Dan Jones

3 weeks ago | everythingisamazing.substack.com | Mike Sowden |Dan Jones

Hello! This is Everything Is Amazing, a science newsletter about the fathomless depths of my own ignorance. Did you know maps haven’t always pointed north? Me neither, until I wrote about it. Did you know clouds are alive?Sort of true!Is it possible for you to see impossible colours? That’s…maybe the dumbest sentence I’ve ever written (which is really saying something) but also YES YOU (PROBABLY) CAN! And so on. It’s that kind of newsletter.

Jan 13, 2025 | danjones.substack.com | Dan Jones

Next spring I will be hosting a historical tour to France, with my friends at Author Fan Travel and (very excitingly) the great Helen Castor. This will be the third tour I’ve hosted. They’re great fun. Booking is now open. (For my paid subscribers there is also a $125 discount - details below.)This time the tour will be by riverboat, beginning and ending in Paris. Helen and I will be giving talks along the way.

Jan 10, 2025 | danjones.substack.com | Dan Jones

The Great Fire(s) of Los Angeles, which are currently raging, have consumed tens of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of homes, and are by no means over, give one the sickening feeling that often accompanies seeing history unfold. Studying history is fun. Living through it, less so. The fires are also a reminder that for all the sophisticated tools that are available to us in the twenty-first century, humans are still highly vulnerable to some timeless elemental threats.

Jan 3, 2025 | danjones.substack.com | Dan Jones

On Maundy Thursday - April 7th - 1300, Pope Boniface VIII stood on the balcony of his papal basilica in Rome. Around him, the city flocked with pilgrims, many of whom had come to see the Pope that day and receive his blessing. Boniface had given them a compelling reason to be there. Around six weeks earlier, he had issued a papal bull announcing a Jubilee.

Dec 24, 2024 | danjones.substack.com | Dan Jones

Loved the questions as always. For reasons which should become obvious I had to upload this in two parts. Hope this isn’t too annoying (for you). Part one above. Part two below. Do please subscribe if you’d like to be part of January’s Q&A!