Martin Pengelly
@martinpengelly.bsky.social
Investigations editor, Raw Story. Will talk about politics, history, books and rugby, author of Brotherhood: When West Point Rugby Went To War (Godine) https://a.co/d/bCYyLRK and The National Maul on Substack.
Pinned
BROTHERHOOD: WHEN WEST POINT RUGBY WENT TO WAR.
Introduction by LTG HR McMaster.
Out from Godine 17 October 2023.
“A mad, perfect book, an audacious act combining biography, war reportage and sports writing”
- Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead -
a.co/d/bCYyLRK
Introduction by LTG HR McMaster.
Out from Godine 17 October 2023.
“A mad, perfect book, an audacious act combining biography, war reportage and sports writing”
- Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead -
a.co/d/bCYyLRK
Reposted by Martin Pengelly
‘Now I'm gonna go': Eagles lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy on finding rugby, that try against England and the World Cup crunch
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/now-im-gon...
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/now-im-gon...
‘Now I'm gonna go': Eagles lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy on finding rugby, that try against England and the World Cup crunch
Not long ago, the US forward thought rugby was just another name for soccer. Now with the oval world at her feet, she discusses her career and USA's last-eight hopes
thenationalmaul.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 12:14 PM
‘Now I'm gonna go': Eagles lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy on finding rugby, that try against England and the World Cup crunch
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/now-im-gon...
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/now-im-gon...
August 15, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The National Maul – subscribe. It's free.
Shane Young on Urban Rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/share-the-...
Mark Cuban on his love for rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/im-definit...
Adam Hughes, “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/adam-hughe...
Shane Young on Urban Rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/share-the-...
Mark Cuban on his love for rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/im-definit...
Adam Hughes, “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/adam-hughe...
July 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The National Maul – subscribe. It's free.
Shane Young on Urban Rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/share-the-...
Mark Cuban on his love for rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/im-definit...
Adam Hughes, “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/adam-hughe...
Shane Young on Urban Rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/share-the-...
Mark Cuban on his love for rugby: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/im-definit...
Adam Hughes, “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA: thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/adam-hughe...
'Complete drivel': Heart doctor tears down GOP's core case for Medicaid cuts
– Alexandria Jacobson reports @rawstory.com –
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
– Alexandria Jacobson reports @rawstory.com –
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
'Complete drivel': Heart doctor tears down GOP's core case for Medicaid cuts
As the Senate staged a voting marathon on amendments to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” ahead of the July 4 holiday, legislators, academics and physicians warned of the devastation t...
www.rawstory.com
July 1, 2025 at 2:42 PM
'Complete drivel': Heart doctor tears down GOP's core case for Medicaid cuts
– Alexandria Jacobson reports @rawstory.com –
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
– Alexandria Jacobson reports @rawstory.com –
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
Zac Miller – West Point rugby player (and Rhodes Scholar): 19 June 1980 – 1 July 2002.
July 1, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Zac Miller – West Point rugby player (and Rhodes Scholar): 19 June 1980 – 1 July 2002.
Exclusive: Militia fears forced medical team to flee hurricane-hit state
– superb, alarming reporting by @byjordangreen.bsky.social @rawstory.com, on misinformation, FEMA, state emergency services and mysterious men with guns, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
www.rawstory.com/exclusive-mi...
– superb, alarming reporting by @byjordangreen.bsky.social @rawstory.com, on misinformation, FEMA, state emergency services and mysterious men with guns, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
www.rawstory.com/exclusive-mi...
Exclusive: Militia fears forced medical team to flee hurricane-hit state
Late one night last October, at a church in a remote corner of Yancey County, North Carolina, government emergency medical workers participating in the response to Hurricane Helene gathered medication...
www.rawstory.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Exclusive: Militia fears forced medical team to flee hurricane-hit state
– superb, alarming reporting by @byjordangreen.bsky.social @rawstory.com, on misinformation, FEMA, state emergency services and mysterious men with guns, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
www.rawstory.com/exclusive-mi...
– superb, alarming reporting by @byjordangreen.bsky.social @rawstory.com, on misinformation, FEMA, state emergency services and mysterious men with guns, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
www.rawstory.com/exclusive-mi...
New on The National Maul, about Adam Hughes, the “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA…
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Adam Hughes: 'skinny-ass rugger' poet of Lynchburg, Virginia and Blackwater RFC
From scrums to sonnets with the author of This Is Rugby, five poetry collections, and at least one eternal truth: 'One of the best parts of rugby/ is the pain the next day'
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 11:52 AM
New on The National Maul, about Adam Hughes, the “skinny ass rugger” poet of Lynchburg, VA…
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Reposted by Martin Pengelly
News Flash: AMERICAN SCARE got one heck of a writeup in @theguardian.com @us.theguardian.com. Thank you @martinpengelly.bsky.social for all this ink!! #booksky
June 18, 2025 at 11:52 AM
News Flash: AMERICAN SCARE got one heck of a writeup in @theguardian.com @us.theguardian.com. Thank you @martinpengelly.bsky.social for all this ink!! #booksky
Robert Fieseler, @wordbobby.bsky.social, has written a fine and important book, American Scare: Florida's Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives.
My interview:
‘We live in a second Red Scare’: what can we learn from a chilling book about Florida’s past?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
My interview:
‘We live in a second Red Scare’: what can we learn from a chilling book about Florida’s past?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
‘We live in a second Red Scare’: what can we learn from a chilling book about Florida’s past?
A harrowing new book looks back at a dark period of US history as the Johns committee targeted Black and queer Americans, drawing parallels to what’s happening now
www.theguardian.com
June 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Robert Fieseler, @wordbobby.bsky.social, has written a fine and important book, American Scare: Florida's Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives.
My interview:
‘We live in a second Red Scare’: what can we learn from a chilling book about Florida’s past?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
My interview:
‘We live in a second Red Scare’: what can we learn from a chilling book about Florida’s past?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
New on The National Maul, for Father’s Day, about the Maryland Exiles…
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Father’s Day: mauls, memories, and the mighty Maryland Exiles
Preparations for the new kids' tag season, and a timely find in a box of old photos, reminded me how rugby can bind parents and children together
open.substack.com
June 13, 2025 at 11:30 AM
New on The National Maul, for Father’s Day, about the Maryland Exiles…
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Area Dad confirms slacking off no longer possible on basement Peloton thanks to poster.
June 11, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Area Dad confirms slacking off no longer possible on basement Peloton thanks to poster.
“There's a window, 36 hours or so, not even, when traveling by air between places, places where you've lived for a long time … for a while, inside that window, you're hyperawake.”
Kleinzahler. I’m back to New York tomorrow, so I wrote about 11 years there, & rugby.
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Kleinzahler. I’m back to New York tomorrow, so I wrote about 11 years there, & rugby.
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Rugby and life in New York: low characters and strange places, gently explained
I spent more than a decade living and writing in Manhattan. As much as Melville, Kleinzahler and other passions, rugby helped me find my people and my place
open.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:15 PM
“There's a window, 36 hours or so, not even, when traveling by air between places, places where you've lived for a long time … for a while, inside that window, you're hyperawake.”
Kleinzahler. I’m back to New York tomorrow, so I wrote about 11 years there, & rugby.
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
Kleinzahler. I’m back to New York tomorrow, so I wrote about 11 years there, & rugby.
open.substack.com/pub/thenatio...
New on The National Maul…
‘From the comic to the sacred': Memorial Day and U.S. military rugby
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/from-the-c...
‘From the comic to the sacred': Memorial Day and U.S. military rugby
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/from-the-c...
‘From the comic to the sacred': Memorial Day and U.S. military rugby
This weekend brings MLR tributes to the troops including an Army v Navy game in Seattle. I'll be thinking again about West Point and the team I came to know so well
thenationalmaul.substack.com
May 23, 2025 at 12:56 PM
New on The National Maul…
‘From the comic to the sacred': Memorial Day and U.S. military rugby
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/from-the-c...
‘From the comic to the sacred': Memorial Day and U.S. military rugby
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/from-the-c...
The great Bryan Phillips on coaching kids rugby…
“You'll nearly pass out from joy as your sweet girl … drags two defenders across the line for her first try. Or when, after scoring twice, your son tells his mom, 'I’m starting to see the fun in this.'”
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
“You'll nearly pass out from joy as your sweet girl … drags two defenders across the line for her first try. Or when, after scoring twice, your son tells his mom, 'I’m starting to see the fun in this.'”
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
Rugby in Katy, Texas: passing backwards to move forwards with West Houston Lions
Bryan Phillips, second row, Army class of 2002, reflects on how a promise to a revered coach led to a glorious season introducing his own kids to the game he loves so much
thenationalmaul.substack.com
May 16, 2025 at 2:22 PM
The great Bryan Phillips on coaching kids rugby…
“You'll nearly pass out from joy as your sweet girl … drags two defenders across the line for her first try. Or when, after scoring twice, your son tells his mom, 'I’m starting to see the fun in this.'”
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
“You'll nearly pass out from joy as your sweet girl … drags two defenders across the line for her first try. Or when, after scoring twice, your son tells his mom, 'I’m starting to see the fun in this.'”
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
The Afterlife of Malcolm X: how the civil rights icon influenced America
A pleasure to interview Mark Whitaker about his fascinating new book. Among happy effects of reading and talking to Mark, my Miles Davis & John Coltrane CDs are back in heavy rotation…
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
A pleasure to interview Mark Whitaker about his fascinating new book. Among happy effects of reading and talking to Mark, my Miles Davis & John Coltrane CDs are back in heavy rotation…
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
May 15, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The Afterlife of Malcolm X: how the civil rights icon influenced America
A pleasure to interview Mark Whitaker about his fascinating new book. Among happy effects of reading and talking to Mark, my Miles Davis & John Coltrane CDs are back in heavy rotation…
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
A pleasure to interview Mark Whitaker about his fascinating new book. Among happy effects of reading and talking to Mark, my Miles Davis & John Coltrane CDs are back in heavy rotation…
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Man who wrote, edited and printed a Roundhay Subbuteo League newspaper when he was 10 finds self constantly pleased by Substack layout.
New at National Maul: Bryan Phillips, West Point '02, on coaching the next generation with the West Houston Lions:
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
New at National Maul: Bryan Phillips, West Point '02, on coaching the next generation with the West Houston Lions:
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
May 15, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Man who wrote, edited and printed a Roundhay Subbuteo League newspaper when he was 10 finds self constantly pleased by Substack layout.
New at National Maul: Bryan Phillips, West Point '02, on coaching the next generation with the West Houston Lions:
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
New at National Maul: Bryan Phillips, West Point '02, on coaching the next generation with the West Houston Lions:
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/rugby-in-k...
An immense pleasure to interview Robert Paylor about his new book, his continuing love for rugby, and his life as an author and public speaker…
Paralyzed to Powerful: how college rugby star Robert Paylor fought back from a broken neck
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...
Paralyzed to Powerful: how college rugby star Robert Paylor fought back from a broken neck
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...
Paralyzed to Powerful: how college rugby star Robert Paylor fought back from a broken neck
Catastrophically injured, the Cal lock was told he would not walk again. Refusing to accept defeat, he is now an author and speaker, still in love with his sport
www.theguardian.com
May 12, 2025 at 11:50 AM
An immense pleasure to interview Robert Paylor about his new book, his continuing love for rugby, and his life as an author and public speaker…
Paralyzed to Powerful: how college rugby star Robert Paylor fought back from a broken neck
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...
Paralyzed to Powerful: how college rugby star Robert Paylor fought back from a broken neck
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...
Backyard catbird being a cheerful idiot. Glorious.
May 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Backyard catbird being a cheerful idiot. Glorious.
EXCLUSIVE @rawstory.com: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE
cc @mollyjongfast.bsky.social @gtconway.bsky.social @therickwilson.bsky.social @iandunt.bsky.social @timmiller.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
cc @mollyjongfast.bsky.social @gtconway.bsky.social @therickwilson.bsky.social @iandunt.bsky.social @timmiller.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
EXCLUSIVE: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE
A breastfeeding mother from Colombia living in Florida with a pending asylum application was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday and faces a potential transfer to Texa...
www.rawstory.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:13 PM
EXCLUSIVE @rawstory.com: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE
cc @mollyjongfast.bsky.social @gtconway.bsky.social @therickwilson.bsky.social @iandunt.bsky.social @timmiller.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
cc @mollyjongfast.bsky.social @gtconway.bsky.social @therickwilson.bsky.social @iandunt.bsky.social @timmiller.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social
www.rawstory.com/raw-investig...
New at The National Maul – Robert Paylor, Cal Berkeley, field houses and club rooms … and the spirit of rugby
Interview with Robert to follow…
@bloodandmud.bsky.social @rugbybits.bsky.social @squidgerugby.bsky.social
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/robert-pay...
Interview with Robert to follow…
@bloodandmud.bsky.social @rugbybits.bsky.social @squidgerugby.bsky.social
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/robert-pay...
Robert Paylor, Cal Berkeley, field houses and club rooms … and the spirit of rugby
The Golden Bears lock turned public speaker has written a book about his battles against tremendous odds. He also writes richly about Cal and the college game
thenationalmaul.substack.com
May 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
New at The National Maul – Robert Paylor, Cal Berkeley, field houses and club rooms … and the spirit of rugby
Interview with Robert to follow…
@bloodandmud.bsky.social @rugbybits.bsky.social @squidgerugby.bsky.social
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/robert-pay...
Interview with Robert to follow…
@bloodandmud.bsky.social @rugbybits.bsky.social @squidgerugby.bsky.social
thenationalmaul.substack.com/p/robert-pay...
Tempted to tell Kid#3 Trump wants to tax Bluey – then watch as she marches down 16th Street and turfs him out of the White House herself. She is 8.
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
‘Don’t tax Bluey’: Ambassadors to US warn against Trump movie tariffs
Australia’s diplomat says the popular children’s cartoon could be impacted.
www.politico.com
May 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Tempted to tell Kid#3 Trump wants to tax Bluey – then watch as she marches down 16th Street and turfs him out of the White House herself. She is 8.
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
Because of a surprising and rather severe case of DVT in my right leg, it seems (doctors say) my comeback game of rugby for Army Band of Brothers last month will turn out to be my last game of rugby, full stop.
Couldn't go out on a better note, if so.
substack.com/@thenational...
Couldn't go out on a better note, if so.
substack.com/@thenational...
May 6, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Because of a surprising and rather severe case of DVT in my right leg, it seems (doctors say) my comeback game of rugby for Army Band of Brothers last month will turn out to be my last game of rugby, full stop.
Couldn't go out on a better note, if so.
substack.com/@thenational...
Couldn't go out on a better note, if so.
substack.com/@thenational...