I don’t think “imagine World War II if the Brits and Russians hated each other” is so much “alternate history” as “yeah, duh, didn’t you pay attention in history class?” The British establishment very much saw collaborating with the USSR in the war effort as a deal with the devil. The Western Allies and the Soviets…

Nicolas II was an awful man who has been whitewashed due to the nature of his death.

Philip does not come from Nazis. Some of his sisters married Nazis. His mother and at least one sister were heavily involved in resistance work, and he was commended for bravery for his actions in the Royal Navy during WWII.

Actually, there is a line of scholarship that believes Richard III is innocent of the deaths of his nephews and would actually have nothing to gain by murdering them. This is explored at great length in the great Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Spoiler alert: History was written by the victors aka Henry Tudor aka…

I think it is easy to blame George V for what happened to the Romanovs. I think it is more complicated though. Nicolas II and Alexandra were related to most of not all of the Royal families in Europe, none of them helped either. And while his family did not deserve what happened to them, Nicolas II was an awful man…

I never knew that. I always had a soft spot for Edward because we’re almost exactly the same age and there were all these rumors that he’s gay. On what evidence I don’t know. I remember teen gayboy me thinking, “Wow, what if I met Edward and we hit it off?!”

Hey there, I agree with your overall position, but I would point out that all the apparent checks and balances in the US right now are doing very little by way of making people accountable. Seems like most of the rules up to now have been followed because it was honourable to do so. When you got a real scurrilous…

I feel the same way, Smith felt like an immature schoolboy in so many ways where Menzies feels matured, befitting a man in his forties.

Read the whole thread!

POI and The Expanse are the best sci-fi shows of this decade, easily-better than Orphan Black and definitely better than Black Mirror.

I think I speak for us all when I say: Where’s Firefly?

The Expanse should’ve been a slam-dunk inclusion.  

That’s not true. A lot of Americans have been critical of her. A lot of Americans really don’t have much sympathy for her either. I like her and Harry and wish them the best. But sometimes she comes across as fake and a bad actress. When she said she had no idea what she was getting into, I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t…

Balderdash. There is nothing they are reporting that’s even remotely sexist, xenophobic or racist. These are all talking points cooked up by her PR team. Do the people who make these claims even read the British press? Not likely. Of course William and Kate are not going to throw their support behind this ridiculous…

I live in a country with a monarchy and I love it when jezebel covers the british royal family because I like reading americans’ theories about the royals and their place in society. Some of those theories are really quite creative! And I’m fascinated by the strong feelings some people have about royals. Like why do…

What if some of the criticism against Megan Markle is valid? I think some of it is unfair, and some of it has a point, but americans refuse to listen to anything negative about her. 

The old heir/spare paradigm matters when we talk about who’s “revolutionizing the monarchy.” Harry seems eager to find a more comfortable and meaningful way to play the spare for the next 50 or 60 years. I wish him well: Andrew (as mentioned in the article) has been a disaster.

I don’t think Harry and Meghan are claiming to do anything but their perception by the media has been pushing that narrative. Harry married outside of his race and outside of British wealth, which of course was always going to be labeled as the most modern thing a royal could do (which truly is huge for them.) But…

Anne is apparently terrible fond of Edward, and the look on her face says she’s only there out of affection for her least-terrible brother.

I question the premise of the article’s contention (encouraged by Harry & Meghan at every opportunity) that they’re modernizing the monarchy. Kate & William have been undertaking that modernization since Meghan was a relatively unknown actress blogging about “Princess Kate” on the Tig. Their warmth, accessibility, and…