Jack Blackburn
@hackblackburn.bsky.social
📤 4766
📥 1095
📝 1613
History Correspondent and Deputy Diary Editor for The Times
pinned post!
🚨 PERSONAL NEWS 🚨 Am formally taking over The Times Diary as Diary Editor & History Correspondent for
@thetimes.com
. I’ll be working from Westminster, and it’s a privilege to take on what Ed Balls recently described as “probably the most impactful national newspaper diary”.
4 months ago
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reposted by
Jack Blackburn
Emma Yeomans
about 18 hours ago
Writing this I had to look through Grok's mentions. Earlier I counted around 8 requests PER MINUTE featuring "bikini" and "her". Thousands of women and girls stripped each day. I found users stripping dozens of women per hour, from female celebrities to gym selfies.
www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...
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MPs urge boycott of Elon Musk’s X over Grok AI’s undressing
The call to end use of X for official government communication follows posts of digitally undressed women and children that may have broken UK law
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/mps-boycott-elon-musk-x-grok-ai-zvjth9383
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Spotted on train - a very dapper James Cleverly (hat, smart coat, red socks) Nearly missed his stop as he was engrossed in solving a Rubik’s Cube Seemed like the trickiest part of the puzzle was trying to get all the blues on one side
about 22 hours ago
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Oh we all had a history teacher who was like this
1 day ago
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Before Jack the Ripper, there came the Thames Torso Murderer. A brutal, cold killer responsible for at least four murders in London, this forgotten figure was never identified. Have Lucy Worsley and a team of researchers finally solved the case?
www.thetimes.com/article/3251...
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Lucy Worsley: We’ve solved the other Jack the Ripper-era mystery
The historian believes her team have uncovered the identity of the Thames Torso Murderer — Victorian London’s lesser-known, but just as vicious, serial killer
https://www.thetimes.com/article/3251675c-e7e2-4ec4-992f-cdadc632e2a6?shareToken=943d4b41a5271644518e46be13212e08
1 day ago
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My political predictions for the year
1 day ago
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Producers of The Traitors: “We’ve introduced a new twist to the format. It changes everything! This is revolutionary! The greatest show on telly just for greater!” Three episodes in: “On second thoughts…”
1 day ago
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Someone has already pitched the sitcom
2 days ago
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Sitting with my son on my lap as he laughed his little head off to the first Paddington film was very heaven
3 days ago
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Very much enjoying the number of readers who are failing to see that this is a joke
add a skeleton here at some point
5 days ago
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Will there be a Labour leadership contest this year? Yes - it’s written in the stars. This and more in today’s Times Diary
www.thetimes.com/article/9cfc...
5 days ago
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reposted by
Jack Blackburn
It’s the @TimesDiary Quotes of the Year, taking in politics, Trump, culture and more Wisecracks and wisdom: the best quotations of 2025
www.thetimes.com/article/930d...
6 days ago
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It’s the @TimesDiary Quotes of the Year, taking in politics, Trump, culture and more Wisecracks and wisdom: the best quotations of 2025
www.thetimes.com/article/930d...
6 days ago
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reposted by
Jack Blackburn
“Sure he did the long walk to freedom, ended Apartheid and became one of the world’s greatest statesmen, but that’s his job!”
7 days ago
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“Sure he did the long walk to freedom, ended Apartheid and became one of the world’s greatest statesmen, but that’s his job!”
7 days ago
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This was the most extraordinary story from this year’s National Archives releases The papers on the royals Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor which vanished while we were reporting on them Cabinet Office accused of royal cover-up after Andrew files withdrawn
www.thetimes.com/article/59d9...
7 days ago
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The Pope has condemned gambling. I didn’t have that on my 2025 bingo card.
7 days ago
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EXC: Harold Godwinson’s lost royal palace - has it finally been found? Me in @thetimes, previewing the new series of Digging for Britain Has dig unearthed Harold Godwinson’s palace?
www.thetimes.com/article/c087...
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Has dig unearthed Harold Godwinson’s palace?
Archaeologists believe that a hall found on the site of Skipsea Castle in Yorkshire may have belonged to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England
https://www.thetimes.com/article/c087ec5a-5650-4c0c-8f87-2d60d2bc7016?shareToken=923b4db0ee0e736377e91f1b8d6edf5c
8 days ago
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In case you have a spare hour, here’s my Christmas Day show on Times Radio:
www.thetimes.com/radio/show/2...
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
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Viewing plans for this evening 11.30pm: Watch England bat first at the MCG 1am: Exchange that horror show for the comparative calm of new Stranger Things
12 days ago
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Merry Christmas one and all! May you be surrounded by joy and love!
12 days ago
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Having necklaces in the Anne Boleyn Collection seems a little insensitive
14 days ago
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It’s a week to go! By which I mean, it’s a week until I host the Times Radio Christmas lunch. Such a fun time with
@wlyons.bsky.social
,
@charlotteivers.bsky.social
and
@elodieharper.bsky.social
with fine wine, history, food and tips to get you through Christmas Day and beyond. 1pm, Xmas Day
19 days ago
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This weekend, we had some beautiful carols in a beautiful setting with a beautiful boy
#christmas
#toddler
#carols
22 days ago
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There was something of an incident on my train home last night, while waiting for the train to depart. Two, older if not elderly women were sat and playing music* out loud. Another woman objected. The initial pair didn’t take this well.
26 days ago
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reposted by
Jack Blackburn
Turi King
about 1 month ago
Nice article in
@thetimes.com
by
@hackblackburn.bsky.social
about my unusual career path and how I came to be involved leading the genetic analysis of Hitler's DNA.
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I am on today’s edition of The Story from @thetimes explaining the ins and outs of the sequencing of Hitler’s DNA
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
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Hitler’s shocking DNA discovery – the Sunday Story
Podcast Episode · The Story · 16/11/2025 · 32m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-story/id1501716010?i=1000736910563
about 2 months ago
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Would have been 80 today. So dearly miss you daddy
about 2 months ago
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Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists It has: - shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development - debunked rumours about his ancestry - shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
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Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which hinders normal puberty and the development of sexual organs, according to groundbreaking research
https://www.thetimes.com/article/e7284add-ded2-4e9c-bc09-9c45e2fa12de?shareToken=598f3255c493bd3b20536616b4ed3245
about 2 months ago
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Nick Mohamed’s national popularity just seesawed like a six year old on sweets
#thecelebritytraitors
2 months ago
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"This inattention to detail was typical of the laziness the show’s narrator was known for. Real shoddy narrating. Just pure crap."
2 months ago
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In my Times Diary this morning… Reform are pursuing a “Millwall” strategy
www.thetimes.com/article/aa6b...
2 months ago
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The historical symmetry of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor ending up in Sandringham Where will Andrew live in Sandringham? Estate has its own troubled past
www.thetimes.com/article/0680...
2 months ago
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As promised on Times Radio, Jilly Cooper’s dirty joke (or one of them at any rate)
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Wes Streeting “forgot” to include the Tories in his conference speech This and more in today’s @TimesDiary Including Jeremy King on dress codes and a campaign to get Bertie Wooster recognised at Oxford Wes Streeting forgets to sing the blues
www.thetimes.com/article/9017...
3 months ago
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It’s difficult to describe the mood of anticipation at Tory Conference ahead of Badenoch’s speech. Very difficult. Electron microscopes would struggle to detect it.
3 months ago
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Penny Mordaunt on plans for a comeback: “I’m styling myself as National Treasure and MP on sabbatical”
3 months ago
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No, no, I think there’s not enough puppetry work in modern political oratory.
3 months ago
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Robert Jenrick gets a (gradually) standing ovation and one of the higher attendance figures garnered this week. Still plenty of seats available…
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3 months ago
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Manchester United get a shout out from Laura Trott at Tory Conference. A once titanic force which has fallen into mediocrity, a shadow of its former self, harking back to memories of past glories… Do your own punchline
3 months ago
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James Cleverly is a master of spin. Pours a pint (on the second attempt) which is one quarter head - says it’s for Oktoberfest
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3 months ago
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I have multiple Jilly stories, but one is her favourite joke. Three upper middle class women meet on a train, get chatting and then start boasting about their husbands…
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Devastated to hear that Jilly Cooper has died. Even just meeting her in passing, she was just the most wonderful woman.
3 months ago
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Not saying it’s already been a long conference, but James Cleverly is on the Guinness at 10.25am
3 months ago
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reposted by
Jack Blackburn
Stephen Bush
3 months ago
add a skeleton here at some point
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Tories remain top of the props. Hacks at the party conference have received a goodie bag with Haribo and chocolate and also a fake fat packet with Reform’s manifesto written on it. Very good, though a hangover cure which depicts someone in blue just clinging on to life might backfire a little
3 months ago
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Jess Phillips is a sellout… at the conference bookshop at least. There are no copies to be had of her memoir. Wes Streeting’s is selling well. Even a biog of Tony Blair has sold a few. What isn’t selling? Keir Starmer’s biography.
3 months ago
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Jess Phillips is a sellout… at the conference bookshop at least. There are no copies to be had of her memoir. Wes Streeting’s is selling well. Even a biog of Tony Blair has sold a few. What isn’t selling? Keir Starmer’s biography.
3 months ago
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Andy Burnham leads in the wrong direction, and Labour remains able to “agree disagreeably” All in my
#LabourConference2025
Diary for
@thetimes.com
Burnham’s abortive coup dissolves into thin air
www.thetimes.com/article/07a7...
3 months ago
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For those still up… Farewell to Andy Burnham’s leadership challenge… we hardly knew thee Burnham’s abortive coup dissolves into thin air
www.thetimes.com/article/07a7...
3 months ago
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Khan calls for regional powers to have rent controls
3 months ago
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