Capes without superheroes: a New World detail on a Renaissance painting
Innsbruck, Austria, 1569. Archduke Ferdinand II paced around the room while fiddling with the ornamented chain around his neck. As his patience began wearing...
The Real Bermuda Triangle is on the Internet
I could do with a serving of fried apple hand pies from Herbsaint in New Orleans right about now. Hallo, readers! This week I discovered that there’s a...
Happy Birthday, JAWS!
Thanks for reading my newsletter! You might also enjoy my new book, Humans: A Monstrous History, a history of humanity from antiquity to the present. I blend...
An LA Times Op-Ed and the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Welcome back folks, and hallo, new readers! In today’s newsletter: An op-ed in the Los Angeles TimesNext book event - at the Edinburgh International Book...
Making the hard call - and starting a new book project
Crème brûlée at Chez Janou in Paris on HUMANS pub day. Hallo folks, and welcome, new readers, This week’s issue: Make the hard call.How do big things get...
40% off UC Press books, Reddit Ask Me Anything, and the end of the book tour
Post-festival supper at Masala Zone, Covent Garden, London. And the blank space on the map - I mean the platter? Yoghurt dip en route! Hi folks and welcome,...
Book tour part 3: events, hangouts, baseball, and drafting the past
Where’s HUMANS? Check the alt-text for this image to find out. Is HUMANS in your fave store? Feel free to share photos if so! Welcome back everyone, and...
Book tour part 2, reviews, writing, and podcasts
At the Renaissance Society of American conference in Boston, MA. Hallo, readers! If you’re a new subscriber, welcome - you might like to check out my new...
Book tour part 1, a forest of free excerpts and podcasts, and an audiobook!
At the Renaissance Society of America conference. Welcome back folks, and hallo new subscribers! This newsletter is a bit late: the time and bandwidth...
Lurching towards the book tour
Welcome back, and hallo new subscribers! Today’s issue is mostly book, tour, and podcast news. In less than two weeks I head to the US for a few weeks of...
Launch Day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY!
Welcome back, and hallo, new readers! This is it! The US launch day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is February 4th. I’m amazed and relieved to get to this...
Basement adventures showed me why ChatGPT can only ever be garbage.
In The British Library. Photo by Surekha Davies. Hallo readers, First, a news flash: Join me for a virtual book launch for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY...
Gremlins, pitchforkery, and Monstertopia
Some writing and (mis)adventures - and a 40% discount on HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY! Dazed but pleased at the UC Press booth. Happy New Year! I hope your...
The case for a 100% tax bracket for billionaires
I was looking through my photos, stumbled upon this image, and realized that I had to get out a seasonal newsletter today with a wish for 2025. Caption....
Barber-surgeons and the anatomy of authoring
Or how being a twenty-first century author is weirdly like being a seventeenth-century barber-surgeon. Detail of one side of a painted wooden partition for a...
A bear called Paddington: who gets to be human?
This 1966 reprint of the first Paddington book was a second-hand steal at 40p. I’ve been re-reading the Paddington Bear books. If you’ve never encountered...
Strange, wondrous, and hopeful podcasts
A siren and a centaur from a bestiary c. 1270. MS Ludwig XV 3. Digital image courtesy of Getty’s Open Content Program, fol. 78r. Hallo, readers! In today’s...
Spooky season tidbits - and a 30% preorder discount on Humans: A Monstrous History!
Which monsters would you like to read about this fall?
"Disambiguate, disambiguate!" Monday morning in Dalek mode
For a creative person, errands can feel bone-crushing. Here's my latest workaround.
HUMANS: A Monstrous History is available for preorder!
... and some upcoming book events.
