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Alex von Tunzelmann

@alexvont.bsky.social

40K followers 3.1K following 7K posts

Historian, screenwriter, 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 https://www.silkroadslippers.com

www.silkroadslippers.com

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · Oct 28

Fifty years ago, a possibly mistaken murder and the disappearance of a playboy aristocrat gripped the nation. My documentary The Lucan Obsession starts this lunchtime at 1.45pm on BBC Radio 4. Or you can binge all 10 eps (they’re only 15 mins each) on BBC Sounds now. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Graphic for The Lucan Obsession, featuring Lord Lucan, the Houses of Parliament, and a roulette wheel.

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Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann

Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 3h

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio, first broadcast yesterday but ageing well. @alexvont.bsky.social and @robinlustig.bsky.social on two years since October 7th and other matters, plus Lieutenant General Sir Barney White-Spunner on his fine new book "Nations In Arms". monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Two years into the Israel-Hamas war, what’s the best-case scenario from here? - Monocle

We discuss the course of the war in Gaza two years on from the Hamas attacks and the best-case scenario...

monocle.com

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

> combined with a fashion swing away from the (also unachievable for most people) curvaceous body shapes of the Kardashians etc. These trends seem to me more attributable to factors such as the rise in AI use for picture retouching/image generation, creating new expectations of “perfection”.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

I agree with your subjective observation: my argument is that this isn’t caused by the drugs per se. I actually doubt it’s even fully attributable to a cultural response to the drugs, though that may be part of it. I think it’s to do with a regressive cultural trend against diversity & “wokeness” >

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

As a hormonal treatment it’s a long term commitment. If you stop taking any hormonal treatments – HRT, contraceptives, etc – they stop working. But yes, exercise to counter any potential muscle/bone issues is essential. Many people find that easier when they’re carrying less weight.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

Yes: the medical profession is also shot through with fatphobia, so there is currently a lot of “you should lose weight but we’re not going to help you, get on your bike (NB we know from long experience that getting on your bike really does not work for most people)”

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

Yes, as I’ve said elsewhere I think medical marketing generally is an extremely dubious field. Ideally, I’d like all healthcare to be administered through well regulated healthcare channels.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

What you’re describing, though, is a response to the drugs in a profoundly fatphobic environment. The problem there is the fatphobia, not the drugs. As discussed elsewhere in this thread, a fatphobic society will always find ways to try to shame fat people, whether they take the drugs or not.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

Exactly. This is how you know it’s pure fatphobic prejudice: fat people who choose to take the drugs are cheating and looking for an easy way out, fat people who choose not to take the drugs won’t help themselves and deserve whatever they get. There’s always a way to shame fat people!

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

Gosh, yes, didn’t know you were here! Hello!

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

To be fair, though, at least 80% of people who try to lose weight with diet & exercise fail to keep it off over 12 months or more. It’s extremely hard to sustain and most people can’t.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 5h

Yes - the injections are also a long term treatment because as others have said on this thread, they’re a hormonal treatment. If you stop taking them, you will likely regain most of the weight, just as if you stop taking contraceptives you may get pregnant. They’re not a permanent fix: nothing is!

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

Yes - I was working within the character limit above but added “often” to hedge a bit on the hormonal front, because I don’t want to be too simplistic about this. It’s probably a complicated mix of factors. We don’t know where the “food noise” comes from – possibly that too has a hormonal aspect.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

I’ve seen some comments verging on that in the fat acceptance community, though you can find people saying pretty much anything somewhere if you try, of course

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

I’m so glad for you that it has been positive! And yes, I think drug marketing generally is very sketchy: not just relating to these drugs, but across the board.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

What we really need is to treat all humans as human and deserving of dignity, but sadly I don’t think there’s any drug that can do that.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

Of course! Unfortunately because we’re in a fatphobic society, people are finding a variety of fatphobic ways to respond to the drugs – both to people who take them and to people who don’t take them, because both those classes are inherently seen as fat people who deserve shame and punishment.

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

Honestly I think some people are deeply wedded to toxic ideas around weight, eg that slim = virtuous, fat = lazy & ill-disciplined. These drugs are fundamentally threatening to that, because what they show is nope: it’s often hormonal, & almost anyone can lose weight if they just tweak that balance

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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 6h

These drugs are transformative for many people and the judginess is exhausting. It’s fine for people to take medication to make them healthier! It’s also fine if they’re taking it because they’d prefer to be slimmer! That’s their business!

Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 9h

When judgy people like to judge Ozempic users, I always cite my pal James who was *not well* and now is. (Also he thinks he looks hot, no question) www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

I’ve lost 4 stone on Wegovy. Now I look like a weedy nerd

At 38 James Ball was overweight, suffering from sky-high blood pressure. Fifteen months later, he’s buying a new wardrobe — and has no plans to give up his jabs

www.thetimes.com

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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 8h

This is my basic theory for a lot of what is going on with the centre right atm

The ideas failed utterly and now there is a total crisis of intellectual confidence

Indy @indy.bsky.social · 1d

It nags at me that people are dancing around the fact that one reason centre-right think-tanks are in an intellectual crisis moment is because we've spent over a decade where lots of their ideas were tried out and didn't pan out as advertised.

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Reposted by Alex von Tunzelmann

Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 22h

This lurid headline is about British tourists no longer getting away with overstaying in Schengen. Or being 'illegals', as it's often called in the UK.

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Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 23h

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 1d

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 1d

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Mia Brett @queenmab.bsky.social · 1d

Its been 2 yrs. I still grieve those murdered on 10/7 by Hamas & the people held hostage. But even today we must focus on urgently ending this genocide. We cant grieve those murdered on 10/7 w/o also grieving those who have been killed since by Israel. They are connected crimes

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

eventually politicians need to start advocating for criminal and civil penalties for people involved in fabricating stories to get citizens incarcerated.

or, put another way: a society that would like to keep functioning has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 1d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 1d

Am wondering if all of those suddenly deciding they’re against communities living “parallel lives” might reconsider their support of religious schools? Or indeed private ones?

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