In this podcast, I discuss the war in Ukraine with Anatoly Karlin. He’s a prolific blogger, intelligence researcher and Russian nationalist. Eight days before the invasion he penned a widely-read essay, ‘Regathering of the Russian Lands’, which was mentioned in the New York Times. You can find him on Twitter and Substack.

We cover the following issues: why Russia’s initial assault on Kiev failed; why loss ratios are roughly equal; why “glue sniffers” on “Z Twitter” are wrong; why China hasn’t given Russia NATO-scale military aid; and why a stalemate is by far the most likely outcome.

Image: Astemir Almov, Moscow, Russia, 2017

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In this podcast, I discuss wokeness with Eric Kaufmann. He is a professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, a senior fellow at the thinktank Policy Exchange, and the author of books such as Whiteshift and Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? You can find him on Twitter.

We cover the following issues: whether ‘wokeness’ is a better term than ‘cultural socialism’; whether cancel culture is really that new; whether wokeness is a bootlegger-baptist coalition; whether Britain is different from the rest of Europe; and whether woke activism is here to stay.

Image: Marcia Fudge, Stay Woke Vote T-shirt, 2018

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In this podcast, I discuss the economic future of the West with Steve Davies. A historian, he is currently Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, and the author of books such as Empiricism and History and The Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought. You can find him on Twitter.

We cover the following issues: why Steve is pessimistic about Western living standards over the next two decades; why the price of oil needs to remain high; why the EU is stuck between a rock and a hard place; why energy sanctions against Russia are self-harming; and why nuclear energy is not a panacea.

Image: Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant, 2013

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In this podcast, I discuss the war in Ukraine with Konstantin Kisin. (He is a comedian, co-host of Triggernometry, and author of An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West. He also happens to be from Russia. You can find him on both Twitter and Substack.) Our discussion centres on the question, ‘Arming Ukraine and sanctioning Russia – is this the right approach?’ Konstantin takes the position that, broadly speaking, it is the right approach. I take the contrary position, arguing that this approach may have serious unintended consequences, and that the West ought to try a different strategy.

Image: Ukraine Ministry of Defence, Anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, 2015

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For my first podcast, I discuss the Ukraine crisis with Richard Hanania. (He is a writer, researcher and President of the Centre for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology. You can find him on both Twitter and Substack.) Our discussion centres on the question, ‘Should we blame the West for the Ukraine crisis?’ Richard takes the position that we should blame the West, at least in part. Although my true position is close to Richard’s, I try to play devil’s advocate – challenging his points and presenting alternative arguments. This is in line with my view that debates are generally more informative than interviews.

Image: Dima Sergiyenko, Architectural details on the House with Chimaeras, 2007

The Daily Sceptic

I’ve written five more posts since last time. The first argues that mainstream media “misinformation” has caused far more harm than Joe Rogan. The second notes that researchers are reluctant to study vaccine side effects for fear of causing vaccine hesitancy. The third argues that the Netherlands’ Omicron lockdown was a complete failure. The fourth highlights the overwhelming importance of geography in explaining Covid mortality. The fifth notes that January’s age-standardised mortality rate in England was the second lowest on record.

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