S8 Ep128: SHOW -25 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR 1942 THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT the peace plan. FIRST HOUR 9-915 Economy, Fed Rates, and the AI Productivity Boom — Liz Peek — Peek examines the U.S. economy, noting mixed retail sales data a
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.6 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
SHOW
-25
CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR
1942
THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT the peace plan.
FIRST HOUR
9-915
- Economy, Fed Rates, and the AI Productivity Boom — Liz Peek — Peek examines the U.S. economy, noting mixed retail sales data alongside recent strength in credit card spending. She anticipates the Federal Reserve will likely reduce interest rates in December due to softening labor market conditions, despite traditional employment reporting lags. Peekemphasizes that the Fed fails to account adequately for AI's significant, though currently unmeasured, impact on productivity gains, employment displacement, and escalating electricity consumption, even as AI demonstrates substantial benefits in diagnostics and medical analysis.
915-930
930-945
- Ireland's Exposed Western Flank and Europe's Ukraine Stance — Judy Dempsey — Dempsey examines how Ireland's steadfast neutrality and limited defense capabilities leave its critical undersea communication cables vulnerable to Russian eavesdropping and potential sabotage. Despite maintaining budget surpluses, Ireland prioritizes social issues, including housing, over defense investments. Dempsey notes that European powers view the U.S.-Russia peace proposal for Ukraine with skepticism, characterizing it as a "Russian wish list," while German leadership remains publicly committed to sustained Ukrainian military support.
945-1000
SECOND HOUR
10-1015
Unorthodox Ukraine Diplomacy and Geopolitical Realism — Mary Kissel — Kissel analyzes the "exceedingly odd" U.S. approach to Ukraine peace negotiations, wherein businesspeople framed initial proposals while bypassing traditional State Department channels. This transactional negotiating style concerns European allies because it appears to reward Russia and establishes an unfavorable initial bargaining position. Kissel suggests the conflict will likely persist while diplomatic discussions protract. She commends Marco Rubio for prioritizing economic growth and countering Chineseand Iranian influence throughout the Western Hemisphere.
1015-1030
1030-1045
- Escalating Conflict: Hezbollah Strike, Turkish Influence, and Fragile Ceasefires — Jonathan Schanzer — Schanzer discusses the chaotic status of regional ceasefires, highlighting Israel's major strike against Hezbollah's de facto military commander in Beirut. Iran and Turkey are actively exploiting smuggling routes into Lebanon via Syriato sustain Hezbollah operations. Schanzer addresses the dysfunction of the Lebanese government, the fragility of the Gaza truce agreement, and the complex geopolitical competition involving Russia, Turkey, and external actors competing for influence over the nascent Syrian state.
1045-1100
THIRD HOUR
1100-1115
- China's Debt Dilemma and Keir Starmer's Political Trouble — Joseph Sternberg — Sternberg analyzes China'scritical economic vulnerabilities, noting that its $2.2 trillion in global lending—partly channeled through the Belt and Road Initiative—faces mounting pressure from defaults and political resistance to Chinese asset ownership. Domestically, China restricts capital inflows to manage inflation and stabilize exchange rates. Sternberg also examines UK politics, noting that Labour leader Keir Starmer faces mounting political difficulties ahead of a challenging budget that lacks an articulated economic growth strategy.
1115-1130
1130-1145
- AI Regulation: The Danger of Fear and the Need for a National Framework — Kevin Fraaser — Fraser critiques the regulatory rush surrounding AI, faulting the EU's approach to establishing guardrails based on "speculative fears" rather than documented harms. He warns against allowing "robophobia"—unfounded fear of artificial intelligence—to drive policy, advocating instead for regulatory focus on beneficial applications including healthcare diagnostics and educational access. Fraaser advocates for a unified U.S. regulatory framework to prevent a fragmented patchwork of state laws and excessive litigation that stifles technological innovation.
1145-1200
FOURTH HOUR
12-1215
- Ukraine Diplomacy, NATO Defense Gaps, and Baltic War Games — Gregory Copley — Copley analyzes the opaque U.S.-Russia Ukraine peace talks, which initially involved non-traditional negotiators rather than career diplomats. European powers are seeking inclusion in discussions but maintain conflicting strategic objectives. The discussion covers NATO's eroding relevance, particularly regarding Ireland's vulnerability to Russian surveillance and potential sabotage of critical undersea communication cables. Copley assesses a war game scenario in which Russia directly challenges NATO's Article 5 collective defense commitment in the Baltics.
1215-1230
1230-1245
1245-100 AM
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good evening. The show is dominated tonight by a conversation about the peace plan, so-called. |
| 0:12.1 | 28-point peace plan, 19-point police plan. Peace plan, acceptable, not acceptable, and many players moving, some invited, some pushing their way into |
| 0:23.9 | the table. Right now, Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner seem to have a document or some sort of |
| 0:31.0 | conversation that are headed to Moscow, we're told, but the story's changing all the time. |
| 0:36.7 | Whether or not Keith goes along with it, there are a couple of road signs that point to slower |
| 0:42.8 | progress in the coming days. |
| 0:45.0 | For example, I'm told according to the Constitution in Ukraine that any transfer of the Ukrainian |
| 0:53.6 | territory to another entity, such as Russia, |
| 0:57.4 | requires a vote of the Rada, the assembly. |
| 1:00.8 | Extremely unlikely to happen quickly, maybe even unlikely to happen at all. |
| 1:05.8 | Also, there are parts of the peace plan that seem to involve NATO more than they do Ukraine. |
| 1:11.7 | Very odd. |
| 1:13.1 | The whole thing is odd. |
| 1:15.2 | What I learned during the day talking to Judy Dempsey, Gregory Copley, Mary Kissel, |
| 1:22.1 | foreign policy commentators, is that the Whitkoff-Khner construction was mostly taking notes on the basis of what |
| 1:33.9 | Dimitri have said, the head of the sovereign wealth fund in Russia. Not one of them a diplomat, |
| 1:40.2 | no one of them understanding or paying attention to State Department Protocol where you have a document |
| 1:45.8 | arranged long beforehand, much hashed over, much approved, odd. The whole story of this seems odd. |
| 1:54.7 | Perhaps we'll get a complete explanation. Well, maybe in this century. In any event, it dominates the conversation everywhere. In the meantime, |
| 2:05.0 | it's fun today to talk about other matters. Kevin Fraser from the Civitas Institute helps me |
| 2:12.3 | understand where the law is, regulation is, on artificial intelligence. To sum it up, it's nowhere. People who want |
| 2:19.6 | a regulator being held back because it's too early. What are you regulating? A version that I'm |
... |
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