Making sense of a complicated world

This much I know (previously Simple and Straightforward) is the publication I always wanted to write. Somewhere to make sense of a world that never made that much sense to me. I doubt I’m the only one who wonders how they fit into modern culture and society, as complicated and nuanced and prescriptive as it can be.

My CV on a post-it is that I have been a full-time writer and editor for the last four years, amassing 40k+ followers on the writing platform Medium and a further 7k+ across two Substack publications. My previous professional life was in food and wine — I owned a wine store and bar in England for over seven years. When I sold the business to travel and write full-time, I assumed I would become a food and wine writer. And I did, but I also found I had so much more I wanted to write about.

That’s where This much I know comes in.

My food and wine writing lives at The Sauce, a place for deep dives into food and drink culture. The rest of it lives here.

At This much I know you’ll find commentary including:

  • Cultural commentary from living through the noughties to living abroad

  • Women-focused commentary, including diet culture, beauty standards and how pop culture reflects it all

  • Personal essays that go deeper than “this happened to me”


As of May 2025, all essays are free to read for the first month, then they go behind a paywall for paid subscribers only ($5 a month or $50 a year). So you don’t have to pay to read, but if you want to support what I do here, know that every penny is valued and put to good use, keeping my lights on and my laptop charged.

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Making simple sense of our complex world. Culture commentary by Charlie Brown, 5+ years a culture writer and personal essayist

People

Food, drink and culture writer | 12+ years in hospitality | Founder & previous owner of what was once awarded Britain's "best independent wine retailer" | Porto resident