PREVIEW: #PUTIN: #ASSASSINATION: Conversation with colleague Jeff McCausland of CBS News re the report of a Russian plan to murder President Zelensky -- and was it tied to Putin, since it was to take place on Inauguration Day?  Details tonight.



1917 All Soviet Convention, Moscow

PREVIEW: #XI: #PARIS: Conversation with colleague Steve Yates re Xi's eager embassy to Europe and his romance witn Macros and France -- and the explanation that the Chinese brand is at risk. Details l

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.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

News

Books

#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus observe the irreconcilables after losing and yet refusing to be at peace:  Confederacy, Weimar, Soviets, Taliban and more. Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debating Society. @Michalis_Vlahos



1881 Hanging the People's Will.






#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus observe the irreconcilables after losing and yet refusing to be at peace:  Confederacy, Weimar, Soviets, Taliban and more. Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debatin

#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus debate the NATO bluff of trainers to Ukraine and the Kremlin bluff-calling.  Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debating Society. @Michalis_Vlahos



https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/politics/nato-ukraine.html



1945 Berlin

#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus debate the NATO bluff of trainers to Ukraine and the Kremlin bluff-calling.  Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debating Society. @Michalis_Vlahos

#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus highlight Putin visiting Xi and the consolidation of the Eurasia Bloc. Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debating Society. @Michalis_Vlahos



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/19/russia-china-ties-direct-threat-to-democracy-says-shapps/



1934 Stalin

#Londinium90AD: Gaius & Germanicus highlight Putin visiting Xi and the consolidation of the Eurasia Bloc. Michael Vlahos. Friends of History Debating Society. @Michalis_Vlahos

ESCAPING THE FIRST COLD WAR TO LAND IN THE SECOND COLD WAR: 4/4 The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain Hardcover by  Matthew Longo  (Author)



https://www.amazon.com/Picnic-Dream-Freedom-Collapse-Curtain/dp/0393540774/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid;=&sr;=

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic―it was located on the dangerous militarized frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumor, thousands of East German “vacationers” packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West.



Drawing on dozens of original interviews―including Hungarian activists and border guards, East German refugees, Stasi secret police, and the last Communist prime minister of Hungary―Matthew Longo tells a gripping and revelatory tale of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain and the birth of a new world order. Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls?



Cinematically told, The Picnic recovers a time when it seemed possible for the world to change. With insight and panache, Longo explores the opportunities taken―and the opportunities we failed to take―in that pivotal moment.



1956 HUNGARY

ESCAPING THE FIRST COLD WAR TO LAND IN THE SECOND COLD WAR: 4/4 The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain Hardcover by  Matthew Longo  (Author)

ESCAPING THE FIRST COLD WAR TO LAND IN THE SECOND COLD WAR: 3/4 The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain Hardcover by  Matthew Longo  (Author)



https://www.amazon.com/Picnic-Dream-Freedom-Collapse-Curtain/dp/0393540774/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid;=&sr;=

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic―it was located on the dangerous militarized frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumor, thousands of East German “vacationers” packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West.



Drawing on dozens of original interviews―including Hungarian activists and border guards, East German refugees, Stasi secret police, and the last Communist prime minister of Hungary―Matthew Longo tells a gripping and revelatory tale of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain and the birth of a new world order. Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls?



Cinematically told, The Picnic recovers a time when it seemed possible for the world to change. With insight and panache, Longo explores the opportunities taken―and the opportunities we failed to take―in that pivotal moment.



1956 BUDAPEST

ESCAPING THE FIRST COLD WAR TO LAND IN THE SECOND COLD WAR: 3/4 The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain Hardcover by  Matthew Longo  (Author)

PREVIEW: #XI: #PARIS: Conversation with colleague Steve Yates re Xi's eager embassy to Europe and his romance witn Macros and France -- and the explanation that the Chinese brand is at risk. Details l

Download our free app to listen on your phone