Ralph Leonard

The Strange Death of English Justice The proposed abolition of jury trials for most crimes undermines an ancient English liberty that has protected the people against state tyranny for centuries.

I've written an essay on juries as a "civic shield against the Damoclean sword of state power" via @quillette.bsky.social

quillette.com/2025/12/23/t...

The Strange Death of English Justice The proposed abolition of jury trials for most crimes undermines an ancient English liberty that has protected the people against state tyranny for centuries.

I've written an essay on juries as a "civic shield against the Damoclean sword of state power" via @quillette.bsky.social

quillette.com/2025/12/23/t...

Consider the roadman

I wrote an essay for @unherd.com on the roadman archetype

unherd.com/2025/12/cons...

Consider the roadman

I wrote an essay for @unherd.com on the roadman archetype

unherd.com/2025/12/cons...

Rob Reiner’s liberal optimism shaped a generation of cinema With the notable exception of the US president, liberals and conservatives came together to express their condolences at the tragic death of Rob Reiner. No matter what they thought about his politics,...

"The liberal idealist ethos based on the earnestness of ordinary people that ran through all his best films will endure."

I've written a tribute to the late Rob Reiner for
@unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/rob...

Rob Reiner’s liberal optimism shaped a generation of cinema With the notable exception of the US president, liberals and conservatives came together to express their condolences at the tragic death of Rob Reiner. No matter what they thought about his politics,...

"The liberal idealist ethos based on the earnestness of ordinary people that ran through all his best films will endure."

I've written a tribute to the late Rob Reiner for
@unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/rob...

Christopher Hitchens on Noam Chomsky: "He forgets he's an anarchist just when it might do him some good."

(via @buffsoldier96.bsky.social on the other site)

One can get very addicted to Ghost of Yotei's photo mode.

One can get very addicted to Ghost of Yotei's photo mode.

Is Christian revivalism at odds with nationalism? This week Reform UK’s only black branch chair, Neville Watson, quit. While he said he hadn’t faced any racism, he said the tenor of Britain’s migration debate is “doing more harm than good”, citing fe...

My latest piece for @unherd.com
on the tensions between 'Christian nationalism' & the universalism of Christianity (supposedly being revived) vis-à-vis immigration.

unherd.com/newsroom/is-...

Thank you.

Is Christian revivalism at odds with nationalism? This week Reform UK’s only black branch chair, Neville Watson, quit. While he said he hadn’t faced any racism, he said the tenor of Britain’s migration debate is “doing more harm than good”, citing fe...

Is Christian revivalism at odds with nationalism?

By Ralph Leonard @buffsoldier96.bsky.social

unherd.com/newsroom/is-...

Playing Ghost of Yotei

Playing Ghost of Yotei

I recently wrote an essay on Denis Villeneuve's Sicario & it's relevance a decade on, especially in Trump 2.0 for
@thelastdvd, a new online journal about world cinema set up by Indian cinephiles

thelastdvd.com/land-of-wolv...

I recently wrote an essay on Denis Villeneuve's Sicario & it's relevance a decade on, especially in Trump 2.0 for
@thelastdvd, a new online journal about world cinema set up by Indian cinephiles

thelastdvd.com/land-of-wolv...

Why the Right mythologises Windrush A fading historical moment? / Babylon

‘Being Anglo-Nigerian myself, I'm just about old enough to remember when British blackness was Caribbean in character’ | Ralph Leonard
unherd.com/2025/10/why-the-right-mythologises-windrush/

Why the Right mythologises Windrush

By @buffsoldier96.bsky.social who ought to cross post on here. I don’t read enough right wing stuff to know if it’s true or not, but when someone of Caribbean heritage is in the local paper for some crime, the comments are still poisonous.

unherd.com/2025/10/why-...

Setting Man Free from Men Tiffany Jenkins’ new book is a passionate defence of the value of privacy. The ability to keep some things private is at the heart of human creativity, freedom, and happiness, she argues. Perhaps even...

"It is crucial for human freedom, indeed for a civilised society, to acknowledge that human beings aren’t simply political or communal animals."

I reviewed Tiffany Jenkins' illuminating history of privacy/private life via @quillette.bsky.social

quillette.com/2025/08/29/s...

Portrait of a Young Spanish Woman by Anton Ebert (1880)

The Right Doesn’t Deserve the West One of the great lines from Goethe’s Faust states: “What you inherit from your forbears, must be earned before it is owned.” Today’s anti-woke culture warriors would do well to heed this lesson.

www.compactmag.com/article/the-... The Right Doesn’t Deserve the West | Compact @buffsoldier96.bsky.social

The Mehdi Hasan Jubilee debate was made for outrage If you want to lose any remaining faith in the idea of lively, good-faith civil discourse, just watch the latest episode of Jubilee’s YouTube series Surrounded. This time, it was former MSNBC host Meh...

"Jubilee’s Surrounded is a warped caricature of modern debate. It’s more of a game show than a forum for political dialogue."

I've written about Mehdi Hasan going at it with semi-literate fascists on Jubilee's "Surrounded" via
@unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/the...

That time when the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann was followed by a policeman in Genoa because they thought he was Lenin (he got that comparison a lot).

Source: his autobiography

Burkas are regressive and misogynistic — but they shouldn't be banned Last week at Prime Minister’s Questions, Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin asked Keir Starmer whether he would consider banning the Muslim face veil “in the interests of public safety”. It brought to mind Fran...

I wrote something on the argument over whether Britain should ban the Muslim face veil via @unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/bur...

Burkas are regressive and misogynistic — but they shouldn't be banned Last week at Prime Minister’s Questions, Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin asked Keir Starmer whether he would consider banning the Muslim face veil “in the interests of public safety”. It brought to mind Fran...

I wrote something on the argument over whether Britain should ban the Muslim face veil via @unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/bur...

Gary Lineker exit has exposed BBC’s double standards The BBC has long found itself in a tough spot regarding the question of Israel and Palestine. Supporters of Israel have alleged that the corporation’s coverage of the war in Gaza is biased against the...

"the BBC permitted Lineker to criticise the human rights record of Qatar when the World Cup was held there; why should the line be drawn when he publicly takes issue with Israel’s human rights abuses?"

My take on the Gary Lineker situation via
@unherd.com

unherd.com/newsroom/gar...

Trump's film tariffs will backfire on Hollywood “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” was how Trump concluded — with all caps — a vague and grandstanding post announcing that his administration wishes to impose tariffs of 100% on films “coming i...

I've written for @unherd.com on Trump's proposed tariffs for "films produced in foreign lands" and how if it actually happened it would backfire, and, if it led to counter-tariffs, create a big problem for Hollywood.

unherd.com/newsroom/tru...

And that bitchiness is perhaps what will make America not just politically, but culturally isolated.

He really is a just bitchy showbiz guy at heart — and his populism stems from being rejected by pop culture elites

cc: @sharonk.bsky.social