Dr Alex Cruikshanks
@alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Historian of the former Yugoslavia and ethnic partitionism. X-Men opinion-haver. Did a PhD on diplomacy in the Bosnian War. Host of The History of Yugoslavia podcast.
Every "debate" over minority rights boils down to the same thing: is this demographic a legitimate thing to be in our society, just as good as any other, and whose full participation in that society we seek to facilitate, or a less legit thing whose participation we have no obligation to facilitate?
November 11, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Every "debate" over minority rights boils down to the same thing: is this demographic a legitimate thing to be in our society, just as good as any other, and whose full participation in that society we seek to facilitate, or a less legit thing whose participation we have no obligation to facilitate?
There's something particularly absurd here about them talking about whether the BBC "doesn't represent half the country" in the context of coverage of Trump, a man who is liked by maybe at most a fifth of the country.
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 11:50 PM
There's something particularly absurd here about them talking about whether the BBC "doesn't represent half the country" in the context of coverage of Trump, a man who is liked by maybe at most a fifth of the country.
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
I was watching this and waiting for her to claim she was shut down by some kind of shadowy trans lobby conspiracy, but it's not even that! She's somehow citing the fact that she *wasn't* hindered from pursuing an anti-trans line as proof of pro-trans bias?!
Emily Maitlis admitting she worked at the bbc to try and get healthcare for trans people shut down
November 10, 2025 at 10:42 PM
I was watching this and waiting for her to claim she was shut down by some kind of shadowy trans lobby conspiracy, but it's not even that! She's somehow citing the fact that she *wasn't* hindered from pursuing an anti-trans line as proof of pro-trans bias?!
Exclusionary prejudice is always an ever-escalating purity test as the bigots search for new targets.
The way intersex/DSD athletes have been motte and bailey'd into this is really concerning
IOC edges closer to ban on transgender women in female Olympic events
November 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Exclusionary prejudice is always an ever-escalating purity test as the bigots search for new targets.
Of course, more reckless stigmatisation and endangerment of intersex women because of a few people's transphobic obsessions.
Just a heads up this isn't just about trans women. "Olympic chiefs are also looking at prohibiting athletes with DSD (differences of sex development) from women's events given testosterone advantages."
November 10, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Of course, more reckless stigmatisation and endangerment of intersex women because of a few people's transphobic obsessions.
Wow, I sure wonder why the BBC has a lot of coverage of one of its most popular original shows that had such high demand it actually led to it reviving a whole fucking channel?
November 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Wow, I sure wonder why the BBC has a lot of coverage of one of its most popular original shows that had such high demand it actually led to it reviving a whole fucking channel?
This is really awkwardly graphically represented
📕 With the Booker Prize winner set to be announced tonight, how does voting intention vary by favourite book genre. Reform’s highest score is with fans of horror, while Labour enjoys a landslide lead among fans of self-help books. *Read* into that what you will.
November 10, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This is really awkwardly graphically represented
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Honestly terrifying that the BBC can run an unhinged story about lesbians being forced to have sex with trans women, with one of the main sources being a rapist who responded to the story's publication by calling for trans people to all be hung, and the Official Consensus is they are too pro-trans
November 10, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Honestly terrifying that the BBC can run an unhinged story about lesbians being forced to have sex with trans women, with one of the main sources being a rapist who responded to the story's publication by calling for trans people to all be hung, and the Official Consensus is they are too pro-trans
At last, this latest shutdown event has proven all my previous view8 on it right!
*My previous views were that I shouldn't put out any takes on it so none of them could be proven wrong for precisely this purpose.
*My previous views were that I shouldn't put out any takes on it so none of them could be proven wrong for precisely this purpose.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
At last, this latest shutdown event has proven all my previous view8 on it right!
*My previous views were that I shouldn't put out any takes on it so none of them could be proven wrong for precisely this purpose.
*My previous views were that I shouldn't put out any takes on it so none of them could be proven wrong for precisely this purpose.
The Twitter exchange here is actually quite funny. Suddenly realising all the same problems that everyone told them about years ago.
Guess it didn’t, Jo. 😏🤣
This overreach has the potential to fatally expose Gender Criticalism for what it *really* is, if enough cis women are publicly harassed because of the SC ruling and discrimination cases are brought.
This overreach has the potential to fatally expose Gender Criticalism for what it *really* is, if enough cis women are publicly harassed because of the SC ruling and discrimination cases are brought.
November 9, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The Twitter exchange here is actually quite funny. Suddenly realising all the same problems that everyone told them about years ago.
Eh, I still have two months left on my EU4 DLC subscription so I guess I'll let that run out before I think about buying EU5...
November 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Eh, I still have two months left on my EU4 DLC subscription so I guess I'll let that run out before I think about buying EU5...
1620s: Protestantism is in rapid decline among Czechs, indicating it was a social contagion.
hmmmmm i wonder if that has anything to do with society and the government brutally suppressing it over that exact period of time
November 9, 2025 at 8:55 PM
1620s: Protestantism is in rapid decline among Czechs, indicating it was a social contagion.
Referring to "the Stonewall view of LGBT rights" is a bit like referring to "the Plaid Cymru view of Welsh nationalism" or "the RSPCA view of animal rights" - orgs and views that are, within their relevant communities and milieus, very banal and mainstream.
this rainy fascist island should rename itself the great british bake off because we are so fucking cooked
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Referring to "the Stonewall view of LGBT rights" is a bit like referring to "the Plaid Cymru view of Welsh nationalism" or "the RSPCA view of animal rights" - orgs and views that are, within their relevant communities and milieus, very banal and mainstream.
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
November 9, 2025 at 8:04 PM
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
This is a big part of why liberal democratic regimes being replaced by left-wing dictatorships is actually quite rare compared to right-wing ones. most of the left's constituency is actually pretty OK with peaceful and slow but steady improvement in their lives.
one of the greatest struggles for any left-wing political movement in the modern west (and increasingly beyond) is how much of the sheer abject deprivation, fear, and often fatal dangers that were inextricable to the lives of any but the wealth just...barely exist anymore
It is genuinely hard for most people to grasp how poor the past was.
November 9, 2025 at 7:53 PM
This is a big part of why liberal democratic regimes being replaced by left-wing dictatorships is actually quite rare compared to right-wing ones. most of the left's constituency is actually pretty OK with peaceful and slow but steady improvement in their lives.
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.
November 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.
BBC, hire this man!
episode 6: dawn of a dynasty
set in the late pleistocene, this episode shows the fearsome predators of australia, from the lizard megalania to the marsupial lion thylacaleo- and how they were helpless in the face of the arrival of the most dangerous predator of all: humans
set in the late pleistocene, this episode shows the fearsome predators of australia, from the lizard megalania to the marsupial lion thylacaleo- and how they were helpless in the face of the arrival of the most dangerous predator of all: humans
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
BBC, hire this man!
Anyway, make me DG of the BBC. My priorities will be, in order:
1) New series of Walking With Beasts, but not like the 2025 WWD with lots of cuts of digs, go back to the original nature show format.
2) Destroy every document or material even remotely connected to the BBC screening Mrs. Brown's Boys.
1) New series of Walking With Beasts, but not like the 2025 WWD with lots of cuts of digs, go back to the original nature show format.
2) Destroy every document or material even remotely connected to the BBC screening Mrs. Brown's Boys.
November 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Anyway, make me DG of the BBC. My priorities will be, in order:
1) New series of Walking With Beasts, but not like the 2025 WWD with lots of cuts of digs, go back to the original nature show format.
2) Destroy every document or material even remotely connected to the BBC screening Mrs. Brown's Boys.
1) New series of Walking With Beasts, but not like the 2025 WWD with lots of cuts of digs, go back to the original nature show format.
2) Destroy every document or material even remotely connected to the BBC screening Mrs. Brown's Boys.
I'd like to be as optimistic as James that the government actually will seize this opportunity to reshape the BBC, but given both the context of this resignation and the government's attitude to this kind of thing so far, I'm not confident.
I mean - we should be grasping the nettle of reorientating the BBC and how its coveree the far right already.
But now youve been given it on a plate for the most absurd reason
But now youve been given it on a plate for the most absurd reason
November 9, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I'd like to be as optimistic as James that the government actually will seize this opportunity to reshape the BBC, but given both the context of this resignation and the government's attitude to this kind of thing so far, I'm not confident.
The buried lede right at the bottom is that basically all the criticism is coming from hard-right political figures with an anti-BBC axe to grind and all the serious journalists - including those often considered Tory-leaning like Robinson and Boulton - think it's all full of shit.
Why is the BBC expected to apologise over a Donald Trump speech edit?
Boris Johnson and White House criticise the corporation, but some journalists say criticism is part of campaign to destroy the BBC
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The buried lede right at the bottom is that basically all the criticism is coming from hard-right political figures with an anti-BBC axe to grind and all the serious journalists - including those often considered Tory-leaning like Robinson and Boulton - think it's all full of shit.
Deeply unserious country, one has to wonder what the point of a Labour government and an independent broadcaster is if a foreign far-right regime is allowed to dictate its output anyway.
All kinds of reasons Davie should have resigned before, but one whiff of anti-right-wing scandal and off he pops.
November 9, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Deeply unserious country, one has to wonder what the point of a Labour government and an independent broadcaster is if a foreign far-right regime is allowed to dictate its output anyway.
We clearly wouldn't find this logic convincing if A was gay/non-white/female/disabled and B speaking to C referred to A using homophobic/racist/sexist/ableist slurs.
Here's an example, just off the top of my head.
Student A is trans.
Student B, talking to student C *about* Student A, calls them by the wrong pronouns.
That is not speech targeted at Student A, despite being about them.
Student A is trans.
Student B, talking to student C *about* Student A, calls them by the wrong pronouns.
That is not speech targeted at Student A, despite being about them.
November 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
We clearly wouldn't find this logic convincing if A was gay/non-white/female/disabled and B speaking to C referred to A using homophobic/racist/sexist/ableist slurs.
The thing about Kate Clanchy's racism is that no-one noticed it until *she herself* pointed it out and drew attention to it!
Remember in 2018 when ‘gender critical’ transphobes (then called ‘TERFs’) cos-played as victims of the witch trials, and prefixed their names with ‘Goody’ as a #DARVO ploy?
It looks like Hadley Freeman is trying to resurrect that rhetoric… 🙄
👉 archive.ph/Sa9oe
It looks like Hadley Freeman is trying to resurrect that rhetoric… 🙄
👉 archive.ph/Sa9oe
November 9, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The thing about Kate Clanchy's racism is that no-one noticed it until *she herself* pointed it out and drew attention to it!