Substacks recommended by Kenny Farquharson

Recommended by Kenny Farquharson

BlairMail

By Blair McDougall

An occasional newsletter with political commentary and analysis from Blair McDougall MP.

Progressive Realism

By David Lammy

Foreign Secretary David Lammy writes about his approach to UK foreign policy.

Goodbye Donald? An American Odyssey

By Lawrence Donegan

Lawrence Donegan hits the road as the 2024 Presidential election begins , a journey will take him from California to Florida in search of the country he thought he knew.

Human stories and humour on the 2024 presidential election trail, by one of the best colour writers you could hope to read.

- Kenny Farquharson

Jan Patience

You’re only as good as your last trick. I’ve typed millions of words since becoming a journalist in 19Canteen. Writing Book Two (slowly).

Nonfiction Storytelling with Jon Ronson

How to write narrative nonfiction books and podcasts, plus a place for all my work that won't be a book or a podcast.

Cerys' Substack: Food Action Music Books

By Cerys Matthews

My personal Substack

The wonderful Cerys Matthews shares her wanderings.

- Kenny Farquharson

What’s Left: Alastair Osborne

Sometimes witty, always left, totally Labour. Archive at alastairosborne.weebly.com

The Stickler

By Keith Wallace (Fitbatweets)

Stick-figure sports and pop culture cartoons to bring a smile to your inbox every weekday from the creator of Fitbatweets on Twitter.

Cartoon commentary on sport, often drawn live. Done with down-to-earth humour and an eye for absurdity.

- Kenny Farquharson

The Hairy Eyeball

By anna burnside

The place to find Anna Burnside's journalism, criticism, archive pieces and other delights.

Sass Central.

- Kenny Farquharson

Whig by Hunter Schwarz

Politics in the front, pop culture in the back.

Knowing Ius

By Michael Foran

Writing and podcasting about law for a public audience. Quite a bit about discrimination law, sex, and gender identity. Sometimes about other areas of law.

Clarity on the most contentious issues of our age.

- Kenny Farquharson

Chorley Not

By Matt Chorley

The best thing about political journalism is the snark between the boring bits. Matt understands this.

- Kenny Farquharson

Nutmeg

Brilliant football stories, made in Scotland

The preeminent Scottish football magazine: intelligent, sharp and empathetic. Now expanding into a veritable media empire with podcasts, events and newsletters.

- Kenny Farquharson

Patterns in Repeat

By Laura Marling

Around and about songwriting and what causes it.

The East Lothian Current

Welcome to "The Current," your go-to source for community and events in East Lothian 🌊

No More Trumpet Blowing

By Alan Taylor

Dispatches from the Literary Frontier

Scottish cultural polymath Alan Taylor in full flow. The man's a force of nature.

- Kenny Farquharson

Henry Winter's Goal Posts

My personal Substack on football

A New Politics

By Stephen Noon

Scottish devolution came with the promise of a "new politics", but what is the reality almost 25 years on? Some reflections from my PhD project.

Stephen Noon is one of the most consequential thinkers in contemporary Scottish politics.

- Kenny Farquharson

Solidarity Not Charity

By Jim Slaven

Thoughts on activism, culture, politics, and Edinburgh, from a working class perspective. Regular newsletter of curated links to material I have found interesting to read, listen and watch.

The Dark Arts

The Dark Arts is a newsletter about dark money and illicit financial flows in politics, brought to you by openDemocracy’s award-winning investigations team.

The Glasgow Wrap

Curation of Glasgow's top local news. Sign up to receive a free newsletter, delivered ad-free to your inbox at 7am daily. Paid subscribers get exclusive access to the Sunday Edition, the Weekend Guide and the weekly Culture Wrap.

Pithy aggregator of Glasgow news, with links to original sources.

- Kenny Farquharson

Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt

By Politics War Room With James Carville & Al Hunt

Join James Carville and Al Hunt in the fight for the soul of the nation.

It's James Carville, stupid.

- Kenny Farquharson

Zeteo

By Mehdi Hasan

Zeteo is a new media organization that seeks to answer the questions that really matter, while always striving for the truth. Founded by Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo is a movement for media accountability, unfiltered news and bold opinions.

A new voice on the left, and not a moment too soon.

- Kenny Farquharson

Zara Gladman's Substack

Musings of an ageing millennial, comedian and Zoo-LOL-ogist from Glasgow.

What "Glasgow West End Mum" gets up to when she isn't Glasgow West End Mum.

- Kenny Farquharson

James’s Substack

By James Gardner

My personal Substack

James describes his substack as "an attempt at authenticity". He succeeds and then some. A searching look behind the scenes of showbiz, with zero tolerance for cant and hypocrisy.

- Kenny Farquharson

Newsbrands’s Substack

By Newsbrands Scotland

Latest news about Scottish news publishing

News about Scotland's newsmakers.

- Kenny Farquharson

SURF BUGLE

By Ben Mondy

Come for Rod Cunthorpe, stay for the all-access surf journalism, humour, exclusive athlete interviews and travel writing.

Tom Duffin’s Photography Journey

I'm a freelance photographer living & working in Edinburgh. My mission is to create images that move people, that immerse the viewer, that convey the feeling I had while looking at the scene or subject. I'll show you images I've shot & how I took them.

Tremendous creative photography, often with a Scottish theme.

- Kenny Farquharson

Writing a Better World

By Ros Barber

The parts of you that are "broken" are the engine of your growth.

David Gow: Cosmopolitan Villager

Co-ed sceptical.scot. Ex European Business Editor, Guardian. Consultant editor, Jacques Delors Centre, Berlin. FRSE.

Wisdom gained from many years of personal experience of politics and diplomacy.

- Kenny Farquharson

Ian’s Substack

By Ian Morrison

Fiction, and views on the culture as refracted through the lens of one singular man.

Life, literature and education from a man who knows what he's talking about.

- Kenny Farquharson

The Tease with Catherine Valentine

A twice-weekly rundown ft. trending stories on Substack Politics. Plus, cable news stories from my former life. Written and curated by yours truly.

Your essential guide to politics on Substack

- Kenny Farquharson

The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet

By Amanda de Cadenet

Everything I can't say on social media and home of The Conversation Podcast.

Be still my beating heart.

- Kenny Farquharson

Europe & Scotland Newsletter

By Kirsty Hughes

European & Scottish politics, nature & photography too

No-one understands Scotland's place in Europe better than Kirsty Hughes.

- Kenny Farquharson

Edinburgh Pub Reviews

By Imran Rahman-Jones

A pub crawl through Scotland's capital.

What you having?

- Kenny Farquharson

A Fan's Notes, by Nick Hornby

Music, books, movies, work, football, TV and so on.

I'm here for the music recommendations, but everything else is a joy.

- Kenny Farquharson

Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak

Stories, anecdotes, wise proverbs and foolish thoughts, literary musings, insights and conversations centred around my personal, unpublished notebooks

Candour, courage and emotional intelligence make Elif Shafak required reading.

- Kenny Farquharson

Katie Crutchfield’s Substack

Bulletins and shonky photography from the wondrous world of Waxahatchee.

- Kenny Farquharson

The Shetland Witch

By Kate Macdonald

The Shetland Witch is a novel about witches and modern Shetland, serialised in 1000-word episodes each week. Come for the magic and the landscape, stay for the archaeology and the mythic entities. Now available as an ebook and in print!

Kate Macdonald is serialising her weird and witchy Shetland novel on Substack. If weirdness and witchiness is your thing, read it!

- Kenny Farquharson

Wealth of Nations

By Simon Nixon

European political economy and geoeconomics

Pounds, shillings, pence and Simon Nixon. Authoritative economic analysis just when wee need it most.

- Kenny Farquharson

It'll Be Fun, They Said

By Jess Pan

Writer in London working at a tiny indie London bookshop + latest news from my book - Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes

This isn't usually my kind of thing but I admit I'm addicted.

- Kenny Farquharson

Sideswiped

By Ana Samways Sideswiped

Humour and opinion without the middle man or the clutter of social media, with Ana Samways. “The thinking man’s Kate Hawkesby” Mediawatch 2023

It's like the pick'n'mix sweetie counter in Woolworths was suddenly available on Substack.

- Kenny Farquharson

Renascent Ardour

By Michael Donnelly

Commentary, analysis and long form features by Michael Lee Donnelly. Looking for the throughlines between topics and weaving them together with my own tangents and inner monologues.

Michael offers wisdom, emotional intelligence and an admirable breadth of interest.

- Kenny Farquharson