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The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep1122: (2) The Nuclear Taboo and Russian Forbearance: Secret Nuclear History, the Cuban Missile Crisis Comparison, and the Dangers of Escalation Guests in Londinium, 92 AD: Gaius and Germanicus. In a "parking lot" broadcast, the hosts explore the fragility of nu

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, News, Arts, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

(2) The Nuclear Taboo and Russian Forbearance: Secret Nuclear History, the Cuban Missile Crisis Comparison, and the Dangers of Escalation Guests in Londinium, 92 AD: Gaius and Germanicus. In a "parking lot" broadcast, the hosts explore the fragility of nuclear deterrence. Gaius discusses a report revealing that in 2023, China and India persuaded Vladimir Putin not to use tactical nuclear weapons in Kherson. He compares this secrecy to the Cuban Missile Crisis, where the American public was unaware of nuclear-tipped torpedoes and frog missiles. Germanicusargues that Russia's "existential situation" leads to caution rather than impulsiveness, emphasizing that the Russian ethos is profoundly affected by the trauma of the Great Patriotic War, making them "essentially conservative and realistic" regarding apocalypse. He critiques the Biden and Trump administrations for "creeping escalation," warning that the West is acting irresponsibly by taking "Russian forbearance" for granted and "poking the bear" with long-range strike weapons. They conclude that a weaker power feeling existential pressure is the most likely to resort to nuclear weapons as a "desperate last ditch stand." (2)
1957 COLD WAR

Transcript

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0:00.0

The

0:07.0

The Welcome. This is the Friends of History Debating Society bootleg edition.

0:42.3

Earlier I broadcast correctly that the building inspector shut down our wine bar

0:47.2

because we had not met his standards, which means we hadn't given him enough money.

0:53.2

One of the institutions that America

0:55.3

inherited from the Roman Empire was the regulatory bodies. We have them here in Rome. They make us,

1:02.9

they're the difference between us and the Gauls of the Parthians. The building inspectors have

1:08.0

more power than an emperor on location. So we shut down the building.

1:12.3

However, our tech engineer came forward to say, you know, we can do it from the parking

1:16.4

lot.

1:17.1

We can.

1:18.3

So we're broadcasting Lundidium Chronicles from the parking lot outside of our wine bar.

1:24.6

The centurions have gathered around us.

1:26.9

We only have a leader of wine here for all

1:28.9

these centurions, but we've decided we're going to go with the New Testament version of having

1:33.7

enough fish and bread for the multitude. We're going to say everybody is going to share wine,

1:39.5

there's going to be plenty. We'll do an accelerated version of Lundidium Chronicles.

1:47.0

Germanicus is here. We have a full menu of stories, but out here in the open next to the Thames,

1:53.8

it's not quite the same intimacy as our wine bar. We'll straighten that out for next week.

1:58.8

We'll get a work crew in here. We'll scrub the place down. We'll take care of. There apparently was some question about our water. Don't know what it is. And the roof tiles were coming loose. Don't know why. This might have been the imagination of our inspector. We'll make him happy, and we'll begin our broadcast.

2:21.4

Germanicus, a very good evening to you here in the parking lot. This is a bootleg edition of Lundinium Chronicles, and I bring to our attention, something that's just been revealed

2:25.7

in the 21st century, that I'm certain is of great interest to you. This is from an article

...

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