The John Batchelor Show

1942 Wartime Alliance Diplomacy Robert Schmuhl, author of Mr. Churchill in the White House: The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents: Winston Churchill conducted crucial wartime diplomacy while staying in the White House Rose Bedroom. Dictating endless memos, he successfully persuaded Franklin Roosevelt to adopt a Germany First military strategy and addressed joint sessions of Congr...

1970 Flawed Kabul Withdrawal Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson, Part Two: Diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated the Doha agreement while marginalizing Afghan leaders. President Biden enforced a strict six hundred troop limit, forcing military commanders to abandon defensible Bagram Airfield in favor of vulnerable Kabul airport. Inflated Afghan troop figures and delayed evacuation directives produced...

1919  KABUL Abbey Gate Bombing 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: During August 2021, American forces faced immense chaotic crowds while managing Kabul airport evacuation gates. The CIA utilized National Strike Units and Black Gate access to move endangered personnel. Meanwhile, snipers sp...

1962 OAS Averting Nuclear Standoff Serhii Plokhy, Part Two: Superpower tensions reached peak danger during Black Saturday when an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba and submarine B-59 nearly launched a nuclear torpedo. Kennedy and Khrushchev ultimately resolved the crisis by trading Soviet missile removal for American security pledges and secret withdrawal of Jupiter missiles fr...

Cuban Missile Origins Serhii Plokhy, author of Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Part One: Upon discovering Sovietnuclear missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy faced intense political pressure while considering immediate airstrikes against a naval blockade. Soviet leader Khrushchev secretly deployed intermediate weapons and forty thousand troops to offset strategic missile imbala...

1940 THAMES Examining Cambridge Five Infiltration and Activism Gaius and Germanicus: Speaking from first-century Londinium in 92 AD, the hosts discuss the legacy of the Cambridge Five, an elite Oxbridge spy ring recruited by Soviet intelligence during the 1930s. They contrast disciplined upper-class operatives, who successfully infiltrated British security organs out of ideological devotion, with...

1880 ATHENS Debating Greek Rivalries and Thucydides Trap Gaius and Germanicus: Gathered in a Londinium wine bar in 92 AD, the hosts evaluate the Thucydides Trap framework used to describe contemporary international rivalries. They critique Graham Allison’s theory by re-examining the Peloponnesian War between democratic Athens and Spartan warriors. Sparta prioritized status and ritualized combat ov...

1961 IRON CURTAIN Analyzing Cold War Rhetoric and Russophobia Gaius and Germanicus: In 92 AD Londinium, the hosts analyze modern political discourse, highlighting the severe charge of traitorous behavior applied to American leadership. Reflecting on their Cold War upbringing, they trace evolving partisan attitudes toward Russia. While Franklin Roosevelt once embraced the Soviet Union and forgave m...

FEBRUARY 1937 SOUTH AFRICA - outh African Cricket Fans Disappear Mysteriously -  Jeremy Zakis discusses the puzzling lack of spectators at the Australia versus South Africa test cricket match in Durban. Record low spectator crowds leave officials searching for clear explanations, ranging from past cheating scandals to humid weather conditions. Despite losing the second test, Australia remains hope...

1900 SNAKES OF AUSTRALIA Venomous Snake Discovered Inside Family Toilet Jeremy Zakis shares stories of local Australian wildlife adapting to changing weather patterns. First, an elderly dog gently befriends a playful flock of wild sparrows. Meanwhile, weather shifts spur a snake surge, forcing a venomous red-bellied black snake through plumbing pipes and into a family home bathroom toilet. (3)

1815 THE GREAT STORM Unpredictable El Niño Brings Unseasonable Storms John Batchelor and Jeremy Zakis discuss how El Niño is producing chaotic, unpredictable weather across Australia, with severe unseasonable storms and flooding striking Queensland and Sydney as scientists study broader climate trends, while Australian households shift toward electric home heating backed by government solar rebate...

1793 Robert G. Parkinson, author of Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier, traces how Michael Cresap was transformed into a Revolutionary War hero and how Thomas Jefferson popularized “Logan’s Lament” in Notes on the State of Virginia. Parkinson details Logan’s murder in 1780, the lament’s place in 19th-century schoolbooks and monument battles, and how Revolutio...

1753 Frontier Violence and Logan’s Famous Lament — Part One Robert G. Parkinson, author of Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier, examines the violent 18th-century American frontier through the rivalry between land-speculating families such as the Cresaps and Native leaders such as Logan, son of Shikellamy. Parkinson details the 1774 Yellow Creek massacre of Log...

1910XIANJIANG Nury Turkel, author of No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs, documents the Chinese Communist Party’s systematic campaign against the Uyghur population in East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Born in a Cultural Revolution re-education camp, Turkel interweaves his own biography with testimony on officials such as Zhu Hailun, forced labor, mass internment camps, and target...

Destruction and Liberation of Nazi Berlin — Part Two Ian Buruma, author of Stay Alive: Berlin 1939–1945, depicts the apocalyptic final years of Nazi Berlin under devastating Allied strategic bombing, covering cinematic distractions such as Münchhausen, the perilous existence of Jews living underground as “U-boats,” and the brutal crackdown following the failed July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler....

Wartime Everyday Survival in Nazi Berlin — Part One Ian Buruma, author of Stay Alive: Berlin 1939–1945, explores daily life in wartime Berlin through the letters of his father, Leo Buruma, a Dutch student forced into labor, examining how ordinary citizens, foreign workers, and social outsiders navigated Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda apparatus, the Nuremberg racial laws, and severe moral dilemmas. Bu...

Modern Imperial Myths and Full Invasion — Part Two Eugene Finkel, author of Intent to Destroy: Russia’s 200-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine, analyzes contemporary Russian aggression under Vladimir Putin, examining Putin’s pseudo-historical essay denying Ukrainian statehood, the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and the armed conflict instigated in the Donbas. Finkel highlights Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s politi...

Russia’s Long Quest to Subjugate Ukraine — Part One Eugene Finkel, author of Intent to Destroy: Russia’s 200-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine, traces the deep historical roots of Russia’s effort to dominate Ukraine, beginning with the 17th-century Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the imperial project under Catherine the Great, as Moscow systematically dismantled Ukrainian autonomy. Finkel detai...

1865 RICHMOND, VA Lancaster County Inflation And Family Outings Jim McTague reports on rising Lancaster County gasoline prices alongside inflation pushing shoppers toward warehouse savings. He details a cheerful family trip to Dutch Wonderland with his young granddaughter Sarah, who loved riding the whip. They also visited scenic Lititz Springs Park to feed local mallard ducks with family members....

1920 FDR IN SEATTLE  ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY STREAMING THE MAKING OF THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW.  10-23-26 The provided texts chronicle a wide-ranging conversational broadcast featuring John Bachelor and his colleague Jeff Bliss, alongside contributions from an intellectual figure known as Germanicus, covering various modern developments and historical parallels. Discussions cen...

1955 NEVADA NPLUMBB0B STOKES   Russian Nuclear Doctrine And Strategic Coercion Peter Huessy evaluates Russia’s nuclear arsenal, arguing that Vladimir Putin uses strategic weapons primarily for coercion, intimidation, and blackmail. He explains Russia’s aggressive first-use nuclear doctrine and the threat posed by heavy Satan 2 ICBMs. Huessy stresses that the United States must strengthen its regio...

1934 JUBAIL SAUDI ARABIA  Nuclear Nonproliferation And Modern Subterranean Warfare Henry Sokolski warns against supplying Saudi Arabia with nuclear power and enrichment facilities, citing political instability surrounding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He highlights how modern warfare is rapidly shifting underground into tunnels and pipes. Sokolski also analyzes space security concerns regardin...

Revolutionary History And Norfolk Burning Myth Andrew Lawler, author of A Perfect Frenzy: What You Don’t Know About the American Revolution: Lawler discusses his book, revealing that Virginia patriot forces intentionally burned Norfolk in 1776 and falsely blamed Lord Dunmore. He explains how smallpox devastated Dunmore’s fleet, details Dunmore’s historic emancipation proclamation, and shows how th...

1969 APOLLO 10        Commercial Space Progress And Lunar Exploration Bob Zimmerman analyzes SpaceX’s strong third quarter profits alongside upcoming Starship and New Glenn launch schedules. He reviews commercial GPS satellite development, Wi-Fi testing in space, and a Chinese rocket stage crashing in Minnesota. Zimmerman concludes with Firefly’s lunar orbiter progress and a unique chicken face fe...

1848 SAN DIEGO Pacific Watch On West Coast Topics Jeff Bliss explores In-N-Out Burger’s popularity, fresh food model, and celebrity appeal across the West. He details political friction and homelessness in Seattle. Bliss explains how forensics identified a body in a Lake Mead barrel, reviews a famous 1958 Sands Hotel photo, and discusses Los Angeles monorail delays. (4)