Rafael Behr
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rafaelbehr.bsky.social
Rafael Behr
@rafaelbehr.bsky.social
66K followers 520 following 1.2K posts
Political columnist, The Guardian

Author, Politics, A Survivor's Guide

Website: https://rafaelbehr.com/
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Reposted by Rafael Behr
katie0martin.ft.com
Uncanny, no?
January 6, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
uttoxorthodoctor.bsky.social
Où sont les Norges d’antan?
January 6, 2026 at 4:48 PM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
Tired-looking Solskjaer makes me feel exceedingly old. Où sont les neiges d’antan?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looking haggard
January 6, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
dieworkwear.bsky.social
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
Matt Walsh tweeted last year: "We've spent the last 25 years bringing "freedom" and "democracy" to countries around the globe while our own country has been systematically invaded and now our largest cities are run by foreigners and communists. If you want to know why I'm so avowedly non-interventionist, this is why." Then he tweeted today: ""This is a war for oil!!!!!" First of all, the "war" lasted like 90 minutes. Second, going to war to secure vital resources for your own people is totally legitimate. Why should we allow some third world communist shithole to control trillions of dollars worth of oil?" Laura Loomer tweeted last year: "I’m America First, I don’t support “Regime Change”. I went on @Bannons_WarRoom to talk about Chinese aggression in Venezuela and why we need to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign Islamic terrorist organization." Then she tweeted yesterday: "Maduro has arrived at the DEA office in Manhattan. He was transported in an armored motorcade after being transported in a blindfold via helicopter & then by plane to New York after his compound in Caracas was raided by US Special Forces. Proud to be an American today! USA 🇺🇸" Catturd tweeted last year: "Name one U.S. inspired regime change that hasn’t ended in absolute disaster." Then he tweeted yesterday: "Venezuela is now more free than New York City." Will Chamberlain tweeted last year: "The Republican Party is no longer the party of regime change and endless wars If you want to be its standard-bearer that is a non-negotiable position" Then he tweeted yesterday: "I can think of few better uses of my tax dollars than black-bagging the head of a foreign narco-trafficking organization that enriches itself by addicting and poisoning my fellow Americans"
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
bunkerpod.bsky.social
⏰Start Your Week⏰
The year begins with chaos and conflict. With Trump meddling in Venezuela and beyond, how will these events play out? @rafaelbehr.bsky.social & @jacobjarvis.bsky.social discuss the year ahead.

Spotify ➡️ open.spotify.com/episode/6Obb...

Apple ➡️ podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
January 5, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
jayvanbavel.bsky.social
Politics feels angrier and more tribal than it used to, but how much should we blame social media?

I spoke to @rafaelbehr.bsky.social about how our group instincts collide with godlike technology to distort what we see & erode trust in our institutions.
open.spotify.com/episode/5Gb2...
December 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
New Politics on the Couch! A conversation with the peerless @jayvanbavel.bsky.social about polarisation, digital divides and reweaving the fibres of social connection shows.acast.com/6462652801a2...
Can Democracy Survive Social Media? | Politics on the Couch
Rafael Behr talks to Psychology Professor Jay Van Bavel about the corrosive effects of social media on politics and democracy, and what we can do about it
shows.acast.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
mooseallain.bsky.social
Note the dates.
Screenshot of an exchange on twitter. Starts with me in 2019 quoting a tweet of mine from 2013 that just says “praise”. The qt says “I hope you will forgive me for retweeting praise”. Jenny Landreth replies saying “Extra points for playing the long game”. I reply “I’m all about the length of the game “, to which Jenny says “I look forward to you retweeting that in six years time”. These are all from 17 December 2019. I have now replied “Done” exactly six years later in 2025.
December 17, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
On Putin, the strategy of exporting chaos, how it works, why it ultimately (hopefully) fails www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Putin thinks democracy is the west’s weakness. We have to prove him wrong | Rafael Behr
The Russian strategy of exporting chaos to provoke extremism only works if liberals succumb to cynicism and despair, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
peterwalker99.bsky.social
A mini-story to cheer you up this morning. The other day my teenage son returned to his locked bike to find the back wheel nicked. We went back yesterday to rescue it - and found this note taped to the frame. We have the wheel again. A very happy Xmas to Ollie and his note-writing other half.
December 17, 2025 at 8:11 AM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
On Putin, the strategy of exporting chaos, how it works, why it ultimately (hopefully) fails www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Putin thinks democracy is the west’s weakness. We have to prove him wrong | Rafael Behr
The Russian strategy of exporting chaos to provoke extremism only works if liberals succumb to cynicism and despair, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
showerabsolute.bsky.social
There is a point here which I do want people not to miss: it's not that he posted an otherwise perfectly reasonable video which happens to be by a very racist guy. The rant itself is dodgy as fuck
showerabsolute.bsky.social Will 🇺🇦 Absolute Shower 🇺🇦 @showerabsolute.bsky.social · 25d
Gary Lineker sharing an absurd Israel rant by Tucker Carlson on his 1.4m-follower Instagram, is it?

Definitely not weird about Jews though. Conscience too fine to stay at the BBC, obvs. Hero.
December 12, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
On Tory-Reform pact chat, US meddling in European democracy and the difference between opposition and resistance www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A braver Tory leader than Badenoch would dare to call out Farage's bogus patriotism | Rafael Behr
Across western democracies, established conservatives are yielding to radical nationalism. There’s no sign that Britain will be the exception, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:30 AM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
I can’t help thinking that when, in future, people ask what UK political leaders said as it became undeniable that US saw European liberal democracy as its no1 strategic foe, Starmer and others will regret that the answer is “not much, shuffled awkwardly, looked at their feet”.
December 10, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
duncanweldon.bsky.social
In some ways this is a useful reminder that a lot of the talk of European security guarantees to Ukraine have the whole thing backwards. For more than three years Ukraine has been guaranteeing European security by fighting and degrading the Russian armed forces.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How long Britain could really fight for if war broke out tomorrow
In the event of a war, one expert suggests the British Army could be incapable of fighting effectively on land within weeks, once committed - though 'much depends on the form of the conflict'.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
On Tory-Reform pact chat, US meddling in European democracy and the difference between opposition and resistance www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A braver Tory leader than Badenoch would dare to call out Farage's bogus patriotism | Rafael Behr
Across western democracies, established conservatives are yielding to radical nationalism. There’s no sign that Britain will be the exception, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
roberthutton.co.uk
This is a great example of the @gralefrit.bsky.social observation that the funniest joke is the one told between family members in the front row of a funeral.
zeets.bsky.social Zito @zeets.bsky.social · 28d
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
December 9, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
luci70.bsky.social
I found this today (from Peter Kellner/YouGov) which answers part of your query.
December 9, 2025 at 8:40 PM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
Has anyone done a really big survey asking not how you would vote in rerun Brexit referendum but how you *did* vote and, as far as is possible, if it even is possible, mapped it onto actual result. I bet more people now think they voted remain in 2016 than voted remain.
December 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
roberthutton.co.uk
Today's customs union vote is entirely symbolic, it's true. But what does it symbolise that no one is now arguing *for* Brexit?

thecritic.co.uk/regr...
The answer might seem obvious. To much of the country it is obvious: Brexit is an unpopular disaster. But those whose memories stretch back to the beginning of the decade will recall that politicians who muttered even in the privacy of their hearts that trade barriers might harm the economy found themselves denounced in newspapers. Here was a Conservative leader saying it. Oh Daily Mail, who now are the enemies of the people? Oh Telegraph, where is thy “Mutineers” front page? As it happened, the Liberal Democrats had a vote down on Tuesday afternoon calling for a customs union with the EU. It was a bit of procedure, binding no one to anything, so it didn’t matter, but it was notable that the Tory benches were empty, just 21 of them there. No Mark Francois, no Iain Duncan Smith. Who would speak for Brexit?
December 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
The @stephenkb.bsky.social observation about ‘cut-price luxury/exorbitant necessity’ here feels like a window into quite a profound dysfunction in world where we can’t afford analogue fun so much but have limitless digital distraction to stop us missing it giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
The Netflix age has been great for consumers but terrible for artists
Returns to musicians and writers are dwindling fast
giftarticle.ft.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social
In-Fight Club – Your Party flames out. @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com, @rostaylor.bsky.social, @rafaelbehr.bsky.social & @nndroid.bsky.social discuss what went wrong at Your Party's first conference & more 👉 linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnow...
#yourparty #corbyn #sultana #polanski #greenparty #ukpolitics
December 6, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
bunkerpod.bsky.social
ICYMI – Weekly wrap-up: @rafaelbehr.bsky.social joins @jacobjarvis.bsky.social to break down the stalled US–Russia peace talks, the fallout from the OBR’s budget leak and what it all means for Labour’s economic credibility & more 👉 linktr.ee/bunker_pod
#news #weeklywrapup #trump #putin #weeklynews
December 6, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
jkaconductor.bsky.social
But still doesn’t beat the fact that Cleopatra is closer to us in time than she was to the building of the Great Pyramid.
timbale.bsky.social Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · Dec 5
😱 "For example, the release of The Beatles’ first UK number one, Love Me Do, is closer to the reign of Queen Victoria than it is to the present day." @jackkessler.bsky.social
Time catches up with us all
When your memories become someone else’s history
www.linestotake.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Rafael Behr
bunkerpod.bsky.social
Wrapping up the stories of the week: @rafaelbehr.bsky.social joins @jacobjarvis.bsky.social to break down the stalled US–Russia peace talks, Putin’s strong-arming, & what Trump’s shaky negotiating team tells us about the state of American power 👉 linktr.ee/bunker_pod
#news #weeklywrapup #trump
December 5, 2025 at 8:26 AM