This, Again

When Leaders Vanish in a Crisis: Marie Antoinette, Nicholas II & Queen Elizabeth II

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When the world is burning, the most powerful people often have one job: show up. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s too little, too late. And sometimes, they don’t bother at all.

In this episode of This, Again, we’re looking at three centuries of leaders who vanished when their people needed them most — and what that absence cost them. From Marie Antoinette’s balcony gamble during the French Revolution, to Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication and brutal end, to Emperor Hirohito’s eerie silence and single broadcast, to the British Royal Family’s quiet misstep at the start of COVID — these are cautionary tales about the optics of leadership.

Along the way, we dig into the history of symbolic leadership, why monarchs morphed from rulers to figureheads, and how public expectations have shifted from balcony waves to livestreams.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • Why Marie Antoinette’s forced balcony moment briefly flipped mob rage into cheers.
  • How Nicholas II’s absence — and a fumbling abdication telegram — doomed the Romanovs.
  • The eerie impact of Hirohito’s Jewel Voice Broadcast, the first time the Japanese public heard their emperor speak.
  • Why the British Royals’ initial silence during COVID created a vacuum louder than words.
  • The psychology of symbolic leadership — and why absence reads as abandonment.
  • How public expectations of leaders have accelerated in the social media era.

    • Why It Matters:

    Because history keeps proving that in politics, the performance is the power. The moment you disappear from the stage, you risk losing the role entirely.

    This, Again? is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.

     

    For a full list of sources, visit https://thisagain.podbean.com/

     

    Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the cited texts with narrative license for clarity and flow.

    If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM @thisagainshow

     

    *** Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow ***

     

    Marie Antoinette & the French Revolution

    1. Tackett, Timothy. When the King Took Flight. Harvard University Press, 2003.
    2. Schama, Simon. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Vintage, 1989.
    3. Fraser, Antonia. Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Anchor Books, 2002.
    4. Price, Munro. The Road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the Fall of the French Monarchy. St. Martin’s Press, 2013.
    5. The Public Domain Review. “The Women’s March on Versailles, October 5–6, 1789.” Accessed 2024.

      6. Nicholas II & the Romanovs

      1. Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra. Ballantine Books, 1967.
      2. Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924. Penguin, 1997.
      3. Smith, Douglas. Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.
      4. Lieven, Dominic. Nicholas II: Emperor of All the Russias. St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
      5. The Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). “Abdication Telegram of Nicholas II,” March 15, 1917.
      6. Rappaport, Helen. The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra. St. Martin’s Press, 2014.
      7. King, Greg & Wilson, Penny. The Fate of the Romanovs. John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

        8. Emperor Hirohito & WWII

        1. Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. HarperCollins, 2000.
        2. Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
        3. Large, Stephen S. Emperor Hirohito and Shōwa Japan: A Political Biography. Routledge, 1991.
        4. Hata, Ikuhiko. “The Gyokuon-hōsō: The Emperor’s Broadcast of Surrender.” Japan Quarterly 42, no. 3 (1995).
        5. Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Random House, 1999.

          6. The British Royal Family & COVID-19

          1. The Guardian. “Queen’s coronavirus speech: ‘We will meet again’.” April 5, 2020.
          2. BBC News. “Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus.” March 25, 2020.
          3. The Guardian. “UK lockdown: children’s rainbows in windows raise spirits.” March 30, 2020.
          4. Toronto Star. “The Queen’s silence is a missed opportunity to connect.” March 2020.
          5. YouGov. “Reactions to the Queen’s coronavirus address.” April 2020.
          6. Townsend, Mark. The Monarchy and the Pandemic: How Britain’s Royal Family Responded to COVID-19. Guardian Feature, 2021.
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            This, AgainBy Mallory Faust