff www.townandcountrymag.com/society/mone...

Not at all surprising that @gideonrachman.bsky.social nails it in his reading of the NSS here. "The Trump administration view of 'western civilisation' is based on race, Christianity and nationalism. The European version is a liberal view founded on democracy, human rights and the rule of law ..."

Italia ’90 wasn’t just a World Cup, it was a national mood. The summer when Gazza wept, England stumbled heroically, and football suddenly looked… different. This week @msmirandasawyer.bsky.social is joined by @simonkuper.bsky.social, author of World Cup Fever, to discuss 👉 linktr.ee/talk90stome

This fetid landmark, this historical stain on humanity is primarily due to the stunningly reckless obliteration of America's foreign assistance agency earlier this year. Led by the richest man on earth. In secret, on a weekend. With zero analysis or discussion of its catastrophic impacts.

The World Cup is the perfect travel opportunity. Me @FinancialTimes, drawing on my own 9 World Cups- walking the battlefield at Stalingrad with England fans, nearly cracking up in the Japanese provinces etc. All based on my new book World Cup Fever. Featuring some brilliant pics on.ft.com/4pFEJLq

🚨Attacks on immigrants, protests, rule of law: all is not well in the United States before the 2026 FIFA⚽️World Cup. 🗓️3 Dec, media briefing on-topic by @amnesty.org @hrw.org @rsf.org @sportrightsall.bsky.social NAACP. ✒️Reporters can DM me for invite, Zoom link, interview requests etc.

One effect of our age of the rich: the flattery industry is booming. Call them luxury hotel concierges, personal trainers, Trump cabinet members, Musk "loyalists", wealth managers etc, but the essential job is flatterer. Me @financialtimes.com on how the industry works on.ft.com/43SIvbR

What a fun surprise to pick up a @financialtimes.com article just out of interest in the subject (rich people & their boundless appetite for flattery) only to find my own research cited a few times! Thanks, @simonkuper.bsky.social! Check out my thread below on "competitive depravity" among elites.

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Very rich blog post by Catherine, which includes me banging on about my writing ideology: don't write a word until you've made a complete plan of what you're going to say

Mein neues WM-Buch ist gerade auf Deutsch erschienen www.prisma.de/magazin/hall...

Last year I interviewed the Turkish opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu. Now he's in jail, and President Erdogan's state prosecutor has just demanded a jail sentence for him of over 2,000 years. Yet Imamoglu is a political star who terrifies Erdogan and could eventually replace him on.ft.com/3X45lcL

New: I can confirm hasty US-Russia proposal being pushed to Ukrainians via Dmitriev-Witkoff to Umerov. It would amount to Ukraine’s capitulation, with people familiar saying it’s Kremlin’s maximalist demands. -Ukraine army cut 1/2 -Give up certain weapons -Give up Donbas -Zelensky displeased More tk

on.ft.com/4nWiG1G A parent’s fear: the mother in hiding from her son He was golden-haired, a “really happy” baby. “He was gorgeous. I absolutely doted on him, I loved being a mum.”

On November 20, 1975, Franco died in his bed, and Spain unexpectedly went democratic - part of the global wave of democratisation from 1974 to 1990. Now we're in the worst democratic decline since the 1930s. But there's hope. Me @financialtimes.com on how to create more Spains on.ft.com/4nRUpK0

On November 20, 1975, Franco died in his bed, and Spain unexpectedly went democratic - part of the global wave of democratisation from 1974 to 1990. Now we're in the worst democratic decline since the 1930s. But there's hope. Me @financialtimes.com on how to create more Spains on.ft.com/4nRUpK0

'You must understand the World Cup is a kind of religious feast that includes the whole world ... Whereas Easter is only for Christians, the World Cup is for everyone' A fascinating interview with #WorldCupFever author @simonkuper.bsky.social for Football Makes History ⚽️

The UK ambassador's residence in Paris (bought by Wellington from Napoleon's sister in 1815) is the house where Churchill's parents married, where Churchill sang in bath while France was being invaded, where a British servant stopped Nazis in 1941 etc. My tour with the ambassador on.ft.com/495OYDF

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Aston Villa – What have we learned? Online discussion 11am Saturday. Sports historian David Goldblatt, Football Supporters’ Association CEO Kevin Miles, Nick McGeehan of FairSquare and others explore the issues raised by the Europa League game us02web.zoom.us/j/8673874747...

From my FT column on the 3 worst books I've ever read

The Russian Londoner Jana Bakunina on her excellent book The Good Russian, which is out this week inews.co.uk/news/world/r...

Happy Halloween. Here's my guide for @financialtimes.com to the ghosts of the world's most visited cemetery, Père-Lachaise in Paris - from Jim Morrison to the fertility and sex god Victor Noir. as.ft.com/r/24de0ea2-c...

In praise of being a football fan, by my colleague Simon Kuper: as.ft.com/r/349446da-4... (I am not really a fan, but my son is, and I loved this piece.)

Brilliant story: Suspects of the Louvre jewellery heist appear to be fans of newly promoted Paris FC, which is owned by the billionaire Arnault family. They were arrested while queuing to get into the game against Lyon www.eurosport.fr/football/cam...

With social isolation rising, about the last thing that brings people together - even across political divides - is sports fandom. Me @financialtimes.com on why fans have more friends, social connections and democratic sympathies - with help from @moreincommonus.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/671ea66b-4...

On the “defeat” of the far right in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 The total number of far-right seats in the Tweede Kamer: 2021: 28 2023: 41 2025: 42 👈 And I don’t even count BBB here, which has radicalized significantly in the last year.

Reupping this ahead of today's Dutch elections, with far right having essentially walked away from government

Me ahead of next week's Dutch elections on the three ways of being a far-right leader: Trump's maximalism, Meloni's compromise, and in 🇳🇱, Geert Wilders' approach of changing the country by shouting from opposition. He's the man who sets the national agenda @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/3Jly9tK

"Such is their fear of jail, bankruptcy or reprisal, that most people I spoke to insisted on anonymity. This was in spite of the fact that many of the same people said Trump would only be restrained by powerful voices standing up to him." My Weekend FT essay. Please read it. on.ft.com/4hqblpr

Me ahead of next week's Dutch elections on the three ways of being a far-right leader: Trump's maximalism, Meloni's compromise, and in 🇳🇱, Geert Wilders' approach of changing the country by shouting from opposition. He's the man who sets the national agenda @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/3Jly9tK

Journalist Simon Kuper: ‘Mijn liefde voor voetbal herkende ik weer door mijn kinderen’

🎧 Thursday morning listening 🎧 Catch up with @simonkuper.bsky.social discussing his new book #WorldCupFever on Monocle Radio below ⚽️

Over George Blake schreef ik de biografie De vrolijke verrader. Hier vertel ik op @nporadio1.bsky.social over de KGB-spion uit Spangen, zijn legendarische ontsnapping uit de gevangenis, en zijn vlucht (o.m. in een campervan) van Londen naar Moskou www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/v...