2025: A Year in Review
Personal updates and book, game and film recommendations
It’s been another good year, personally and professionally. The collapse in the Government’s popularity and the tumultuous nature of British politics has made it a much more interesting and rewarding time to work in policy, particularly on the right, than one might have expected a year after a Labour landslide1 - things feel wide open, with a great deal of space for new ideas.
Eldest began secondary school, a major change but one he was ready for, and it seems to be going well so far: he’s enjoying it, and I’m very happy with the school, which appears to be bringing out the best in him. Youngest has become increasingly in to chess and to Greek mythology, and is now well into those years where one is increasingly just enjoying spending time with them rather than ‘looking after’ them. Joy and grief made its appearance in the acquisition, and sad subsequent passing away, of a new kitten.
The year was book-ended by two very special holidays. In February we returned to the Philippines for the first time since we lived there ten years ago: a chance to relive old memories and to show Eldest where he was born. Then in early December we went to Disneyland Paris, which, particularly with the Christmas decorations up, was truly magical. Another highlight was retracing Hazel, Fiver and co’s journey from Sandleford Warren to Watership Down and thence on to Efrafra with S5 V6.
We’ve got a busy blogging schedule over the coming week: the 2025 Forecasting Results are out tomorrow, and the 2026 Forecasting contest will open on Sunday. If you’ve not tried it before, I’d encourage you to have a go - it’s a great way to make yourself think about what’s actually likely to happen in the coming year,2 a fun competition and doesn’t have to take long - plus the wisdom of crowds gives some interesting results. Then, on 6th January, the Christmas Quiz results will be out - following which normal blogging service will resume.
What did I read, watch and play this year?
Some books, films and games I’ve enjoyed this year. Not a remote attempt at categorising everything I've read or seen, simply some that stood out for one reason or another.
Books (fiction)
After several years, I completed my Aubrey and Maturin chronological read-through, with some satisfaction. I also read all of Lois McMaster Bujold’s non-Vorkosigan books and Miles Cameron’s ‘Traitor Son’ (aka The Red Knight) series,3 all of which were excellent, and, following recommendations from my children, was unexpectedly gripped by the Percy Jackson series.4 Neal Stephenson’s Polostan and Robert Harris’s Precipice were two excellent pieces of historical fiction set in the early 20th century. Neil Gaiman’s Coraline was suitably creepy; Steinbeck’s The Red Pony deeply depressing and Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire pleasantly tacky.5
Books (non-fiction)
Gombrich’s A Little History of the World is my new ‘book that I tell everyone they should read’6: a brilliantly accessible world history, written by an Austrian art historian in the 1930s, banned by Hitler for being too positive about other cultures and translated into English by the author in the 1990s, it’s both delightful and informative. Nick Gibb’s Reforming Lessons: Why English Schools Have Improved Since 2010 and How This Was Achieved is a very good read not only for educationalists, but for anyone interested in how to bring about public service reform in a complex area. And Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts was a chilling first-hand account of the rise of Hitler, told through the 1933 diaries and other documents of the US Ambassador and his family.
Films
I barely went to the cinema at all this year, though Jurassic World: Rebirth was quite fun.7 I did, however, watch a massive haul of films I’d never seen before on the very long flights too and from the Philippines. Conclave and Top Gun: Maverick were the highlights;8 Mulan and Galaxy Quest (not sure how I’d managed to never see these) were also good, and I’m glad I’ve now finally seen The Maltese Falcon, though it does show its age. Separately, I got around to watching Terminator 2, which really is as good as its reputation.
TV
Zero Day - a thriller in which the USA is hit by a massive cyber-attack and a former President, played by Robert de Niro, comes out of retirement to solve it - was my favourite new series of the year: I’d strongly recommend. Dougie Kamealoha was light, feel-good entertainment about a teenage Hawaian doctor.9 I very belatedly watched the Ambassadors,10 saw the fifth season of Slow Horses and am currently gripped by the final season of Stranger Things (no spoilers, please!).11
Games
I enjoyed playing the Civilization-esque board game Beyond the Horizon with N4 R6 and others - though it did need some tweaks for balance. I also played Warhammer 40k for the first time after Eldest got into it.12
On the computer, after multiple attempts I succeeded in beating XCOM 2, in Ironman mode, on Commander (hard) difficulty, an achievement which gave me an unreasonably high level of satisfaction. I also played a fair bit of 9 Kings, a great casual game with surprising depth, discovered the joys of the classic Sid Meier’s Pirates! and - acquiring it in a sale - tried out Hogwarts Legacy, which is a B- as a game, but A**** at providing the feeling that you really are a student at Hogwarts.13
Blogging
It’s been a great year of blogging. I’ve published exactly 52 posts and had over 140,000 views, with a a typical post now getting between 2,000 and 5,000 views. I end the year with a hair under 1500 subscribers in 48 countries, with 15 other substacks recommending me.14 I’ve been mentioned several times in national newspapers
Thank you all for reading, sharing, commenting, filling in surveys, lurking and otherwise being great readers - this site only grows via word of mouth and you readers are what makes it all worthwhile.
If you’ve joined partway through the journey, here's a list of my favourite post from each month to catch up on anything you've missed:
January: Giants and Heroes. Which figures of the past should we learn about - and why?
February: Collaboration, Defection and the Hostage’s Dilemma. Understanding Trump; or why the left’s systematic politicisation of supposedly neutral institutions leaves the right with only a choice of evils.
March: To Veer to the Right or to Veer to the Left? Has Britain shifted right or left over the last two decades?
April: The Scopes Monkey Trial of our Time. Applying insights gained from religious toleration to the trans debate - and why tolerating others’ false beliefs about reality must not require us to pretend to believe they are true.
May: A Book List for Boys. Modern society often appears to not know what to do with boys - here are twenty books that can help convey the messages and values that our society struggles to.
June: Seven Public Policy Rules of Thumb (my most read piece of the year). They’re not always true. But you’ve got grounds to demand strong evidence before accepting that one isn’t.
July: Sanctuary or Struggle? Should those with minority views seek to create alternatives to mainstream institutions - or fight to maintain a place within them?
August: We Too, Are Elves. Reflections on falling birthrates and ‘the Little Golden Age’.
September: The Fallacy of the ‘Average’. It doesn’t matter to most policy debates what the return is on the ‘average’ graduate or immigrant. What matters is the marginal return.
October: The Progressive Left has a Rule of Law Problem. From ‘direct action’ and vandalism to public officials ignoring laws under which they are required to operate, leftist causes have repeatedly claimed the right to disregard the law.
November: Reeves in Zugzwang. The Chancellor has no good options left - and why incremental policy making is increasingly failing.
December: For the 98%. Government should prioritise bettering the lives of the 80-90% in the middle of the population - warping it around the interests of those at the very bottom is as distorting as warping it around those at the very top.
Happy end of year to one and all!
Those using the word ‘supermajority’ will be hanged, drawn and quartered.
And if you’re reading this blog you almost certainly have at least some interest in current affairs!
Such a strange name. I’m guessing he was originally planning to do more with the correspondence to Mordred he set up but ended up taking it in a different direction.
I have declined to read more than one of Youngest’s Goddess Girls books - the series may start off strongly, with Athena the Brave, but by the time we get to book 25, Clotho the Fate we are clearly scraping the barrel - but between that, Percy Jackson and, at the more sophisticated end, authors such as Natalie Haynes (Stone Blind good but less good than 1000 Ships - likely in part due to the source material being less rewarding), it’s a delight to see classical mythology still going strong in the current era.
These three representing books I’d been meaning for years, arguably decades.
And did read to my children, following reading it myself.
Jurassic Park films follow the rule that the first film in any of the trilogies is better than all the second or third film in all the trilogies, but less good than the first film in each of the preceeding trilogies.
The latter a rare example of a sequel being better than the original.
It is evidently inspired on a 1980s series about a teenage doctor, but I hadn’t heard of or seen the original.
Why, why, did they only make three?
I’ve watched the first four episodes so far.
I admit it is somewhat surprising I’ve never played Warhammer, but think I was put off as a child by the ‘paying more money for more miniatures’ element of it. I got into role play instead, and have played with a variety of different systems, and as a teenager played a couple of adjunct Warhammer games such as Bloodbowl and Necromunda, but never played Warhammer proper - either classic or 40k - until now.
Which, let’s be honest, is the reason why 90% of us would play it.
If you do have your own substack and enjoy reading mine, please do consider a recommendation.
My kids went to BSM! Did you win an essay prize while at the Embassy? I was the GM of the BCCP in 2014 and moved it from the Embassy to W 5th, so we almost certainly would have met.
I wonder if we met when you lived in the Philippines? I’ve been living in BGC since 2001, with sojourns in Spain and now Mexico? Are you married to a Filipina like myself?