2026 Program
This page is your central hub to look ahead to this year’s themes, publishing schedule and how to follow the program.
The Major Themes of the 2026 Program
This year, I am exploring four fundamental transformations reshaping our world.
World Order. Decolonisation before and after the American Empire
Culture: Cultural Change After AI and ‘Liquid Modernity’
Society: Society After Ageing
Politics: Politics After Democracy, Crisis and the Theatre State
And I am structured those reflections into seasons. Each season will focus on one theme through monthly long read essays, shorter weekly posts, slow reads, and book club conversations.
My posting schedule will be:
One weekly free essay - with full voiceover for all and no paywall!
Weekly Slow Read posts
Monthly Long Read Essay (premium, replacing deep dives)
Monthly book club guides and discussions (2-3 per month)
The year will begin with a brief Summer Season so you can catch up on the World History Tour, the idea of civilization states, and my 2025 talks with historians.
The following four seasons will look at the Four Transformations. Each season will run for ten weeks, which leaves a few weeks free to comment on events or questions raised by you. If I may make adjustments during the year I will let you know just as I did with the 2025 World History Tour and Slow Reads program.
Season One (January)
Five Great States in a Multi-Civilizational World
Monthly Long Read: Civilization States or State Civilizations?
Weekly Essays: Recaps of the World History Tour and Historians Interviews on USA, China, India, Europe and Russia
Slow Read: Readings from 100 Poems to read in times of war
Book Club: Full program for 2026 introduced
The Four Transformations
Season Two (February-March)
Decolonisation before and after the American Empire
How have empires actually ended since 1900? What does incomplete decolonisation mean for Africa, Asia, Australia and beyond? If the history of twentieth century was the decolonisation of European empires, will the future of the twenty-first century be the decolonisation of the American empire? Why will that happen first in our minds?
Monthly Long Reads: Three Waves of Decolonisation
Weekly Essays: The end of empires in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Soviet Union and the Americas, and how to reinterpret the multipolar world through decolonisation
Slow Read: Readings from 100 Poems to Read in Times of War
Book Club: Two books of 10 History Books to change your world view:
Greg Grandin’s America, América: A New History of the New World
Fernando Cervantes, Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest
Plus my reflections on classic history texts by Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Inga Clendinnen and John Darwin.
Season Three (April-June)
Cultural Identity After AI and ‘Liquid Modernity’
If history did not end in 1989, what comes after modernity and postmodernity? How do we make sense of identity, meaning, and belonging in an era of cultural flux, or what Zygmunt Bauman called liquid modernity? Can history anchor our identities stories defend out minds against the floodtide of AI?
Monthly Long Reads: Cultural Identity After AI and ‘Liquid Modernity’
Weekly Essays: How does cultures change, liberate or imprison our identities in a digital world in flux due to AI, ‘liquid modernity, and post-Western globalisation?
Slow Read: Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob, will return and we can reread this great historical novel as a reflection on cultural modernity and its aftereffects
Book Club: The Decolonisation Theme continues in cultural mode with Martin Thomas, The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization, and books on the power of ideas in the story of Magellan, the history of freedom and choice in modern life, and classics including Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Modernity. Complete book club program to be updated in January.
Season Four (July-September)
Society After Ageing. The Demographic Longue Durée
What happens when societies grow old? How do we understand social transformation through demographic change? How do our minds, cultures and social practices need to adapt to global ageing and related changes to families, work and meaning?
Monthly Long Reads: Society After Ageing. The Demographic Longue Durée
Weekly Essays: Field Notes on Society After Ageing. From the Global Community to Societies of Islands. Identity in new social conditions (age, education, inequality, migration, family, religion/ethos, fragmentation, state, market society and private)
Slow Read: Readings from a readers’ selection from a pre-1900 book listed in 100 Books to Read Before It is Too Late
Book Club: Books on the Soviet Union as a civilization, the great sixteenth century social turmoil of the German Peasants War and a classic on madness and civilization. Complete book club program to be updated in January.
Season Four (September-November)
Politics After Democracy, Crisis and the Theatre State
Is democracy in crisis, or transformation? Or do we live in states that mix democratic process with other kinds of political authority? Why do so many complain of the ‘clown show’ of political leadership around the world? How do citizens engage with government when politics has become a virtual reality performance of ‘theatre state’? Is life after democracy so bad? Is it, as Emmanuel Todd suggests,
Monthly Long Reads: Politics After Democracy, Crisis and the Theatre State
Weekly Essays: Reflections on the state of democracy and post-democracy around the world, and how you can adapt to new conditions of political engagement.
Slow Read: Readings from a readers’ selection from a post-1900 book listed in 100 Books to Read Before It is Too Late
Book Club: Books on the political culture of Revolutionary France, the political rebellions and civil wars of seventeenth century England, and, returning to the theme of decolonisation, the independence movement and political upheavals that created modern Indonesia. Plus classics on the working class, citizens and a Balinese cockfight.
Subscriber Benefits
By joining you support independent scholarship and my best writing on how our world is changing.
The posting schedule that you can expect is below. There will also be the occasional gift, bonus and surprise along the way.
Every Week (Free):
Essay (1500-2000 words) exploring four transformations (Saturday morning)
Book club program to read along
Slow read introductions to modern and historical classics
Every Month (Paid):
Monthly long read (5000 words) - the intellectual anchor
Book club guides and conversations
Expert guidance and audio readings of modern and historical classics
Angels of History (Founding Members)
Monthly Live discussion calls for Angels of History members
How to Follow the Full Program
Free subscribers get weekly Saturday essays and access to my archive content.
Paid subscribers ($50/year) get everything: monthly long reads, slow read guides, book club conversations, and history guides.
Angels of History (founding members) get all of the above plus monthly live calls and direct input into topics.
Upgrade now to get more from the Burning Archive as a paid subscriber or Angel of History.
I Am Also on YouTube
I am also aligning my YouTube content with Substack as my creative core. The Burning Archive exists on Substack and two YouTube channels:
Burning Archive: History explained for today - mini-series, conversations with historians, and contemporary analysis. In 2026, I will be exploring the same four themes in different formats on YouTube.
Old Substack Writer: Behind the scenes of independent intellectual life and the craft of writing for art and meaning on Substack. Old Substack Writer is my new platform that revamps my World Literature Archive. I will be posting there weekly from January 2026.
Each platform complements this Substack, offering different ways to engage with history, stories and intellectual life in the conditions in which we find ourselves today.