Alice Bateman
@alicebateman.bsky.social
Freelance writer. Quondam Accountant. Alumna Balliol College Oxford and UCL SSEES
All things to do with Eastern and Central European. Occasional cricket tweets
All things to do with Eastern and Central European. Occasional cricket tweets
From Austria-Hungary to Dua Lipa. A few thoughts on disputed borderlands and pop music
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
January 8, 2026 at 5:03 PM
From Austria-Hungary to Dua Lipa. A few thoughts on disputed borderlands and pop music
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
Russia is not winning and this needs to be more clearly understood
sianushka.substack.com/p/russias-gr...
sianushka.substack.com/p/russias-gr...
Russia's greatest disinfo campaign
They're not winning the war. And some other thoughts about where we are.
sianushka.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Russia is not winning and this needs to be more clearly understood
sianushka.substack.com/p/russias-gr...
sianushka.substack.com/p/russias-gr...
Reposted by Alice Bateman
Get ahead with your holiday greetings 🎄💙
Donate £10+ to support the Ukrainian Institute London and receive a pack of 5 limited-edition Christmas cards ✨
How it works:
• 💛 Donate: justgiving.com/charity/ukrainianinstitutelondon
• ✉️ Email your address to info@uil.org.uk
• 📬 Get your card pack!
Donate £10+ to support the Ukrainian Institute London and receive a pack of 5 limited-edition Christmas cards ✨
How it works:
• 💛 Donate: justgiving.com/charity/ukrainianinstitutelondon
• ✉️ Email your address to info@uil.org.uk
• 📬 Get your card pack!
November 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Get ahead with your holiday greetings 🎄💙
Donate £10+ to support the Ukrainian Institute London and receive a pack of 5 limited-edition Christmas cards ✨
How it works:
• 💛 Donate: justgiving.com/charity/ukrainianinstitutelondon
• ✉️ Email your address to info@uil.org.uk
• 📬 Get your card pack!
Donate £10+ to support the Ukrainian Institute London and receive a pack of 5 limited-edition Christmas cards ✨
How it works:
• 💛 Donate: justgiving.com/charity/ukrainianinstitutelondon
• ✉️ Email your address to info@uil.org.uk
• 📬 Get your card pack!
Very much enjoying this book on living in a land that once belonged to someone else - full of insights. I know parts of Lower Silesia well but learned so many new things
November 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Very much enjoying this book on living in a land that once belonged to someone else - full of insights. I know parts of Lower Silesia well but learned so many new things
The Archdiocese of Krakow has a new Archbishop and Marek Jedraszwski is to retire. I don't think he will be missed.
tvp.info/89601237/met...
tvp.info/89601237/met...
Zostawił Kościół podzielony. Arcybiskup Jędraszewski odchodzi na emeryturę
Kazał z ambony „dziękować Bogu za braci Kaczyńskich”, mówił o „tęczowej zarazie” i konsekwentnie popychał Kościół w stronę polityki. Podzielił...
tvp.info
November 26, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The Archdiocese of Krakow has a new Archbishop and Marek Jedraszwski is to retire. I don't think he will be missed.
tvp.info/89601237/met...
tvp.info/89601237/met...
Reposted by Alice Bateman
Some notable things in what's being called the "Trump peace plan" but which could not have been more clearly written in Moscow if it came with a 2 for 1 deal on tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet. 🧵
November 21, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Some notable things in what's being called the "Trump peace plan" but which could not have been more clearly written in Moscow if it came with a 2 for 1 deal on tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet. 🧵
November 21, 2025 at 8:59 AM
To the soundtrack of clattering wickets I have posted this, a look at Hungarian links to Turkey and their ideological implications. All with a nod to a historian whose work I admire
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
HUNGARY AND THE YEARNING FOR CENTRAL ASIA
Hungary, Turkey and Imagined Affinities
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:55 AM
To the soundtrack of clattering wickets I have posted this, a look at Hungarian links to Turkey and their ideological implications. All with a nod to a historian whose work I admire
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
I am old enough to remember the Strangeways Riot of 1990 when informed commentators said that the then prison population of 40,000 was unsustainable. It has more than doubled since and politicians don't seem to have lost their appetite for ever longer sentences. New thinking is desperately needed
New post just out:
Why the criminal justice system should be top of No. 10's "shit list".
No part of the public sector is more broken or brings with it greater political risk. As we saw these past two weeks.
It desperately needs a new approach.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/f...
Why the criminal justice system should be top of No. 10's "shit list".
No part of the public sector is more broken or brings with it greater political risk. As we saw these past two weeks.
It desperately needs a new approach.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/f...
Flashing Red
Why the criminal justice system should be top of No. 10's "shit list"
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I am old enough to remember the Strangeways Riot of 1990 when informed commentators said that the then prison population of 40,000 was unsustainable. It has more than doubled since and politicians don't seem to have lost their appetite for ever longer sentences. New thinking is desperately needed
On my Substack - a few thoughts inspired by one of my favourite Polish films
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
THE BEADS OF ONE ROSARY
Of Mining, Change and Cultural Identity in Polish Silesia
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM
On my Substack - a few thoughts inspired by one of my favourite Polish films
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
New on my Substack, grassroots football and language in a Silesian village
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
WHERE GERMAN IS STILL SPOKEN
Grassroots Football and the Politics of Language
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:50 PM
New on my Substack, grassroots football and language in a Silesian village
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
New on my Substack a piece about an East German sports car (and it was as fast as many western sports cars of the time)
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
THE PORSCHE OF THE EAST
My personal Substack
open.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM
New on my Substack a piece about an East German sports car (and it was as fast as many western sports cars of the time)
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
In the High Tatras today, the symbolic cemetery of those who died in the mountains including the Polish composer Mieczysław Karłowicz and the view towards Rysy from Popradske Pleso
August 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
In the High Tatras today, the symbolic cemetery of those who died in the mountains including the Polish composer Mieczysław Karłowicz and the view towards Rysy from Popradske Pleso
Reposted by Alice Bateman
11–22 August | Online or in London
Whether you’re a student, working professional or reconnecting with your heritage — this intensive is for you.
• No experience needed
• Small, friendly evening classes
• Join in person or online
Spots are limited — book now:
👉 uil.org.uk/language-school
Whether you’re a student, working professional or reconnecting with your heritage — this intensive is for you.
• No experience needed
• Small, friendly evening classes
• Join in person or online
Spots are limited — book now:
👉 uil.org.uk/language-school
August 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
11–22 August | Online or in London
Whether you’re a student, working professional or reconnecting with your heritage — this intensive is for you.
• No experience needed
• Small, friendly evening classes
• Join in person or online
Spots are limited — book now:
👉 uil.org.uk/language-school
Whether you’re a student, working professional or reconnecting with your heritage — this intensive is for you.
• No experience needed
• Small, friendly evening classes
• Join in person or online
Spots are limited — book now:
👉 uil.org.uk/language-school
On liking Becherovka and a musings on Czech history. New on my Substack
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
THE LOGIC OF THE CONCRETE
Taking The Waters in Bohemia
open.substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
On liking Becherovka and a musings on Czech history. New on my Substack
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
I have written about one of my favourite places, the Tatras and an obscure nineteenth century border dispute that continues to resonate.
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
THE DISPUTE OVER MORSKIE OKO
Personal Disputes and International Borders
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 8:10 AM
I have written about one of my favourite places, the Tatras and an obscure nineteenth century border dispute that continues to resonate.
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
What a mess this all is. The sort of ineptitude and unforced error that weaken the PM and weaken the Government which, as were saying this time last year, MUST succeed
July 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM
What a mess this all is. The sort of ineptitude and unforced error that weaken the PM and weaken the Government which, as were saying this time last year, MUST succeed
Winners and losers in the Polish presidential election:
Winners - Russia
Losers - Polish women
In fact all of Poland loses as their country will be represented in the international arena by an unrepentant former football hooligan whose honesty and integrity are under serious question.
Winners - Russia
Losers - Polish women
In fact all of Poland loses as their country will be represented in the international arena by an unrepentant former football hooligan whose honesty and integrity are under serious question.
June 2, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Winners and losers in the Polish presidential election:
Winners - Russia
Losers - Polish women
In fact all of Poland loses as their country will be represented in the international arena by an unrepentant former football hooligan whose honesty and integrity are under serious question.
Winners - Russia
Losers - Polish women
In fact all of Poland loses as their country will be represented in the international arena by an unrepentant former football hooligan whose honesty and integrity are under serious question.
I chanced today on the ceremony to unveil a blue plaque to Gerard Manley Hopkins on the house in Barmouth, once owned by the Jesuits, where he spent several holidays, the first in 1875.
May 31, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I chanced today on the ceremony to unveil a blue plaque to Gerard Manley Hopkins on the house in Barmouth, once owned by the Jesuits, where he spent several holidays, the first in 1875.
Solidarity with Ukraine on the narrow gauge Corris Railway in Wales. A very scenic and enjoyable trip too!
May 31, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Solidarity with Ukraine on the narrow gauge Corris Railway in Wales. A very scenic and enjoyable trip too!
THE REPUBLIC OF ZAKOPANE
The Age of Short Lived Microstates
open.substack.com
May 28, 2025 at 8:03 AM
I watched the Polish presidential debate on Monday, if you can call it a debate. Most depressing was the evident contempt several of the candidates had for each other. Do not expect the new president to heal a fractured nation. Hyper partisanship will continue.
May 14, 2025 at 9:19 AM
I watched the Polish presidential debate on Monday, if you can call it a debate. Most depressing was the evident contempt several of the candidates had for each other. Do not expect the new president to heal a fractured nation. Hyper partisanship will continue.
Was Copenicus actually a Pole? And does the question even mean anything?
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
Who Are the Poles?
Jestesmy Polakami – Ja Wir Auch
open.substack.com
March 31, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Was Copenicus actually a Pole? And does the question even mean anything?
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...
open.substack.com/pub/alicebat...