After 24 years of writing columns, Simon Kuper has announced that he is stepping down from his regular columnist role. Kuper began his career as a sports columnist in 2002 before transitioning to a general column covering a wide range of topics. Reflecting on his experience, he described his approach as centered on presenting one original idea or insight per column, rather than repeating established conventional wisdom.
Kuper emphasized that his ideas have always been independently developed, without editorial influence on political stance or content direction. He attributed much of his inspiration to engaging with diverse thinkers through conversations, conferences, and reading, an approach he believes was enhanced by his residence in Paris—a global city offering a different perspective from the usual London and New York hubs frequented by English-language columnists.
His writing process involved extensive research to test and refine his ideas, often discovering new angles or recognizing errors before condensing a large volume of material into concise 740-word pieces. Kuper noted that structuring each column carefully was more time-consuming than the act of writing itself, which typically took just a couple of hours. His style and discipline were influenced heavily by George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language,” along with personal guidelines on sentence length and strong endings.
Kuper’s career as a columnist is defined by a notable division: pre-2016 and post-2016, the latter shaped significantly by the political upheavals surrounding Donald Trump’s election and Brexit. These events altered both his worldview and the public’s relationship with journalism. He observed a growing distrust of media and a shift in political allegiance driven more by identity than economic factors. This period also required resilience in dealing with criticism and accusations, including claims of bias or conspiratorial intent, which Kuper dismissed as unfounded.
Despite the polarized environment, Kuper maintained he wrote what he truly believed and found the work rewarding as a form of self-education and bearing witness to the times. However, he acknowledged shortcomings, particularly his limited engagement with climate change, citing its inherent difficulties as a journalistic subject because of its abstract nature and lack of compelling characters.
Looking ahead, Kuper plans to continue writing for the same publication, but in a new capacity as a feature writer for its weekend edition. He indicated that this transition will allow him to explore topics in greater depth beyond the column format. While he expressed a sense of completion and readiness to move on, Kuper conveyed gratitude for the opportunity to have held what he described as a highly interesting and fulfilling role.