What Kind of World

Carolyn and Peter ponder when the levee will break in the USA with respect to Donald J Trump's appalling behaviour and authoritarian leanings. A lot has happened in this past week.  Plus a bit of Hamilton and the wonder of tyre technology! 

Carolyn and Peter talk about truth in a week of mayhem for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) who has had two senior figures resign, threats of legal proceedings from Donald Trump, and a failure of leadership either to apologise appropriately or to defend its news team. In the face of this we ask "What is truth?" With some philosophical and theological ramblings on the subject. ...

Carolyn and Peter get around to discussing the Paradox of Tolerance via the Paradox of Freedom and the Paradox of Democracy, drawing from Karl Popper's "The Open Society and Its Enemies".  We start with a discussion of Nathan Gill (former Reform Party leader in Wales) pleading guilty to taking bribes from Russia and the many connections that reveal how Putin tries to manipulate demo...

Carolyn and Peter have a blether about some of the week's news, including alarming language from Katie Lam MP (Shadow Minister for the Home Office), what is cultural coherence, the massive demonstrations in the USA under the No Kings banner, differences between absolute monarchies and constitutional monarchies (like UK), meeting King Charles III, and bizarrely revealing responses to demonstra...

Carolyn and Peter follow up on their thoughts from last issue about the message of James Talarico with a review of the speech given by Stephen Miller, United States National Security Adviser and White House Deputy Chief of Staff, at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Event/Rally (21 September 2025).  Here's the text of Emma Lazarus' famous poem:  THE NEW COLOSSUS Not like the brazen giant of Gree...

Carolyn and Peter react to a message given by Texas State Representative James Talarico (sermon in his home church from 2023), while reflecting on some recent events for Rev David Black of First Presbyterian Church in Chicago and Rutgers University Professor Mark Bray.  And some bookish chat on Larry Niven's The Second Coming and the Millennium Series of novels started by Stieg Larsson.  The...

Carolyn and Peter talk about violence in places of worship, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth addressing 800 military top brass, JPIT's Six Hopes for Society, the threat to women's rights in the USA, and what it means to be part of a welcoming community.  An article about violent acts in houses of worship here: https://theconversation.com/violent-acts-in-houses-of-worship-are-rare-but-deadly...

Carolyn and Peter talk about Jimmy Kimmel's reinstatement, Donald Trump at the United Nations, mini-Trump Farage, and the use of narrative.  Plus the wholesomeness of Bake Off and news about Scotland Demands Better ( https://www.scotland-demands-better.com/ ).  Information about Sharia Councils here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fi...

Carolyn and Peter talk about freedom of speech, how it is being challenged, and why it is important in a democracy. Oh and a visit to the UK by the US President and our escape to Orkney. The report on extremism-related deaths in the USA that was mentioned can be found at https://www.adl.org/resources/report/murder-and-extremism-united-states-2024 Vlad Vexler talking about Musk's comments in t...

 Carolyn and Peter reflect on the rise of violence in politics, the assassinations of Charlie Kirk, Melissa and Mark Hortman, helpful and unhelpful responses to such violence. (Apologies for the audio for the first segment, Peter forgot to record on our audio recorder so we had to fall back on the phone audio - lessons learnt!) Carolyn gives an update on her 'Munro' bagging and Peter bre...

Carolyn and Peter take on patriarchy in their third instalment on Christian Nationalism. Plus some hillwalking and Nigel Farage's shameful appearance in the US Congress this week. Clip of Jamie Raskin's comments on Farage were from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpBACJuttHc

Carolyn and Peter talk about the use (and abuse) of power within Christian Nationalism, nurturing your microbial biome, and Caligula - The Ultimate Cut.  Mentioned is Tim Spector's book "Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well".  

Carolyn and Peter start a wee series on Christian Nationalism, sharing some of their own quite different backgrounds, plus extras on Dexter and Putin/Trump vs Zelenskyy and the free world... Book mentioned this week is "Taking America Back For God: Christian Nationalism in the United States" (Andrew L Whitehead and Samuel L Perry, ISBN 0197652573, OUP USA, 2022)

Carolyn and Peter discuss democracy and its decline in many countries over the last decades, the nature of the language that protest tends to stir, and the upcoming meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska.

In our second episode we explore Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory and his image of the Elephant and the Rider as we think about how to understand our divisive times. Plus a wee detour on whether the UK is under attack and the state of satire and protest with reference to South Park.

Peter and Carolyn introduce their podcast, explaining why they have started a podcast after a recent trip to Poland. This is trialing a format for the podcast. This covers both historical and current events, with some personal reflections shaped by a progressive faith. The views and opinions expressed by the creators of this podcast are their personal views and opinions.