Boondoggle

In an episode recorded before Trump raised the stakes in LA, and before Israel kidnapped the crew of the Madleen, Jim and Chris discuss the recommendations by some Democratic strategists to play possum and not react to Trump's outrages. We explain why we think that is a terrible idea. We also discuss whether socialists in the UK should join the Green party, where leadership candidate Zack Pol...

After a brief introductory foray into fashion, Jim and Chris return to the topic of artificial intelligence. What is the situation with the regulation of AI systems? How transformative is the technology going to be? Will AI save humanity or condemn us to oblivion?  Follow us on Bluesky and Substack  

In a busy news week (is there any other kind these days?), in this episode, recorded on Tuesday evening, Jim and Chris discuss first the terrible ongoing situation in Gaza, and the shamefully belated way in which the genocide is finally being acknowledged by political leaders. They then move on to talk about a chilling article equating protest and dissent in the UK with subversion, and the frighte...

Where was the episode last week? Jim confesses to participating rather too enthusiastically in Oxford's May Day celebrations and him and Chris swap musical stories before getting into criticisms of Labour's approach to immigration in the UK. Follow us on Bluesky and Substack  

In this episode, Jim and Chris discuss whether the Russia-Ukraine war could have been avoided, in the course of which they cover the history of NATO expansion and the wrong turn taken in relations between Russia and the West in the early years of this century. Follow us on Bluesky and Substack  

Has the much anticipated constitutional crisis finally arrived? Chris puts this question into a historical context by remembering some of the egregious actions of the Bush administration, which was, let us not forget, basically installed in a judicial coup that bypassed the will of the people.  Still, even against that dreadful standard, there is something extraordinary about the Trump regime, cur...

Talking just a few hours after Trump had announced a 90-day pause of tariffs, Jim and Chris discuss the purpose of his roller coaster tariff policy, which has very little to do with economic policy.  Follow us on Bluesky and Substack  

In this episode, Jim and Chris discuss the woeful response of Columbia University to Trump's aggressive attempt at control and crackdown on academic freedom and free speech. They discuss the letter organised by friend of the podcast and journalist for The Nation, Sasha Abramsky, recently published in the Guardian and available here . (Incidentally, the question was raised in the episode as to...

Free speech is, supposedly, a right-wing issue and yet the Trump administration is engaging in the most severe crackdown on political speech since McCarthy, and they may shortly surpass even that dismal nadir. Jim and Chris discuss freedom of speech, and how the right, even when they are nbot cracking down on it, often misunderstand what it is. They enjoyed their discussion so much that we've...

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right, but it is not unrestricted. There are things that you do not have a right to say, even when a broad free speech right is in place, as in the US. The classic example is shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre when there is no fire. But how is this restriction to be understood in a democratic society? Jim and Chris discuss a possible answer to this, t...

Chris describes watching Mississippi Burning with his son, how that brought back memories of his time as a local reporter in Mississippi in the 1980s, and how the themes of the film resonate with today. The social norms that have been in place since the 90s that have, piecemeal and to an incomplete degree, made overt expressions of racism and sexism unacceptable are in the process of being swept a...

Trump and Musk and their enablers and acolytes are busy dismantling the entire American system of government. As the US hurtles towards a constitutional crisis, with the Trump administration preparing the ground to ignore the rulings of courts (which they are already doing in certain cases), what can be done to resist? Jim and Chris discuss this question. It is not surprising that they find the De...

Jim and Chris welcome back Guido Haefli to hear about his time working at the Swiss Embassy in India. We hear some details of the Swiss relationship with India, before discussing the history of the situation in Kashmir, where it currently stands, and prospects for the future. We also discuss current relations between India and Pakistan, and India and China, all three of them nuclear-armed powers w...

Is what is happening in the US a coup? The short answer is yes. By rummaging around in the digital plumbing of various government departments and shutting down funding to those he disapproves of, private citizen, I beg your pardon, 'special government employee' Elon Musk is subverting Congress' power of the purse and acting in violation of the constitution (as well as breaking a who...

What is it like to be a military peacekeeper? What do military peacekeeping missions actually do, and do they make any difference? Jim and Chris are joined by Swiss national Guido Haefeli, who prior to studying in Birmingham was a peacekeeper in Kosovo and Western Sahara. He talks about the relevant histories of both places, what it is like to work as a military peacekeeper (whether as part of KFO...

After marking the death of The Band's Garth Hudson, Chris and Jim get in to the dark spectacle of the Trump inauguration. Unconstitutional policies, barely veiled threats of invasion and territorial expansion, plans for economic terrorism, baseless calumnies against political opponents, and of course blatant lies, all normalised by the media commentary. 'A remarkably policy heavy speech&...

Chris and Jim are joined in this first episode of 2025 by old friend of the podcast, author and journalist Sasha Abramsky. Sasha talks a little bit about the situation in LA which he visited at the weekend (see his photo essay for The Nation here ). We then move on to think about the state of the Democratic Party and the US in general in the last few days before the inauguration of Trump. Me and C...

Our final instalment with Luke Doherty, where we cash a couple of cheques that were issued in the past two episodes - the role of AI in politics, and the prospects of a 'new cold war' between the US and China.  We're going to take a break for Christmas and be back in the new year. If you enjoyed this episode, then do subscribe to be notified as soon as a new episode is uploaded. Fol...

The second part of what is now going to be a trilogy of episodes featuring Jim, Chris, and Luke Doherty. In this wide-ranging discussion, the trio begin by considering the US role in international politics in the run-up to and immediate aftermath of the end of the Cold War. They also consider the role of morality and populism in politics, before ending on a bombshell question of the role of AI in...

In this episode, Jim and Chris are joined by Luke Doherty, a fellow student with Jim in Birmingham. After talking for a little bit about what Luke was doing before he came to Birmingham, and what brought him back to studying, they consider the reasons for and possible lessons of the Trump victory. We had intended to discuss many more topics, but thought that since we had been going for an hour and...

With the UK hit by unseasonal snow, Jim and Chris spend a little bit of time discussing the shall we say unusual political approach of the Starmer government in the UK, which seems to involve annoying as many people as possible as quickly as they can whilst telling everyone things are not going to get better for years. They then move on to the main topic of the episode, a consideration of the fore...

In this episode, Jim talks with Chris about the course that he is doing on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Jim outlines the various theories of international relations that he has come across so far, realism, liberalism, and constructivism, and discusses with Chris the barriers to and possibilities for peace-building under these theories. Follow us on Bluesky and Substack  

In this episode, recorded on Thursday 7th November, Jim Driscoll and Chris Floyd discuss the comprehensive Trump victory in the recent US election. Using Gore Vidal's idea that there is only one party in America, the Property Party, as a prompt, they discuss the extent to which so many elements of the US establishment have acquiesced in the dismantling of American institutions, and whether Tr...

After catching up with respect to Chris' Greek odyssey, and discussing his brief career as a cricket correspondent for the Moscow Times, Jim and Chris discuss the impact of the shock doctrine on Russia in the 90s before considering the extent to which it is proposed to be applied to the US if Trump wins the election and appoints Elon Musk to government. The election is on a knife-edge and any...

In this episode Jim and Chris discuss the upcoming US election. Bypassing the usual horserace commentary, they talk about the unprecedented nature of the contest, the 'sane-washing' of Trump, possible futures after the election, and one possible reason why the Democrats seem to constantly misunderstand the strategy required to win against MAGA. Follow us on Bluesky and Substack