meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep418: SHOW SCHEDULE 2-4-2026 (BOMBAY 1922)

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

  1. Guest: Grant Newsham. Newsham discusses the PLA purge of leadership, analyzing the implications of Xi Jinping'sremoval of top military officials and what it signals about internal instability within China's armed forces.
  2. Guest: Grant Newsham. Newsham critiques the weaknesses of national security studies that expect Chinese attack only at Taiwan, arguing this narrow focus leaves the U.S. vulnerable to broader PRC strategic threats.
  3. Guest: John Cochrane. Cochrane analyzes the inadequacy of tariffs as an economic tool, explaining why they fail to achieve their intended goals and often harm domestic consumers and businesses.
  4. Guest: John Cochrane. Cochrane discusses the demand for foreign investment, examining how capital flows impact the U.S. economy and the complexities of managing trade imbalances.
  5. Guest: Rebecca Grant. Grant compares U.S. carrier capabilities into the future against China's naval expansion plans, assessing the shifting balance of power in the Pacific.
  6. Guest: Rick Fisher. Fisher details China's century-long plan for space supremacy, warning that Beijing's strategic investments in space technology pose a significant threat to American dominance.
  7. Guest: Steve Yates. Yates examines how allies Australia, Canada, and the UK are seeking favorable trade deals with China, raising concerns about alliance cohesion amid PRC economic pressure.
  8. Guest: Steve Yates. Yates discusses strategies for dealing with the PRC as an adversary seeking supremacy, emphasizing the need for coordinated Western responses to Chinese ambitions.
  9. Guest: Sinan Ciddi. Ciddi analyzes Erdogan succession prospects in Turkey, examining potential successors and the implications for Turkish domestic and foreign policy.
  10. Guest: Sinan Ciddi. Ciddi assesses the possibility of democracy in Turkey, discussing the structural obstacles and political dynamics that shape the country's democratic trajectory.
  11. Guest: Sadanand Dhume. Dhume reports on the India-EU trade deal after 21 years of negotiation, analyzing the significance of this agreement for both economies and regional geopolitics.
  12. Guest: Michael Bernstam. Bernstam examines Russia's budget gap widening with the sinking price of oil, detailing the fiscal pressures facing Moscow as energy revenues decline.
  13. Guest: Simon Constable. Constable reports from France with a resident European pine marten, offering observations on rural life and wildlife in the French countryside.
  14. Guest: Simon Constable. Constable discusses the Labour scandal with the Epstein revelations, analyzing the political fallout affecting Britain's governing party.
  15. Guest: Bob Zimmerman. Zimmerman reports on Artemis plans for a launch in March, detailing NASA's progress toward returning American astronauts to the Moon.
  16. Guest: Bob Zimmerman. Zimmerman analyzes the failing Roscosmos, describing Russia's declining space program and its inability to compete with American and Chinese advancements.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Good evening. Conversations tonight span the present and the future. Rebecca Grant commenting on the

0:08.9

trial, sea trials of the John F. Kennedy, the second name for that fallen president, a supercarrier

0:16.3

in the Ford class, a huge deck, huge ship, lots of innovations. Finishing at sea trials, there are more

0:24.9

to follow, Adores Miller, the Enterprise, replacing the Nimitz class carriers that have served so well

0:32.5

from the 20th century here to the 21st. 11 national carriers, according to an act of Congress.

0:39.0

That's the present and the near future in the 2030s.

0:43.3

Looking farther out, Rick Fisher joins to explain the Chinese 100-year plan

0:48.8

for supremacy in outer space, the moon, the Mars,

0:57.6

all the asteroids to mine, the planets to mine,

1:03.7

very ambitious science fiction-like. Chinese write good science fiction, in translation, I don't know it in the original language. They're big dreams. An empire.

1:12.3

And not practical.

1:15.3

They haven't solved their government.

1:19.8

The purge of the generals a couple of weeks ago demonstrates that what we're looking at in the analysis of my colleague Grant Nusium

1:25.3

is a mob boss and his lieutenants. Exactly right,

1:29.9

the Sopranos, except for we're talking about the abuse of ability and people are more

1:35.1

by the mob bosses. There's not only no transparency, there's no plan. They spend every day

1:43.0

the bosses worried about who's going to stab him in the back.

1:48.3

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

1:52.7

What she frets about is some disaster that would be blamed on him and he can't shift the blame.

1:59.4

So he purged the general staff, not stable.

2:04.0

Conversations also about wonderful things like the south of France.

2:09.6

Not all crisis.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.