In a press conference this week, president-elect Trump said that he wanted to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal - not ruling out the use of military force to do so. Oh, and Canada, but limiting himself to economic force for that job. All of it matters, but Greenland is probably the point of geopolitical tension and change that matters the most. Trump has been clearer and bolder than his predecessors in getting its importance, but his approach to tackling it could just have passed by what would have been the easiest win of his presidency. And in the process, handing the win to Putin and Xi in granting them their favoured new world order. Let's discuss.

Elon Musk has been ... busy. Attacking Keir Starmer and his government in the UK, whilst praising Tommy Robinson and calling for him to be released from jail. And attacking Olaf Scholz, and calling for Germany's controversial AfD party to be elected instead. And attacking various MAGA figures over immigration, provoking an attack from Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer and support ... for now ... from Donald Trump. What are we to make of the world's richest man - a man strongly associated with the next US administration - going so hard after other countries, campaigning so nakedly for political outliers and generally making a lot of noise. Is this the rise of oligarchy - part of global democratic decline? Or just an aberration - a moment of over-excitement - soon to be reined in by a President Trump who won't be overshadowed. Let's discuss.

This channel has always had a perspective, but it has been something of a blank page - always looking at whatever seems important that has come into view. But it's time for that to change - for the channel to become more focused on the biggest themes that come through these videos time and time again. Let's discuss.

Looking forward to 2025 - there's no doubt it is going to be the year of Trump. But not only that, it's going to be the year of peak Trump. With every year that follows, his power to achieve his domestic agenda starts to erode. He will still be operating big on the world stage, although the other players will be developing strategies to deal with him. So the question is - will he hit the ground running? Will 2025 be the year when Trump's ambitious plan to reshape the US succeeds beyond all hope? Let's discuss.

In the last week, there has been much comment on the astonishing internet response to the murderer of CEO Brian Thompson. Large numbers of people have expressed support and admiration for the action, have heralded Mangioni as a folk hero, and used the incident to air their grievances about American health insurance companies.

In this video, I talk about how this is another step in the ongoing normalisation of political violence in the US, why it will come to be seen as a model to follow by extremists for other causes, and why this is a line that your society crosses at its peril.

Support Mallen's work on Patreon!
https://patreon.com/mallenbaker

Support Mallen via Paypal
https://paypal.me/mallenbaker
[ please use the website, not Apple IOS Patreon app, as Apple takes a big slice of money from the latter ]

The ‘Dangerously Reasonable’ channel by Mallen Baker covers news, current affairs, science and politics. It aims to be independent, fact-focused and non-ideological. A rational and reasoned approach to some of the difficult issues of our time, looking for how we can best survive and thrive in the modern world.

Prefer it on podcast? Audio versions are available wherever you get your podcasts, or see https://the-mallen-baker-podcast.simplecast.com/

Quotes reported in this video should not be taken as an implication of their author’s endorsement or involvement in this video.

This week, Keir Starmer made a keynote speech laying out his six milestones for how the Labour government should, in his view, be judged at the next election. It's not the first time since taking office he has launched a set of campaign promises, but it's the most significant time for doing so as talk is rife about how Elon Musk and Nigel Farage could be in line to completely upend British politics as we know it. Is big money about the change the face of the British scene? Can decent but slightly boring technocrat Starmer fend off the vigorous populist challenge? Or is everything up in the air from this point onwards? Let's discuss.

Lots of groups in these polarised times get accused by their opponents of 'being in a cult'. And sometimes, actually quite often, they have a point. But beware, because half the time while you're pointing to someone else's cultish behaviour, you might be ignoring the self-same telltale signs in your own. So what are the aspects of actual real-life cults that many people have now embraced for themselves? What are the smaller number of differences? And if you find yourself in that position, how do you get out of it? Let's discuss.

The UK Parliament today debated a groundbreaking assisted death bill that could reshape how we approach end-of-life care. The Labour Party has brought forward legislation that would introduce new palliative care options for terminally ill adults, while ensuring strict safeguards around euthanasia and human rights protections. It's one of those huge moral questions. Let's discuss.

We know the story - China is dominating the EV industry with its remarkable and cheap cars which the Western bloated manufacturers simply can't compete with. But of course, there's a lot more going on than that. In China, most of those companies are losing money hand over fist, trying to get enough market share so they can be one of the handful left still standing at the end. In the West, setbacks abound. Northvolt, the EU battery maker went bust. The UK is rowing back on its targets for mandated EV takeover. It's all looking a bit lively - let's discuss.

In the UK, farmers are protesting in a way they haven't in recent times. They are furious about proposed inheritance tax changes to be brought in by the Labour government. The government claims the changes will only affect a tiny minority. The national farmers union claim they have got their numbers wildly wrong. Who's right - and is there a better answer already put forward that, so far, both sides are stubbornly ignoring? And will this represent a critical moment in uk politics as rural communities begin to push back on the newly elected government? Let's discuss.