The John Batchelor Show

1842 KABUL Military Warnings Unheeded Before Kabul Evacuation Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson, authors of Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End, Part One: Diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad negotiates the 2020 Doha agreement with the Taliban, marginalizing the Afghan national government. Although military leaders strongly urge retaining Bagram Airfield as...

Ancient Proxy Wars Precede Bronze Collapse Eric H. Cline, Part Two: The Amarna archive exposes intense proxy warfare between Egypt and the Hittite Empireacross Canaanite city-states. King Rib-Hadda of Byblos writes over 60 desperate letters pleading for Egyptian archers against Hittite-backed rulers Abdi-Ashirta and Aziru of Amurru. Concurrently, Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem reports constant siege and r...

1842 Bronze Age Clay Tablets Uncover Diplomacy Eric H. Cline, author of Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed, Part One: Discovered in 1886 at Amarna, Egypt, the Amarna letters consist of roughly 380 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform from the 14th century BCE. British Egyptologists Archibald Henry Sayce and E. A. Wallis Budge...

1658 NEW MODEL ARMY Rogue Diplomat Shifts Allegiance To King Dennis Sewell, Part Two: In 1655, George Downing negotiates a secret treaty with France's Cardinal Mazarin, conducting late-night discussions entirely in Latin. Later appointed ambassador to Holland, Downing conducts economic espionage to undermine Dutch commercial maritime dominance. Following Oliver Cromwell's death and the collapse of...

CAPTION 1653 CROMWELL MOCKED Harvard Scholar Leads Cromwell Military Intelligence Dennis Sewell, author of Cromwell's Spy: From the American Colonies to the English Civil War, Part One: George Downing, a graduate of Harvard College's first class, demonstrates exceptional fluency in conversational Latin. After returning to England, Downing joins Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army as a chaplain and pr...

CAPTION COOLIDGE AND THE BANKERS Harding Wins Landslide Following Heated Conventions David Pietrusza, Part Two: The 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco requires 44 grueling ballots under the two-thirds rule to select Ohio Governor James M. Cox, pairing him with vice-presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt. The campaign unfolds amid national unrest, highlighted by anarchist bomb...

CAPTION TAFT, HARDING, ROBERT LINCOLN Presidents Converge During Critical Election Year David Pietrusza, author of 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, Part One: Woodrow Wilson suffers a debilitating stroke in October 1919, leaving him incapacitated while his wife and physician obscure his true condition. Wilson remains obsessed with passing the League of Nations, which becomes the defining battl...

CAPTION  JANUARY 1960 CONTENTS OF THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW,  9-11-2026 Global Currents: From Mission History to Interstellar Visitors This broadcast overview explores a diverse range of current events and cultural history, beginning with a look at California's coastal missions and the potential impact of a super El Niño. The narrative transitions into legal and political updates, specifically addre...

CAPTION 1849 SACRAMENTO CITY STREAMING MAKING OF JBS WITH JEFF BLISS AND MICHAEL VLAHOS, 9-11-2026. Live Streaming weekdays 8-9 AM ET on The John Batchelor Show Substack page San Luis Obispo, 9/11 Remembrance, and Broken Rules of War Jeff Bliss and Michael Vlahos ("Germanicus") join host John Batchelor. Bliss provides a live report from San Luis Obispo, California, beginning with an exploration of...

1940 Commercial Space Boom And Planetary Exploration Bob Zimmerman, author of the 2017 policy paper Capitalism in Space, outlines a commercial space boom, predicting 14 operational rockets launching by early 2027—half of them American—which will significantly lower orbital launch costs and expand private enterprise. He details corporate developments involving Firefly, Relativity, Vast's commercial...

1909 ARABIAN DESERT Nuclear Proliferation And Orbital R Warfare Henry Sokolski examines non-proliferation concerns surrounding Saudi Arabia's pursuit of domestic nuclear power and uranium enrichment capabilities. He questions proposed inspection arrangements and "black box" proposals, highlighting technical limits in detecting clandestine material diversion and warning of security risks in active...

18114 NAPOLEAN Literary Legacy Of Novelist George Sand Fiona Sampson, author of Becoming George, Part Two: Sampson discusses French author George Sand (Aurore Dupin), examining her distinct appearance, unconventional attire, and public identity in 19th-century Paris. Sand broke social taboos through her independent lifestyle, extramarital affairs, and progressive writings on women, ecology, and wo...

1920 OLD EXECUTIVE WASHINGTON DC Small Business Trends And AI Concerns Gene Marks discusses current economic conditions, noting strong corporate profits alongside owner concerns over rising regulations and labor costs. Warning of inevitable market contractions, he advises business owners to build cash reserves and credit lines. Marks also addresses workplace artificial intelligence trends, observi...

1540 MILAN Wines And Cuisine Of Monferrato Italy Lorenzo Fiori explores the Monferrato region in Piedmont, Italy, highlighting its picturesque landscape of rolling hills, vineyards, and historic villages. He details the region's rich viticultural offerings, including Barbera red wines, Dolcetto, white wines such as Gavi, Cortese, and Arneis, as well as Asti Spumante and Vermouth. Fiori also descri...

1942 LANCASTER CITY SCRAP PILE FOR THE WAR EFFORT Jim McTague reports on economic and political developments in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Rising gas prices—reaching $4.26 at Costco and up to $4.60 elsewhere—alongside diesel exceeding $6 per gallon, are squeezing family budgets and slowing retail activity across the region. Dining out costs have also increased substantially. On the political...

1912 OTTAWA POST OFFICE Legal Challenges To Postal Voting Rules Richard Epstein analyzes the appellate court decision halting the Trump administration's proposed Postal Service mail-in voting rules. Epstein argues that while the government claims postal regulatory authority to combat potential fraud, applying restrictive envelope and documentation requirements acts as a harmful monopoly power over...

CAPTION 1903 SANTA BARBARA PACIFIC COAST California History Disasters And Ocean Swells Jeff Bliss speaks from San Luis Obispo, describing the 1772 Spanish mission built to project military and religious control in early California. Reflecting on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, he recalls being in San Luis Obispo preparing to fly to San Francisco when the attacks occurred, noting how generational mem...

1849 CLAUDE MONET CONTENTS FOR THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 9-10-2026 Russian Election Strategy And European Security Anatol Lieven notes the Kremlin closely monitors legislative elections, banning opposition parties to preempt anti-war sentiment while relying on well-paid volunteers rather than unpopular mass conscription. Meanwhile, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow, signaling possible shif...

CAPTION 1959  STREAMING MAKING JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 9-10-2026 The provided text features a dialogue between two seasoned observers, John and Jim, who explore the complex dual nature of artificial intelligence as both a transformative workplace tool and a potential existential threat. While they emphasize that AI can enhance productivityand solve intricate problems through human-like interaction, t...

1893 bogota Security Dynamics Across Latin American Nations Evan Ellis details US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's diplomatic tour across Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to strengthen regional security partnerships. In Colombia, President de la Espriella has renewed security alignment with Washington, exited China's Belt and Road Initiative, and sought aid against Venezuelan transnational crime networ...

1874 MONET Literary Evolution Of Novelist George Sand Fiona Sampson, author of Becoming George, explores the life and literary legacy of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, who became the pioneering nineteenth-century French author George Sand. Sampson traces Sand's upbringing at Nohant, marked by childhood grief, an aristocratic paternal lineage blended with working-class maternal roots, and a formativ...

1942 WINTER SCIENCE FICTION QUARTELY Drones Target Russian Space Program Infrastructure Anatoly Zak and David Livingston: Zak reports on recent Ukrainian drone strikes against vital Russian space infrastructure, including the Progress aircraft company in Samara and the Plesetsk launch site. These targeted attacks aim to impede the manufacture of Soyuz rockets and delay the deployment of Russia's R...

1894 KREMLIN Political Assets Intelligence Networks Financial Ties Craig Unger, author of American Kompromat, House of Trump, House of Putin, House of Bush, House of Saud, and Den of Spies, discusses intelligence allegations surrounding Donald Trump, evaluating claims by former Kazakh security official Alnur Mussayev that Trump served as a Russian intelligence asset. Unger distinguishes between fo...

1849 DEUTSCHLAND Analyzing Family Subsidies And National Debt Veronique de Rugy analyzes Vice President JD Vance's policy proposal to extend federal Child Care and Development Fund subsidies to stay-at-home parents. De Rugy contends that low-income single mothers cannot afford to leave the workforce, meaning the subsidies would primarily benefit higher-income households or families who had already...

CAPTION FANTASTIC OCTOBER 1967 SpaceX Environmental Waivers For Louisiana Port Doug Messier reports SpaceX has proposed constructing Starbase Louisiana, a massive spaceport covering 125,000 acres along a vulnerable Gulf Coast ecosystem. The proposed facility plans to feature ten launchpads arranged in five clusters, natural gas extraction operations, employee housing, and a deepwater port facility...