Tom Flanagan
Journalist | Writer
About Me
Freelance journalist and writer. Amsterdam-based but London and Switzerland-hailing. City Magazine Journalism graduate if that helps.
My Writing
I've written for brands like VICE and Catawiki where I specialise in long-form features and news content across culture, music, social issues and climate.
Join my Substack
If you want to get more of a sense of my writing and what I do, my substack is a good place to begin:
https://iusedtotalk.substack.c...
Get in Touch
I'm always open for commissions, whether that's for features, brand editorial, news and video or investigative.
My Work
Poles Apart
As the climate crisis reshapes the world, the Arctic is under increased scrutiny. But what does it take to report from the region? Tom Flanagan speaks to five journalists about working in one of the world’s most inhospitable climates.
My Life as a Male Model on OnlyFans
Juggling both professions might not be intuitive for some, but he’s far from the only one turning to sex as a career. Since the arrival of OnlyFans in 2016 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are taking up sex work—a trend that has only been compounded by the cost of living crisis.
The Lonely Mediterranean
Every year, the world descends on Greece, a country known for its warmth and hospitality. But for the residents, a crisis of loneliness threatens to tear a culture of family apart. Tom Flanagan investigates the lessons an increasingly lonely Europe can learn from the Mediterranean nation.
Sex Parties Actually Bring Me Closer to My Partner
Sophie takes a deep breath before heading down the concrete steps into what looks like an underground cellar, its dark entrance concealing the feverish passions within. (Her name, and all names in this story, have been changed to protect privacy.) She takes a step forward and relaxes. She knows this passage well. What might seem like an unassuming hole-in-the-wall to many is a gateway into a world of fantasy – a party where (almost) anything goes. She grabs her partner’s hand and walks ahead.
Beetlejuice 2 proves gothic style is here to stay
Tim Burton’s 2024 sequel captures the original’s daring fashion while also nodding to how younger generations are embracing darker, more dramatic styles.
Remembering the queer authors who changed fiction forever
Children's books are often one of the most important parts of growing up – they inform literacy, emotions and creativity. And so many important children’s and illustrated books were written by queer authors, who have always existed in the space, even if the public never realised it. While many of these writers chose not to make their identity the central tenet of their output, their lived experiences informed so much of the writing they published.
XCITY (2023) - by City, University of London's Journalism Department
I worked as Editor-in-chief for City University's annual alumni magazine, overseeing editorial (features and news), art direction, production and social.
Every day, bread
I roll out of bed. Bleary-eyed and subdued, I stumble towards the kettle. Tea or coffee – depending on how heavily caffeinated I need to be – is the first point of call. Bitterness in cups, sweetness in relief, intoxicating in the ritual. Then, once the brew has made its way to my stomach, food calls, as much driven by a pang of hunger as a cry for relief from the caffeine.
Searching for Clive
Clive Myrie, BBC's chief foreign correspondent, is everywhere. Do we know him any better for it?
Why is Amsterdam telling tourists to 'Stay Away'?
Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations. But much of that has been driven by tourists looking to indulge in the Dutch capital’s red light district and coffee shop culture. Consequently, the city claims it's attracting the “wrong” type of tourists. So in 2023, it’s launching the ‘Stay Away’ campaign to change this. But what is it?
Song: Swept by Kiasmos
Song: Swept by Kiasmos
Such is the Power of Sides
10 pm in Madrid. It’s a searing hot July day even at this time, when constellations of crowds disperse into smaller clusters, trickling into restaurants for food and respite. From inside this Galician restaurant, the noise swells from a gentle clicking of cutlery to an ambient buzz. Royal blue-studded ceramic plates play off against the teak wood of the table and chairs, and exposed bulb pendants bask the brick walls in a spectral glow.
Space scandal: The letters that were never meant to reach the moon
Back in July 1971, the astronauts of Apollo 15 carried approximately 400 unauthorised postal covers – envelopes with stamps and addresses on them – into space in a bid to make profit and support their families at home, with what would be coveted collector’s items. What followed was years of public fallout; with NASA, the astronauts, the US government and a mysterious German seller all involved. Expert in Stamps Jean-Eudes Schoppmann recounts one of the more scandalous chapters in stamps history.
Small Hands
I slipped my hand into the jar—a glass-blown oblong shaped like a pig—to reach for the stacks of biscuits my grandmother had put there. Penguin bars, Wagon Wheels, tiny packets of crisps that fit perfectly into equally tiny lunchboxes, and the most prized find as far as my sister and I were concerned: Flakes.
How the Orient Express became the world’s most famous train
Few trains are as well-known as the Orient Express. A snaking train ride that took passengers on a journey across continental Europe from Paris to Istanbul, the Orient Express was a symbol of old-world glamour and escapism; attracting illustrious figures from all corners of the world and inspiring numerous works of literature. Yet its lavish reputation also drew in a wealth of intrigue, scandal, and even criminality in its lifespan.
Pictures of power: queerness in ancient and classical art
In the past century, depictions of homosexuality and queerness were seen as taboo and even censored from art forms, like film. Yet hundreds of years prior, same-sex relationships were prevalent and commonly illustrated in art. Homosexuality was more normalised—if expressions of it at the time would make modern society uneasy—and was depicted as a way of showcasing both power and beauty.
The forgotten history of men and high heels
Heels have long been a symbol of status, style and femininity but once upon a time they were synonymous with masculinity too. Dating back to ancient Egypt, walking in raised shoes was at first a practical choice for working men that was quickly adopted by the men and women of upper classes as a sign of nobility and status. Since then, high heels have continued to feature in men's fashion throughout the ages from King Louis XIV to the late David Bowie.
Navigating the unspoken: the importance of taboo art
Back in 1934 in Washington D.C, something unusual happened. A painting titled The Fleet’s In! by Paul Cadmus was unceremoniously removed from The Corcoran Gallery of Art. The removal was ordered by the U.S. Navy, when retired Admiral Hugh Rodman saw an exhibition preview and—outraged by the painting’s contents—wrote furiously in an open letter to various papers condemning the artwork and its depiction of navy officers. He described it as “a most disgraceful, sordid, disreputable, drunken brawl”
The lasting legacy of queer-coded Disney villains
The fictional villains of Disney films are both revered and feared, but their inspiration took root in real individuals—most of whom were queer. From The Little Mermaid’s Ursula to The Lion King’s Scar, these characters were queer-coded—an incorporation of stereotypical traits and characteristics like pronounced femininity or masculinity often associated with queer people—inspired from a time when depictions of homosexuality were taboo in motion pictures.
A history of Sex and the City’s fashion
Sex and the City is a mainstay of the modern pop cultural canon, as much due to its characters as its fashion. Led by Patricia Field, the show’s long-time chief costume designer, the outfits in Sex and the City have been influential in surfacing trends and catapulting designers to stardom. In celebration of the show’s continued impact and reboot, we revisit some of the show’s many iconic sartorial choices from designer heels to whimsical bags, which other than looking good, were mouthpieces for Sex and the City’s most redeeming qualities.
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