FIRST ROUGH DRAFT OF HISTORY

Journalism is the first rough draft of history and for more than 35 years I have been writing and recording it. I have reported from more than 25 countries on five continents for the BBC, NPR, New York Times, Newsday, Washington Post, Politico, Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Welt.  Along the way my work has won most major broadcast journalism awards on both sides of the Atlantic.

I have written two books of history: Ahmad’s War, Ahmad’s Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq, a New York Times Notable Book of 2005 (to be republished in 2024 as the Martyrdom of Ahmad Shawkat); and Emancipation: How Liberating Europe’s Jews from the Ghetto Led to Revolution and Renaissance.

And, I have lived history.

This substack is about all of it: the history I’ve reported on, written and lived. And continue to report on, write and live.

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The FRDH, First Rough Draft of History, podcast

In addition, you can listen to the FRDH podcast, 7 years old and going strong. Sometimes about current events, sometimes about politics, sometimes about religion and philosophy. Always interesting.