THE BREEZER Newsletter
Spend a few minutes each week discovering snippets of history and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week, with a dash of "lots more".
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Ninety-five theses, two languages, three beers
"I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 7th December 2025. Happy Sunday Reader!You’ll have to excuse me, I have taken an impromptu trip to Belgium and Germany, hence the...
READ POSTShe’s just not that into you—a love story in five movements
He wrote endless letters, attended her every performance and behaved in the audience with the subtlety of a man who'd just caught fire. In England, we would call this stalking. The French called it love. The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 30th November 2025. Happy Sunday Reader!One of my most cherished memories as a teenager was...
READ POSTKyiv’s Khanundrum—the wounds that time won’t heal
By the time Batu Khan had demolished Kyiv, he had redrawn the political map of Europe. The city would slide from major commercial and cultural centre to provincial backwater. The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 23rd November 2025. Happy Sunday Reader!Now in the fourth year of conflict, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people...
READ POSTIce work if you can get it
It was a brutal baptism. With temperatures falling below minus 30 degrees Celsius, equipment froze solid. Changing photographic plates became an exercise in pain management. The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 16th November 2025. Happy Sunday Reader!If you take a trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London, you’ll find 'Room...
READ POSTGough Whitlam was out to lunch
Or to put it another way, an unelected appointee of the British Empire had just overturned the will of millions of Australian voters. Ouch. But hold on—the story doesn’t end there. The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 9th November 2025. Happy Sunday!If my maths is correct, the 2025 United States federal government shutdown has now...
READ POSTPandora's Botch
The Pandora headed north along the east coast of Australia. But as the frigate rounded Cape York from the Great Barrier Reef and entered the Torres Strait on 29 August 1791, disaster struck. The Breezer - A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me exploring historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. 2nd November 2025. Happy Sunday!A couple of days ago the British press erupted with news that sent...
READ POSTBeyond winging it - the birth of the checklist
The four Wright Cyclone engines roared into life as Model 299 gathered speed like an aluminium avalanche. With a grace that belied her size, the Flying Fortress’s nose lifted and she rose into the clear Ohio skies. At 300 feet, Model 299 stopped flying. The Breezer - the joyride for a curious mind: A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me discovering historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. Add to...
READ POSTWe few, we muddy few, we band of brothers
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother... The reality was probably a little more prosaic. But whatever Henry may have lacked in Shakespearian eloquence, he more than made up for in raw courage. The Breezer - the historical joyride for a curious mind: A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me discovering historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the...
READ POSTPatriotism wasn't enough but duty was everything
She was calm. Serene. She told the reverend… "Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone". The Breezer - the joyride for a curious mind: A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me discovering historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. Add to that occasional updates relating to the podcast, a touch of humour...
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