Alex Beaumont
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lxbeaumont.bsky.social
Alex Beaumont
@lxbeaumont.bsky.social
54 followers 93 following 38 posts
Folk fiddle, cricket, academic publishing. He/him
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lxbeaumont.bsky.social
Oooh this one hits home...
tommchenry.bsky.social Tom McH @tommchenry.bsky.social · 2d
2-minute comic
Drawing of the artist in a sweater at a desk, scowling at an empty sketchbook page. TEXT: “Maybe the REAL problem is I don’t have the right system of little notebooks…”
January 4, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
gralefrit.bsky.social
“Ladies and gentlemen. I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today… Now, I do not say this lightly but… one of you… is the murderer!”
catsofyore.bsky.social Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 2d
Group of well dressed people admiring a cat. Photo from my collection, sadly no date/info. Would love to know the story here!
Black-and-white photo of a couple dozen light skinned people all wearing dressed up outdoor clothing. They are all standing outside in a scrubby field as of about to pose for a group portrait, but they’re all looking down at a small tabby cat that sits right in front of the group and looks calmly back at them.
January 4, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
misterabk.bsky.social
Every year chocolates get smaller and more expensive. Extrapolating backwards, in 1906 a Creme Egg would have been the size of Rochester Cathedral and they would have paid you 12 guineas to eat it.
January 2, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
paulbernal.bsky.social
Just to be clear, BBC, the right to protest IS part of the right to free speech. If you block protest, you’re blocking free speech.

“University threatened with legal action after protest at academic's talk” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 22, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
qntm.org
When the snowman brings the snow:
Retrocausality - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
lxbeaumont.bsky.social
So their talk went ahead but their freedom of speech was infringed. Either a) an ego as fragile as a snowflake b) deliberately trying to provoke US style culture war bullshit. So bloody tiring...
December 22, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
markgrimshawtism.bsky.social
So, just to confirm, the BBC can’t keep Robin Ince on the air because his trans allyship brings the organisation into disrepute, but they can keep David Walliams, who performed Nazi salutes at the recording of this very show, on the air despite him being predatory towards women. Cool. Very normal.
ITV News: BBC to air Would I Lie To You Boxing Day episode featuring David Walliams
December 21, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
riotgrlerin.bsky.social
why not put count von count into various vampire scenes: thread
Count Von Count as Nosferatu.
December 20, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
jonnymorris.bsky.social
It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the
Drunk tank
December 24, 2023 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
willoremus.com
this is a good reminder of how things that are shitty but have been accepted as normal and inevitable can actually turn out to be abnormal and evitable with some science, time, education and political will
reddit post from a presumably young person who watched sex and the city and couldn’t get over how much people smoked indoors. “wouldn’t everything smell bad?” they asked
December 19, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
ciaramoloney.bsky.social
i'm fascinated by how much people love and are amazed by chat gpt saying "nice catch!" and "great observation!" because i personally find the condescension and obsequiousness the most skin-crawling thing about how LLMs "talk"
michaelhobbes.bsky.social Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 20d
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 18, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
A knight has been spotted in Summertown. (We have the best readers). A Clarion correspondent wrote in to report the sighting, saying “He was having a little difficulty with the pelican crossing when I caught up with him. Pressing the button is tricky when you’re wearing metal gauntlets."
Man (presumably) in armour, standing next to a pelican crossing. knight trying to push button on pelican crossing.
December 17, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
goodlawproject.org
New Zealand's libertarian/ populist/ right wing coalition Government is trying to follow Wesley Streeting's lead in banning puberty blockers.

This is what the New Zealand High Court has just decided (www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases...).
[17] There is also no evidence of a particular need to act urgently to prevent new prescriptions because of some immediate risk to physical health if young people commence treatment. [18] Puberty blockers are reversible. There is no evidence that they affect fertility. If they did, they would hardly be prescribed for children with precocious puberty and they have been prescribed for that purpose for decades. They may alleviate distress for a child who is simply not ready to cope with puberty either because they are too young or because their mental health is such that a delay is recommended. The only evidence-based impact on physical health is on bone density and that impact results from long term use. A period of months until the Judicial Review can be heard is not said to create any issues with bone density for a young person commencing treatment. [19] The evidence relating to mental health outcomes suggests negative outcomes from a ban are a far more immediate concern.
December 17, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
stevemullis.net
incredible stuff over at r/ididnthaveeggs

It’s a eggnog recipe
nina b O 2 days ago ***&& I substituted the eggs for duck eggs and milk with geese fat and it came out terrible!! Please write in the recipe when reasonable substitutions cannot be made. +-2- → Reply Admin Stacy Popham © 5 hours ago | @ Reply to nina b Let me break this down for you.Duck eggs instead of chicken eggs? That's actually fine. Duck eggs work in eggnog. That's not your problem. Goose fat instead of milk? Goose fat is a solid cooking fat for roasting potatoes. Milk is a liquid dairy product. They are not interchangeable You essentially made hot melted goose fat with duck eggs. Of course it was terrible. Bottom line: If you fundamentally change the structure of a recipe by using completely different ingredients with entirely different properties, you're not making eggnog. You're conducting a failed science experiment. Make it again with actual dairy and report back.
December 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
lxbeaumont.bsky.social
"the Irish country music" 🤦
anonopin.bsky.social Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 20d
The rise of country music in Britain isn't being spoken about enough. Not the Irish country music, but the American 'my dogs dead and my wife's left me' country music. Just awful.
December 17, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
b3ta.com
Artist: HappyToast https://b3ta.com/board/11423675
From the 'Internet Christmas' challenge https://b3ta.com/challenge/internetchristmas/popular/ #InternetChristmas
b3ta loves the way you move
December 16, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
iandunt.bsky.social
Incredibly brave. Imagine the faceless bores the BBC will have making their programmes if they continue down this path.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 24d
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
b3ta.com
Artist: Captain Howdy https://b3ta.com/board/11423637
From the 'Internet Christmas' challenge https://b3ta.com/challenge/internetchristmas/popular/ #InternetChristmas
b3ta loves the way you move
December 12, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
helengoodman.bsky.social
Striking BL staff, struggling to pay their rent, advised to consider not giving presents this year, and interim CEO, Jeremy Silver, has the nerve to tell them they ‘don’t live in a real world’. Only 17% of staff guaranteed the Living Wage (£14.80 ph) suggests acute familiarity with the ‘real world’.
anna-aslanyan.bsky.social Anna Aslanyan @anna-aslanyan.bsky.social · 27d
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
gralefrit.bsky.social
AI tech bros promising to allow you to talk to a digital simulacrum of your dead relatives as a false comfort during your natural process of grief are, I’m afraid, in contravention of the 1736 Witchcraft Act, the 1951 Fraudulent Mediums Act, and should be hanged. I don’t make the rules.
December 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
lxbeaumont.bsky.social
To save everyone the time, this of course makes no mention of the fact puberty blockers have been used for cis children since the 80s without complaint. Absolute ghouls...
December 11, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
kbspangler.com
Me: I need you. I can’t go on without you. Why do you want to hurt me?

My lower back: Because you turned very slightly to the left.
December 11, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Oxfordshire has been given a “level 3” rating for cycling and walking schemes by the Government, up from level 2 last year. The improved rating means it will get more central funding for infrastructure improvements, with £20.2m earmarked for the county until 2030.
Cyclist on the High. Photo by Roger Close
December 10, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
scotnational.bsky.social
Harassment, 'untruthful' evidence, and 'unusual' legal questions. Our reporter Xander Elliards looks at nine points from the Sandie Peggie ruling that the rest of the media has left out
December 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Alex Beaumont
nameshiv.bsky.social
choo choo, motherfucker
December 7, 2025 at 10:06 AM