The John Batchelor Show
The John Batchelor Show

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

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The John Batchelor Show is a hard news-analysis radio program on current events, world history, global politics and natural sciences. Based in New York City for two decades, the show has travelled widely to report, from the Middle East to the South Caucasus to the Arabian Peninsula and East Asia.

Recent Episodes

S8 Ep173: he Caudine Forks and the Dangers of Half-Measures — Gaius & Germanicus — Germanicus and Gaius center their discussion on the instructive Roman historical lesson of the Caudine Forks: a victor must either completely annihilate the enemy or embrace them as
DEC 8, 2025
S8 Ep173: he Caudine Forks and the Dangers of Half-Measures — Gaius & Germanicus — Germanicus and Gaius center their discussion on the instructive Roman historical lesson of the Caudine Forks: a victor must either completely annihilate the enemy or embrace them as
<div> <strong>he Caudine Forks and the Dangers of Half-Measures</strong> — <strong>Gaius &amp; Germanicus</strong> — <strong>Germanicus</strong> and <strong>Gaius</strong> center their discussion on the instructive <strong>Roman</strong> historical lesson of the <strong>Caudine Forks</strong>: a victor must either completely annihilate the enemy or embrace them as genuine allies; choosing the treacherous middle path of ritual humiliation and subordination ensures future vengeance and perpetual instability. <strong>Germanicus</strong> applies this ancient strategic principle to contemporary geopolitics, arguing that the <strong>United States</strong> consistently fails this historical test by demanding submission—symbolized by forcing nations beneath the ritualistic "yoke"—without achieving total conquest that transforms hostile nations into obedient subordinate "bricks" within a durable imperial structure. <strong>Gaius</strong> and <strong>Germanicus</strong> cite the <strong>Treaty of Versailles</strong> and the post-<strong>Cold War</strong> treatment of <strong>Russia</strong> as prime historical examples where deliberate humiliation without comprehensive conquest bred lasting resentment rather than durable peace, establishing the foundation for subsequent conflicts and nationalist backlash. <strong>Germanicus</strong> characterizes this approach as reflecting <strong>American</strong> "narcissism," the desire for dominance without willingness to wage total war, thereby explaining systemic <strong>American</strong> failures in <strong>Iraq</strong>, <strong>Afghanistan</strong>, and contemporary tensions with <strong>Iran</strong>. <strong>Germanicus</strong> and <strong>Gaius</strong> warn against applying this "halfway yoke" framework to emerging challenges with <strong>Venezuela</strong> or <strong>Russia</strong>, instead counseling that it is strategically safer to permit regimes to decay internally through entropy rather than provoke nationalist backlash through external military or political pressure. <strong>Gaius</strong> concludes by characterizing current <strong>European</strong> leaders as "aggressive dependents" psychologically clinging to the <strong>Ukraine</strong> conflict to artificially preserve their own fragile domestic political authority and suppress internal dissent regarding failing governance.</div>
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14 MIN
S8 Ep173: The Three Archetypes of American Global Strategy — Gaius & Germanicus — Gaius and Germanicus analyze the prospective American National Security Strategy for 2025–2026, framing it as a deliberate return to the "Trump corollary" of the Monroe Doctrine empha
DEC 8, 2025
S8 Ep173: The Three Archetypes of American Global Strategy — Gaius & Germanicus — Gaius and Germanicus analyze the prospective American National Security Strategy for 2025–2026, framing it as a deliberate return to the "Trump corollary" of the Monroe Doctrine empha
<div> <strong>The Three Archetypes of American Global Strategy</strong> — <strong>Gaius &amp; Germanicus</strong> — <strong>Gaius</strong> and <strong>Germanicus</strong> analyze the prospective <strong>American</strong> <strong>National Security Strategy</strong> for 2025–2026, framing it as a deliberate return to the "<strong>Trump corollary</strong>" of the <strong>Monroe Doctrine</strong> emphasizing hemispheric supremacy and regional sphere-of-influence arrangements. <strong>Germanicus</strong> categorizes <strong>American</strong> foreign policy history into three religious-like ideological visions: <strong>Washington's</strong>isolationist "beacon on the hill," the <strong>Monroe-Adams</strong> "realm of liberty" (defensive empire protecting <strong>American</strong> interests), and the <strong>Jacksonian</strong> "<strong>Prometheus</strong> unbound" (universalist ideological expansion spreading democratic values). <strong>Germanicus</strong> argues the incoming administration systematically rejects the "<strong>Wilson</strong> to <strong>Biden</strong>" lineage of global interventionism and messianic crusading in favor of <strong>Theodore Roosevelt</strong>-style "flexible realism" emphasizing power, national interest, and transactional diplomacy. <strong>Gaius</strong> details this shifted strategy as consolidating <strong>American</strong> dominance in the <strong>Western Hemisphere</strong> and <strong>Pacific region</strong> while according <strong>Russia</strong> respect and a recognized sphere of influence in <strong>Eurasia</strong>, explicitly rejecting <strong>Cold War</strong> confrontationalism. <strong>Gaius</strong> documents that <strong>Kremlin</strong> leadership has explicitly welcomed this "flexible realism," viewing it as a geopolitical departure from perpetual adversarial <strong>Cold War</strong> mindset. <strong>Germanicus</strong> contrasts this transactional approach with the "<strong>Manichaean</strong>" moral crusades characterizing recent <strong>American</strong> foreign policy, suggesting the <strong>American</strong> public now explicitly favors strategy avoiding military entanglement while prioritizing domestic prosperity and economic reconstruction, mirroring isolationist sentiments following <strong>World War I</strong>.<br> 1911 USS MAINE IN HAVANA HARBOR<br> <br> <br> </div>
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22 MIN
S8 Ep173: The Courtiers' Pivot and the Failing Imperial Narrative — Gaius & Germanicus — Gaius and Germanicus, in their metaphorical 91 AD Londinium dialogue, critique the Western foreign policy establishment, dismissively labeled "courtiers," regarding their syste
DEC 8, 2025
S8 Ep173: The Courtiers' Pivot and the Failing Imperial Narrative — Gaius & Germanicus — Gaius and Germanicus, in their metaphorical 91 AD Londinium dialogue, critique the Western foreign policy establishment, dismissively labeled "courtiers," regarding their syste
<div> <strong>The Courtiers' Pivot and the Failing Imperial Narrative</strong> — <strong>Gaius &amp; Germanicus</strong> — <strong>Gaius</strong> and <strong>Germanicus</strong>, in their metaphorical 91 <strong>AD Londinium</strong> dialogue, critique the <strong>Western</strong> foreign policy establishment, dismissively labeled "courtiers," regarding their systematic narrative repositioning on the <strong>Ukraine</strong> war as military circumstances deteriorate catastrophically. <strong>Germanicus</strong> argues that these elite advisors prioritize preservation of institutional status and access to executive power over accountability and honest assessment; as the military situation turns decisively against <strong>Ukraine</strong>, these courtiers seamlessly pivot from predicting <strong>Ukrainian</strong> victory to blaming <strong>European</strong> allies for failing to "step up" with additional military commitment. <strong>Germanicus</strong> draws historical parallels to the fall of the <strong>Soviet Union</strong>, noting that elites systematically rewrite their past positions retrospectively to claim they foresaw inevitable geopolitical collapses, a psychological mechanism enabling survival without disgrace or professional consequences. <strong>Gaius</strong> and <strong>Germanicus</strong>contrast successful empires possessing unified narratives aligned with coherent strategy against the current <strong>American</strong>approach, characterized as "predatory opportunism" driven by electoral manipulation requirements. <strong>Germanicus</strong>contends that strategic failures in <strong>Ukraine</strong>—where population and material resources mathematically determine victory—expose the <strong>U.S.</strong> as a "weak and venal empire" relying upon a "pastiche" of propagandistic lies rather than the solid convergence of vision that characterized <strong>American</strong> dominance during <strong>World War II</strong>.<br> 1918 UKRAINE</div>
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20 MIN
S8 Ep172: None So Blind: The Legacy of the Amateur Spies: Colleague Charles Spicer discusses None So Blind, a rare book compiled by Christie and Conwell-Evans documenting their ignored warnings to the British government, tracing the later lives of the protagonists:
DEC 8, 2025
S8 Ep172: None So Blind: The Legacy of the Amateur Spies: Colleague Charles Spicer discusses None So Blind, a rare book compiled by Christie and Conwell-Evans documenting their ignored warnings to the British government, tracing the later lives of the protagonists:
<ol><li> <em>None So Blind</em>: The Legacy of the Amateur Spies: Colleague <strong>Charles Spicer</strong> discusses <em>None So Blind</em>, a rare book compiled by Christie and Conwell-Evans documenting their ignored warnings to the British government, tracing the later lives of the protagonists: Tennant died in 1962 leaving a memoir, Conwell-Evans lived modestly while advising prime ministers, and the heroic Graham Christie committed suicide at age 91; the Travelers Club remains a physical legacy of their efforts, and Spicer concludes that while their mission failed, these courageous figures' story was largely lost until historian Martin Gilbert and Spicer himself recovered the records.</li></ol> <div> <br> 1945 berlin<br> <br> </div>
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8 MIN
S8 Ep172: Judgment at Nuremberg and Post-War Denial: Colleague Charles Spicer recounts that at the Nuremberg trials, a broken Ribbentrop attempted to call Conwell-Evans and Tennant as witnesses to prove his pre-war peace efforts, while Göring remained defiant and H
DEC 8, 2025
S8 Ep172: Judgment at Nuremberg and Post-War Denial: Colleague Charles Spicer recounts that at the Nuremberg trials, a broken Ribbentrop attempted to call Conwell-Evans and Tennant as witnesses to prove his pre-war peace efforts, while Göring remained defiant and H
<div>Judgment at Nuremberg and Post-War Denial: Colleague <strong>Charles Spicer</strong> recounts that at the Nuremberg trials, a broken Ribbentrop attempted to call Conwell-Evans and Tennant as witnesses to prove his pre-war peace efforts, while Göring remained defiant and Hess exhibited erratic behavior; discussing the "Ministries Trial" and the post-war tendency of British officials including Vansittart to deny their connections to the amateur spies, this denial stemmed from embarrassment over their chaotic engagement with the Nazis and the uncomfortable realization that the war might have been preventable.<br> <br> 1938</div>
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11 MIN