Marc Palen

China no longer buys US exports: Drawing the right lessons for the next Trump-Xi deal China essentially stopped buying US exports in April 2025. President Donald Trump had started his second term by launching a new trade war that he headlined with steep new tariffs on China. When China...

Without Trump’s trade wars since 2017, US exports to China would have been nearly 60% higher in 2025, or roughly $90 billion annually.

Historian here history first time as tragedy the second time as farce.

Middle East conflict strands ships with cargoes of fresh food and live animals Shipping companies struggle to reroute vessels as disruption starts to cause congestion at ports outside the Gulf

Middle East conflict strands ships with cargoes of fresh food and live animals ft.trib.al/P4KngHm

Why do so many conservative group chats end up like this?

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

there's a lot going on right now but did you know a massive amount of the world's fertilizer flows through the middle east, and did you know that that fertilizer needs to be shipped to the us *right now* for planting season, and uh did you know we are at war with iran

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

"The most effective consumer boycotts in history share two qualities: they are narrow and they are easy," writes @rutgerbregman.com

What would Winston Churchill make of war with Iran? Donald Trump has said Keir Starmer is ‘no Churchill’, but his dismissal is based on a simplified version of history.

When Donald Trump criticised Keir Starmer for failing to sufficiently support American and Israeli operations against Iran, he did so with a historical flourish. “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” he complained.

theconversation.com/what-would-w...

PPF Live Special: Churchill – The Politician With Nine Lives w/Robert Saunders 178

With all the talk of "what would Churchill have done in Iran" or "who is & isn't like Churchill", it's worth noting how many different roles Churchill himself played over his life.

I discussed The Nine Lives of Winston Churchill with David Runciman in this live pod.
www.ppfideas.com/episodes/ppf...

Series 4: The Soundbite of the Century Episode 1

80 years to the day since the iron curtain speech - hear the full story in our new podcast series.

@finesthalfhour.bky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/1KlK...

Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills Some risk spending too few days in the emirate and too many in the UK

Tax exiles stuck in London desperately trying to get *back* to Dubai to avoid becoming tax resident in the UK? Just great stuff. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Photo of Jessica Roney in a blue sweater holding a copy of our book. Pretzel, the cat, is in background right, with his white-gloved paw extended in an elegant pose.

Photo of Rachel Herrmann in a blue shell holding a copy of our book. Paz Purrmann stands at left, looking at Rachel/the book/his bag of food. Paz is white with seal pointing and his fluffy gray tail is elevated with interest

Table of contents featuring Rachel Herrmann and Jessica Choppin Roney, Edward Gray, Christian Koot, Alex Zukas, John Morton, and Paul Musselwhite

Second page of the table of contents featuring Kim Gruenwald, Karen Rann, Charles Prior, Chad McCutchen and Jennifer Monroe McCutchen, Rachel Herrmann, Harvey Amani Whitfield and Sarah Chute, and Samuel Truett

Claiming Land, Claiming Water: Borders and the People Who Crossed Them in the Early Modern Atlantic arrived at the houses of Pretzel and Paz Purrmann this week, and their humans (Jessica Roney, and me) were pretty jazzed @pennpress.bsky.social

EU governments are now keen to ‘have a much more comprehensive approach early on’, given the anti-immigrant sentiment present in many countries, the UN's top migration official has told the FT. ft.trib.al/3THFsQW

Trump's trade war timeline 2.0: An up-to-date guide President Donald Trump started his second term in office with momentous plans to change US trade policy to achieve various economic and nontrade related aims. This timeline tracks the development of t...

Keep track of *official* trade actions with our timeline:

YouTube video by Governor Wes Moore Marylanders deserve a refund.

Trump’s illegal tariffs cost Maryland’s businesses and consumers up to an estimated $4 billion.

Marylanders deserve a refund from the Trump-Vance Administration.

youtube.com/shorts/Oe5BG...

Haitian Asylum Seeker Dies of Toothache in What ICE Calls "The Best Healthcare of Their Lives" Detention deaths are a foreseeable outcome of specific policy choices made by people in position of power. This post steps back to think through the broader trends and steps toward accountability.

Haitian Asylum Seeker Dies of Toothache in What ICE Calls "The Best Healthcare of Their Lives"
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...

Downloads are soaring for the new podcast 'Churchill: The Finest Half Hour'. Find out what's attracting thousands of listeners around the world.

On Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7BwF62E...

Or Apple podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...

#Churchill

US strikes on Iran ‘outside international law,’ says Macron Macron joins Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez in calling the legality of the strikes into question.

After four days of hesitating, the president of France has joined the prime minister of Spain in saying that the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on Iran is a violation of international law.

But they are still the only 2 EU leaders to have done so. Will others join?

They are literally running with “we have always been at war with Eurasia.” Unreal.

RIP to hundreds of Iranians and one American vacation

Getting flashbacks to Bush Jr’s New Europe vs Old Europe re Iraq invasion

On the Aggregate in Intellectual History by Disha Karnad Jani This think piece is part of a JHI Blog forum: “The Return of Political Economy in Intellectual History.”

Concluding the blog's forum on political economy, Disha Karnad Jani reflects on intellectual history's methodological relationship to the "aggregate" in the generations that built upon and revised the social history of ideas. What kind of aggregate, if any, can address contemporary horrors?

BREAKING: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has barred the U.S. from using Spanish military bases for attacks on Iran.

Reform/Farage also support Starmer’s giving US access to UK bases for Trump’s illegal war with Iran

Busy month of book launches for @qmul.bsky.social colleagues! Leslie's book is 'The Moving Word: How the West African and Caribbean Press Shaped Black Political Thought', Matthew's is 'Charity After Empire: British Humanitarianism, Decolonisation and Development'

Today should be your 38th birthday.. When you lose your son you lose more than a child you lose a piece of your heart and your joy. Life is forever altered, and nothing can ever fill that space. Yet in my soul, he remains, my precious boy, forever loved. His laughter, his smile, and his love are woven into who I am. My love for him will never fade. Yor are my pride and my joy - you've made a change that cannot be broken..

Alex's mom on his 38th birthday.

'Her eight-year-old daughter Heather had just died in hospital, two weeks after playing in the sea on the beach at Dawlish Warren in Devon, where she contracted E coli O157, a bug which comes from raw sewage.'

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Iran strikes were launched without approval from Congress, deeply dividing lawmakers Top lawmakers were notified about the operation shortly before it was launched, but the White House did not seek authorization from Congress to carry out the strikes.

Top lawmakers were notified about the operation shortly before it was launched, but the White House did not seek authorization from Congress to carry out the strikes. n.pr/4l12c8B

I promise you that the government that murdered Alex Pretti and Renee Good does not give a flying fuck about the protests in Iran.

BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.