Alex von Tunzelmann
@alexvont.bsky.social
Historian, writer, broadcaster. She/her. Latest book, FALLEN IDOLS, shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2022. HISTORY’S SECRET HEROES and THE LUCAN OBSESSION on BBC Radio 4. One of the Silk Road Slippers https://www.silkroadslippers.com
Pinned
Alex von Tunzelmann
@alexvont.bsky.social
· Oct 28
Fifty years ago, a possibly mistaken murder and the disappearance of a playboy aristocrat gripped the nation. My documentary The Lucan Obsession starts this lunchtime at 1.45pm on BBC Radio 4. Or you can binge all 10 eps (they’re only 15 mins each) on BBC Sounds now. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
I also have two! Martha is quite small for an MC - still big for a cat - but her brother is so big that a delivery man once accused me of having a lynx
February 10, 2026 at 4:01 PM
I also have two! Martha is quite small for an MC - still big for a cat - but her brother is so big that a delivery man once accused me of having a lynx
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
the wet market narrative is *bad for the Chinese government* and they have actively suppressed it at every turn! these people are incapable of the most basic understanding of the world.
Redfield is a Trump appointee and known crank. If COVID was circulating in summer of 2019, the entire timeline of the pandemic would be different. Chinese authorities were not "pushing the wet market narrative," they actively covered it up.
What is happening to people's brains over there
What is happening to people's brains over there
February 10, 2026 at 3:17 PM
the wet market narrative is *bad for the Chinese government* and they have actively suppressed it at every turn! these people are incapable of the most basic understanding of the world.
He’s beautiful. He’ll have five or six names by next week, most of which will be too embarrassing or complicated to explain. Martha, for instance, is often referred to as Pants, leading to an unfortunate situation in which my husband found himself singing merrily about how much he loves Pants
February 10, 2026 at 3:23 PM
He’s beautiful. He’ll have five or six names by next week, most of which will be too embarrassing or complicated to explain. Martha, for instance, is often referred to as Pants, leading to an unfortunate situation in which my husband found himself singing merrily about how much he loves Pants
This is why you can’t get the girls in the short skirts, Alistair
February 10, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This is why you can’t get the girls in the short skirts, Alistair
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
Might work on me, to be fair. I love an encyclopaedia
February 10, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Might work on me, to be fair. I love an encyclopaedia
Stuck with a mansplainer at a party? Try turning to someone – anyone – else and asking, “What is a quasar?” If they reply: “Two shots of gin, a hint of vermouth and a twist of lemon. Shall I make you one?”, marry them
Feb 1970: The New English Encyclopedia ad from Purnell
«When the girl with the shortest skirt in the room says "What is a quasar?" do you speak up or shut up?»
«When the girl with the shortest skirt in the room says "What is a quasar?" do you speak up or shut up?»
February 10, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Stuck with a mansplainer at a party? Try turning to someone – anyone – else and asking, “What is a quasar?” If they reply: “Two shots of gin, a hint of vermouth and a twist of lemon. Shall I make you one?”, marry them
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
Our DHS reform demands are exceedingly reasonable.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
February 10, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
There‘s lots of political incidents that still need clear accountability but if the Epstein stuff just gets turned into a stupid meme for zany tik toks and reels and there’s no justice then I feel like it will make people more insane than usual. How can anyone carry on pretending like it’s normal
February 10, 2026 at 8:39 AM
There‘s lots of political incidents that still need clear accountability but if the Epstein stuff just gets turned into a stupid meme for zany tik toks and reels and there’s no justice then I feel like it will make people more insane than usual. How can anyone carry on pretending like it’s normal
I think it’s quite good for us, actually. I’m a perfectionist about spelling and grammar yet regularly make mistakes in posts. That makes me less judgmental of others!
February 10, 2026 at 7:44 AM
I think it’s quite good for us, actually. I’m a perfectionist about spelling and grammar yet regularly make mistakes in posts. That makes me less judgmental of others!
I just wouldn’t reply to any posts within half an hour. Which means I wouldn’t reply at all. Unfortunately, given how fast and fallibly people read social media, and how often people use screenshots of convos, I don’t think clicking to reveal an original version would mitigate the damage much.
February 10, 2026 at 7:41 AM
I just wouldn’t reply to any posts within half an hour. Which means I wouldn’t reply at all. Unfortunately, given how fast and fallibly people read social media, and how often people use screenshots of convos, I don’t think clicking to reveal an original version would mitigate the damage much.
Or we could just learn to live with our typos: even to regard them as rather charming evidence of the fact we are humans, not AIs! If a mistake is that bad, you can just delete & repost, or add another post correcting it.
February 10, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Or we could just learn to live with our typos: even to regard them as rather charming evidence of the fact we are humans, not AIs! If a mistake is that bad, you can just delete & repost, or add another post correcting it.
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
When trying to explain the strategic predicament that Canada now is in to people in London you really do find yourself wondering what the UK would be willing to do if Trump decided to escalate against Britain's most loyal ally
February 10, 2026 at 5:37 AM
When trying to explain the strategic predicament that Canada now is in to people in London you really do find yourself wondering what the UK would be willing to do if Trump decided to escalate against Britain's most loyal ally
I’m fully against an edit button. Typos are no big deal but allowing people to retrospectively alter live conversations is a recipe for chaos. It might be made slightly less of a tool for entrapment by giving it a time limit etc but the real effect of that would just be to slow down conversations
February 10, 2026 at 7:25 AM
I’m fully against an edit button. Typos are no big deal but allowing people to retrospectively alter live conversations is a recipe for chaos. It might be made slightly less of a tool for entrapment by giving it a time limit etc but the real effect of that would just be to slow down conversations
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
always so funny to me when people are like “how am I supposed to explain Gay to my kids?” my kid asks me way harder shit all the time. “why did they build the road this way? why are some people bad?” I don’t know. please ask me about Gay
February 10, 2026 at 2:51 AM
always so funny to me when people are like “how am I supposed to explain Gay to my kids?” my kid asks me way harder shit all the time. “why did they build the road this way? why are some people bad?” I don’t know. please ask me about Gay
It’s easy to get things completely wrong when trying to read the deep reality of royal feelings from their deliberately clipped and opaque public statements. So I could be completely wrong! But I suspect HM would gladly throw his grotesque middle brother under any passing bus
Buckingham Palace is ready to support the police as they consider allegations against King Charles' brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#Epsteinfiles
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#Epsteinfiles
King's 'profound concern' as police consider Andrew claims over Epstein
Making his first intervention in the Epstein scandal, the King said he is ready to support the police in their inquiries.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 10:23 PM
It’s easy to get things completely wrong when trying to read the deep reality of royal feelings from their deliberately clipped and opaque public statements. So I could be completely wrong! But I suspect HM would gladly throw his grotesque middle brother under any passing bus
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
This is THEE thread on Benito's show. Someone called this thread an exegesis. :)
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
February 9, 2026 at 8:48 PM
This is THEE thread on Benito's show. Someone called this thread an exegesis. :)
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
February 9, 2026 at 5:12 PM
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Just watched Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show. Glorious. What a terrific performer; what an incredible celebration and assertion of American identity. Lol at people thinking it wasn’t political
February 9, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Just watched Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show. Glorious. What a terrific performer; what an incredible celebration and assertion of American identity. Lol at people thinking it wasn’t political
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
Problem with any anti-Starmer tweet that gets attention is I inevitably have to hear the thoughts of people who think Starmer is Blair 2.0, when a lot of the Starmer project's reactionary tendencies are an attempt to distance itself from the socially liberal aspects of Blairism
Starmer "led Labour to a thumping victory nobody thought possible" is one of those weird revisions of history, when 400+ seats was obviously in the realm of possibility from the moment the first post-minibudget polls dropped in September/October 2022
February 9, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Problem with any anti-Starmer tweet that gets attention is I inevitably have to hear the thoughts of people who think Starmer is Blair 2.0, when a lot of the Starmer project's reactionary tendencies are an attempt to distance itself from the socially liberal aspects of Blairism
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
February 9, 2026 at 4:07 PM
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
BBC R4’s latest How Did We Get Here? on Israel and the Palestinians starts today. You’ll find me in Episode 4, with Eugene Rogan and Gudrun Krämer.
BBC Sounds - How Did We Get Here? - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of How Did We Get Here? on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 11:49 AM
BBC R4’s latest How Did We Get Here? on Israel and the Palestinians starts today. You’ll find me in Episode 4, with Eugene Rogan and Gudrun Krämer.
I’m a big fan of Pevear and Volokhonsky because they get the wit and they keep the French bits in French (translated in same-page footnotes but not in the main text).
February 9, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I’m a big fan of Pevear and Volokhonsky because they get the wit and they keep the French bits in French (translated in same-page footnotes but not in the main text).
Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
February 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.