Alix Mortimer
@alixmortimer.bsky.social
I(i)mpact and engagement for my brilliant colleagues in politics, economics, social sciences @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social. Often I dream of islands.
🚢 ships
🏺archaeology
🏰 medieval history
🇭🇷 učim Hrvatski
🚢 ships
🏺archaeology
🏰 medieval history
🇭🇷 učim Hrvatski
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
This didn't get a lot of attention when it was first reported but it seems relevant to reshare it now.
At this stage I really don't think we can overestimate how utterly batshit the people pulling Trumps strings are.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
At this stage I really don't think we can overestimate how utterly batshit the people pulling Trumps strings are.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Exclusive: Greenland ‘Freedom City’? Rich donors push Trump for a tech hub up north
It is described as 'a libertarian utopia with minimal corporate regulation.'
www.reuters.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:39 AM
This didn't get a lot of attention when it was first reported but it seems relevant to reshare it now.
At this stage I really don't think we can overestimate how utterly batshit the people pulling Trumps strings are.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
At this stage I really don't think we can overestimate how utterly batshit the people pulling Trumps strings are.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
"When the herd moves, It moves"
January 17, 2026 at 11:42 PM
"When the herd moves, It moves"
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
We should know by now not to respond to one of Trump’s weekend posts as a definitive statement of policy. The content is as outrageous as it is absurd. For that reason there will be strong pushback from markets, Congress, perhaps Supreme Court as well as European governments.
January 17, 2026 at 7:44 PM
We should know by now not to respond to one of Trump’s weekend posts as a definitive statement of policy. The content is as outrageous as it is absurd. For that reason there will be strong pushback from markets, Congress, perhaps Supreme Court as well as European governments.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
And for the bajillionth time, they do not have the guys for any of this
Even with hypothetically calling up the entire Guard and using half of the AD Army (both of which are beyond impossible as a practical matter) they would still not have enough guys
Even with hypothetically calling up the entire Guard and using half of the AD Army (both of which are beyond impossible as a practical matter) they would still not have enough guys
wrote about the occupation in minnesota with a closing note on how the white house has exactly one tactic — repression with goons — but no particular strategy for dealing with entrenched resistance. gift link.
Opinion | This Is the Only Card Trump Can Play
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM
And for the bajillionth time, they do not have the guys for any of this
Even with hypothetically calling up the entire Guard and using half of the AD Army (both of which are beyond impossible as a practical matter) they would still not have enough guys
Even with hypothetically calling up the entire Guard and using half of the AD Army (both of which are beyond impossible as a practical matter) they would still not have enough guys
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
The photo the BBC are using on their live blog to illustrate the French response is so very good.
January 17, 2026 at 7:35 PM
The photo the BBC are using on their live blog to illustrate the French response is so very good.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Getty photographer was tackled by about 50 agents while covering Whipple.
He threw his camera at another photographer to prevent it from being confiscated.
📸: Pierre Lavie
He threw his camera at another photographer to prevent it from being confiscated.
📸: Pierre Lavie
January 17, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Getty photographer was tackled by about 50 agents while covering Whipple.
He threw his camera at another photographer to prevent it from being confiscated.
📸: Pierre Lavie
He threw his camera at another photographer to prevent it from being confiscated.
📸: Pierre Lavie
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
'While having not made any official announcement about leaving X, UKRI posted just once in 2025—to share the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s announcement that Ian Chapman had been appointed the agency’s next chief executive.' 1/2
👀 UK Research and Innovation and its councils quietly quit X / Twitter.
Funding agency has “been using alternative platforms” amid ongoing controversies over social media company.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Funding agency has “been using alternative platforms” amid ongoing controversies over social media company.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
UK Research and Innovation and its councils quietly quit X - Research Professional News
Funding agency has “been using alternative platforms” amid ongoing controversies over social media company
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM
'While having not made any official announcement about leaving X, UKRI posted just once in 2025—to share the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s announcement that Ian Chapman had been appointed the agency’s next chief executive.' 1/2
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Literally every government in thirty years has spent its entire time saying "the last lot had open borders", bringing in absurdly draconian immigration laws, then doing shocked Pikachu face that "controlled immigration" just means, for voters, "no brown people, make it 1948 again"
Starmer keeps using this line, & it's bonkers.
Most importantly, it's untrue: the party that ended Free Movement, ran the "hostile environment" & made Suella Braverman Home Sec did not run "an experiment in open borders".
It's also politically mad. Voters who believe this will not vote for Starmer
Most importantly, it's untrue: the party that ended Free Movement, ran the "hostile environment" & made Suella Braverman Home Sec did not run "an experiment in open borders".
It's also politically mad. Voters who believe this will not vote for Starmer
!["And this is what Keir Starmer’s press secretary has said about Robert Jenrick at the lobby briefing this morning.
[Highlighted] Robert Jenrick was the immigration minister in a government that presided over an open borders experiment [Highlighted], a health minister who left people stuck on waiting lists, and a Treasury minister during the worst decline in living standards on record.”
While Reform continues to welcome failed Tory retreads, this Labor government is putting the country back on track."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cixgmtrg7nzy4gkmyfeosaox/bafkreibe3jczrmbmzfnhj2adl4qe432lbpmcbn6m6qrentwih7vxj4fu7y@jpeg)
January 16, 2026 at 8:44 AM
Literally every government in thirty years has spent its entire time saying "the last lot had open borders", bringing in absurdly draconian immigration laws, then doing shocked Pikachu face that "controlled immigration" just means, for voters, "no brown people, make it 1948 again"
Albania. You want something a Lego knight could carry.
January 14, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Albania. You want something a Lego knight could carry.
Suddenly nostalgic for Zagreb this time two years ago, and their commendable point blank refusal to take down their Christmas lights until mid-January
January 14, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Suddenly nostalgic for Zagreb this time two years ago, and their commendable point blank refusal to take down their Christmas lights until mid-January
I did immediately wonder about the mafia!
January 13, 2026 at 2:23 PM
I did immediately wonder about the mafia!
Probably Joe in Dad’s Army is a good illustration. He’s a spiv and black market dealer out for himself, but his schemes and deals sometimes end up contributing to the war effort because that’s his context.
January 13, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Probably Joe in Dad’s Army is a good illustration. He’s a spiv and black market dealer out for himself, but his schemes and deals sometimes end up contributing to the war effort because that’s his context.
I’d really like to read something about organised crime organising in the national cause in war time. Anyone?
1/ Ukrainians are said to be funding their war effort by systematically fleecing billions from Russian citizens and businesses through online and phone scams. It's a hidden front of a hybrid war that employs both kinetic means on the battlefield and hacking on the home front. ⬇️
January 13, 2026 at 2:16 PM
I’d really like to read something about organised crime organising in the national cause in war time. Anyone?
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Women protesters are "wine moms".
Student protesters are "ANTIFA".
Protesters of color are "thugs."
The only legitimate protester is a divorced father with no visitation rights, three domestic violence convictions, four AR-15s and a MAGA hat, storming Congress over something he read on Stormfront.
Student protesters are "ANTIFA".
Protesters of color are "thugs."
The only legitimate protester is a divorced father with no visitation rights, three domestic violence convictions, four AR-15s and a MAGA hat, storming Congress over something he read on Stormfront.
January 13, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Women protesters are "wine moms".
Student protesters are "ANTIFA".
Protesters of color are "thugs."
The only legitimate protester is a divorced father with no visitation rights, three domestic violence convictions, four AR-15s and a MAGA hat, storming Congress over something he read on Stormfront.
Student protesters are "ANTIFA".
Protesters of color are "thugs."
The only legitimate protester is a divorced father with no visitation rights, three domestic violence convictions, four AR-15s and a MAGA hat, storming Congress over something he read on Stormfront.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
“did you see that Brianna Wu was flirting with Elisabeth Holmes by talking about cutting off Brian Johnson’s Johns-“
You bolt awake. You are not online. You are General Hannibal. It is 218 BC. You have seen the future and it cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.
You bolt awake. You are not online. You are General Hannibal. It is 218 BC. You have seen the future and it cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.
January 12, 2026 at 3:48 PM
“did you see that Brianna Wu was flirting with Elisabeth Holmes by talking about cutting off Brian Johnson’s Johns-“
You bolt awake. You are not online. You are General Hannibal. It is 218 BC. You have seen the future and it cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.
You bolt awake. You are not online. You are General Hannibal. It is 218 BC. You have seen the future and it cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
X Users Ask Grok To Put More Clothes On Elon Musk Pictures https://theonion.com/x-users-ask-grok-to-put-more-clothes-on-elon-musk-pictures/
January 12, 2026 at 8:15 PM
X Users Ask Grok To Put More Clothes On Elon Musk Pictures https://theonion.com/x-users-ask-grok-to-put-more-clothes-on-elon-musk-pictures/
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
January 12, 2026 at 6:47 PM
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
So it turns out a burst blood vessel in the eye is *very alarming, isn’t it*. While apparently being completely random and harmless.
Still it has reminded me I’d like to see Black Swan again.
Still it has reminded me I’d like to see Black Swan again.
January 12, 2026 at 8:31 PM
So it turns out a burst blood vessel in the eye is *very alarming, isn’t it*. While apparently being completely random and harmless.
Still it has reminded me I’d like to see Black Swan again.
Still it has reminded me I’d like to see Black Swan again.
Related, the higher ed sector is now getting really good at REF which is probably the best indicator from the universe that it’s going to disappear.
You know how you hire someone and it takes them a month or two to become fully productive?
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
Megaprojects like high speed rail or nuclear power should be commissioned and funded on a rolling annual basis, not a per-project basis. Spin up your High Speed Department and give them £10bn a year to build railways until you say stop.
January 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Related, the higher ed sector is now getting really good at REF which is probably the best indicator from the universe that it’s going to disappear.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
You know how you hire someone and it takes them a month or two to become fully productive?
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
Megaprojects like high speed rail or nuclear power should be commissioned and funded on a rolling annual basis, not a per-project basis. Spin up your High Speed Department and give them £10bn a year to build railways until you say stop.
January 12, 2026 at 1:36 PM
You know how you hire someone and it takes them a month or two to become fully productive?
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
If you've ever created a team from scratch to do something your organisation has never done before, it takes a year or two.
Project financing forces everything to be done by new teams.
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Thing is, small market towns do have the “pissed up young men at closing time” problem that does lead itself to “if it’s bad here, how bad can it be in London where all they are?” belief
January 12, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Thing is, small market towns do have the “pissed up young men at closing time” problem that does lead itself to “if it’s bad here, how bad can it be in London where all they are?” belief
We’re such cowards. Build a giant causeway to the North Sea and raise Doggerland!
January 12, 2026 at 10:23 AM
We’re such cowards. Build a giant causeway to the North Sea and raise Doggerland!
Yess more major infrastructure projects in East Anglia!
NEW: An Anglo-Saxon burial site with remarkable similarities to Sutton Hoo has been discovered at the development of the Sizewell C nuclear power station
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
Burial site ‘akin to Sutton Hoo’ sheds new light on Anglo-Saxons
The extremely rare discovery made during excavations at Sizewell C dates to the 6th or 7th century and includes a princely burial of two people and a horse
www.thetimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Yess more major infrastructure projects in East Anglia!
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Kemi, this is just a population density map
January 12, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Kemi, this is just a population density map
Reposted by Alix Mortimer
Looking forward to more extensive coverage of the civil war about to break out in our hellhole cities.
January 12, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Looking forward to more extensive coverage of the civil war about to break out in our hellhole cities.