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The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep604: SHOW SCHEDULE 3-18-26 1900 OTTAWA

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Books, Society & Culture, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

SHOW SCHEDULE 3-18-26

1900 OTTAWA

1. Guests Gordon Chang and Steve Yates discuss the postponed Trump-Xi summit during the Iran war. They analyze Chinese negotiation tactics that favor theater over substance and Xi’s belief in the inevitable decline of the West.,,, (2)

2. Guest Captain James Fanell analyzes China’s AR2000 shipborne drone, describing it as a propaganda signaling tool. He notes the PLA Navy currently lacks the carrier experience and volume necessary to sustain major bombing campaigns.,,, (3)

3. Guest Charles Burton critiques Canada’s import of Chinese electric vehicles as a dangerous economic concession. He warns of "maple washing," security risks, and "elite capture" by Beijing, which threatens Canadian sovereignty and human rights.,, (4)

4. Guests Gordon Chang and Charles Burton express skepticism about U.S.-China trade truces, noting Beijing's history of non-compliance. They advocate for North American collaboration on critical mineral processing to reduce dependence on Chinese state-controlled monopolies.,,, (5)

5. Guest Simon Constable reports on surging energy prices and diesel shortages in France caused by the Iran war. He addresses global inflation driven by rising shipping costs and the UK’s struggle to provide naval support.,,, (6)

6. Guest Simon Constable examines the political unpopularity of Prime Minister Starmer and the debate over King Charles’s U.S. visit. Constable argues the monarch must proceed to maintain essential diplomatic ties despite ongoing regional wartime tensions.,, (7)

7. Guests Mariam Wahba and Natalie Ecanow discuss the International Union of Muslim Scholars, identifying it as a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned group in Doha. They describe the organization’s strategy of hedging between Iran and Arab states.,,, (8)

8. Guests Natalie Ecanow and Mariam Wahba address the IMEC project to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. They emphasize the need for U.S. energy dominance and strategic infrastructure to reduce Iran's ability to leverage global trade routes.,, (9)

9. Guest Michael Bernstam details how Russia benefits from the Iran war, earning $150 million extra daily as oil prices soar. He explains that lifting sanctions on the shadow fleet significantly strengthens Putin’s wartime budget.,, (10)

10. Guest Michael Bernstam analyzes the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a narrow choke point currently controlled by Iran. He warns of a massive shipping traffic jam that will cause prolonged high energy prices.,, (11)

11. Guest Sinan Ciddi explains Turkey’s deployment of NATO Patriot systems after Iranian missile provocations. Turkey seeks to stay out of the war, preferring a weakened but stable Iranian regime to prevent regional Kurdish uprisings.,,, (12)

12. Guest Cliff May defines Iranian interference in the Strait of Hormuz as an act of international piracy. He urges U.S. action to guarantee freedom of navigation, comparing the threat to historical North African pirate states.,,, (13)

13. Guest Peter Berkowitz discusses the book "Mobilize," which advocates for rebooting the American industrial base. He critiques central planning and argues the U.S. must leverage private-sector entrepreneurial innovation to counter the Chinese Communist Party.,, (14)

14. Guest Peter Berkowitz outlines reforms for the Department of Defense, including cutting bureaucratic red tape and encouraging technological competition. He stresses the importance of higher education in teaching the free-market principles necessary for national security.,, (15)

15. Guest Bob Zimmerman reports on the private space industry, highlighting SpaceX’s flight records and plans for orbital AI data centers. He also discusses startups in South Korea and Germany facing technical challenges during their launches.,,, (16)

16. Guest Bob Zimmerman explores archival space data on Uranus’s moons and the upcoming Apophis asteroid mission. He highlights the "Mothra" telescope in Chile as a prime example of private enterprise funding successful scientific exploration projects.,, (17)SHOW SCHEDULE 3-18

Transcript

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0:00.0

Good evening. The show tonight is about the price of oil. The cost of Brent crude, that's the Euro-Asian version, we have West Texas in America. The cost of a barrel of oil went to touch to 110. It's headed higher, we're told. For Americans at the pump, that's over $4 is going to average the national costs.

0:23.8

Eventually, it's getting close now.

0:27.1

Politically, this is not positive, but that's not the only way to look at it.

0:32.7

Asia is short of resources.

0:35.2

Natural gas now, because of the strike on the Qatar gas processor for

0:39.8

liquidified natural gas. And it depends on a variety of suppliers, but Iraq's in the

0:48.3

mix. So is the Gulf for oil in China and India. They're going to drain the shadow fleet soon enough.

0:57.5

The U.S. has waived permission for the shadow fleet to dispense its oil.

1:02.6

Two adversaries, China, for example.

1:05.9

Goes on, it gets more complicated.

1:07.8

It's all knotted up in the supply chain.

1:10.7

And the war is not going to end tonight or this week.

1:14.5

We're told could run to May. Who knows? Uncertainty is one of the products of this war.

1:22.3

At the same time, the president has postponed his trip to China to talk tariffs, the old

1:27.3

bugaboo.

1:28.6

At the same time, no one is happy about the future of the price of oil.

1:36.1

Diesel, for example, which is what the farmers depend upon for their tractors and farm equipment.

1:41.2

In France and everywhere else, but I know in France.

1:52.8

In South of France, it's now $7.70 a gallon for diesel, and you will occasionally meet shortages, so the pumps out. Is that coming our way? Everything does. It goes around, it goes

1:59.5

around. I don't know how long. We've got plenty of energy here in

2:02.5

the North America, but the price is set globally. Is the administration ready for the long

2:11.9

slug? Iran is not surrendering. They don't know how to surrender. This is a martyrdom cult.

...

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