Ralph Leonard
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buffsoldier96.bsky.social
Ralph Leonard
@buffsoldier96.bsky.social
410 followers 88 following 88 posts
Promethean with Dionysian proclivities. Conservative Marxist. Red Devil. Bylines: Unherd, New Statesman, Sublation Magazine, Quillette and The Freethinker

"I drink your milkshake!"
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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.
quillette.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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.
quillette.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
I wrote an essay for @unherd.com on the roadman archetype

unherd.com/2025/12/cons...
Consider the roadman
unherd.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:44 PM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
I wrote an essay for @unherd.com on the roadman archetype

unherd.com/2025/12/cons...
Consider the roadman
unherd.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
"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,...
unherd.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
"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,...
unherd.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
transform6789.bsky.social
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)
December 14, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
One can get very addicted to Ghost of Yotei's photo mode.
October 28, 2025 at 2:22 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
One can get very addicted to Ghost of Yotei's photo mode.
October 28, 2025 at 2:22 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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-...
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...
unherd.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
serdarguenes.bsky.social
Is Christian revivalism at odds with nationalism?

By Ralph Leonard @buffsoldier96.bsky.social

unherd.com/newsroom/is-...
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...
unherd.com
October 26, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
Playing Ghost of Yotei
October 24, 2025 at 1:29 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
Playing Ghost of Yotei
October 24, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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...
Land of Wolves – The Last DVD
thelastdvd.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:11 PM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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...
Land of Wolves – The Last DVD
thelastdvd.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
unherd.com
‘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
A fading historical moment? / Babylon
unherd.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
northamptonian.bsky.social
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-...
Why the Right mythologises Windrush
unherd.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:17 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
"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...
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...
quillette.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:01 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
Portrait of a Young Spanish Woman by Anton Ebert (1880)
August 12, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
trujusticeleague.bsky.social
www.compactmag.com/article/the-... The Right Doesn’t Deserve the West | Compact @buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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
August 8, 2025 at 11:17 PM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
"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...
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...
unherd.com
July 22, 2025 at 6:54 PM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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
June 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Ralph Leonard
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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...
unherd.com
June 7, 2025 at 8:49 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
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...
unherd.com
June 7, 2025 at 8:49 AM
buffsoldier96.bsky.social
"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...
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...
unherd.com
May 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM