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Isabelle Roughol

@isabelleroughol.com
1.1K followers 616 following 948 posts

trustfnd.com/isabelle.roughol Founder & host, Broad History | Publisher, Democracy for Sale | Storyteller, journalist & public historian 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇪🇺, almost 🇺🇸, once 🇦🇺 & 🇰🇭 Mizzou ‘08 🐯 Birkbeck ‘25 🦉

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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 22h
At “panicking” you already know they don’t get this country
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 29/09/2026
This is the perfect opportunity to tell you I got an 18. My pedantry was perfectly sufferable.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 28/09/2026
@petergeoghegan.bsky.social won’t use insta but Democracy for Sale does now! Follow for interviews and explainers of our investigations when I can corner Peter and @lucasamin.bsky.social with my phone. www.instagram.com/reel/Dd1VqrG...
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 26/09/2026
Judging by the Halloween decor reels I keep getting served on Insta, Americans have way too much disposable income
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Reposted by Isabelle Roughol
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🔴 BREAKING: BP, Uber, Amazon and more paying Tony Blair's think tank $25,000 for “networking” opportunities with politicians and policy makers at party conferences Experts say "looks and smells like cash for access" Full story on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
democracyforsale.substack.com
BREAKING: Tony Blair Institute’s $25,000 corporate network “smells like cash for access”
Exclusive documents show Tony Blair's think tank offers corporate members such as BP and Uber "networking" at party conferences and "a stronger voice" in policy debates.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 25/09/2026
Tony Blair’s think tank has been accused of running a scheme that “looks and smells like cash for access” after our investigation found that his institute is offering companies “networking” opportunities with politicians and policy makers at party conferences for an annual fee starting at $25,000.
democracyforsale.substack.com
BREAKING: Tony Blair Institute’s $25,000 corporate network “smells like cash for access”
Exclusive documents show Tony Blair's think tank offers corporate members such as BP and Uber "networking" at party conferences and "a stronger voice" in policy debates.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 25/09/2026
We have lost a great leader and friend. I can’t say we were close, but Julius’s passing has made me immeasurably sad. That’s how good he was and it’s still hard to believe I’m using the past tense. www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/blog/in-memo...
publicinterestnews.org.uk
In Memory of Julius Weinberg
We are deeply saddened to share that Julius Weinberg, who served as Chair of the Public Interest News Foundation from February 2023, died unexpectedly on Wednesday 16 September. He was 72 years old.  ...
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Reposted by Isabelle Roughol
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The world's most adorable traffic signs are on the campus of Lahore University of Management Sciences. 🐈️
A road warning sign that reads "Drive Slowly - Watch for Cats"
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 23/09/2026
AI couldn’t
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 21/09/2026
Discovered a new torture technique. Destroyed my phone screen, cannot control a thing but the alarm still goes off. All I can do is snooze it every 9 minutes...
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
🔴 Something Tom Watson won't tell you: Five police forces in the East Midlands working with Palantir on a controversial surveillance programme are ending their involvement Exclusive by Democracy for Sale and Liberty Investigates. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-f...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Five police forces to drop Palantir surveillance tool
Exclusive: Palantir's UK policing ambitions take a hit as East Midlands forces end their involvement in a controversial data pilot.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 18/09/2026
Who do I talk to about telling the internet that I am not, in fact, a US citizen abroad? The midterm ads are following me everywhere
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 17/09/2026
The waiting room is starting to fill up, you can still join us...
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You've got just over two hours still to sign up for our first ever Democracy for Sale masterclass. The master herself, @jennacorderoy.bsky.social , will share all her secrets to making effective and successful FOI requests. Join us! (1pm UK time Thursday 17 Sept) luma.com/ndqisdyu
luma.com
Learn FOI with Democracy for Sale · Zoom · Luma
NEW! Learn FOI from the experts at Democracy for Sale Craft an effective Freedom of Information request and demand action from your council, public school, NHS…
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 17/09/2026
A 22 year old just told me he “loves older women”. Pardon me while i go dig my own grave 💀
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 16/09/2026
remember that scene in far from the madding crowd where the new shepherd dog wants to help and ends up driving the entire flock off a cliff and ruining the hero? that's what all my tech feels like now – an overeager puppy that takes initiatives I never asked for and makes everything worse
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 16/09/2026
Just hit 1,000! My favourite question is "In one word, how would you describe British politics right now?" The answers are... edifying.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🔴 The £72million pound question - how worried are you about big money in British politics? Democracy for Sale is running a survey to find out what the public thinks about money in politics - and what we should do about it Please take it!! And share widely!! thx! 😀 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
How concerned are you about UK political funding? – A Democracy for Sale survey
We're Democracy for Sale, a newsletter covering dark money and influence in UK politics. We're trying to better understand our readers' and the wider public's opinions and concerns about political fun...
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 14/09/2026
Next up: The House unAmerican Activities Committee whispers blue to your red heart ASMR
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 14/09/2026
I listen to news on French public radio every morning but they’re on strike today so I have to listen to the Today programme and why are they trying to put me back to sleep? This is terrible
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 12/09/2026
This is beyond not reading the room. This is living on another planet.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 11/09/2026
This is what you get when you don’t cap political donations. Crypto billionaires thinking they can buy themselves the next government.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 11/09/2026
There's an obvious reason the English care more about the Bayeux tapestry than the French do: It's national myth-making to you, it's regional history to us. (And I say this as a French Norman who's also a Brit now). No great mystery.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We only went and won it (again) Democracy for Sale specialist newsletter of the year at the Future of the Media awards @lucasamin.bsky.social @jennacorderoy.bsky.social @isabelleroughol.com Thanks so much to all our supporters. If you don’t subscribe, do! 😊 democracyforsale.substack.com
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 10/09/2026
For the billionaire who has everything…
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 08/09/2026
I just let my supporting members in on the secret of my next Broad History series for the autumn, so it's time for a final lookback on this summer's rollercoaster ride. (And yes, this all gets made solo in my bedroom.)
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 08/09/2026
The laundering of white supremacy in that piece by @thetimes.com is rancid and despicable. Somehow they call this journalism but we’re really not practicing the same profession. And white women as handmaidens of respectable fascism is just the playbook. The Times knows this.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 07/09/2026
Terrifying yet can’t look away
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 04/09/2026
I wonder if Bardella still thinks it’s a good idea to address the Reform conference today… might remind people back home the National Rally was definitely and definitively found guilty of illegal campaign funding
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 03/09/2026
The rats at Senate House are particularly loud today
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 03/09/2026
God protect Jane and Lily. Ffs
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 03/09/2026
I saw Gloria Steinem speak in Sydney in 2015. It was the peak of a dumb social media trend of young women filming themselves saying “l’m not a feminist”. “What do we tell them?” someone in the audience asked. “Life will take care of it,” Gloria responded. I think about this probably once a week.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 03/09/2026
First Dolly, now Gloria. We are losing too many mothers.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 02/09/2026
I didn't expect Reform to be fans of us, but to dismiss the reporter who just won the Paul Foot award as "a blogger" is kinda hilarious for people who pretend to be anti-establishment. #indiemedia I guess @petergeoghegan.bsky.social got his weekend back 😂 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform UK bans three journalists who have investigated party from its conference
Guardian City editor Anna Isaac, investigative reporter Peter Geoghegan and broadcaster Michael Crick refused entry
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 02/09/2026
My exceptional upstairs neighbours / co-freeholders and my fantastic next-door neighbours have both told me in the past week they will be selling. I am crushed and dreading what comes next. Crazy how much of your quality of life depends on other people's real estate decisions.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 02/09/2026
Pundits in June: Keir can’t communicate. Pundits in September: All Andy does is communicate. You do feel for them sometimes…
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 01/09/2026
Started using a popular child-friendly messaging app to talk to my niece and kinda shocked that even in that "safe" space there are gamification features to keep up streaks and encourage usage. leave the kids be!
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 26/08/2026
@jonnelledge.bsky.social probably hasn’t told you but he has a book out
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 25/08/2026
10 years in London today. Longest i’ve lived anywhere in my entire life and I don’t even wanna leave yet 🤯
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 24/08/2026
Episode 2 of the series with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @transparencyuk.bsky.social is now live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q84j...
youtube.com
How mega donations destroy public trust (part 2)
YouTube video by Transparency International UK
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 20/08/2026
I’m a sucker for news org games. Just realised the atlantic has them too. I got 21 of 21 points on Rabbithole 🐰 Aug 20, 2026 🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕 www.theatlantic.com/games/rabbit...
theatlantic.com
Rabbithole - The Atlantic
Go down a tunnel of trivia where each answer turns into the next question.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
🔴 BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING UK POLITICS From Farage's £5m gift to record donations, money in British politics is off the charts. Today, Democracy for Sale launches a video series w/ @transparencyuk.bsky.social on how super-rich buying UK democracy - and what can be done 🧵 youtu.be/Dn-G0nAlVwY?...
youtu.be
How big money is corrupting UK politics | Going, Going, Almost Gone, Ep. 1
YouTube video by Transparency International UK
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 17/08/2026
A reminder that when you contact a creator about a subscription issue, you're not talking to an AI chatbot or an anonymous corporation. You're probably talking to the creator themselves, on their 50th hour of work that week providing you with free content. Maybe start with hello.
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 15/08/2026
🚨 I just published Broad History, ep 16, "American Revolution | Part 7 | Republican motherhood and the long impact of the Revolution (with Carol Berkin)". Have a listen. share.transistor.fm/s/ff9a5eda
share.transistor.fm
American Revolution | Part 7 | Republican motherhood and the long impact of the Revolution (with Carol Berkin)
Republican motherhood is a fundamental concept of the early American...
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 14/08/2026
Unless a tornado is coming my way, do not use this thing
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 14/08/2026
The final episode in my American Revolution series, out soon and already available to members. www.broadhistory.com/ep-16-americ...
broadhistory.com
Ep 16 | American Revolution | 7 | Republican motherhood and the long impact of the Revolution (with Carol Berkin)
What was a woman's role to be when the men came home?
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 08/08/2026
New episode and new newsletter. Where you'll learn (or maybe you knew) that women had the right to vote in New Jersey in 1776 and that women were engaged in an international fight for their rights in the 1790s. Then came the backlash... www.broadhistory.com/mercy-otis-w...
broadhistory.com
Mercy Otis Warren, female politicians and the radical (but short-lived) protofeminism of the 1790s
Women agitated for civil and political rights on both sides of the Atlantic. Men feared "the despotism of the petticoat".
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 08/08/2026
🚨 I just published Broad History, ep 15, "American Revolution | Part 6 | Mercy Otis Warren and the female politicians (with Rosemarie Zagarri)". Have a listen. share.transistor.fm/s/0d164312
share.transistor.fm
American Revolution | Part 6 | Mercy Otis Warren and the female politicians (with Rosemarie Zagarri)
Mercy Otis Warren was what the Revolution called a "female politician" –...
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 06/08/2026
My American Revolution series is available in full to supporting members! Here's the next episode, one of my faves, about Mercy Otis Warren, female politicians and the radical (but short-lived) protofeminism of the 1790s. www.broadhistory.com/ep-15-americ...
broadhistory.com
Ep 15 | American Revolution | 6 | Mercy Otis Warren (with Rosemarie Zagarri)
"She was the preeminent female politician"
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Isabelle Roughol @isabelleroughol.com · 01/08/2026
🚨 I just published Broad History, ep 14, "American Revolution | Part 5 | Phillis Wheatley Peters, unofficial poet laureate of the new United States". Have a listen. share.transistor.fm/s/dede3f5c
share.transistor.fm
American Revolution | Part 5 | Phillis Wheatley Peters, unofficial poet laureate of the new United States
Phillis Wheatley Peters was transported to America as an enslaved...
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