Sam Wilkin
@samwilkin.bsky.social
Freelance (managing) editor and media consultant. Amateur essayist. Former senior editor at Politico & MLex, reporter at Bloomberg & Reuters.
Essays: www.theleopard.eu
Hire me: bxlbureau.eu
Essays: www.theleopard.eu
Hire me: bxlbureau.eu
I have entered the air conditioning discourse open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
AC<DC
Air conditioning is a poor substitute for district cooling.
open.substack.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:40 AM
I have entered the air conditioning discourse open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Some things I learned living in the Middle East, travelling in India and studying lots of languages - and why they're more relevant than ever today.
www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...
www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...
Race, religion, politics, faith
How cultural Christians misunderstand the wider world.
www.theleopard.eu
August 11, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Some things I learned living in the Middle East, travelling in India and studying lots of languages - and why they're more relevant than ever today.
www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...
www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...
Good morning, America! I need you to like this essay so people in Europe can read it.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
American flywheel
The only way to reach Europe’s single market.
www.theleopard.eu
July 18, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Good morning, America! I need you to like this essay so people in Europe can read it.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
What a viral essay taught me about Europe's economy: If you want to conquer Europe, get big in America first. www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
American flywheel
The only way to reach Europe’s single market.
www.theleopard.eu
July 18, 2025 at 8:02 AM
What a viral essay taught me about Europe's economy: If you want to conquer Europe, get big in America first. www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
Jeremy Corbyn splits the UK left with a new pro-Palestine vehicle, helping Nigel Farage on his way to Number 10.
And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Everything is Palestine
A distant conflict devours the European left.
open.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Jeremy Corbyn splits the UK left with a new pro-Palestine vehicle, helping Nigel Farage on his way to Number 10.
And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
A big chunk of creative work is done away from the office. As AI takes away mundane tasks and frees us think more deeply, spending eight hours at the office isn't just unnecessary - it's a hindrance to the creative process. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Working 12 to 5
A better way to make a living.
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 8:00 AM
A big chunk of creative work is done away from the office. As AI takes away mundane tasks and frees us think more deeply, spending eight hours at the office isn't just unnecessary - it's a hindrance to the creative process. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
The Liverpool ramming attack wasn't entirely apolitical - it was the natural extension of embedded, and sometimes violent, driver entitlement. New essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...
www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...
Militant car brain
Driver entitlement is a violent ideology.
www.theleopard.eu
June 2, 2025 at 7:37 AM
The Liverpool ramming attack wasn't entirely apolitical - it was the natural extension of embedded, and sometimes violent, driver entitlement. New essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...
www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...
Why do so many people in the West hate their own civilisation? I argue it's because of a lopsided teaching of history and culture, where the West gets an interrogation and other peoples get a hagiography. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Those who hate the West
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Why do so many people in the West hate their own civilisation? I argue it's because of a lopsided teaching of history and culture, where the West gets an interrogation and other peoples get a hagiography. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
I never doubted you for a second @economist.com
May 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
I never doubted you for a second @economist.com
The global flood of misinformation could revive a dying breed: the foreign correspondent.
Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Return to trust
The rise of misinformation could revive the business model of eyewitness reporting.
open.substack.com
May 5, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The global flood of misinformation could revive a dying breed: the foreign correspondent.
Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Too much stuff? Most cities in Europe provide you with a large storage space in front of your house for a token fee. You can put anything there so long as it's in a car.
April 28, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Too much stuff? Most cities in Europe provide you with a large storage space in front of your house for a token fee. You can put anything there so long as it's in a car.
The most dangerous racists are the people who think they can't possibly be racist. This week's essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Racist, moi?
Antisemitism is gentrifying. We should be alarmed.
open.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 6:47 AM
The most dangerous racists are the people who think they can't possibly be racist. This week's essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
The markets right now
April 7, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The markets right now
I want my 55% tax back (Nala loves it but she doesn't pay tax)
April 1, 2025 at 7:30 AM
I want my 55% tax back (Nala loves it but she doesn't pay tax)
An essay on the joy and toil of writing essays, with a digression into the Substack economy.
Tl/dr: Work is really busy so I can't publish every week for the next few months. Going to prioritise quality over quantity and slow down a bit.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Tl/dr: Work is really busy so I can't publish every week for the next few months. Going to prioritise quality over quantity and slow down a bit.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Slowing down
Good writing takes time. I have a limited amount.
open.substack.com
March 31, 2025 at 7:34 AM
An essay on the joy and toil of writing essays, with a digression into the Substack economy.
Tl/dr: Work is really busy so I can't publish every week for the next few months. Going to prioritise quality over quantity and slow down a bit.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Tl/dr: Work is really busy so I can't publish every week for the next few months. Going to prioritise quality over quantity and slow down a bit.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
The death of Twitter left a void that hasn't adequately been filled.
I've previously written (/moaned) about BlueSky and now it's the turn of LinkedIn - a place where people are posting more and more about politics but haven't shed their corporate masks.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
I've previously written (/moaned) about BlueSky and now it's the turn of LinkedIn - a place where people are posting more and more about politics but haven't shed their corporate masks.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
The groupthink codex
LinkedIn is the repository of bland, inoffensive views.
open.substack.com
March 24, 2025 at 8:45 AM
The death of Twitter left a void that hasn't adequately been filled.
I've previously written (/moaned) about BlueSky and now it's the turn of LinkedIn - a place where people are posting more and more about politics but haven't shed their corporate masks.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
I've previously written (/moaned) about BlueSky and now it's the turn of LinkedIn - a place where people are posting more and more about politics but haven't shed their corporate masks.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
My pet hate is when websites lock their language options to the country you're in. Why?!
March 19, 2025 at 10:56 AM
My pet hate is when websites lock their language options to the country you're in. Why?!
Europeans are too often passive consumers of technology, media and culture made by and for Americans.
This not only makes us dependent on the US, it impoverishes our culture and stops us reaching our full potential. This week's essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/the-inesca...
This not only makes us dependent on the US, it impoverishes our culture and stops us reaching our full potential. This week's essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/the-inesca...
The inescapable nation
American tech and media have captured European minds.
www.theleopard.eu
March 17, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Europeans are too often passive consumers of technology, media and culture made by and for Americans.
This not only makes us dependent on the US, it impoverishes our culture and stops us reaching our full potential. This week's essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/the-inesca...
This not only makes us dependent on the US, it impoverishes our culture and stops us reaching our full potential. This week's essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/the-inesca...
Good example of the awful journalistic habit of writing 'Brussels' when you mean 'EU' (which is shorter!)
I read the first half of this headline and thought the city was doing an amnesty to stop the gun crime epidemic.
Why not just 'EU proposes collective weapon purchases for member states'?
I read the first half of this headline and thought the city was doing an amnesty to stop the gun crime epidemic.
Why not just 'EU proposes collective weapon purchases for member states'?
Breaking news: Brussels has proposed buying weapons collectively on behalf of EU member states, in what would be a major shift in decision-making power in response to Donald Trump’s policies. www.ft.com/content/2914...
March 13, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Good example of the awful journalistic habit of writing 'Brussels' when you mean 'EU' (which is shorter!)
I read the first half of this headline and thought the city was doing an amnesty to stop the gun crime epidemic.
Why not just 'EU proposes collective weapon purchases for member states'?
I read the first half of this headline and thought the city was doing an amnesty to stop the gun crime epidemic.
Why not just 'EU proposes collective weapon purchases for member states'?
The importance of security to sustainable urbanism.
Alternatives to car ownership are unviable in the absence of law and order. Stolen bicycles and violence on the metro drive people back into cars. Vandalism kills scooter and car rental companies.
This is how Green politics lost Brussels.
Alternatives to car ownership are unviable in the absence of law and order. Stolen bicycles and violence on the metro drive people back into cars. Vandalism kills scooter and car rental companies.
This is how Green politics lost Brussels.
Car-sharing service Miles to leave Belgium due to vandalism, theft and misuse
Car-sharing service Miles to leave Belgium due to vandalism, theft and misuse
www.brusselstimes.com
March 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
The importance of security to sustainable urbanism.
Alternatives to car ownership are unviable in the absence of law and order. Stolen bicycles and violence on the metro drive people back into cars. Vandalism kills scooter and car rental companies.
This is how Green politics lost Brussels.
Alternatives to car ownership are unviable in the absence of law and order. Stolen bicycles and violence on the metro drive people back into cars. Vandalism kills scooter and car rental companies.
This is how Green politics lost Brussels.
Welcome to Brussels, where the enforcement of the law is rare enough to be newsworthy.
Next up, drunk driver fined €10 and told to be careful driving home!
Next up, drunk driver fined €10 and told to be careful driving home!
Several people fined for illegal dumping in Brussels
Several people fined for illegal dumping in Brussels
www.brusselstimes.com
March 11, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Welcome to Brussels, where the enforcement of the law is rare enough to be newsworthy.
Next up, drunk driver fined €10 and told to be careful driving home!
Next up, drunk driver fined €10 and told to be careful driving home!
Trees vs cars - which would you rather in your city?
One year since my last spring clean, these are my windows.
On the left faces a courtyard with lots of trees.
On the right faces a street with cars.
We tolerate this so one-half of people can 'just get to work' in a massive metal box.
One year since my last spring clean, these are my windows.
On the left faces a courtyard with lots of trees.
On the right faces a street with cars.
We tolerate this so one-half of people can 'just get to work' in a massive metal box.
March 6, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Trees vs cars - which would you rather in your city?
One year since my last spring clean, these are my windows.
On the left faces a courtyard with lots of trees.
On the right faces a street with cars.
We tolerate this so one-half of people can 'just get to work' in a massive metal box.
One year since my last spring clean, these are my windows.
On the left faces a courtyard with lots of trees.
On the right faces a street with cars.
We tolerate this so one-half of people can 'just get to work' in a massive metal box.
Very good essay by @ldfreedman.bsky.social here.
Perhaps we should start calling POTUS the 'follower of the free world', that might just trigger the Americans enough.
Perhaps we should start calling POTUS the 'follower of the free world', that might just trigger the Americans enough.
March 5, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Very good essay by @ldfreedman.bsky.social here.
Perhaps we should start calling POTUS the 'follower of the free world', that might just trigger the Americans enough.
Perhaps we should start calling POTUS the 'follower of the free world', that might just trigger the Americans enough.
We need better climate activists. www.theleopard.eu/p/the-strang...
The strange death of climate activism
The Omnicause has devoured and diminished climate activists.
www.theleopard.eu
March 3, 2025 at 8:58 AM
We need better climate activists. www.theleopard.eu/p/the-strang...
Dear hivemind, can anyone recommend books or podcasts on the rise of Mussolini and Italian fascism? Realised that I know the German history very well but almost nothing about Italy in the same period. Thanks in advance.
March 2, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Dear hivemind, can anyone recommend books or podcasts on the rise of Mussolini and Italian fascism? Realised that I know the German history very well but almost nothing about Italy in the same period. Thanks in advance.