A curiosity newsletter that explores the hidden histories and everyday systems behind familiar objects, such as barcodes, soccer balls, and wartime deception. Each issue is a long-form essay with a playful, well-researched voice that explains how ordinary things came to be.
Website: https://www.detoursandfootnotes.com/
Long-form essays on the history of innovation and the causes of the British Industrial Revolution, drawing on archival research. Recent issues cover the salt trade, Scotland's outsized role in invention, and Tudor labour laws and trade.
Personal essays and cultural criticism on philosophy, the arts and poetry, drawing on memories of record collecting, Dylan's religious turn, poems about Nazi atrocities, and pop-chart history. The writer mixes anecdote with close reading and historical research to explore what art and evil reveal about people.
Tomas Pueyo writes long-form explainers on AI, technology, economics, history and demographics, usually grounding current trends in historical context. Readers get framework-driven analysis, charts and sourced arguments, with some articles behind a paywall.
Susie Bright's personal newsletter mixes sharp cultural and political commentary on sexuality, fascism and history with memoir, dream-analysis anecdotes and recipes. Readers get a distinctive, opinionated voice that connects current events to her decades of writing about sex and culture.
One short email a week with hand-picked newsletters from the index. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
