I haven’t blogged much in the last few years, largely on account of taking on more management responsibility in my research projects. This is the nature of research career progression: You work on other peoples’ projects doing fieldwork, publishing, building your CV, yearning for the day when you will have the power. Then you take over as a project leader, get the power and learn that exercising that power mostly involves drafting and signing procurement requests. I certainly have no complaints (I get to lead a team that procures some pretty cool stuff!), but it definitely cuts into writing and creative time.

Adding another academic publication to my CV doesn’t add much marginal value, but writing and producing fun and informative content on the world of research, politics, and culture could be quite rewarding. With that in mind I’ve been batting around an idea: a newsletter. Most people do this on platforms like Substack or Ghost, and charge a small subscription for their written content. It’s a popular option for journalists, academics, and writers who want a space where they are the editorial lead. You might say “well Charles, you already write here”, and while this is true I have really just started using this site as an info hub about me and my work. It’d be great to have a space that is designed in a dedicated way to writing and content creation. It would also be great to make a bit of money and be able to use that to attract cool and interesting experts to contribute, and that’s an easier thing to do on Substack or Ghost.

What would I write about exactly? I’m still thinking about this. Certainly politics, especially the politics of development cooperation and aid, culture, maybe some fashion. It’s still a bit of an open question, but this will be a fun little side activity for 2026. If you have ideas I’d love to hear them!