Welcome!

Why are there so many loyalty schemes now? When did vegan become ‘plant-based’? What do notice boards on the London Underground tell us about the death of Twitter?

When I was an undergraduate, one of my favourite seminars was on Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, an essay collection about how seemingly everyday objects are imbued with meaning and power.

I ended up writing a PhD on how this idea shows up in non-fiction, exploring how twentieth century writers played with mass-market genres such as cookbooks, travel guides, and the daily newspaper column.

This Substack is the pop version. I’m still obsessed with why things take the form they do, and the forces – economic, political, and cultural – which shape them. It’s why I write on things like why everyone suddenly went nuts for pistachios and the musicals which pretend not to be, as well as a park full of old Stalin statues and the growing interest in alternatives to burial.

This Substack is a place for my titbits about communication, commerce, literature, culture, and above all, everyday life. You’re less likely to hear my grand theory of AI or my thoughts on the status of the modern novel – although I enjoy reading others on those things – and more likely to discover a defence of Pret A Manger or a love letter to thick black tights.

In short, its organising principle is just things I find interesting. I hope you do, too.