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James Stewart

@itsjamesstewart.bsky.social
972 followers 204 following 233 posts

Journalist writing for The Times/Sunday Times, FT and others. Freelance Writer of the Year 2024 & 2020, Travel Writer of the Year 2021. Saltwater for blood www.james-stewart.com

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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Frankly I’m wary of anyone who thinks “an historian” is OK
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I mean, come on. What's not to like?
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Legendary superyachts last week, the World Town Crier Champs in Chester this. Funny old job, this
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
More, you say? Be happy to. Honestly, what a beauty
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Fancy some Friday boatporn? Course you do. I've sailed for, ooh, 40 years: tallships, yachts, trad workboats, cargo deliveries. I'm not fussy. Atlantic has been a different level though - extraordinary boat, lovely crew. Helming her as we smoked along at 14 knots may be as good as my job gets
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This, my friends, has been a very good day. On board Atlantic in S France
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Some time ago in Botswana, I heard a hotel guest at breakfast moan that it was raining. “Yes, madam,” her guide replied. “It is a blessing.” Right now I’m sort of getting what he meant
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Todays's FT includes a new description of hell. Move over Dante
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Huge congratulations to Andy Green for the new land speed record. I interviewed him a decade or so ago - we got off on the wrong foot (long story), rescued things by talking about a shared love of sailing and ended up having a great chat james-stewart.com/bloodhound-a...
james-stewart.com
Bloodhound Andy Green – JAMES STEWART
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
One of mine from the weekend – sailing, obviously, but really about the joy of simplicity; of stripping things back to basics. The images are beautiful if you have a sub to access the piece on digital www.ft.com/content/1871...
ft.com
How to holiday like it’s 1932: sailing the Norfolk Broads on a vintage yacht
James Stewart voyages back in time — at 2mph — to find tranquil waters, endless horizons and a surprisingly sociable escape from modernity
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
There's no point in being freelance if you can't decide to sack off work on a Friday
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
The 1930s Broads boat is laughable compared to some superyachts I've sailed on - equal parts Edwardian gentlemen's club and glorified tent. But I win today
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I don't post on here too often but Traena! Fucking hell!
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
The destination dupes concept of travel journalism was always a bit mad but this list is a tumble down the rabbithole
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Things get weird when you translate the cookie preferences of foreign language websites. That or this is a niche Slovenian joke
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The photo is doing a lot of work to make that pool look decent too
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Reposted by James Stewart
Sam Wilson @samwilson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Fascinated by the implication that £200/night for a family holiday is outrageous luxury living
Grifty
@TheGriftReport
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Keir Starmer jetted off for a four-day luxury family Easter break at a £200-a-night four-star boutique hotel in Valencia, complete with rooftop bar and pool.
While lounging in the sun and sipping café con leche in a public square, Trump was issuing ultimatums to "obliterate" Iran's power plants and warning Tehran they'd be "living in Hell."
Starmer stayed put despite the escalating crisis, five years after he slammed Boris Johnson for holidaying as Kabul fell, declaring: "You cannot coordinate an international response from the beach."
Macron spent the weekend on emergency calls with Trump and Iran's president. Starmer? Not so much.
Priorities
7:30 AM • Apr 12, 2026 • 3.5M Views
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Reposted by James Stewart
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Ouch. Jet fuel. www.ft.com/content/7181...
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Death row lawyer Bryan Stevenson: ‘Hope is our superpower’: if you only read one thing today make it this by @edwardluce.bsky.social
giftarticle.ft.com
Death row lawyer Bryan Stevenson: ‘Hope is our superpower’
The attorney and activist on overturning capital convictions — and his fears that civil rights gains are being dismantled
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
First American politics, now crippling fuel prices - pity the travel PRs who had spent months planning for the centenary of Route 66 this year
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👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I cannot wait for the insights on this! He's going to: 1. Sample some local street food. 2. Ride a train. 3. Visit a temple. 4. Not mention the pogroms that the serving Prime Minister presided over. 5. Smile at some elephants. 6. Top up his kids' private school fees. 7. Say "India is changing".
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
“The Times has been told” by who? UAE government sources? UK opposition parties? Dave down the pub? Without some sort of source this is just meaningless. Six days into Iran it’s been relentless grift from right-wing media
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
@runbox.bsky.social can you update re email provision, please? recurrent outages and 504 errors
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Thoughts and prayers with every PR who has a major launch this week
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
If the government had only asked me I'd have saved them £109m and done nothing for £1m www.ft.com/content/186f...
ft.com
UK quietly shelves £110mn frictionless post-Brexit trade border project
Experts criticise halt to programme that had used Deloitte and IBM as contractors
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
My bit from Verbier in today’s Times. The header pegs this on price but it’s actually a story about tradition and community; what one guide called “the spirit of the mountains” www.thetimes.com/article/f328...
thetimes.com
The surprisingly affordable mountain hotel in upscale Verbier
Skiers will love Cabane Mont Fort, elevated 2,457m above the Swiss resort’s busier centre with out-of-hours access to the slopes — plus what’s new nearby
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Frankly kudos to him for coaxing 70mph out of a VW bus www.thetimes.com/article/b4f7...
thetimes.com
Boy who drove campervan at 70mph given penalty points for future licence
The 13-year-old drove his parents’ VW van in the middle of the night on a dual carriageway. They tell a court he will be ‘washing cars for a year’ as punishment
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Can someone send the NYT subs some new travel cliches? Missed opportunity to blather about “hidden gems” and “secret beaches”
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I've a theory that the world's current ills can be laid at the door of dysfunctional tech bros. Because Silicon Valley nerds struggled with in-person relationships they created an online world where relationships were distant and interaction performative Aware of the irony of saying this on socials
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
If you’re interested in how much America cares about Trump and Greenland, the New York Times is running the story on page 4. The Mail phone-hacking trial gets higher billing
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
This from the FT news story on Nadhim Zahawi is chef's kiss. Par 3 too
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
And since I'm flagging pieces, the brilliant Self Esteem told me how to write a pop song for the Sunday Times Mag. Lots of top tips even if her thoughts on the joy of being sweary and having a global pop hit with the word "lump" didn't squeeze into my word count www.thetimes.com/article/5796...
thetimes.com
Self Esteem’s guide to writing a pop song
You don’t need to start with the melody and you don’t have to be a virtuoso — but you must connect with your listener, says the musician Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
My bit on testing the world's first electronic skis got readers in a right flap BTL. Which was sort of the point of the piece www.ft.com/content/c703...
ft.com
Testing the world’s first battery-powered skis
A Swiss start-up aims to do for ski-touring what e-bikes did for cycling. James Stewart gets an exclusive preview
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Sophie Heawood @heawood.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Asking people, again, to pay me for the work that was commissioned, written and published in November. It’s illegal to make us wait this long and I‘m too old to be begging like this. So if anyone dares to give writers shit for monetising their Substacks - it’s better than begging the broadsheets…
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Cabane Mont Fort porn - home for the next two nights to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Verbier in case you're wondering
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
730am and someone at the LHR T2 bar has just ordered a martini. I'm not sure whether this feeling is horror or respect
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Reports that visitors to the US will need to disclose five years' social media fall short. Federal Register states the requirements include - tel numbers & email addresses for 5 & 10 years, incl business tel/email - IP addresses from submitted photos - details of all family members (addresses, DoB)
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
I could’ve sworn the Telegraph led accusations of the BBC skewing its news output but that can’t be right
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
It couldn’t possibly be because every print media outlet bar one now stokes said wars for clicks, obviously www.thetimes.com/article/c308...
thetimes.com
Britons becoming increasingly divided over ‘culture wars’
Survey finds that young people are also losing a sense of pride in the UK and that a majority of people believe life was better in the past
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
This story is such a wild ride. Pure hubris. Cracking digital storytelling too ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
"Who is telling me this and why? How do I know they’re who they say they are? How plausible is what I’m being told? What can I do to check?" This story is pure cringe for the Times newsroom pressgazette.co.uk/news/times-j...
pressgazette.co.uk
Times journalists urged to make 'basic' checks after two 'humiliating' hoaxes
A newsroom boss at The Times has described two fake interviews it ran as "humiliating" and said "basic" questions were not asked.
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
You hear so much about quiet luxury and meaningful travel now that the riotous bad taste when the pendulum swings the other way in a few years is going to be quite something to see
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
When I asked Google AI about winter fauna in the UK. Clever ole internet
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
My bit in today's FT on robo-legs, testing exoskeleton tech in Wales with a little help from ai and Edmund Hillary www.ft.com/content/825e...
ft.com
I am Robohiker! — testing the exoskeleton that promises to take hikers further, faster
Wearing the Hypershell, the Welsh mountains are like a walk in the park — but is it cheating?
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
I bought the insurance policy an hour ago. This doesn't bode well
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Funny old job, this. I spent yesterday playing Robocop on a Welsh mountain to test a new exoskeleton from Hypershell. Carbon fibre & titanium, motors to lift legs, ai tech to sense terrain. E-biking for your legs basically. (Image legs not mine obvs)
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
This story is such a wild ride. On a side note, it slightly narks that AI has properly done for the em dash www.cityam.com/mass-halluci...
cityam.com
Mass hallucinations: In search of the rogue AI reporters
How a pitch about warring London chicken shops led Steve Dinneen on a journey from Chicago to Kenya in search of a rogue AI reporter
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
From a PR: "We’d be delighted to explore a collaboration with you – offering a 7-night luxury stay in exchange for editorial content that captures the unique atmosphere of the resort that aligns with your creative vision" Travel journalism has certainly changed since I got into this game
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James Stewart @itsjamesstewart.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Safari was a tourism problem. In my jeep at Sri Lanka's Yala a visitor was reduced to tears by 15-20 jeeps jostling for position around a lone honey bear. Is this really what we want from tourism. The wildlife certainly doesn't want it www.thetimes.com/travel/inspi...
thetimes.com
Tourists with cameras are now as bad as the trophy hunters
Video of safari vehicles blocking wildebeest in Tanzania has prompted outrage. It’s about time, says Chris Haslam
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