Alex von Tunzelmann

@alexvont

Historian, writer, broadcaster. She/her. Latest book, FALLEN IDOLS, shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2022. HISTORY’S SECRET HEROES and THE LUCAN OBSESSION on BBC Radio 4. One of the Silk Road Slippers

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Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir alexvont.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· 21d

More!

An orca with a broken boat: “Be a problem money can’t solve”

A happy orca: “El punk no ha muerto, es Gladys” - punk isn’t dead, it’s Gladys - the orca who took down yachts

An orca with an anarchy symbol: “fuck them yachts”

An orca in woodcut style surges up towards a yacht with the slogan “RISE”

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· 21d

Found some of my favourite orca memes. Need some new sunfish explosion ones

An orca exploding a yacht. Caption: “Kiss kiss, fuck your boat”

Orcas with caption: Born to swim. World is a fuck. Sink em all 2023. I am sea beast. 410,757,864,530 sunken ships

An orca and a capybara, both wearing Red Army hats, with a hammer and sickle and the slogan “En la tierra y el mar, a desalambrar!” - on land and at sea, cut down the fences

Communist meme of heads of Marx, Engels, Lenin and an orca

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· 21d

Orca vibes are very. Except Veronica Orca never gets cold feet. Orcas do not have feet.

Veronica and JD in the film Heathers, covered in blood after a series of murders

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· 24d

Cold glass of wine and a great big warm soppy cat. Like having a needy hot water bottle on my lap

Watching the football with a gigantic silver tabby cat on my lap. He is accepting love

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· 29d

I’m back on my bullshit mes copains 🇫🇷

Me in a bar in Paris with a French flag painted on my cheek and a massive great verre de vin blanc (it’s not actually that big, just close to the camera)

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jul 7

I mean, this should be an absolute minimum. And they won’t even do it. I hope @london.gov.uk will take action. At least we need legislation to force ebike companies to take responsibility for their product and their customers.

“The challenges I would like to put to Lime are: why do they refuse to put basic safe riding guidance and rules visibly on their bikes? Why do they not visibly number their bikes so that the public can report bad behaviour?” he says. He also believes it would be helpful if the company was able to limit the bicycle’s speed in pedestrian areas.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 28

It’s rare for foreign policy to shift domestic elections, but I think this explains why Israel-Palestine has become so salient. Israel’s war in Gaza posed the question of whether genocide can ever be a proportionate response. That is a fundamental moral litmus. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

After comparing the two Democrats, Manny Fidel, 34, a writer based in Brooklyn, said he ended up supporting Lander because of his views on Israel and Palestine, which he described as “the big issue of this race”.

“I liked how kind of clear-headed Brad is on that issue,” Fidel said. “It’s become kind of a litmus test for national elections here in the United States – and I think it should be. I think it’s the huge moral issue of our time.”

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 23

Already the case

Two very large cats. The front one looks mean. He isn’t. He’s a sweetie pie

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 23

Thought I had the moths in my flat under control after ripping out all the carpets. Then I discovered they’ve eaten their way through two cashmere sweaters, a merino cardigan and two wool skirts. I have today unleashed a new weapon: tiny parasitic wasps that hunt down moth eggs and devour them

A packet of 6000 parasitic wasps. Hungry for moth eggs. I hope.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 19

Very hot here. The cat has abandoned his dignity

A large longhaired silver tabby cat collapsed dramatically belly up on the floor between a drinking fountain and a fan, his legs in the air, furry tummy to the sky. He is fine.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 19

Yeah, not my favourite of his but it’s OK. It isn’t helped by the context: lots of extremely basic stuff that feels on the nose, very much the collection of a young rich guy trying to be cool but ending up generic. And a lot of it is just visually hideous, eg:

Several pieces of aggressively ugly art, all together. Lovely house though

Three grim framed prints that look awful together: Alice in Wonderland with a Tesco carrier bag, a ballerina with a handbag, some ugly graffiti

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 19

This is significant – and while the Makerfield byelection is unusual because it has such national significance, this chart indicates again that the anti-Reform bloc will vote tactically to keep them out. Source: www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

“There was very little movement between the and right voting blocs in Makerfield since 2024.” Chart compares 2024 general election result with 2026 byelection result. Combined Lab/Lib/Green vote is almost identical, though in 2026 almost all of it went to Burnham. Combined Con/Ref (and in 2026 Restore) vote is also almost identical, though in 2026 most of it went to Kenyon. Effectively very few people stuck to voting Lib Dem, Green or Tory.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 17

Screenshot of old tweet from Dril:

"This Whole Thing Smacks Of Gender," i holler as i overturn my uncle's barbeque grill and turn the 4th of July into the 4th of Shit

4:24 AM · Jun 16, 2012

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 16

It has just struck me that Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice is one of those rare rap songs in which the police turn up and are extremely helpful, neatly resolving the situation for the protagonist

Girls were hot wearing less than bikinis
Rockman lovers driving Lamborghinis
Jealous, 'cause I'm out getting mine
Shay with a gauge, and Vanilla with a nine
Ready for the chumps on the wall
The chumps acting ill because they're full of eight ball
Gunshots rang out like a bell
I grabbed my nine, all I heard were shells
Falling on the concrete real fast
Jumped in my car, slammed on the gas
Bumper to bumper, the avenue's packed
I'm trying to get away before the jackers jack
Police on the scene, you know what I mean
They passed me up, confronted all the dope fiends
If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 15

Yep. Bengal cats are bred to look like leopards. Maine Coons can get very large! Mine are much smaller than this behemoth on the right, but still about twice the size of a standard moggy. bsky.app/profile/samu...

A Bengal cat. It has lovely leopardy spots.

Zeus the Maine Coon. He is internet famous. He’s a black cat and here is being held up by a normal size person. He’s absurdly enormous, nearly her size.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 15

Though this did make me pause: “Police confirmed it was not a real cat.” OK, so what was it? A labrador? A VW Beetle? Michelle Pfeiffer in a pleather costume? We need more info

A "puma-sized cat" was also reported in Fairy Falls, Trefnant, Denbighshire on 25 October 2023, but no action was taken after an investigation by North Wales Police confirmed it was not a real cat.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 15

It’s a Maine Coon. It’s always a Maine Coon. Here are my two. They are just big housecats with pointy ears and people are excitable

Two Maine Coon cats, a silver tabby and a brown tabby, snuggled together on a bed. They have very lynx-like ears.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 13

Bluesky OGs @profaliceroberts.bsky.social, me and @lizzicollinge.bsky.social at the Festival of Humanism @humanists.uk in Bournemouth today!

In the Bournemouth sunshine under a sort of spiky palm tree thing, Professor Alice Roberts, Alex von Tunzelmann, and Lizzi Collinge MP.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 12

EXCUSE ME as a member of the bizarre protrudable jaw and really weird long snout community

Goblin sharks are “arguably the ugliest shark on the planet”, said Prof Culum Brown, an expert in fish at Macquarie University.

“They are ridiculously horrendous to look at,” Brown said. “Not even their mother would love their faces.”

He said “they have these really weird long noses” and “bizarre protrudable jaws, so when they detect prey with their long snout, their jaws can shoot forward and grab on to it”.

“It’s like something out of a horror movie.”

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 8

This is exactly it. The work is the point.

When I assign analysis, I am not trying to extract a polished product; I am trying to put the student’s mind through resistance in order to make it stronger. Offloading the struggle to a chatbot does not “free students up for higher-order work.” It deprives them of building the strength to do any substantial cognitive work at all.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· Jun 5

Old 2022 tweet from lauren: I’m not falling for that hot take. that’s clearly someone with a fetish for getting yelled at. i refuse to participate in that kind of perversion

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 28

Slightly recalls this, I think? Anyway a blackfooted cat is definitely Something I Can Never Have

The cover of Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 27

I note that the world’s deadliest cat starts adorable and grows into… omg it’s still just ridiculously adorable

A grown-up African black footed cat. It is absurdly cute. Also extremely deadly

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 27

Superstar @mike-eagle.bsky.social freestyling at the Jazz Cafe in Camden last night on the hottest day of ever

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 27

Congrats to the fabulous @katewilliamsme.bsky.social on the launch of her new history of royal women last night in the boiling London heat. Sadly she rejected my helpful suggestion to call it The Regina Monologues and just called it Regina. It’ll still be brilliant 👑

Professor Kate Williams in a gorgeous red gown celebrating the launch of Regina with me, Alex von T, in a black jumpsuit. We are melting a bit. Hottest May day ever

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 22

Thrilled to hold a Silk Road Slippers creative writing workshop this week at gorgeous Charleston Fest. Spot me in the pic below. If you fancy joining a free online sampler, email shopsilkroadslippers@gmail.com – there’s one on 7 June, 2pm UK time. More info on our courses: www.silkroadslippers.com

A sideboard at Charleston with a bust of Virginia Woolf and some nearly empty booze bottles (left by the Bloomsbury Group, not me). I’m visible in the mirror next to Ginny.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 16

I like how the thumbnail is just NOSE

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 16

Also very The Economist: sending multiple reporters to Vietnam to do two one-line interviews with sleazy western men who are almost certainly available online, plus one one-line interview with one of their partners, then write a very short article about it.

Our reporters travelled to Vietnam to research this story. Hear what they discovered on our narrative podcast, “The Weekend Intelligence”.

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont· May 15

This is exactly the phenomenon I was discussing in my thread yesterday (will attach below). Even if you can show a video is faked with AI, some people just don’t care - as long as it supports what they want to believe.