Dispatches from the author of The Idiot

Edited by essayist Claire Berlinski, this is Substack's top forum for the discussion of international news among readers and writers, around the world, who are concerned about the future of liberal democracy and the gathering storm of global war.

This is where I lay my words bare—on history, politics, culture, and my journey through cancer. I invite you to this space where vulnerability turns into strength.

I'm a Brit who spends a lot of time volunteering in Ukraine, especially the east, which is worst affected by the war. I travel, conduct interviews, dodge missiles and try to see the situation with minimal filter so I can help people back home do the same.

Experiments in how to live well—blending philosophy, psychology, and humor into practical tools for flourishing.

I was born in Zaporizhzhia three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. What followed was a learning curve. A Ukrainian killjoy with a PhD in Comparative Literature, I teach, curate cultural projects and write about Ukraine's resistance to Russia.

Politics, Philosophy, Poetry, and Silly Games - new ways to wonder WTF just happened