The John Batchelor Show

David Hebert discusses the fiscal debates surrounding Social Security's impending 2032 shortfall. Hebert refutes the idea that raising tax rates increases treasury revenue, noting that tax revenue historically remains constant at 17–18% of GDP because high rates prompt tax avoidance. Instead of "starving the beast" of resources, Hebert advocates for "starving the beast of responsibility" by decent...

Rogier Windhorst and David Livingston: Professor Windhorst warns that the Hubble Space Telescope's orbit will begin to decay uncontrollably by September 2033 due to solar maximum atmospheric expansion. To prevent a hazardous, uncontrolled re-entry, Windhorst advocates for a robotic servicing mission to boost Hubble's orbit. As the only remaining telescope with precise blue-ultraviolet capabilities...

Richard Reinsch discusses the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and their principles, which advocate for economic collectivism, nationalizing private industries, and dismantling the U.S. constitutional republic in favor of a unicameral legislature. Reinsch contrasts this with a historical 1922 Kremlin conversation where Soviet leader Joseph Stalin accused American communist Jay Lovestone of "...

John Batchelor and Michael Bernstam analyze the revenue-sharing deal between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, which does not resolve the critical global refinery shortage. Decades of zero Western refinery expansion, alongside Ukrainian drone strikes disabling Russian capacity, has left a global deficit of 5.6 to 6 million barrels per day of refined products. This is especially severe for d...

CONTENTS THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 8-25-2026COVER OF FANTASTIC MAGAZINE OCTOBER 1961Liz Peek, columnist for The Hill and Fox News, discusses the surprising resilience of the American economy, noting that small businesses are reporting strong hiring and profitability growth based on broad National Federation of Independent Business and Bank of America data. While consumer spending remains robust, re...

Judy Dempsey, Senior Scholar in Berlin for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with co-host Thaddeus McCotter: Dempsey describes European Baltic and Nordic leaders flocking to Kyiv, yet warns that "moral outrage" lacks a cohesive strategic plan to negotiate an end to the war. She highlights the rising prominence of the pro-Russian, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in state...

Thaddeus McCotter, former US Representative from Michigan and columnist for American Greatness, details the severe political and economic fallout of Trump's trade war with Canada, noting that insulting rhetoric like the "51st state" remark has politically boosted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He explains that border states like Michigan and Maine share deep commercial integration, meaning 5...

Gregory Copley, editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs, argues that the US sanctions regime against Iran is strategic signaling that makes Washington look weak, as it ignores China's trade dominance and threatens relations with India. He also views the Canadian trade dispute as a strategic failure that weakens the NORAD treaty and forces Canada to act independently in the Arctic. This unpredictab...

Colonel Jeff McCausland, US Army (Retired) and Visiting Professor at Dickinson College, warns that the US foreign policy process has collapsed under President Trump, who relies on personal loyalty over expert advice. This is illustrated by Trump's sudden decision to reduce joint US-South Korea military exercises without notifying allies. McCausland argues this undercuts South Korea while offering...

Mary Kissel, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State, analyzes Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, asserting that its success relies on penalizing large Chinesefinancial institutions. However, Beijing holds significant economic and military leverage over the US, including export controls on critical minerals. Regarding North America,...

Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, evaluates the Treasury's initial tranches of secondary sanctions targeting entities trading with Iran, including firms in China and the UAE. Although these measures stop short of targeting major Chinese banks, they provide President Trump with leverage ahead of his Washington summit with Xi Jinping. Within the Midd...

Liz Peek, columnist for The Hill and Fox News, discusses the surprising resilience of the American economy, noting that small businesses are reporting strong hiring and profitability growth based on broad National Federation of Independent Business and Bank of America data. While consumer spending remains robust, recent data reveals a K-shaped economy, where higher-income homeowners spend extensiv...

CONTENTS THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 8-24-2026.OTTAWAConrad Black and co-host Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss the collapse of trade negotiations and subsequent US tariff threats that have sparked a major political crisis in Canada, leading to opposition calls to immediately reconvene Parliament. Black describes a stark contrast in national attitudes, noting that President Trump's rhetoric effectively den...

John Hardie and Edmund Fitton-Brown outline Russia's military assistance to Iran via the Caspian Sea, a highly secure transit route. This collaboration benefits Moscow by raising energy prices and draining US munition stockpiles like Patriot interceptors, giving Russia a freer hand in Ukraine. Russia provides Iran with tactical intelligence, drone components to resist satellite jamming, and has ag...

Michael Sobolik and  Gordon Chang examine how Chinese AI company Moonshot bypassed US export controls by "distilling" technology from Anthropic's Claude Opus model to train its own system, Kimi K3. This intellectual property theft threatens American market dominance and national security. Sobolik recommends three policy actions: imposing crushing financial sanctions on violating Chinese firms, clo...

Samuel Ben-Ur and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss how, following a temporary lull, Hamas has intensified attacks in Gaza, emboldened by disarmament frameworks proposed by Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. Ben-Ur notes Hamas only accepted the deal under the pretense of disarming while intending to survive intact. However, following Jared Kushner's visit, the US aligned with Israel's stance, dema...

Edmund Fitton-Brown critiques the term "economic D-Day," explaining that Pakistan's mediation in Iran is self-interested, driven by fears of secondary US sanctions. These sanctions have suffocated Iran's economy, reducing oil exports and sparking hyperinflation. Iraq also struggles with contradictory policies, balancing its US alliance with pro-Iranian gestures, such as securing tanker passage thr...

Ivana Stradner analyzes Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's visit to Belgrade, which does not signal a split between Serbia and Russia. President Vučić's weapons sales to Ukraine are merely lucrative business deals. Serbia remains highly dependent on Russia, sharing deep intelligence ties and cooperating with the FSB to test crowd-control equipment. Vučić balances these relationships to survive domest...

David Daoud and Edmund Fitton-Brown examine UNIFIL's mandate, which restricts it to acting as an auxiliary to the Lebanese Armed Forces, preventing independent disarmament of Hezbollah. Consequently, Hezbollah operates freely near UN watchtowers and tunnel networks. Daoud argues that while new US Treasury sanctions expanding target parameters to include Iranian violations are positive, they fail t...

Malcolm Hoenlein and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss rising security concerns in Israel after incendiary balloons from Gaza were discovered, potentially testing Israel's border preparedness. Concurrently, Turkey is expanding its regional footprint, occupying 5% of Syria and attempting to establish military bases, which Israel countered with airstrikes. In Gaza, Jared Kushner met with Hamas in Cairo, a...

Ernesto Araújo and Alejandro Peña Esclusa, with Edmund Fitton-Brown: In Brazil, falling poll numbers have panicked President Lula, prompting him to call Donald Trump despite years of anti-American rhetoric. Araújo explains this reflects the US's central role in combating South American "narcosocialist" regimes. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Delcyand Jorge Rodríguez are simulating cooperation with the U...

Janatyn Sayeh and Edmund Fitton-Brown examine Iranian official Ghalibaf's public appearance in Iraq, signaling defiance to the US and Israel before secondary sanctions are revealed. Sayeh explains that Iran views Iraq as its backyard, using it to evade sanctions by blending Iranian oil with Iraqi exports. Under President Trump, US economic scrutiny on Iraq has increased to block this smuggling. Wh...

Conrad Black and co-host Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss the collapse of trade negotiations and subsequent US tariff threats that have sparked a major political crisis in Canada, leading to opposition calls to immediately reconvene Parliament. Black describes a stark contrast in national attitudes, noting that President Trump's rhetoric effectively denies Canada's sovereignty. This perceived affront h...

Gaius and Germanicus: The hosts close on the president's health and psyche, referencing the new book by senior New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman and her colleague, which finds the eighty-year-old relatively healthy—minor hand bruising, blood-thinning aspirin—and fundamentally the same man, simply older, slower, and less articulate, aging traits Gaius admits sharing at seventy-eight. Wit...

Gaius and Germanicus: Germanicus attributes these failures to a psychological myth of omnipotence that has "suckled" every post-Cold War president: George H.W. Bush dipping a toe into Somalia, Bill Clinton's cruise missile war on Serbia, Barack Obama's targeted killings, Donald Trump mesmerized by unlimited power despite "mature" advisers, and Joe Biden's "feckless adventure" in Ukraine, sputterin...